The Minister of the Revenue presented the account books of the revenue department’s expenditures over the past three years to the Emperor the next day.
As the Emperor was flipping through the account books, his expression grew darker and more displeased. Unbeknownst to him, he was shocked to discover that just in these three years, nearly ten million taels had disappeared into Marquis Nanping Residence and the Pingxi General’s Residence.
Such a colossal amount... How had he allowed this to happen throughout these years?
The Emperor slammed the account books down and ordered sternly, "Summon Yan Li and Yan Lin to me."
The eunuch complied and immediately dispatched someone.
Although Yan Li and Yan Lin hadn’t figured out the details yesterday, they reached a consensus to depend on the Nangong Family from Nanchu and the royal family to deal with Ye Guixue and Su Rong, and moreover, to thwart Zhou Gu, Duke Residence, and the Eastern Palace. After all, it was apparent to everyone that Zhou Gu had deliberately involved himself in the case related to Su Rong. And the two times he was in peril, it was Su Rong who saved him. The connection between them, though they had broken off their engagement, was still unbreakable.
Since Ye Guixue refused to cooperate, there were plenty of others in Nanchu willing to.
The two brothers prepared and then acted separately, one approaching the Nangong family, the other dealing with Nanchu royal family.
However, before they could see any results, they were summoned by the Emperor to the Palace.
The two brothers met at the gate of the Palace, looked at each other in confusion, and wondered if the issue was related to the Ministry of Housing, as Minister of the Revenue had entered the Palace that day.
Yan Lin, being more perceptive, leaned close to Yan Li and whispered, "Brother, I have a bad feeling about the Emperor summoning us to the Palace today."
Yan Li glanced at him, "Don’t be a harbinger of ill fortune."
Yan Lin genuinely felt that something was amiss, but there were no troubles or diseases, and he couldn’t feign sickness to avoid the summons from the Emperor. If he faked illness at this time, he wouldn’t know what had happened without their knowledge. As such, he could only clench his teeth, follow Yan Li to meet the Emperor, and secretly pray that he was overthinking.
The Emperor was waiting for two in the Imperial Study Room. Seeing them arrive, and his face steely, the Emperor threw the account books of Ministry of Housing at them, "Take a look at this."
Yan Li and Yan Lin’s heart lurched, and they each picked up the account books. A moment later, they both looked up in tandem. Yan Li tentatively asked, "Father, this is the account book of Ministry of Housing. Why are you showing it to your sons... what is the reason?"
"Reason? Take a good look at how much money from the national treasury your in-laws have swallowed in these three years," The Emperor said gravely, lashing out at the two of them. "You two are incredible, indeed. Tell me, what are you planning to do after emptying my treasury? Are you planning to rebel?"
Yan Li and Yan Lin were so shocked they nearly jumped, their faces paling as they both knelt down with a "thump", "We dare not!"
"Dare not? A good ’dare not’ indeed! It seems you dare a lot," The Emperor glared at them, "Marquis Nanping Residence governs a region, only has control over thirty-thousand soldiers, but every year it asks for three million taels of silver from the national treasury. Pingxi General’s Residence is even daring, demanding an additional eight million taels of silver this year alone, with only one hundred thousand soldiers. The two of you, tell me, if this isn’t a preparation for rebellion, then what is it?"
"Your sons are terrified," The two cried out in protest.
The Crown Prince, Yan Li, said, "Father, Marquis Nanping Residence has been dealing with continuous natural disasters, hence Marquis Nanping had pleaded with you for the national treasury to allocate the funds."
Yan Lin, the second prince, quickly followed up, "Father, it has nothing to do with me, you approved of the pleas from Pingxi General’s Residence. I said nothing. You can’t accuse me after the event."
The Emperor choked on his words.
Yan Lin innocently said, "Father, think about it carefully, this isn’t my idea. If you hadn’t approved, the Minister of the Revenue wouldn’t have allocated the silver to the Marquis Nanping Residence."
The Emperor was left speechless, his face dark.
Yan Lin, without any remorse, said, "Father, think about it again carefully, why would you allocate silver to the Pingxi General’s Residence? It really has nothing to do with me."
Emperor naturally understood that this had less to do with Yan Lin and more to do with General Pingxi, Zhang Ping, who told him that if His Majesty wanted to restrain the Duke Residence, his one hundred thousand troops would not be enough, even when combined with the one hundred thousand troops from Jinglu in His Majesty’s control and the thirty thousand troops from Marquis Nanping Residence. After all, the Duke Residence itself controlled three hundred thousand troops. His Majesty had to secretly support him. After all, if power over the Duke Residence’s troops is taken, it would likely cause a stir in both court and country. But if power over the Duke Residence’s troops isn’t taken, there’s no justification for the Duke Residence to expand its military force, and it would also face obstructions from the Crown Prince and the Duke Residence. After all, it’s strenuous for the court to maintain six hundred thousand troops. In such a case, he could only help His Majesty secretly raise more troops.
The Duke Residence’s control over powerful forces was a thorn in the Emperor’s side, and Zhou Gu, being from the Duke Residence and working as a companion reader in the Eastern Palace, compounded the problem. The Emperor knew perfectly well that between him and the Crown Prince, the Duke Residence would certainly side with the Crown Prince.
Therefore, the Emperor struggled for quite a while before promising Zhang Ping to privately raise an additional one hundred thousand troops. Half of these, fifty thousand, were cavalry. The cost of maintaining cavalry was even greater.
For a moment, the Emperor was speechless, only staring at the two before saying, "The Ministry of Housing is experiencing a shortage of silver. From this day onward, you two are to find a way to replenish the national treasury."
Yan Li and Yan Lin lifted their heads in unison, staring blankly at the Emperor.
The Emperor’s face darkened, "To serve the country, is that not desirable to you?"
Both of them saw the anger the Emperor was suppressing, how could they dare disagree, knowing that the silver from the Ministry had been flowing into their in-law’s house for the past three years. They could only nod in agreement, "We are willing."
The Emperor was satisfied, waved a hand at them, "You may leave."
The two of them excused themselves and left the Imperial Study Room.
Once they were away from the Imperial Palace, Yan Lin wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked Yan Li, "Big brother, what do you think our father’s objective is? Why is he suddenly hostile towards us? And calling for the replenishment of the national treasury?"
Yan Li, who had a vague idea, answered him irritably, "You think about it!"
Yan Lin was unhappy. "Big brother, didn’t we agree to cooperate? You’ve been constantly displeased with me these few days. What’s the meaning of this? Where did I offend you?"
Yan Li thought to himself, your inaction and constant retreat at crucial moments are what offend me. But at this time, the two brothers had to be on the same boat, or there would be no benefit to either of them. He softened his tone, "Our father is likely preparing for war."
"Ah? Preparing for war?" Yan Lin was shocked.
Yan Li glanced at him, "I don’t know whether you’re truly oblivious or just pretending to be. In the current state of peace, with our father suddenly putting pressure on the Ministry of Housing, what else could it be for if not for war? It couldn’t possibly be for large-scale construction projects, winter is already upon us."
Yan Lin wasn’t truly oblivious, he was merely cunning. He wanted someone else to face the dangers first while he took advantage of the situation. He always kept his thoughts to himself and let others speak first. Now, as he heard Yan Li say this, despite feigning surprise on the outside, his mind was already forming a plan, "Where did you get this idea from? Is war going to break out against Dawei? We signed a pact to not violate each other’s borders for thirty years, and sixteen years have just passed."
"Because of Su Rong." Yan Li, deciding to ignore his younger brother’s intentions, knew he couldn’t back down this time, "Think about it. Once her background’s revealed, and everybody knows about it, what will Dawei do?"
Yan Lin nodded his head. "So, you’re saying our father intends to acknowledge Su Rong and wait for war to break out with Dawei?"
"Our father probably has no choice but to acknowledge her. Look at what Su Rong has been doing since she came to the capital. First, she moved into Princess Qingping Residence, then she called off her marriage with Zhou Gu, and now she’s moved into Shen Residence. She’s involved with Rui’an King Resident, Duke Residence, and also the Eastern Palace. Moreover, from my interactions with Ye Guixue, his attitude suggests that the Nanchu King and Ye Xiang Residence have also acknowledged her. Given these circumstances, what else can our father do? Don’t forget, many years ago, Princess Zhenmin sacrificed herself to protect Daliang, everyone still remembers this. Our father doesn’t dare to come across as ungrateful."
"It’s so troublesome. This would’ve been resolved if she were just killed off." Yan Lin said.
Yan Li angrily glared at him, "You make it sound so simple, why don’t you do it then?"
Yan Lin responded, "Big brother, it’s not that I won’t take action, but the Capital City isn’t the best place to make a move. Why not bide our time and send someone to kill her on her journey back to Nanchu? Keep in mind, while there are many people protecting her in the capital, things will not be the same once she leaves."
Yan Li had to admit,"What you said makes sense."
It seemed he had been a little rash.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
