On the surface, this was a question to give points, but in reality, it was a hidden secret that made Zhu Zhishu dare not answer the question at all.
Because there were Qin and Jin vassals in front, Zhu Zhishu must have had a hard time making a decision, and he did not dare to give a specific number.
Because he didn't know how much Qin Fan and Jin Fan paid, he naturally didn't want to pay more, but he didn't dare to repay too little now.
If the money and food donated by the Qin and Jin vassals were too different, it would not only make the emperor suspicious, but also leave a bad impression.
This batch of donated money and food has not played its due role and is equivalent to wasting money.
After much thought, he finally told the emperor a number that he thought was extremely conservative and safe.
Five thousand stones of grain, three thousand bolts of cloth, five hundred bolts of silk and satin, and fifty thousand taels of silver.
Then he also learned and sold it now. After talking about the amount of donation, he started to cry about poverty in front of Zhu Youxiao.
How could Zhu Youxiao believe his lies? He immediately interrupted his performance.
"The King of Shu is too generous. During the Hongwu period, Shu was a famous and wealthy vassal in the world. Over the years, the salary of the imperial court has never been less than yours."
"The Shu vassal has never had any large expenditures. Why did the King of Shu close his eyes and tell lies when he was in front of me?"
"I'm not blaming the King of Shu for not donating enough. I just said it before. It's all based on my own wishes. But this little money and food is really insignificant."
"Since the King of Shu himself has limited conditions, I am not the kind of unkind person. The current situation is unstable, there are strong enemies outside, and rebellions continue in various places."
"I don't want this money and food. The King of Shu will keep it for himself in case of emergencies. In case of emergency, maybe it will come in handy."
After saying this, he greeted the two princes next to him and prepared to leave the Shu Palace.
This moment frightened Zhu Zhishu. If he had known earlier, he would have said more. What kind of thing is he doing now?
The emperor's words were obviously harsh, and he was blatantly threatening him.
What does it mean that there are constant rebellions in various places? Why is it an emergency?
In recent years, except for the She'an Rebellion, which broke out large-scale rebellions in the southwest, where has this occurred in other regions?
Just now he called me Uncle King of Shu, but now he calls me the vassal title.
Anyone who is not a fool would know the reason for such an obvious change in attitude.
The number must not satisfy the emperor.
Doesn't this mean that he and the imperial court will have no control over anything that happens in Shu in the future?
"Your Majesty, wait a minute. I suddenly remembered that the late king told me before his death that there is a batch of money and food in the palace treasury of the King of Shu, which was accumulated by the previous kings."
"It is prepared in case of unexpected needs. Although the amount is not large, I think it will not disappoint His Majesty again. I am willing to allocate money and food from the treasury to help with disaster relief."
Zhu Zhishu hurriedly ran to the emperor's side, bowed his hands and said.
In fact, what he regrets more now is that he shouldn't have trusted these two little bastards.
If he had declined politely just now, maybe the situation would have been better than now? Maybe the emperor really didn't care?
Zhu Youxiao turned around, looked at Zhu Zhishu with an extremely cold expression, and then said:
"King Shu, just tell me how much it is specifically. I still have a lot of things to deal with and I don't have any extra time to waste."
Zhu Zhishu was afraid that the emperor would turn around and leave, so he quickly said:
"I will donate as much as the Qin and Jin vassals donate, no less. This is the maximum I can do. I hope your majesty can forgive me."
"I still count the money and food that I just reported to your Majesty. Your Majesty's army traveled a long distance from the capital to the southwest and put down the rebellion. Their hard work has made great achievements. I will leave these money and food to your Majesty to reward the soldiers."
Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly, this trick of playing hard to get was really good.
In fact, he was also betting, but he didn't expect that he would be right. King Shu didn't dare to offend him, let alone get caught by him, so he was so nervous.
"This is what the King of Shu said himself. He did it willingly. I did not force you."
Zhu Zhishu once again made a promise, saying that everything he said was true, but there were some lies, so he voluntarily went to the Mausoleum of Taizu to repent and apologize.
Zhu Youxiao couldn't be happier because he finally caught the fattest sheep of the Ming Dynasty and made a fortune.
In order to protect his own interests and prevent the King of Shu from defaulting on his debts, Zhu Youxiao took out a long knife from Ma Xianglin's waist and cut off the corner of his clothes.
After preparing the pen and ink, he asked the King of Shu to personally write the content of the donation. He wrote it down word for word according to what he just said, and also asked him to make a signature.
The happy Zhu Youxiao, holding this conclusive proof, suddenly became happy, but he concealed it well and did not show his joy.
"In that case, the King of Shu will summon everyone in the palace to come to the main hall. I have something to say. There is also one more thing. The King of Shu will prepare some more paper and prepare the royal seal."
Zhu Zhishu felt something was wrong and asked the emperor uneasily:
"May I ask Your Majesty, how much food did the Qin and Jin dynasties donate?"
Zhu Youxiao smiled strangely, and then said slowly:
"The money and food donated by King Qin and King Jin totaled four million taels of silver and six hundred thousand stones of food!"
When Zhu Zhishu heard this number, his face was full of disbelief.
His first reaction was that the emperor was deceiving him by falsely reporting the amount. How could the Qin and Jin vassals be so generous and give up so much money and food?
Even if the King of Shu doesn't care about it, he still has a rough idea of his assets.
All this money and food, even he had to break his muscles and bones, and his heart was extremely painful.
What's more, the Qin and Jin vassals were far inferior to his Shu vassal.
Zhu Youxiao knew that he would not believe it, and he would not believe it if he was not a person involved.
But when Zhu Youxiao placed the account books in front of him, Zhu Zhishu saw the royal seals of the two vassals, and received the testimony of the two princes, he believed this was true.
Only now did he realize that all of this was a trap. The emperor had already designed it, and he was just waiting for his enemy to fall into the trap.
But even if he knew, what could he do? He had just signed the document with his own hands in front of everyone and the emperor. Now what else could he do except accept his fate.
I can only blame myself for being too ignorant and for being too contemptuous of this underage emperor.
As long as the King of Shu is successfully deceived, the next thing will be nothing more than an edict from Zhu Youxiao.
He mobilized five thousand Huben soldiers and came to the Shu Palace and the treasury outside the palace to transport the money and food to the military camp non-stop.
When the King of Shu saw that the property accumulated by the previous kings was taken away with a smile on his face, he immediately became furious.
After returning to the palace in the evening, he grabbed a eunuch and beat him violently to vent his anger.
Just because he said a wrong word or did a wrong thing, he lost 600,000 stone grains and 4 million taels of silver. How could he not be angry?