Lu Zhen was about to bow down to the courtesy of the monarch and minister, but was stopped by Zhu Qiyu with one hand, only to hear him say softly: "Shansi, I am here as your friend today, so these courtesies will be waived." ”

If another official heard the emperor say this, he would inevitably be even more frightened. Because they have been educated since childhood to adulthood, they are all kings and ministers, and the way of superiority and humility cannot accept such unethical statements under any circumstances. Fortunately, Lu Zhen was different from ordinary people, although he was stunned for a moment, he still stood firm, and then looked at the emperor opposite with a puzzled gaze: "I don't know what Your Majesty commands?" ”

"Come, you and I will sit down and talk first." Zhu Qiyu smiled and said with some anti-customer.

Lu Zhen had no choice but to obey, but instead of sitting in his own position on the top side, he sat in the guest seat. The emperor sat down on the main seat very easily, and then sighed: "I really don't have an idea, so I took the liberty to come out of the palace to see you, I hope you don't let me down." ”

After sitting down, Lu Jin's mind finally recovered from the short circuit that suddenly saw the arrival of the Son of Heaven just now, and he guessed his intention today. After a slight hesitation, he asked, "Your Majesty is here for the emperor's business?" ”

"Yes, you were also present during the court meeting two days ago, this fact is embarrassing, I don't know what you think about this?" Zhu Qiyu didn't go around in circles, and directly threw out the problem. This matter has been bothering him for several days, and today he is looking for Lu Zhen to solve the problem, so he answered it happily.

Looking at the emperor's somewhat sad face, Lu Zhen also sighed: "The minister also knows that this matter is really difficult to do, after all, the court really can't come up with too much silver now." ”

"Yes......" The emperor nodded thoughtfully, but Lu Jin's subsequent words made him stunned: "Moreover, the minister thinks that even if our treasury is full, this silver should not be handed over to the Tartars." ”

"Huh?" Zhu Qiyu really didn't expect him to say such a sentence, and was stunned for a moment.

In fact, there are some things that Lu Zhen doesn't want to say directly, after all, the affairs of the heavenly family are not something that he can do at will as a courtier. However, since the emperor has come to seek his help as a friend, some concerns can only be put aside for the first time. After a little silence, he said: "Your Majesty, the minister has a few heartfelt words, and I dare not say that I know it with the king, so I can only say it to my friends......"

When Zhu Qiyu heard this, his heart moved: "I, no, I just said that there are no monarchs and ministers here today, only friends." If you have an idea, you might as well say it. Maybe it will help me. ”

Lu Zhen saw that he was so upright, and his heart was also relieved, so he said in a low voice: "If it was a few months ago, the emperor fell into the hands of the Tartars, which would indeed have a great impact on my Ming Dynasty, but now it is different, I have a British son in the court, and everything is back on track, even if the Tartars do anything about him, it will be difficult to pose any threat to us." But if the imperial court gives a huge amount of silver taels to the Tartars at this time in exchange for returning to the emperor, it will inevitably increase their arrogance, and at the same time, it will also make the people of the world remember everything again, which is not a good thing for anyone.

"What's more, even if the Tartars receive the money, they may not really return the emperor to us as agreed. If they feel that through the emperor, they can take more benefits from the hands of our Ming court, as soon as this wind opens, it will only bring a heavier burden to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in my opinion, we must not make concessions on this matter. Even if they only extort three taels of silver, they can't obey! ”

"This ......" The emperor really didn't expect Lu Jin's attitude to be so resolute, no wonder he didn't open his mouth that day. If he really said what he thought, let alone those officials, he was the emperor, and he could only refute him because of the situation.

But now, from a rational point of view, Lu Jin's words are the most beneficial to Daming, although it seems a little cold to say so.

Lu Zhen saw that his expression showed a sense of agreement, and his heart was even more determined, and continued: "And in my opinion, in fact, the Tartar at this time also feels that the emperor is only a hot potato, and he can't wait to send him back to my Daming as soon as possible." So as long as we are resolute enough, they will definitely give in in the end. ”

"What do you mean by that?" When Zhu Qiyu heard that there was such a good thing, he hurriedly asked.

"After all, the identity of the emperor is there, and the Tartars have recently been defeated by my Da Ming, and they will never dare to be rude to him. And the emperor is with them, and he may also give me a chance to crusade against them in the name of the Ming Dynasty, so for the Tartar, letting him back early is also a move that will benefit and harmless. ”

"Well, listening to you say that, but there is some truth to it." After pondering, the emperor couldn't help but nod his head.

Lu Zhen smiled: "So in this matter, as long as we can calm down, we are bound to win the party." As for the Tartars, whether it is threats or blackmail, it has nothing to do with the overall situation. Of course, in this matter, Your Majesty may be misunderstood......"

Tianzi, who had felt a lot more relaxed and smiled, was suddenly nervous again, and of course he attached great importance to his reputation. It would not be good if it was rumored that he had the intention of killing his brother at the hands of others.

Lu Zhen saw his concerns at once, and said, "Actually, I also have an idea in this matter. If there were officials at this time who impeached the emperor for insisting on going his own way and exhausting hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of courtiers, perhaps the subjects of the world would not be too harsh on His Majesty. ”

"What do you mean......" The Emperor felt his heart move again, and his expression was thoughtful.

He is also a smart person, Lu Zhen only ordered such a sentence, and he quickly came back to his senses. As long as someone is held accountable for the defeat of Tumubao, Zhu Qizhen will inevitably bear a lot of charges. In this way, what happened to him now is completely self-inflicted. At this time, if any more courtiers stand up and say that they want the court to pay a huge amount of money to rescue people, it will inevitably attract the dissatisfaction and obstruction of relevant people, so that the Son of Heaven will naturally be able to withdraw from it.

"Moreover, this has another benefit for Your Majesty, with this saying, even if the Emperor really returns, it will not pose much of a threat to Your Majesty." In order to appease the other party's heart, Lu Zhen can be regarded as letting go this time.

After hearing this, Zhu Qiyu's face changed even more, his eyes drooped, and he didn't speak for a long time.

In fact, he also hid this concern in his heart, if his imperial brother really came back from the Northland, how should he face it, and how should he decide? Give him back the throne that belongs to him? This is obviously impossible, no matter how good their brotherly relationship is, in front of the first noble person in the world, it is not worth mentioning.

Not to mention that they are just brothers, even if they are close father and son, in front of the throne, this family relationship seems a little vulnerable. You don't see all dynasties, how many people have turned against each other for this position, and brothers killed each other.

The situation that is most similar to Zhu Qiyu's situation today is Zhao Gou, Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty. It was also because of the national disaster that he was lucky to inherit the throne. And how did he do it? In the case that his general Yue Fei repeatedly shouted the slogan of the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains and welcomed back the second emperor of Huiqin, Zhao Gou, who was a son of man, was constantly hindered in the rear, and finally issued twelve gold medals in a row, borrowing the hand of Qin Hui to kill Yue Fei in the Fengbo Pavilion.

Perhaps there were many reasons why Song Gaozong killed Yue Fei, but this point was obviously extremely important. Because Zhao Gou was worried that once the Yue family army really regained his father and brother from the hands of the Jin people as shouted in the slogan, he would not be able to protect the throne, so he simply killed him and never had trouble!

Now, a similar choice is also placed in front of Zhu Qiyu, what choice will he make?

After being silent for a long time, Zhu Qiyu raised his head, glanced at Lu Zhen deeply, and said, "I know how to choose, everything should be based on my Daming country." ”

This is a very stylized statement, which doesn't seem to explain anything, but Lu Zhen heard the meaning from it, so while looking back at the other party, he said: "This is my great fortune." ”

"Even so, it is inconvenient for me to stay ......for a long time" got the answer he wanted, and Lu Zhen had already vaguely proposed that he would impeach Zhu Qizhen by envoys to the officials of the DPRK and China, and the emperor was completely relieved and prepared to leave.

But at this moment, Lu Zhen spoke again: "Your Majesty, the minister still has an important matter to play." ”

"Huh? You said. Although he felt a little strange, why didn't the other party go to the public or play directly, but to pick and raise it at this time, the emperor still nodded approving it.

"Forgiveness has the courage to say, now I seem to be peaceful in the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, there are hidden dangers everywhere. In particular, the treasury is empty, and if it cannot be replenished in time, I am afraid that it will cause great trouble. Not to mention anything else, as long as there is some famine this year or next year, the little money and food in the treasury will not be enough for disaster relief. Lu Jin's expression was solemn.

In fact, Zhu Qiyu, as the emperor, has been worried about this for a long time, and many officials in the DPRK have mentioned it in the court. It's just that they just ask questions, but they never come up with any solutions. After all, trying to refill the treasury is not something that can be done overnight, and no one can do it.

Zhu Qiyu frowned at Lu Zhen a little strangely, and really didn't understand why he said this. After a while, I thought of something: "Do you have a good way to solve this problem?" ”

"The minister does have a solution to the current problem, but there is also a difficulty."

"Come quickly, as long as you can solve this problem for the imperial court, it will be a great achievement." Zhu Qiyu hurriedly said. This question bothered him no less than whether the imperial brother had returned.

"Please also ask Your Majesty to forgive the sins of the ministers first, so that the ministers dare to speak." Lu Zhen still hung on to the other party's appetite.

"I forgive you for your innocence, and tell me quickly."

"The minister thinks that if you want to fill the treasury, the fastest way is to open the sea for trade!" Lu Zhen finally slowly expressed his opinion!