Chapter 331 The Concubine Does Not Harm the Country, She Only Wants to Harm the Imperial Master (Thirty-Five)

"Your Majesty is not feeling well. The ministers will discuss state affairs among themselves."

The eunuch's unique shrill voice came from behind, waking up the drowsy ministers.

Not surprisingly, Yue Wu will not attend today's grand court meeting.

The officials had long been accustomed to this, but now that the prime minister had passed away, the cabinet was in a mess, and the officials who were just sitting on the fence had all turned their attention to the Minister of Personnel, the head of the six ministries.

Feeling everyone's gazes, Minister Yin stroked his beard and pretended to be oblivious, as if waiting for everyone to lift him up.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, several officials exchanged glances and began to compliment each other. After much urging and pushing, Shangshu Yin reluctantly walked to the head of all officials, to stand in front of the late Prime Minister.

Only then did the grand court meeting truly begin.

"Is anyone going to submit a memorial today?"

Minister Yin asked in a pretentiously amiable manner.

The Minister of War bowed, pulled out his memorial from his sleeve, and said, "After the great victory at Sishui Pass, there were disagreements in the peace talks with Wu. Wu was unwilling to pay compensation."

Minister Yin frowned and spread out his palms.

A strange young eunuch walked out from the corner, took the memorial and handed it to Yin Ta.

Minister Yin paused slightly as he picked up the memorial, then tilted his head to look at the young eunuch in front of him and asked, "Why isn't Eunuch Gao here?"

The young eunuch quickly lowered his head and said, "Chief Steward Gao has been summoned away by Imperial Concubine Jiang."

After hearing this, Minister Yin withdrew his hand, flipped open the memorial, and glanced at it lazily.

The more he looked, the more his brow furrowed. He said in a deep voice, "Why are we demanding so much grain from the Wu Kingdom? The Wu Kingdom wants to use gold, silver, silk, and horses in exchange. Why doesn't General Xiang allow it?"

The Minister of War shook his head: "I have also asked, but the Queen is determined to do so, and there is nothing I can do."

Minister Yin became annoyed when he heard this, and at this moment he realized that Xiang Zhige was not only a general, but also the queen of the current dynasty. Who would dare to interfere?

"absurd!"

Shangshu Yin slammed the memorial shut, and the officials under his command began to echo and criticize in low voices.

"Your Majesty, this is sheer nonsense. Our Ning Kingdom's treasury is empty due to the war, and we need gold and silver to alleviate domestic pressure. How can you only ask for food?"

Minister Yin nodded: "Yes, we in Daning are not suffering from famine. Who can eat all this food?"

"Not long ago, His Majesty summoned me to inquire about the Cloudtop Pavilion..."

The Minister of Works muttered to himself at this time, and then glanced at the Minister of Revenue with a wronged look.

The Minister of Revenue was so confused by his gaze: "What are you looking at? I'm not deliberately making things difficult for you by not approving the money. What use do I have to you?"

That’s true.

The Minister of Works withdrew his gaze, looking as if he had lost all hope in life.

This brings me back to the point, Xiang Zhige doesn't want compensation, he only wants food!

Minister Yin impatiently opened the memorial again, looking at the amount of gold and silver on it unwillingly, feeling extremely greedy.

If these are all shipped back to the country and they do some processing, won’t they be able to make money?

Unfortunately, the general is away... and she is still a queen.

He really can't control it.

He could not see or touch this money, which made him feel worse than death.

Then he closed the memorial in annoyance and became sullen.

At this moment, one of his subordinates suddenly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Lord Yin, the treasury is currently empty, which has delayed the completion of the Cloudtop Pavilion. How about increasing some taxes?"

Shangshu Yin turned around and looked at the man: "Under what pretext are you collecting taxes?"

“Construction tax.”

As soon as the words fell, an official standing at the back couldn't help but jump out: "Nonsense! How can you collect taxes arbitrarily..."

Minister Yin looked at the man.

Friends around him quickly pulled his sleeves and pulled the indignant colleague back.

Minister Yin looked at him sinisterly for a long while, and only put away his gloomy expression when his officials spoke one after another.

"The Cloud Top Pavilion is the symbol of our Daning, and it will also be a landmark in the future. It is only natural to collect taxes to build the Cloud Top Pavilion."

"Yeah, I think it's okay."

"I think that's fine..."

Everyone was talking at once, and several officials who were disappointed with the court rolled their eyes, saying nothing and taking no action.

Seeing that they had calmed down, Minister Yin looked away and said with a smile, "If that's the case, then..."

“I don’t think that’s possible!”

At this moment, a resounding rebuttal suddenly came from outside the hall.

The hall suddenly became quiet. Just when they wanted to turn around to see who it was, the familiar and long voice of Eunuch Gao Ling came from outside the hall.

"The Grand Master has arrived—"

Everyone's expression was blank for a moment, including the smug-looking Minister Yin, who stood there with his mouth slightly open in a funny manner.

Then, a tall and thin figure walked into the hall. He came in front of Minister Yin and stared at him for a few seconds without saying a word.

A higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking official. Shangshu Yin stole a glance at Gao Ling, who was also looking at him. Although he had a smile on his face, that smile was full of sarcasm.

Minister Yin gritted his teeth, frowned, and retreated to his original position. He bowed to Yu Huo and said, "Greetings, Master Imperial Master."

Yu Huo then leisurely took a step forward and took back the position that Minister Yin had not yet taken. At the same time, he raised his hand towards Minister Yin with a fake smile on his face and said, "Master Yin, there is no need to be so polite."

In just a moment, the fence-sitters came to their senses and started whispering to each other.

"Doesn't the Imperial Master usually not attend court meetings? Why is he here today..."

"Why else? To seize power."

"ah?"

"Think about it, before the Prime Minister was here, and the two of them were equal, even if the Imperial Master came, he couldn't control the court. Now that the Prime Minister has passed away, we are leaderless. Isn't this the perfect time to seize power?"

"No wonder... Isn't Minister Yin very embarrassed right now?"

The focus of the topic gradually shifted, and when Minister Yin heard this, his expression turned a little ugly.

When Yu Huo heard this, he thought of Aunt Na Ying.

(What?! This is simply alarmist! .jpg)

When he is willing to come?

If you hadn't ignored the people and only thought about making money, he would still be sleeping comfortably in bed at this time, okay?

Minister Yin felt embarrassed and could not help but retort, "Why doesn't the Imperial Master agree to the tax?"

"Let's put the tax collection on hold for now. Let's talk about the memorial from the Minister of War first." Yu Huo sneered and snatched the memorial from his hand.

"What do you mean by too much food to eat? Lord Yin, is it because you've been sitting in high places for so long that your eyesight has deteriorated and you can't see the suffering of the world?"