Chapter 54: The great filial piety
The moment she heard the message, Su Qingrong's face became even more arrogant.
Not everyone can enter the place where the emperor handles state affairs.
But His Majesty has a preference for her, so she can come in after just a notification.
Su Qingrong walked into Changqing Palace with her head held high.
This was the first time she saw His Majesty sitting on the dragon throne. He looked a little more majestic than usual, but it made her yearn for it even more.
Of course, the only one who can be worthy of her is the most noble and handsome Majesty.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
"My beloved concubine, please stand up." Xiao Chenglan smiled faintly. "I heard that my beloved concubine has something urgent to do. I wonder what it is?"
Su Qingrong hesitated before speaking.
After all, this matter was about government affairs, and it was inevitable that she would be charged with the crime of making irresponsible remarks about state affairs. But Su Qingrong quickly dismissed the bad idea.
In His Majesty's heart, she is naturally different from other concubines. When His Majesty has something worrying, she proposes solutions. They support each other.
"I heard that Your Majesty is worried about the flooding of the Fen River recently."
After Su Qingrong finished speaking, she also observed Xiao Chenglan's expression.
In her eyes, His Majesty's expression was normal, and there was tenderness in his eyes, and she was completely relieved.
"My beloved concubine cares about me so much, I feel very comforted." Xiao Chenglan smiled faintly.
Su Qingrong: "Your Majesty, I cannot bear to see you worrying about this all day long, so I want to offer you some advice."
Xiao Chenglan said "Oh" in surprise, "I wonder what brilliant plan my beloved concubine has. I would like to hear it."
Su Qingrong looked at the attendant minister in the hall and the two ministers who were busy sorting files, walked a few steps closer, and whispered:
"Your Majesty, can you please let them go out first?"
Xiao Chenglan waved his hand sympathetically, "Everyone, leave."
The Minister of Records glanced at Su Qingrong with resentment, then left the hall with the records in his arms, and wrote:
On the 16th day of the sixth month of the first year of the Jiaqi reign, at 3:30 pm, the Emperor wished to speak privately with his concubine, but dismissed his attendants. I heard nothing, and am unable to put pen to paper.
Inside the hall, Xiao Chenglan slowly flipped through a page of memorials.
"My beloved concubine is so mysterious, I am becoming more and more curious."
Su Qingrong bit her lip, her mind full of thoughts about solving His Majesty's problem so that His Majesty could accompany him.
"Your Majesty, I heard that the flood will cost 250,000 taels of silver, but the national treasury has run out of cash after several disaster relief efforts. As vassal states of Daye, the Su family has a responsibility to help Your Majesty. Therefore, I think it would be better for Your Majesty to take money from the Su family's private treasury to make some money."
Xiao Chenglan paused, and then decisively rejected the suggestion.
"My beloved concubine, do you want me to ask the Su family for money? That won't do. Circulating money is the job of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue. If I ask my officials for money every time I'm short of money, wouldn't that be condoning their incompetence?"
When Su Qingrong heard that His Majesty didn't even want the silver, she lost all desire to give it to him and said anxiously, "But it's just this once! Besides, the people in the Ministry of Revenue won't know where the money came from..."
Xiao Chenglan frowned slightly: "My beloved concubine, what do you mean by this? Why don't I understand?"
Su Qingrong wanted to go forward and whisper to Xiao Chenglan, but then she remembered that she couldn't get too close, so she had to stop in front of the emperor and lower her voice:
"As long as Your Majesty keeps it a secret, takes the money for emergency use, and returns it later, only Heaven, Earth, and you will know."
A barely perceptible sneer flashed across Xiao Chenglan's lowered eyes.
What is taken from the people should be used for the people. There is no reason to return it.
Xiao Chenglan raised his eyes and stared at her, saying coldly, "If I heard correctly, my beloved concubine, what you said is asking me to steal money from the Su family's private treasury. My beloved concubine, if you sell your own private treasury, aren't you afraid that your family will blame you?"
Su Qingrong became increasingly anxious: "Your Majesty is doing this for the people's livelihood and water conservancy, how can it be considered stealing money! Besides, this money is just sitting there anyway, and being able to help Your Majesty with his worries means it can be used."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Xiao Chenglan with a smile, "I accidentally heard where this private vault is when I was a child. Even if my family discovered that the private vault had been stolen, they would definitely not suspect me. Your Majesty, once I enter the palace, I am yours. It is my duty to share your worries."
Xiao Chenglan originally wanted to trick Su Qingrong into talking, but unexpectedly, Su Qingrong actually knew the location of the private vault, so he didn't even need to send anyone to investigate it.
What an unexpected surprise! It seems that God also wants to destroy the Su family.
Slowly, Xiao Chenglan revealed a gratified smile and said slowly:
"My beloved concubine still cares about me. Since my beloved concubine has such a heart, how can I let her down?"
He took out a pen and ink, pushed it in front of Su Qingrong, smiled, and said slowly: "Then I'll trouble my beloved concubine to write down the location of that private storehouse."
Seeing that Xiao Chenglan finally agreed, Su Qingrong quickly took the paper and pen and quickly wrote down an inconspicuous place in the suburbs.
"Your Majesty, it's here." Su Qingrong finished writing and pushed the paper back.
Xiao Chenglan picked up the paper, took a look at it, and turned to Su Qingrong with smiling eyes.
"Don't worry, my beloved. You're worried about me, and I'm worried about you too. I'll never let anyone know that you're involved in this."
Su Qingrong, who was a little nervous just now, immediately calmed down.
She knew that she and His Majesty didn't need to care about the taboos and rules between the monarch and his subjects.
She thinks about him and he thinks about her, their friendship is unmatched by anyone.
If it were Jiang Yingli, she wouldn't be able to come up with so much money to relieve His Majesty's worries.
After Su Qingrong left, Xiao Chenglan held the paper between his slender fingers, his eyes like an invisible sharp blade, as if to pierce through it.
The ancestor of the Su family was a founding hero, and he rewarded the Su family with generous silver and money. However, the descendants gradually forgot the legacy of their ancestors and only cared about taking various lucrative positions in the Daye court.
Now all that remains in the private vaults of the noble families is a mountain of stolen money.
Even the money allocated for building dams on both sides of the Fen River was used by some people to try their best to get this lucrative job.
Su Qingrong keeps saying that she is sharing his worries, but if there were no parasites like her Su family, what would he have to worry about now?
"Fu Wanquan, call Wei Zhi here."
After a while, a military general with a thick beard came in, knelt in the hall, and said with full vigor: "Your Majesty, what is your command for me?"
Xiao Chenglan folded the paper with the words "Su Family Private Treasury" written on it and threw it to him, saying concisely.
"Go plant the explosives. Li You said there will be a heavy rain tonight. Blow up here when the rain falls."
Wei Zhi took the paper and asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, why would you attack this insignificant forest? Is there some hidden wonderland beneath it?"
"Almost. You'll know when it explodes."
Wei Zhi had joined Xiao Chenglan when he was still in the Prince Su's Mansion. He had originally just wanted to make a living, but he had never expected that the seemingly inconspicuous Prince Su would actually become the heir to the throne.
He now admires His Majesty with all his heart.
Anyway, you can't go wrong if you trust and listen to Your Majesty.
"Yes, I'll do it right away!"
In the middle of the night, the sudden increase in the intensity of the rain startled the birds in the woods outside the city.
Lightning streaked across the night sky, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, dimly illuminating the shadows of five or six men in straw raincoats in the forest.
Seeing that the time had come, Wei Zhi lit the fuse.
The sparks spiraled forward like a winding snake, spitting out its tongue.
A muffled thunder sounded, and the explosives buried in advance exploded. The huge explosion sound mixed with the sound of rain and thunder.
After the ground collapsed, Wei Zhe, who was hiding in a safe place, held his hat tightly and went forward to investigate.
In the collapsed underground, boxes covered with cobwebs were piled up in piles. The things that flowed out of the boxes that were blown open by explosives were spread all over the ground in a golden and white color, and were washed brightly by the rain.
Wei Zhi took a breath.
He suddenly understood His Majesty's intention and knew how to deal with the aftermath.
On the second day, the news spread throughout the capital that there had been a heavy rain the previous night, and a sudden mudslide and landslide occurred in a forest in the suburbs, causing a mountain collapse, and the underground private vault of a corrupt official of the previous dynasty was uncovered.
His Majesty sent the imperial guards to collect the silver and store it in the treasury. Starting from early morning, boxes were transported from the suburbs to the palace one by one, and they were not finished by noon.
The people watched and cursed the corrupt officials.
When the Su family learned about this, they watched helplessly as boxes of silver were transported to the national treasury, yet they had to act as if it had nothing to do with them and congratulated His Majesty on the gift of treasure from heaven.
The underground private vault in the suburbs is the most hidden one, and it also has the most money stored in the four private vaults of the Su family, almost as much as the sum of the other three!
But they had no reason to doubt, after all, the location of this private vault was only known to the two clan elders and the current people in power, so there was no way they could betray the Su family!
The mudslide caused them to suffer a huge loss.
God is so blind!
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