Chapter 332: Wasteland or Wealth
Helian Shuchi's eyes swept across the faces below.
Standing in the front was her son Helian Bozhi, followed by Tiele Khan's generals, and behind them were He Tingfang and several other Dayu people.
Helian Bozhi and the other Hu people looked very excited and curious.
When they first entered Chang'an City, they saw houses lined up on both sides and the streets were wide and flat.
But there were very few people and it was empty everywhere.
Because there were few people, they immediately saw a group of Dayu people who greeted them with smiles.
Minister of Revenue Fu Qian and a group of people were waiting at the palace gate, expressing their welcome and submission to them.
The Tiele Khans all found it funny.
When they broke into the city, they fought so fiercely with the Dayu people who were defending the city that their bodies were stained with the blood of the Dayu people.
But when they reached the palace, they saw another group of Dayu people smiling.
He Tingfang knew that Fu Qian and others had surrendered by looking at their expressions, so he took the initiative to introduce their identities to Helian Shuchi.
Afterwards, everyone entered the palace together.
The Hu people walked around the hall, looking here and there, touching the doors and kicking the pillars.
"Dayu's palace is very large and strong. No matter how strong the wind is, it won't fall down."
"But what's the point of building something so beautiful? You can't take it away."
"Besides, there's not much scenery. It's all walls outside, not even a hint of grassland. If you live here for too long, you'll feel suffocated."
He Tingfang, Fu Qian and others stood at the back. They could not understand what the Hu people were chattering about, but they knew from their expressions and tones that they were not saying anything nice.
They surrendered on the surface, but deep down they looked down on the Hu people.
I think the Hu people are barbaric, crude, poor, and just know how to kill people.
Helian Shuchi pointed at the pot-bellied Fu Qian and asked in a distorted Dayu dialect:
"Master He just said that you are the official in charge of finances?"
Fu Qian stepped forward and put on a respectful smile: "It is me."
Helian Shuchi said: "I heard that Chang'an City has a lot of treasures, but I don't see anything useful in the storehouse I just passed by."
When they entered the palace just now, they went to the royal private treasury.
When the private vault was opened, it was found that there were indeed exquisite jade, jewelry and porcelain inside. Although a lot of them were stolen when the palace people fled in large numbers some time ago, there were still quite a few left in the private vault.
What Helian Shuchi wanted was food, fodder and cloth, which were what they needed most in the next period of time.
They fought all the way from the north, relying on food and fodder transported by Tiele Khan and food looted from cities along the way, but that could not last long.
Fu Qian was prepared and took out an account book from his pocket:
"The palace is the royal treasury, so naturally there won't be a large amount of silver and grain stored there. I've already checked the account books for the Ministry of Revenue's silver treasury and granary."
He had already sent people to guard the treasury and granary, but he was the only one who knew whether anything was missing or who had taken it.
He has been in the Ministry of Revenue for so many years, and there is absolutely no problem with the accounts he can produce.
Otherwise, Murong Yu would not have let him stay in this position for so long.
He Tingfang glanced at Fu Qian's account book and guessed that there was a problem, but did not say anything.
He had seen Fu Qian's accounting skills.
If he can't see the problem, then the Hu people can't either.
"Ledger?"
Helian Bozhi took the account book from Fu Qian, flipped through a few pages casually, and couldn't quite understand it.
He handed the account book to his mother.
Helian Shuchi casually took the account book with one hand, shook it in his hand, and without even flipping it open, threw the account book directly back at Fu Qian's feet.
Fu Qian was stunned, not expecting Helian Shuchi's reaction.
Helian Shuchi sneered at Fuqian:
"Dayu has a vast territory and a large population. I think it will be no problem to support hundreds of thousands of our warriors. We can also send some food and cloth back to Tiele Khan."
"This..." Fu Qian was about to say something when he was interrupted by Helian Shuchi.
"I don't care about your nonsense. Just do what I want you to do. It's up to you to figure out how to do it. If you can do it, I'll make you a high official. Can't you do it?"
Helian Shuchi's knife-like eyes cut through Fu Qian.
"I see you have quite a lot of flesh on your body. Why don't we cook you and feed you to our warriors on the grassland?"
After Helian Shuchi finished speaking, many of the Hu people present looked at Fu Qian and laughed, saying that Fu Qian's belly was so big and fat that he could definitely make a pot of oil.
Fu Qian felt a chill on his back and forced a smile:
"I will definitely...definitely do my best."
After discussing the issue of food, fodder, money and silk, Helian Shuchi said:
"The emperor of Dayu is dead, the crown prince is dead, what about the other sons?"
Someone replied below, saying that all the princes and kings had run away.
Helian Shuchi said with disdain:
"Coward. Let's search Chang'an again and catch as many as we can."
Then he added, "I heard that a group of masters appeared in Dayu and rescued the generals defending the city. You should also pay attention and capture those who know martial arts if you find them."
The Hu people responded: "Yes, General!"
After giving his orders, Helian Shuchi went back to his bedroom.
The other Hu generals also found a palace that they liked to live in.
The palace is so big, they can take their pick.
Fu Qian and others could leave the palace, but they all had a layer of cold sweat on their heads.
In the past, when Murong Yu got angry, the court officials were afraid, but they didn’t break into cold sweats.
Because even if the emperor was angry, he would not chop off people's heads or exile them from office every day. Most of the time he would just get angry and scold them.
But Tiele Khan's Hu people are different.
They are too barbaric, so barbaric that they don't do any face-saving work, don't buy people's hearts but directly intimidate them.
The key is that this kind of intimidation will come true. They are holding knives and can chop people at any time.
Fu Qian said to He Tingfang:
"Master He is able to keep company with tigers and wolves. I admire him."
He Tingfang sneered:
"Same here, Master Fu is quite courageous."
Fu Qian whispered, "It's different. Although I took a gamble, my family has been sent to the south."
He Tingfang clenched his thin, old fists.
Fu Qian continued:
"But Fu has protected your daughter and two grandchildren, so that Lord He will have something to worry about when he returns to the capital. Maybe he will see them soon."
A hint of surprise flashed across He Tingfang's eyes.
Yan'er and her son didn't leave?
Fu Qian: "I'm leaving first. We'll talk again another day."
After Fu Qian and others left, He Tingfang went to see Helian Shuchi again.
Helian Shuchi paced in the bedroom, looked at the humble He Tingfang and asked:
"Anything else?"
He Tingfang nodded: "I have a question."
Helian Shuchi: "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't use your roundabout way."
He Tingfang: "I would like to ask the General, do you only want a few pieces of wasteland in Dayu, or do you want the endless wealth of Chang'an?"
Helian Shuchi narrowed his eyes:
"I want both the land and the money."
He Tingfang shook his head: "But what the general did was just to plunder a few pieces of wasteland in Dayu and destroy the source of wealth."
"You plundered each other on the grasslands, stealing food, horses, and land. Next year, new grass would grow on the new land, allowing you to raise more livestock and accumulate wealth."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
