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

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 these words came out, Qian Yiqian, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, who had just been fined one year for his involvement in the false accusation case and was punished as a substitute, and who might be dismissed by the empress at any time, suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at it with amusement. To 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 charcoal, if a method can be developed to eliminate the side effects of its combustion, the 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!”

Chapter 179 Self-financing

Faced with Wu Yue's impassionedness, Lu Chen shook his head calmly.

"Wu Shangshu's words are wrong. As a courtier of the Great Xia, especially a minister in an important position, one should not be prejudiced against anything at any time. Everything should be based on the country and society of the Great Xia and profit for the country. It is my own responsibility, but from my point of view, whether it is the way of sages or sages, or the way of martial arts, or the way of investigating things, or even the way of eating, as long as it is beneficial to the Great Xia, to respecting the king and fighting barbarians, and to the common people in the world, They are all great roads, there is only a division of labor, there is no distinction between good and bad.”

Hearing this, not only Wu Yue, but also many courtiers showed disdain. Yan Song, the chief assistant, and Ye Cheng, the left servant of the official department, even sank, looking at Lu Chen with a faint trace of dignified color.

This guy really has plots against the sages and morals!

"joke!"

Tang Yue, the left servant of the Ministry of War, said in a deep voice:

"The Holy Way is the only great way in the world. If you don't hear that the Master taught all people, he became a saint immediately. He banished the immortal Yaochi and composed three hundred poems, and he ascended to heaven in the daytime. If you seek immortality and ask questions, you can't get it without the Holy Way. These are the thousands of monks in the world. The foundation, a mere promotion to a small path, can never be compared with the holy way. Monks are the foundation of the country and are superior to all living beings. Scholars, peasants, industry, and merchants have distinct levels, and there are differences between high and low. Only by performing their duties can the country be peaceful and the people be safe. This is The sages passed down the principles of heaven and earth to later generations. Throughout the ages, no one has ever falsely stated this theory."

"Lu Shilang, you are also a man of insight and talent, but don't tell this old man that you don't even know the most basic classics."

Lu Chen glanced at him, but didn't bother to pay attention to it, and just responded casually: "I have seen it, but maybe I am stupid, and I still can't understand the essence of the classics."

After saying that, he stopped looking at Tang Yue.

Now is not the time to start a dispute over orthodoxies.

Tang Yue wanted to say something more, but the empress suddenly said coldly: "Now we are talking about the affairs of Tiangong Division, don't talk about other things, the early court is for discussing matters, not for discussing Taoism, this is the Tai Chi Hall , not a banquet."

Hearing this, Tang Yue shut his mouth wisely.

Lu Chen bowed his hands towards the empress, and said solemnly: "Anything that can benefit the people and benefit the country is worth trying."

"Your Majesty, the benefits of charcoal are obvious, and its reserves are extremely astonishing. Nearly 75% of the [-] provinces of Daxia have black mountains of various sizes. If they can be fully utilized, the financial resources they can bring are extremely large. It can be seen that the imperial court must not give up this way of making money because of choking."

"Besides, the national treasury is tight now, and it is time to increase income and reduce expenditure. When there is a limit to reducing expenditure, but there is no limit to increasing income. Therefore, we should focus on increasing income and supplementing it by reducing expenditure. The two go hand in hand to solve financial problems. With this strategy, Tiangong Division can not only develop new things that can benefit the court, but as long as there is enough investment, it can also improve the formation, spiritual equipment and other structures, so that it can achieve the effect of reducing costs and increasing efficiency, whether it is open source or Tiangong Division can play a huge role in reducing expenditure."

As soon as the words fell, Wu Yue on the side snorted coldly and said:

"It sounds good, but Lu Shilang, whether it is research or improvement, needs to invest money, and the money is quite a lot. If a lot of money is spent, the result will be completely useless, and the money of the court will be in vain. Who will bear the responsibility and loss?"

Lu Chen said without hesitation: "Of course I'm next."

"Ah!"

Wu Yue said coldly:

"To set up a company, if all the silver is converted into silver, at least 5000 taels of silver will be needed. And to study charcoal, I don't know how much manpower, material and financial resources will be invested. If it fails, the silver will be gone, and the reputation of the court will be damaged. Even How can you, Lu Shilang, take responsibility for harming His Majesty's sage, and how can you repay the loss?"

Lu Chen still looked indifferent.

"If you fail, I am willing to be punished, whether you are dismissed from office or relegated to exile, even if you spend all your wealth, I will make up for the money that the court lost."

The moment these words fell, Gu Simiao's eyes moved slightly in front of the array of military officers not far away, and a different look flashed inexplicably in his eyes looking at Lu Chen.

If the charcoal can really be developed and utilized, the first one to benefit will be her as the county magistrate of Taihe.

Because she can completely take all the Black Mountains in Taihe County as her fiefdom.

Although she also felt that it was basically impossible for such a useless thing like charcoal to be developed into value, Lu Chen's move still made her feel a little strange.

However, the Empress frowned, and a look of dissatisfaction quietly flashed in Wu Yue's eyes.

"All the affairs of the Tiangong Division will be done according to Lu Qing's instructions."

The empress frowned and said without a doubt:

"From now on, all the expenses of Tiangong Division will come from my internal funds. As for the responsibility and loss, you don't have to worry about it anymore, Lu Qing. The internal funds are my private treasury and have nothing to do with the national treasury. All the money in the money has been used up, and it will not have any impact on the court affairs, and I will not blame you, if the money is not enough, you can tell me at any time, and I will find a way."

As soon as these words came out, some courtiers subconsciously looked at Lu Chen, with envy in their eyes.

The empress is equivalent to resisting all the risks of Tiangong Division. How can such a holy family not make people envious and jealous?

When Wu Yue heard the first part of the empress's sentence, Wu Yue's expression sank slightly, but when he heard the empress said that she paid for it herself to mess around with Lu Chen, his expression relaxed slightly.

Since the Empress is willing to pay for it out of her own pocket, then he has nothing to do. Anyway, the money in the internal money has nothing to do with him as the Minister of the Household Department. He doesn't even blink.

"If Your Majesty wants to do this, I have nothing to say."

After finishing speaking, he stepped back, his eyes on his nose, his nose on his heart, and he had nothing else to do.

People who deal with money every day are so realistic.

However, what the empress said made Lu Chen's expression a little subtle.

He raised his head slightly, looked at the empress, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have something else to tell you."

Hearing this, the eyes of all the courtiers froze.

What is this evil trying to do?