Sikong Zhan had anticipated the emperor's reaction and continued to attack without mercy. "Minister Li previously stated that the Ministry of Revenue has always paid military expenses to the Jingnan Army according to established practice. I wonder when this practice began? It seems I must thoroughly investigate how many years of military expenses the court has owed the Jingnan Army."
In recent years, the number of registered soldiers in the Jingnan Army has continued to increase, but the military expenditure provided by the court has decreased instead of increased, and has become more excessive every year.
The previous Prince of Jingnan had reported this matter to the late emperor, but the late emperor always brushed it off, and the military funds allocated annually did not increase.
After the previous King of Jingnan talked to the late emperor several times, he became disheartened when he saw that the late emperor still acted as he pleased, so he stopped mentioning the matter and just tried to find a way to make up the military expenses on his own.
But can the military expenses for food and clothing of hundreds of thousands of people be filled by just him?
Therefore, in these years, the Jingnan Army has been living in poverty. It was not until Sikong Zhan took office as King of Jingnan, he vigorously engaged in business, and often carried out hunting, planting and other activities in the Jinan Army that the Jingnan Army finally got better off. In addition, Sikong Zhan's management was good, and the income from various industries was quite high. In the past two years, the Jingnan Army finally had enough food and clothing.
The current emperor knew the inside story of this matter when he was still the crown prince. The Jingnan Prince was powerful, and the Jingnan Army had always only known the Jingnan Prince, not the Emperor. The late emperor wanted to suppress them, so he deliberately withheld their military funds.
Gradually, the late emperor realized that the amount of military funds withheld was so huge that he could do many more things, so he became more and more excessive. In the end, the military funds he paid out were less than one-tenth!
This directly led to the emperor and Prince Jingnan becoming increasingly alienated from each other. Now they are almost incompatible and are only maintaining superficial peace.
This time, Prince Jingnan publicly mentioned that the court had withheld military funds, and he seemed determined to make up for it. It seemed that the mask of peace between the court and the Jingnan Army was about to be torn off.
"As the sage taught, a son should not speak of his father's faults. If I pay off all the military expenses owed by the Jingnan Army, it will be announcing to the world that my father made mistakes during his lifetime. As a son, I cannot act like this." The emperor closed the account book with a heartbroken look.
It was indeed heartbreaking. Where would he find so much money? But if he didn't give the money to Prince Jingnan, he would definitely not cooperate with him to prove that Prince Nanzhao had poisoned the Jingnan army, which would have cost him a lot of cities and annual tribute. It seemed that no matter what, he would be the one who suffered the loss!
Lin Jinghan looked completely naive.
"There's a saying among the people: 'A debt owed must be paid, a son must repay his father's debts.' This is only natural. Your Majesty is a wise ruler, and you should understand these principles."
The invisible finishing blow is the most deadly. The emperor rubbed his brows and said, "Prince Jingnan, how do you think about this? I will have the Ministry of Revenue pay all the military expenses owed to the Jingnan Army since I ascended the throne in one lump sum. As for the rest, I will gradually distribute it to the Jingnan Army in the form of rewards over the next ten years. Are you satisfied with this?"
Sikong Zhan knew that the emperor's treasury was empty and he could not come up with so much silver at once. His purpose in coming here recently was, firstly, to seek justice for the Jingnan Army, and secondly, to make the emperor bleed without forcing him into a corner.
"In that case, please have the Emperor issue an edict clearly stating how much additional rewards the Jingnan Army will receive each year, under what name these rewards will be given, and what the total amount will be over ten years. Only then will I know whether I should be satisfied."
The emperor originally wanted to give him some silver first, and wait until this matter was over and he got the benefits from Nanzhao, and then he would gather his strength to deal with Prince Jingnan and the Jingnan Army. But he never thought that Sikong Zhan would dare to threaten him, the emperor, in this way!
If he really issued this edict, no matter how things developed in the future, this edict would become a constraint for him! How could he agree to the request of King Jingnan?
"Prince Jingnan, are you trying to threaten the emperor?" Prime Minister Lin accused angrily.
"I'm just making a suggestion." Sikong Zhan seemed to have just remembered something important, but he said calmly, "Oh, by the way, Murong Qi won't be able to survive the poison for a few days."
If Murong Qi really died in the land of Donglin, it would be a tricky matter.
The emperor was furious when he saw the nonchalant look on the face of Prince Jingnan. He was even more furious when he saw the Princess Jingnan beside him, who also looked carefree. However, he was helpless against them and said, suppressing his anger:
"Even if Murong Qi deserves to be cut into pieces, he shouldn't die like this on my Donglin territory. If Prince Jingnan is willing to hand over the antidote and cooperate in accusing Nanzhao of poisoning the Jingnan army, I will give you the imperial edict!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Sikong Zhan bowed as usual.
This confrontation ended with a resounding victory for the Prince of Jingnan. The peace talks were going well for Donglin, while Nanzhao was defeated and in the wrong, so the compensation issue would surely be painful for them.
The Jingnan Army not only received their military funds, but also had their future livelihoods guaranteed. With the emperor's edict, he would have to think twice before trying to embarrass the Jingnan Army again.
More importantly, it feels great to see the emperor and Prime Minister Lin looking so frustrated.
The emperor suffered a setback at the hands of Prince Jingnan, and he was determined to play chess with Prince Nanzhao. He had to get enough benefits from Nanzhao so that he could get over the humiliation he had suffered recently!
But Murong Shuo has always been cunning and cruel. It is not so easy for the emperor to take some skin from him.
The two sides argued for a long time. Murong Shuo naturally denied the poisoning. Not only that, when the emperor asked Murong Shuo to exchange the city for Murong Qi's antidote, he actually said that he had to discuss it with the ministers, and it seemed that he didn't care much about his brother's life or death.
Fortunately, Murong Shuo took the initiative to approach the emperor the next day and said, "Your Majesty, after much consideration, I, Nanzhao, agree to exchange a city for my brother's antidote."
The emperor stared at Murong Shuo. Although he was not very satisfied with the conditions he offered, it was a city after all, so he nodded in agreement and immediately ordered the eunuch chief to get the antidote.
Soon, the chief eunuch hurried over and whispered in the emperor's ear, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The antidote is missing!"
The emperor was furious and looked at Murong Shuo with suspicion: No wonder Prince Nanzhao, who didn't care much about his brother yesterday, gave in so easily today! It turned out that he had actually reached out to his palace and not only stole the antidote, but now he was acting in front of him!
If he could steal the antidote silently today, could he steal the imperial seal tomorrow? His palace was robbed so easily. Is his palace still safe?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
