Chapter 284: Marriage
The melting snow is the coldest time of the year, even colder than the snow.
The door of Xuanhui Hall was closed, and the hall was separated by a curtain. The ministers were discussing outside, and Li Zhaonian forced himself to listen.
"The money for spring plowing has been collected and allocated. If we get through it and wait for the autumn harvest, the treasury will be full."
"No way." Jiang Lianzhi said lightly: "Taxes have been collected until the 21st year of Tongxu. The late emperor passed away last year, but the extra grain and commercial taxes cannot be left alone. I am afraid that it is impossible to fill the treasury."
Now that Jiang Yuanqing has passed away, there is no one to suppress the cabinet's second assistant Liu Cheng.
Liu Cheng said slowly: "Regardless of whether the treasury is full or not, there is more than one difficult problem at the moment. The various departments have not been able to pay salaries for two months."
Liu Cheng looked at Jiang Lianzhi, but Jiang Lianzhi did not respond and pretended not to hear.
Wen Hongyuan coughed, "And the Ministry of War..."
"Are you here to discuss matters today or to ask me for money?" Jiang Lianzhi interrupted, "The account of the Ministry of Revenue is there, you gentlemen can take a look. If you think I can't do a good job as the head, you can replace anyone in this position, I Jiang Ji will accept it."
Everyone was silent.
In the past, the Ministry of Revenue was a job that everyone wanted, but now anyone would be bullied. All departments are debt collectors. They go to the Ministry of Revenue every day to ask for money, but the treasury is empty, how can they allocate money.
Seeing that everyone was silent again when this issue was mentioned, Jiang Lianzhi couldn't help but sneer in his heart and said, "Now it's the first year of Yongning, and there are many things to be done. You should discuss the affairs of each department. The Ministry of Revenue will cooperate if it can."
It's all empty talk. Nothing can be done without money. The Jiang family is not the Lu family of Hezhou. It's impossible for the Jiang family to pay out of their own pockets again.
Li Zhaonian heard his reign title behind the curtain and couldn't help but smile.
There won't be another two years of Yongning. Not to mention that he can't survive that time, even with Xie Tingzhou's current momentum, the court can't survive that time.
Several ministers were silent, so Li Jifeng changed the subject.
"I heard that the various tribes of Xijue surrendered to Xie Yun."
Liu Cheng hurriedly said: "After Boda's death, the people of Xijue were demoralized. The tribes of Xijue wanted to surrender, and Xie Tingzhou left them alone for a while. It is said that the trade route has been roughly negotiated, and only the "grain and horse trade" has been established."
"For grain and horses." Jiang Lianzhi said: "Xijue exchanged war horses for grain. Xie Tingzhou used this to contain Xijue and prevent Xijue from establishing cavalry again."
Some things sound simple, but if you trace their source, you can find out how terrible Xie Tingzhou is. He is so cunning that Xijue can't refuse even if he knows Xie Tingzhou's intention.
The palace maids and eunuchs are cleaning the dripping icicles under the eaves to prevent them from falling and hitting people when the ice melts.
An eunuch ran over holding something.
The chief eunuch at the door scolded, "Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are discussing matters with the ministers inside. How can you be so flustered?"
The eunuch knelt down hurriedly and shouted, "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report."
Li Jifeng shook his sleeves, "Show it."
The eunuch presented the urgent report. Li Jifeng read it without any expression on his face and passed it to the other people for circulation.
Everyone looked worried after reading it.
"So soon, Xie Tingzhou has reached the territory of King Wei."
"The two states next to King Wei's fiefdom have surrendered to Xie Tingzhou. If King Wei is added, Xie Tingzhou will have taken over nine states."
Thirty percent of the Great Zhou territory fell into the hands of Xie Tingzhou, and now Xie Tingzhou is unstoppable. It won't take long for him to reach Shengjing.
This is a sharp blade hanging over everyone's head, ready to be cut down at any time.
They seemed to have smelled the breath of the country's demise from the crackling sound of the ice melting.
…
“Your Highness, the Prince of Wei has sent a letter.”
Xie Tingzhou covered Shen Yu with the quilt, and Shen Yu opened her eyes vaguely, “Something’s wrong.”
“Nothing.” Xie Tingzhou patted the quilt lightly, watched her close her eyes, and stood up to lower the bed curtain.
Seasonal changes are prone to illness. Two days ago, Shen Yu ran a horse race with Chang Liu on a whim, and her back was wet.
She didn’t take it seriously at the time. She was still energetic when she was lying in the snow on the battlefield before, but she never thought that she would get sick this time. She was still coughing after taking medicine for two days.
Xie Tingzhou walked around the screen and took the letter from Xifeng.
As soon as Xie Tingzhou entered the country, the Prince of Wei had sent a letter, saying that he would host a banquet, but he didn’t express his attitude. He must have had some tricks in his mind and wanted to take this opportunity to negotiate with Xie Tingzhou.
“Your Highness, are you going?”
Xie Tingzhou raised his index finger, glanced at the inner room, and walked out.
Xifeng understood and followed Xie Tingzhou into the next room.
"Has the King of Wei mobilized his troops?"
"No." Xi Feng said, "The King of Wei has 12,000 soldiers in his fiefdom, and at most 15,000. He dares not move."
"Go." Xie Tingzhou said, "You arrange it. You don't need to bring too many people. I want to see how big the appetite of this King of Wei is."
Xie Tingzhou took a few steps and called Chang Liu.
Chang Liu came over from the corridor, stood at the door with his hands behind his back and his head down, "Your Highness."
It was Chang Liu who first mentioned the horse race, which caused the princess to catch a cold. Although the prince didn't say anything, he didn't look good to him these days.
Xie Tingzhou said, "I'm going to go out for a while. You stay with the princess and don't let anyone disturb her. If she hasn't woken up by the hour of You, wake her up to take medicine and prepare a dish of candied dates."
Chang Liu nodded hurriedly, "Got it. I will definitely take good care of the princess."
"If there is anything urgent, let the guards report it."
Chang Liu said with full energy, "Yes!"
Xie Tingzhou looked at him, "Your voice is good, you can be louder, and the princess doesn't have to wait until the hour of You to wake up."
Changliu pursed his lips and shook his head.
King Wei wanted to negotiate terms with Xie Tingzhou, but he might also want to take the opportunity to capture Xie Tingzhou and negotiate terms with the court.
Xie Tingzhou led a small number of people, the twenty guards were all masters, and the army was pressing down on the border. It was expected that King Huai would not dare to move.
In the hall, silk and bamboo are played together, and the music is melodious.
King Wei was over sixty years old and still had not passed the throne to his son. Once power was in his hands, it was difficult to let it go.
"I would like to propose a toast to you, Your Majesty." King Wei held up the cup.
Xie Tingzhou raised his hand to block the maid who was pouring the wine. Xi Feng asked her to step aside and knelt down beside him to pour tea for Xie Tingzhou.
"Tea instead of wine." Xie Tingzhou picked up the cup, "Thank you, King Wei, for hosting the banquet."
King Wei drank it all in one gulp, while Xie Tingzhou only took a sip and looked into the hall.
The dancer is dressed in tulle and dances to the sound of silk and bamboo, not forgetting to cast her gaze at Xie Tingzhou as she spins.
Xie Tingzhou was thinking about Shen Yu and his eyes were not focused on where he was, but in King Wei's eyes, he couldn't look away.
Having said the polite words, we still need to get to the point.
King Wei said: "I have a daughter who is good at the piano. I have heard that the prince is quite accomplished in the piano art. I wonder when the prince will have time to give me some advice."
Xie Tingzhou's eyes narrowed slightly, and he had roughly guessed King Wei's plan.
Xie Tingzhou said: "King Wei doesn't know something. Among all the instruments, chess, calligraphy and painting, I am the worst at playing the instrument."
King Wei didn't care, and said directly: "Qin, chess, calligraphy and painting are not important. The prince wants to plan the world. This is the time to recruit people. Although our military strength in Weizhou cannot compete with the prince, we can still do our best." "
"The prince will not give it away for nothing." Xie Tingzhou smiled lazily, "You can just tell me what the conditions are."
King Wei waved his hand, "The conditions cannot be negotiated. I want to give the prince a gift."
"What gift?"
"I have a daughter who has not yet left the palace, and she is always very dear to the princess."
Xie Tingzhou put the cup in his hand to his lips, but did not drink. He asked with a smile: "King Wei wants to give his beloved daughter to me."
King Wei smiled and said: "I want to give the prince a marriage. As for the dowry, it is my Weizhou and Weizhou's 20,000 troops. What does the prince think?"