Before the cold winter froze the river, the official ships responsible for escorting the thirty-six prefectures of the Celestial Dynasty arrived in the imperial capital one after another. There will be more than a month until the Spring Festival. At this time of the past, the government and the public must be a little busy and happy, because the annual gift is the last major event of the year, and now it has successfully arrived in the imperial capital. After a few more busy days, you can seal it. Thank you, have an auspicious year in comfort.
Qi Shang entered the Zhiyuan Palace with the report of the year, the emperor was discussing with Si Weiyun, and Chu Yuanjing, who is now the censor of Zuodu, was also accompanying him. Si Weiyun had just rushed back to the imperial capital from Huzhou to be transferred to the examination department. He has been supervising several major water conservancy projects in Xishu and Jiangzuo for a long time. He is not incompetent in estimating accounts, he is rigorous and upright, and has a tenacious mind. Ye Tianling transferred him back to the imperial capital this time because he planned to use him again.
Hearing that it was a report of the annual Fu, Si Weiyun felt that it was very timely. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry have just submitted a memorial, listing the winter needs of the troops guarding the border this year, and once submitting the budget of Zhaoning Temple, plus the rewards of officials at all levels at the end of the year and the sixteen prefectures in northern Xinjiang, there are several items. Nearly tens of millions of silver are waiting to be used. Now that the annual tax has arrived in the imperial capital, these are nothing to worry about, and there is room for buffering the shortfall in the inventory, which can be discussed in the long run.
While talking to Si Weiyun, Ye Tianling took the report from Yan Xi, "It's best to take advantage of the year before..." Halfway through the conversation, he suddenly stopped, and his eyes stopped at the "Nine hundred and three" One hundred thousand" on the words.
Qi Shang stood on the lower side with his head bowed. After a while of silence, he felt Youdao's cold eyes falling in front of him. Even though he was prepared, he still felt a chill in his heart.
Ye Tianling read the report from the beginning again, silently twitching the corners of his lips, seemingly showing a faint smile. Both Si Weiyun and Chu Yuanjing were former ministers of the Ling Palace, and they knew the emperor's temper well, and seeing his expression, they knew something had happened. Ye Tianling held the report in the palm of his hand, and looked at Qi Shang's third-rank official uniform in purple robe and jade belt: "Qi Shang, how many years have you been the Minister of the Household Department?"
Qi Shang replied cautiously: "The minister was transferred to the household department in the 22nd year of Shengwu, and served as the secretary of the household department in the 23rd year. It has been five years."
"You tell me, how much was your annual gift last year?"
"Back to the emperor, 36.42 million."
"The year before last."
"Forty five and a half million."
"Then today's 9.3 million annual gift, I want to hear your reason." Before the case, the emperor raised his sleeves, and the emperor casually threw the report aside, and asked indifferently.
Si Weiyun and Chu Yuanjing were taken aback at the same time, no one expected that this year's annual gift was only a fraction of previous years. The annual tax has always been the main source of the next year's finances, so the treasury will be completely empty. Both of them thought at the same time that during the confiscation of the annual tax, the faction of King Zhan, except for Qi Shang's position as Minister of the Ministry of Households, was unavoidable, and none of them came forward, and now such a result has come out.
Faced with such a question, Qi Shang was prepared for a long time ago, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, this year is a little different from previous years. The wars on both sides of the Northwest have been peaceful for the first time, and the Emperor is sympathetic to the people's feelings, and he has exempted many states from taxes. Xinjiang is the most important part of my court's taxation, and it has been halfway since I came here. Due to the frequent pirates in the East China Sea, trade has not been smooth this year, and this tax has also been reduced a lot."
This is naturally a reason, but even so, the seven left states of Guangjiang should have at least fifteen million tax dollars. It's not that there is no gift this year, but it can't be accepted, and it can't be accepted, because the people who went there were not from King Zhan. Ye Tianling smiled lightly, and nodded: "These thoughts are completely moved, are you going to tell me next time, if you don't have the power to fight for the country together, the 9.3 million may not be possible?"
Qi Shang's vest suddenly felt cool, and when he raised his eyes, he met the emperor's gaze like a vast sea, and his heart sank, as if he had stepped on the ground. The calm and condescending stare in front of him, as if no thought could escape those eyes, all the excuses that he had thought up before entering the palace came to his lips, but he couldn't say a word. Chu Yuanjing bowed to the side and said: "Your Majesty, the minister wants to join the Ministry of Household Affairs, Qi Shang has neglected his duty, and deceived the emperor!"
Qi Shang closed his eyes and sighed secretly, unfortunately Chu Yuanjing was here today, and the imperial censor corrected all the officials, this matter was sent to his door to impeach him, he raised his robe and knelt down: "Minister, listen to Shen."
"My lord, what are you going to listen to?" The emperor asked casually.
Qi Shang was drenched in cold sweat. The crime of deceiving the emperor can be big or small. His throat was tight, and he said with difficulty: "I... I dare not lie to the emperor, please ask the emperor to investigate clearly."
Ye Tianling's eyes fell on the memorial covered in yellow silk, and as expected, the first thing to move was the Nian Fu, which also showed how deep the influence of Prince Zhan's Mansion was. He got up from before the case, and the hall was extremely quiet for a while. At this time, there was an attendant in the palace who watched the gap where no one was talking, and came in cautiously and said: "Your Majesty, Minister of Honglu Temple Lu Qian asked to see him, saying that he has something urgent to attend."
Ye Tianling raised his head: "Xuan."
Lu Qian entered the room with a scroll and silk book in his hand. He didn't expect such a situation. He was rather surprised. He glanced at Qi Shang who was kneeling there, saluted and said: "Honglu Temple has just received the letter of credence from the Western Regions. Please take a look at it."
Yan Xi took the letter of credence and submitted it, Ye Tianling read it, a gleam flashed in his eyes, and instantly sank into the bottom of the unfathomable abyss, but the thin smile on his lips seemed to be even worse. He slowly stepped down the case: "Good method!"
Qi Shang lowered his head deeply, and a black robe suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. The flowing clouds pattern on the silk silk was clearly visible, and the hanging tapes of indigo black and ink were slightly swaying against the cold jade. The emperor had already stopped in front of him: "Look at it!" , It’s all related to your household department.”
A cool breath brushed past the emperor's sleeve robe, and when Qi Shang threw down the silk script, he hurriedly followed it with both hands, he didn't even need to look at it, he also knew what was in it. The Celestial Dynasty was able to maintain good relations with the countries in the Western Regions because of their strong financial support. This time, in order to stabilize the northwest and suppress Tubo, they negotiated with Khotan and other countries and promised to provide heavy financial support. Now several major countries in the Western Regions have jointly entered into the letter of credence, requesting the Celestial Dynasty to fulfill their promises. This matter is of great importance and has diplomatic relations. It is no different than domestic matters that can be discussed and postponed. It is imminent.
Qi Shang almost didn't know what was written in the letter of credence. He just remembered what King Zhan had ordered, calmed down, resubmitted the letter of credence, and kowtowed: "Your Majesty!"
Ye Tianling stood in front of the desk steps with his hands behind his back, his voice was indifferent, and even a bit arrogant: "Take this book and go back and think about it. If there is something you don't understand, you can ask King Zhan about everything in the Western Regions." It was all handled by him himself, and he will definitely tell you how to prepare. If there is no solution in three days, you can go back to the mansion to wait for the crime and listen to the ginseng!"
Qi Shang sweated through his heavy clothes, kowtowed in panic and exited the Zhiyuan Hall, and walked outside the hall, his legs and feet softened, and he almost fell down on the dragon steps. He held the hot letter of credentials tightly, took a deep breath, wiped his face against the cold wind, and hurried to Prince Zhan's mansion.
There was silence inside and outside the Zhiyuan Hall, Ye Tianling paced slowly in front of the case, he didn't speak, and no one dared to speak nonsense. At this time, Wu Wei, the Minister of Internal Affairs, came in to ask for an audience, and presented a stack of volumes, "Your Majesty, the Empress ordered someone to present these volumes of the Inner Court Division to the Emperor for review."
Ye Tianling took one of the volumes and flipped through it for a while, then asked, "What else did the queen say?"
Wu Weidao: "Your Majesty said that if the Emperor is free, please move to the Inner Court Department. Your Majesty will wait for the Holy Driver there."
Ye Tianling saw that the volumes were all the records of silk stocked by the Inner Court Department, but he didn't know why Qing Chen sent them, so he turned around and said, "Go to the Inner Court Department."
When they arrived at the Inner Court Department, Ye Tianling dismissed everyone and walked inside alone.
This is the silk storehouse of the Inner Court Department. When you step into the hall, there are silk and satin hanging everywhere. Looking at the patterns and styles, there are new satin from Baizhou, tribute silk from Meizhou, and cloud silk from Huazhou...all of them are ingenious and beautiful.
The afternoon sun falls through the long windows on the cloudy and misty gauze brocade, the bright gorgeousness and misty intertwine wandering, and the floating bright light sprinkles little by little. The hall was so quiet that even one's own footsteps could not be heard, and the corridors of the hall covered with silk brocades went deeper and deeper, with no end in sight.
Ye Tianling walked a few steps, then stopped suddenly, with a slight smile behind him, someone surrounded him from behind. Lan Xiao raised her voice lightly, and the familiar watery fragrance of Qing Chen came to her side, and he pulled her out with his backhand, "You called me here to play hide-and-seek with me?"
Qing Chen sideways looked at him: "It seems that the fourth brother is not very interested, and he is not in the mood to play with me."
Ye Tianling said: "It's really average."
Qing Chen asked, "Is it the credential of the Western Regions?"
Ye Tianling reached out and stroked a strand of hair hanging down her face: "How do you know?"
Qing Chen said: "Just now I went to the Zhiyuan Hall to look for you, and I heard that you were discussing matters with them, so I didn't go in. It must be the credential that upset you, right?"
Ye Tianling's eyes were deep, and he looked at her quietly for a while, "It's not state affairs that bother me, but family affairs."
The expression in Qing Chen's eyes was slightly dull, and then he smiled easily: "Since it's a family matter, it's easy to talk about."
Ye Tianling said lightly: "Really?"
Qing Chen put his arms around his waist, raised his head and looked at him without blinking, "Yes."
A cold light flashed in Ye Tianling's eyes: "But if family affairs become state affairs, it may not be so."
Qing Chen held his hand: "What if it's resolved?"
Ye Tianling said: "Do you know what is written in the national book?"
Qing Chen said: "I don't know how the letter of credence is written, but I know how he negotiated with the countries in the Western Regions. Fourth brother, look at the silk in the Inner Court Department, the silk that has been tributed by various places over the years, plus the There are millions of horses that you prepared to reward the concubines of the Six Palaces."
Ye Tianling said, "So what?"
Qing Chen smiled: "I have rewarded me, are you willing to part with it?"
From the first day I saw her, Ye Tianling was always a little helpless when facing her smile like this, and slightly pursed her thin lips: "I don't have any concubines to reward, if you want something that isn't yours, why bother?" Are you here to ask me specifically?"
Qing Chen raised his brows lightly: "Just because this matter is related to the national treasury, fourth brother, silk is also silver!"
Ye Tianling thought for a while, and probably understood what she meant: "You mean to send the silk stored in the inner court to the Western Regions, so as to replace the property requested by the countries?"
Unexpectedly, Qing Chen shook his head: "If so, a piece of silk is only the price of a piece of silk. Even ordinary silk in my dynasty is worth more than gold once it goes west from Congling, let alone the top grade in the palace. Let all the countries of the Western Regions take over, what's the point?" She brought a crimson ruyi make-up brocade with golden auspicious clouds and presented it to Ye Tianling, "Look, these silks in the inner court department are rarely seen outside. Fine-made tribute satin, any piece of it is worth a lot of money to give away." Ye Tianling listened with interest, her eyebrows and eyes frowned, showing his usual mischievous look: "I want these silks to be multiplied several times. Profit, it's just that I want you to be a villain, fourth brother."
Ye Tianling said, "Let's listen."
Qing Chen lifted up the brocade in his hand, looked at the beautiful patterns against the bright light, and said two words: "Salary discount."
Ye Tianling paused, and laughed loudly: "In addition to pursuing the loss, all the officials in the world will really scold me for being ungrateful and ruthless!" Although he said so, his expression was indifferent. As soon as Qing Chen let go, the warm brocade slipped into his hands: "There is an easier way."
"Oh?" Ye Tianling raised his eyebrows.
Qing Chen raised her hand in front of him, her sleeves fell lightly, and on her wrist was a string of amethyst beads, each of which set off her snow-colored skin, shining brightly under the sun. Ye Tianling narrowed her eyes slightly, holding the string of beads and pressing down her hand, "No need."
Qing Chen's phoenix eyes slanted, and he looked at him: "Brave."
Ye Tianling smiled: "Relying on the ancestors and ancestors to protect the country is not a skill. .I didn't have a good excuse to go short, so they came to my door, which is very good."
Qing Chen said: "So you already have a plan, if you knew I would not have bothered, then would you still do this wicked person?"
The smile on the corner of Ye Tianling's lips deepened: "Since it is necessary to check the deficit, ungratefulness and ruthlessness are inevitable, so it's not bad. Tell me, what happens after the salary is reduced?"
Qing Chen said: "Commerce. Although the content of the national contract between King Zhan and the Western Regions is well known, no one really understands it. On the surface, he promised the great benefits of the Western Regions, but in fact he has already made a detailed plan for the Celestial Dynasty. In the national deed, no matter from the details to the wording, the focus is only on two words, trade."
Ye Tianling said: "I have always had business and travel exchanges with the countries in the Western Regions, why is there talk of trade at this time?"
Qing Chen said: "Fourth brother, you also ignored it. In the seventeenth year of Shengwu, our dynasty issued a strict ban on business due to the deterioration of relations with the Western Regions. This ban is still in place today. It's just that the situation has changed in more than ten years. The Western Regions have gradually come and gone frequently, which has been almost forgotten. Now at the Western Frontier Pass, this ban has actually become a transaction between the pass and the merchants. Those merchants can go west and leave the pass as long as they provide enough gold and silver. , and among the goods they sell, silk is the most restricted. The silk workshops in our Celestial Dynasty are all official workshops, most of which are only used by the inner court. Before King Zhan went on a mission to the Western Regions, he discussed the restoration of the ban on business in several places such as Weizhou, Liangzhou, and Ningzhou, which increased his bargaining chips with the countries in the Western Regions. I think this is the smooth return of his trip. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, fourth brother, what he promised in the state contracts with the countries in the Western Regions is that the Celestial Dynasty will ‘let’ the countries get heavy capital, not that the Celestial Dynasty will ‘give’ the countries heavy capital. This is focus."
Ye Tianling weighed the heavy cold silk in his hands, and recalled carefully, "When you said that, I also remembered that there was indeed such a ban back then. How did you know this?"
Qing Chen gently stroked the fine patterns on the silk with his fingertips: "I have seen a copy of this prohibition in Yanbo Sending Shuangzhai. Regarding the pros and cons of this prohibition, King Zhan studied it in detail a long time ago. Pass."
Ye Tianling raised his eyebrows, and Qing Chen met his gaze calmly: "He originally did a great thing for the Celestial Dynasty, but when he returned from his mission to the Western Regions, the sky changed, so the key to this matter He has no chance, and it is impossible to tell anyone."
"Well," Ye Tianling said with a nod, "I remember someone wrote a letter of impeachment, saying that he exhausted the treasury, bought stability, and used his name for nothing."
Qing Chen nodded, if it wasn't for this kind of impeachment, she would not have looked through the national deed brought back by Ye Tianzhan. She knew that he was not that kind of person, and after careful investigation, she discovered the clue. It's just that at the time, he didn't expect that this discovery would be used today, and he would personally fight against him. Suddenly, a sense of melancholy surged up in her heart, and her eyes lowered slightly. Suddenly Ye Tianling let go of the piece of silk satin, stretched out his hand and patted her cheek: "I see, let's stop talking, let's see what kind of silk satin you like, let's pick one."
Qing Chen raised his eyes, but didn't move his feet: "Fourth brother, what you promised me, is it still worth it now?"
Ye Tianling seemed to be able to read every emotion in her eyes. After a moment of silence, he said lightly: "If it's just a family matter, it's okay to make a scene, but there is only one thing, you can't harm the country."
Qing Chen said: "You know he won't."
Ye Tianling said: "I hope so, I can wait for him, I just hope he doesn't disappoint."
Qing Chen smiled and felt relieved.