Volume 1, Chapter 127: Going Crazy with Yun
Wang Shu gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, the soldiers on the front line need food, and the three of us are really helpless!"
It would have been better if he hadn't said anything. As soon as he said that, Xiang Yun's temper flared up again. He pointed at him and cursed, "You have pig brains!"
"Let me ask you, after you used force to put pressure on these aristocratic families and seized the grain and silver, did you ever promise when to return it and how much to return?"
"I was originally wondering why there were so many people rebelling in the Great Sun Dynasty. My goodness, it turns out that it was you three who were responsible for this!"
Xiang Yun shouted angrily, "Borrowing without paying is robbery! You are still scholars. Even street hooligans know that if you borrow and pay, it is not difficult to borrow again. Why don't you promise them in the name of the court when you lend them the grain money that you will return three times or even ten times the amount after the war is over!"
“Even if the noble families disagreed, you could still take the grain and silver away by force, but you must give them a written receipt!
If you do this, they will become the creditors of the imperial court. Then, not only will these aristocratic families not rebel, they will even do their utmost to ensure the safety of the Great Sun Dynasty!
That way, all the bad things that happened later wouldn’t have happened!”
Wang Shu was awakened by this statement. He immediately bowed and said, "I am ashamed. I hope Your Majesty will punish me!"
Xiang Yun ignored him and continued to scold: "I have read all these memorials. Most of them are about collecting grain for the court's war. Nearly 80% of the money in the national treasury was spent because of this. After reading them, I don't even bother to scold you!"
"Why do you only know how to buy grain from landlords, wealthy merchants, and aristocratic families? They are all guys who have made a fortune from the country's misfortune. The price of grain in their hands is six times higher than the normal price. The court has spent nearly 30 million taels of silver because of this!"
"Stupid, stupid!"
"You really don't care about your own money. Let me ask you, don't ordinary people have surplus food at home? Are they all starving and have nothing left but their pants?"
Then Xiang Yun slammed the jade table three times and shouted, "Why don't you buy grain from the people in the Great Sun Dynasty? Not only is the grain cheap, but the quantity is also large. There are so many ordinary people in the dynasty. If we buy a little from each family and pool it together, we won't have to worry about the army lacking food or the disaster victims having no food!"
These words left the three prime ministers speechless. They really had not considered so much. When they thought about stockpiling food and military supplies, and Xiang Yun had mentioned before that he wanted to exploit those aristocratic families, they did not think too much and directly set their sights on these aristocratic families.
This time, Xiang Yun tasted the benefits and disadvantages of leading the army in person, and paid a heavy price for it.
As long as the ministers are not talented, I, the emperor, will not be able to slack off in government affairs!
Thinking back to the time when there were three ministers in power, although the dynasty was corrupt, there had never been a rebellion, and the royal bloodline has been continued to this day. All this was due to the tact and proper response of these old ministers!
After experiencing this incident, Xiang Yun decided not to leave the capital in the short term. He had to start ruling the country himself and maximize his ability as the emperor to rule the Da Ri Dynasty.
Xiang Yun collapsed on the dragon throne, closed his eyes, pointed at the memorials and said in a deep voice: "Tell me, how do you want me to deal with you for making such a big mess!"
Upon hearing this, the three of them immediately knelt down and said in unison: "I am guilty, Your Majesty, please punish me."
When Liu Yiyi heard Xiang Yun's tone, she knew that Xiang Yun was really angry this time and was not joking with them.
Even though he had had a private affair with Xiang Yun, he had been doing his job and had chosen to be the official he was supposed to be. Now that he was the Prime Minister, if he had done something wrong, he should be punished without complaint.
She just felt a little aggrieved in her heart. She had been worrying about the government affairs these days and rarely went home. She lived directly in Menxia Province most of the time.
But after all the hard work, I still ended up in failure.
Governing a country is not a trivial matter. Every small choice made by those in power will lead to a series of serious consequences.
Just as the three were preparing to wait for Xiang Yun to get angry and punish them, they saw Xiang Yun waved his hand and said lightly: "You will hear the emperor's order tomorrow morning, so leave!"
Upon hearing this, the three of them looked at each other, stood up in silence, and immediately left the imperial study.
There was a lot of thunder but little rain. The three men were still confused until they walked out of the palace. However, they did not say anything more to each other. They said goodbye and left, waiting for the morning court tomorrow.
The three of them always believed that Xiang Yun would definitely punish them. It was impossible for him to just call them over and scold them and be done with it. They were afraid that something big would happen tomorrow.
In the imperial study, Little Melon Seed came over with small steps and asked softly, "Your Majesty, are we going back to the Yangxin Palace or Kunning Palace?"
Xiang Yun then opened his eyes, looked at Xiao Guazi, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "Immediately ask the imperial kitchen to prepare a dinner, and notify the empresses of all the palaces to come to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to have a reunion dinner!"
Despite all the mess in the court, for Xiang Yun, it is very important to have a reunion dinner with his family after a year.
Since we didn’t spend New Year’s Eve in the palace, the reunion dinner was a must.
Especially since he had just returned, he missed Zhen Rou, Qin Su, Wang Jiaojiao, and Lingzhi couldn't leave him. He didn't have the ability to clone himself, and couldn't sleep with them, so it would be better for everyone to have a meal and have a good time together.
As soon as Lingzhi entered the palace, Zhen Rou came to pick her up personally. This was her job as the queen. Although Zhen Rou was very eager to see Xiang Yun, she was afraid to see him because of that incident.
Qin Su was the first to arrive at the Qianqing Palace. She had taken off her armor and changed into the concubine's attire she wore before, but after going on the expedition, the heroic spirit on her face was still strong and could not be concealed by women's clothes.
Then came Miao Hanzhi, Feng Changxi and Fang Rui. As if they had made an appointment, the three of them walked into the Yangxin Palace together. When they saw Qin Su, they all bowed and said, "Greetings, Sister Qin Fei!"
Qin Su also hurriedly returned the greeting. The three of them chatted and laughed as they sat down according to their seats. Fang Rui smiled and said, "Sister Qin Fei is really brave. She was able to even beat back the huge and burly Sand Barbarians. I admire and respect her so much!"
"If you don't mind, could you please visit me often in the future so that I can listen to my story about the dangerous things on the battlefield?"
Miao Hanzhi and Feng Changxi also said together: "We also admire her very much. Sister Qin Fei is the idol of the three of us."
Qin Su said hurriedly: "What's there to mind? As long as you don't mind my poor living in the palace, you can come. It just so happens that I'm bored in the palace."
While the four of them were chatting and laughing, Zhen Rou walked in holding Ling Zhi's hand with one hand, smiling and said, "What interesting things are you sisters talking about? Why don't you tell me about it and let me have some fun."
Miao Hanzhi, Feng Changxi and Fang Rui's faces froze as soon as they saw Zhen Rou. They quickly put away their smiles, stood up and saluted Zhen Rou, saying, "Your Highness, I greet the Queen!"
Qin Su also stood up to greet him. Zhen Rou quickly said, "What are you doing? The emperor said that today is a family dinner and there is no need to be so concerned about etiquette."
Miao Hanzhi, Feng Changxi and Fang Rui stopped talking after they finished their greetings, but their faces showed that they were obviously uncomfortable.
Zhen Rou, who was talking with a smile, also froze with a frown, and her heart suddenly darkened. Ever since the incident with Wang Jiaojiao, although she had dealt with her personal maid Mei Renyao, from that day on, these three sisters began to deliberately distance themselves from her and keep their distance.
Even when they occasionally chatted together, he was extremely quiet, as if he was very afraid of her.
Zhen Rou knew that her three sisters must have believed that the incident was their own idea.
She wanted to explain, but when she thought about it carefully, she found that explanation was completely useless. The misunderstanding had already been planted and could not be resolved.
Qin Su seemed to have noticed that the atmosphere was not right. There seemed to be something going on here. She was the last person to get involved in such intrigues, so she quickly sat down, lowered her head and said nothing.
Zhen Rou silently comforted herself in her heart to be more open-minded, and then she forced a smile, then pulled Lingzhi behind her and walked over to introduce her: "Sisters, this is Lingzhi, the emperor brought her back from the Mahayana Treasure Kingdom."
Zhen Rou then introduced the identities of the people present one by one to Ling Zhi, and told her: "We are all sisters from now on. You must serve His Majesty wholeheartedly."
Qin Su was better. The other three had lukewarm attitudes towards Lingzhi. It was obvious that they were not rejecting Lingzhi, but Zhen Rou.
Lingzhi, who was standing by, was about to cry. She complained aggrievedly, "Wow, your Majesty is such a big liar. Why would so many sisters want to share your Majesty with me? I... I won't do it anymore!"
"Don't talk about the emperor like that!" Zhen Rou quickly pulled Lingzhi and said comfortingly, "His Majesty loves each of us very much. If you follow His Majesty, you will have no worries about food and clothing in the palace, and no one will dare to bully you. Do you understand?"
At this moment, Xiang Yun walked in with a big laugh, and before he even entered the door, he shouted loudly: "Let me see who is crying!"
Then, as soon as he entered the room, he saw Lingzhi, who looked aggrieved, and he immediately rushed forward and pinched both sides of her face, saying with a smile: "You promised to stay with me forever, why do you regret it now that you have entered the palace?"
"I'm telling you, it's too late to regret now. Once you enter my palace, no one can escape. Hahahaha!"
Lingzhi's face was pinched by Xiang Yun and it hurt. After hearing these words, she immediately hit Xiang Yun's chest with her little fists and shouted, "You bad guy, I don't want to play with you anymore!"
Xiang Yun let her go with a smile, and said, "Alright, alright, no more trouble. At most I'll just visit you more often in the future."
Then Xiang Yun looked at Zhen Rou, and the two looked at each other and smiled. Xiang Yun then sat on the main seat and said loudly, "Serve the food!"
Xiao Guazi beside him waved his hand, and immediately, all the freshly cooked delicacies were served.
Because it was a reunion dinner ordered by the emperor himself, the imperial kitchen did not dare to be negligent in the slightest. Although there were only seven people eating, eighteen dishes were still prepared, which was extremely sumptuous.
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