Zhang Hulan was somewhat puzzled and asked, "What does this mean, Lord Qin? I don't think I said anything wrong today, did I?"
Qin Bingrong said: "You just said that you would donate all your money, which is a big deal. Fortunately, there are only a few of us here. If there were other officials here, wouldn't you force the others to donate money as well?
Not everyone is devoted to the country. For some people, asking them to pay money is like asking for their lives.
If you ask in front of many people, will they donate or not?
If they were to donate it, they would be reluctant to do so.
If they don't donate, it will be difficult for them to live.
So they will eventually donate some money, but in the end they will all hate you.”
Wu Bangtai nodded, "Yes, you will offend a lot of people by doing this. Don't do this again in the future. If you have anything to say, you can talk to the emperor in private."
Zhang Hulan was a little embarrassed. She bowed to Qin Bingrong, Duke Wei, and Marquis Jing'an and said, "I'm really sorry. I was wrong today. I will pay more attention next time."
Wu Bangtai smiled and waved his hand, "We are all family, everything will be fine. Just remember to be careful when there are other people around."
Zhang Hulan looked at several people. Except for Qin Bingrong, the Wu family, the Wang family and Duke Wei were all relatives. Since Zhang Dahua married into the Wang family, she did have a little bit of relationship with them.
Wu Bangtai and others went about their own business, and Zhang Hulan also returned to the village.
She couldn't help with anything else, but as long as she could develop hybrid rice, it would be the greatest help to Yongning Kingdom.
This year, not only will her village carry out large-scale hybrid rice cultivation, but she will also help other villages to do the same.
Zhang Hulan was not too worried about possible wars and conscription. Changning County was in the southwest, Tubo was in the west, and the grassland was in the north. His hometown was safe unless Tubo and the grassland people invaded Yongning Kingdom.
She was not worried about conscription. She was an official now, and the families of officials were exempt from corvée and military service. Moreover, the Zhang family was the in-laws of Marquis Jing'an, so Marquis Jing'an would definitely take care of them.
…
Qin Bingrong and Wu Bangtai worked very efficiently, and within a few days all the provincial capitals received the conscription notice.
Qin Bingrong found the Tibetan envoy and said that Emperor Yongxing had agreed to send troops and that conscription had already begun, and asked Tibet to quickly prepare the silver and send it over.
The Tibetan envoy also agreed and sent someone to send a letter back to Tibet.
The round trip took nearly two months.
Within two months, the spies sent to Tubo and the grassland had already sent back news.
A large number of grassland tribes were grazing on the border between Tubo and the grassland, and their behavior was very suspicious.
According to the news sent back from Tubo, several aristocratic forces have captured several cities and many people have fled.
But the spies from Yongning State mixed in with the refugees and saw some interesting war scenes.
The nobles' soldiers were still far away from the city wall, or the defenders on the wall started shooting arrows before they even attacked the city.
Or the nobles' soldiers would hold shields on their heads and stand there to be shot by those on the wall.
After attacking the city wall or breaking open the city gate, the defenders inside immediately surrendered.
The shouts and cries of killing were deafening, but the number of casualties was very small.
Just this information is enough to prove that the Tubo royal family and nobles were just acting.
Emperor Yongxing was furious. How dare Tubo do this? But then he sneered, "Well, well, since they dare to plot against me, don't blame me for being cruel..."
Emperor Yongxing asked Wu Bangtai, "My dear Lord Wu, how much gold and silver did Tubo send? Have you counted it?"
Wu Bangtai replied: "Your Majesty, they have been counted.
This time, Tubo sent 30,000 taels of gold, 500,000 taels of silver, and various gems, which should be worth about 3 million taels of silver."
Emperor Yongxing frowned, "Why are there so many gems? But so little gold and silver?"
Qin Bingrong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this Tubo is playing tricks on us.
Gold and silver have real value, and those gems are worthless in war."
Duke Wei cursed: "These bitches are so dishonest.
Your Majesty, have them transport the stones back and send more silver."
Emperor Yongxing said, "Send it back? Since it has been sent here, why would we send it back?"
Emperor Yongxing sneered, "Qin Aiqing, go find the Tibetan envoy.
Tell him that we are going to send 300,000 troops to help the Tubo royal family, and then you calculate for him how much silver it will take to train new soldiers, build weapons, armor and war horses for the 300,000 troops.
The little silver they sent is only enough to equip the army. Let them send more silver. Once the silver arrives, our army will set out.
And he told him that this time we only want gold, silver or food, and nothing else."
Duke Wei laughed loudly, "Haha, haha... Your Majesty, you have also learned bad things..."
Qin Bingrong, Wu Bangtai and Marquis Jing'an all smiled but said nothing.
Qin Bingrong left the palace and then found the Tibetan envoy, and then settled the account with the Tibetan envoy according to Emperor Yongxing's wishes.
The Tibetan envoy looked constipated and said, "Lord Qin, Tibet is in a critical situation right now and cannot gather much gold, silver and food at once. As long as the Yongning army helps my king to suppress the rebellion and confiscate the homes of those rebels, we can have as much gold and silver as we want in the future."
Qin Bingrong had a blank expression on his face, "You want our soldiers to fight for you in vain?
Confiscating the property after suppressing the rebellion? What if no silver is found?
Are those nobles stupid? If they can't win, won't they flee? Won't they take all the gold and silver treasures away or hide them? What will you give us then?"
"This..." The Tibetan envoy was speechless after being asked this question.
Qin Bingrong added: "To march out an army of 300,000, we will need at least 800,000 taels of silver and 1 million dan of grain per month.
It's impossible for Yongning to pay for these silver and food, right? We are going to help you fight the war.
You should write a letter back and tell the King of Tubo to send silver and food as soon as possible.
Our army is ready to go. Once your silver and food arrive, we will set out immediately.
By the way, please don’t send us any more gems or anything like that. We only want gold, silver and food.
Are you sending those things so that the soldiers can chew on the gems?"
Qin Bingrong finally said, "Okay, hurry up and send the letter back. We can't waste time, otherwise the Tubo royal family will be divided up by those nobles, and then our army will be useless if we rush over."
After Qin Bingrong finished speaking, he put his hands behind his back and walked away.
The Tibetan envoy's chest heaved. The people of Yongning were really deceiving...
Although the Tubo envoy was angry, he still immediately wrote a letter and had it sent back to Tubo. He was just a messenger, and it depended on what the Tubo king planned.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
