Chapter 833 Try the Queen
After Min An finished speaking, without waiting for Wang Huailu to answer, he knocked his fist with a determined look.
"Yes, there's absolutely no money in the court. The treasury was long ago emptied by the deposed emperor. Even if Xiao Yan had some savings before he ascended the throne, they weren't much. Back then, he couldn't even gather enough food and fodder to send troops to attack the vassal kings. All he could rely on was the 800,000 gold he stole from us."
At that time, Xiao Yan was determined to hold on to the 800,000 gold, and the main reason was that he had no money.
The 800,000 gold coins almost cost the noble family half their lives, and when they fell into Xiao Yan's hands, they became the basis for him to appease the court, conquer the vassal kings, and even carry out a series of reforms after he first ascended the throne. If it were in normal times, the gold coins would be enough to fill the national treasury and maintain the court's operation for three to five years. When the government reforms stabilized and Xiao Yan sat firmly on the throne, taxes from all over the country would be fed back to the national treasury to nourish the court.
But the premise of all this is that there is no war in the court.
The other people present also vaguely understood what Min An said. Although they were not in the Ministry of Revenue, as people in power from aristocratic families, they all understood mathematics.
They only needed to make a rough estimate to know how much gold Xiao Yan had spent after he seized the throne. Until the war between the North and the South broke out, he probably had less than half of it left.
If they only fought against Beiling, the gold would be enough to last for half a year or a year, but Xiao Yan was not satisfied and wanted to take over Southern Qi in one fell swoop. He was ambitious and wanted to use the power of Southern Qi to advance north, so that the north and the south went to war at the same time, and the gold he had could barely maintain the battlefields in two places.
Southern Qi won the war quickly and dispatched troops to the north for support. In addition, with the "compensation" obtained after the peace talks, the northwest battlefield naturally would not be short of military supplies. But now the various tribes in the western border have gotten involved, and the emperor of Qi is wavering and delaying the peace talks. The war in Southern Qi will be difficult to end for a while, and the north will naturally be trapped without support.
"Xiao Yan has run into trouble in Southern Qi. The Queen is simply bluffing."
Duan Zhiru said coldly, "She's forcing the noble families so hard, not hesitating to start a war against Shi Qingrong, just to make us think she has a trump card. She's making such a big fuss just to cover up the situation in Western Xinjiang, and to make us, out of fear, contribute money to fill the empty treasury, so that we can help Xiao Yan keep the two battlefields!"
The others reacted upon hearing this.
"She's quite thoughtful!"
"The Queen is too conceited. Isn't she afraid of causing too much trouble and forcing our families to rebel?"
"She's crazy. She's pushing us like this. Does she really think we won't turn against her?"
Wang Huailu heard the others cursing and said only one sentence: "If there is no news from Western Xinjiang, would you dare to turn against me?"
The others cursed and looked unhappy.
Even though they say they are determined to fight to the death, the aristocratic families have been living in comfort in the court for too long, and 90% of their assets are in the capital. Unless they really have reached the point where they can't survive, no one would really risk the annihilation of the entire family to take this last resort.
King Hui looked at their faces and snorted coldly. He knew that these people from the aristocratic families were cunning. They looked like they were in the same boat with him and would share life and death with him. They kept saying that they would help him seize power and even help the descendants of King Hui to ascend to the throne, but in fact, it was just empty talk.
Prince Hui sneered, "The Queen must have known about this matter between you and me for a long time, which is why she took action in advance. If she can scare you this time, not only will you abandon me and Min San and the others, you will also take the initiative to surrender to the Queen and hand over your war horses and silver."
When the people from the aristocratic families heard King Hui's sarcastic words, they all felt guilty and most of them avoided King Hui's sight because they knew very well that if it really came to that, they would most likely do as King Hui said.
The atmosphere in the room was awkward for a moment. Min An coughed and said, "Okay, the most important thing right now is to discuss what we should do next."
The others instantly perked up.
"Of course I'll fight the Queen!"
"Yes, right now Xiao Yan is being held hostage by Southern Qi, and the North can't withdraw its troops. Of course, we must take advantage of his weakness and kill him now!"
"The Queen dares to take such a risk. I'm afraid the North-South battlefield is really about to collapse. If we attack now, the Queen will only be defeated!"
Everyone's face was filled with excitement, as if they had already imagined that they would expose the Queen's cowardice and the aristocratic families would re-enter the court and hold great power. Only Lord Cui, who had been hiding in the corner, suddenly said something.
"But these are just your guesses."
The others' faces lit up with excitement and they turned to look at him.
Cui Yu shuddered at their gazes, and said in a low voice, "I'm afraid I'll do that."
"Even if Your Majesty is pinned down in Southern Qi and the northwest battlefield is running low on food and supplies, don't forget that the Empress still has the Gu family of Zuozhou behind her. You all know the relationship between Gu Helian and Madam Rongguo. The Empress is like a half-daughter to him. If it really comes to that, the Gu family will not sit idly by."
"Before leaving the capital, His Majesty handed everything over to the Empress. Troops can't be withdrawn from the northwest, but the four suburban battalions are still there, along with the Imperial Guards, the Imperial Patrol Battalion, and even the Black Armored Guards. Those are all deadly weapons in the Empress's hands, totaling 30,000 to 40,000 people."
"If... I mean if, if you guessed wrong, the incident between Guo Changming and Shi Qingrong was an accident, and the Queen really just accidentally discovered the Ministry of Justice's affairs and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to control and suppress the aristocratic families, then His Majesty did not have the accidents and difficulties you mentioned."
"Yet you are raising your swords and rebelling at this moment, truly tearing your face apart. With the Queen having no scruples, can those of us in the capital withstand the tens of thousands of troops at the Queen's command?"
Cui Yu couldn't help shrinking his neck when he saw their increasingly ugly faces, but he still mustered up the courage to finish what he said.
"The Queen is so confident that she doesn't even give Prime Minister Liang the slightest bit of respect. Don't let us be wrong and run into her own trap, which will give the Queen the opportunity and excuse to wipe out everyone in our family..."
The emperor and empress have been wanting to take action against the aristocratic families for a long time.
Cui Yu's words were like a splash of cold water, completely dampening the excitement of the group.
Only then did they remember that the Queen was not alone. She had tens of thousands of troops in the capital, and even Cao Dejiang and others in the court to help her. If they wanted to fight with the Queen, they would inevitably fall out. If they were wrong about the Southern Qi incident and miscalculated the Queen's intentions, they would have to drag their entire family to be buried with her.
Min An and the others looked at each other, and even King Hui and Wang Huailu showed hesitation on their faces.
Duan Zhiru was a little irritable: "Then what should we do? Are we just going to sit and wait to die?"
Wang Huailu pondered for a moment and said, "Why not try the Queen?"
Everyone looked at him: "How do you try?"
Wang Huailu: "Go to Prime Minister Liang and tell him that the noble families are willing to surrender to the Queen, but five times the amount is too much, and it is difficult to raise food and horses. Say you are willing to pay double the amount of silver in exchange for the Queen's surrender."
"You families should gather the silver and have Prime Minister Liang bring it directly to the palace. If the Queen remains adamant and refuses to give up, then our previous speculation may have been wrong. However, if the Queen accepts the silver and softens her stance, or even quits while she's ahead..."
Min An said in a deep voice: "If she quits while she's ahead, it means she's really guilty. There's a problem on the battlefield in Southern Qi, and the court is running out of food and military supplies."
Wang Huailu nodded: "Yes, if the time comes, we can start fighting."
Even if the queen had enough troops, Xiao Yan was trapped in the battlefield of Southern Qi, and the war in the northwest would be even more difficult to sustain.
At this time, would the Queen dare to break off relations with them and take action directly, risking both her and herself to perish?
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