Chapter 810 Utilization
Wang Yuzhen was a person who knew her limits. Even though she wanted to plead for Wang Huailu, she stopped trying to cling to him after hearing the queen's decision.
Seeing her politely take her leave in compliance with her duties, Tang Ning's brows relaxed slightly.
"Sister." Xue Ru, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up: "I'm afraid Miss Wang didn't tell the truth."
Tang Ning turned her head: "Oh, what do you mean?"
Xue Ru frowned. "I can't really put it into words, but my intuition tells me that she didn't tell me the truth just now. Or maybe, what she said to me just now about Lord Wang was a little exaggerated, and she was keeping something from me."
Tang Ning saw her little face wrinkled up, her eyes filled with solemnity because she couldn't figure out the truth. She couldn't help but laugh and waved at her.
Xue Ru walked up to her in confusion, and was pulled by Tang Ning to sit aside.
"She really didn't tell me the truth."
Xue Ru suddenly looked up, anger showing on her face.
Tang Ning patted the little girl, who was like a frantic cat, soothingly, and before she could say anything else, she continued, "But she didn't lie to me either."
"ah?"
Xue Ru was confused.
Tang Ning touched her hair, which was soft and smooth, no longer as dry as before. She chuckled and said, "Wang Huailu has indeed forgotten his original intention. He secretly colluded with King Hui and several aristocratic court officials, helping them conceal some private profiteering. He accepted a box of gold just two days after Your Majesty ascended the throne. At that time, Southern Qi and Beiling were still in chaos."
Xue Ru opened her mouth wide: "Wang Huailu betrayed His Majesty so long ago?"
"It's hardly a betrayal."
Tang Ning explained softly to the little girl in front of him, "Before His Majesty revealed his true identity, he once took a large sum of gold from a noble family under the guise of a He family son. You should know that, right?"
Xue Ru nodded. She knew that when His Majesty competed with the aristocratic families, the aristocratic families lost to His Majesty by a single move. His Majesty used the evidence of the He family's destruction to severely tear off a layer of flesh and blood. Many people knew about this, but not many people knew how much gold the aristocratic families had lost.
The aristocratic families kept silent about the matter, and no one on His Majesty's side dared to inquire about it, but everyone knew that the "compensation" would not be small, otherwise the aristocratic families would not have been so badly damaged.
Tang Ning said, "At that time, His Majesty plundered a full 800,000 gold from the noble families."
"Eight hundred thousand?!"
Xue Ru's eyes widened. She was now in charge of the entire Rongsheng Academy, as well as the private property of the Tang family. In addition, she followed the Gu family to "see the world". The amount of money she passed through every day was extremely huge, but she was still shocked when she heard the "800,000 gold".
Tang Ning jokingly said, "My jaw dropped."
Xue Ru quickly touched her face and said coquettishly: "Sister!"
Tang Ning laughed, then said seriously after a moment: "Do you think 800,000 gold is a lot? But in reality, this amount of gold is far from enough to support the court and the people's livelihood."
"The deposed emperor indulged in pleasure, and the power of the Great Wei declined. The treasury was perennially empty, and the Ministry of Revenue simply couldn't come up with money. Not to mention the expenses of natural disasters and man-made disasters, even during the previous vassal rebellion, if Your Majesty hadn't secretly provided funds, I'm afraid the court wouldn't have been able to raise enough food and fodder to attack the Pingshan Prince's Palace."
"Your Majesty had to quell the rebellion of the vassal kings and appease the people in the court. Furthermore, the deposed emperor had earlier promised to pay compensation to the people of Rongjiang who died unjustly that year. There was also the need for disaster relief for the avalanches caused by the heavy snowfall before the New Year, as well as the pre-war stockpiling of grain, horses, and equipment. More than half of the gold had already been spent before it even warmed up."
Tang Ning sighed softly. She and her brother seemed to be well-off, but in fact they were very poor.
Everyone in the court is asking for money. All the holes that Xie Tianyong had dug before needed to be filled by my brother. Moreover, my brother did not ascend to the throne through the orthodox way. When the East Palace and the He family were destroyed, the Xiao family certainly protected him, but the Xiao family did not have much permanent property. It can really be said that he climbed up from nothing.
Xiao Yan had no inheritance, and a bunch of people were crying for food. The 800,000 gold seemed like a lot, but it couldn't last long. Naturally, Xiao Yan had to find another way to make money.
And who has the most money in the court, inside and outside the capital?
That person is naturally from a noble family.
Xue Ru couldn't help but twitch her lips when she heard Tang Ning's words: "So Wang Huailu is making money on the emperor's orders?"
Tang Ning nodded. "The aristocratic families are very wealthy. Since Wang Huailu is close to them, they naturally want to recruit him. Moreover, Wang Huailu has gained real power with the help of Liang Guangyi. He can do a lot in his position. If those people in the aristocratic families are restless and have some thoughts, they will naturally show their favor to him."
"Wang Huailu has never concealed this matter. He has delivered almost everything the noble families gave him to the palace, so Your Majesty tacitly approves of this."
Xue Ru frowned: "Then he..."
"He was greedy too."
Tang Ning looked calm. There were not many good people in the aristocratic families. They wanted to use Wang Huailu but were afraid that he would turn against them, so they left evidence in the things they gave to Wang Huailu. Wang Huailu probably didn't expect that the people in the aristocratic families would be so stupid that they would leave evidence after doing bad things.
The palace had long known about the things he had intercepted, but Xiao Yan never blamed his own people, and Wang Huailu was "frank" enough. Moreover, it was his ability to get money from the aristocratic families, so Xiao Yan was not greedy for even a little bit.
When the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Xiao Yan never thought of asking everyone in the court to be a selfless saint. As long as they do not go too far and do not cross the line, he will almost turn a blind eye and pretend nothing happens.
But now Wang Huailu has crossed the line.
Tang Ning raised her eyes with a cold expression. "This isn't the first time Wang Huailu has come into contact with Prince Hui and the others. He's also been in contact with those people from the aristocratic families for a long time. Wang Yuzhen should know about this. She came to the palace today not because she accidentally discovered that Wang Huailu had betrayed His Majesty, but because she realized that what her father had done had already threatened the entire Wang family."
"She was afraid that things would get out of hand, and she couldn't stop Wang Huailu, so she came to the palace to see me."
Xue Ru was instantly furious: "She dares to use my sister?!"
The little girl's eyes were round and full of anger, and even her usually gentle face was tense and full of frost.
"My sister helped her in the past, she rescued her and protected her. Later, she even allowed her to study at the academy and took good care of her. Now she's actually trying to trick me?!"
Tang Ning pulled the person back: "It's not all ulterior motives. She's worried about Wang Huailu and the Wang family as a part of it, but her heart may not be completely selfish."
"We are now at war, and the example of the King of England is before us. Troubled times call for severe punishments. If I knew that Wang Huailu had betrayed Your Majesty and colluded with King Hui and the noble families, I would probably cut the Gordian knot and execute the culprit directly."
"She certainly had selfish motives in taking the risk of telling this matter, but she was also genuinely afraid that the chaos in the court would affect the border."
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