Imperial study.
The teapot on the tea table emitted wisps of tea smoke, with a rich and long-lasting fragrance.
His Majesty sat at the top, with the Minister of War Yan Haochu on his left, the Minister of Revenue Dong Kangping on his right, and opposite him sat Fu Xiaoguan.
Fu Xiaoguan did not go to Nanshan. His wives Dong Shulan and Yan Xiaolou went there, and Su Su Su Rou also accompanied them. Because in Fu Xiaoguan's view, the safety of the three wives must not be a problem.
Yu Wenyun is in Fu's house. She has two swords from Jianlin by her side, and he himself has a gun!
According to the plan, the Ministry of Commerce will open today, and as the first minister, he should naturally go to the office to sit down, but now there is only his deputy minister Li Cai in the office.
A lone commander.
Being alone might seem a bit pitiful.
He was taken to the imperial study by His Majesty, but he didn't know why.
Fu Xiaoguan suddenly felt under tremendous pressure when facing his three fathers-in-law!
What does this mean?
Could it be that the ladies complained about him because he went out drinking these past two nights?
He rubbed his hands, poured three cups of brewed tea, and handed them over. His eyes rolled around, and the expressions of the three fathers-in-law were different - His Majesty's face was serious, Dong Kangping was indifferent but unpredictable, and Yan Haochu had a weird smile on his face!
Are you guys conducting a three-court trial?
Or do we want to compare our skills in cultivating qi?
Fu Xiaoguan couldn't remain silent, so he looked at his eldest father-in-law, His Majesty Emperor Xuan. He raised the corner of his mouth and revealed a brilliant smile: "Your Majesty, please have some tea."
Emperor Xuan glared at Fu Xiaoguan, then picked up his teacup and asked seriously, "Let me ask you, did you know that the envoys from the Yi Kingdom arrived in Shangjing yesterday evening?"
Oh, for this stupid thing, it must be that old guy Xu Huaishu who reported me to the court this morning.
"Your Majesty, I am aware of this matter. I have previously discussed this with the Ministry of Rites, and it was I who told them to ignore that envoy."
Emperor Xuan was stunned. "What do you mean? Dayu is a country of etiquette, yet you've left them in the cold, forcing them to stay in an inn! If this gets out, who else would dare to befriend the Yu Dynasty?"
"Your Majesty, I believe that other countries are willing to befriend the Yu Dynasty because of its strength. Your Majesty, think about it like classmates in a class. Students usually want to befriend the top students, um, the best students in terms of academic performance."
"Among this group of students, there was a student with poor academic performance but a lot of money. He wanted to use money to bribe other students to flatter him and follow him around, in order to satisfy his face."
"I dare to ask your Majesty, do you think the friends made by the top students are more caring, or the friends bought by the poor students with money?"
The two fathers-in-law were immediately shocked. This kid was too bold to actually question His Majesty!
But this question... seems interesting!
The answer is self-evident. The friends of a top student are those who sincerely admire his knowledge. As for the friends of a poor student, they are nothing without money.
If this example is extended to a country's diplomacy, the same seems to be true.
Fu Xiaoguan struck while the iron was hot and continued, "The war in the east was originally initiated by the Yi Kingdom, who nearly destroyed the important city of Lanling. Your Majesty, think about it, if the Crown Prince hadn't defended the east and launched a counterattack, the Yi Kingdom's army would probably have already entered the heart of the Yu Dynasty."
"When dealing with a country with such wicked ambitions, why bother talking about etiquette or being a superior country?"
"What we want to talk about is money, territorial indemnity!"
Fu Xiaoguan took a deep breath, his expression becoming serious. He looked at Emperor Xuan and said seriously, "Since Your Majesty has entrusted me with this responsibility, I will naturally ensure that the Yu Dynasty obtains the greatest benefits!"
"I, Fu Xiaoguan, will make them feel the pain of how hard they beat us!"
"To be honest, Your Majesty, the red cannons from the Western Hills are still being sent to the East. This is what I am doing to make the Yi Kingdom understand that our Yu Dynasty still holds the absolute initiative in this war."
"As for the outcome of the negotiations, I would like to inform Your Majesty in advance that the Yi Kingdom must pay an indemnity of 80 million taels of silver and cede the Daqiu line. Otherwise, the red cannons will be deployed on the city walls of Daqiu."
"Regarding this..." He turned to look at the Minister of War, Yan Haochu, "This matter still requires the cooperation of the Ministry of War. Please ask my father-in-law to send a letter to the eastern border troops, asking them to be ready to continue fighting at any time!"
This sentence scared Yan Haochu and Dong Kangping!
Still fighting?
What to fight with?
Dong Kangping coughed twice and said quickly, "My dear little official, you probably don't know what the national treasury looks like now."
"No, my son-in-law knows. You can just rest assured. He dare not attack the Yi Kingdom!"
"Why is this?" Yan Haochu asked.
"Because Yiguo faces the same problem as us. The Battle of Daqiu dealt a heavy blow to Yiguo. Facing the increasing number of red-coated cannons from our dynasty, Yiguo simply cannot muster the strength to resist."
"The battle on the Eastern Front was about who was more ruthless. But at this negotiation table, we'll get the rewards I just mentioned."
Emperor Xuan stroked his short beard, feeling deeply shocked:
Eighty million taels of silver, and the cession of Daqiu - this kid, can do it!
This is my greatest achievement in the ten years since I ascended the throne!
If this really happened, the border of the Yu Dynasty would have been pushed more than 300 miles to the east. What a great achievement!
He suppressed his excitement and pretended to be calm as he said to Yan Haochu, "This plan is feasible. This is what I mean. You can do it later."
"My lord, I obey the order!"
Emperor Xuan drank a cup of tea and thought it tasted delicious.
His serious expression relaxed, and he even smiled. "My dear little official, the second thing is that you are in Nanshan... That is my hunting ground. Although the Queen Mother gave the Nanshan Villa to Wenyun, I still go hunting in Nanshan every year. You have suddenly mobilized tens of thousands of people to develop Nanshan..."
"You've solved these people's livelihood problems, but how will I go hunting in the future? Should we move to another place?"
Fu Xiaoguan laughed. "Your Majesty, the weather is getting colder day by day. I've been to the slums and I've seen how miserable their lives are. So for the sake of your majesty's prosperity, why not move this hunting spot to another hill?"
What else could Emperor Xuan do?
He had heard that Fu Xiaoguan solved the problems of the poor people under his name.
Those poor people will remember the great kindness of him as an emperor, and there will naturally be no reason to drive them away to other places.
Forget it, let’s not go hunting for now.
"I want 30,000 of those flintlock rifles you forged in Xishan. I don't have the money, but they must be delivered to the Eastern Border Army by early February!"
Fu Xiaoguan was stunned. How could he be so cruel?
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