"Concurrently serve as the Imperial Horse Supervisor and be in charge of the Warat tribute?" Xu Xun repeated in surprise, "Palm Vara tribute? ”

The Queen Mother was also speechless, she nodded, "I really didn't plan to hide it, did I?" ”

Xu Xun could only smile bitterly - how should people say this well? It's so superficial that it doesn't look like politics at all.

Since the end of the Western incident, the number of Western countries to pay tribute has gradually decreased, from once a year, to once a few years now, only the Warat Tatar still pays tribute every year, the Tatar is still honest, and there is no trouble, or it is relatively more honest than Warat. Since the death of the first emperor, the number of envoys has gradually increased every year, often as many as more than 2,000 people, all the way to eat, drink and ask, along the way to receive officials are miserable, and often wantonly deviate from the route, the situation of exploring the surrounding geography appears, the ambition of the wolf, can be said to be obvious. However, there was no master in the court at that time - although the emperor was in the court, he was young, the empress dowager was old and weak, and the empress dowager was not capable of holding power, and even the three ministers of the cabinet were old people with a stable temperament. Although it was not without reaction, it did not have the determination to provoke a big war, and the result of repeated tolerance was that the tributary situation was getting worse and worse.

The envoys who came to pay tribute, the imperial court was naturally in charge of food and housing, and 'thick and thin', since the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, it was such a rule, in addition to the tribute items in return, the envoys also had rewards, which was calculated according to the head. Every year, Warat pulls some unusable old horses to exchange them for genuine silver silk salt tea, which are all daily necessities they urgently need. It can be said that it is a net profit and not a loss, so every year Warat is actively paying tribute, of course, on the contrary, here in the national dynasty, this is an increasingly heavy oppression of the national economy and people's livelihood.

A tribute, a 'Zhongzhou land half into the clan' clan support, and a bottomless pit of border soldiers' finance, the dynasty has almost no commercial taxes, the emperor is now loose, a reward is hundreds of hectares of land, less land, less official land income, the family of the powerful occupy a large area and do not pay taxes, even if there is salt and iron subsidies, this income and flowing expenses are not proportional at all. Not to mention the emperor, even the Queen Mother and Xu Xun, who doesn't know the trickiness of the problem? It's just that they are women, and they are completely hollowed out by the cabinet, so what can they do? It is also normal for the emperor to want to improve the situation after he takes office. However, as far as Xu Xun knows, the several orders he has issued in the past four years seem to have had little effect. Whether it is an order to train the border soldiers diligently, or to clear and occupy the occupied land, it is a thunderstorm and a small raindrop, and the people below are perfunctory, and it will be over.

This time, Wang Zhen invited himself to take care of the tribute, which seemed to be aiming at the only tributary problem that he had not tried before, and wanted to make some achievements. This is not a strange thing, and I believe that the resistance will not be great, and Warat is now a hot briquette, and even the Ministry of Rites does not want to care about their business. After more than 2,000 people arrived in the capital, they had to wipe their butts with the Ministry of Etiquette if they made any trouble. - But Wang Zhen just asked for another envoy from the imperial horse supervisor, which made people not know what to say.

The royal horse is not majestic to listen to, but under his hand is in charge of the three thousand households in the feather forest, there are more than 20,000 four guards, in charge of the palace guards, this is the forbidden army in the forbidden army, the highest status soldier in the world. Even the military and political affairs of the national dynasty and the imperial horse supervisor have the right to speak. Although Wang Zhen used to be a eunuch with a pen, but the authority of the inner servant does not look at the position, only the holy family, with the emperor's trust and support, at least when Wara pays tribute, Wang Zhen must have mastered the power of the imperial horse eunuch. Isn't the meaning of this sharpening of the knife still obvious? This year's tribute to Warat will definitely have twists and turns, but I am afraid that I will have to find trouble if I have nothing to do.

As if his intention to dislike himself was not obvious enough, Wang Zhen mentioned to the people around him many times, "Warat barbarians, Ru Mao blood drinkers, nomadic everywhere, like beggars." Even if there are minions and sharp teeth, how can they compare with the vast number of China's strong military strength? Such a villain is afraid of power but not virtue, and the dynasty treats him leniently, which can only breed his courage, which is not as harsh and intimidating, and he does not dare to seriously start a war with the dynasty. ”

This is so nice to say, so good that people can't refute it at all - it is indeed true, that is, twenty years ago, the Queen Mother and Xu Xun both experienced this period, whether it was Tatar or Warat, they were chased around by the army of the national dynasty, and they couldn't even be called a country at all, they could only be regarded as a relatively unruly tribe.

But the problem is that the reward for cutting the tribute of Warat - now basically everyone knows that Warat is going to do this - should also be ready for war, just like two people fighting, one is strong and the other is weak, the strong man first slapped his face, and the other party did not dare to fight back, so he didn't prepare a move, just stood there stupidly and waited for someone to lose...... Is there such a thing in the world? Of course, even if the other party fights back, the strong man can immediately make up for the slap. But this is a metaphor after all, how can it be so simple to fight? I didn't prepare anything, I just decided that I wouldn't fight back, isn't this the same as gambling?

Wang Zhen is also at this level, although he has some talent in figuring out people's hearts, and he has indeed mastered the emperor, but his performance in politics is not as shallow as the queen mother and concubine who have just come into contact with political affairs. After all, he has never been a serious person in the celebrant supervisor, and many things are simply ridiculous......

But how ridiculous it is? Is there anyone else who can control him now?

"Is there any voice from the outer court?" Xu Xun asked the Queen Mother, the emperor has been in power for four years now, generally speaking, political affairs have nothing to do with Xiyuan, although it is within easy reach, but if you don't take the initiative to inquire, just wait for the news from outside to come in, let alone wait for ten days and eight days.

"I haven't heard of it." The Queen Mother said, "I didn't ask...... As for Wang Zhen, others also told me, so I just used it to gossip with you. ”

Xu Xun's brows furrowed suddenly-the Queen Mother's attitude was obvious, she would never take care of this matter, just wait to stay out of the matter, and watch the excitement not be a big deal.

"Sister." She searched for the right words, "After all, it's a big deal......

"Even if you want to manage it, how can you manage it?" The Queen Mother's mood was obviously not as calm as she appeared, she snapped and pressed the Buddha beads in her hand onto the table, "What you and I say, is there no courtier in the outer court who dares to say it?" They said that the emperor would not listen, could it be that if you and I said it, the emperor would listen? ”

Xu Xun was speechless, and the Queen Mother glanced at her, "I heard that King Yu has already told the emperor that he wants to be a vassal...... Didn't you say that? How big is it? It was so noisy that King Yu didn't even dare to stay in the capital. With such a heart, who would dare to say anything to him? I really wonder, neither the eldest brother nor the Luo clan is such a personality, how did he become like this? ”

The formation of the emperor's character naturally has very complex factors behind it, and it is not something that can be clearly described in a few words, Xu Xun thought about it and sighed, "Having said that, I still have to say it." Maybe he didn't expect that he had to prepare for this war in advance, and after a few words, he knew the severity. ”

"Nope." The Queen Mother's heart was very firm, she shook her head, "If you want to say it, it can't be up to us." ”

As far as the emperor's twisted temperament is concerned, if someone else says it, it may be fine, with the relationship between the queen mother, the concubine and him, referring to Wang Zhen's reaction to entering the palace, maybe after saying it, in order to prove that he is right, he will not take it seriously, and he will not even take Wang Zhen down with a sigh of relief, and he will not even make preparations in advance. On the contrary, the emperor's trusted chamberlain privately suggested that Wang Zhen's claim on the tribute should not be refuted, so that the army should prepare enough food and grass first, and prepare to do it, which is better than rashly reducing the reward or even scolding Wara.

However, Wang Jin is old, and he is also a person left behind by the emperor, and now he has gone to Nanjing to supervise the elderly, and even Mama Sun has gone out with him. The old relationship between the queen mother and the concubine is no longer so strong in the palace, besides, everything in the palace revolves around the emperor, even if the queen mother and the concubine want to insert their hands into the personnel, they are a little powerless, not to mention that they have never had this intention, and it is difficult to come up with candidates in a hurry.

"Jin Ying should be able to say a few words." Xu Xun hesitated and said, "He is also quite dignified in front of the emperor." ”

"You have to look at this matter this way," the Queen Mother obviously weighed the overall pros and cons a long time ago - after all, she knew the news earlier than Xu Xun. "The stakes here, I'm just afraid that not to mention high-ranking officials, even the officials in the yazhong can see it clearly, let alone Jin Ying? If he can say it, then he will say it without us signaling it. ”

If you don't say it, it must have been weighed and you feel that the risk of making a suggestion is too great, and the benefit is almost none. In such a situation, even if he received instructions from the Queen Mother and the Concubine, he would not say it. The Queen Mother simply delegated power and was separated from the emperor, what deterrent effect could she have on Jin Ying?

"I think I'll still say it." Xu Xun thought about it, but still had confidence in Jin Ying, "How long will Wang Zhen return to the palace, and he won't even be so pressed that Jin Ying won't even have a chance to breathe, and he won't even dare to offend him." ”

"If I feel that it is useful, I should say it." The Queen Mother smiled, but her words were reserved.

Xu Xun's brows really furrowed - the queen mother meant that she felt that Jin Ying should have given up reasoning with the emperor a long time ago.

"It's useless to worry about it, you and I can only wait and see," the Queen Mother sneered, "You don't have to be so anxious to get angry, the world is his world, he doesn't care, what do you and I care about?" We can't kill the country, and we can't shorten it! Maybe he suffered this loss, but he can still be sensible? If this is the case, it is better to suffer sooner rather than later. ”

Xu Xun also has nothing to say, this can't be that, do you want to abolish the emperor? - This is not at all. She sighed, "I'd rather he suffer elsewhere, how can such a big thing be willful?" ”

"He's going to show you willful, what can you do?" The Queen Mother said coldly, "The outer court clamped us down, and we were clamped to death, and at this time there was no way, you and I couldn't even fight the outer court, and you still wanted to control him?" ”

She smiled, "I want to see how far he can go!" ”

It turned out to be really a fuss - how could it not be a fuss? After the year of the tribute, Wang Zhen reduced the reward to less than 20% of the previous year, and the silver money rewarded according to the head was exempted, and more than 2,000 Vara envoys immediately blew up the pot, and the commotion was escorted all the way back to the border.

However, the emperor is not stupid after all, judging from his reaction, he should have expected a backlash from Warat, and he also thought of countermeasures.

He decided to take the lead himself.

The author has something to say: this morning!