On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month in the thirty-third year of the Great Gan era, a massive snowstorm hit the capital.
The court was originally scheduled to close its books on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, but Emperor Hui suddenly received a letter from the Queen's Empire.
The new queen of the Queen's Empire ascends the throne and demands that the previous emperor repay her kindness!
"Her Majesty the Queen has saved the life of the Emperor of Da Gan three times, and requests to repay this great favor with the territory of three states."
The three ceded prefectures were Guangnan East Prefecture, Guangnan West Prefecture, and Zi Prefecture.
After conquering Tibet and attacking Wei a few days ago, the territory has expanded, and now it has a total of twenty-four prefectures.
Now they're just handing over three states to another country? And these are three particularly valuable border states!
Emperor Hui had Hua Zisheng read the imperial edict aloud in court, leaving all the civil and military officials dumbfounded.
What? The new queen of the Queen's Empire has ascended the throne and is demanding that Da Gan give up three states to repay the life-saving grace he once received?
The official letter was quite high-profile, and Lu Feiyan said without any politeness, "I await Daqian to present the official letter ceding the land, otherwise you will bear the consequences!"
Emperor Hui had been saved by Lu Feiyan three times and knew how skilled she was in poison, but how could she possibly give up her territory?
The court officials were outraged, saying, "This tiny country doesn't even know etiquette, demanding repayment for a favor. They're asking for an exorbitant amount; aren't they afraid of being ripped off?"
Emperor Hui asked, "Do you know who the new emperor is?"
"Is she Jiang Jinhua's daughter?"
Emperor Hui shook his head: "Her name is Lu Feiyan, the female physician who used to serve Xie Zhaozhao."
Most people don't remember them; they were high-ranking officials in the imperial court, who would bother to visit a maid?
Hanako Katsumi was terrified. How could that little brat just seize the country like that?
"Lu Feiyan's mother is Jiang Xiaowan, the Crown Princess of the Queen Empire. She was originally destined to inherit the throne, but Jiang Xiaowan's cousin, Jiang Jinhua, poisoned the late emperor and then killed Jiang Xiaowan, leaving her to live among the common people. Now, Lu Feiyan has reclaimed power."
Lu Feiyan saved his life, but to repay her with three prefectures would be unacceptable not only to Emperor Hui, but also to all the civil and military officials.
what to do?
Let's fight!
She's just a little girl. Skilled in poison? Does she think she can use poison on an entire army?
She thought the medicine powder was flour?
Besides, if we shoot her dead with an arrow or throw a clay pot bomb to kill her, wouldn't that solve everything?
The Grand Tutor earnestly advised, "Your Majesty, the court has just quelled the rebellion of the Wei clan, the nation's strength has not yet recovered, the treasury is empty, and the people need to recuperate. I suggest that we first engage in peace talks."
Who will go to negotiate?
Without hesitation, everyone replied, "Your Highness Jingchen."
The difficult political affairs that needed to be handled were originally the responsibility of Grand Secretary Liu, Grand Secretary Gu, and Grand Councilor Xie, among others. Lu Feiyan was also someone who had been by Xie Zhaozhao's side before, and had lived in Qingpu Garden for so long.
No one could be as good as Zhou Shaoyu.
He looks familiar!
Emperor Hui also felt that, at the moment, no one was as good as Zhou Shaoyu, for both his ability and his connections.
In addition, Emperor Hui suspected that the Xie clan had now all defected to the Queen's Empire.
So everyone agreed immediately and sent Zhou Shaoyu as their leader to negotiate.
Before the imperial edict could be drafted, an official from the Salt and Iron Bureau rushed in to report: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened."
"explain."
"The salt fields and iron mines that were originally supplying salt must settle their accounts and completely cease supplying salt and iron!"
When did this happen?
“Since mid-to-late October, the other party has been dragging their feet, settling accounts and making excuses to delay. To this day, not a single grain of salt has been delivered, nor has a single pound of iron been supplied.”
Salt and iron are both essential to people's livelihoods and are absolutely strategic resources.
With the supply of both materials cut off, Da Gan should quickly descend into chaos and panic.
"Does the other party want to raise the price or what?"
"It had been delayed for a long time, but today I finally received confirmation that the other party will no longer supply salt and iron to the Da Gan court."
"What exactly happened?" Emperor Hui was so anxious that he felt a little dizzy.
"Your Majesty, Xie Anhuai used to manage this operation, ensuring a steady stream of salt, iron, and grain supplies from both the south and north every month, all of high quality and low price. Now that he's gone, they've stopped paying attention to us..."
Emperor Hui was furious: "He's gone, and now none of you can get supplies? What use are you to the court?"
The Salt and Iron Bureau was helpless. They had tried their best to find alternative sources of goods, but they found that Xie Anhuai was indeed more capable than them.
It's not that we haven't found other salt fields, but the purchase price is more than five times higher than before, and the purity of the salt and iron is still far from sufficient.
The reason I am reporting this today is that our reserves are completely depleted. The municipal authorities have been submitting one memorial after another, saying that the salt, grain, and meat needed by the people are not being supplied in time.
Emperor Hui had a particularly bad feeling in his heart and asked, "We've done such a big job, surely we can't find a single salt mine? Don't the people raise poultry and livestock? Isn't there always a good supply of meat?"
The Minister of Revenue reported: "Your Majesty, we do have enough grain and meat, but the foreign goods brought from the sea are plentiful, cheap, and fresh. We don't have that much, nor that good, in our production."
"Does this mean we can't survive without the Maritime Silk Road?" Emperor Hui was furious. "Before the maritime ban was lifted, everyone was doing just fine, wasn't that?"
"Your Majesty, Da Gan is indeed facing a shortage of self-produced resources."
"By reducing consumption, everyone can save some money. What's there to be afraid of if we have money in hand?"
"Your Majesty, the fewer supplies there are, the higher the prices! We can't save money, we really can't save money!"
The Minister of Revenue had no choice but to tell the truth: "Right now, there is a shortage of various supplies, and everyone is scrambling to buy them, driving prices higher and higher, and the higher they go, the more panic there is... On the market, the price of salt has increased twentyfold compared to September; iron is in short supply, and ordinary people can't even afford a kitchen knife; and meat, coinciding with the New Year, has increased more than tenfold..."
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