Emperor Qianwu saw that everyone was silent for a long time, his face was slightly gloomy, and he said coldly: "Now that the situation is critical, do you have a good plan?" ”

The eldest prince, Li Chengye, knew that Emperor Qianwu had a resolute personality and would not allow the barbarians to invade, so he said with great righteousness: "Father, the barbarians dare to harass my Daqian, we should fight against them at all costs, and only by beating them once can we ensure the stability of our Daqian!" ”

As soon as the words fell, Li Ji, who was eager to perform, immediately stood up and retorted mercilessly: "Horseman's opinion! It is not enough to fight a war with a single blood, and a large amount of grain, grass and armaments are also needed. ”

Li Chengye angrily reprimanded: "You are talking about the destruction of the country, can I just let the barbarian invasion and ignore it?" There is not enough grain and grass to raise armaments, but if the delta is lost, then the morale of the army will be lost. ”

Li Ji did not back down at all, and retorted: "It's just whimsical, but the eldest brother is talking about how to raise grain and grass armaments?" Will it increase the tax burden? Now that my people are recuperating, can we increase the tax burden at this time? ”

Li Chengye was furious: "Last time the Shangzhou flood, you said that you would increase the tax burden, why did you change your mind now?" ”

Li Ji sneered and said: "I call it a great way to improve by knowing mistakes, didn't you say last time that you can't increase the tax burden?" Why have you changed your mind now? ”

Seeing that the two were arguing-for-tat, Emperor Qianwu's face sank, and he said coldly: "Shut up!" What kind of system does it become? ”

Li Chengye and Li Ji glanced at each other unconvinced and stopped talking.

Emperor Qianwu looked at Chen Dingyuan, the head of the household department: "Chen Aiqing, now the treasury may support a national war?" ”

Chen Dingyuan shook his head with a bitter face and said: "Your Majesty, a few days ago, because of the sale of welfare lottery tickets, the danger of the emptiness of the treasury has been alleviated, and so far there are 80,000 taels of silver, plus the silver obtained from the seizure of the gambling house in the capital and the silver obtained by the assets of the second prince Li Shou, a total of more than 800,000 taels, which seems to be a lot, but once the war starts, it will inevitably cause serious losses, and it will not be able to fight a national war at all!"

Now that the summer grain harvest has plummeted, the autumn tax will have to wait at least a month before it can be collected one after another, and the war in southern Xinjiang is imminent, and it can't afford to wait!

Besides, even if it drags on until that day, the autumn tax will be used to fight, what will the country do later? You can't increase the tax burden, right? ”

After saying this, Emperor Qianwu couldn't help frowning, and sighed secretly in his heart.

It was precisely when he thought of these that he couldn't make up his mind in his heart, so he saved the opinions of the courtiers in the court.

If the country is rich and the people are strong, why should he be so aggrieved?

According to his temperament, he had already ordered the army to be requisitioned to kill the barbarians.

For a while, the entire Xuanzheng Hall fell silent again, and everyone frowned, unable to think of any practical way.

In fact, it's not completely impossible, it's just that many people don't want to be the first to bring it up.

It was Li Ji, seeing that everyone was silent, he sneered in his heart, and arched his hand: "Father, the son has a plan, you can retreat the barbarian soldiers!" ”

"Oh?" Emperor Qianwu was surprised, "What way?" ”

Everyone looked at Li Ji.

Some people have already guessed it, and some people are still at a loss.

Li Ji arched his hand and said: "Erchen's plan is very simple, that is, to send relatives to discuss peace!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Emperor Qianwu's face suddenly sank.

The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty also had complicated expressions, helplessness, anger, and even humiliation.

In this regard, Li Ji seems to have expected it.

He took a deep breath, first arched his hand towards Emperor Qianwu, and then arched his hand towards the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military forces, with a look of forbearance and humiliation, his tone was much higher, and he spoke generously: "Father! Pillars of the great cadres! I know it's a shame to do this, but do we have a choice? ”

Speaking of this, Li Ji looked around at the crowd and asked himself: "No!" The current situation of the great cadres is simply not able to fight a national war, and we cannot gamble with the national fortunes of the entire great cadres, and sending relatives to discuss peace is the only choice! ”

Speaking of this, Li Ji showed a sad look, looked at Emperor Qianwu, and his tone suddenly became low.

"Father, no matter which princess is sent to the relatives and the princess, they are all blood relatives of the sons, and the sons are also very heartbroken, but this is the only way at present! Please also ask the Emperor to judge! ”

I have to say that Li Ji's acting skills are still very good, and most of them were moved by him.

Even Emperor Qianwu nodded secretly in his heart, and had to admit that this was the best way at the moment.

Immediately, some ministers made a statement.

"Your Majesty, what His Royal Highness the Sixth Prince said is extremely true, sending relatives to discuss and not abolishing a single soldier can solve the danger of the barbarians!"

"The minister knows that this move will damage the prestige of my great cadres, but the situation is pressing, and he can only endure it for the time being, and he can only take revenge when the national strength is strong!"

"Sending relatives to discuss peace, there is a precedent since ancient times, and you can only grieve Your Majesty's princess!"

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

……

For a while, the court was full of echoing voices.

The eldest prince Li Chengye, after listening to Li Ji's words, went through all the princesses who were currently unmarried in his mind, and a subtle sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He remained silent and did not say anything.

Qianwu's face was expressionless, but his heart was extremely entangled, difficult to decide, and there was a deep powerlessness, anger and a trace of humiliation.

From an emotional point of view, how could he have suffered such a wretched spirit in Emperor Qianwu?

With his temper and his consistent strong style of fighting the world back then, what he wanted most was to raise the strength of the whole country and beat the barbarians so that they did not dare to raise their heads.

But back then, it was the world that was beaten, and it was the world of the previous dynasty, and it didn't matter if it was broken, it was a big deal to rebuild, and no one could blame him.

But now that he is sitting in the world, he can't use the same set of fighting the world, the world that is broken is his own, and the people of the world will be blamed on him if something goes wrong.

Intellectually speaking, sending his relatives to discuss peace is his only choice at present, no matter how unwilling, humiliated, and angry he is!

This is what the ancients said, it is easy to fight the world, but it is difficult to sit in the world.

After a while, Emperor Qianwu sighed secretly in his heart, and finally made this difficult decision.

"I think what the sixth prince Li Ji said is reasonable, which princess do you think is suitable for me?"

Seeing that Emperor Qianwu had made a decision, Li Ji lowered his eyebrows and said no more, sneered in his heart, and pricked up his ears to listen to the courtiers discuss the candidates.

"The old minister thinks that the tenth princess is gentle and virtuous, and she is worthy of this great responsibility!"

"Definitely! Weichen thinks it's inappropriate, the tenth princess is nearly twenty years old, and it may be difficult to please the barbarian king, so she should choose another princess! ”

"The sixteenth princess is young and beautiful, and she is a suitable candidate."

"What's the joke? The sixteenth princess is only thirteen years old, if she is sent to kiss, won't it make the world laugh? ”

"This doesn't work, that doesn't work, who do you say?"

……

After the ministers argued for a while, Li Ji suddenly bowed his hand and said: "Father, the thirteenth princess Li Mingzhu is eighteen years old, she is as beautiful as a flower, and she is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. ”

As soon as these words came out, the entire Xuanzheng Hall suddenly fell silent.

It's not that no one thought of Li Mingzhu before, but because now Li Changfeng's holy favor is strong, and the ministers are afraid that Emperor Qianwu loves the house and Wu and dare not mention it.

Now that it was mentioned by Li Ji, no one immediately mentioned other princesses.

The meaning is obvious, that is, I think Li Mingzhu is the most suitable candidate.

On the one hand, Li Mingzhu is indeed born as beautiful as a flower, proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and his age is just right.

On the other hand, Li Mingzhu is the same as Li Changfeng, he has the blood of the previous dynasty, and he is not as noble as other princesses, so in their opinion, even if he sends him to make peace, there is nothing.

How could Emperor Qianwu not understand the thoughts of his ministers, and it was difficult to make some decisions for a while, so he looked at the eldest prince Li Chengye.

"Chengye, what do you think of letting Mingzhu and his relatives?"

Li Chengye knew that the barbarian king was a bad old man about the same age as Emperor Qianwu, Li Mingzhu would definitely not be willing, and Li Changfeng would definitely not agree if he knew it, and whoever agreed to this matter at this time would be tantamount to offending Li Changfeng.

Although this matter is almost a sure thing in his opinion, he has already taken out 50,000 taels of silver in order to win over Li Changfeng before, if he agrees now, wouldn't it be a waste of his previous efforts?

Li Chengye made a sad look, shook his head and said: "Father, they are all the younger sisters of the sons, no matter which one goes to the sons, they can't bear it, and the sons don't know what to do!" ”

Hearing this, Li Ji smiled coldly.

How could he not see that Li Chengye was wooing Li Changfeng?

He didn't care, though.

In his opinion, with Li Changfeng's reckless and impulsive temperament, he will inevitably have a conflict with Emperor Qianwu after knowing this matter, and there is a high probability that he will lose his favor.

When that time comes, he will have one less competitor, and he can put the new and old hatreds together to settle and take revenge.

As for Li Chengye, he will slowly clean it up in the future.

Seeing that Li Chengye did not give a clear answer, Emperor Qianwu looked at Feng Quji, who had not expressed his position.

"Feng Aiqing, I don't know what you think?"

Feng Qu said without hurrying: "Your Majesty, the princes and ministers are worried about the country and the people, and the old ministers are also quite emotional when they hear it, and it is a good way to send relatives to discuss peace!" ”

After affirming the opinions of the courtiers on the scene, Feng Qujian changed his words and said: "But whether you really want to send your relatives to discuss peace, it is better to gather the generals in the army to discuss it again, after all, it is not good to say whether the barbarians will agree to make peace, and you must prepare in advance." ”

As soon as these words came out, Li Ji couldn't help but secretly curse the old fox.

Feng Quji first affirmed that he would send his relatives to discuss peace, and then proposed to discuss with the generals in the army to give the generals face in the army, and also gave Emperor Qianwu a buffer time.

It is worthy of being an unshakable existence in the position of prime minister, and its methods are really spicy.

However, Li Ji didn't care.

In his opinion, even if the generals in the army were called together to discuss, they would not be able to change this result.

Because Li Mingzhu is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate in any aspect, Emperor Qianwu has no other choice.

Everything was in his calculations.

Feng Quji's words were regarded as giving Emperor Qianwu a step down, and he immediately nodded and said: "What Feng Aiqing said is extremely true, this matter will be discussed tomorrow." ”

After speaking, Emperor Qianwu, who was in an irritable mood, did not want to discuss other matters, and directly announced his retirement from the dynasty and left the Xuanzheng Palace.

(End of chapter)