Liu Ziyi's expression changed drastically. He was not going to kill anyone in battle. He and the kneeling ministers all looked to Wang Wei for help.
Wang Wei's face was ugly. Originally, he wanted to punish Concubine Xiao Shu as long as he could, but he couldn't let it go.
What he didn't expect was that Qin Yun would have to blame more than a dozen ministers for such a big reaction.
If he stands up, he will make a fuss. If he doesn't stand up, he will lose people's hearts.
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"
"Even if Mr. Liu and the others make mistakes in their remonstrance, it is for the good of the court. If more than ten ministers are punished so heavily, I am afraid that the ministers will not obey!"
As soon as Wang Wei opened his mouth, more people started speaking.
Prime Minister Lin Changshu and military officer Wang Ming took the lead and began to intercede on behalf of Liu Ziyi and others.
But Qin Yun was uncharacteristically tough. With a wave of his hand, he shouted at the imperial guards: "What are you waiting for? Do you want me to arrest you personally?"
The leader of the imperial army, Lang Zhongling, Chang Hong, was stunned and arrested immediately.
For a moment, the hall was noisy, and various pleas for mercy were heard.
Xiao Jian was watching a play, but suddenly he was glanced at by Qin Yun for no reason. He was stunned for a while, and then his eyes lit up before he realized what he was doing.
"Your Majesty, wait!"
He waved his hand and said.
"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate!" Xiao Jian spoke righteously.
At this time, Wang Wei and others were confused. It was possible for anyone to stand up and intercede, but it was impossible for Xiao Jian!
Qin Yun acted the role of a white-faced person and said angrily: "Xiao Jian, please step back, I am very angry now! If you dare to slander my beloved concubine, it is useless for anyone to intercede, and you must be held accountable!"
"No, Your Majesty, we are here to remonstrate for the sake of Chao Gang!"
"Your Majesty, you can't do this to us. We know we were wrong."
Liu Ziyi was about to burst into tears. His beard was half white, and he was almost fifty. To serve him at thirty was equivalent to sending him to his grave.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Thirty years of reprimand is a bit serious. Why don't you forget about it for the time being and let Mr. Liu and the others take credit for their crimes and make meritorious service."
Guo Ziyun frowned and stood up to intercede. He was upright, but he spoke from his heart.
Lin Changshu echoed: "That's right, Your Majesty, why don't you let Master Liu and the others serve their crimes? Nowadays, the imperial court is full of troubles, so we can't leave them out."
Qin Yun deliberately showed a trace of hesitation, looked at Liu Ziyi and others, and said angrily: "Humph, if Mr. Wang, Mr. Lin and others hadn't interceded for you, you would have just waited for your butts to bloom!"
When Liu Ziyi and others heard this, their eyes showed the joy of surviving the disaster.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you for your kindness!"
More than a dozen people knelt down and worshiped.
The next second, Qin Yun continued; "You can be exempted from the blame, but it also depends on the sincerity of the dozen of you to see if you sincerely repent!"
Sincerity?
Everyone was suspicious.
Following Qin Yun's line of sight, everyone saw land deeds and banknotes scattered on the ground.
Wang Wei and others were the first to realize that His Majesty had gone around in such a big circle just for money!
Wang Wei and Lin Changshu looked at each other with complicated expressions. Where did that ignorant Majesty go? Now they have learned to go around in circles, giving both kindness and power.
Liu Ziyi, who had reached this point in his career as an official, was no fool. He immediately understood what Qin Yun meant.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to provide one hundred taels of silver for disaster relief!"
The corner of Qin Yun's mouth twitched. "For one hundred taels of silver, do you think I am a beggar?"
Liu Ziyi said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to contribute one thousand taels of silver and five stones of grain to relieve Guanzhong!"
In the Great Xia Dynasty, one stone of grain was about one hundred and twenty kilograms. Five stones was about six hundred kilograms, plus one thousand taels of silver, which was indeed a lot for a Zongzheng Shaoqing.
But how could Qin Yun not know that these guys are extremely fat and would not be short of such a small amount of money, but they did not dare to say too big a number for fear of arousing suspicion.
After everyone quoted their prices, they all looked at Qin Yun.
Qin Yun looked unmoved and said calmly: "It's just a drop in the bucket, it's too little."
He raised his eyebrows and glanced at everyone.
"Master Wang, Master Lin, and all my dear friends, what do you think? Is it too little? The famine in Guanzhong cannot be solved with a little money and food."
Qin Yun's meaning is very obvious. You are just watching, why don't you pay some money?
The ministers of the DPRK and China looked at each other in confusion.
Xiao Jian's ancestors were traders. He was the first to stand up and take the lead and said: "Your Majesty, in the name of the Xiao family, I will send you 100,000 yuan in silver and 100 tons of food to help Guanzhong!"
Hearing this number, Liu Ziyi and others' faces turned dark, thinking to themselves, aren't you driving up prices?
Your standards are so high, what does our one thousand taels or one hundred taels count? Is it a joke?
Wang Wei looked at Qin Yun and Xiao Jian with deep eyes, one monarch and one minister, with pale faces and red faces. It was obvious that he wanted to take the opportunity to blackmail them.
Money is a trivial matter and he doesn't care. What matters to him is Qin Yun's transformation.
The emperor is afraid of powerful ministers, so how can powerful ministers not be afraid of a wise emperor?
"Your Majesty, I am willing to sell three properties and various land deeds, worth tens of thousands of taels, and add hundreds of dan of grain to help Guanzhong."
Wang Wei forced out a smile, and then winked at Liu Ziyi and others.
Liu Ziyi and others felt heartbroken, but there was nothing they could do. Your Majesty did not want to take responsibility, so he just paid the money honestly.
He spoke slowly: "Your Majesty, I am also willing to sell my house and raise thousands of taels of silver, plus twenty dan of grain."
"There are still ministers who are willing to sell the farm and land deeds to help Guanzhong."
"..."
Hundreds of ministers from the DPRK and the Central Government donated money one after another, as if they were willing to give everything for the victims of the Guanzhong disaster.
But to put it bluntly, it was nothing more than responding to the call and exonerating more than a dozen people from Liu Ziyi.
This little money is a drop in the bucket to them!
After a long period of corruption, free money, and blood-sucking from the imperial court, all of them have become rich men.
There are very few ministers whose money comes from a truly clean source.
Take Guo Ziyun, for example. This guy only donated twenty taels and was laughed at.
It's not that he is stingy, but that he really has no money. The monthly salary from the court is not much, so he only has this little money to live frugally.
Through this semi-blackmail donation, Qin Yun also got to know many ministers in the court.
It is not that there are no honest officials, but there are also many corrupt officials.
Everyone knows it well and has not revealed it.
Soon, Eunuch Xi recorded everyone's donation data, wrote it on rice paper, and handed it to Qin Yun.
Overall, it was pretty good. The money was nearly 300,000 taels, and the food was nearly 2,000 shi, which can be said to be astronomical figures.
Disaster relief should be enough, and the court does not even need to use the few five hundred thousand taels in the national treasury.
"Okay, Guo Ziyun, I give you two days to collect the funds and make precise arrangements to help Guanzhong."
Guo Ziyun knelt down excitedly: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely fulfill my mission! I would like to thank Your Majesty on behalf of the people of Guanzhong!"
Qin Yun waved his hand and looked at Xiao Jian: "Xiao Jian, when will the Zuo camp be able to break out and point the sword at Cangshan?"
Xiao Jian clasped his fists, with a hint of confidence on his heroic face: "Within two days, Zuo Camp can mobilize more than 10,000 to 5,000 soldiers to set off!"
"It takes five days to cross Jiannan Road and reach Cangshan Mountain. It only takes three days to quell the rebels. Within half a month, I guarantee that the imperial capital will receive good news!"
Qin Yun smiled, very pleased.
His eyes couldn't help but glance towards Wang Wei and others.
Regarding Xiao Jian's appointment as bandit marshal, Wang Wei surprisingly did not stand up to stop him. Even though Wang Ming was unwilling to do so and kept signaling to him with his eyes, he did not make any move.