"Easy to say." Shentu knew that his master was angry, so he readily agreed.
Speaking of which, the former Princess Di really wronged Emperor Qianren. Since he had already promised to send 20,000 troops, he really didn't want to play any tricks on such a matter. All this was decided by the officials below. become.
The officials below have found out the identity of the former Princess Di more than a month ago. It is precisely because they know her identity that they have more resentment. I think it was the same when Da Gan was dancing happily. Beidi, which is a huge threat, has spent a lot of effort. It has only been twenty years, but now, some people want to restore the country. How can the officials of the Ministry of War agree? It would be strange if they don't make some small moves below.
This time, a group of people led by the Minister of War, Cheng Bolin, made some small moves in private, and allocated the worst-ranked soldiers.
The former Princess Di came to the palace again. Emperor Qianren was resting at the newly admitted concubine in the harem. As soon as Yin Ping informed him, he returned to the Yangxin Palace with an unhappy look. Compared to Emperor Qianwen, he was not Above all, he is dedicated.
"Your Majesty." As soon as she saw Emperor Qianren, the former Princess Di looked aggrieved and explained everything about the 20,000 old, weak, sick and disabled people.
"Damn it." Emperor Qianren was very angry after hearing this. On the surface, it seemed that some people were dissatisfied and targeting the former Princess Di, but if you think about it carefully, why would you let yourself, the emperor, go free? It’s in my eyes. If all future government orders are carried out like this, wouldn’t Daqian be about to perish?
"Yin Ping, please send an edict to summon the Minister of War." Emperor Qianren's expression turned as dark as water with an angry look on his face.
"According to the decree." Yin Ping saw that the emperor was moved. He immediately agreed and went to deliver the oral message in person. After two sticks of incense, Cheng Bolin came to the Yangxin Hall, but he did not come alone. He was accompanied by others. There is also Rui Butong, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Judging from this point alone, these ministers had been prepared for a long time, fearing that the emperor would get angry over this matter and question them.
"I see your Majesty, long live your Majesty." After the two ministers entered the palace, they knelt down and kowtowed to Emperor Qianren according to the etiquette. However, no matter how you looked at it, they seemed to be a little reluctant when doing these actions.
It’s no wonder that they would be conflicted. In the past, during Emperor Qianwen’s time, there was no need to pay such a heavy courtesy except in public occasions. However, Emperor Qianren was a person who liked to engage in situationalism. In his opinion, when ministers saw each other, When he arrives, he must kneel down, regardless of the occasion. Only in this way can he show the importance of his status as an emperor.
In the final analysis, Emperor Qianren just didn't have confidence in himself.
"You two beloved ministers, please make peace." With a calm face, Emperor Qianren waited until the two ministers stood up, and then asked about the deployment of troops in a tone that seemed to be scolding. "When I ask you, I have made a decree. , why don’t you abide by it?”
"Your Majesty is unjust. I did it according to your Majesty's wishes. Of the 20,000 soldiers, not one of them is missing." Cheng Bailin, the Minister of War, immediately cried out his grievance.
"The number of people is not small, but all the soldiers are old, weak, sick and disabled, so what's going on?" Emperor Qianren didn't mean to argue with the other party, and pointed to the center of the problem. In short, at this time, in his eyes, Qianren The princess was very important, and he didn't want to fall out with her.
"Oh, Your Majesty, we didn't mean to do this. In fact, most of the soldiers in Daliang City are like this now." Cheng Bolin, who had been prepared for a long time, was like a woman who had no food to cook. He opened his mouth to complain and had already prepared it. Some reasons kept pouring out from his mouth. After a while, Emperor Qianren looked shocked and said: "Is what Aiqing said true? Is I really so weak? "
"Your Majesty, this is of course true. No matter how courageous I am, I will not dare to deceive you. In the last battle with King Zhong, countless soldiers died in the Daliang defense battle. Before he could fully recover, the late emperor sent troops to Suzhou again. , so that the number of soldiers has never been full, and I have written a report on these matters before and submitted it to His Majesty." Cheng Bolin said in an aggrieved tone.
"Uh." Emperor Qianren looked embarrassed. When he first became emperor, when someone submitted a memorial, he would be curious to take a look at it. However, after discovering that the memorials were delivered in piles every day, this kind of curiosity became more and more difficult. My heart was gone, replaced by boredom, so I rarely looked at it, and naturally I didn't see this memorial.
As if he didn't see Emperor Qianren's embarrassment, Cheng Bolin continued: "Originally, there were not enough soldiers. This time, His Majesty's decree came so suddenly. The Ministry of War was completely unprepared and could only select as many soldiers as possible from the army. Even these 20,000 people are still in good condition. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send someone to check. There are more soldiers in the barracks who are in poorer physical condition. Many of them were the soldiers who defended Daliang last time. Those who were injured in battle and have not yet recovered.”
"This..." Only then did Emperor Qianren realize that he had wrongly blamed Cheng Bolin. Of course, it was impossible for him, the emperor, to take the initiative to promise that he was wrong. He could only turn his attention to the former Princess Di and seemed to say something else. , this is not because someone wants to make things difficult for you, but the situation is really not optimistic.
Noticing the emperor's gaze, the former Princess Di did not believe these statements. At that moment, she asked Cheng Bolin: "Cheng Shangshu, so it means that all the soldiers in Daliang City are like this? If anyone wants to It is harmful to His Majesty, how to stop it?"
"Of course, there are still elites in the city, but the number is not very large. They are the foundation for protecting Daliang City and must not be touched lightly. Once they are all sent out, what if someone wants to do harm to Daliang City? Block her?" Facing the former Princess Di, Cheng Bolin had no intention of giving in. He didn't even give her a formal title. Instead, he used very fierce language to fight back.
The reason given by Cheng Bolin was too strong. As the imperial capital of Daqian, Daliang City's safety is naturally extremely important and must be guarded by elite troops. Otherwise, like the last time, when King Zhong comes, If there is a large-scale invasion, who will defend the city?
Princess Di knew that there were elite troops in the city before, so she had the courage to express her dissatisfaction. If Cheng Bolin dared to say that there were no elite troops in the city, she would have found a reason, but now that she has publicly admitted everything, she can't say anything. Until this moment, she knew that if the Ministry of War dared to do this, it had obviously already thought of a countermeasure.
Princess Di didn't know what to say before she was unprepared. She couldn't ask for these elites to be sent to her. In that case, Emperor Qianren might be the first to refuse. Alliance, alliance, has its benefits When it comes to life and death, they are naturally allies, and when it comes to life and death, of course they are friends.
When the former Princess Di didn't know how to speak, Rui Butong, the Minister of Household Affairs who came with Cheng Bolin, said: "Your Majesty, there is almost no money in the treasury now, and the army needs to prepare food and grass for the expedition. Your Majesty, please allocate funds."
"This..." Emperor Qianren immediately showed a pained look. This emperor is really not easy to be an emperor. He needs money for everything, but when the national treasury is in short supply, how can he have the ability? Get money?
It was better in the past. When Emperor Qianwen was in power, no matter what ambitions the vassals below had, they would still pay tribute every year. The total amount of tribute money alone amounted to tens of millions of taels, which could cover some basic needs. There is still no problem with the expenses. But now that the vassal kings have become autonomous, it is simply impossible to ask them to pay tribute. If you don't do it well, it will push them into panic, and it is possible to rebel openly. .
At this moment, Emperor Qianren Tang Qinghe realized that this emperor was not good at all. He was not even as good as when he was Zongzheng. At least then he had no money to use, so he submitted a memorial to the emperor for the sake of the royal family. For face, in order for the Tang family to be able to stabilize, the emperor had to allocate some money. Although it was not much, it was definitely enough.
Now that he has become the emperor, who will Shaoyin ask to speak?
Although he had a headache, Emperor Qianren also had his own IQ. When he looked at Rui Butong, he asked, "Rui Aiqing, do you know what the regulations of the Ministry of Household Affairs are?"
"Your Majesty, there is a way to ask. That is to increase business taxes and reopen the chamber of commerce, which may alleviate the temporary emergency." Rui Butong said, this was also the main purpose of his visit.
Since the sudden change in Daliang City and the change of emperor, the original chamber of commerce has been disbanded under the pressure of a group of powerful people. The businessmen have returned to what they were before, doing business without having to pay taxes and pocketing all the benefits. Get your own pocket.
In fact, as far as the Chamber of Commerce is concerned, it is no longer as prosperous as it was in the past. The Chamber of Commerce, which was founded by Tang Ao, was prosperous before because it cost a lot to build cities and roads, and it only met the demand for grain, rice and equipment. The money is huge, and this business is a huge profit for anyone. In order to get these orders, businessmen are naturally willing to join the chamber of commerce. Although they have to pay a tax, it still has to be calculated. Profitable.
That is to say, after Tang Ao left Daliang City, everything changed. Not to mention that Xu Qiu was no longer that big. Even when the court needed it, other powerful people stepped forward to take over the business, leaving the merchants of the Chamber of Commerce with no advantage. It can be said that not only that, they usually have to pay a large amount of business tax when doing other business. How can smart businessmen do such a useless thing again? Many people quit the membership for a while.
Until Emperor Qianren came to power, some ministers below said that the Chamber of Commerce had already existed in name only, and it would be better to ban it directly. So he canceled it in a big way, so that the court lost a very important source of income, and the financial resources of the Ministry of Household Affairs were also stretched. . Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rui Butong reiterated the idea of the Chamber of Commerce, and wanted to replenish the treasury, so as to make the Ministry of Revenue's life easier.
