country

Under the guidance of the deacon and eunuch, a group of people came out from the side hall and went to the imperial study. All the officials were silent along the way, only the sound of hurried footsteps moving forward.

Xue Poye walked behind Tan Ziqing, even more silent, just looking at Lao Tan's back, he found that the old guy's back was bent a lot, and he was much older than in Hangzhou.

However, Wang Dezhao walked at the back of the crowd, appearing extremely humble. To put it bluntly, this guy had been serving Chen Shangting and Prince Yin in the Household Department before, and now he was promoted to be the Minister of the Household Department. Inevitably.

Walking into the imperial study room, Emperor Deqing was sitting in front of the case, looking at the courtiers who came in with a pair of sharp eyes.

Everyone was about to salute, Emperor Deqing waved his hand and said: "Forget it, this time I will be exempted from the ceremony. Come on, I will give you a seat." The eunuchs hurriedly brought chairs, everyone knew that there was something urgent, thanked the emperor, and thanked the emperor for his kindness. just sit down.

When Emperor Deqing saw that all the ministers were sitting still, he said coldly: "Do you know who presented the paper that is facing up?"

Several courtiers looked at each other in blank dismay.

"General!" Emperor Deqing's face was very ugly: "It's a note from the general."

Xue Poye didn't know the court situation, so he wasn't surprised at all, but the other courtiers turned pale with shock.

The Great General is the Great General Tianwei of the Great Chu Kingdom. He is the top leader of the Great Chu Army. The old general guards Beiguan and is as stable as a rock.

Everyone in the court knew that the general was born in poverty, marched in the army at the age of 13, and later made great achievements in battle, and was promoted step by step. When he led the army to fight, he was only in his thirties.

His army is as fierce as wolves, and the old general is proficient in the secrets of marching and formation. He is born with military genius and is a rare general in the Great Chu Kingdom.

Because the old general did not rely on his family background and nepotism to achieve his fame, but fought one by one, he was admired and loved by the soldiers. , the entire Great Chu Kingdom, when it comes to Tianwei General Ren Tianxing, they all give thumbs up and sincerely admire.

Although the great general has great prestige and great military power, he never participates in the government affairs. He just tries his best to stick to the border and protect the peace of the people of the Great Chu Kingdom.

Now that the general is presenting his handbook, this is naturally a shocking event.

Tan Ziqing frowned, and finally said: "Your Majesty, the old general hastened the document for [-] miles, and it was even submitted at the court. Could it be... Could it be that there was a riot in the frontier army?"

This is what everyone guessed, the treasury of the household department was stolen, and the military salary was not paid in time. This news may have been known to the frontier soldiers. If there are troublemakers in the middle, there will naturally be riots. Everyone just didn't expect that the riots would happen So fast.

Emperor Deqing sneered and said: "The frontier army is in chaos, what's the point? I, the Emperor Tianwei, can't deter his own people." .”

The officials were surprised, including Xue Poye, who was also a little surprised.

Is Beihu going to war?

For many years, although Da Chu and Bei Hu were very hostile in the government, they moved around frequently among the people.

"The old general got the news that King Khan in Beihuguli died suddenly, and all the tribes were completely outnumbered for a while, and the battle in the royal court was extremely fierce." Emperor Deqing sneered and said, "It's going on like this, Beihu's internal friction, let alone me Great Chu is the capital of the enemy."

"This is a good thing." Wei Shantai said: "When the Northern Hu is in chaos, our army can even go out of the Yanmen, drive in, and put down this barbaric barbarians."

Moy also said: "That's right. The barbarians are stubborn and not well educated, so I want them to know the power of our Great Chu Heavenly Kingdom."

Emperor Deqing shook his head, with a trace of disappointment on his face, and sighed: "What Qing and others said was true, even the general had the same idea, and when the situation in Beihu became more chaotic, he would go north with his army. Beat the barbarian."

Tan Ziqing said cautiously: "My lord, could it be... Could it be that Beihu royal court has changed again?"

Emperor Deqing nodded and said: "The princes and nobles in Beihu have their own plans and support each other. It was a mess, especially the four commanders of Beihu, the Baotu commander, who is the most rampant and the most powerful. , wanting to make the head of the Kelei tribe Khan."

"The Kelie tribe is a big family of Beihu. Although it is not because of the extravagance of the Naluo royal family, it has a large number of people and horses, and it means to replace the royal family." Wei Shantai said slowly: "More than 30 years ago, the Kelie tribe prepared to take over the royal family. Instead, it was suppressed, and it is unexpected that today is the same old trick."

"That Leopard Tu is extremely vicious and vicious. He is a villain from Beihu. It is said that he has a habit of eating the flesh and blood of virgins. He is a devil-like figure. Now there are many soldiers from the Kelie tribe as the background. I am afraid that he will be killed. He succeeded." Tan Ziqing said calmly, stroking his beard.

Xue Poye was sitting next to him, and he was also terrified when he heard that the Beihu was in a mess, but he didn't know what Wu Lachi was doing now.

Xue Poye and Wu Lachi were like-minded and had deep feelings for each other. They were brothers, master and apprentice. Now that they heard that there was a big change in Beihu, they couldn't help but worry about Wu Lachi's safety.

Emperor Deqing seemed disappointed, shook his head and said, "It's a pity, he lost!"

"Defeated?" Several ministers cried out together.

These ministers are all in charge of the country, especially Wei Shantai and Tan Ziqing, who are the heads of intelligence. Not only are they very proficient in the information of the Great Chu Kingdom, even Beihu outside the customs knows a lot.

There are more than 30 large and small tribes in Beihu, which belong to the nomadic people in the nature of the alliance.

The Beihu people envelop the Changshengtian, and everyone knows that the Inaro people are the messengers of the Changshengtian. They have wizards who can talk to the Changshengtian. People live peacefully on the prairie. It is for this reason that the King Khan of Beihu has always come from the Inaro tribe, and the Inaro tribe has gradually become the royal family of Beihu.

Among the many tribes, in terms of numbers, strength and power, it is naturally the Kelie tribe with a vast territory, beautiful water and long grass, and the chief of the Kelie tribe is also the most powerful and ambitious chief among the chiefs of the Beihu tribes. , has always been thinking of replacing the Inaro royal family.

As the four traditional commanders of Beihu, Baotushuai's position is different from the other three commanders. It has always been inherited by the Kelie tribe, and it only needs to be elected within the Kelie tribe.

The other three commanders are the commander-in-chief of the tiger, the commander of the wolf, and the commander of the eagle. These three commanders were not elected by any clan, but warriors from more than 30 other tribes gathered in the Wang Ting, through various tests and competitions, finally selected the three generals. Warriors from any tribe can win the position of commander, regardless of the strength of the tribe.

Emperor Deqing nodded slightly, and said slowly: "The general's account made it clear that Commander Baotu wanted to launch a coup, but he failed in the end. This brutal Commander Baotu was also killed."

Several courtiers turned pale with fright.

The most powerful Leopard Tu Shuai was killed, this is really big news.

Emperor Deqing didn't wait for his courtiers to ask, and said directly: "The one who killed him was Beihu Yingtushuai. During this turmoil, Yingtushuai did his best to unite with the other two generals to balance the situation." Benefits, combined forces, set up a trap to defeat the Kelei tribe, Yingtu Shuai was even more hand-sworded Leopard Tu Shuai, after that Liguli Khan's second son Temujin became Khan, called Genghis Khan!"

Xue Poye almost jumped up in shock.

Genghis Khan?

That hero of the prairie who is so talented and murderous!

"This is a coincidence!" Xue Poye said secretly, his heart pounding.

This Genghis Khan is not the "Genghis Khan" I have learned in history. Although the names and titles of the two are the same, their backgrounds and paths are completely different.

The Genghis Khan Temujin I know well is a member of the Qiyan tribe of Mongolia, not the Inaro tribe. His father should be Khan, but not Guli Khan. The most important thing is that Genghis Khan’s country was brought down , is not passed down.

This is a joke of history, nothing more.

Different roads with the same name and number!

Emperor Deqing said coldly: "Aiqing, do you know what 'Genghis Khan' means?"

All the ministers looked at each other, and Tan Ziqing finally said: "If I'm not mistaken, the translation of 'Genghis Khan' into Wen Oh Chu language means 'Heavenly Khan'."

"Hmph!" Emperor Deqing snorted coldly: "I am the Son of Heaven, but he calls himself 'Heavenly Khan', does he want to climb on my head?"

When Emperor Deqing got angry, several courtiers hurriedly got up and knelt down, and Xue Poye had to kneel down along with the crowd.

Emperor Deqing said indifferently: "Pingshen, barbarians, I always want to let them know who is the real emperor." After several ministers got up and took their seats, he continued: "The great general said in the zhezi that Temujin After ascending to King Khan, he worshiped Lang Tushuai as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Hu Army, assembled the tribe, rectified the army, and even a small group of cavalry haunted the Qilin Mountain area, and it seemed that they were ready to attack."

The new Hubu Shang: "My lord, if there is a war, it will require a lot of weapons and armor, as well as food and horses. This is something that needs to be done immediately."

Emperor Deqing nodded in satisfaction, and said: "Wang Aiqing's words are very true. What the general means is to let Zhensu prepare for war at any time." His expression darkened, and he said coldly: "But now that the bank has been stolen, How can we get money to prepare for the war? The military salary is still being raised."

The expressions of several ministers are also very ugly. When preparing for war, what they prepare is money.

Wang Dezhao pondered for a while, got up and said: "My lord, I have a way, maybe I can try it, and I ask my lord to make a decision."

Emperor Deqing smiled lightly, and said, "Wang Aiqing means to use Nanku's money?"

"Exactly." Although Wang Dezhao has little power in the household department, he has been handling all kinds of things, but he is shrewd and capable. Military pay, the war is imminent, and the morale of the army is paramount. If the military salary is not enough, it may affect the morale of the army, and it may be disadvantageous in the war. In addition, apart from the military salary, Nanku needs to allocate a large sum of money to buy weapons, armor and food, so that I can go north The town army has no worries, so they can defend with all their might.”

Deqing said coldly: "Could it be that the Beizhen army cannot be loyal to the imperial court before the army's salary has arrived?"

Wang Dezhao knelt down in shock.

Emperor Deqing understood in his heart that what Wang Dezhao said was the best way at the moment, he pondered for a while, and said, "Get up. Wang Aiqing, the silver from the South Treasury is used for military pay, the disaster relief funds in the south, and the recent construction of the Yellow River." How to deal with the project of the dam? The Beizhen army has a military salary, what about the Dachu internal army? Don’t forget that the 36th camp of Dachu also needs a large amount of military salary, and there are also the three major garrison troops in Kyoto, the garrison battalion, Yulin Ying, Sansi yamen, royal family expenses, money transfers at all levels, which place does not use money? There are still two months to pay taxes this year, so it is hard to count on." Just after finishing speaking, there was a violent cough.

Several ministers showed shame, and Xue Poye also felt that the emperor had worked really hard.

After wiping the corners of his mouth, Emperor Deqing took a short rest before slowly saying: "Wang Aiqing, take some of the silver from Nanku and transport it to the south as soon as possible. The people have been severely affected by the disaster, so there is no delay. In addition, the military pay of the Beizhen army will be paid first." Set aside half, and delay the other half for a while, and hurry up to buy food, grass and weapons, and keep some in the Nanku for unforeseen use." Instruct the deacons and eunuchs around him: "Decide my will to all the palaces, except for the Queen Mother's Everything in the Compassionate Ning Palace is as usual, all the palaces are reducing their expenses, and everything will be kept simple, and we will talk about it after a while." He also instructed Wang Dezhao: "Send officials from the household department to go to the states to urge the money, and this year's taxes will be collected in advance."

Wang Dezhao said with some embarrassment: "My lord, before the time comes, the state capitals may not be able to provide much money. Even if they have, I am afraid they will delay it."

"They dare!" Emperor Deqing slapped the table, but he understood the national conditions of Dachu. These rules were set by himself, and sometimes he couldn't blame the officials from all over the place. The world... must not be chaotic." He coughed again, more severe than before.

"I'm guilty!" The courtiers knelt down again, and Tan Ziqing said one by one: "I am willing to donate my savings to relieve urgent needs." As soon as he said that, several other courtiers also said: "I am willing to donate savings to relieve urgent needs. "

Emperor Deqing looked at the courtiers in front of the case and sighed: "As the Son of Great Chu, how embarrassing is it that I ask you to take out your savings?" Stand up and talk."

Xue Poye thought in his heart: "If you talk about silver, I'm afraid I have hundreds of thousands of net worth in Hangzhou? Just how much do I have to donate? Compared with tens of millions of taels of silver, I'm afraid it's not even a drop in the bucket."

In an emergency at the border, Xue Poye really felt patriotic. After all, the people of Dachu are of the same origin as himself, so he naturally didn't want them to be buried under the iron hoof of Beihu.

"Your Majesty!" Xue Poye said suddenly, "My minister has played."

Emperor Deqing looked at Xue Poye quite unexpectedly, and several other ministers also looked at Xue Poye, only to hear Emperor Deqing say softly: "Xue Aiqing, what do you have to say?"

Xue Poye calmed down his throbbing mood. This is Viscount Xue's first remonstrance, so be cautious, and calmly said: "Your Majesty, the great Chu is in trouble, and the whole country is united, and the way is the right way. What the court lacks now is money, and the great The people with the most money in the Chu Kingdom are merchants, and I believe that even now, it is time for those merchants who have received the grace of the Holy One to make some contributions."

Everyone didn't understand what Xue Poye meant for a while, they all looked at him with doubts on their faces.

Emperor Deqing seemed to understand something, showed a rare smile, and said: "Xue Aiqing, please speak slowly."

Xue Poye clasped his fists at everyone, and said slowly: "My lords want to donate their savings, and I admire you very much, but you are all law-abiding and honest officials, I am afraid that you don't have much money, even if the courtiers are all mobilized, I am afraid I can’t donate much, and it’s undoubtedly a drop in the bucket for the money needed to do things.”

Several ministers felt quite comfortable when they heard Xue Poye addressing themselves as "a clean and honest official". Even Tan Ziqing smiled and nodded at Xue Poye.

Xue Poye continued: "But in this world, businessmen are all sitting on tens of millions of wealth, and many of them are from the wealthy side. At this time, the country is in trouble, how can they sit idly by? My minister thinks that the Holy One can send Officials, go to various places to collect donations. This kind of donation does not need to be open and honest. You only need to find out the wealthy businessmen in each state capital and ask them to donate money. Appropriate reduction and exemption, for them, this is a great gift from the Holy Spirit. There are so many state governments in Chuzhou, and there are so many wealthy businessmen and businessmen, if this kind of donation method is used to raise money, I think it is much better than the donation of your savings by adults. It will also be of fundamental help to the current situation of the imperial court."

When Xue Poye said this, everyone understood what it meant.

Wang Dezhao immediately said: "Master Xue, every position in the world, each has its own name, and each keeps its position. Merchants do business and have silver, which is also obtained from trading. After paying the due taxes, we will force them to ask for silver. , This... I'm afraid this is a bit inappropriate?"

"Forcing?" Xue Poye smiled and shook his head and said: "My lord is wrong, it's not forcing, I said, this is a donation, it's for them to collect donations themselves, and we're not collecting donations for free, we can reduce business taxes in the future, In other words, we will repay part of the donation when the imperial court slows down. After all, this is a state affairs of our Great Chu State. Merchants can earn money because of the peace of the country and the wiseness of the saints. They are so proud of the protection of the country. .In times of peace, it’s enough to pay taxes, but now it’s an extraordinary time, so we need to raise more donations.”

Tan Ziqing nodded beside him and said: "Master Xue is right, those merchants should come up with some money."

Wang Dezhao obviously lacked confidence and asked, "So what if they don't donate?"

"Don't donate?" Xue Poye's eyes turned cold, and he said indifferently: "In an extraordinary time, do extraordinary things. At this time, not only merchants want to donate money to do extraordinary things, but even the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs should do something. For something extraordinary, if you go down to the state capital, if you can’t persuade the merchants to take the money, then you can’t be considered as loyal to the country.”

These words have been said very clearly, and the word "persuasion" is even more meaningful. There is still no way to "persuade" merchants to take money in the capacity of the imperial court.

Including Emperor Deqing, everyone seemed to be a little loose. Although Xue Poye's method was a bit special and even wicked, it was the best way to raise money.

The country of Great Chu is prosperous and prosperous, and the merchants have a lot of money.

What the imperial court lacks now is silver, which is the foundation of a stable country. It is of course a good deal to offend some businessmen and stabilize the country's foundation.

Xue Poye knew that once this suggestion was adopted, he would have a business in Hangzhou, so he might have to donate it. However, Xue Poye was willing to donate the money. After all, it was to protect the country and the people. As a time traveler, he had progressive thinking. of.

If Mrs. Xue wants to donate, then the Fang family and the Lu family and other big merchants will probably have to donate even more.

"Okay!" Emperor Deqing pondered for a moment, and finally said: "According to Xue Aiqing's words, the Ministry of Household Affairs sent officials to the state capitals to ask big merchants to donate some money."

Wang Dezhao had no choice but to say respectfully: "This humble minister accepts the decree."

Emperor Deqing said again: "Tan Aiqing, you should arrange a manpower to thoroughly investigate the demon Qinglianzhao. I understand that there may be Qinglian demons in this capital."

Xue Poye's heart skipped a beat, and Tan Ziqing had already said: "My minister obeys the order."

"Wei Aiqing, Mo Aiqing, you two continue to track down the whereabouts of the official banker, and send people to the northwest territory to inquire about the movement of Gongsun City." Emperor Deqing's eyes glowed: "If it is really related to Gongsun City, even if there are many agencies , I also want to flatten Gongsun City."