Why did Prime Minister Xie help An Guogong?! Except for An Guogong, who knew everything in his heart, everyone else, including the emperor, was actually a little confused. Especially Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Works, who is actively helping Sun Shangshu of the household department to quarrel, he is not only confused, it is simply a pot from heaven!

Whether An Guogong asks for more troops or asks for the repair of city defenses, it is a matter of spending money, and it is good to spend money to find the household department! What's the matter with their Ministry of Engineering?! Let him transfer the materials of the people, then can they still do the work of the Ministry of Industry?! It's September, and the river hasn't been repaired yet, and the remaining silver from their Ministry of Engineering has to be kept to continue to repair the river, and it has to be completed before the end of the year!

It is true that repairing the city defense in the north is a big deal, but dredging in the south is also a big deal! Can't just because the wind and rain are good this year and the floods are not serious, so the river will not be opened and the embankment will not be repaired, right?

After this year, there will be next year! The embankments of several major rivers in the south need to be inspected and strengthened every year, and the rivers need to be dredged every year.

If you don't transfer materials from the south, can you transfer them from Beijing? But now it's early September, the Jingzhong project has been completed, the silver has been spent, and the materials have been used. Could it be that some of the remaining gold dust and gold paint from the Chongde Hall were transferred to the north to paint the walls?

What the hell does Xie Xiang think...... Wang Shangshu looked at Prime Minister Xie in confusion. Is this planning to drain the money of his Ministry of Labor? But no! There are still four months to go before the Chinese New Year, and the Ministry of Industry has been wiped out, so there is no emergency in case of something.

Wang Shangshu reacted quickly, and he couldn't think carefully about what Xie Xiang thought at the moment, but Xie Xiang was in charge of the Ministry of Industry and the Criminal Department, and Wang Shangshu knew that in this case, he couldn't jump out against Xie Xiang no matter what.

But what...... Let him, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, dig out his family's background to do the affairs of the Ministry of War, he must not agree, his own Ministry of Industry does not have enough money to spend, why should he fill the mouth of the Ministry of War.

Therefore, Wang Shangshu decisively turned his heels, stood directly beside Zhou Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and began to stretch out his hand with Zhou Shangshu: "Sun Shangshu, An Guogong's performance is very important, and it cannot be taken lightly, but even if the family foundation of our Ministry of Industry is wiped out, it will not be able to repair the city defense of the thirteen states and one state in the north, and the household department can't look at it!" ”

Xie Xiang ran away, and the Ministry of Industry Shangshu followed suit, and the Ministry of Justice, Shangshu and the Ministry of Rites, who had been standing silently for a long time, glanced at each other, and stood next to Zhou Shangshu of the Ministry of War.

The six Shangshu are two to four, and the three prime ministers are two to one, even if Prime Minister Lin is the first assistant, he has to come up with a clear attitude now.

Lin Xiang glanced at Scholar Gu, who was cautious and refused to stand in line at will, and then looked at Xie Xiang and Li Xiang, who had a clear attitude, and quickly made a decision.

He agreed to allocate funds from the Ministry of Household Affairs to strengthen the city defenses of Yanzhou, Shuozhou, and Youzhou first.

Lin Xiang's words are quite technical, he agreed to allocate funds now to repair the city defense of the three state capitals, one is because of the thirteen states in the north, these three state capitals are in the relative front line position, and the other is because Shuozhou and Yanzhou are both the Mu family is seated, General Mu Si's Shuobei General's Mansion is in Shuozhou, and Mu Jingluo's envoy is stationed in Yanzhou, and General Mu San is stationed in the adjacent Zhenbei Army Camp in Youzhou, this suggestion is quite a bit of appeasement to An Guogong.

In addition, Lin Xiang specially explained that after reading the recital of An Guogong and Mu Jinglue, he thought that Mu Jinglue had a proper analysis of the situation in the north and that his request for increasing troops was reasonable, but he believed that it was also a fact that the wind and rain were smooth this year, and even if Rong Di attacked, it would not be in this year or next year, so the increase in troops was not urgent and could be postponed.

Lin Xiang proposed that it was already autumn now, and the autumn harvest was being carried out in various places, and at this time the edict of recruiting troops was afraid that the people would be uneasy, so he proposed that the increase in troops in the north be postponed, at least after the New Year.

The third suggestion put forward by Lin Xiang was that the reinforcement of the city defense in the remaining 10 prefectures, including Pingzhou and Ningzhou, in the 13 northern prefectures should be suspended, and after the tax revenue of the next year was collected, the military department would report the budget and the household department would make a unified accounting.

He very earnestly stated to the emperor the difficulties of the household department, and he also expressed it very delicately about the city defense funds of the other ten states, only saying that "the military department will report the budget for the next year, and the household department will account for it", and did not say anything about the appropriation, leaving room for the household department.

Lin Xiang also explained that he believed that the three prefectures of Shuozhou, Yanzhou and Youzhou had overhauled their city defenses, and that these three prefectures were guarded by the famous General Mu in the north, which had a deterrent effect on Rong Di and made them not easy to attack.

Lin Xiang's proposals, considering the opinions of all aspects, sounded quite feasible, and no one could find fault with them. It is a fact that the household department can't come up with so much silver, but people don't say that they oppose the increase of troops, and they don't say that they won't repair the city defenses, so for a while, even the military faction led by An Guogong can't pick it out.

The emperor sitting on the throne thought about it and felt that Lin Xiang's suggestion was quite reasonable, and after asking the opinions of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, he quickly decided that in accordance with Lin Xiang's proposal, the household department would allocate funds to strengthen the city defenses of Yanzhou, Shuozhou and Youzhou first, and the rest would be talked about next year.

For this result, although An Guogong was disappointed, he also knew that the emperor had made a decree, whether it was to increase the number of troops or the city defense of the remaining ten states in the north, there would be no play before the Chinese New Year, but fortunately, Yanzhou, Shuozhou and Youzhou could immediately start to strengthen the city defense fortifications, and it was not all fruitless.

An Guogong thought about it and felt that this result was not unacceptable. For the time being, the defense of the city of Sanzhou will be repaired first, and the rest will continue to work hard after the New Year. Speaking of which, it is fortunate that Xie Xiang and Li Xiangken support it, Li Xiang, who is in charge of the military department, is just that, the northern border is unstable, and the military department cannot get out of it, especially Xie Xiang, who is in charge of the Ministry of Industry, I didn't expect him to be willing to compromise.

When he went down to the court, An Guogong left alone as usual and did not go with other courtiers, but when he left the Chongde Palace, he deliberately waited at the gate of the main hall, and when he saw Li Xiang and Xie Xiang coming out, he arched his hand at them to show his gratitude.

Scholar Gu, who was at the end, saw An Guogong, who bowed his hand to Li Xiang and Xie Xiang, lowered his eyelids and said nothing, and went directly out of the palace and went home in a small sedan chair.

After Gu Zhengze went home, he went directly into the back house, and Mrs. Gu was a little strange. Gu Zhengze generally doesn't go home so early, even if the emperor doesn't need a bachelor to accompany the imperial study on a day, Gu Zhengze will not go directly into the inner house like this if he returns early.

Generally, if Gu Zhengze has time to go home early, he will change into civilian clothes in the outer study to pass the meal, and then either welcome guests, or discuss with the guests in the study, and rarely enter the inner house so early.

It's a strange day...... Mrs. Gu looked at the old man with a serious face and thought silently. Is there something going on?? Doesn't look like he's in a good mood......