marquis of jingan

Chapter 995
Zhao Changping was still working in the household department at the moment. After receiving the emperor's call, he did not dare to neglect, so he tidied up his official uniform and entered the palace.

After seeing the emperor, Zhao Shangshu bowed his hands and saluted.

"Veteran Zhao Zhi, I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

The emperor looked up at him, motioned him to sit down, and said with a smile: "Among the nine ministers in the imperial court, you are probably the youngest, Zhao Qing. Why are you calling yourself a veteran?"

Shen Yi had just arrived in Jiankang, that is, when Hongde was six years old. At that time, Zhao Changping was still the servant of the household department. He was in his 40s and close to 50 years old, and he was considered a middle-aged man.

Now, in a blink of an eye, seven years have passed, and the Minister of the Household Department is 56 years old, with a lot of gray hair on his temples.

He lowered his head slightly, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty made fun of me. This old minister is already fifty-six this year, and his hair is half gray."

The emperor was taken aback when he heard the words, then sighed, and said: "I remember that when I first came to the throne, Zhao Qing was still a young man. In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed."

Zhao Shangshu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"This group of ministers have watched His Majesty grow up day by day. Now that His Majesty has become a Ming Emperor and Holy Lord, I feel very gratified."

"What Mingjun Holy Lord."

Emperor Hongde shook his head slightly, and said with a smile: "It's not in line with Zhao Shangshu's temperament to flatter a horse."

Zhao Changping smiled, and said: "The old minister sincerely feels that as long as His Majesty can be consistent, no one will be able to erase the word Mingjun in the future history books."

Hearing the words, the emperor felt a little touched in his heart. He rubbed his temples and sighed: "It's really not an easy thing to be a wise king."

The profession of emperor...has its peculiarities.

If you want to do this job well, you must first be a workaholic to be a "Master".

Because he wanted to hold the power of the imperial court and not be emptied by the people below, so there were too many things to deal with, people to meet, and things to do every day.

And once there is a little slack, part of the power will be lost from the hands.

If it continues to be bad and indulges in pleasure, then on many levels, it can only be a mascot.

This is true of many emperors in history.

The young man succeeds to the throne and is determined to forge ahead, all of which are ambitious. He wants to do this job well and become a sage king who will go down in history.

However, most of them have only lasted the previous ten years.

Better yet, 20 years.

Because being a so-called Mingjun is really hard work. After a person reaches middle age, his energy can't keep up. If he slacks off a little and loses it once or twice, he will taste the joy of being a loser.

Later, it may be out of control.

The more typical ones are Li Laosan and Kang Laosan.

That's why Zhao Changping emphasized "consistency".

However, there are very few emperors who can really be consistent.

After the emperor sighed, he asked Gao Ming to serve tea, and then said with a smile: "Okay, God of Wealth, let's get down to business."

"I came to you today to settle accounts with you."

Zhao Shangshu was taken aback for a moment, then reacted, and said, "Your Majesty... is there a national war going on?"

Emperor Hongde tapped his finger on the handrail and said quietly: "It's not sure yet, but it depends on the situation. If we don't fight this year, we will definitely fight next year."

He looked at Zhao Changping and said with a smile: "It is possible that we will fight this year. Since there is such a possibility, the imperial court must make corresponding preparations."

"After all, when the time comes, there will be a real fight. It can't be like this now. Shen Qi has to raise even the military rations by himself."

Zhao Changping bowed his head silently, and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister said a long time ago that the money and food left over from the household department can support the national war for about two years."

"In the first half of this year, I presided over a purchase, spent money to fill up the grain depots in various places, and sent people to inspect the prefectures and counties to confirm the grain in each depot..."

"Until last month, the storehouses in various places, including Jiankang's grain depots, had about 300 million shi of grain left over."

"Based on the calculation of one catty of rations per person per day for each military household, plus the addition of all the civilian husbands accompanying the army, the rations are enough for 30 troops to feed for more than a year."

"If there is a fight, the Ministry of Households can squeeze out some food from other places, and then buy some urgently. It will definitely not be a problem to last for two years."

The emperor thought for a while, and then said quietly: "I'm afraid that the grain depots in these places may not all be full. Maybe the officials of the Ministry of Households will go ahead and the grain depots will be empty."

Greed is part of human nature and cannot be changed.

Hearing this, Zhao Shangshu sighed slightly, and said, "Returning to Your Majesty, the old minister has already considered this point, and the amount reported to you has been converted. According to the accounts of the Ministry of Households, the surplus grain from granaries in various places is added to Together, there should be 450 million stone."

Speaking of this, he paused, and said in a low voice: "If there is a real war, these grains are military grains. Whoever dares to move them will be the crime of the barbarians! When mobilizing grains, even if the warehouses are empty, those silverfish will find ways Replenish these grain depots!"

"You don't want your life for money. I've seen too many of them."

The emperor squinted his eyes and didn't continue, but said with a smile: "From this month, the Ministry of Households will start to adjust the grain, send some to Jiankang, and then send some to Huai'an Mansion, and give it to Zhang... um..."

The emperor rubbed his head and said, "I remember, let Zhang Jian, the prefect of Huai'an, take care of it."

As he said that, he looked at Zhao Shangshu, smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, the prefect of Huai'an is Zhang Xiang's grandson and Zhao Qing's student, right?"

"Yes."

Zhao Shangshu bowed his head and said: "Zhang Yi'an is a student of the minister. Although he is not particularly calm, he is very tenacious when doing things. There will be no problem in transferring the food to Huai'an Mansion."

"Okay, let's do that."

The emperor said softly: "Don't make things too public, just treat it as a routine grain adjustment by the household department, and then..."

"If the Chamber asks..."

Zhao Changping understood, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, since the formation of the Huai'an army, the Ministry of Households has not distributed much food to them. It has been short of a lot for more than a year. The purpose of transferring food at this time is to make up for this gap."

Hearing this, the emperor clapped his hands and laughed, "It's still Zhao Qing who thinks well, so let's use this as an excuse."

After Zhao Changping was praised by the emperor.His face was still respectful, neither sad nor happy.

After being silent for a while, he asked: "Your Majesty, Shen Yi, the minister of the Ministry of War, is my nephew. Can I ask how he is doing?"

The emperor was a little surprised: "He didn't communicate with you..."

Speaking of this, the emperor's words came to an abrupt end. He slapped his head and laughed dumbfoundedly: "Yes, he is now besieged in Xuzhou City, and he has no way to communicate with the outside world. The letter sent to me still depends on going out of the city to fight." It will take a while before it can be delivered."

Speaking of this, the emperor looked at Zhao Shangshu and said with a smile: "Zhao Qing, don't worry, Shen Qi is doing well now, and he is about to take up territory in Xuzhou and become king, Qi people can't help him."

Speaking of this, the emperor looked to the north and said with a smile: "Now, he is surrounded in Xuzhou city, and he is not at ease. He occasionally sends troops out of the city to find the bad luck of the people of Qi."

Zhao Shangshu lowered his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for telling me."

The emperor got up, walked up to the God of Wealth, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile.

"You Ganquan Academy has produced a remarkable person."

"My Hongde Zhongxing may be on him."

………………

Xuzhou City, on the upper floor of the East Gate.

Master Shen was holding a telescope, looking at the enemy in the east.

The emperor was right, he was indeed going to find Qi people's bad luck.

Originally, after he occupied Xuzhou, logically speaking, for the sake of their emperor's face, the people of Qi would definitely storm Xuzhou City, even if it cost them their lives.

But now, more than a month has passed, and the progress of the matter is somewhat unexpected by Shen Yi.

For almost a month, the Southern Conscript Army had surrounded the city of Xuzhou without fighting. Up to now, although the siege battles have been fought many times, every time it was thunderous and rainy.

Out of scale.

After looking at the Qi people's camp in the north for a while, Master Shen frowned slightly and said: "Qi people have always been arrogant, why have they changed their nature now, this kind of loss can be swallowed!"

The East City Wall is in charge of the East Route Army. At this moment, Su Ding is standing behind Shen Yi, bowing his head slightly and said: "They were frightened by you, Mr. Shen, and they knew that they would die if they came to attack Xuzhou, so they flinched and surrounded the city. Instead of fighting."

Speaking of this, Su Ding gritted his teeth, and said: "Hate is only hate. The Huaihe Navy in the south of ours has not moved yet. Now, most of the troops of the Southern Conscript Army are stationed outside Xuzhou City. If the Huaihe Navy Being able to go north and conquer cities and territories is as easy as searching for something."

Master Shen shook his head and said with a smile: "What you said is too easy. Zhao Lu is not as free as our Huai'an army. I have an imperial decree to do things cheaply, and I can cross the river to attack Qi at any time, but he doesn't."

"Arbitrarily dispatching troops is to discuss rebellion."

Speaking of this, Master Shen's eyes were still looking to the east.

That's where Zhou Shizhong's tent is located.

Shen Yi looked at it for a while, then shook his head and said: "This Zhou, I don't know when, I learned a skill of the tortoise from Zhao Lu."

"However, he has made such a big mistake, it's really strange that the Northern Qi court still allows him to act like this..."

After muttering a few words in a low voice, Shen Yi looked back at Su Ding, and asked, "It's been more than a month in Xuzhou, among the enemies on all sides, which side is weaker?"

"North."

Su Ding answered without hesitation.

He lowered his head slightly and said: "Although the subordinates are not in charge of the north, but they have communicated with General Ling and the others. The Qi people in the north should not belong to the South Army..."

"It's reinforcements dispatched from Northern Qi."

"The combat effectiveness is much worse than that of the Zhengnan Army."

Hearing this, Shen Yi frowned again.

"Going north to break out is useless..."

"inappropriate…"

He rejected this idea in his heart, then suddenly his heart moved, and he looked back at Su Ding.

"General Su, I suddenly have an idea."

Su Ding lowered his head slightly: "Mr. Shen, tell me."

Shen Yi looked up to the east, and then smiled: "General Su, you said that if starting today, all four gates of Xuzhou City will be opened..."

"What's going to happen?"

Su Ding was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up, and he looked at Shen Yi: "Mr. Shen, this is a good way. It can motivate Qi people to attack the city, but it is somewhat dangerous..."

"I don't think it's dangerous."

Master Shen's eyes were dim.

"Just right, let's take a look at how far the Northern Qi court can tolerate Zhou Shizhong..."

(End of this chapter)