Front Palace
Chulalongkorn's first reform was to establish the "Auditory Office" (Th: หอรัษฎากรพิพัฒน์), solely responsible for tax collection, to replace corrupt tax collectors. As tax collectors had been under the aegis of various nobles and thus a source of their wealth, this reform caused great consternation among the nobility, especially the Front Palace. From the time of King Mongkut, the Front Palace had been the equivalent of a "second king", with one-third of national revenue allocated to it. Prince Yingyot of the Front Palace was known to be on friendly terms with many Britons, at a time when Siamese relations with the British Empire were tense.