"Your Highness, Princess, you have been writing this letter for almost a month. Why are you just sending it now?"
The Minister of War looked at the messenger and asked angrily.
"The boys encountered bandits on the road. They were so numerous that they blocked us in the mountain den for more than half a month..."
The messenger had already thought of an excuse.
There are countless bandits along the way from Sichuan and Sichuan to the capital, so it is normal to encounter bandits.
They really stayed in the mountain den for more than half a month, but they were not blocked by bandits, but were deliberately delayed there.
"You are all from the Forbidden Army. If the bandits block you, don't you know how to escape?"
If he hadn't been in the palace and it wasn't his turn to give the order, he would have wanted to kill the three messengers.
"Okay, Mr. Zhou, haven't you seen it yet? Her Highness the Princess deliberately asked them to delay."
The Taiwei said: "If my guess is correct, His Highness and Qing Xinyao may have started fighting with the Tubo people by now."
"Your Highness is spoiled by His Majesty and has no idea how terrible the Tubo people are!"
The Minister of the Ministry of War said angrily: "The Tubo people are more ferocious than Dangxiang. Your Highness is playing with fire and will bring harm to the entire Dakang!"
"Yes, His Highness can act as he pleases. He has no idea how much it will cost to fight a war!"
The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue also echoed: "The soldiers and horses have not used food and grass first, and the Tubo people are strong. Once the war starts, it will be protracted. How can the national treasury afford it?"
…
Several people said something to each other, and they all complained about the Ninth Princess.
Chen Ji's face became increasingly ugly.
The Minister of Hubu had always been at odds with Duke Qing. When he found that Duke Qing was standing aside without speaking, he turned around and knelt down to Chen Ji: "Your Majesty, Qing Xinyao has always been hostile to Tibet. This matter must be caused by Duke Qing and Duke Qing.
Qing Xinyao planned to deceive Her Royal Highness the Princess, please kill this thief and Qing Xinyao!"
"Mr. Qing Guo, did you know about this in advance?"
Chen Ji also frowned and looked at Duke Qing.
Duke Qing Guo must have known about Ninth Princess and Qing Xinyao's plan for a long time, but how could he admit it at this time?
He quickly knelt on the ground and cried out: "Your Majesty, I know it clearly, I just found out about it!"
"Mr. Qing Guo, you still dare to lie in front of His Majesty. This is deceiving the emperor and being extremely audacious!" shouted the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
"Your Majesty, Feng Shiwei has ulterior motives, please be aware of it!" Duke Qing also refused to show weakness.
Chen Ji was so upset by the quarrel that he slapped the table and shouted: "I came to you, not to let you quarrel, but to make up your mind!"
"Your Majesty, the Tubo people are so fierce that they don't even dare to provoke the Tangxiang people. We, the wealthy people, have no cavalry, so we must not start a war lightly!"
The Minister of Hubu said: "I suggest that we should send an angel to Tubo immediately, bring some gifts and beauties, explain it to Gada, and try to resolve this dispute by peaceful means!"
"I second the proposal!"
"I second the proposal!"
Other peace ministers quickly agreed.
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"
Duke Qing hurriedly said: "Now that the imperial court funds the party every year, the Khitan's money is getting more and more, and the people are overwhelmed, and they really can no longer support Tibet!"
The so-called subsidy is just another way of saying payment of annual tribute.
It can be regarded as a fig leaf that the emperor and ministers found for themselves.
"Your Majesty, what Duke Qing Guo said makes sense! Gada is a fierce and courageous person who is afraid of power but not immoral. Funding them will only make his arrogance more arrogant and intensify!"
Another warring minister stood up and echoed Duke Qing: "How can a great and prosperous country be afraid of a group of barbarian people?"
"What you said is easy. Money is needed to fight a war. Are you going to pay for it?"
The Minister of Hubu said: "It's okay if we win, but if we lose, the funding will be doubled. Maybe Gada will actually send troops to capture Xichuan City. What will happen then?"
The two sides started a heated argument again.
But after arguing for a long time, there was no result.
Chen Ji was already upset, but when they made a noise, his brain almost exploded, so he simply kicked them out.
The next morning, the quarrel continued.
The peace faction asked the emperor to send an envoy to sue for peace.
The main militant faction requested to go to war.
Chen Ji couldn't make up his mind either.
The palace is said to be very big, but also said to be small, it is very small.
Chen Ji grew up in the palace since he was a child, and he had long been tired of it.
So when he has nothing to do, he likes to pay private visits incognito and walk around the streets.
During his private interviews in private, he heard people secretly scolding him more than once, saying that Jin Feng clearly defeated the Dangxiang people in Qingshui Valley, but the imperial court increased the annual tribute to Dangxiang.
Chen Ji was so angry that after hearing more about it, he began to reflect.
We even sent people to do public opinion surveys.
Needless to say, the results of the investigation were all critical of the imperial court.
In fact, Chen Ji knew that the people must have scolded him, but the officials in charge of reporting did not dare to say so.
No emperor is willing to admit that he is a foolish emperor, and the same is true for Chen Ji.
He also hopes to leave a good name in the history of future generations.
The Ninth Princess also knew this very well, so she tried her best to talk about her reputation in future generations in her letter.
The disadvantages of summation are also analyzed from various aspects.
Chen Ji was not a fool. He naturally knew that paying tribute to Tibet would be tantamount to drinking poison to quench his thirst. He also preferred to fight in his heart.
But he was worried that he would really anger Ga Da, who sent an army to capture Xichuan City.
If that happens, Gada can use Xichuan as a springboard to continuously encroach on other parts of Sichuan and Shu.
The consequences of this are too serious.
So Chen Ji has never been able to make up his mind.
If the emperor does not make a decision, the ministers can only continue to quarrel.
The Ninth Princess had long expected that this would happen, so when the messengers came back, she told them to secretly spread the news.
Driven by the messenger, the matter soon spread in the city.
Scholars from the Imperial College even went to the palace gate to deliver the Book of All Nations, begging the court not to pay tribute to Tibet.
Chen Ji had been so worried about this matter that he couldn't sleep for several nights.
When the Ninth Princess sent a messenger to deliver the letter, Danzhu had not yet arrived in Xichuan and had only spread some rumors.
Unknown to everyone, the war is actually over now.
Their argument is meaningless at all.
It was not until the fourth night after the messenger returned that Chen Ji received a secret report.
The secret report was also sent by the Ninth Princess, but this time a flying pigeon was used to deliver the message.
The secret report was very simple. It briefly described the battle process, and then told Chen Ji that the enemy had been completely wiped out, Danzhu had been killed, and thousands of horses had been captured!
Chen Ji had already fallen asleep when he received the secret report. After reading it, he jumped out of bed with excitement.
This was the best news he had heard in several days.
Chen Ji couldn't wait to find someone to share it with.
But it was already midnight, and there were only two hours left before the morning court. He couldn't summon the ministers, so he had to send someone to call Concubine Qing.
Concubine Qing thought that the emperor had invited her to serve as his bedchamber, so she dressed up specially and entered the emperor's palace. When she was about to take off her clothes, Chen Ji slapped her hard on the shoulder: "My dear concubine, you gave birth to a good daughter for me.