Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

Chapter 178
As Daxia's money bag, Wu Yue, Minister of the Household Department, is extremely sensitive to matters related to money.

Especially when it comes to setting up new departments.

A newly established department must have subordinate officials, right?People have to pay for work, right?Do you have to pay for it?Yamen has to buy all kinds of office supplies, right?You have to arrange the formations that can improve the efficiency of work, such as the peace of mind formation and the spirit gathering formation, right?You have to consume spirit stones to maintain the formation, right?

As for the establishment of a department, there must be a fifth-rank Langguan, a fifth-rank Yuanwailang, a number of sixth-rank principals, and maybe there must be a seventh-rank officer, an eighth-rank deputy, a ninth-rank officer, and an ambassador. , since he is an official, he must be treated accordingly, right?

In all aspects, which one is not allowed to ask for money?What's more, almost every new department has to invest a lot of money to open up the situation at the beginning of its establishment.

Where does the money come from?Don't they have to take it from the treasury in charge of their household department?
Judging from Lu Chen's handling style in Yuzhou, this guy must be a lavish master. After all, he has only been the governor of the two states for less than a month, and the local government's family is almost emptied by him.

If you are not in charge of the family, you don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are, so if you hand over the money to him, he can spend it as a tael!
Proper prodigal son!

Thinking of the Empress's love for Lu Chen, Wu Yue's face turned green, and an indescribable premonition surged out.

Immediately afterwards, as if to confirm his premonition, just after Lu Chen finished talking about the specific responsibilities and functions of the Tiangong Division, as well as the future prospects, the empress nodded directly.

"Prelude!"

The answer was decisive and straightforward as always, as if she would not veto any suggestion made by him, Lu Chen.

Although he had expected it, Lu Chen couldn't help but twitch his mouth when he heard that the Empress agreed so quickly.

This trust, throughout the ages, has no one, right?

Sure enough, under the empress's command, let alone being dismissed, being demoted is an extravagant hope.

It would be nice to have a guaranteed bonus!
The other courtiers did not react much to this.

Obviously, they have become numb to the empress' unconditional trust and even love for Lu Chen one after another.

And it sounds like Tiangong Division will not have any impact on the current court structure, nor will it touch the power of other ministries. It has nothing to do with them, but it will only make the Ministry of Industry, or Lu Chen himself, more powerful. That's all.

Even if there is no such troublesome Tiangong Division, Lu Chen's energy should not be underestimated. One more department and one less department, this scourge is still so difficult, there is no essential difference, so there is no need to entangle him on this matter.

However, their silence does not mean that everyone will be silent.

The moment the Empress agreed, Wu Yue stood up with a heavy expression, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, this humble subject has the heart and soul to show, and I will play it with blood!"

As soon as this remark came out, Qian Yiqian, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, who had just been fined for one year for being involved in the false accusation case and was punished as a substitute, and who might be dismissed by the empress at any time, immediately squinted his eyes and looked at Wu Yue.

But at this time, he didn't dare to speak easily again, lest the last thread supporting him stand in the court room under his feet would be completely broken, and then he would be directly kicked out of the court room like Zheng Zhong, and bid farewell to his official career.

Now he is more honest than anyone.

Although the Ministry of Punishment, which was divided by Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, is actually the least powerful department among the six departments, but it is still a senior official with real power, and he still cherishes it very much.

Seeing Wu Yue speak, the other courtiers looked at him and Lu Chen as if watching the show.

This morning, it is destined to be unsettled.

In the eyes of everyone with different expressions, the Empress' eyes were slightly fixed.

"Wu Aiqing, please tell me."

For Wu Yue, she is quite trustworthy.

The reason is very simple. The money bag of the imperial court has fulfilled its duties in all aspects and is a truly capable minister. Moreover, he has always been right about things and wrong about people. , I have never had any bad deeds such as forming a party for personal gain, no matter what position I hold, I only do my own work conscientiously.

She still has to give a certain amount of respect to such a person.

Wu Yue cleared his throat, and then solemnly said: "Your Majesty, it has been nearly a thousand years since the Taizu expelled the Tartars and restored Yanhua. I have 75 provinces in the three capitals of Daxia, with a territory of [-] miles and thousands of people. Your Majesty shoulders the responsibility of the ancestors. , move forward with a heavy load."

"At the end of last summer, the earth dragon in Xichuan province turned around, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed and injured, and the affected population exceeded one million; in autumn, there was a plague in Beiji province, and a yellow disaster in Yunlan province; at the end of autumn, Wuyue riots, Baigui rose In the winter of last year, there was a famine in Ningzhou. In the next month, all the nations of the Western Regions crossed the glaciers from the Xijiang River and invaded Xichuan.

"At the same time, due to the demon queen's six years of chaos, corruption has been rampant in the government and the public, and corrupt officials in various places have levied and extorted. Abnormally, it is difficult to pay the soldiers in full, and since His Majesty has been diligent in administration, he has always loved the people like a son, and returned all the wealth plundered from the people during the Demon Queen's chaos, so that even if the general recovered the stolen money from the Demon Queen for the court, it would still be impossible. It is only enough money and food needed to maintain the current situation, barely making up for the shortfall."

Having said that, he suddenly bowed heavily to the empress.

"The state affairs are so difficult. If the imperial court is extravagant, the situation that our Great Xia Dynasty has just stabilized is very likely to deteriorate again. Please also remember your ancestors, don't use the money and food from the treasury for useless things, and practice strict thrift , and ministers and others to overcome the difficulties together, and make plans next year when the national treasury is full."

After the words fell, the court hall instantly became silent.

Although these remarks did not name Lu Chen by name, everyone could hear that Wu Yue meant something.

Moreover, he didn't specify what was going on with the Tiangong Division, but advised the emperor to save all unnecessary expenditures and get over the current predicament first. Obviously, he wanted to block the way for Lu Chen, a prodigal son, to die. I would like to set this precedent for him, so as to prevent problems before they happen, so that this guy doesn't get too far.

The point is not to add Tiangong Division, but to limit Lu Chen's unrestrained spending of money.

Hearing this, the empress frowned slightly.

If it was deliberately aimed at Lu Chen, such as Qian Yiqian, Zheng Zhong and others, she would ignore it and forcefully push her forward, but Wu Yue's words were not selfish, and the current national conditions are indeed the case, so she is not careless. Supported.

But she didn't directly respond to Wu Yue's words, but frowned and thought about it.

Obviously, she still tends to follow Lu Chen's suggestion, or in other words, wants to realize Lu Chen's idea.

But at this moment, Lu Chen, who was the party involved in this matter, suddenly stood up.

"Wu Shangshu, the Tiangong Division I'm talking about is not a useless matter, but a major event related to the fate of my Great Xia Wanshi."

He looked at Wu Yue calmly, and said lightly:

"I also know that the national treasury is tight now, and the six ministries, three courtyards and nine temples are all waiting to use the money, but the establishment of the Tiangong Division is the top priority of the court today, not to mention that the court is short of money and needs to open up new sources of income. If the company is run well, it can create inexhaustible wealth for the imperial court, which can be said to be beneficial for the present and meritorious for the future."

"Just like this coal, if we can develop a way to eliminate the side effects of burning it, the imperial court will definitely benefit from it."

"Humph!"

Wu Yue dismissed Lu Chen's remarks, and before he finished speaking, he snorted coldly and interrupted:
"The nature of charcoal is like this, how can human beings do it? Spending money and food to delve into this thing is purely a waste of energy. Moreover, this so-called way of investigating things, in the eyes of the old man, is just a small way to delve into some strange skills and obscenities. Forget it, what's the point?"

"Lu Shilang, please forgive me for speaking bluntly. In my opinion, today's engineering department is really useless. It is just a waste of money and food. If it is usually for His Majesty's sake, a little money, if you waste it, you will waste it. No matter how you mess around, I don’t even bother to bother with you, but now is an extraordinary period, I will never allow anyone to waste even a single copper coin, as long as Guochao can get through the difficulties safely, so what if I become a brave man!”

(End of this chapter)