Chapter 744: Big Bet
When the seventh day arrived, Dali, Pingzhou and Xianbei gathered together again.
Wang Yun spoke first, "We in Dali intend to sponsor 50,000 taels of gold to support the polo match."
Tuoba Jin was not to be outdone, "We Xianbei will also offer 50,000 taels."
Wu Ren raised his eyebrows and said in surprise, "I didn't expect that you Dali and Xianbei are so rich." He acted as if he was unaware of Dali's financial difficulties.
Zheng Lingfeng thought to himself that Dali's treasury was actually short of money, yet it had so many things to spend. For example, the salaries of Dali officials were a huge expense, and they had to be paid out every month. All the money collected by the Anzhuang was spent.
Wang Yun smirked, his heart bleeding. Where would Dali have the money? All that gold was pooled together by several of their great families, right? Furthermore, of the Xianbei's 50,000 taels of gold, 20,000 taels had come from their support. The Xianbei couldn't come up with 50,000 taels of gold all at once.
However, the Xianbei sent some cattle and horses as a consolation.
Moreover, in addition to the 70,000 taels of gold, they had to prepare some more in case of emergency. Therefore, they prepared a total of 150,000 taels of gold.
It's actually quite difficult for several families to come up with such a large sum of gold together.
Although this amount may not seem large to these aristocratic families, their assets have shrunk by 20% to 30% due to the silver harvest in Pingzhou before.
And from that time on, gold and Pingzhou Baochao became hard currency, and silver and copper coins were no longer useful.
The gold reserves held by these aristocratic families were not much, and with the subsequent consumption, the stock was really not much left.
Thinking of these things, Wang Yun was very worried. "Let's not waste any more time. Now we, Dali and Xianbei, have already taken out the sponsorship funds. Manager Wu, Boss Gu, what do you say?"
Wu Ren replied, "Of course, there's no problem for us in Pingzhou. But isn't a 150,000 gold prize too much?"
Wang Yun and Tuoba Jin said in unison, "Not much. The 150,000 gold isn't all for the finals. Some will also be used for other matches."
Wu Ren and Gu Huaisheng didn't argue with them. "Alright, if you don't think it's big, then it's not big."
After agreeing on the sponsorship amount, Wang Yun said, "Manager Wu, why don't we increase the stakes a bit?"
Wu Ren sneered in his heart. His master's prediction was indeed correct. These people were really greedy.
"What do you mean by press harder?"
"In addition to gold, let's add a little more chips to it."
"What chips should I add?"
"Bet a state, and we Dali will give Qingzhou as a reward."
"We Xianbei take Yanzhou as a reward."
"Whoever wins in the end will get to take away these three states. What do you think? Do you dare to agree?" Wang Yun asked.
Hearing this, Wu Ren and Gu Huaisheng looked at each other. They knew that they were brave, but they didn't know they were so brave!
"Do both the Emperor of Dali and the Xianbei Khan agree to this?"
"Yes. Now let me ask you, Pingzhou, do you dare?"
"This is a serious matter. We need to consult the governor," Wu Ren said. He then looked at Tuoba Jin. "Also, Second Prince Tuoba, let me remind you of the armistice agreement Tuoba Khan signed with our governor on the Hancheng Plain. Do you remember?"
"When we signed the armistice agreement, it was already stipulated that if you, the Xianbei, broke the agreement and started a war within five years, you would have to cede Yanzhou to Pingzhou as compensation."
"Yanzhou, you Xianbei have been using it repeatedly. Are you trying to get something for nothing?"
Tuoba Jin choked, feeling ashamed by what he said, and then said angrily, "Then we can use the northern Xianbei border as a bet, okay?"
Wu Ren and Gu Huaisheng disagreed. They would eventually take back the northern border. "Let's try another one, for example, the Xianbei capital of Shengle."
Hearing such arrogant words, Tuoba Jinxiao stood up and said, "How dare you!" Shengle is the most central capital of their Xianbei, how dare they covet it?
Gu Huaisheng calmly asked, "What's so bold about that? I've only ever heard of rape, but never of anyone being forced to gamble. If you Xianbei don't want to, you don't have to gamble."
At this time, Wang Yun stepped in to smooth things over. "Everyone, calm down. From now on, you all need to consult your superiors. Why don't we stop here for today?"
Tuoba Jin snorted, and Wu Ren and Gu Huaisheng naturally had no objection.
Then, they dispersed.
Chang'an, Imperial Palace
Song Mo's coma time was getting longer and longer, sometimes he would wake up only once every seven or eight days.
He was extremely thin. No, I should say that he was so thin that he was just skin and bones. When he was unconscious, he looked like a skeleton.
He survived solely on liquid food and medication.
On this day, he woke up for the first time.
After being served by the palace maids and drinking some liquid food and medicine, he asked, "Have you submitted any memorials to me?"
Song Mo thought he spoke very loudly, but in fact his voice was as soft as a mosquito, and Liang An had to get very close to hear him clearly.
"Your Majesty, yes, there are several secret memorials." When Liang An took the secret memorials, he saw that Song Mo was in good spirits, so he also told him about the recent major events.
Song Mo frowned as he listened. After all, he had been the emperor for several years and could see that there was something wrong with the widespread horse racing and secret gambling in Dali. However, he was too weak and his brain was not working properly.
But when he saw Xie Zhan's secret memorial, he was sure that his feeling was correct. What Wang Yun and others did and allowed was extremely inappropriate and tantamount to killing the chicken to get the eggs!
puff!
Song Mo spat out a mouthful of blood.
The palace maids screamed in fear.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"Quick, call the imperial physician!"
Song Mo spat out a mouthful of black blood and slowly fell down. He didn't even have time to deal with the matter before he fainted from anger.
At this moment, Song Mo, not knowing whether it was due to his physical perception or something else, actually felt a sense of sadness that the Dali Building was about to collapse.
A quarter of an hour later, after examining Song Mo, Imperial Physician Lin came out with a gloomy face.
"Imperial Physician Lin, how is the emperor?" asked the Empress Dowager with concern.
The queen beside her also looked concerned.
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, reporting to the Emperor, I have done my best."
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager, the Queen and others suddenly became nervous.
The Empress Dowager asked in a deep voice, "What does this mean? Imperial Physician Lin, when will the Emperor wake up?"
Imperial Physician Lin said cautiously, "He may not wake up, and waking up doesn't necessarily mean he will be fine."
As soon as Imperial Physician Lin said this, the whole place fell silent.
Imperial Physician Lin's words were quite obscure, meaning that the emperor would either fall into a deep sleep and never wake up, or when he woke up, it would most likely be the moment of his last breath.
After a moment's silence, the Empress Dowager said bitterly, "Those traitors in Pingzhou deserve to be killed!"
Just now, when Imperial Physician Lin was treating the emperor, the Empress Dowager had already asked Liang An why the emperor was vomiting blood.
The Empress Dowager once again regretted her previous leniency, which allowed Lu Songli to become a huge threat to the Dali Dynasty.
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