Listening to politics behind a curtain?Kill the Queen Mother at the beginning!

Chapter 83 Chen's Xiuchun Knife Is Already Hungry and Thirsty
"Boom..."

The iron cavalry who rushed to send orders for eight hundred miles fell to the ground with a crash. They were exhausted all the way, and they were already on the verge of their limit.

After arriving at the destination, he suddenly relaxed, the man passed out directly, and the horse also fell to the ground and foamed, which showed the urgency of the military situation.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

The eunuch in the palace hurriedly took out the letter from the soldier's arms and climbed up the long steps to hand it to Zhu Ming.

"The grain and grass of the Northern Expedition were robbed?"

Just as Zhu Ming tore open the sealed letter, he was stunned on the spot when he saw the first line on it.

"The iron cavalry of the Yan people broke the city brazenly?"

"Huh~"

"Really bold!"

"Do you think I'm a fool?"

Looking at the military situation on the letter, Zhu Ming felt that it was extremely absurd. It is well known in the world that Yan people's iron cavalry are brave and brave, but it is simply a fantasy for iron cavalry to break through the city!
I have never heard of the idea of ​​cavalry breaking down the city in my life. You must know that the city of Yuyang County is rich in food, and the Yan people are cavalry who penetrated into our Dali territory. How can heavy equipment break through the city?
"Yeah!"

"Surrounded on three sides, he risked his life and sent troops to ask for help, but the Yan people took the opportunity to break down the door!"

"What a Yan man worked carefully. He knew the baggage train and robbed me of my food and military pay!"

After reading the letter, Zhu Ming felt that his scalp was numb. Even though he had never fought a war, he had read some military books. The battle of siege, don't care about it, encircle it ten times, and draw it slowly.

And there are [-] guards in the city of Yuyang County, even if the Yan people come out in full force, they can resist, and there is enough food and grass, why risk their lives to rush to the gap for help?
As for the food road, it is even more important, even the places where it passes are all military secrets, how can it be easily discovered by the Yan people?

What's more, there are many cities and guards along the way. Could it be that these soldiers turned a blind eye and were still driven straight in by the Yan people's iron cavalry?
"The courtiers deceived me?"

"Wait to lie to me?"

"There really is no one in this world,"

"Can you be sincere with me?"

Zhu Ming put down the letter in his hand and felt dead in his heart. He was not a fool, so he couldn't see that the people in Beijiang did it on purpose.

"Is this my country?"

Zhu Ming sat on the high platform for a long time. At some point, the sky began to rain heavily, and countless dark clouds gathered in the gloomy sky.

In the wind and rain, Zhu Ming looked down at the lights of thousands of families in the capital, and looked at the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains. In a trance, he felt that something was not real. Everything was like flowers in the moon water in the mirror, which could be blown by the wind at any time. Possibility of torrential downpours.

"Come here, tell Cao Zhengchun to enter the palace!"

Sitting alone in the rainy night for a long time, no one dared to persuade or stop him, until his whole body was drenched, Zhu Ming then got up and walked to the imperial study, and before leaving, he gave orders to the eunuch who passed the decree behind him.

In the imperial study room,

"His Majesty!"

When Cao Zhengchun came in a hurry, Zhu Ming was standing in front of the map of northern Xinjiang, drinking ginger soup and staring at the landmarks of Yuyang County in a daze.

"Well, here you are."

After Zhu Ming finished speaking, he put down the ginger soup in his hand and said, "How is the matter of the Imperial College going?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, according to your wishes, the old slave has sped up the process, and is currently comforting the surviving students to ensure that there will be no other troubles. It will be resolved in about two or three days."

"At that time, Master Luo can also be released."

Cao Zhengchun fell to his knees in the tunnel.

"Let him come out after leaving the court tomorrow..."

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Ming spoke.

"Your Majesty, this... this old servant hasn't dealt with it properly, I'm afraid I will be criticized..."

Cao Zhengchun wanted to speak but stopped.

"Look at it too, and you'll understand."

Hearing the sound, Zhu Ming heaved a long sigh, and casually handed the letter from Beijiang to Cao Zhengchun, who was not an outsider to him.

"This……"

"This……"

"The city of Yuyang County is broken?"

Cao Zhengchun stared at the words on it in daze for a long time, he never thought that yesterday he talked about the Northern Expedition with Luo Porridge, and today there was trouble.

At this time, seeing Zhu Mingruo's anxious appearance in the imperial study room, he knew how urgent the matter was.

"Ok!"

After Zhu Ming finished speaking, he walked back to the map, pointed in the direction of Yuyang County, and said, "The army of the Northern Expedition will arrive in northern Xinjiang to fight in about ten days. Now that there is no food and grass, the latest batch is still far away from Shangjing." Indefinitely."

"The Northern Expedition is tense. I don't know when the situation will be stable. I'm afraid that after this change, the court will become more unstable. At this time, I still can't do without him..."

Zhu Ming let out a long sigh.

"In addition, you should send someone to Li Zhijie, Mr. Li's house, and tell him to go to court tomorrow..."

Zhu Ming recalled today's early court,

The ghost opened the mouth and said.

"Yes, Li Gongyi is ill in bed..."

"Hmph, sick in bed?"

"It counts that he has been on leave for several days. If he is still sick in bed tomorrow, I will let him go back to his hometown to recuperate, and he won't have to come back again in the future!"

Zhu Ming said coldly, when he thought of this matter, he felt inexplicably upset, but he stayed out of the matter, ignored it, said that he was the Minister Gu Ming, but he was left alone to face all the court officials.

If he was in the court today, according to his influence, even if he didn't make a sound, he only needed to stand there to show an attitude, and he wouldn't be alone.

"Old slave, I understand."

"Go get it!"

Zhu Ming waved his sleeves.

"Old slave, leave!"

"Come here, pass on the Minister of the Household Department and the Minister of the Ministry of War."

After Cao Zhengchun left, Zhu Ming didn't rest, but sat in front of the copybook and looked through the documents recently handed over by the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of War. When he saw the final frown, he shouted to the door.

I know that now is not the time to pursue responsibility, but to resolve the predicament as soon as possible. If we thoroughly investigate Beijiang at this time, I am afraid that the group of people will not know what to do if they are pushed into a hurry.

"Old minister, I have seen Your Majesty!"

Soon,
The grey-haired Minister of the Household Zhou Xuebin and the newly appointed Minister of War Li Daoming rushed to the Imperial Study Room, apparently knowing about the Northern Expedition.

"If you want to come to the two adults, you also know what I have summoned you to come here. Let's talk about it, how to deal with the current situation..."

Zhu Ming's eyes fell on the new Minister of War, Li Daoping, and stayed for a long time before he spoke.

"Boom..."

"Your Majesty, old minister, I really have no right to intervene in the war in Northern Xinjiang. It was only when the letter from Northern Xinjiang was sent back earlier that I found out. I hope Your Majesty will investigate clearly..."

Li Daoping, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, felt Zhu Ming's scrutiny, and his back was already wet with cold sweat, and kowtowed.

"Well, I know."

Zhu Ming was inexplicably annoyed at the head-knocking Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and said in a cold tone: "What I'm asking is how to deal with it, not to pursue responsibility!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, now Yuyang County City has been destroyed, and the second batch of grain and grass sent to the northern border has also been robbed. Fortunately, the third batch of grain, grass and supplies prepared by Mr. Xie has been sent out recently."

"If civilian laborers are dispatched from various places along the route, and if they are expedited, they can barely be delivered within seven days after the arrival of the army. Although the front line is a bit tight, it is conceivable that they can continue before the army runs out of food."

Li Daoping breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the sound, and then reported in detail. Obviously, after the military information from the front line was delivered, he also did some homework.

"Oh?"

"But, you have to know, this is just a solution to the urgent need. Where will the shortage of food, grass and military pay for the army that was robbed come from?"

"If the treasury pays for it, is there enough silver in it?"

Zhu Ming skipped Li Daoping and looked at the Minister of the Household Department and asked in a deep voice.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the national treasury has not had much balance in recent years, and now there are only more than 100 million taels of silver in the treasury. Even if you count the silver that was raided from the Xie Manor treasury in Qinghe County, there is still a shortfall of more than 600 million taels. Two denarii."

Zhou Xuebin stepped forward and said,

"If I remember correctly, the taxes in recent years are probably around 500 million to 2000 million taels per year..."

"Why, the treasury is still so scarce?"

Zhu Ming frowned and said, before the household department was firmly controlled by that woman, and he had just taken power and hadn't had time to check it carefully, but he still knew the general taxation.

A while ago, I was so busy with the Northern Expedition that I thought it was the household department crying for poverty, and I didn't want to care about it. In addition, I also wanted to save more money from the treasury for other uses, so I raised money from the aristocratic family.

I didn't expect the treasury to be so fucking poor!
"Report to Your Majesty, you don't know something."

"In recent years, wars have continued in northern Xinjiang. The imperial court has not stopped sending money there for a year. In addition, the Ministry of Industry has built bridges and roads and repaired the city over the years. At this critical moment, it is also a huge expenditure. The clan mansion Bian also has to allocate a large amount of money every year, and there are still many princes and counties who need to be supported by the court..."

"Now that the army is on the march, with 30 troops and 20 logistics workers, every day people chew horses and eat is an astronomical sum. It has already emptied out the previous family fortune. If you are not afraid of shame, the balance of silver in the treasury It was the thief who ransacked the house and sent it up..."

Zhou Xuebin was a little hard to say.

"Is the imperial court already so impoverished?"

Zhu Ming frowned tightly.

"Your Majesty, let's see for yourself. There is nothing you can do about it. The imperial court's money bag is hard to grasp, and it can achieve a balance of revenue and expenditure. It is not a fiscal deficit, and the minister has already calculated carefully."

After Zhou Xuebin finished speaking, he handed over the account books of various large expenditures of the Ministry of Finance in recent years.

"Is there any other way?"

Zhu Ming checked the accounts,
After confirming that it was correct, he asked.

"If the tax for this autumn harvest is increased,"

"I think it can be solved."

Zhou Xuebin gritted his teeth.

"Is there a tax increase?"

Hearing this, Zhu Ming frowned and said: "This is absolutely impossible. To transport food and grass, you need to recruit civilian labor and increase corvees. If you add taxes rashly, you will only fear that the people will resent you!"

"I really don't want to bother the people and hurt the money!"

"And if you really want to talk about it, 600 million taels of silver is not too big a vacancy. Now it's time for the Great Court Meeting..."

Zhu Ming suddenly remembered the money that Luo Porridge sent to the internal treasury and the national treasury when he ransacked his home a few days ago. These ministers were far richer than he imagined.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"Let those officials..."

Hubu Shangshu Zhou Xuebin listened to Zhu Ming's muttering to himself and asked tentatively.

"Thousands of Beijing officials are still in the city, and they are all officials in the rich and prosperous places in the capital. They have made a lot of money on weekdays. Now it's time for them to spit out some."

"What's more, there are quite a few relatives of the emperor in the capital city. Guochao has raised them for more than two hundred years. They are living with the country. I think they can give generously at this time..."

"Tomorrow morning, let's call everyone to try it out,"

"From my point of view, this matter should not be difficult..."

Zhu Ming thought to himself.

……

that night,

Dongchang,

Zhao prison,

"Master Luo, you are really good at predicting things!"

Cao Zhengchun sighed as soon as he entered the basement.

"Oh?"

"What happened?"

"Lord Luo, the Northern Expedition food and grass have been robbed!"

Cao Zhengchun explained aloud.

"They can't wait until the Northern Expeditionary Army arrives?"

Luo Congee was also taken aback when he heard the sound suddenly, he thought that the big officials in the frontier would have to wait for a while, and then they would stumble secretly when they saw the opportunity, but he didn't expect to be so impatient.

"Your Excellency, you mean that they are collaborating with the enemy?"

"if not?"

"It can slow down the progress of the Northern Expedition,"

"Why not do it if you can still make a lot of money?"

Luo Porridge sat up straight and smiled.

"Such a blatant collaboration with the enemy?"

Cao Zhengchun said in shock.

"Humph!"

"In the battle of Han Lu Pavilion, even if they are still under His Majesty's nose, they can use [-] pieces of armor to surround and kill me."

"When the emperor is far away from Tiangao in northern Xinjiang, what's the point of selling grain and grass to the Yan people?"

Luo Porridge sneered.

"Now that the grain and grass have been robbed, I think His Majesty will have to worry about money. I just want to hand over the money given to you by Xie Shilang, a boy who spread money. reach a new level.”

After thinking for a while, Luo Congee looked at Cao Zhengchun, who was puzzled, and continued: "I need the war in northern Xinjiang to be chaotic, but I don't want General Xu to be defeated. After all, dragging it on is the best result for us."

"What's more, this money can only solve your majesty's urgent needs, but it can't solve the chronic illness in northern Xinjiang..."

"Before I was worried that after Old General Xu went, the Yan people would retreat if they could not attack for a long time. Now it seems that this is impossible. There are a group of people holding back, even if he is as stable as an old dog in the front, he will not be able to avoid the stabbing from the back. knife!"

Luo porridge said quietly.

"Let's let General Xu continue to fight the rations..."

"It's best if people on both sides beat out their brains..."

"After I get out of prison tomorrow, I will finish dealing with the affairs of the court as soon as possible, and I have to go to Beijiang to tidy them up together..."

The flickering candlelight fell into Luo Porridge's eyes,

It's inexplicably scary.

……

The next day,

Lee House,

Before dawn, Li Zhijie got up early and changed into the official uniform of the court.

"Master, are you really going today?"

The butler on the side was hesitant to speak but stopped talking, the situation in the courtroom has long been extremely muddy, so naturally he didn't want his master to go to this muddy water.

"The fan from Dongchang sent a letter last night. It seems that His Majesty is really angry this time."

"If the old man does not enter the court, I am afraid that he will never have the chance to go to the court again in this life..."

Li Zhijie smiled wryly.

"correct,"

"You can show the old man the accounts of the house."

Li Zhijie continued after straightening the official uniform.

"Master, what do you mean by this?"

"Yesterday after the Dongchang fanzi left, the old man's former disciples in the household department also sent letters. The food and grass for the Northern Expedition were robbed, and His Majesty is short of money. As the minister of Gu Ming, although the old man does not want to offend other ministers, he has to Show some looks."

Li Zhijie let out a long sigh.

"My lord, please take a look."

Soon,
The housekeeper held the accounts from the house and handed them over.

"Is there a balance of more than 6000 taels of silver?"

After reading the account book, Li Zhijie muttered, the imperial salary is not much, plus the dozens of people in the mansion have a lot of expenses every year, it is a bit surprising that there is really much money left.

Of course, the money was not obtained through corruption or bribery, or by using power for personal gain. It was all property owned by the gentry in his hometown. If he wanted to use his name to avoid paying taxes, he would naturally have to share some profits. It belongs to the normal outside water, or the situation that Li Zhijie tried his best to suppress, otherwise it would not be too much to have a thousand hectares of fertile land under his name.

After all, the magistrate of Qing County had [-] snowflakes of silver in three years, and the imperial salary was small, but they had many ways to make money. In fact, according to his rank, he can be regarded as honest and honest.

Of course, like Hai Rui, no matter which dynasty he served as an official, he would not last long.

"The remaining 6000 taels, the other 3 taels will be collected and donated to the imperial court..."

Li Zhijie closed the ledger and said.

"Little one, let's do it."

"By the way, my lord, the people in Shangjing still don't know about the failure of the Northern Expedition. Do you want to use the remaining money to stockpile some food in advance?"

"After the news of the failure of the Northern Expedition spreads, the price of grain will inevitably rise. At that time, it will be resold. It will be more than a few times, and it will be enough to cover the shortfall this time."

The butler just walked a few steps and paused again.

"Snapped……"

The steward's voice has not yet fallen,
Li Zhijie slapped him across the face.

"The old man sees that you really don't want to live!"

"Your Majesty's surname is Zhu, and this old man's surname is Li. At this time, you are still thinking about hoarding food and making money for the country. People with foreign surnames are thinking about getting money from his Zhu family's pot all day long. How many heads do you have?"

Li Zhijie shouted sharply.

"My lord, I'm wrong."

"My little one, I also think that stockpiling grain is a normal business. If we don't do it, others will do it, not to mention throwing thousands of taels of silver into the market, and it won't splash a few drops of water. That's why I'm confused..."

Seeing Li Zhijie's angry face, the man hurriedly fell to his knees and explained.

"Hmph, what other people do is other people's business, I can't control it, but the people in my Li family can't do it!"

"If the old man hears such words, he will definitely drive you out of the house and beat you to death!"

"In addition, you listen clearly and pass on the old man's words. During these days, even after the news spreads, no one in the house is allowed to hoard food, even firewood, rice and salt. , enough for a few months..."

"Master, don't worry, I will watch it myself."

"Well, the old man has gone to court."

After receiving an affirmative answer, Li Zhijie waved his sleeves and got into the sedan chair and drove in the direction of Zhuque Street.

……

imperial city,

hall,

Looking closely, the number of people going to court today is far more than yesterday. After the postponement of the court meeting yesterday, those low-ranking Beijing officials did not leave, and they were still waiting outside the palace.

Compared with yesterday, the hall was obviously much more crowded. In addition to those high-level civil and military officials, there were also a few more princes in four-claw python robes, and Dali Xun in bullfighting and unicorn suits. Expensive, the hall is packed to the brim.

"Start playing if you have something to do, and retreat without a reason!"

According to the statute, after the eunuchs sang peace, the morning court officially started, but the atmosphere at this time was extremely dull. The haze of yesterday's court meeting and hundreds of officials forced the palace had not yet dissipated, and now the shadow of the Northern Expedition's failure was added.

The voice fell for a long time and still no one answered.

Zhu Ming's eyes fell directly on Li Daoping, Minister of the Ministry of War, and his eyes met. The latter had to bite the bullet and walked out trembling.

"I have the original play!"

"Your Majesty, at five o'clock yesterday, the Ministry of War received the military news from Northern Xinjiang. Yuyang County was destroyed, food and grass were robbed..."

Li Daoping knelt down in the tunnel.

"hiss……"

The voice fell,

Those officials who were uninformed all gasped when they heard the sound. As for those who were in high positions and well-informed, they were all silent. Everyone knew what it meant when food and grass were robbed.

Only among the royal relatives on the left, the plump prince frowned when he heard the word "grain and grass", and lowered his head to think about something secretly.

"Shangshu Hubu, Mr. Zhou, please bring out a charter..."

Zhu Ming asked according to the regulations set in the imperial study room yesterday. As the emperor, he naturally couldn't speak directly about some things.

"Your Majesty, there is still a vacancy of 600 million taels of silver. The old minister has tried his best like this, and it is really unsustainable. I hope that your lords will be generous..."

Zhou Xuebin gritted his teeth and reported the report.

"Well, as Zhou Shangshu said."

"Now that the country is facing a crisis, I think you adults will not be stingy with this little money. Counting today, there are a total of 630 officials in court. Together, Moyue can also overcome this difficulty."

After Zhu Ming finished speaking, his eyes swept across the officials,
Everyone bowed their heads in silence.

"minister……"

In the front row on the left, Li Zhijie opened his mouth when he heard the sound, but just as he uttered a word, all eyes from the hall fell, and finally closed his mouth.

"call……"

"I'm being abrupt."

Zhu Ming looked at the silent group of officials, and there was an unknown anger in his heart. In the end, he thought it simply, so he said directly:

"Let me take the lead first. There is a total of 2306 million taels of silver in the internal treasury, and I will allocate 200 million taels of silver from it, and the rest of the silver will be of use to everyone!"

Zhu Ming waved his sleeves and said, he has already put down his money, he must know that he can use the money in the inner treasury at will, and now he has given out more than half of his private money at once.

"Also, all uncles, please stand up and say something, and set an example for all ministers."

After Zhu Ming took a deep breath, he got up from the dragon chair and bowed to those elders with the same surname as Zhu. His attitude was extremely low, as the royal father did not have many heirs left.

Most of the remaining princes above the court are the brothers of the former emperor. They stayed in the upper capital for many reasons and did not go to the fief. They are considered real relatives of the emperor.

This time there is no cold spot,
"Your Majesty, the country is in danger..."

"The ministers and other royal family members must be obliged!"

As soon as the words fell, a plump prince came out and responded loudly, this person is Prince Shuo, the second younger brother of his own father.

"Phew, that's where Uncle Wang will be troubled."

Seeing this, Zhu Ming breathed a sigh of relief, as long as someone answered, the matter would be much easier, and his tone of voice was involuntarily friendly when he spoke. Looking at the round Prince Shuo, he was inexplicably pleasing to the eye.

According to the rules of the Dali Dynasty, the princes are one-word kings with an annual salary of [-] shi, while the county kings are two-word kings with a yearly salary of about [-] shi.

The food alone is worthless, but every year there are various prestigious rewards in the palace, and they also have their own business in the capital, so they earn a lot of money every year, no matter what, they can still get a hundred thousand taels of silver. .

"Your Majesty, don't worry!"

"Even if you sell everything you want, you have to..."

Prince Shuo stood in the middle of the court hall and spoke righteously.

"Then ask Uncle Wang to set a tune!"

After hearing what he said, Zhu Ming was relieved a lot. For the royal family, the higher the tone, the better, so that the ministers behind would be ashamed, and maybe they could spend more money.

"Well, how about 5000 taels, Your Majesty?"

Prince Shuo asked tentatively.

"Ok?"

Zhu Ming was startled when he heard the sound, and he doubted his ears.

"Then, how about,"

"Ten taels?"

"Ten taels?"

"That's all, that's all, I'm going to go all out!"

Prince Shuo gritted his teeth when he saw Zhu Ming's expression was wrong.

"Chen, I would like to donate 8000 taels of silver!"

Prince Shuo said at the end, straightened his back and said in a loud voice, abruptly calling out 8000 taels of silver to 80 taels of silver.

The voice fell,

The ministers looked at each other,

Even those who are also relatives of the emperor behind him also hide their faces and remain silent.

"you you you……"

"Let me tell you what's good about you!"

"Is that how you set the tone?"

Zhu Ming pointed at Prince Shuo's unstoppable chest heaving.

"Your Majesty, the minister's family is poor, and there are dozens of mouths waiting to eat and drink in the prince's mansion. Do the math, there are a total of 32 minister's ineffective heirs, all of whom are idle all day long, eating and drinking from the mansion... ..."

"I have no choice but to think about having more children. I guess there will always be a few successful ones. No, I just took a few concubines a few days ago, and it's a big expense. The 8000 taels of silver It was because of the minister's careful planning and saving money that he saved...

After all,

Prince Na Shuo shrank his stomach.

"you……"

"That's it, that's it..."

Zhu Ming looked at the aggrieved Prince Babashuo and waved his hands secretly, and he had a new understanding of this man's unscrupulous temperament.

In the early years, he did a lot of nonsense, but he lived a good life, mercilessly going around, and he could still save seeds. The Zhu family has been passed down for more than 200 years, and there are hundreds of thousands of relatives and relatives.

It's just that in recent generations, the direct bloodline has become thinner and thinner. This person has also played his own strengths and contributed a little to the Zhu family. When the father was alive, he was raised as a stallion to serve the entire Zhu family. Branches and leaves.

This is also the reason why he has been relying on his face in Shangjing. In the past, he even did such absurd things as selling official salt privately in Shangjing. His father only punished him to kneel in the ancestral temple for one night, and let it go .

It's not surprising that he can say such shameless words today, he is greedy for money and lustful, so he still thinks highly of him just now.

"Forget it, forget it, you should keep the 8000 taels of silver for yourself..."

Zhu Ming said helplessly.

"My lord, thank you for your understanding."

Prince Shuo didn't hold back when he heard the sound, but directly complied. Looking at his happy face, he was glad that he had saved a sum of money.

"Wait, let's talk about it too..."

Zhu Ming ignored Prince Shuo and looked at the royal relatives and continued.

"Your Majesty, I would like to donate 6000 taels of silver!"

"Your Majesty, I would like to donate 4000 taels of silver!"

"Your Majesty, I would like to donate 1 taels of silver!"

……

"Your Majesty, I would like to donate 7000 taels of silver!"

"3000 taels!"

"1000 taels!"

……

Although the remaining few princes are stingy, they are people who want a little face after all, and none of them are less than ten thousand.
Zhu Ming just listened quietly, and the donation of about 10 taels per person that he expected was completely different. As for the other nobles behind, they were even worse than the shameless Prince Shuo, who was so stingy. tight.

"you……"

"I!"

The more Zhu Ming heard it, the more distressed he felt in his chest. In the end, hundreds of taels of silver came out, and it was still the kind of piecemeal.

"Zhou Shangshu, have you written it all down?"

After all the royal relatives and relatives have retired,

Zhu Ming suppressed his anger and asked.

"Report to Your Majesty, all together..."

"A total of... 78 taels of silver..." The Minister of the Household Department said in a secretive way, rather ashamed to speak.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

Zhu Ming closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before recovering.

"Ministers, you..."

"Your Majesty, I dare to make a suggestion."

Just when Zhu Ming had lost all hope, Li Zhijie came out and said, "Since it's a donation, why don't you get some big boxes."

"My lords just need to write down the amount of money you donate and your name, and put it in the box. Afterwards, His Majesty will send someone to your lord's mansion to collect the money."

After thinking for a moment, Li Zhijie said,

This method has two meanings, one is to prevent the number from being too small, which is really too ugly for your majesty.

The other level is that there is a difference between superiority and inferiority. The previous tone was set too low. Even if there are a small number of officials who are willing to donate more, there is no way. .

It's like donating 3 taels of silver yourself, which isn't too much, but once you donate it, those princes before will be offended.

In addition, not knowing the specific number, without comparison, it made them dare not to be perfunctory easily. The number may not be too high, but there is a bottom line anyway.

"Well, so, let's follow Li Gong's words."

"Everyone can just donate money, and I won't lie to a third person about the amount..."

Zhu Ming also nodded when he heard the sound.

Soon,
A few more wooden boxes appeared above the court hall.

"In this way, I have the courage to donate the silver first."

After Li Zhijie walked to the wooden box and hesitated for a moment, he picked up a pen and wrote down 6000 taels cruelly, then rolled it into a ball and threw it in. The rest of the officials followed suit.

The donation matter lasted for a long time, and the sky was getting dark after everyone finished.

"Have you counted all of them?"

After the dynasty is over,

Zhu Ming looked at the Minister of the Ministry of Accounts who was closing the accounts and asked.

"Your Majesty has calculated it."

"The officials donated a total of 180 million taels, including the 200 million taels you spent from the internal treasury and the 78 taels donated by those royal relatives, a total of 460 million taels of silver."

"In other words, there is still a shortfall of 140 million taels..."

Hubu Shangshu handed over the item with the name on it to Zhu Ming.

"call……"

"Ridiculous, ridiculous..."

"I didn't expect that Mr. Li, who was known as a clean and honest man in the country, would be the one who donated the most money this time..."

Zhu Ming laughed at himself.

"Back off... I will sit alone..."

"This is more than 100 million taels of silver, I will think of a way, first stop the summer palace for the next year, it can save a lot of money, and besides..."

After Zhu Ming finished explaining, he sat on the threshold of the main hall and waved his hand, thinking of all the things just now, he felt inexplicably sad.

In the end, I had to lie to myself.

Maybe they really have no money...

……

"Your Majesty, this old slave has something important to report."

"The old slave just heard about the incident in the court, and what he reported may be able to solve His Majesty's urgent need..."

While Zhu Ming was fascinated by the accounts, Cao Zhengchun trotted all the way to the outside of the hall, followed by two young eunuchs who were carrying a big box wheezingly.

"Huh~"

"You dog slave, don't you want to take out all the money you ransacked?"

"It's better to avoid it. The East Factory has just been built, and it's the time when money is short..."

Zhu Ming waved his hands.

"It is not so, Your Majesty,"

"This amount of money was handed over by the servant of the household department to the old slave..."

Cao Zhengchun explained.

"His Xie family's treasury has been confiscated, how much money can a mere servant give him, at most it is only five or six..."

Zhu Ming said in a depressed mood.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, you are really clever!"

"It is indeed 560 million taels of silver..."

After all,

Cao Zhengchun opened the wooden box.

Zhu Ming was dizzy looking at the stacks of tens of thousands of taels of silver bills.

"This is what he got from selling his property when he returned to Qinghe County."

Cao Zhengchun explained.

"A family of hundreds of years is worth tens of millions of taels of silver..."

"Oh, it turns out that my Zhu family is the poorest!"

Zhu Ming suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Your Majesty, you..."

Seeing this, Cao Zhengchun hurried over.

"No problem."

"Just tell me!"

"Why did he hand over this money to you?"

Zhu Ming held the door frame and asked solemnly.

"Buying Lord Luo's life..."

Cao Zhengchun said truthfully.

"call……"

"Is his head worth so much silver?"

"I personally collected donations. Thousands of people raised less than 400 million taels of silver in front of my face. They really took out more than 500 million taels of silver secretly to buy a person's life!"

"Yeah!"

"How could I fulfill his wish..."

"Take this money as a purchase of his own life. Immediately send someone to detain the servant of the household department, Xie Wenxue, to the Meridian Gate tomorrow."

"Do you really think I dare not kill?"

"I'll show them off!"

Zhu Ming wiped the blood stains from the corner of his mouth and said cruelly.

"Old slave, do it immediately."

"Yes, Your Majesty,"

"Do you think it's better to let Master Luo out at that time?"

"immediately!"

"No!"

"Prepare the sedan chair, I will go to Dongchang personally!"

Zhu Ming paused and gritted his teeth.

……

Dongchang,

Zhao prison,

outside the door,

"Your Majesty, without knowing it, I have spent quite a few days in this Zhao Prison..."

Luo Porridge walked out of the dungeon after taking a bath and changing clothes, looked up at the afterglow of the setting sun and sighed.

"The previous things have passed, and these days have really wronged you..."

Zhu Ming got off the carriage,

He patted Luo Congee's shoulder very affectionately and said.

"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood."

"What I mean is that this embroidered spring knife has not seen blood for a long time, and I feel a little wronged..."

After finishing speaking, Luo Conge patted the Xiuchun knife on his waist and smiled.

"The servant Xie who made money harm you, I have already decreed that he will be executed tomorrow. If you are not relieved, you can do it yourself..."

Zhu Ming said in relief.

"Your Majesty, the knife has not seen blood for a long time, it is a bit hungry..."

"It's not enough to want a human head."

The young man in the python robe looked at the young man in the dragon robe and said very seriously.

"Ok!"

Zhu Ming rarely refuted,
Instead, he nodded silently.

Only at this time, listening to the tone of voice without the slightest emotion, looking at the cold Xiuchun knife, there is no trace of uneasiness, but an inexplicable calm down.

　Desperately make up for yesterday's... Huh...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)