Chapter 510 Angry a Woman Leads to a Bad End
Wang Yushi did not act arbitrarily; she simply rescued her sister and trusted subordinates, and then expelled Emperor Zhaowu from Fengning Palace.
After she advanced to the Heavenly Realm, she didn't want to return to the capital, but now that she's back, she can't just let it go. She can't let those who took her things get away with it.
Several days later, Prince Yan, Qin Mu, and the hermit Zhou Yuan entered the court together to congratulate the Empress of Great Xia on becoming a Heavenly Realm expert, an act that shocked the entire capital.
Emperor Zhaowu gritted his teeth and forced himself to hold a grand celebration ceremony. He then announced that Wang Yushi had actually been in seclusion for many days, and that the so-called "reflection behind closed doors and nightly revelry" was naturally understood by everyone as a smokescreen by the imperial family.
Since Wang Yushi did not "reflect on her mistakes behind closed doors," the Imperial Treasury should logically have returned to her hands, but Wang Yushi refused to continue managing the treasury.
In less than a year, the once-lucrative imperial treasury has been transformed. Tens of millions of taels of silver have been divided up by various powerful figures, seven or eight out of ten workshops have ceased production, and more than one hundred thousand artisans have lost their jobs.
Why would Wang Yushi take on such a terrible mess?
The high-ranking officials of the court jointly petitioned the Empress to regain control of the Imperial Treasury and find a way to make a living for the hundreds of thousands of artisans who had lost their livelihoods.
"The Imperial Treasury belongs to His Majesty, not to me. As for those destitute people, I will make my own arrangements."
Wang Yushi casually uttered a sentence to those heartbroken court officials, leaving these hypocrites who had amassed a fortune over the past year dumbfounded.
Wang Yushi kept her promise. A few days later, a "Wang's Shop" opened on Yinque Street. It was still a low-key opening, with the same indifferent service attitude, and it still sold spices and other goods for high-ranking officials. And as always, it was a scene of customers flocking in and frantically buying things.
However, all of this had nothing to do with the imperial family anymore. This was Wang Yushi's own business. The Empress's original words were: "A small business, just to earn some money for cosmetics!"
Cosmetics? What kind of cosmetics cost so much? Strange rumors began to circulate in the capital.
But ordinary people didn't care about that. Hundreds of thousands of craftsmen happily resumed work. Their employers even gave them an advance of a month's wages so they could buy grain. They would fight anyone who spoke ill of the Empress, swarming around her, pinning her down, and slapping her. The government officials didn't dare to interfere.
The imperial family's lackeys are not to be trifled with, but the Empress is easy to deal with?
Li Ji, the Grand Steward of the Imperial Treasury, knelt outside the Fengning Palace for three days and three nights, begging Wang Yushi to take over the Imperial Treasury again, but was coldly rejected by Wang Yushi.
Li Jizhen was truly afraid. He had never made any money since he took over the Imperial Treasury, and powerful officials and merchants were willing to forgo profits to launch a comprehensive resistance against the Imperial Family.
Li Ji always thought that if this dragged on, the high-ranking officials would eventually bow down to the imperial family, and then he would definitely put on airs with those nouveau riche officials.
As a result, Wang Yushi has now started her own business and partnered with a high-ranking official to make a fortune, which has dashed Li Ji's last hope.
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue is out of money. The Western Expeditionary Army is waiting for its pay. If the Imperial Treasury can't come up with more funds, His Majesty... will have to increase taxes on the people. For the sake of the common people, Your Majesty, please have mercy!"
Li Ji kowtowed repeatedly on the steps of Fengning Palace until his head bled. Seeing that Wang Yushi remained unmoved, he even started talking about the common people.
"If you continue to use the name of the common people to blackmail me, believe me or not, I will bring all your sons, nephews, and nieces into the palace to become eunuchs!"
"...This old servant... dares not..."
When one attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Since Li Ji became a Xuan Realm expert, his family has become prominent. Several of his poor brothers have multiple wives and concubines, and have had a large number of sons. Everyone is vying to adopt their sons under Li Ji's name.
Li Ji now has two sons, one of whom has even become a cultivator with his support through his own misuse of public office. If Wang Yushi forces them to follow his old path, what chance does he have left to live?
Wang Yushi said disdainfully, "I know more about this kind of manipulation of public opinion than you do. A bunch of shady characters with no real power dare to play this trick on me. They're courting death!"
Li Ji was stunned for a moment, then realized the meaning of "public opinion hijacking". He couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat with fear. Since Wang Yushi had seen through his true intentions, he should save his breath! Provoking a Heavenly Realm expert to unleash his power... Not to mention him, a mere Earth Realm eunuch, even Emperor Zhaowu would have to give way.
What Li Ji said wasn't entirely false. The massive expenditures of the Great Xia Western Expeditionary Army did indeed run into problems. The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Central Military Commission were embroiled in a bitter dispute over the small amount of money in Emperor Zhaowu's hands, each trying to get a piece of it for themselves.
But Emperor Zhaowu now understands that these ministers are an insatiable hole. They had no choice when they were short of money, but now that they know they have tens of millions of taels of silver, they have one excuse to spend money after another.
Emperor Zhaowu ultimately decided to reduce the western expeditionary force to 200,000 men, establish protectorates in the Yuezhi and Kangju, and instead of launching offensive attacks, he would instead use them for containment.
Upon hearing the news, Charles, the messenger of the temple, rushed to the palace to see Emperor Zhaowu, but only met with the Grand Eunuch Li Ji.
"Chief Steward Li, please convey our temple's incomprehension and anger to the esteemed Emperor of Great Xia. The Great Xia Western Expeditionary Army has halted its advance, which violates the sacred promise of Emperor Zhaowu."
"Elder Charles, His Majesty only asked me to tell you one thing: 'We paid the price of hundreds of thousands of lives, but we have not received the reward we deserve.'"
"How could this be? I personally handed that life over to your emperor!"
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