Sikong Zhan had told her all this on the way here. Now, this shameless emperor, in league with Prime Minister Lin, was actually trying to take advantage of the Jingnan Army. Lin Jinghan couldn't stand it any longer. She ignored Sikong Zhan's instructions to her not to speak unless necessary and said,
"Your Excellency is absolutely right. However, you may not know that this evidence consists of Nanzhao's medicinal herbs, which I have diligently preserved with great difficulty. These herbs are rare, and if exposed to the outside world, they will wither within half an hour. If I take them out now, we won't be able to produce them if Emperor Nanzhao demands the evidence. If he then accuses us of detaining his envoys from the East without reason, we will be left with no defense."
The emperor and Lin Jingshan did not believe what Lin Jinghan said, but the evidence was in her hands, and they could do nothing about what she said.
But how could the emperor let a little girl like Lin Jinghan lead him by the nose? He quickly changed his strategy.
"I naturally believe what the Prince of Jingnan and the Princess say. So, I will follow the Prime Minister's advice and detain the Nanzhao delegation. When the Emperor of Nanzhao asks me for evidence, I hope the Prince of Jingnan can produce it. Don't make any mistakes and stir up trouble."
What a good move of retreating to advance! The emperor, who had never been very smart, had actually learned to roast him on the fire! Sikong Zhan actually looked at this emperor with new eyes:
The emperor's move directly confirmed Nanzhao's poisoning of the Jingnan army. If Nanzhao demanded evidence, they wouldn't be able to hold onto it! If they didn't have evidence, the emperor could simply claim he trusted his Prince Jingnan too much! By then, he would be the culprit of all Donglin!
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust. Jinghan, the herbs should be able to be moved to another place, right?" Sikong Zhan looked at Lin Jinghan.
Lin Jinghan understood instantly and said with a smile, "Yes."
"That's good. When we return today, we will send the herbs to the palace. This way, we in Donglin will have solid evidence and we will have a legitimate reason to arrest people." Sikong Zhan bowed to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, I will return and deliver the evidence."
Lin Jinghan immediately added, "However, I must solemnly remind you that once the herb is opened, it must be taken out using a special method to keep it alive for half an hour. Otherwise, it will wither and die immediately. Remember, remember!"
Seeing that Prince Jingnan and his wife were about to leave, the emperor hurriedly stopped them and said, "Are you kidding me? Can't you open the evidence sent to him? What if they tricked him and there is no evidence inside? Who can he go to for justice then?"
"I think, since this herb is so difficult to preserve, why not put it in the Jingnan Palace first."
Sikong Zhan frowned, "How can that be possible? How can we allow the Emperor to arrest people without any evidence? Wouldn't that make others say we are arresting people without any evidence?"
"Why not delay the peace talks first, but actually detain the person in the capital, send a letter to Nanzhao, and see how Emperor Nanzhao will deal with this matter." Lin Xiang suggested.
"When has my Donglin Kingdom ever been so timid? Is Prime Minister Lin trying to damage the prestige of my Donglin Kingdom?" Sikong Zhan retorted directly, not giving Prime Minister Lin any face.
Neither this nor that worked. The emperor was in a state of great difficulty and had no choice but to give in. "In your opinion, Prince Jingnan, how should this matter be handled?"
"The peace talks will proceed as normal. I will handle the poisoning of the Jingnan Army myself." Sikong Zhan said during class.
If this were the case, then the emperor's request for Prince Jingnan and his wife to enter the palace today would be in vain, and no purpose would be achieved. Naturally, the emperor was unwilling to accept this, and immediately gave Prime Minister Lin a look.
Minister Lin pondered for a moment and said, "Prince Jingnan, the peace talks between our two countries are the result of untold hardships and bloody battles fought by you and the Jingnan Army. We all hope that Donglin can gain more benefits from the talks, thereby strengthening our national strength and making Donglin invincible in this struggle for hegemony among the nations. I hope that Prince Jingnan will put the overall situation first."
Sikong Zhan nodded. "The Prime Minister is absolutely right. The Jingnan Army suffered heavy losses in this battle with Nanzhao. I wonder when the Emperor plans to reward the three armies? By the way, the court has owed the Jingnan Army a lot of military funds in recent years. I wonder when the Emperor plans to make up for it? As long as the soldiers under my command can have enough food, clothing and a good life, I am willing to agree to anything."
The Emperor finally understood. It turned out that Prince Jingnan had come to the palace today to ask for money! Now that we knew his purpose, it was easy to deal with. After all, no matter how much money he asked for, it wouldn't be worth a few cities. So why not just grant his wish?
However, the court was ultimately at fault for the delay in military expenditures, so it was difficult to bring this up openly. He would never admit it. He was surprised and said, "I didn't know that the Jingnan Army's military expenditures were in arrears?"
Sikong Zhan took his time and pulled out a thick booklet from his pocket. "This is the military expenses the court owed the Jingnan Army for the past five years. Your Majesty can ask the Ministry of Revenue to verify it."
The emperor took the booklet, glanced at it, and then became furious. "Come here, summon the Minister of Revenue."
When the Minister of Revenue arrived, before he could even salute, the Emperor hit him in the face with a book.
"Li Zhengqing, I want to ask you, what is the matter with Prince Jingnan's statement that the court lost the entire Jingnan Army's military funds?"
Li Zhengqing, the Minister of Revenue, was stunned and even more confused by the question. The emperor had approved the withholding of military funds from the Jingnan Army! He secretly glanced at the King of Jingnan and instantly understood that the Ministry of Revenue had to take the blame for this matter.
"Your Majesty, I am wronged! Ever since I took over as the Minister of Revenue, I have been distributing military funds to the Jingnan Army according to previous practices!"
Sikong Zhan understood that they were trying to pass the buck. "It's a common practice. So, the court owes the Jingnan Army more than just the past few years of military expenses. It seems that I have to go back and look at the old accounts."
The Minister of Revenue felt a chill down his spine, lowered his head, and dared not breathe: Oh no, oh no, he seemed to have said something he shouldn't have said?
This Minister of Revenue was too stupid. The emperor subconsciously wanted to hit him again. After feeling around, he realized that he had nothing in his hand and said angrily:
"Immediately conduct a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Revenue's accounts and calculate all of the Jingnan Army's military expenditures over the past five years. Find out how much is owed, and not a single cent can be wrong!"
Piles of Ministry of Revenue files were moved to the Imperial Study, and the people from the Ministry of Revenue worked together to check and calculate the accounts, creating a very busy scene.
By the time they had finally counted the money, it was already dark. When they made the final comparison, the amount was exactly the same as the one given by King Jingnan.
Li Zhengqing wiped the sweat from his forehead vigorously and presented the results tremblingly.
Seeing the total at the end, the emperor was dumbfounded: even if he emptied his current treasury, it would not be enough to fill this number!
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