Even the general Zhang Xiaowu could see that King Jin had lost his composure. How could the ministers not see it? But even if the ministers saw through it, they couldn't tell it. They looked at the emperor's face and found a smile on the corner of his mouth, and they suddenly felt in their hearts.
A cold. Right Prime Minister Wang Cheng had to cough to remind King Jin to pay attention to his attitude. But King Jin didn't seem to notice that his attitude offended the emperor's majesty, and was still complacent. Wang Cheng could only sigh in his heart
He secretly said that this son is frivolous, embarrassing to use, and even worse than the King of Chu (the seventh prince Xuanyuan Zidong).
Wang Cheng stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the king's traitor established the puppet Wu, which is really abominable. The imperial court must send a large army south to cut off the rebels. I invite the White Tiger Army to go south to attack the puppet Wu. No one except Du Shanbo can quell the rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River."
.”
Indeed, when it comes to leading troops to fight and holding the country, only Dushanbo is the only one. Among all the civil and military officials in the dynasty, only Dushanbo's White Tiger Army is the most trustworthy, even though everyone is secretly dissatisfied with Dushanbo's arbitrary style and straight-forward approach.
He is a military man, but at this moment, the only person who can quell the chaos is Du Shanbo.
So the ministers immediately stood up and said: "I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
"I also second the proposal."
Seeing that all the ministers supported the proposal, Emperor Dade had no other choice in his mind and immediately ordered: "General in front of the palace, please quickly inform Du Shanbo to enter the court."
The general in front of the palace was about to go out when he saw Du Shanbo and Zuo Xiang Zhang Kuan coming together. They both looked tired. I don't know if it was because of the few steps or because of the war in the south of the Yangtze River. The two nodded to each other when they entered the hall.
Apparently a certain consensus had been reached. Du Shanbo took the lead and said: "Your Majesty makes atonement. I have come late to the court."
Seeing Du Shanbo coming, Emperor Dade suddenly became happy and said immediately: "The commander-in-chief is here, it's good that the commander-in-chief is here. Does the commander-in-chief know about the war in the south of the Yangtze River?"
Du Shanbo nodded and said: "I know that I just met the Left Prime Minister and we discussed the matter in a hurry, which is why we left late."
Emperor Dade hurriedly asked: "Do you two have any suggestions?"
Du Shanbo said: "Your Majesty, for the present plan, we can only put down the rebellion in Jiangnan at all costs. If the pseudo-Wu Kingdom is not established as soon as possible, it will cause a chain reaction and set an example for the rebels in other places.
The veteran petitions me to lead the White Tiger Army to the south of the Yangtze River to quell the rebellion, destroy the puppet Wu regime, share the worries of the empire, and share the worries of Your Majesty. I will not return the court until the puppet Wu is destroyed."
Emperor Da De thought of Zhang Xiaowu's evaluation of Du Shanbo, who seemed to be treacherous and loyal, but Du Shanbo was indeed a loyal minister. At such a critical moment, Du Shanbo could stand up and turn the tide, but how could he let the grudge in his heart remain as it was in the past?
Uncle Dushan's efforts were like a spur to him. He stood up from the dragon throne with joy and said with emotion: "With my uncle on the expedition, the empire has no worries. The empire has no worries."
Du Shanbo said: "It's just that the three armies have not yet moved the food and grass. Your Majesty, the White Tiger Army still needs to send out silver taels before the White Tiger Army starts, and the food and grass raising also requires silver." When it comes to fighting, in fact, in addition to military comparison, financial resources are also needed.
Attrition, the empire's continuous wars, coupled with natural disasters such as plague, floods, and droughts, have made the country's national strength endangered.
At this time, the Right Prime Minister Wang Cheng had to go out and said: "Your Majesty, the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue is now empty, and we need to raise more funds to pay for the expedition. Last year, the imperial court had a deficit of three million taels. So far this year,
The expense deficit has already reached 3 million taels. Officials in many places cannot even pay their salaries."
Du Shanbo asked: "Can't you get the silver?"
Wang Cheng shook his head and said: "It's not that you can't get it, it's that you don't have it. Commander, why do soldiers need to pull out silver to protect their homes and countries? From the perspective of the veteran, the so-called pulling out of silver is actually a very bad precedent."
Du Shanbo said angrily: "Do you know what this silver is? It is the settlement money that the sergeant gave to his family before he died. This is their funeral expenses and money for selling his life!"
Wang Chengdao: "Commander, if I don't take it, it's because I really don't have any."
The officials in the central government began to discuss in a low voice. In fact, the Ministry of Revenue did not have much money. Over the years, it had been relying on borrowing money from banks to survive. Therefore, the court now relied most on major banks. Last year, Emperor Dade
He was awarded the title of a nobleman of the silver village owner because he borrowed four million taels of silver from the imperial court and solved the imperial court's financial crisis.
Emperor Dade looked solemn. Do you still want to borrow money from the bank? He shook his head and suddenly said: "My dear friends, since the treasury is empty and the army must collect the money, we have no shirk. I have decided to borrow money from within.
Five hundred thousand taels of silver have been allocated from the treasury to support the White Tiger Army. How much can you all donate?"
As the emperor's grandfather and one of the richest people in the Holy Han Empire, Zhang Kuan, the left prime minister, immediately came out and said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to donate 150,000 taels of silver to support the departure of the White Tiger Army as military supplies."
"Okay, okay, six hundred and fifty thousand taels, six hundred and fifty thousand taels!" Emperor Dade said happily, "The left prime minister is so generous, how about you, the right prime minister?"
Everyone looked at the Prime Minister. Wang Cheng was extremely embarrassed and said: "Your Majesty, I am poor and can only allocate five thousand taels of silver to support the White Tiger Army in going south to destroy the rebellion."
"hiss--"
Everyone couldn't help but take a breath of air-conditioning. This right-hand minister is too cold. Who doesn't know that your Wang family is rich, even far more than the Zhang family? How come you are poor? If your family is poor, the whole world will drink from the northwest wind.
Big. But this Wang Cheng has always been a penny-pincher. He is a Pixiu person who can only get in and out. Now that he has taken five thousand taels of silver, he has already cut off his flesh.
The Great Virtue Emperor was not angry, he just nodded and said with a smile: "Right Chancellor, I also know that your family is poor, and you have worked hard and fulfilled your duties for this empire for so many years. Even though you are seventy-two years old, you still manage it.
Eight parts is indeed too hard. Well, I think you are old and have worked hard for half your life, so I will allow you to retire and return to your hometown to take care of yourself."
"ah!"
Everyone was shocked. Zhang Xiaowu didn't expect that Emperor Dade, who was kind and kind just now, suddenly asked his right minister to resign and go home. This was too sudden. The right minister did something wrong, just because he got less money.
Is that so? Why did you beat him to the end with just a few hints? Zhang Xiaowu suddenly discovered another side of the Great Virtue Emperor, and this side turned out to be so terrifying and deep.
The ministers were very frightened and looked at Uncle Dushan one after another. Uncle Dushan looked at Wang Cheng with ease, looked at this former rival, cupped his hands and said: "Congratulations, right minister, congratulations, right minister, you can finally have a good rest."
.”
Zhang Kuan also cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, you have been working so hard, and now that you are free, you are envious of me for waiting."
Emperor Dade laughed with satisfaction. At this moment, both Du Shanbo and Zhang Kuan were under his control. This move was indeed wonderful to use his strength to make Wang Cheng, an old fox, fall into a trap.
