After Situ Tai and Situ Biao came to the table, the argument that had already turned a bit stale, the meeting entered the formal agenda. Lu Wenfu, who replaced Ning Yuanwang as the Imperial Minister of Administration, gave an overview of recent imperial affairs to the four princes attending the meeting on behalf of the Imperial Central Committee. A brief speech about sex.
Even Lu Wenfu could not help but face the embarrassment of the empire at this time. Although his speech was very brief, the limited scope could only half-cover the imperial capital, and for the empire that was actually in a semi-independent state In other places, he also deliberately avoided it, as if he wanted to avoid this embarrassing fact.
But it was obvious that the four princes seemed to have their own plans. They showed no interest in Lu Wenfu's speech. There seemed to be no superfluous issues in this meeting of the princes. Even the industrial revolution decree and government decrees could not be unified. Without leaving the imperial capital, can such an empire really be called an empire
The Chancellor of Finance also briefly reviewed the situation where the empire's finances were on the verge of drying up, but also received no response. The huge amount of funds required by the huge number of noble lords and officials in the imperial capital has put the empire's finances into trouble, and hundreds of thousands of troops What is needed is an astronomical figure. If it were not for the savings in the imperial treasury for many years, the imperial finance would have gone bankrupt several times. But even so, this situation can no longer be maintained. East China Sea, Jiangnan, Wu The withholding of tax revenue from Hu Finance has made the imperial finance exist in name only. The tax revenue of an imperial capital alone cannot support such a large group of bureaucracy. Even doubling the tax revenue is still a drop in the bucket. Regarding Nan Yi's complaints, the four princes had different reactions. Situ Tai's face was expressionless and he didn't seem to hear any sound, while Situ Yuan looked thoughtful, as if he was thinking about solutions to financial problems. Situ Biao only talked and laughed with Li Wufeng, but judging from the happy expressions of the two, it seemed that they had nothing to do with finance and taxation. The problem has nothing to do with the monk Yuan Lai being good-looking.
This series of remarks all seemed so unremarkable. It was not until Minister of Military Affairs Ji Lin came on the scene to announce the preliminary results of the investigation into imperial affairs and the Jinzhong Incident that everyone's attention was slightly drawn to the main topic.
Since all the parties involved have died, the investigation team was unable to obtain any valuable information or clues. However, such a collective death without a single party surviving is enough to prove that there are many firsts in this mutiny. Xu Wentao is not as hyped by the outside media. He claimed to have close contacts with the remnants of the Taiping Sect. Although he had contacts with some industrial and commercial classes, those businessmen were not remnants of the Taiping Sect and had no relationship with the remnants of the Taiping Sect. Secondly, Aunt Jue, a senior officer in the Second Division led by Xu Wentao, The so-called death in battle in the mutiny. This so-called death in battle does not have a Lisu residence, which is quite suspicious. Third, the so-called Second Division rebelled and attacked the Fifth Garrison Post. Apart from the unilateral report of the Fifth Division, there was no There is no other tone to prove that as for the so-called civilian losses, they cannot be confirmed to be caused by the Second Division. Fourth, Ying Jianming, deputy commander of the Fourth Army and commander of the First Division, did not make any public remarks about the so-called intelligence maid. He led the Black Second Division and asked the other party to surrender, and then invited the Western Xinjiang Army to Jinzhong for reinforcements without permission. These abnormal behaviors are quite suspicious and require further investigation. In short, this deed is full of weirdness and contradictions. There is no way to be sure that this is a deed. It might be more appropriate if it is a coup. Of course, this is just the opinion of the investigating lady.
Facing the fact that almost every finger in the investigation report released by the General Administration of Military Affairs pointed at himself, Wu Feng remained calm. This kind of investigation report can be written in several copies without any investigation. As long as there are requirements above, everything will be as required. Adding fuel to the fire, what's more, what the other party found in this investigation is true, but Wu Feng cannot admit it. What matters is the result. As long as he achieves his goal, that is enough. No amount of investigation reports can change the outcome of the fact. , but Wu Feng still didn't expect that the other party had achieved some results beyond his expectation in just a few days. Although there was no exact tone, the other party still got some clues that were unfavorable to him, but he couldn't convert the clues. Just for evidence.
Mr. Jilin, I have doubts about the investigation results obtained by this investigation team. Can they draw conclusions in such a short period of time? As far as I know, their performance in Jinzhong is remarkable. They spend all day drinking and drinking with the coal mine owners, and they never go to the military headquarters to conduct on-the-spot investigations. In this way, they can produce an investigation report, so I think the investigation can be put to rest. Wu Feng behaved very calmly. He also had a look of contempt for this investigation team and did not pay attention to the other party's investigation report at all.
Jilin was a little embarrassed. He had to wait for him to know exactly who the people selected to participate in the investigation were. It was already rare to come up with such a conclusion. It was undoubtedly a delusion to expect them to maintain their moral integrity.
His Royal Highness, as an investigator sent by the Empire Central Committee, you are only obliged to cooperate and have no right to interfere with the master. That is the power of the Empire Central Committee. I think your current behavior has gone far beyond your status as a member of the Empire. , the Heshuo area is directly under the empire, you are just the Protector of the Western Xinjiang Protectorate, and where is the residence space of the Western Xinjiang, I, Yang, you don’t know, right? What are your troops stationed in Heshuo and Beiyuan doing? ? The Kaman and Poole people have long since disappeared, and the Taiping Rebellion has been incorporated by you. What are you waiting for? Why haven't you returned these two counties to the imperial capital? The person who stepped forward to threaten Li Wufeng was the Minister of Administration, Lu Wenfu. He had long been unable to stand Li Wufeng's arrogance. However, facing Wufeng's sharp gaze, he showed an unusual calmness, but he left no room for words in every word and directly denounced Li Wufeng. Wu Feng has evil intentions.
Mr. Lu, you are right. Heshuo and Beiyuan are not part of the Western Xinjiang Territory. I, Li Wufeng, am indeed a bit of a nosy, but you have to remember that I, Li Wufeng, am from Tanghe. When we have been living in this land for generations, When the people of Tanghe in the upper reaches were trembling under the iron hoofs of the Kamans, when they were trembling under the blades of the Puurs, where were the troops of the empire? When they face thousands of miles of scarcity, lack of food and clothing, and change their lives for a living, and when they go rogue to escape massacres, I still want to ask where the imperial army is. Are they extracting wealth from the people in the East China Sea or committing violence in the south of the Yangtze River, or are they? Are you lining up in Zhongzhou? Oh, maybe what I said is a bit unpleasant, but please, Mr. Lu, as the administrative minister of the empire, with one person and ten thousand people, what have you done in the central space of the empire in one year? Faced with Lu Wenfu's aggressive criticism, Wu Feng Changkuai was confident and gave him a head-on blow without any hesitation. Every point directly hit Lu Wenfu's pain, leaving him unable to express his pain. Wu Feng's words continued to hurt him. Situ Tai, who was sitting silently in the north, was also dragged in, but Situ Tai seemed to be very calm, and his face did not change at all in the face of Wu Feng's provocation.
The tension in the court suddenly became intense, and the two sides entered the Xiangniu stage from the beginning. This was not the strategy that Situ Tai and Lu Wenfu had originally planned. They originally expected to point out Li Wufeng's outrageous behavior and hit Li Wufeng. The opponent could swing the sword according to I entered the big picture, but I didn't expect that this guy would not accept hard and soft words, and retorted, causing the meeting to reach a deadlock immediately.
Everyone, everyone, please calm down. The reason why we can invite your highnesses to the imperial capital today is precisely because the empire is currently experiencing various internal and external troubles. If we want the empire to regain its former glory, we must put aside the past and work together to make the empire come out of it as soon as possible. Difficulty, all this can only be done with the mutual understanding and support of Your Highnesses and Your Excellencies. Only the Minister of Finance, Nan Yi, came forward to smooth things over. An important reason why he was dragged here this time was to take advantage of this man's tact and kindness. Be sophisticated and fully coordinate the relationship between the kings and the center of the empire, although this is just a wishful thinking.
Mr. Tian is right, but as far as the current situation in the empire is concerned, I think if we continue to talk in general terms as we do now, even if we talk for another year and a half, we will not be able to solve any problems. I think we might as well choose some people. He was more interested in discussing topics related to the future of the empire. He was observing the actions of Li Wufeng and Situ, but what troubled him was that Situ Biao still didn't say anything. It seemed that the lies he really promised seemed to Situ Biao. It didn't have much effect, and now he had to move forward according to the track he had set.
Your Highness said it very well. I think it is better for us to talk directly about some topics that everyone is interested in. Your Highness, if you have anything to say, you may as well speak up. I, Li Wufeng, will listen to you. Here it comes, Wu Feng secretly thought in his heart. Until now, Situ Biao's attitude seemed to be a little hesitant. Whether the lies he laid down for Situ Yuan would succeed or not would depend on the cooperation of the other party. If this person fell to Situ Tai, he would immediately You can see the difference.
A flash of anger flashed in Situ Tai's eyes. Li Wufeng's pressing steps made him feel particularly unhappy, but now was not the time for an attack. As long as he passed this level, no matter how arrogant Li Wufeng was, he had to make him surrender.
His eyes drifted to Sidon's side. Sidon immediately felt the pressure brought by his gaze. It was his turn. The empire was currently in a crisis. The main reason was that the imperial power was weak. His Majesty was currently weak and had not been in charge of government for a long time. , once told Mr. Lu and Mr. Jilin and me that his current body is no longer suitable to bear the responsibilities of His Majesty the Emperor. Since His Majesty currently has no heirs, he himself also hopes that his brother, His Highness Situ Tailai, will take over the position of Emperor. This is the imperial edict on Zen status written by His Majesty the Emperor. Please read it.