Chapter 609: No Money, No Concubine
Because it is rarely visited, the roads around Chengjin Mountain are usually not easy to travel on. But now the temperature has risen suddenly, the moisture on the ground has evaporated, and the land has become solid, which makes it convenient for Shen Qingqian and others to climb the mountain.
But this situation only existed outside the mountain. As soon as Shen Qingqian entered the mountain, he felt an inexplicable chill.
"It's really like two different worlds here and outside." She couldn't help but sigh.
Sheng Ze nodded. "I heard from my master that about six hundred years ago, the entire northern Hubei was a bitterly cold land, and Chengjin Mountain was still a snowy mountain at that time."
"Six hundred years" Shen Qingqian was surprised. This time is actually not that long.
From this perspective, doesn't it mean that the geographical environment in northern Hubei is still in an unstable stage? No wonder the weather is so strange.
But what Shen Qingqian didn't know was that the entire Dajin, and even the entire continent, had already shown signs of drought at this time.
In the court of the Great Jin Dynasty, another argument was taking place over whether or not to prepare for disaster relief in advance.
"Now Jizhou, Chengzhou, Yuzhou, Wanzhou and other places have all sent in drought reports at full speed. If we don't make plans early, who will be held responsible if unrest occurs?"
"Lord Liu, it's easy for us to say that. What are you going to do? The Ministry of Revenue has long been out of money. The fact that we can barely pay you all your salaries is already the result of the Emperor's grace and the Empress's subsidies! Come on, Lord Liu, tell us what we are going to do."
"It's not that difficult to follow the example of Emperor Taizu and raid the homes of corrupt officials! What's the matter, Master Zhang, you're afraid they'll find out about you?"
"Don't slander me! I, Zhang Zhongxing, am upright."
The two argued until their faces turned red, and Sheng Zhan sat on the dragon throne with an ugly expression.
The imperial court needs money everywhere, but the past few years have been tough, the treasury is not well-off, and because of the war with King Zhao last year, the imperial treasury is in deficit!
Sheng Zhan felt very aggrieved when he thought that he had to pay the officials' salaries out of his own pocket.
Because he had no money, he had to bring concubines into the palace one after another. Without exception, these concubines came from families with little assets.
Of course, Sheng Zhan himself does not admit that he keeps taking concubines because he is short of money.
But any official with eyes in the court could see it, after all, no one is a fool.
For example, last month, Sheng Zhan took the legitimate daughter of the Li family's side branch into the palace.
This branch of the Li family is Li Hezhou's family. He still has a thirteen-year-old younger sister who is not engaged, but last month Sheng Zhan directly issued an imperial decree to bring her into the palace.
However, Li Hezhou has not received any news about this matter.
Just as the argument was raging in the court, a young eunuch hurried to the back of the Golden Palace to find the chief eunuch.
"Master, Princess Min is clamoring for the Emperor to let her out of the palace again. She says if the Emperor doesn't agree, she'll burn down Yuliu Palace!"
The chief eunuch frowned, but thinking of the benefits that the princess would bring to the emperor, he quickly walked to Sheng Zhan and whispered what had happened in his ear.
Sheng Zhan glanced at the officials still arguing below, stood up and said, "The abnormal weather has not yet lasted for half a month. We can discuss this matter later. I will adjourn the court."
After saying this, he flicked his sleeves and left, leaving a group of ministers looking at each other in bewilderment.
The few people who had been arguing so loudly just now suddenly stopped talking as if there were no more spectators.
Some clear-headed officials looked at Sheng Zhan's back and shook their heads, sighing in their hearts. How could such an emperor compare with Prince Zhao or the prince who was rumored to be still in northern Hubei?
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