The High Gate Mistress of Rebirth

Chapter 411 Fundraising
Years of floods in the south have caused great loss. A group of ministers petitioned Emperor Ming to ask for major repairs of water conservancy to completely solve the flood.

This requires a large sum of money. After the huge sum of money was allocated, there was not much left in the national treasury.

Fighting a war costs money, and negotiating peace also requires a lot of money. Emperor Ming thought it over and decided to cede land for peace.

Give up six cities in the north to the Xiongnu for respite.

When the eldest princess knew about this, she went to the palace overnight to face the saint, and when she saw Emperor Ming, she would scold her head and face.

"Daqi's country was built by our ancestors with painstaking efforts. For 300 years since the founding of the country, countless soldiers have worked hard to protect it. There is no reason to cede land to the barbarians. These cities have fallen into the hands of the barbarians. If you want to take it back in the future, I don't know how much it will cost. Financial resources and manpower, besides, once the thousands of souls in those five cities fall into the hands of the Huns, wouldn’t they be devastated.”

Emperor Ming replied with a bitter face and sighed: "Of course I understand what Eldest Sister said, but right now the money is all used for disaster relief and water conservancy, so there is no money left in the treasury to go to war."

The eldest princess didn't know about her younger brother's difficulties, she resolutely replied: "I can use all my private property to fight against these barbarians and solve Daqi's current difficulties."

Emperor Ming quickly waved his hand and said, "Your property is a dowry given to you by your father, so how can I embezzle it?"

The eldest princess replied: "I would rather spend all my family property than see my land and people in Daqi being trampled by those barbarians."

Emperor Ming knew how big sister was, but after hearing what she said, he couldn't help being silent for a while.

The eldest princess continued: "Although I have a lot of property, those manor fields will not be able to be exchanged for silver for a while. The cash I can get now is almost 500 million taels, and I am afraid it is still far away to spend on this war." not enough."

Saying that, the eldest princess looked at Emperor Ming: "You have many concubines in the harem, and all of them are filthy rich, hum! Everyday, everyone looks like they love you to death, and now it's time for them to treat you Biao has been loyal and shared your worries."

When Emperor Ming heard that the elder sister was trying to hit his wives, he sighed slightly, wondering: "I am the king of a country, it is really hard for me to ask women for money."

The eldest princess replied: "You don't need to speak, since I'm here, I'll go ask them for money myself in a while."

"There are also the great gentry in Beijing, whose ancestors have been living on Daqi's salary for generations, now it's time to repay them, and let them all contribute money."

In the middle of the night, most of the concubines in the palaces were immersed in a sweet dreamland, when they suddenly heard that the eldest princess had an invitation, everyone couldn't help but tremble in their hearts.

The Eldest Princess always had her eyes high above her head, and she never looked at these women more than once. Now that she suddenly invites her, it must not be a good thing.

Although these concubines were reluctant, they dared not not come.

In less than a stick of incense, the concubines from all the palaces gathered neatly in the Chaoyang Hall where the eldest princess lived in the palace.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the eldest princess didn't go around in circles, and said directly to the crowd: "Now that the barbarians are invading, and the south has to provide disaster relief, the treasury is empty and it is difficult to fight against foreign enemies. This palace is willing to use all of its private property to deal with this war, everyone. They are all His Majesty's concubines, so naturally they have to share His Majesty's concerns."

When the women in the hall heard this, they looked at each other for a moment, and they all bowed their heads deeply, wishing they could retract their heads into their necks.

The eldest princess didn't care whether everyone wanted it or not, she first said to Empress Cao: "Empress Cao is the mother of Daqi, so she must set an example in this matter."

Although Empress Cao's private property is not as good as that of the eldest princess, she is naturally rich, but she needs to keep the reserve for her son, so she is not willing to confiscate it.

Empress Cao hesitated again and again, gritted her teeth and said, "Then I will just give out 200 million taels of silver."

Seeing that the eldest princess looked unkind, she quickly explained: "Eldest sister also knows that the past few years have not been peaceful, not to mention that the treasury, even the palace treasury, is also tight. In order to maintain the palace's expenses, the palace has to take money from time to time. Give out your own dowry silver to make up for it, hey! To tell the truth from elder sister, I am also ashamed of money."

The eldest princess was silent for a while, without looking at Empress Cao, she said directly, "As the eldest princess, I paid 200 million taels. As a queen, you should naturally pay more than this palace. Since you said that you are short of money, then you should be the same as Ben Gong, and pay 500 million together."

After hearing this, Empress Cao hurriedly said poorly: "Eldest sister, this amount may not be enough even if we dismantle and sell the Jiaofang hall in this palace. Aren't you embarrassing me?"

The eldest princess was so annoyed that she slapped the table and said "you and me" angrily, and sternly said to Empress Cao, "don't you cry poorly with me here, don't I know you? I only have your precious son in my heart, You'd better be smart, if you don't even protect the world, your precious son will be the first to be buried with Da Qi."

The eldest princess is right, her son is Empress Cao's weakness, she finally replied sullenly: "Then, then I will go back and make up for it."

After Empress Cao nodded in agreement, the Eldest Princess looked at Concubine Meng Gui again, and said, "Concubine Meng Gui is second only to the Empress in status. The Empress pays 500 million taels, so you should be lower than the Queen, and you can pay 400 million taels."

Concubine Meng Gui was sitting there rolling her eyes to calculate, when she heard the number suddenly, she almost fell off her chair in fright.

She is different from Empress Cao who came from a wealthy family with her own wealth. She was born as a dancer girl. These wealth was accumulated little by little by relying on her own "skills". Now the eldest princess can ask for it with her pocketbook. If she took out so much money, she would have seen the bottom of it.

Concubine Meng anxiously looked at the eldest princess with tears in her eyes, but before she could speak, the eldest princess replied with a cold face: "Don't you want to learn from others and cry poorly with me. Over the years, how much money have you obtained openly and secretly as the heart of my palace?" Didn’t count? I asked you to take it out now, it’s giving you a chance, you don’t want to toast or eat fine wine.”

As the favorite concubine of the Ming Emperor, Meng Guifei naturally received the most rewards, but she took advantage of the convenience to make friends with ministers in private, and the money she got from buying and selling officials was countless.

When Concubine Meng heard this, she couldn't help but "thump" in her heart. Although Emperor Ming treated her kindly, if this matter was publicized, it would not be good for her son to seize the crown.

Just asking her to take out all the silver is really more painful than cutting flesh.

Concubine Meng was so anxious that she burst into tears, but the eldest princess did not waver at all, snorted coldly and said, "Don't even think about going to His Majesty to explain clearly, since I have recruited you here, this matter is my responsibility." The palace is the master, there is no room for change."

(End of this chapter)