Chapter 39
Perhaps it was because she had stayed in the tomb for too long. When she came out of the cave and saw the dazzling sunlight outside, Chu Huan actually had a sense of dislocation as if she had finally returned from the darkness underground to the bright world. She stood there for a long time without moving.
Jia Yi had a hunch that something was wrong and quickly stepped forward: "Master Chu, are you feeling unwell?"
Chu Huan told the truth: "I feel a little dizzy, but it's okay. I'll be fine after a rest."
"I apologize for your inconvenience." As a precaution, Jia Yi stepped forward to feel Chu Huan's pulse. After a moment, he said, "The tomb chamber is filled with yin energy. Lord Chu, please stay in the sun for a while."
Chu Huan had no other advantages except that she listened to the doctor and immediately found a suitable place to bask in the sun.
System: [Sister Huan, you haven't eaten anything on the way here. You might be feeling dizzy and weak due to hypoglycemia. In short, you're hungry.]
As soon as he finished speaking, Jia Yi took out cakes, candies, dried meat, and honey water that he had prepared earlier from his package. His preparations were extremely complete.
"Master Chu, fill your stomach."
"Thank you." Chu Huan often didn't feel hungry when she was busy with work, but when she took a break, she found that she was too hungry and had no strength. These were habits she developed when she was doing scientific research in her previous life, and she didn't expect to bring them with her.
Chu Huan just sat there and ate slowly, watching Jia Yi, Cai Gang and some people who came with the excuse of "being notified by colleagues", going up and down the stairs one by one, carrying treasures as diligently as ants.
"If the Minister of Revenue saw this, wouldn't he be so excited that he would faint?"
[This is more than four national treasuries! The Minister of Revenue will definitely have to fight with the Emperor for it.]
Everyone nodded silently: Of course.
Chu Huan's words came true. That very day, the Minister of Revenue ran to the emperor's tent and cried poor in all kinds of ways, and even brought along several ministers and generals to accompany him.
"Your Majesty, the treasury is poor!"
The emperor said expressionlessly, "Not long ago, you said the treasury had money."
The Minister of Revenue choked, but said calmly, "As soon as we had some money, we allocated it to build the Star Picking Tower."
The Minister of Works, who was over fifty years old, almost vomited blood. What did the Star Picking Terrace do to you? How many times have you been pulled out and whipped?
When we said we wanted to build it, you all agreed. Now that there is no money, it is the Ministry of Industry's fault?
The river hasn't even been crossed yet, and you're tearing down the bridge? Too much! Too much! The Minister of Works was so angry that his beard was fluttering.
The Minister of Revenue was completely absorbed in his lamenting poverty: "This massive corruption case in Yining County has shocked the entire Dasheng. To prevent the country from continuing to collapse and rebuild over the next few years, we've spent a fortune. The national treasury just had some money, and we've allocated a significant amount to building a high-quality dam."
The Minister of Works' beard, which had just been flying, fell down quietly, and he no longer dared to get angry.
Although the dams collapsed and were rebuilt every year due to the frequent floods in recent years and corruption among officials, the craftsmen were also partly to blame, and he could not deny it.
The Minister of Revenue continued to cry poor: "In the past month, the Jinyiwei has confiscated many corrupt officials and filled the national treasury, but the vacant positions need to be filled, and the salaries of these people added up to a huge sum."
The Minister of Personnel was speechless. This was not the Ministry of Personnel's fault.
If you really have the ability, just write them an IOU. In the end, it will be you, the old man, who will be scolded anyway, and it has nothing to do with him.
The Minister of Revenue wiped his tears, patted his chest, and cried even harder: "The Western Rong have used such a vicious scheme against Dasheng. War is about to start, and there is so little money in the treasury. I am so worried."
Generals: “…”
If it wasn't for the need to have more money for the war with the Western Rong, they wouldn't have watched the old man pretending to cry, and crying so ugly.
Tsk, it hurts my eyes.
The emperor knew very well that it would not cost much to build the Zhaixing Tower and pay officials' salaries, and the previous reasons were untenable. However, if he really wanted to go to war with the Western Rong, the national treasury was indeed not rich enough.
"I'll give you one."
The emperor seemed generous, but he was actually in great pain.
That's all money he's already put into his pocket! How is this any different from asking him to pay money into the national treasury?!
The Minister of Revenue said calmly, "Three."
The emperor's face turned pale. A total of more than four pieces of national treasury were moved out from Princess Anle's tomb, but this old man asked for three. He was only left with one. How greedy!
"It's good enough to give you one."
The Minister of Revenue refused to give in: "Three, those were all found by the Ministry of Revenue."
That was found by Chu Huan, and she is not from the Ministry of Revenue!
The emperor wanted to say something but couldn't because he still needed Chu Huan. He gave in aggrievedly: "One and a half."
The Minister of Revenue refused to back down: "Three."
The emperor and his ministers bargained like people buying vegetables at a market. Finally, the emperor got angry and said, "Two, take it or leave it!"
"...Two, that's two." The Minister of Revenue shuddered, as if he was frightened by the emperor.
Seeing this, the emperor reflected on himself for a moment. His royal composure had not collapsed again, which was not good.
Otherwise, why not give the extra money to the national treasury?
Opening the list of treasures presented by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the emperor liked this one and that one, and was reluctant to give them away after looking at them left and right.
Giving away two treasuries was already painful enough to make him unable to breathe. For the sake of Dasheng, he could only endure it, but if he gave away a little more, even a little bit...
No, I feel suffocated just thinking about it!
"Forget it, I am just a stingy emperor." The emperor decisively gave up the immature idea, closed the thick list and placed it next to the pillow.
Soon these treasures will leave him and accompany him to sleep tonight.
It is definitely more effective than any calming incense.
*
At night, before Chu Huan went to sleep, she was poked by the system: [Sister Huan, the Minister of Revenue has subscribed to the melon, do you remember?]
Chu Huan smiled: [What are you waiting for? Come on!]
The system quickly opened the sharing function and changed its tone to a particularly cheerful one: [Sister Huan, Sister Huan, there's a follow-up to the gossip that the Minister of Revenue subscribed to. Isn't that appropriate?]
Chu Hua: [Cha!]
Everyone within a fifty-meter radius quickly scrambled to their feet, a bit confused as they did so: "Where did you two learn that Southwestern dialect? It's so standard!"
The system chuckled: "Didn't we go to Princess Anle's tomb today and find the treasures of the previous dynasty? The Minister of Revenue is such a stingy old man. When he heard that the treasures there were more than four national treasuries, he immediately asked to divide it into three."
Chu Huan immediately did a sit-up: [The Minister of Revenue is so bold! Doesn't he know that the Emperor is desperate for money? How dare he steal money from the Emperor?]
People within fifty meters: "..."
People who hurried over to eat melons: "..."
System: [He didn't eat anything, he was just worried about the lack of money in the treasury. He had saved a lot of money by investigating corruption and arresting corrupt officials, but he spent a lot of it in the blink of an eye. With so many departments eyeing the treasury's money, he was afraid of being poor.]
Chu Hua: [How pitiful! He's probably never seen so much money in his life.]
System: [He used the excuse of worrying about war to insist on giving the Emperor three. The Emperor, annoyed by him, only agreed to two. Seeing that he had scared him, he felt a little guilty. He looked at the list for a long time and was reluctant to cross out more.]
Guess what happened?
Chu Huan was too lazy to guess: [What? ]
The system's laughter reached the top of his head: [The Minister of Revenue is pretending, haha! The image of the honest man he said he was supposed to be is ruined! ]
He knew the emperor had no money in his private treasury and was reluctant to give him three. He just wanted two, so he pulled a few ministers and generals to give him courage and cried for a long time about his poverty.
Everyone gasped secretly: Oh my God, even honest people are starting to play tricks!
Chu Huan listened to the information revealed by the system, peeled off the surface information, and briefly analyzed it: [Da Sheng is surrounded by the Four Barbarians: the Eastern Barbarians, the Southern Barbarians, the Western Barbarians, and the Northern Barbarians. They have been a major concern for the emperor and his ministers since the previous dynasty.]
Dongyi and Dasheng are separated by a sea, and bandits often roam the coastline, killing, and looting. It's hard to tell whether they're Dasheng citizens fleeing to the island and becoming bandits, or Dongyi in disguise. Nanman's remote location is plagued by miasma and poisonous insects.
The Western Rong Emperor is a ruthless and unscrupulous person. The Northern Di battlefield is currently being guarded by the Grand Prince, so they dare not attack.
[Due to their location, if these four tribes were to be conquered, the cost of fighting would be huge, and sending troops to garrison would be even greater. The key is that there would be no return.]
System: [Translation: No money, no fight.]
Everyone: “…”
The translation is correct, please don't translate it next time :)
Chu Hua: [That's what I mean. Normally, we don't fight. It's too expensive, and the national treasury can't afford it. But if they insist on fighting, Dasheng naturally can't resist.]
System: [Translation: I won't hit you, but if you jump around too much, I'll have to spank you.]
Everyone: Hahahahahaha – this translation is too funny and too vivid!
Comparing the four barbarians to fleas invisibly elevates Dasheng's status and demonstrates the style of a great power. The emperor would definitely like to hear it.
Chu Hua: [The war may not necessarily be fought, but the treasury must have money. Otherwise, if the time comes, will we use the emperor's private treasury to fight the war?]
The system disagreed: [That means the emperor is rich, rich enough to rival an entire nation!]
Everyone: "..." Even if you praise him like this, the emperor will not be happy.
Chu Huan said quietly, "The last person who was as wealthy as a nation drank Meng Po soup countless times."
The system is silent, it seems.
Money can move people's hearts.
The throne is coveted enough, and if someone becomes as rich as a country, even the emperor will not have a good ending.
The system doesn't want to talk about things that make the system unhappy: [Sister Huan, let's have some happy melons and cheer ourselves up.]
Chu Hua: [What?]
System: [I was curious about why the Dasheng treasury was always so broke, and I saw a melon about Miaoshoukongkong breaking into the treasury and leaving a note and silver for the emperor to use to buy candy.]
Everyone was so frightened that they bit their tongues until they bled.
Hiss—damn it! How could you two eat this melon too!
Chu Huan told the system this news through a private chat channel. [Then?]
System: [Then, out of curiosity, I subscribed to Miaoshoukongkong.]
[It turns out that this generation of Miaoshou Kongkong has mastered the art and is about to make his debut. Then he remembered the feats of the previous generation of Miaoshou Kongkong, the idol he had admired since childhood.]
He still had the various blueprints and experiences left behind by his predecessor, Miaoshou Kongkong, who had broken into the national treasury. He decided to follow his predecessor's example and visit the Dasheng national treasury after leaving the mountain.
Everyone's faces were filled with fear, and their hearts completely turned into screaming chickens: Aa ...
In the past 127 years, the treasury of Da Sheng was always empty-handed, and a few skilled thieves broke in with nothing but dust.
How come this generation, with nothing but wisdom, happened to dig up the treasures of the previous dynasty in the national treasury, making the three existing national treasuries so rich and then stealing them?
Isn't this equivalent to all the hard work of digging being wasted?
You ask why it is free?
Of course, it’s because the treasury has always been out of money. The treasury of Dasheng has not been repaired since the founding of the country. The eighteen levels there were passed by the previous generation with nothing!
After so many years, many organs may not have been properly maintained and are almost broken.
When the treasury is in front of Miao Shou’s empty hands, it’s like opening the door wide for him to come in and take whatever he wants!
If he was like his admired predecessor, Miaoshou Kongkong, and left a note with a few words on it, such as "Entering the national treasury is as easy as taking something out of a bag" and "I helped you build the mechanism, no need to thank me".
Oh no! I feel like fainting just thinking about it.
Many people almost rolled their eyes and pinched their philtrum tightly, which narrowly avoided fainting.
They were so worried that they were furious and had blisters on the corners of their mouths, but Chu Huan and the system were laughing.
Chu Hua: [If you leave another note, the emperor will be furious. Haha.]
She had given such an arrogant "reminder", and if the emperor couldn't find a way to deal with it, then she had no choice.
System: [The officials of Dasheng should all find noodles and hang themselves at the entrance of the national treasury, haha.]
Everyone: "..." Human joys and sorrows are so incomprehensible!
After an incense stick of time, the emperor and his officials heard the news: "..."
Compared to the fact that Miaoshou Kongkong was about to patronize the national treasury, the emperor felt that the fact that the Minister of Revenue was impersonating him was nothing!
No matter how stingy the Minister of Revenue is, he is not doing it for himself, but for Da Sheng. Those treasures of the previous dynasty will eventually be used for the people of Da Sheng.
If Miaoshoukongkong fails to handle this matter properly, he, all the officials and Dasheng will become the laughing stock of the people all over the world.
If the government agencies are not strong enough, they will be ridiculed; if there are too many treasures in the treasury, they will be stolen; if there is too little silver in the treasury, it will be ridiculed; if there is too much silver in the treasury, it will be coveted by the barbarians.
All in all, there was no good outcome.
The emperor and his officials were troubled by headaches and it was another sleepless night.
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