As Wei Zhongxian spoke, two more eunuchs came in carrying wooden boxes, and then withdrew again.
Now there are only two masters and servants left in the huge political hall.
Then, Wei Zhongxian took out the small cloth bag that He Shen had given him and handed it over: "Your Majesty, please take a look."
"Red envelope?"
Li Qian was a little speechless. He didn't expect that this tradition would exist now.
"What's in this?"
"Slave hasn't opened it yet..."
"Then open it and take a look."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wei Zhongxian opened the tightly wrapped red cloth bag layer by layer, revealing a... thin meeting ticket inside.
The paper for this ticket is a bit thicker than ordinary plain bamboo paper. It is painted with complicated vermillion and blue patterns, and there is also the Xinfu number. Take this as a photo, pay with the ticket, the banker's secret message etc.
But the most eye-catching thing is the three big characters "五千两" in the center.
Wei Zhongxian's hands trembled and he almost threw the ticket and the small bag out.
Guigui, sir, you are too generous! The price is only five thousand taels of silver!
"What's this?"
Li Qian saw Wei Zhongxian's reaction and looked over curiously.
Wei Zhongxian hurriedly handed him the meeting ticket.
"Five thousand taels of silver?"
Li Qian was also startled, and then sighed that he made the right choice to treat He Shen kindly.
This guy had a great business, so he gave him a meal, and then he actually gave him five thousand taels of silver!
This horse riding is too generous! Five thousand taels! Is it worth one-eighth of the money?
"My dear friend, how much money do I have in my internal funds? I remember that when I came to the throne, I only had 40,000 taels left."
Wei Zhongxian's expression tightened: "Your Majesty, we actually only have thirty-four thousand taels of silver..."
"What?"
Li Qian frowned, stood up and asked with a frown: "Can the money in the money be reduced?"
"It's not shrinking."
Wei Zhongxian explained: "In the past few days since His Majesty ascended the throne, the meals of the ladies and you have come from the internal funds..."
"Isn't Guanglu Temple responsible for my meals? Why do they still reach out and ask for money?" Li Qian frowned.
"Your Majesty, on your first day in Qianyang Palace, what you ate was the food from Guanglu Temple..." Wei Zhongxian reminded.
After he said this, Li Qian suddenly remembered the meal that day.
The salty and tangy soup, with fish scales, and the fishy roasted fish...
"Then why was it different later?"
Li Qian frowned. Can the level of the chefs at Guanglu Temple improve so quickly?
"The food at Guanglu Temple is difficult for His Majesty and His Majesty and His Majesty to taste, so all the subsequent meals were prepared for His Majesty and His Majesty and His Majesty's ladies by the servants' cooks..."
Li Qian was stunned. He didn't expect that there was such a relationship. He frowned and looked at Wei Zhongxian: "Guanglu Temple just takes money and doesn't work? I remember that they are in charge of the palace's food, but they pay a sum of money from the treasury every year." Silver?"
"I don't know anything about the affairs of the treasury."
Wei Zhongxian carefully replied: "But Your Majesty, Guanglu Temple is also responsible for the lunch meals for many adults in the court. However, the adults also find the food at Guanglu Temple unpalatable and have stopped eating the meals provided by them for a long time. Change it to meet up for dinner every day at noon."
“What a great Guanglu Temple!”
Li Qian frowned, and there was a hint of anger in his heart.
But after pacing back and forth for a few steps, he gradually calmed down a bit.
If something can exist, it must have a reason for its existence.
Guanglu Temple made it impossible for all the officials of the dynasty to have official meals, and there were a lot of people offended.
But even so, they have been able to maintain the status quo so far. It is absolutely unjustifiable that there is nothing fishy about it.
"Alas~"
Li Qian let out a long sigh, feeling extremely heartbroken.
The money in the treasury is also money!!
My money!
"My companion, how much money have I and my concubines spent on food and clothing in the past few days?"
Wei Zhongxian's voice was a little soft: "One hundred and forty taels..."
"What?"
Li Qian didn't hear clearly and looked at him with wide eyes: "How much?"
"To return to Your Majesty, a total of one hundred and forty taels of silver was spent!" Wei Zhongxian hurriedly raised his voice.
Li Qian frowned and looked at him, something was wrong, something was very wrong!
Not too much, but too little!
He himself plus the concubines, fifty-one people, spent a total of more than one hundred taels of silver in the past few days?
In my previous life, I heard that if the emperor ate an egg, the palace would give him five taels of silver?
The meals served to Wei Zhongxian these days don't look like cheap food at all. They can be said to be full of color, flavor and taste.
Wei Zhongxian explained: "Your Majesty, almost all ladies come from official families. When they enter the palace, they are accompanied by many dowries, so there is no need for slaves to cook for them."
Li Qian touched his nose and realized that his wives were richer than him.
"So these one hundred and forty taels are all for His Majesty's expense, and sixty taels of them are monthly payments to several chefs. Only the remaining eighty taels are for His Majesty's consumption. The money for the meal..."
"I see……"
Li Qian couldn't help but look at Wei Zhongxian. In the past few days, he had only eaten eighty taels of silver. In total, it only cost about ten taels a day?
This food is pretty good!
Is Wei Zhongxian a rare conscientious eunuch?
But...if you think about it this way, the rest seems to be wrong!
"Daban, didn't you still have 40,000 taels before?"
Wei Zhongxian immediately reported in detail: "Your Majesty, when you came to the throne, you had a balance of 39,220 taels of silver in your internal funds, and now you have a balance of 34,110 taels."
"Among them, the slaves paid a total of 120 taels for His Majesty's food and clothing, and the Duke of Tang took 5,000 taels."
"Tang Guogong!"
Li Qian gritted his teeth: "I knew it was him!!"
How can a prince pay money from the emperor's internal funds? This is simply unreasonable!
But in the current situation, this is reasonable.
In the final analysis, it was Li Qian's father who caused the evil, and it was he who gave this money to Li Yuan.
Although the late emperor ignored government affairs, he spent money! He practiced Taoism, had concubines, and built palaces...
The money in the internal treasury was simply not enough for him to build, and the ministers who asked for money from the treasury refused to agree. At this time, Duke Guo of Tang came into his sight.
We are both members of the royal family, brother, it’s okay if you support me, right?
Anyone else would have complained endlessly about being entangled with such a thing, but the clever Li Yuan found an opportunity in it.
He graciously said that it was no problem, but there was a condition.
Li Yuan said that the reason why the internal funds are often in short supply is not that Your Majesty is extravagant, but that there are villains who embezzle from them.
It is only natural for my brother to give your Majesty money, but I am unwilling to use my own money to support those corrupt villains. Therefore, I also ask your Majesty to hand over the money to your Majesty for a period of time. After I have eliminated the villains among them, I will give you the money. Return it to His Majesty.