"Manager Zhou, you already know who we are. We are not jade merchants, so we cannot do jade business with you. Please forgive us," Li Xue said with a smile.
"Princess, please don't say that. This time, the Princess and the Registrar have traveled a long way to Yuanxi to eliminate Xiao Taiyuan's power. This is the greatest blessing for us merchants."
Our business will flourish from now on, and the people of Yuanxi will remember the great kindness of the Princess and the Registrar.
After chatting for a while, Li Xue suggested going to the mining area. Since it was an open-pit jade mine, there was almost no danger, so going to take a look was not a problem, although the road was a bit difficult to travel.
After the group toured the mining area, they prepared to leave. Zhou Tong offered them several pieces of top-quality jade, but they refused. Zhou Tong had no choice but to give up and watch them leave.
Three days later, Yang Hong's condition had stabilized, and he was able to walk with crutches. Zhao Xian looked at him and couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that he would never be able to live without those crutches for the rest of his life.
They had been in Yuanxi for more than ten days, and it was time to go back. Prefect Jin was really reluctant to see them leave.
The only things Yuanxi could offer were jade and beef. Currently, the government has confiscated all of Xiao Taiyuan's jade, which has been nationalized and sealed off. No one is allowed to use it without the court's approval.
It seems the only option is to send them some beef. Fresh beef doesn't keep well, so let's send some beef jerky instead. Beef jerky made from yak meat not only keeps for a long time but also tastes quite good.
Li Xue really liked this kind of beef jerky, so Prefect Jin prepared a lot of it. Li Xue accepted it all and basically filled all three carriages to the brim.
The group will return the way they came, first to Yuanshui, and considering that Yang Hong has a leg problem, they will take a boat back to Yingkou Town.
The next morning, the group finally set off. All the officials in the prefectural government came out to see them off, and they continued to accompany them for more than ten miles from the city gate before Prefect Jin stopped.
Just as Zhao Xian and Li Xue were leaving Yuanxi, Prefect Jin's urgent report had already reached the Ministry of War of the Imperial Court.
When Minister of War Cheng saw this urgent memorial sent from Yuanxi, his legs went weak with fear.
Because this was sent via the 800-li express courier, it indicates that a major event has occurred in Yuanxi, which is one of the most unstable areas in the Great Northern Dynasty and has always been a thorn in the side of the court.
The arrival of such an urgent message was certainly not good news; the matter was of utmost importance and required an immediate audience with the Emperor.
The morning court session had already ended when Minister Cheng arrived at the palace with this urgent memorial. Upon inquiring, he learned that the Emperor was discussing matters with several important ministers in the Xixiang Garden.
Minister Cheng dared not delay and jogged all the way to Xixiang Garden. Upon arriving at the entrance, he quickly sent a eunuch in to report that there was an urgent military situation to report.
Seeing that Minister Cheng was covered in sweat, the young eunuch knew that something important had happened and quickly went in to report it.
The atmosphere in Xixiang Garden was oppressive. The emperor was frowning. Spring had arrived, and water conservancy projects were underway in various places. There were too many places where money needed to be spent. In addition, the national treasury had been empty due to the continuous wars in recent years, and it was difficult to allocate silver.
The emperor stared at the Minister of Revenue, who kept his head down and remained silent.
"Lord Ji, you are my god of wealth. No matter what, you must raise five million taels of silver for me within two months."
"Your Majesty, I am truly powerless. Even if I were to take all the money from the rat hole, I still couldn't scrape together two million taels of silver. I had intended to sell everything I owned, but I had already destroyed the pot two years ago, and now I have nothing left to sell."
The ministers beside him remained silent, not daring to look up at the emperor, for fear that the emperor would be watching them.
The emperor sighed. He knew he couldn't push the old man any further; if he did, the old man would hang himself. He couldn't even scrape together the money himself, let alone rely on others.
Just then, the young eunuch walked in.
"Is there something you need?" the emperor asked.
"Your Majesty, Minister of War Cheng requests an audience, saying he has urgent military information," the young eunuch reported.
Upon hearing of the urgent military situation, the emperor's brows immediately furrowed. He had finally had a few months of peace, and now there was trouble again.
The emperor is now somewhat afraid of the Minister of War; whenever the minister comes to see him, it's usually nothing good.
"Let him in," the emperor said helplessly. Some things cannot be avoided; what must be faced must be faced.
After the young eunuch left, Minister Cheng strode in.
All eyes turned to him, and seeing his expression, they knew it couldn't be anything good.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"Rise, Minister Cheng. What brings you here?"
"Upon receiving the urgent memorial from Yuanxi, I dared not delay and immediately sent it to His Majesty."
"An urgent message from Yuanxi, eight hundred li away." The Emperor's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected it to be an urgent report from Yuanxi. Yuanxi was located deep in the desert, and the situation there had always been unstable, so the court was powerless to help.
"When was the memorial sent?"
Four days ago.
"Bring it here quickly."
Minister Cheng stepped forward and handed the memorial to the Emperor.
The emperor was also very nervous at this moment, but he had to remain calm in front of his ministers and not let them see the slightest sign of his panic.
The emperor opened the memorial, his expression serious, and began to read it carefully.
The ministers below also stared at the emperor, not daring to utter a sound.
Gradually, the emperor's brows relaxed, and a look of joy appeared on his face. When he finished reading all the memorials, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Seeing the emperor's expression, it seemed that nothing had gone wrong in Yuanxi; perhaps some joyous occasion had occurred.
But in their view, the greatest joy would be if nothing went wrong in Yuanxi and everything was peaceful and safe.
"After the great victory in Yuanxi, you should take a good look at this report first."
The emperor instructed a young eunuch to take down the memorial and hand it to the ministers below for review.
Soon the ministers finished reading the memorial, understood what had happened, and found it unbelievable.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! The rebellion in Yuanxi has been successfully quelled. We have seized Xiao Taiyuan's military pay, which is worth 20 million taels of silver. Including his assets, the total value exceeds 30 million taels of silver, which is almost two years' worth of the court's fiscal revenue."
"Now that the court has money, Your Majesty can act with confidence and boldness," said Minister Ji of the Ministry of Revenue excitedly.
"I was just worried about not having any money, but now I have so much money all of a sudden. Now I can do things that I didn't dare to do before with confidence. It's like heaven is helping me."
The emperor was overjoyed, his excitement evident in his words.
This was the first time in over a year that the emperor had been so happy. Being the ruler of a country was indeed not easy; many things ultimately required his intervention.
Over the past year, he has become physically and mentally exhausted, and has aged considerably. His ministers have noticed this and are deeply concerned.
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