Wang Yangming, who had not spoken a word, glanced at several people, pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly and said: "As it should be!"
Here, Zhu Houzhao saw the boxes of gold being counted and put into the inner treasury, and his heart finally relaxed slowly.
However, it is obvious that such a large amount of wealth cannot be completely returned to the inner treasury in such a short period of time. As the emperor, Zhu Houzhao cannot always stay in charge of the inner treasury.
Besides, Li Huan had come all the way back, so he, the emperor, had to take care of Li Huan no matter what.
After calming down his excitement a little, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Huan and said with a soft smile in his eyes: "Li Qing really gave me a big surprise this time."
When Li Huan heard this, he chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? This is just my duty as a minister."
Zhu Houzhao laughed loudly and said: "With such a fortune, I can finally sit back and relax."
Hearing what Zhu Houzhao said, Li Huan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. From what the emperor meant, it was obvious that the court must be short of money.
Seeing Li Huan frowning, Zhu Houzhao straightened his expression, looked at Li Huan and said: "Li Qing doesn't know something. Now the treasury is empty. Several cabinet ministers are worried about this. The court has discussed how to solve this problem several times."
Although Li Huan was said to be in charge of Jinyiwei, it did not mean that he knew everything. Moreover, Li Huan had been commanding troops abroad for most of the first half of the year. Not long after returning to the capital, he went to Yangzhou Prefecture to investigate.
It can be said that it has never stopped. Naturally, I am not very clear about some things in the court. Even if I have heard about it, I don't know that the economic situation of the court has reached such an extent.
However, Li Huan only thought about it for a moment and understood. He looked at Zhu Houzhao and said slowly: "The treasury is empty. It is expected that it was caused by the previous war. If not for His Majesty's full support, I am afraid that there would be no such great victory.
"
Li Huan was right about this. In a battle that lasted for more than half a year, the Ming Dynasty used hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. You can imagine how much money, food and materials were consumed during this period.
If it were not for the full support of the emperor, there would never have been a great victory for Li Huan, Wang Yangming and others. However, Li Huan did not expect that the imperial court would be defeated in that battle.
Zhu Houzhao said with a sparkle in his eyes: "Now that my beloved has returned to the capital with so much wealth, the princes in the court will definitely look at him sideways, and they may not wait until they react before they come to see me."
Li Huan nodded slightly. Dozens of large ships and hundreds of carriages were being transported. It was impossible to hide such a big movement. It was just to see when the civil and military forces of the court would react.
As long as they are not fools, once they react, given the current situation of the imperial court, not to mention other matters, several cabinet ministers will probably come to see the emperor as soon as possible and plead with the emperor to transfer the confiscated gold and silver to the national treasury.
Li Huan had actually expected this, which was one of the reasons why he was eager to transfer the gold and silver into the inner treasury first.
With a slight smile on his lips, Li Huan saluted the emperor and said, "It's hard to believe that several ministers have already come to see your majesty."
The monarch and his ministers looked at each other and smiled, and at this moment a figure came in a hurry, who could it be if it wasn't Qiu Ju who was guarding outside.
Qiu Ju saluted the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, the chamberlain has just come to report that several pavilion elders have asked to see your Majesty."
After hearing what Qiu Ju said, Zhu Houzhao and Li Huan looked at each other, while Zhu Houzhao hesitated for a while and then said to Qiu Ju: "Go and invite the elders to the imperial study, and tell them that I will summon them there."
."
Qiu Ju left quickly after hearing this, while Zhu Houzhao said to Li Huan: "Originally, I was prepared to take care of you, Li Qing, but now it seems I'm afraid I can't."
Li Huan bowed slightly and said: "Your Majesty has betrayed me. I have been away from home for a long time, so it's time for me to go home."
Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Huan and said to Li Huan: "Tomorrow I will personally pick up the wind and cleanse the dust for Li Qing."
imperial study room
Several pavilion elders entered the imperial study room under the guidance of Qiu Ju. After a short while, they saw the emperor who had changed his clothes appear in the imperial study room.
Several pavilion elders hurriedly paid tribute to Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao was in a good mood after receiving so much gold and silver. There was a bit of smile on his face at this moment.
After waving his hand, Zhu Houzhao sat down and his eyes fell on several pavilion elders. Although he already knew the purpose of their visit, he just pretended not to know: "Is it possible that the Qing family came to see me because of something?
"
As soon as the emperor opened his mouth, Wang Hao immediately said: "Your Majesty, the old minister impeached Qiu Ju, and Gao Feng and others tricked your Majesty into going out of the palace privately to commit danger. Such behavior put your Majesty in danger. Such deceptions have no regard for the safety of your father."
If you raise him, you should kill him."
Qiu Ju, Gao Feng, who were originally serving the emperor, obviously did not expect that Wang Hao would come towards them as soon as he opened his mouth, and would kill them as soon as he came up, but this frightened the two of them.
Already.
With a pop, Qiu Ju, Gao Feng and others fell down in the tunnel with a look of fear on their faces: "Master Wang has wronged us, Your Majesty wants to make the decision for us!"
The two of them are not fools. If the charge of bewitching the emperor to leave the palace is really proven, they will definitely not end well.
However, since they left the palace incognito, not many people knew about it. If they wanted to impeach them, they must have enough evidence. Although the two looked aggrieved and frightened, in fact, they were not very worried in their hearts.
They call the shots.
As expected, Zhu Houzhao just waved his hands and said: "Why did Wang Aiqing say this? I just went out of the palace to welcome Li Huanqing's family back. Everything is my intention. What does Gao Feng have to do with Qiu?"
As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Hao calmly and said, "Maybe Wang Aiqing thinks that I can't leave the palace, or if I want to leave the palace, I must get Wang Aiqing's consent?"
After the emperor finished speaking, there was a pop. Wang Hao, Yang Tinghe, Zhang Cai, and Wang Yangming all fell to the ground and said with a bit of fear: "I don't dare."
After turning around and walking to the Royal Eucalyptus, he sat down and looked at the people kneeling there. Zhu Houzhao was not very angry at all. He just beat a few people.
He changed his tone and said: "I know that several members of the Qing family are concerned about my safety, so please get up and talk."
After thanking the emperor, several people stood up slowly. Because of Wang Hao, several people lost their momentum and looked at each other, but no one spoke first.
Zhu Houzhao sat there, took a sip of tea with a calm expression, glanced at several people and said: "The Qing family came to see me, they didn't just come to impeach Qiu Ju, Gao Feng and the others. If nothing happens, I will be tired too."
…”
With a slight cough, Yang Tinghe took a step forward, took out some memorials with a solemn expression and said: "Your Majesty, this is a memorial for the cabinet to review. I can't make a decision at the moment. I kindly ask your Majesty to read it."
Zhu Houzhao looked at the memorials, then looked at Yang Tinghe who looked serious, and nodded slightly. Gao Feng on the side quickly stepped forward to take the memorials and put them in front of the emperor.
Zhu Houzhao slowly flipped through some memorials. It was just a matter of time for a cup of tea. Zhu Houzhao's expression became quite solemn. He looked up at a few people and finally said to Wang Yangming: "Wang Aiqing, how much money and food does the treasury still have?"
Wang Yangming said immediately: "Your Majesty, because of the Tatars' march south, after a great war, the remaining money and food in the treasury has been exhausted. Fortunately, your Majesty has allocated the internal silver reserves, but now the remaining money and food in the treasury is not enough for the officials of the DPRK and China."
A monthly salary of silver."
At this point, Wang Yangming paused, looked up at the emperor and said: "I have heard that the champion has returned from Yangzhou, and I beg your majesty to allow the confiscated property of the champion to be transferred to the national treasury to relieve the court's urgent needs."
Yang Tinghe, Zhang Cai, and Wang Hao also randomly bowed to the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, please put the overall situation first."
Zhu Houzhao already knew the purpose of these people coming, so he was not surprised after hearing what they said. He just pondered for a while and then looked at them and said: "Several Qing family members think that if the court wants to solve many current problems, it needs
What is the geometry of gold and silver?”
In fact, several people were not surprised by the emperor's reply.
Since the Emperor was not a fatuous ruler, they were confident in persuading the Emperor to transfer the money confiscated by Li Huan to the treasury. However, they did not expect that the Emperor would actually ask them how much gold and silver they needed.
Several people couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Yang Tinghe's heart moved. He raised his head and glanced at the Emperor. He saw that although the Emperor's face was calm, there was a bit of relaxation in his eyes.
Everyone, please go and try it soon.]
Anyone who can become a pavilion elder is definitely not a fool. The emperor's reaction made Yang Tinghe somewhat guess.
Similarly, Wang Yangming, Wang Hao, and Zhang Cai also realized something. They had different reactions, but there was a bit of curiosity and surprise in their eyes.
Without waiting for Wang Yangming to speak, Wang Haodang saluted the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, whether it is to provide relief to local areas, repair rivers, or pay salaries to hundreds of officials, if we consider the needs for the start of next year, at least one million taels of silver will be needed.
It’s huge, with millions of stones of grain and fodder.”
Zhu Houzhao raised his eyebrows, looked at the people and said, "Do you really need so many?"
Wang Hao nodded and said: "Such a major matter is related to the safety of the country. How can I dare to deceive Your Majesty?"
Zhu Houzhao pondered slightly and looked at the people and said, "So, the imperial court needs at least millions of taels of gold and silver to stabilize the situation?"
Yang Tinghe, Zhang Cai, and Wang Yangming all nodded.
And Yang Tinghe looked at the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, the champion has confiscated a lot of property in Yangzhou Mansion. I beg your majesty to allow most of it to be transferred to the national treasury. This is the people's fat and the people's anointing. It should be taken from the people and returned to the people..."
Wang Yangming just looked at Yang Tinghe calmly, while Wang Hao and Zhang Cai seemed to react after hearing Yang Tinghe's words. They also bowed to the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, please transfer the confiscated proceeds to the national treasury."
At this moment, Wang Hao seemed to have come to his senses, and his heart was full of regret. Just looking at the emperor's reaction, he seemed to have underestimated what Li Huan had stolen from Yangzhou Mansion. He asked for a large amount, but the emperor did not
He didn't show any embarrassment at all.
Yang Tinghe was obviously aware of this. He didn't mention how much he wanted the emperor to add to the treasury. Instead, he directly asked the emperor to put most of it into the treasury. As for Wang Hao who reacted more simply, he opened his mouth to put all the money into the treasury.
All put into the national treasury.
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but frown when he saw this. He obviously reacted and realized that he was so happy just now that a few old foxes saw the clues.
But this is no wonder Zhu Houzhao. Even though he had learned the art of imperial thinking since he was a child, for an emperor like Zhu Houzhao, who was only twenty years old, he suddenly learned that Li Huan had brought back so much wealth. He couldn't help it for a while.
Controlling your emotions is also a matter of course.
It would be strange if the impact of tens of millions of taels of goods could not move the emperor Zhu Houzhao.
However, after Zhu Houzhao came to his senses, he snorted coldly and said: "If you, the Qing family, want to put all the proceeds confiscated by Li Qing into the national treasury, you might as well go directly to discuss it with Li Qing."
Wang Hao, Zhang Cai and others couldn't help but change their expressions when they heard this. If Li Huan was so easy to talk to, why would they come to see the emperor?
With a slight cough, Yang Tinghe saluted the emperor and said: "It is better to put part of it into the national treasury and part of it into the inner treasury."
Hearing what Yang Tinghe said, the emperor's face, which was originally unconcerned, softened a bit. He looked at Wang Hao blankly, and Zhang Cai and the other two glanced at each other and said: "Li Qing returned in a hurry, and I don't know the exact amount of what he confiscated."
It's too clear, so I made the decision and transferred three million taels of gold and silver from the inner treasury to the national treasury. I wonder what the Qing family think?"
Wang Hao, Zhang Cai, Yang Ting and several others looked at each other and couldn't help but become more curious. Li Huan didn't confiscate much property in Yangzhou Mansion, but the emperor transferred three million taels of gold and silver from the inner treasury to the state treasury without hesitation.
I knew that the treasures Li Huan brought back this time were probably quite large.
After all, although the emperor was not greedy for money, most of the money Li Huan had confiscated several times was put into the inner treasury. Although the emperor would not hesitate to allocate money from the inner treasury whenever the court really needed it, but every time
It also took them a lot of effort to persuade the emperor.
This is really the first time that I have taken out so much gold and silver so happily.
As a result, Yang Tinghe and Wang Hao were stunned for a moment, while Zhu Houzhao saw the reaction of these people in his eyes, and felt a little proud in his heart. Yang Tinghe, Wang Hao and the others probably never expected that Li Huan would do this.
The amount of belongings I brought back to Beijing was astonishing.
Three million taels of gold and silver is definitely not a small amount. It is enough to meet the needs of the court, and there will even be some surplus. Even if Li Huan did not bring back so much property this time, and the treasury was empty, Zhu Houzhao would also
The inner treasury allocated money, but it would never be so generous. It can only be said that the wealth Li Huan brought back gave the emperor great confidence.
Seeing the expressions of several people in his eyes, Zhu Houzhao said calmly: "If the Qing family members have no objections, this matter will be settled."
After coming back to their senses, several people looked at each other and vaguely felt that this time they seemed to have been plotted by the emperor. However, the emperor had promised to allocate as much as three million taels of gold and silver to the national treasury, but they could not speak again.
Taking a deep breath, they all bowed to the emperor and said, "I will thank you, Your Majesty."
After leaving the imperial study, several people headed out of the palace. Wang Hao frowned and said: "Guys, I always feel something is wrong when His Majesty is so cheerful. How much property do you think Li Huan confiscated in Yangzhou Mansion this time?"