Chapter 211 King Beilin
The officials in the court were arguing fiercely.
"Now is the time for us to attack head-on. Otherwise, once they expand their army and recruit more soldiers, it will be even more difficult to defeat them."
"I hold the opposite opinion. Now that Xuanping Hou and Beilin are each occupying one side and restraining each other, I think this gives us a chance to catch our breath."
"Take a breath?" A minister sneered, "We take a breath, but others don't? When everyone has rested, what the Great Zhou will face are two well-fed jackals!"
"You make it sound so simple. The first thing you say is war. Doesn't war require food and money?"
The war faction and the peace faction argued so fiercely that Li Zhaonian had a headache.
Li Zhaonian rubbed his brows and said, "That's enough."
"Military rations and silver are the Ministry of Revenue's business. Why should the Ministry of War be concerned about it? Are you deliberately trying to give them a break?"
"You are slandering me! Doesn't my Ministry of War need to worry about the soldiers' rations?"
"That's what I said!" Li Zhaonian slammed the armrest of the dragon throne.
The hall suddenly became quiet, and all the ministers bowed their heads in silence.
Li Zhaonian took a breath and said, "Lord Jiang, you go ahead and speak."
Jiang Lianzhi stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I have counted the silver in the Ministry of Revenue treasury and there is not much left."
"How much is left? There has to be a number."
Jiang Lianzhi glanced sideways and saw that the person who spoke was Liu Cheng, the Second Assistant Minister of the Cabinet.
Jiang Yuanqing sat high in the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet. After the death of the previous emperor, Jiang Yuanqing also fell ill, but no one could shake his position as Prime Minister. The Jiang family's status among literati was unparalleled.
Liu Cheng and Jiang Yuanqing had never gotten along well, and with the emergence of Jiang Ji in the Jiang family, Liu Cheng had only an incompetent son, Liu Yu. He felt even more unbalanced and repeatedly targeted Jiang Lianzhi in the court.
Jiang Lianzhi was used to it and said calmly, "The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for money, but it doesn't make money. In the early spring, we searched and suppressed bandits, and there was also the Emperor's birthday banquet, which cost a total of 870,000 taels of silver. The troops from the five cities came to rescue the Emperor, the Southern Camp was mobilized, and there was also the funeral of the late Emperor, which cost another 1.34 million taels of silver. The remaining silver in the treasury will have trouble supporting the spring ploughing next year."
Liu Cheng snorted coldly, "I don't believe that there is only so little silver in the Xuanping Marquis's mansion."
"You are so arrogant, Mr. Pavilion." Jiang Lianzhi smiled slightly, "Nearly 300,000 taels of silver is just a small amount in your eyes."
Liu Cheng was furious. "You know that's not what I meant. How could it be possible that we only seized that much silver?"
"The confiscation of property was carried out by the Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Revenue was only responsible for recording and storing the property.
, it is better for you to ask someone else than to ask me. "
"You--" Liu Cheng was speechless for a moment. He had no intention of offending the Dali Temple and the Censorate.
"What about the Beilin Palace? The Beilin Crown Prince and Du Yuhou Chen Yu defected, so the palace should be raided."
"Chen Yu has done a great job in protecting the emperor, so I'm afraid the reason for defection is not valid."
Jiang Lianzhi finally showed some anger on his face. "If you want to check the account, as long as His Majesty nods, it's always possible. Now let's go back to the question of whether to send troops or not."
Wen Hongyuan, the Minister of War, stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, it is better to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. Beilin and Xuanping Hou are fighting to the death. It is time for us to recuperate. Now we have a bigger problem."
Li Zhaonian said, "My dear, please feel free to speak."
Wen Hongyuan said: "The biggest problem now is that the Western Jue people may launch another surprise attack before winter. Now that we are facing both internal and external troubles, I am afraid this winter will not be easy. The national treasury is empty now, and raiding the Xuanping Marquis's Mansion will not have much effect. My colleagues have different opinions on whether the Beilin Prince and Shen Yu have defected, but raiding the Beilin Palace and the Shen Mansion may solve the urgent problem."
After the court session, Li Zhaonian took a sedan chair back to Xuanhui Palace.
Countless emperors have lived in this place, and it looks so heavy.
"Go and summon Prince Yan to the palace."
Li Jifeng was summoned and when he entered the hall he saw Li Zhaonian sitting dejectedly in a chair.
"Your Majesty summoned me here. Is there something important?"
Li Zhaonian stared at him for a long while, then suddenly said, "You are truly the smartest person in this palace."
Li Jifeng was confused, "Why do you say that?"
"Today in the palace, someone asked me to raid the Beilin Palace, and more than half of the ministers agreed."
Li Jifeng walked over and sat next to Li Zhaonian. "Your Majesty, you had a good argument with them, right? What was the final result?"
Li Zhaonian did not answer directly. "I was forced to sit in this position. I finally understood the difficulties of my father. The emperor does not do whatever he wants. On the contrary, he is subject to more constraints. There are mountains of memorials every day, and many of them ask for money. Governing a country is like governing a family. It is really not easy to be a family."
Li Jifeng has understood the hidden answer. The confiscation of property is inevitable and no one can stop it. Not only is Li Zhaonian's foundation unstable and he is coerced by his ministers, but the situation also forces him to confiscate property.
"If I really raided the Beilin Palace, how would they look at me?" Li Zhaonian asked.
Li Jifeng laughed and said, "I guess they're calling you an ungrateful person behind your back."
Li Zhaonian also smiled and said, "Yes, she tried her best to protect me.
I will raid their houses.”
"I'm afraid it's more than that."
Li Zhaonian turned his head and asked, "What do you mean?"
Li Jifeng said: "This minister still needs your order."
…
There was continuous music in the hall. A man was lying on the couch, fanning himself and beating the rhythm with the music.
The fan was very small, and it looked a bit awkward when held by a pair of big hands.
The sound of footsteps came closer and closer, then stopped at the door.
Xie Guangzong glanced at him and said slowly, "Oh, you're back."
Xie Tingzhou approached slowly, "I heard that you were too sick to get up, and you were almost dying."
Beilin King Xie Guangzong changed his posture and said, "That's right, it's really strange. He couldn't get up at first, but he got better on his own. It's really destiny."
Xie Guangzong picked up a peanut and threw it up, but before it landed in his mouth, his sleeve passed over it and the peanut fell to the ground.
"Hey." Xie Guangzong turned over and sat up, "You're here to make trouble for your dad as soon as you get back. You even want to interfere with my listening to a song or eating peanuts."
Xie Tingzhou sat down nearby and moved his hand on the armrest slightly, and the musician playing the piano stopped immediately.
"Is he the King of Beilin or am I the King of Beilin?" Xie Guangzong shouted, "Keep playing."
The musician was in a dilemma. He looked at the King of Beilin and then at the Crown Prince.
"Everyone go down." Xie Tingzhou ordered.
Xie Guangzong snorted, looked him up and down, and said, "I thought you were being chased by those dogs and were in a mess, but you look energetic."
"I thought you were dying."
"Hehe." Xie Guangzong laughed, "Good boy, you still have some filial piety to your father. It's just right that you're back. Just treat me as dead and take over the burden in my hands. I'm going to go out and travel."
Xie Tingzhou glanced at him and asked, "Who gave you the idea?"
"You should cherish it." Xie Guangzong raised his hand and patted Xie Tingzhou's shoulder. "If it weren't for my smart daughter-in-law, how could you have a reasonable reason to leave Shengjing? Now that I am trying to escape, Beilin cannot be without a master. Who dares to let the King of Beilin come to Beijing as a hostage?"
Xie Tingzhou was stunned for a moment, "Ayu? When did you get in touch?"
Xie Guangzong said: "You don't have to worry about this. Hurry up and bring my daughter-in-law over to get married. Then I will choose a good day to die. You can hold a simple funeral for me, and I can go out to travel."
Xie Guangzong had already begun to fantasize, "With such a rich daughter-in-law, I will never starve to death when I travel around in the future. Life will be so happy."
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