Xiang Hongxuan sat in the front hall of the Feiyu Palace, and he looked at Cao Mo, the head of the household, kneeling tremblingly in front of him, holding a piece of the treasury deficit in his hand, and he was immediately angry. Cao Mo told him at length that there was a lack of east and west, and there was no war in Dongyu for ten years, and the country and the people were safe and smooth, not to mention that they were rich, but they were not so poor that they didn't even have the money to prepare for war.

Xiang Hongxuan glanced at Wang An, the right minister, Wang An looked calm, and leisurely drank the tea in his hand, it was obvious that Cao Mo had obtained the will of the Queen Mother, and he was crying with him here? Feeling his mother, he still doesn't want him to fight such a battle with Xihuaguo.

"Cao Shangshu, you have been talking to me here for half an hour, just to tell me that the treasury is out of money, what is the use of you telling me when you have no money, I support you ministers, not to eat dry food, and the food of the king bears the worries of the king, you are a household Shangshu who can't manage the treasury, then you let the virtuous give it to others, and see how people manage this treasury."

Xiang Hongxuan reprimanded Cao Mo is face, Cao Mo's face couldn't see anywhere, he was really aggrieved by the Hubu Shangshu, Dongyu and Xihua went to war, and it had nothing to do with him as a Hubu Shangshu, but as a result, his two lords, one had to fight, and the other was not allowed to fight, and the Hubu who contributed military expenses became the battlefield of the wrestling between the mother and son, and he also became cannon fodder.

"Your Majesty, the old minister is guilty," Cao Mocheng kowtowed to Xiang Hongxuan in fear, and then he said slowly: "Your Majesty, Xihuabian Town has been stationed for more than half a year, and the food and grass for the soldiers and the winter clothes that are about to survive the winter every month are indeed huge, and the treasury is also very tight. ”

"Your Majesty, what Cao Shangshu said is not unreasonable, since ancient times, fighting a war is to burn silver, but there is no war to fight the soldiers, and this military expenditure is not necessarily much less, and now there is no war on the border of Xihua, if it has been like this endlessly, it is normal for the treasury to be unbearable." Wang An walked up to Cao Mo's side and said quietly.

Wang An glanced at Li Kun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites behind him, and Li Kun immediately walked in front of Xiang Hongxuan and said: "Your Majesty, Xihua has sent a letter of state, and Emperor Kangqing of Xihua is willing to send the princess and the pro-Dongyu Kingdom to form a good relationship between the two countries in order to open up border trade." ”

"Your Majesty, since Xihua has the sincerity to marry a princess to our Dongyu Kingdom, if the two countries have a good relationship between Qin and Jin, why bother to fight and waste money and money?" Wang An said proudly, he didn't believe it, Xihua had retreated, Xiang Hongxuan had to fight such a battle, as long as the troops in Xihua were withdrawn, the military power on the border would return to Liu Sheng's hands.

Xiang Hongxuan sneered, he raised his eyebrows and looked at Ye Zhiyuan, the secretary of the military department, and asked, "Ye Shangshu, Emperor Kangqing of Xihua has retired from the border town, why didn't you report it to me?" ”

Ye Zhiyuan immediately walked in front of Xiang Hongxuan, knelt on the ground, and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, the military report sent by the Xihua military camp yesterday said that Xihua is still stationing troops in the six towns on the border, and there is no sign of retreat. ”

"Emperor Kangqing of Xihua is really interesting, while marrying his daughter to me in a hurry, and not retiring from the border town, why do I think Xihuaguo's sincerity is not much?" Xiang Hongxuan said lightly, and he also looked at Wang An from time to time.

Wang An has long known that Xihua has not withdrawn from the army, but Emperor Kangqing does not really want to fight, he just wants to open border trade to Hongxuan, Emperor Kangqing sent his beautiful daughter into Xiang Hongxuan's harem with one hand, and made hole cards at the border with force in the other, to put it bluntly, that is, Emperor Kangqing is impatient, if Xiang Hongxuan still does not agree to open border trade, this war is afraid of breaking out.

"Your Majesty, what Xihua is asking for is just for the border trade between the two countries, this is also a good thing for Dongyu Kingdom, the Queen Mother closed the border trade with Xihua, but also because Your Majesty ascended the throne at a young age, afraid of Xihua Kingdom, now Your Majesty has been pro-government, Dongyu Kingdom is also stable and rich, and opening trade with Xihua Kingdom can avoid a big war, which is very cost-effective. Moreover, Emperor Kangqing also sent Princess Xihua, which can be regarded as giving enough face to Dongyu Kingdom, Your Majesty can't just go his own way and provoke a war between the two countries. Wang An said slowly.

Xiang Hongxuan frowned, this matter is really not easy to do, he is not afraid of fighting, he has been stationed for so long, and he is just waiting for a battle with Xihua and beating Emperor Kangqing to death, so that he can free up his hands to clean up Nanxi Kingdom. But after all, Emperor Kangqing wants to send a princess to Dongyu Kingdom, just like Wang An said, it can be regarded as a sincere handshake with Dongyu Kingdom, if Xiang Hongxuan still wants to fight such a battle with Emperor Kangqing, he is unknown, this battle will not be easy to fight, maybe Beirong will come to join in the fun, if this war is so long, then it will really have to smash the pot and sell iron to finish this war.

"Teacher, what do you think?" Xiang Hongxuan gave Yan Qing a deep look of help, he didn't want to withdraw troops from Xihua, but he didn't want to bear the notoriety of provoking a war, he hoped that Yan Qing would give him a good idea.

"Your Majesty, the right minister is right, since Emperor Kangqing of Xihua has shown favor to His Majesty, His Majesty simply agreed to Emperor Kangqing's request, but Your Majesty does not need to open all border trade, only open a few towns, so that you can not only show Your Majesty's sincerity to Xihua, but also observe the movements of Xihua, after all, Xihua has troops on the border, in case Dongyu State agrees to border trade and retreats, Xihua sneak attacks our Dongyu Kingdom, we can be passive, Your Majesty can continue to garrison troops in case of changes on the border." Yan Qing said slowly.

To be honest, Yan Qing's proposal is really good, it is impossible for Xiang Hongxuan to agree to the withdrawal of troops from the border, once the troops are withdrawn, Liu Sheng will regain control of the military power on the Xihua border, not to mention, Emperor Kangqing will also take control of the Dongyu State, and if he wants to move troops against Nanxi in the future, the Xihua Kingdom will become a hidden danger. Although Yan Qing's method could not achieve the effect he wanted, that is, to fight with Xihuaguo, it was indeed a way to get the best of both worlds.

"What Dr. Yan said is not unreasonable, but the troops also consume a lot of silver from the treasury, and the burden is too heavy for the Dongyu Kingdom, as long as Your Majesty agrees to open the Xihua border, it is estimated that Emperor Kangqing will withdraw the troops, and Your Majesty can withdraw the troops first to show the sincerity of the Dongyu Kingdom." Wang An became uneasy and immediately retorted.

"What if you don't retreat? The Xihua army has not yet hit the land of Dongyu, so the courtiers of Dongyu are scared like this, what Xihua wants in the future, just station troops directly on the border, or marry a few more daughters, Dongyu can give anything to Xihua, and Dongyu will simply pay tribute to Xihua in the future. Xiang Hongxuan said angrily.

Wang An saw Xiang Hongxuan's anger, and immediately knelt on the ground, Yan Qing also followed Wang An and knelt in front of Xiang Hongxuan, Xiang Hongxuan looked at the courtiers kneeling on the ground in front of him, he sneered, "Isn't there anyone to solve the problem for me?" What are you doing kneeling here? It's like I'm abusing you here. ”

"Your Majesty, the cost of garrisoning is indeed huge, and the minister has a suggestion, it is better to let the soldiers of Xihua border town guard Xihua country while cultivating grain in the border town. The land on the Xihua border is fertile, and if it were not for the fact that it is located on the border and is often war-torn, it is a good place for farming, and as long as it is properly cultivated, the grain and grass of the army in the border towns should not be a problem. Ye Zhiyuan said.

Xiang Hongxuan's face leaked a smile again, sure enough, there was a son in the border town, Ye Zhiyuan, who was eager to make meritorious contributions on the battlefield, was different from Wang An, Wang An wished that there was no war on the border, his precious son hurriedly returned to the former dynasty from the border gilded to enter the court as an official, but Ye Zhiyuan was different, Ye Muzhi was a concubine, and if he wanted to enter the former dynasty, he could only make meritorious contributions on the battlefield, Ye Zhiyuan really racked his brains in order to let his son have no worries.

Although Ye Zhiyuan's method cannot completely make the border defenders self-sufficient, it can also save a lot of expenses, so that the pressure on the household department will be much less, and Cao Mo will no longer be able to cry poverty with himself. Ye Zhiyuan was able to come up with this method of raising soldiers by war, which made him a veritable secretary of the military department.

"Ye Shangshu's method is good, go back to the military department and come up with a plan, let the teacher see, if there is no problem, just do it." Xiang Hongxuan said with satisfaction.

"Your Majesty, what about Xihua's request to open up border trade?" Wang An asked.

"Emperor Kangqing has sent Princess Xihua, I have to give this face, just follow what the teacher said, open up the trade of the three Xihua border towns."

"Then after Princess Xihua enters the palace, how does His Majesty plan to settle it?" Wang An asked tentatively again.

Wang An was a little more uneasy, originally he planned to use Emperor Kangqing's peace affair to dispel Xiang Hongxuan's idea of starting a war with Xihua, but unfortunately now the princess is married, and the troops are still there, so it is unlikely that Xiang Hongxuan will retire. But he heard that this Princess Xihua is a peerless beauty, he only entered the palace for a long time, and she has not been favored for a few days, if Princess Xihua enters the palace and the grace and title are higher than her daughter, in the future, on the road to Wang Shuyue's succession, there will be another strong opponent, he is lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot, and Wang An is annoyed.

The corners of Xiang Hongxuan's mouth rose slightly, and sure enough, his uncle still cared about Wang Shuyue's favor in the harem, and Wang's relatives still did not give up the idea of winning the throne. Now Xiang Hongxuan still needs Liu Sheng to fight for himself at the border, and he can't chill the hearts of Wang's relatives.

"It stands to reason that Xihua and Dongyu are harmonious, I should give Princess Xihua the title of concubine, but Dongyu's harem has always been that only the palace concubines who have children can be promoted to the concubine position, so let's seal Princess Xihua as Mrs. Hua and give her a residence in Xiyan Palace. Li Shangshu's marriage to Mrs. Hua, you must do it decently and grandly, and you can't lose the face of Dongyu Kingdom. ”