The Imperial Palace, above the Golden Luan Palace.

Emperor Daoyuan Ning asked: "Yesterday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs handed over an excerpt, saying that the Ministry of Household deliberately withheld the second wave of budget funds for the first birthday ceremony of King Qian, Yu Aiqing, can there be such a thing?" ”

As soon as Ning's words came out, there was a lot of discussion in the hall.

How important King Qianwang is in the dynasty, even the common people know it, let alone the court?

It can be said that Da Chu has never had a prince's first birthday ceremony as grand as King Qian, and since the beginning of spring, the biggest thing in the imperial court is probably to prepare for the first birthday ceremony of His Royal Highness King Qian.

The household department even dares to deduct this silver?

Yu Shuyang, the head of the household department, said: "Back to Your Majesty, it is true. ”

When Ning heard this, he first glanced at several ministers in the ranks of Wenchen, and then said, "Why is this?" At the end of last year, when the imperial court made a budget, it was not agreed that for the first birthday ceremony of King Qian, 1 million taels of silver would be transferred from the treasury to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in two installments......"

Yu Shuyang said loudly: "Your Majesty, the plan can't catch up with the changes, the territory of Great Chu is vast, the people are more than 10,000, and there are too many places where the imperial court uses silver."

The two generations of emperors died the year before last, and how much silver was spent on building the Huangling Tomb and holding a national funeral? As a result, the income of last year has been reduced by nearly half before it has been included in the budget.

As a result, this year's budget is already insufficient.

Your Majesty, the treasury has been in deficit for two years in a row!

Even if this is the case, no matter how short the court is of silver, the household department will not dare to seize the silver used for the first birthday ceremony of His Royal Highness King Qian.

However, before the beginning of summer this year, the news of the major drought has been frequently reported in several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, and seeing that this year is another disaster year, if the imperial court has no silver available, what should it do?

Regarding the first birthday ceremony of His Royal Highness King Qian, the minister also thought that it should be done in a big way, but the minister always felt that the cabinet lords were on the left side in this matter, and the budget for the first birthday ceremony was too high, so that it was suspected of wasting national strength!

You must know that even His Majesty's enthronement ceremony back then cost only 1.2 million yuan in silver. And for His Royal Highness King Qian's first birthday ceremony, the budget alone is two million, and half of it will be borne by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Households......"

Hearing this, Ning was also a little bitter. Yes, the succession ceremony of his dignified emperor is not as expensive as his imperial brother's first birthday ceremony. I'm afraid that in the eyes of my father, Taifu and others, I am only temporarily in charge of this country for the emperor's younger brother, and when he grows up, I will naturally return it to him......

Yu Shuyang continued: "Of course, Your Majesty and the elders of the cabinet have other plans, and the ministers have nothing to say, but on the occasion of the country's use of silver, Weichen has the courage to implore Your Majesty to plan for the country and the people of the world, slightly reduce the use of one or two kings' first birthday ceremonies, and leave more silver for the imperial court for necessary purposes!" ”

When Yu Shuyang finished, he was already kneeling on the ground with a wat board in his hand, and his voice was earnest.

His meaning is very clear, that is, to ask the imperial court to reduce the budget of the first birthday ceremony of the king of Qian.

The court fell silent for a while, and many ministers were impressed by Yu Shuyang's statement. Yes, is a child's first birthday really that important?

If there is a major natural disaster this year, and the court has no money, wouldn't something big happen?

But there are also courtiers who secretly sweat for Yu Shuyang, since the birth of King Qian, he is almost a taboo of the government and the opposition, and no one can violate it.

Just from the Empress Dowager's hand, the emperor's will on His Royal Highness King Qianwang can be seen the importance of King Qian.

If it is a turbulent era, all the ministers must wonder if the queen mother is the demon queen, and she secretly fabricated the will of the first emperor with the intention of causing chaos to the court.

But soon the actions of the four auxiliary ministers of the cabinet proved that those were really the will of the first emperor!

Moreover, without exception, several pavilion elders treat His Royal Highness King Qianwang like an old hen protecting a chick, and all the officials in the court are human spirits, so they naturally know that in fact, His Royal Highness King Qianwang is the real favorite successor of the first emperor......

Among them, there are too many guessing insiders.

It's a pity that only a few people know the reason for this.

Yu Shuyang is a practical scholar, he just does what he thinks is right.

Ning looked at the four elders, they all frowned slightly, but they didn't speak.

He looked at Jia Qing and Wang Ziteng and other "mother's families" of the Qianwang in the ranks of military attachés, Wang Ziteng and Li Zhen and others had similar expressions, Jia Qing looked like an old god, and it seemed that what Yu Shuyang said had nothing to do with him at all.

Rather feel embarrassed.

On the one hand, he felt that what Yu Shuyang said was right, but on the other hand, he didn't dare to agree on his own......

There was silence for a moment.

The right attendant of the household department came out and said: "Weichen thinks that Lord Yu is reasonable, the imperial court is the center of a country, and it should be left with enough silver for emergencies." Moreover, regarding the first birthday ceremony of His Royal Highness King Qian, the household department has allocated 300,000 taels, plus 1 million taels from the Internal Affairs Office, it is already as high as 1.3 million taels, which is enough to hold a ceremony for His Royal Highness King Qianwang. ”

What he meant was that the remaining 700,000 taels would not have to be given.

King Qian's first birthday ceremony, because it is an internal matter of the royal family, it is also justified that the money is issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it is also drawn from the treasury to relieve the financial pressure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

When the Ministry of Rites Shangshu heard it, he didn't agree, and immediately said: "What you said is easy, now that the regulations have been laid out, silver is needed everywhere, and if you don't give it, you won't give it, and when the time comes, who can afford this responsibility?" ”

The Tobe waiter said: "What do you mean by not giving if you don't give? This is for the sake of the country's overall plan, in case there is a large number of victims this year like the eleventh year of Zhengqing, and the imperial court has no money to use, who can afford this responsibility? It's just a stopgap measure.

Besides, more than a million silver is not enough? As long as Lord Qian and his colleagues in the Ministry of Rites are a little more frugal, and the silver that should not be used is not used, this ceremony can be done in the same beautiful way, so that the two are not delayed, and Lord Qian can't think about the sake of the court? ”

Qian Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites was almost angry, the other party's words clearly meant that their Ministry of Rites was extravagant and wasteful, and he replied coldly: "What you said is light, your household department will cut off 700,000 taels at once if you cry poor, and when you go back to the Internal Affairs Office, you will cry poor again, and cut off hundreds of thousands, I don't think there is any need to do this ceremony!" ”

In the ranks of military attachés, Jia Qing, who was at the top, smiled slightly when he heard this, and it was quite interesting for these ministers to quarrel. If you want to treat Da Chu as a family, then the court is the housekeeper, and if you really want to talk about it in detail, the so-called national affairs are actually not substantially different from the shortcomings of the parents.

But it's all "oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea" and the like.

After a few rounds of mutual scolding between the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households, Li Zhen finally stood up and spoke:

"Okay, His Royal Highness King Qianwang is the prince of the country, and there is nothing wrong about King Qian's first birthday. Lord Yu, the remaining 700,000 taels need to be handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as soon as possible. The Ministry of Rites shall not deliberately reduce the regulations, let alone embezzle ink from them, otherwise, all of them will be punished according to national law......"

Although Li Zhen is over seventy years old and his voice is very old, his words are authoritative at this time, even more authoritative than Ning.

"Taifu!! Hubu ......" Yu Shuyang was still kneeling on the ground, looking up at Li Zhen in confusion, and still talking.

Li Zhen interrupted him and said, "Okay, regarding the lack of silver in the treasury, we will discuss and solve it as the primary issue of the imperial court." At present, the first thing is to hold the first birthday ceremony of His Royal Highness King Qian, which is a fundamental event of the country, and you must not be perfunctory! ”

Yu Shuyang was still a little unconvinced, and looked at Ning above.

Ning glanced at the big guys at the top below, and saw that they were all meaningless, obviously they had the same opinion on this matter, so he had to say: "Taifu is reasonable, King Qianwang is the prince of the country, and he can't be careless, so he will do what Taifu says." ”

"Yes, Wechen obeys!" Yu Shuyang trembled and got up, feeling a little disheartened for a while.

Before, he felt that the imperial court attached too much importance to King Qian, how could he use two million taels of silver to hold a first birthday celebration for a prince? However, the bigwigs in the first and second columns of the court unanimously decided to pass it, and although he was dissatisfied, he had to endure it.

But now the drought in several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River is a fact, and it is not a deliberate fabrication by him, he feels that at this time, the princes of the court should be sober and should stand up to support his proposal.

But just now, except for his own subordinates, there is no one who stands up and supports him in the court!

Isn't this chilling?