Chapter 284: Marriage
The melting of snow is the coldest time of the year, even colder than when it snows.
The door of Xuanhui Hall was closed and the room was separated by a curtain. The ministers were discussing matters outside and Li Zhaonian forced himself to listen.
"The money for the spring ploughing has been collected and allocated. By the time the autumn harvest comes, the treasury will be full."
"No way." Jiang Lianzhi said calmly, "Taxes have been collected until the 21st year of Tongxu. The late emperor passed away last year, but we can't just let go of the extra grain and commercial taxes. I'm afraid it's impossible to fill the treasury."
Now that Jiang Yuanqing has passed away, there is no one who can suppress the cabinet's second assistant Liu Cheng anymore.
Liu Cheng said slowly, "Regardless of whether the treasury is full or not, there are more than one difficult issue at the moment. The various departments have not been able to pay salaries for two months."
Liu Cheng looked at Jiang Lianzhi, but Jiang Lianzhi did not respond and pretended not to hear.
Wen Hongyuan coughed and said, "There is also the Ministry of War..."
"Are you here today to discuss matters or to ask me for money?" Jiang Lianzhi interrupted, "The accounts of the Ministry of Revenue are there, you can take a look, if you think I am not doing a good job, you can replace me with anyone else, I, Jiang Ji, will accept it."
Everyone was silent for a moment.
In the past, the Ministry of Revenue was a position that everyone wanted to work for, but now anyone would be bullied. All the ministries are like debt collectors, and they go to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for money every day, but the treasury is empty and they can't allocate any money.
Jiang Lianzhi saw that everyone was silent again when this issue was raised, and he couldn't help but sneer in his heart, saying: "Now it is the first year of Yongning, and there are many things to be done. You adults should discuss the affairs of the various ministries. The Ministry of Revenue will naturally cooperate if it can."
These are all empty words. Nothing can be done without money. The Jiang family is not the Lu family of Hezhou. It is impossible for the Jiang family to pay out of their own pocket.
Li Zhaonian couldn't help but smile when he heard his own reign title behind the curtain.
There will not be another second year of Yongning. Not to mention that he cannot survive until then, even with Xie Tingzhou's current unstoppable momentum, the imperial court cannot survive until then.
Several ministers remained silent, so Li Jifeng changed the subject.
"I heard that the Western Jue tribes surrendered to Xie Yun."
Liu Cheng said hurriedly, "After Boda's death, the people of the Western Jue tribes were demoralized and wanted to submit. Xie Tingzhou left them alone for a while. It is said that the trade route has been roughly negotiated and only the 'grain and horse trade' has been established so far."
"Exchanging grain for horses." Jiang Lianzhi said, "Xijue exchanged war horses for grain. Xie Tingzhou is using this to contain Xijue and prevent them from raising cavalry again."
Some things sound simple, but if you trace back to the source you can see how terrifying Xie Tingzhou is. He is so cunning that even if Xi Jue knew Xie Tingzhou's intention, he could not refuse.
The palace maids and eunuchs are cleaning the eaves.
Hang dripping icicles to prevent them from falling and hitting people when they melt.
An eunuch came running over holding something.
The chief eunuch at the door shouted, "Your Majesty and the Crown Prince are discussing matters with the ministers inside. How can you be so flustered?"
The eunuch knelt down quickly and shouted, "Your Majesty, there is urgent news."
Li Jifeng shook his sleeves and said, "Show it up."
The eunuch presented an urgent report. Li Jifeng read it with no expression on his face and passed it to several other people to circulate.
Everyone looked worried after watching it.
"So quickly, Xie Tingzhou has reached the territory of King Wei."
"The two states next to the Wei King's fiefdom have surrendered to Xie Tingzhou. If the Wei King is included, then Xie Tingzhou has taken over all nine states."
Thirty percent of the Great Zhou territory fell into the hands of Xie Tingzhou, and now Xie Tingzhou is unstoppable and it won’t take long for him to reach Shengjing.
This is a sharp blade hanging over everyone's head, ready to chop down at any time.
They seemed to have smelled the scent of a nation's demise from the crackling sound of the melting ice.
…
"Your Highness, Prince Wei sent a letter."
Xie Tingzhou covered Chen Yu with the quilt, and Chen Yu opened her eyes blurryly, "Something happened."
"It's okay." Xie Tingzhou patted the quilt lightly, watched her close her eyes, stood up and lowered the bed curtains.
The change of seasons can easily lead to illness. Two days ago, Chen Yu went horseback riding with Chang Liu on a whim and got her back soaked.
She didn't take it seriously at the time. She was still full of energy when she was lying in the snow on the battlefield before. But she never expected that she would get sick this time. She was still coughing after taking medicine for two days.
Xie Tingzhou walked around the screen and took the post from Xifeng.
As soon as Xie Tingzhou entered the country, King Wei sent an invitation, saying that he would host a banquet in his honor, but he did not express his attitude. He must have some ulterior motive and wanted to take this opportunity to negotiate terms with Xie Tingzhou.
"Is the prince going?"
Xie Tingzhou raised his index finger, glanced into the inner room and walked out.
Xifeng understood and followed Xie Tingzhou into the next room.
"Has the King of Wei mobilized his troops?"
"No." Xi Feng said, "The number of soldiers in the Wei King's fiefdom is 12,000, at most 15,000, he dare not move."
"Go." Xie Tingzhou said, "You arrange it. You don't need to bring too many people. I want to see how big of an appetite this King Wei has."
Xie Tingzhou took a few steps and called out "Changliu".
Chang Liu came over from the corridor, stood at the door with his hands behind his back and his head down, "Your Majesty."
It was Changliu who first brought up the horse race, which caused the princess to catch a cold. Although the prince didn't say anything, he didn't look kind to him in the past few days.
Xie Tingzhou said, "I'm going to go out for a while. You stay with the princess and don't let anyone disturb her. If she hasn't woken up by the evening hour, wake her up and give her medicine. Prepare a dish of candied dates."
Chang Liu nodded hurriedly, "Got it, I will definitely take good care of the princess."
"If there is any emergency, let the guards report it."
Changliu said with full energy, "Yes!"
Xie Tingzhou glanced at him and said, "Your voice is good. You can make it even louder. The princess doesn't have to wait until the evening to wake up."
Changliu pursed his lips and shook his head.
King Wei wanted to negotiate terms with Xie Tingzhou, but it was also possible that he wanted to take the opportunity to capture Xie Tingzhou and negotiate terms with the court.
Xie Tingzhou brought a small number of people with him, and his twenty guards were all experts. With a large army approaching, it was expected that Prince Huai would not dare to move.
There were string and bamboo instruments playing in the hall, and the music was melodious.
The King of Wei is over sixty years old, and he has not yet passed the throne to his son. Power is something that is difficult to give up once you have it in your hands.
"I offer a toast to His Majesty." Prince Wei picked up the cup.
Xie Tingzhou raised his hand to block the maid who was pouring wine. Xifeng asked her to step back and knelt beside her to pour tea for Xie Tingzhou.
"Let's have tea instead of wine." Xie Tingzhou picked up the cup, "Thank you, King Wei, for hosting the banquet."
Prince Wei drank it all in one gulp, Xie Tingzhou took a sip and looked towards the hall.
The dancer was draped in gauze and danced to the sound of string and bamboo instruments. While spinning, she never forgot to glance at Xie Tingzhou.
Xie Tingzhou was thinking about Chen Yu in his heart, so his eyes were not focused on the real thing, but in the eyes of King Wei, he couldn't take his eyes off her.
After the polite words, let’s get down to business.
Prince Wei said, "I have a daughter who is good at playing the zither. I have heard that Your Majesty is quite accomplished in this art. I wonder when Your Majesty will be free to give her some pointers."
Xie Tingzhou narrowed his eyes slightly, and had roughly guessed King Wei's plan.
Xie Tingzhou said: "King Wei may not know that among all the arts, I am the worst at playing the zither."
Prince Wei didn't care and said directly: "The art of music, chess, calligraphy and painting are not important. Your Majesty wants to rule the world, and now is the time to use people. Although the military force of Weizhou cannot compete with Your Majesty, we can still do our part."
"Your Majesty won't give it away for free." Xie Tingzhou smiled lazily, "Why don't you just tell me what the conditions are?"
Prince Wei waved his hand, "There is no need to discuss conditions. I want to give His Majesty a gift."
"What gift?"
"I have a youngest daughter who is not married yet. She is raised by the princess and treated like a precious child."
Xie Tingzhou held the cup to his lips but did not drink. He asked with a smile, "King Wei wants to give his beloved daughter to me."
Prince Wei smiled and said, "I want to give you a marriage proposal. As for the dowry, it is my Weizhou and 20,000 troops from Weizhou. What do you think?"
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