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

"Oh."

After responding casually, he turned back.

Xiao Yun suddenly took a deep breath, and then took a deep look at Lu Chen.

She considers herself well-read in poetry, and she is familiar with most of the poems and articles that have been passed down to later generations, but she has never heard the phrase "worry before the world is worried, and be happy after the world is happy", which expresses the author's extreme Poems with lofty political ambitions and great courage.

Moreover, she has never seen the saying that governing a big country is like cooking small vegetables, which is very philosophical after careful consideration.

As for Lu Chen, who said these words that could directly lead to her enlightenment and breakthrough, his identity had been clearly verified by the Zhuxie Division and the Ministry of Finance the moment he entered the official position. He was definitely from a clean and poor background.

In other words, this is the truth he realized based on his true inner thoughts, and the poems he composed casually with emotion.

What a noble mind!What an amazing talent! !What profound knowledge! ! !

No wonder he stood up resolutely to support His Majesty when the Queen Mother was in power, and defended His Majesty without fear of death when the Holy King of Cangming showed his fangs. Only a person with such great perseverance and courage can do so. His Majesty's qualifications are so trusted.

This is a truly great talent with the world in mind!

Thinking of this, Xiao Yun suddenly looked at Lu Chen with a hint of gratitude and reverence.

Of course, Lu Chen didn't know that he had gained an extra layer of aura inexplicably.

Xiao Yun remained silent. Out of boredom, he casually looked around.

After a moment, he suddenly noticed the wat tablet in Xiao Yun's hand.

Seeing the dense text above, he was stunned for a moment, and then asked curiously: "Xiao Shangshu, has anything happened in the Ministry of Works recently? Why do you have so many things to report to His Majesty?"

Chapter 65

Seeing that Lu Chen noticed the wat board in her hand, Xiao Yun had no intention of hiding it, but instead lifted it up so that Lu Chen could see it more clearly.

Lu Chen simply ignored the small white hands and focused on the wat board.

After a moment, his mind suddenly moved, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

Xiao Yun opened her red lips lightly and said with her unique soft voice: "Since the Demon Queen came to the throne, she has been committed to cultivating party members, persecuting loyal and good people and excluding dissidents, firmly controlling the government, only caring about her own selfish desires and ignoring the world, so that Government administration is slow, courtiers form cliques for personal gain, corruption is rampant, civil strife continues in all directions, and the country's foundation is shaken."

"Nowadays, chaos is gradually emerging in the world. Although His Highness the Holy King has great martial arts and the Cangming Army is invincible, if we want to truly quell the turmoil, we cannot blindly rely on force. We must restore production as soon as possible, pay attention to people's livelihood, and let the people live and work in peace and contentment. The root cause is completely eradicated.”

As she spoke, she sighed softly, and then said softly:

"Encourage production to create enough agricultural tools, and there is an urgent need to resume agricultural projects in various places, dredge rivers, and restore fertile farmland. At the same time, because the Queen Mother has long diverted part of the money used to repair dams in Yuzhou and Suizhou, the person responsible for the repairs Officials are slack and slack, which has led to random flooding in Qingjiang in recent years. It is necessary to strengthen the dams in Yuzhou and Suizhou as soon as possible, and organize manpower to dig auxiliary roads to divert and discharge floods. All of this requires a huge investment of money. However, now that the national treasury is empty, the imperial court will There is no intention but no power.”

Speaking of this, Xiao Yun's eyes slowly revealed a melancholy that was difficult to resolve.

Lu Chen's eyes gradually became a little subtle.

He had heard a little bit about the current situation of the treasury.

Although rats are not starving to death in the treasury now, it is not much better. The income and expenditure of various ministries are now extremely tight, and they can't wait to break a copper plate and use it in two.

The reason why we are facing such a dilemma is all because of the Queen Mother.

After overthrowing the Queen Mother and her gang, everyone thought they could get a large sum of money to fill the treasury by ransacking their homes. After all, the Queen Mother frequently reached out to the treasury, so there must be countless treasures hidden in the palace.

But when they actually got started, they found that there were not many treasures and elixirs in the Queen Mother's palace, which was far from the wealth she should have had in the six years she had been in charge of the government.

It seems that she was extremely cautious and got some kind of fairy treasure that could hold a large number of items, and put inside it the amazing wealth that she had collected and amassed through various means over the years.

Now that the Queen Mother is fleeing to the west, she will definitely take away the wealth she has accumulated over the years in order to find an opportunity to make a comeback. Although the Queen Mother's followers who are unable to escape have a rich family property, they are simply unable to meet the huge expenditure of the Great Xia treasury, which is now waiting for many businesses to prosper.

It can be said that the Queen Mother's departure is equivalent to taking away half of Daxia's treasury, and the disaster this will bring can be imagined.

"so."

After a moment, Lu Chen withdrew his gaze.

"Xiao Shangshu is preparing to suggest that His Majesty lower the specifications of the Xinyuan Grand Ceremony, reduce or postpone the construction of imperial mausoleums, repair the palaces in the inner palace, Tianji Pavilion, Wushuang City and other projects, and at the same time temporarily increase the labor force and mobilize the people of neighboring prefectures and counties to rush to the Qingjiang River. Midstream flood control?”

"Ah."

Xiao Yun nodded gloomily.

"Huaiyu, what do you think about this?"

Lu Chen said without hesitation: "Even if His Majesty agrees with your proposal, Xiao Shangshu, this decree will never be passed by me!"

As an engineering matter, let alone an official document from a minister, even if it is an imperial edict from the emperor, it can still be blocked and rejected as long as he has enough legitimate reasons.

If the emperor wanted to force an order, it would be easy. All he had to do was remove the stubborn and rigid person and replace him with an obedient one.

After all, the emperor holds the absolute power of appointment and removal.

It's just that this is mostly an approach that only mediocre or mediocre emperors would take. Emperors who really want to make a difference and have ambitions rarely do this, otherwise Lu Chen wouldn't be so distressed.

Hearing this, Xiao Yun frowned slightly, but soon relaxed.

Lu Chen added: "It's easy to talk about various projects. After all, the most important thing at the moment is to restore people's livelihood and control floods. However, the Xinyuan Ceremony is also of great significance and is related to the stability of the world. The standards must not be lowered. Moreover, the people of the world have experienced six years of The Demon Queen's chaotic government has long been exhausted and it is difficult to bear the heavy burden. We must not rush to increase the burden on the people at this time!"

"At this time, labor is being levied, so they have no food left at home and no oil or water in their belly. They rush to the dam area and flood discharge area. The only bad thing is to use their lives to fill the flood!"

"What is this called? This is called taking human lives!"

At this point, there was already a hint of anger on his face.

“The common people pay the most taxes and do the hardest and most tiring work. Whenever they have free time, they have to be drafted into labor by the government. They bring their own food and go to construction sites to work for the government. They work tirelessly for a year, but in the end there is no food left. , and the imperial court eats the food they grow, uses the taxes they pay, and enjoys their labor, but cannot even provide them with the most basic survival. What is the truth? Is there anything more cruel than this in the world? ?”

Upon hearing this, a look of sadness suddenly flashed across Xiao Yun's face.

Looking at Lu Chen's eyes without a trace of impurity, a hint of reverence quietly flashed in her eyes, as if she was amazed that Lu Chen dared to say such a thing.

After a moment, she shook her head gently, sighed, and then said helplessly:

"I know you are unhappy Huaiyu, but without enough manpower, it is impossible to quell the flood. If the Qingjiang River breaks its banks, countless fertile fields in the downstream counties will be destroyed overnight, resulting in no harvest in the first half of the year. Once the grain production is If turmoil occurs, it will definitely cause large-scale food price fluctuations, with extremely serious consequences. If there are other ways, I will not be tempted to do so, but the current national situation is difficult. If we do not do this, the disaster will be even greater, and the two evils will harm each other. Whichever is easier, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

However, Lu Chen did not agree with this statement.

He shook his head and said solemnly: "I think there are other ways."

Hearing such firm words, Xiao Yun couldn't help but be startled, and subconsciously asked: "What can be done?"

Lu Chen did not answer, but instead asked: "Xiao Shangshu, do you believe me?"

Xiao Yun felt a little baffled. What does this have to do with whether she believes it or not?

Still, she nodded.

"Huaiyu has an innocent heart. In my heart, he has always been a noble and commendable sincere gentleman. Naturally, I believe in you Huaiyu."

Hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but blush.

Know your own business.

He probably had an innocent heart when he was a child, but he definitely doesn't have it now.

Xiao Yun said this from the bottom of her heart, which made him feel a little embarrassed for a moment.

But his face was tempered after all, and he soon returned to normal.

"In that case."

He stretched out his hand, and under Xiao Yun's surprised gaze, took the Wat Board from her hand, and then put his own Wat Board in her hand.

"Leave this matter to me."

Feeling the warm touch of the wat tablet with Lu Chen's name written on it in her hand, Xiao Yun couldn't help but be startled.

Unknowingly, the two of them had reached the steps of the Tai Chi Hall gate.

"Now that we have discovered the problem, we can't pretend we didn't see it, and..."

Lu Chen took Xiao Yun's wat board and walked up the steps.

"It is the duty of an official to speak out and give advice. Especially for such advice that may offend His Majesty, it is even more obligatory for me to do so!"

Naturally, he couldn't miss such a good thing that could lower the Empress' favor.

Seeing Lu Chen's unhesitating figure, Xiao Yun inexplicably clenched the wat board in her hand.

Chapter 66 Wu Yue (please read more!!!)

"There are floods in Yuzhou and Suizhou?"

In the Tai Chi Hall, the Yongchu Empress Jiang Chengwan, who was sitting high on the dragon chair, looked at Lu Chen below in surprise.

Just now, at the beginning of the morning court, before the court officials in front could speak, Lu Chen stood up and loudly pointed out the hidden dangers caused by the Queen Mother's chaotic government, focusing on the Yuzhou and Sui Dynasties in the upper reaches of the Qingjiang River. State flood issues.

She wasn't too surprised by the question itself, but she was a little curious as to why it was raised by Lu Chen.

"Go back to Your Majesty."

Lu Chen cupped his hands and said: "Now the phenomenon of floods in the upper reaches of Qingzhou has become apparent. Although judging from the current situation, the rising river water is not enough to pose a threat to the dam for the time being, the water there has not shown any signs of weakening. On the contrary, It’s getting worse.”

"If you keep letting it go, once the sky changes in a certain area, a large amount of water spirit energy will gather, causing water dragons to descend from the sky. The consequences will be disastrous, and you have to be careful!"

Hearing this, Jiang Chengwan immediately nodded slightly.

"In this case, then the national treasury will allocate funds and order..."

"His Majesty!"

An excited voice suddenly sounded from below.

Jiang Chengwan lowered his head and saw an old man with white hair and beard wearing a purple official robe hurriedly stood up.

He was Wu Yue, the Minister of Household Affairs who was promoted to the top position in the Household Department by the Empress not long ago after the Queen Mother's fall.

"Your Majesty, the treasury is extremely empty right now. We really can't allocate any money!"

Wu Yue had an anxious look on his face, as if slowing down would lead to some irreversible consequences. He continued in an eager tone: "Furthermore, Sui and Yu states have not seen floods for ten years. In addition, the imperial court has allocated funds for repairs every year. Regarding the local dams, even if there is any difference this year, the floods will not be enough to completely destroy the dams, and will only cause some damage at most."

"Therefore, Wei Chen believes that the dams in the two states can be repaired in the coming year when the national treasury is full, so there is no need to rush."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen retorted loudly before the empress could speak:

"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst. If the flood breaks the embankments, it will bring disaster to the states and counties along the way. The losses will be incalculable, and it is very likely to trigger large-scale unrest and shake the country. Such serious consequences, Wu Can you take on the role of Minister?"

There was clear anger in his voice.

"Even if there is only a [-]% chance that the embankment will burst, the court must be fully prepared. This is the court's responsibility to the tens of millions of people in the prefectures and counties along the Qingjiang River. There must not be any negligence!"

Seeing that Lu Chen was obviously angry, the empress' eyes quietly turned cold.