"emperor!"
Ma Shangtao's expression changed, and he said urgently, "Your Majesty, a ruler's word is law, you cannot break your promise!"
"Oh? You broke your promise? Who said I broke my promise? When did I ever agree to this? Do you have an imperial edict? If you have an imperial edict that I promised you before, then of course I will have no objection."
"But if there is no such thing, then that is deceiving the emperor!"
Qin Yu sneered and asked dismissively.
Ma Shangtao was speechless for a moment, and couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at Qin Yu.
It was already stated that it was an oral order, so where did the imperial edict come from?
Throughout history, which emperor's words have not been law? But Qin Yu actually acted like a rogue and reneged on his debt?
He was so angry that his nose twisted.
Tan Wu frowned and looked at Qin Yu.
Seeing that the expressions on their faces were not right, Qin Yu smacked his lips and said, "How about this, bring me the memorial so I can take a look. If the money and grain needed are reasonable and justified, it's not impossible."
Ma Shangtao was overjoyed and quickly stood up, saying, "That's wonderful, Your Majesty, the memorial is here."
After speaking, Ma Shangtao immediately handed the memorial he had already written to Qin Yu.
Qin Yu took it in his hand and began to look at it casually.
As he looked at the armor, he suddenly looked up and asked with disgust, "Just forging the armor alone costs 300,000 taels? That much? The soldiers have no armor to wear?!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, most of those armors were made during the previous emperor's reign. Now, five or six years have passed, and they are simply unusable. The armor is not thick enough, and its defensive capabilities are insufficient..."
Just as Ma Shangtao was about to explain, Qin Yu waved his hand.
"Even if it's just changing armor, it shouldn't cost that much silver, right? Here's what I'll do: I'll approve 10,000 taels for you to raise funds for armor."
"What?"
Ma Shangtao thought he had misheard.
Ten thousand taels? What can ten thousand taels buy?
There's not even enough money to make helmets, are you suggesting he make armor out of paper and have the soldiers wear it to fight the Huns?
"Your Majesty, ten thousand taels is far from enough!"
"oh?"
Qin Yu glared at him, angrily threw the memorial on the table, and snorted coldly, "Three hundred thousand taels? Where would I get so much money? I'll give you at most ten thousand taels to buy armor. If you don't have enough, you can use it to buy cotton armor. Anyway, you'll die after one hit, so why waste money?"
Ma Shangtao was stunned by Qin Yu's scolding and asked in a daze, "Your Majesty, who uses cotton to make armor?"
This is simply an unprecedented event.
"So what if it's a cotton-padded jacket? It keeps you warm!"
Qin Yu replied without hesitation, "If I say cotton armor, then cotton armor is cotton armor. As for the ten thousand taels of silver, does your Ministry of War want it or not?"
"Yes, of course I want it."
Ma Shangtao nodded hastily and said bitterly, "Something is better than nothing, Your Majesty. Please take a look at the other items as well."
"I've reviewed it. This arrow-making project alone will require another 100,000 taels of silver?"
Qin Yu frowned and said unhappily, "Why does it cost so much silver to make bows and arrows?"
Ma Shangtao was terrified. He quickly explained, "Your Majesty, bows and arrows are different from armor; they are consumables. The armory is almost empty of arrows. If this continues, we may face a situation where we have no arrows left..."
"I think you're a blockhead!"
Qin Yu slammed his hand on the table and said irritably, "Why do we need to make arrows with iron arrowheads? If we win, we can capture the Xiongnu, but if we lose, we can't take the arrows with us. What's the point of wasting iron? Can't you use your brain to make arrowheads from something else?"
Ma Shangtao was bewildered and asked cautiously, "This old minister is dull-witted and does not know what else can be used as a substitute."
"Nonsense! Of course, we should use wood! There's plenty of wood in Youzhou!"
Qin Yu waved his hand and said magnanimously, "Your Ministry of War can cut down any timber in Youzhou. I've even figured out how to cut it for you. Just use conscripted laborers, or even just able-bodied men. As long as they get one meal a day so they don't starve, that's fine! If we do it this way, we won't need 100,000 taels. 5,000 taels will be enough for you to make more arrows than you can ever use!"
Ma Shangtao stared blankly at Qin Yu, looking completely bewildered.
Is Qin Yu speaking human language?
He had lived for forty-five years and had never heard of such an unbelievable method.
At this point, Qin Yu seemed to have gotten carried away and continued to ramble on.
"And another thing, why is it taking so much money to procure military rations? It's all fine rice and flour. A bunch of stinking soldiers, they might die and have nothing to eat next time. Why are they eating so well!"
"Replace all of it with coarse, old rice! I'm lucky if I have anything to eat at all!"
"If we win, we'll eat the Xiongnu's food and plunder their territory! You report Xiongnu invasions and looting all day long, and I'll allow you to plunder as well! Don't worry about the dignity of my great nation!"
"Your Majesty...this will surely demoralize the soldiers on the front lines!"
Ma Shangtao and Tan Wu were completely dumbfounded. To treat soldiers like dirt so blatantly, Qin Yu, this tyrant, was simply cruel!
"Disheartened? What! Every time they submit a memorial, they say that soldiers serve to protect their country and make selfless sacrifices! How can they be disheartened just because they don't get enough to eat?"
"..."
Qin Yu launched into a long, rambling speech, only stopping when he saw Ma Shangtao frozen in place, completely speechless.
"Alright then, I also consider that your Ministry of War has not had an easy time, so I will round it up and allocate 50,000 taels of silver to your Ministry of War this time. Anfu, prepare the silver notes."
"Your Majesty, everything is ready."
Anfu, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately went into the house and respectfully handed the silver notes to Qin Yu.
Qin Yu nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand, saying, "Minister Ma, you can take it."
"If you've taken my money, you'd better do your job well and use it wisely. If I find out that you've embezzled any of it, I will execute you without mercy!"
Upon hearing this, the corners of their mouths twitched violently, and they were so angry that their heads hurt!
With so little money, how the hell could they possibly embezzle it?!
Looking at the light, flimsy silver note in his hand, Ma Shangtao finally realized what was going on. He was so angry that his face turned ashen, and he almost fainted on the spot.
This emperor left him utterly speechless.
However, something even more outrageous happened.
Just then, Qingzhu came over to serve Qin Yu tea.
However, as soon as she put down the tea, Qin Yu leered at her waist and his right hand began to wander towards her ample bosom.
Qingzhu blushed and playfully pushed Qin Yu away, whispering shyly, "Your Majesty, there are still people here."
Qin Yu not only didn't let go of Qingzhu, but instead turned his head away with a displeased expression, looking at Ma Shangtao and the other person with dissatisfaction.
"What are you two still doing here? I'm not going to feed you. Take the money and get on your way to procure military supplies and start fighting! Get out of here!"
Ma Shangtao's mouth twitched violently.
This damned emperor is getting more and more absurd, but there's nothing he can do about it.
Unable to disobey the emperor's will, Ma Shangtao and his companion could only bitterly bow their hands in apology.
"Your subject takes his leave."
Even after leaving the imperial study, both men's faces remained ashen.
"This foolish and lustful ruler, with insatiable greed, deserved to see his country perish!"
Ma Shangtao cursed under his breath through gritted teeth, clearly enraged beyond measure.
"Stop complaining, let's go and discuss this with the Prime Minister."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com