"What bad idea did he give the emperor?"

Although the more chaotic the court is, the more beneficial it is for the Qin Palace, but thinking of the people he has seen along the way, Xiao Shaotang's heart is still heavy.

The superior is not benevolent, why is the common people innocent?

Mr. Yuan said four words with a solemn expression:

"Sell the official beard. ”

"He actually ...... It's ridiculous!"

Mr. Yuan was surprised to hear the low voice of the princess on the side, with surprise and anger.

He was stunned for a moment, this "he", did he mean the emperor, or Fang Handong?

You continue. ”

Xiao Shaotang softly interrupted Mr. Yuan's stunned speech and motioned for him to continue.

Then he turned his head and glanced at Bai Chenghuan, then reached over, took her hand in front of Mr. Yuan, and silently comforted Bai Chenghuan to calm down quickly.

Yes, no matter how ridiculous he is, what does it have to do with her now?

Mr. Yuan told the princess what had happened in the capital during the time they had left.

The emperor put all the things about raising money for disaster relief to Zhu Siming, and Zhu Siming tried his best with the household officials, but the silver to be used by the court was still a big hole that could not be filled.

Although the Spiritualist Observatory was repaired, a large part of the expenses were saved, and the border war was stopped, but the expenses of the household department were not less at all, but increased-because there were no foreign enemies, but there were more rogues, not to mention that in summer and autumn, all the victims needed was food, but now, warm clothes, houses that can shelter from the wind and snow, are all large expenses.

From the time of this heavy snowfall, inside and outside the capital, as well as nearby prefectures and counties, there are homeless people freezing and starving to death every day, and the road was once full of corpses.

Zhu Siming is also a bloody dog who is scolded every day, he is aggrieved and angry but there is nothing he can do, after all, in such a disaster year, no matter how capable he is, the silver will not fall from the sky out of thin air.

If, as in previous years, there was a flood in a few states and counties, it would be easy to do, the magistrate reported the disaster, the imperial court reduced and exempted the levy tax, distributed money and grain, and then sent a minister to supervise it, the disaster relief was not a big deal, but now, this protracted drought, which almost covered more than half of the land of Daqi, and the war, the construction of the Soul Calling Platform, and the imperial court draft, etc., were all mixed together, and almost all the reserves of the Daqi household department had been emptied, and in the face of so many victims, thousands of taels of silver could not play a big role。

Zhu Siming was desperate, thinking that he was incompetent to write a letter to resign, but the emperor did not allow it, but reprimanded him for temporarily picking a son.

Under all kinds of pressure, Zhu Siming's hair turned gray by half, and he could only ask Song Wenru, the only prime minister who supported him, for help.

But Song Wenru is essentially a good old man who has a balanced relationship with the mud, when it comes to raising money, he is not better than Zhu Siming, who has been a household secretary for many years, the two discussed for a long time, and the only way to come up with is to levy heavy taxes on merchants - the farmer has suffered a disaster, and there is always money in business, right?

But those wealthy businessmen who can be looked upon by the people of the court and want to go up and slaughter a knife, which one does not have the backing of high-ranking officials and powerful families?

As soon as this method was proposed, it was resisted by most of the courtiers, because if it was implemented, it would touch the interests of most of the nobles.

And the emperor, who put all this burden on Zhu Siming's head, didn't know what to think, and was actually forced to reject this proposal under the pressure of the courtiers.

Immediately afterwards, Song Wenru moved out of Xi Taishi and persuaded the emperor to change the eradication of the rogues from exterminating to recruiting An, so that at least some of the silver could be saved, but the emperor still wanted to save face and resolutely refused to recruit An Liukou.

Under heavy pressure, Fang Handong's role was revealed, and he proposed to the emperor that he could let the wealthy merchants and squires donate money to raise money.

Speaking of this, Mr. Yuan couldn't help but sigh:

"Since Wang Du and Li Yanqing died because of the advice, the officials of the Imperial History Observatory are no different from death, such a proposal, no one has come forward to say a word, the emperor is ...... The spirit is not as good as day by day, half of it is because of the favor of Fang Handong, and half of it is also to save trouble, so I agreed. ”

"So those people in the ministry simply intensified their efforts and turned the matter of donating officials into selling officials, right?"

Bai Chenghuan asked faintly, and completely had a new understanding of these officials in Daqi in his heart:

"I once heard my father-in-law say that now more than half of the officials in the Great Qi court are capable ministers in the period of the first emperor, and the first emperor has kept them until now, shouldn't they be the pillars of the country......?

When Mr. Yuan heard her mention the word "father-in-law", he thought that Wei Beihou had talked to her about government affairs, but he was not surprised by her words, but persuaded a few words:

"There is no need to be too surprised by the princess, whether the courtiers can be the pillars depends not only on themselves, but also on the king. ”

Xiao Shaotang felt that strange feeling in his heart again, but he still calmly comforted:

"This is not unusual, just like Cao Mengde's generation, can not escape the words of 'the able minister who governs the world, the traitor of the troubled times', if the king is virtuous, the subordinates are naturally virtuous, if the king is mediocre, the subordinates are naturally mediocre, today's Xiao Shaoyun, rigid and self-serving, does not listen to people's words, only favors the traitorous villain, where are the courtiers willing to do their best? ”

Mr. Yuan nodded in agreement:

"Yes, in addition, Lord He was imprisoned again, and the post of Langzhong of the Ministry of Officials was given to You Liankun in the previous matter, You Liankun this person, but there is no Lord He's integrity and integrity, and the person who replaced Zhao Wenting, the prefect of Yongzhou, this time is You Liankun's brother You Shikun. And ......"

Mr. Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still continued:

"Even Feng Zhicai, who was robbed of his official position before, also moved around, stuffing silver into the ministry, and the recovery of the Feng family was only a matter of a few days. ”

Bai Chenghuan was silent for a moment before he spoke:

"I know, the matter of the Feng family, I will discuss it with my father-in-law, Mr. continue. ”

Mr. Yuan was very satisfied with the attitude of the princess, so he picked up a few more important things and said a few more important things.

finally finalized with Xiao Shaotang how to meet the emperor the next day, and how to contribute to the bribery of the Yongzhou prefect, before leaving.

When Xiao Shaotang turned back to the inner room, he saw Bai Chenghuan sitting in front of the dressing table and looking at the mirror silently, not knowing what he was thinking, but his expression was depressed.

"What are you worried about?" Xiao Shaotang stepped forward and stroked her long hair like ink, and asked softly.

In fact, he also wants to ask, who are you worried about?

Bai Chenghuan only looked at himself beyond recognition in the mirror and muttered:

"For the people of Great Qi, for the first emperor who once worked hard - it's just a fantasy, and I can't say who I'm worried about. ”

At least, she will never worry about the person who has been a prince for more than ten years, has been reading poetry and books since childhood, and once wanted to be a virtuous emperor.