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

But since Chai Hongyu said this, no matter how unbelievable it was, he could only accept it.

At this time, Chai Hongyu said again: "Master Governor, please don't mention this again. There is absolutely no possibility between me and Senior Brother Ye. Not to mention that Senior Brother Ye already has someone he likes. If this inexplicable misunderstanding spreads, maybe It will cause trouble for Senior Brother Ye, and I am already worried about it..."

At this point, she suddenly paused.

"Forget it, it's nothing. In short, I just want to stay with the Governor and protect him. Other than that, I have no other thoughts. Please don't have any other messy thoughts."

That last sentence was extremely firm.

Hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but be speechless.

Sure enough, the more talented a monk is, or the higher his achievements in practice are, the more likely he is to be born alone.

Sighing, he stopped thinking about it, just shook his head helplessly, gave up the idea of ​​persuading him to quit, and then walked slowly towards home.

Looking at Lu Chen's back, Chai Hongyu also sighed inexplicably.

This man is really not an ordinary slow man...

..........

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Preparations for the financial meeting are in full swing. Accounts of money and food, fiscal revenue and expenditure, and taxes from various local governments are constantly being submitted to the Ministry of Revenue. The top and bottom of the Ministry of Revenue, including Wu Yue, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, are all working hard to approve the envoys, prefects, and county magistrates. Number reported.

Of course, there will inevitably be discrepancies between the specific amount received and the amount reported. After all, there will inevitably be losses in the physical item alone. As long as the amount is not too far off, the Ministry of Accounts will generally not reject it.

However, among the courtiers at this time, the busiest ones were not the officials of the Ministry of Revenue.

It is one of the three pavilions, Donghua Pavilion where the first assistant Yan Song is located.

Yan Mansion.

Although it was a rare rest, Yan Song did not go to the meditation room to meditate. Instead, he stayed alone in the bamboo pavilion and sat cross-legged.

Shasha~

Along with a gust of breeze, Yan Song's eyelids suddenly moved, and then he slowly opened his eyes.

A glimmer of light quietly flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"Here it is."

The moment the soliloquy-like voice fell, the air not far away in front of him suddenly became violently distorted, and in just a moment, seven human-shaped shadows appeared.

"Brother Yan, long time no see."

One of the shadows made a slightly older voice.

"Counting the time, it has been twenty years since Brother Yan came to my Qingyun Sect to congratulate me."

Another phantom spoke at the same time: "Old Yan Ge, it's been a long time."

Others greeted each other.

But the shadow that spoke last was not as polite as those in front of him, but straight to the point:

"Junior brother, have the south and east sides been negotiated?"

Yan Song's expression was not as calm as usual. When he heard this voice's question, his expression instantly became extremely solemn.

He first responded to those polite greetings politely, and then said to the phantom standing at the front:

"Everything is ready, Brother Master. Although it has cost a lot, it is within the expected range. The plan... went very smoothly."

Hearing this, the shadowy figure whom Yan Song called the headmaster's brother just nodded slightly.

"Very good. With these words from Junior Brother, I feel relieved."

Yan Song said sternly: "The monks are the foundation of the world and cannot be compromised at all. However, the current ruler's ways are not upright, allowing the treacherous ministers and ghosts to take advantage of them and bring disaster to the world. The world is turned upside down, the right path is not prosperous, and the country of Great Xia is on the verge of overturning. , how can we, who have been blessed by our country in this life, sit idly by and ignore this? Now is the time for all the talented people to step forward and try to turn the tide..."

He spoke a long series of opening remarks eloquently, and the shadows floated quietly in the air without making a sound.

"I, Yan Song, am not talented. I am willing to sacrifice my life for the country to eradicate the traitors, to bring peace to the court and the country, and to thank the people of the world. I also ask you to give me a helping hand!"

After saying that, he suddenly stood up and bowed heavily to everyone.

"Brother Yan (Mr. Yan Ge) said something serious. This is what we should fulfill. There is no need for this."

All the shadows said one after another.

Then Yan Song’s head teacher spoke again.

"It will take at least one year and three months to set up the [Zhuxian Formation]. Junior Brother Yan, during this period you must work with all parties to stabilize the government. Give up what you need to give up, and try to make them relax their vigilance."

Yan Song nodded, then raised the corners of his mouth slightly, outlining a meaningful smile.

"Don't worry, Brother Master, no matter what, I won't let anyone notice our plan."

As the chief minister who has been involved in the temple for decades and has survived two dynasties, he can freely mobilize various resources of the civil servant group to represent the interests. Naturally, he will not lack the means to achieve his goals.

It's just a matter of concealing the truth, it's easy for him.

What's more, anyone with a discerning eye can now see that if Lu Chen is allowed to act recklessly, not to mention the wealthy families, including the major sects that have lasted for thousands of years, the lives of monks all over the world will not be easy.

Monks are the cornerstone of a stable world. If even monks have a hard time, sooner or later the world will be in chaos.

Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, all dynasties have valued monks and despised the people. It is not unreasonable.

Not to mention other things, the spiritual disaster alone is enough to cause the destruction of all living beings.

He, Yan Song, did this to stabilize the world. Even if the means were disgraceful, he had a clear conscience.

"Then it's not too late."

One of the shadows said in a deep voice.

"I'll start preparing now."

"Ah."

Then everyone began to discuss the specific details of the operation.

Which party will provide how much materials, which party will be responsible for blocking the secrets, which party will provide how many manpower, etc., all need to be determined as soon as possible.

It wasn't until night fell and the lanterns were turned on that the seven phantoms slowly disappeared.

Yan Song still sat where he was, looking at the scene in front of him that was gradually returning to calm, his eyes twinkling.

Chapter 261 I’ll take the blame, you take the credit

Ziji City, Shenghe Hall.

After six days of preparation, the financial meeting was finally held successfully.

At this time, the main officials of the three pavilions, six departments and nine temples gathered together, sitting on both sides of the hall. The empress sat high on the dragon chair, looking through the accounts in front of her and listening to Wu Yue's report below.

"Your Majesty, the total revenue of the imperial court last year was: 120 trillion shi of rice, 2000 million shi of wheat...Tax and silver were 970 taels, which was a huge increase compared with the previous year. The largest increase was from the Ministry of Industry. Project revenue and commercial taxes, especially commercial taxes, have now exceeded agricultural taxes and accounted for 720% of the court's total revenue. In addition, in terms of expenditure, the total expenditure of the court was equivalent to 400 million taels of silver, of which more than [-] million were spent by the official department. Two, the Ministry of War spent more than six million taels, and the Ministry of Punishment spent more than [-] taels..."

Wu Yue held the memorial prepared in advance and said with great joy.

An old face was full of excitement.

You must know that when he first took office as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue last year, the entire Ministry of Revenue was in a mess. Almost all the accounts that he could see were in deficit. The holes created by the Queen Mother Zhao in the six years of being in power were simply shocking. After that, although Gu Simiao tried to turn the tide , recovered countless accounts, and barely filled the hole, but Daxia's finances were still on the verge of collapse.

But now, in just one year, the imperial court has not only wiped out all the fiscal deficit, but also has a balance of nearly 900 million taels of silver if all is converted into silver.

Even in the late Emperor's ZTE era, the imperial court had never been so well off!

Although anyone with an eye can see that Daxia was able to completely change its financial situation within a year, Lu Chen, the Secretary of the Tiangong Department and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, were the biggest contributors. It was he who presided over and implemented the patent law and improved the status of the Way of Objects. , drastic changes to the Ministry of Industry and other new policies have created the current situation.

But it’s not like he, the Minister of Household Affairs, has done nothing. After getting a taste of the benefits from the cement research and development project, he set his sights on Tiangong Division uncontrollably. As long as it was a new project of Tiangong Division, he would participate if he had the opportunity. , he will show great courage, fight against everyone's opinions, and spend money crazily.

Under the leadership of Lu Chen, the Tiangong Division continued to develop various technologies, such as high-yielding rice, postpartum care for livestock, and highly practical technologies and theories such as raising pigs to increase meat yield, which brought massive wealth to the imperial court. It also directly and indirectly achieved the success of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Listening to Wu Yue's continuous account of the achievements of the imperial court last year, everyone had mixed reactions.

Lu Chen, with the title of Shangshu, ranked first on one side, sitting opposite Yan Song. The look on his face was extremely indifferent, as if everything Wu Yue told had nothing to do with him.

Yan Song's face was expressionless, and as always he could not see his emotions or anger, hiding all his thoughts deep in the city.

There was a faint smile on Xiao Yun's beautiful face, especially when Wu Yue mentioned Lu Chen, her charming eyes quietly curved, but she was the one who listened most seriously among the three giants in the court today. one of.

Others, such as Liu Dongyang and Fang Ping, caressed their long beards from time to time and looked very relaxed, but Qian Yiqian, the Minister of Punishment, Zhao Bingliang, the Minister of Dali Temple, etc. had tense and meticulous faces, looking a bit dull.

"In terms of tax revenue, compared with the previous year, almost all regions have increased to varying degrees. Except for the Gyeonggi region, Suizhou, Yuzhou, Jingxiang Province, and Huangzhou are the most..."

Having said this, Wu Yue suddenly turned his head and looked at Lu Chen, who had an extremely indifferent expression on his side, and then said with emotion:

"Lord Lu is really an unparalleled national scholar and a talented king. The acting county magistrate of Sui and Yu states was originally just a warrior. He only followed Lord Lu for a month, but he was able to manage the counties in the two states in order and make the people live and work in peace and contentment. Bandits rushed to be good, and in just one year, the tax revenue of the two states increased nearly thirty times, which was comparable to the total tax revenue of a province. It is unimaginable that such great achievements were made by warriors who were not knowledgeable in classics. "

After a pause, a look of admiration gradually appeared on his face.

"Just being a named disciple is so impressive. You can imagine how amazing and talented Mr. Lu is."

Hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Damn, he originally asked Fang Yu and others to serve as acting county magistrates, let them do it freely, and supported them in the court. To a large extent, he just wanted to get more blame from them so that they could be punished through joint and several liability. Being demoted or something like that, I didn't expect these birdmen to be more powerful than the other.

Tax revenue doubled?

Is this something that humans can do?

He just gave a stage...

Give them some sunshine and they'll flood, right?

What if the promised warrior has no political talent?

As soon as he thought about it, he couldn't help but feel a dull pain in his back.

When hearing Wu Yue praising Lu Chen so much, a strange color finally appeared in Jiang Chengwan's eyes. He was no longer as bored as before, and the way he looked at Wu Yue became much more pleasing to the eye.

Then she looked away and looked at Lu Chen.

"Wu Aiqing is right. If it weren't for Lu Qing, the Sui and Yu states would not be in such a good situation even if they were not completely ruined. Lu Qing has made great contributions to the dynasty. I have to think carefully about how to reward you. …”

When Lu Chen heard this, he couldn't help but get excited.

reward?

Gan!This girl wants to give me a promotion again?

Damn it, I'm already a second-rank minister, why should I be given the title of first-rank junior master?

Thinking of this, he came back to his senses instantly, and then hurriedly said: