Longtai's face changed slightly, he looked at Lu Xiao, the Minister of War, and said in a deep voice: "Lu Xiao, is this possible?"
Lu Xiao hurriedly went out and said: "Reporting to the emperor, I also want to allocate the general's salary, but... I don't have any money in my hands, so I can't allocate it even if I want to."
Dou Kui immediately said: "Master Lu, last month the Ministry of Revenue allocated salary to the Ministry of War. You can't blame me for this."
"Master Dou, you did allocate silver to the Ministry of War last month, but... that little money is far from enough for all the soldiers and horses to receive military pay." Lu Xiao said: "The Qinhuai Army on the front line naturally cannot delay military pay. Donghai Naturally, the navy cannot afford to default on their arrears. In addition, it is almost summer and they have to change their uniforms. The purchase of ordnance for the Qinhuai Army and the Donghai Navy has been delayed for a long time and must be resolved."
Dou Kui said: "Mr. Lu, don't tell me that you don't know anything about how much money the Ministry of Household Affairs has. We are cutting down on clothing and diet and cutting various expenses. The money allocated to your Ministry of War every year is the largest expenditure. Nowadays, The household department is already stretched thin, and each department’s yamen go to the household department every day to ask for money, and I’m already exhausted.”
Lu Xiao said: "Master Dou, my subordinates only have money to do things. As for how much money you have in your household department, my subordinates are ministers of the Ministry of War, and they still have no control over your household affairs. How much money you have, how many things your subordinates have to do, and only We can start with the most urgent matters." Turning to Longtai, he said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have always cared about the military pay of the Black Scale Battalion, and I also sent people to the Household Department every three days to ask for it, but... Hey, the Household Department Maybe there are real difficulties, and this matter can only be discussed in the long term.”
"A long-term plan?" Qi Ning said with a smile: "Master Lu, I would like to ask you, can the soldiers' pay for the Black Knife Camp be reduced?"
Lu Xiao was startled, glanced at Zhen Guo Gong, nodded slightly, and Qi Ning asked again: "Where's Xuanwu's victory? Where's Shenwu Camp? And where's the Royal Yulin Camp? The Black Scale Camp won't compete with the Qinhuai Army. Compared with the Donghai Navy, these soldiers and horses are both inside and outside the capital. If their soldiers' wages are not paid in arrears, I will not say anything more today. However, among these soldiers and horses, only one of them has received their soldiers' wages. , today in this court, you have to make things clear."
Jin Daohou didn't seem to hear him, he still sat motionless on his chair.
Many officials were a little surprised, secretly thinking that young people are still too reckless. They want to ask Lu Xiao for military pay. When can't they, but today is the day. The Golden Sword Queen has not left the house for eight hundred years. It is not easy today. When he came to the court, Jin Yihou went directly to the Ministry of War. Wouldn't it be a disgrace to the old Marquis? Although the Ministry of War is now in charge of Lu Xiao, the old Hou is still the Minister of the Ministry of War after all, and he is directed at the Ministry of War. Old Marquis.
Behind Lu Xiao was the Golden Sword Marquis, and he was also from the army, so he was tough. He sneered: "The soldiers and horses mentioned by the Marquis have indeed received military pay, but they just arrived at the Black Scale Camp. "I'm exhausted, and the official can't change the money. The Marquis is asking the official to make it clear, and the official can only continue to press for payment from the Ministry of Household Affairs."
Dou Kui shook his head and said: "Master Lu, even if you hold a knife on my neck, I can't even send a tael of silver to your Ministry of War. The Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge of the country's finances, and you are not the only one who wants to spend money. .”
"Lord Lu, you have considered changing the uniforms and ordnance, but you have not thought of allocating military pay to the Black Scale Camp?" Qi Ning smiled and clapped his hands and said, "Okay, I won't say anything more. Since the Emperor will transfer the Black Scale Camp to Leave it to me. If I can't guarantee their food, I owe you the favor of the emperor and the soldiers of the Black Scale Battalion. I will give you two days. Within two days, if the Black Scale Battalion has not received the military pay, I will give it to you. Hou can only take them to find it themselves."
Lu Xiao frowned and said, "Master Hou, what do you mean by this? Do you want to condone the looting of officers and soldiers?"
"That's not true." Qi Ning smiled and said: "Master Lu, if you haven't allocated the money for so long, are you trying to force them to plunder and ruin the Blackscale Camp?"
Lu Xiao's expression changed drastically and he said sternly: "Master Marquis, please be careful what you say in court."
"Stop talking nonsense, there is nothing to say with caution." Qi Ning said coldly: "Don't worry, the Black Scale Battalion is a soldier of the imperial court. They abide by military regulations and national laws and will never plunder wantonly. Wouldn't that mean that I have become a bandit?" Hou just wants to take them to the Ministry of War to find you, Mr. Lu. Since they don’t even have food to eat, there is no need to mention the military training. Let’s go to your Ministry of War to have a full stomach first.”
Lu Xiao's expression turned ugly, and he turned to Longtai: "Your Majesty, Jin Yihou uttered threatening words, and everyone in the civil and military circles heard them. Please give your Majesty a clear warning."
"Your Majesty, it is the emperor's will to rebuild the Black Scale Camp." Qi Ning immediately said: "Lu Xiao does not allocate soldiers' pay because he does not want the Black Scale Camp to be rebuilt, and he is disobeying the emperor's will. I ask the emperor to send someone After a thorough investigation, what is Mr. Lu’s intention? The Blackscale Battalion only has a thousand men. Among all the troops, it has the smallest strength. Logically speaking, the military salary is the easiest to solve. Since Mr. Lu doesn’t want to solve the problem, I will personally come to solve it, please. Your Majesty’s warning.”
Longtai said lightly: "Lu Xiao, it is my wish to rebuild the Black Scale Camp. Since your Ministry of War cannot allocate the military salary, from now on, the military salary of the Black Scale Camp will be allocated directly by the Ministry of Household Affairs every month. Dou Kui, Hei Lin Your Ministry of Household Affairs will separately list the wages for Linying Camp and allocate them on time in the future."
Lu Xiao said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, this...!"
Before he could finish speaking, Long Tai had already said: "Since military pay is not allocated by your Ministry of War, from now on, the Ministry of War has no authority from me to mobilize the Black Scale Battalion."
At this time, all the ministers understood that the little emperor was indeed very angry.
This means that from now on, the Black Scale Battalion will bypass the Ministry of War and will be directly commanded by the emperor.
Lu Xiao glanced at Tantaihuang and saw that Tantaihuang remained calm, so he could only say: "I... I obey your order!"
"Let's end today's court meeting." The little emperor stood up, turned around and left without saying a word, leaving a bunch of ministers hanging in the court. The ministers looked at each other in disbelief. It seemed that what the Ministry of War had done had made the emperor very dissatisfied.
The eunuch in charge of the palace shouted for the court to disperse, and the ministers bowed out before exiting the Fengtian Palace. As soon as they left the main hall, an eunuch approached Qi Ning and said softly: "Master Hou, the emperor has a decree, and he has ordered you to I'm going to the Imperial Study Room to tell you something."
Qi Ning did not hesitate, followed the eunuch, and went straight to the imperial study. After reporting, he entered the imperial study and saw Longtai sitting behind the imperial desk. He saw Qi Ning coming over and waved, waiting for Qi Ning to approach. Going over, Long Taicai said: "Is there a traitor in your Jinyihou Mansion?"
Qi Ning might as well Longtai said this and frowned: "Why does the emperor ask like this?"
"Don't you see it?" Long Tai sneered: "That bitch Feng Ruohai would not regret his death, but the Sima family is well aware of his criminal evidence. Don't you still know that?"
Qi Ning nodded slightly and said: "Feng Ruohai is going to the court today to impeach Sima Changshen. Sima Lan already knew everything about this matter before the meeting."
"Feng Ruohai was naturally instigated by King Huainan." Long Tai said: "Of course King Huainan and his gang also put a lot of effort into preparing to overthrow Sima Changshen at today's court meeting. They must have done this in an extremely secretive manner. There will never be any news leaked in advance, it is to catch the Sima family off guard, but...how can Sima Lan know their affairs so well?"
"Your Majesty is saying that among King Huainan's group, there are Sima Lan's eyes and ears?" Qining frowned.
Longtai said: "Besides this, I can't think of any other possibilities."
"The King of Huainan and Sima Lan are fighting openly and secretly. It is not uncommon for both sides to send each other's spies or even bribe each other's people as traitors." Qining looked solemn, "The most surprising thing is that the Sima family actually holds so many powerful people like Feng Ruohai. Evidence of crime. Your Majesty, Feng Ruohai concealed information about farming, engaged in corruption and perverted the law for personal gain. These things must have been done in very secretive ways. They were a matter of life and death. Feng Ruohai could never be careless. If the Sima family wanted to get so much evidence, they would never do it. It can be done in ten days and a half.”
Longtai clenched his fist and said, "You mean, the Sima family already has these evidences in their hands?"
Qi Ning nodded and said: "I think that's the case, and the Sima family will definitely not only have evidence of Feng Ruohai's crime." After a pause, his face became solemn, and then he said: "Sima Lan is the founding marquis, and this person is very scheming. If... If he secretly searched for evidence against officials very early on, there would be very few clean civil and military officials in this dynasty, so naturally he would have a lot of evidence in his hands."
"If Feng Ruohai had not come out this time, Sima Lan would not have produced the evidence." Long Tai said, "Since Sima Lan knew in advance that Feng Ruohai was going to impeach Sima Changshen, he asked Hu Geng to prepare the evidence. Just above the court meeting, he struck back and killed Feng Ruohai."
Qi Ning said: "That's it. Feng Ruohai is the minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and he can be regarded as a high-ranking official. Today, the Sima family took action and immediately beheaded this man. It was like Ruo Shi cut out the king of Huainan with a knife." In order to get closer. Some of them said softly: "The Sima family's move today can be said to kill several birds with one stone."
"How to kill several birds with one stone?"
Qi Ning said: "Naturally, King Huainan and his gang are not so stupid that they haven't discovered that there is a traitor around them. So after today, King Huainan and his gang will definitely investigate who the traitor is. Your Majesty, think about it. As a result, King Huainan and the people around him will inevitably become jealous, and as long as they are jealous together, they will not be monolithic."
"Yes." Longtai said: "Although King Huainan is quite powerful in the court, he is not as powerful as the Sima family. Once the people of King Huainan become suspicious of each other, it will be even more beneficial to the Sima family."
"Secondly, Feng Ruohai participated in the impeachment of Sima Changshen at the court meeting today, but in the blink of an eye, he was counterattacked and is now being taken to the Ministry of Punishment Prison. This person is already like a dead person and has a miserable end." Qining said. : "The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty saw with their own eyes that what Sima Lan did was actually a warning to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty. If anyone makes an enemy of Sima Qiu, this will be the fate. With the officials watching in their eyes, who can not be afraid? In the future, Anyone who wants to impeach the Sima family in court must first consider whether he has two heads."
Longtai said coldly: "This is what I am most worried about. After today, I am afraid that no one will dare to impeach the Sima family in court."
"Thirdly, Sima Lan produced evidence of Feng Ruohai's crime at the court, and it was the manager of the Feng Mansion and the women around him who proved Feng Ruohai's guilt. How could everyone not be afraid of such a method?" Qi Ning said: "Everyone You don't have to be a fool to see that Feng Ruohai's evidence of guilt has been prepared for a long time. As I just said, Sima Lan may have caught evidence of many people's crimes. Under such a situation, those officials who are ambiguous are likely to Because of this, even the members of King Huainan's party who defected to the Sima family may consider whether to follow King Huainan."
Longtai said: "You are saying that those officials were worried that the Sima family would produce evidence of their crimes at any time, so in order to protect themselves, they defected to the Sima family. In this way, they became the lackeys of the Sima family. Naturally, the Sima family would not take action against him? "
"No one knows how many people's criminal evidence Sima Lan has in his hands. After the court was dismissed today, the dignitaries in the court were all worried." Qi Ning sneered: "Feng Ruohai poisoned his clan uncle and occupied his aunt, so secretly Everything has been found out, and everyone is worried that their unknown things are in Sima Lan's hands. In order not to take risks, it is of course the best choice to go to Sima Lan."
"boom!"
Longtai slammed his fist on the royal desk, and his voice was low and cold: "This Sima Lan has caught so many people's evidence, is he really trying to form a party and conspire against him?"