"Your Majesty said that after this year is over, the remaining budgets of the Ministry of Accounts and the Ministry of Works will be used to repay the bank account, but... I feel that His Majesty's words are not credible. He is trying to prevaricate you and me. Wait until next year when the Ministry of Accounts and the Ministry of Works After the ministry's new budget is released, the unspent budgets of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs will definitely be allocated to other places by His Majesty as in previous years." Bai Chun wrinkled his snow-white forehead and pouted in frustration. .
People say that you have no joke, you can say nine things, and you can say it with gold and gold, but it seems that these words have nothing to do with the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty is a scoundrel. He doesn't care about your tricks. Every time When the end of the year was approaching, it was as sweet as honey on his lips, but in the blink of an eye, he would move the remaining budgets of Zhongshu, Menxia, and the three provinces and six departments to other places. As for paying back the money, he never really thought about it. Return it.
"You expect him to pay you back, unless, ah, the sun will rise in the west tomorrow. You too, don't have a long memory, just believe him when he says it, and you will be eaten by him. You have been helping him manage his money for so many years. , can't you be tougher? Then Pei Wanying can't be counted on to be a submissive master. If you expect her to control her emperor, then you are the only one in the harem who can see the sun at night. He can still listen to some of his words, so don't worry about it now. When I follow the late emperor, this Tang Dynasty... Who else do you think I can expect to watch him?" Wu Mei sighed helplessly and scolded Bai Chun. This is not the case. This wasn't the first time she said this to Bai Chun.
But Bai Chun, who has always been smart, capable and independent, lost all temper and principles as soon as she got in front of the prodigal son. She completely allowed the prodigal son to bully her and do whatever he wanted without any principles or shrewdness.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to do it, but I think... Princess Shangguan may have such potential..."
"Just her? It seems like that on the surface, but if Li Hong is serious about it, huh, she won't even know that he was betrayed by Li Hong. She will probably happily help Li Hong count the money, just like Li Lingyue. She is as stupid as a pig in front of Li Hong." Wu Mei scolded her daughter-in-law mercilessly, and naturally, she also scolded the princess who had been hanging out with her daughter-in-law since she was a child.
After the two of them chatted for a long time, it was naturally difficult for them to control His Majesty the Emperor who had left the palace, so now they could only stay in the palace and wait, otherwise, they would have to leave the palace in person. But in this way, Wu Mei was afraid that she might faint from anger after seeing what Li Hong was tossing with.
"By the way, Queen Mother, can you talk about that?" Bai Chun drank tea silently with Wu Mei, but suddenly remembered that he had something to do here today, so he put down the teacup and looked at Wu Mei who was looking out the window and asked .
"What's the matter?" Wu Mei put away her thoughts, slowly turned around, and asked with a somewhat confused expression.
"It's about the matter of Princess Yeyue and Princess Dalai. His Majesty didn't give them a clear answer. Princess Yeyue and Princess Dalai were worried, so they came to this slave." Bai Chun looked at Wu With a hint of resentment unique to her mother-in-law in her charming expression, she said with a relaxed smile.
"The two of them came over just now to say hello, why didn't they ask themselves? Can I still eat them? One is for the elder brother, the other is for the younger brother, and she is the imperial concubine of the Tang Dynasty. In the eyes of outsiders, she is Supreme, but who knows that behind the nobility, there are also many difficulties that are not humane to outsiders... Sigh... Forget it, don't worry about it, let them continue to make trouble with Li Hong. If Li Hong doesn't say anything, he will naturally be there. The truth." Wu Mei sighed again. Others couldn't tell, but as the emperor himself, how could he not know what Li Hong was thinking.
The eldest son of the emperor is not young anymore, so it is reasonable to say that he should be established as the crown prince. However, Li Hong was unmoved and had no idea of establishing a crown prince. Even when the ministers advised him, Li Hong opposed the prince. He doesn't seem to be very interested.
Fortunately, Li Hong is still young and strong, so it doesn't matter if he establishes the throne later, as it will not affect the stability of the Tang Dynasty's court and ancestral temple.
"But...does your majesty...really have such an ambition? If that's the case, Princess Dalai and Princess Yeyue...I'm afraid they won't make a big fuss in front of your majesty." Bai Chun thought for a while, but still I'm not sure what Li Hong's ultimate strategy is for Dashi and Japan.
"This is the clever thing about the prodigal son. When the time comes, they will have their own elder brother and younger brother, and at the same time they will be their own prince. They cannot and are not qualified to be established as the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. Then it will be up to the night. How can Princess Yue and Princess Dalai make their own decisions?" Wu Mei slumped lazily on the sofa. Although her figure has been out of shape over the years, she still has some charm and looks much younger than her actual age.
"It would be great if Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje could do the same thing. In this way, the world would be really peaceful. From now on, the princes will be in charge of all the areas around the Tang Dynasty, which can be regarded as something beneficial to me. It's a big event in the Tang Dynasty." Bai Chun said with a look of longing.
"Everything has advantages and disadvantages. It's not that we don't understand these. Yeyue's son will be in charge of Dashi from now on, and Princess Dalai's son will be in charge of Japan. As expected, Pei Wanying's son will naturally be the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. This right has nothing to do with Compared with brotherly love, sometimes, I'm not sure which one is more attractive, but no matter what, they are all my descendants of the Tang Dynasty and even China. It seems that Li Hong is determined to make a decision in the large circle of the Chinese nation. "Wu Mei always sighs whenever she mentions Li Hong.
At this moment, Wang Lou suddenly ran in. Looking at the Empress Dowager and Ye Yue who were chatting leisurely, he hurriedly and respectfully reported: "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty is about to return to the palace, but...according to those who have already returned, People say that His Majesty's mood... doesn't seem to be very good. Furthermore, the thing called the internal combustion engine can run away on its own. It's loud and scary, and there's black smoke. It's said that you can't see clearly even when you're sitting in the carriage. Who is the person opposite?"
As soon as they heard Wang Lou playing this, Wu Mei and Bai Chun, who were still lazily slumped on the sofa, immediately became energetic and their eyes began to shine. Wu Mei even sat up straight and looked at Wang Lou asked: "So it means you haven't succeeded yet and you failed again?"
"This... this servant only knows these partial things, the details are not clear yet..." Wang Lou thought for a while, but still did not dare to speak nonsense, so he could only hesitate.
"Let's go, Bai Chun, do you want to go or not? Let's go and see the excitement." Wu Meichong waved to Bai Chun, who was still sitting on the sofa.
"Well... it's not appropriate for me to go. After all, His Majesty just encountered a setback. If I go..."
"What are you afraid of? Are you still afraid of him when I am here? Besides, for so many years, he has always been a smooth emperor. He, Di Renjie and others have combined to destroy all the five surnames and seven hopes. , at this time, it is time to remind him of some setbacks, otherwise, your Taiyi City may have to continue to provide him with endless money in the future." Wu Mei was extremely excited, she had not had much fun recently. , but Li Hong's deflation is definitely one of her favorite pleasures.
When Bai Chun heard Wu Mei talking about Taiyi City and money, she was immediately moved. Facing Wu Mei, Bai Chun was a little more tender, so her curiosity was aroused with two words.
So the two women, accompanied by Wang Lou and several other maids and eunuchs, quickly walked towards the Zichen Palace in front.
To the surprise and joy of the two women, when they had just arrived at the Zichen Palace, His Majesty the Emperor had just entered the palace gate, so it would still take a while to reach the Zichen Palace, so Wu Mei motioned to Bai Chun to hide with her.
When the maids and eunuchs in the Zichen Palace saw the Empress Dowager and Miss Bai arriving at the same time, they were even more nervous and focused than when they met the emperor. However, after receiving the Empress Dowager's decree, they immediately pretended that there were no Empress Dowager and Miss Bai in the Zichen Palace. , quietly standing where he should be, waiting for His Majesty and his ministers to come back.
A group of dozens of cavalry came from the main entrance of the palace at lightning speed. If the Central Army had not received the news of His Majesty's return to the palace, they would have been fired by the fire blunderbuss. They could not see their faces in front of them, and they were all in a miserable state. , like a defeated cavalry shooting.
Among the dozens of riders in the group, only Li Hong dared to ride his horse and run wildly after entering the palace. However, Guards Lieutenant Tu Fin and others, including some ministers, jumped off their horses immediately after entering the palace gate. Then he immediately turned on his two legs and ran towards the palace after the four-legged horse.
Li Zhe and Li Dan didn't care about their sin for riding horses in the palace, and they didn't care whether anyone would hold them responsible afterwards. The two rode their horses closely behind Li Hong, their white teeth peeping out of their mouths from time to time. It leaked out, and I didn't know what to explain to Li Hong.
No one could see the expressions on the three people's faces clearly, because not only the three of them, but also the ministers running behind who were panting, dripping with sweat, and whose legs were weak, all had the same expressions on their faces as the three of them. It was as if it had been burned by heavy smoke, everything was pitch black, and even the clothes were stained with black smoke and wrinkles, as if they had rolled in a pile of coals and then ran out.
Except for the white eyeballs that can be seen and the teeth that are exposed when speaking, the faces of the three of them, whether it is Li Hong, Li Zhe, or Li Dan, are all completely black.
"What a freaking accident? It took so much effort to get it done, and you do this to me? After running less than two miles, you fell asleep. In the carriage... This fucking black smoke in the carriage... What the hell are you doing? You moved the boiler into the carriage, right?" Li Hong, who got off his horse and walked on the steps, was obviously very dissatisfied with the efficiency of Li Zhe and Li Dan. His face was already dark and shiny even if he didn't need to darken his face. There was no expression on his face, only the Three-Character Sutra in his tone, and he walked towards the Zichen Hall at the steps.
"I didn't expect it. Who knew it would be like this? The chimney has been changed after your prompts, but who knew that after running, the black soot would be so big..."
"And you, the power plant is finished, but what about the electricity it generates? It's just that you can't deliver it to Chang'an City. You electrocute dozens of cows to kill other people. You say... How can you compensate for these dozens of cows? You still think Yushitai won’t impeach me? You two are really useless.”
Wu Mei and Bai Chun, who were hiding in the Zichen Palace, heard Li Hong's angry words coming from outside the Zichen Palace. They couldn't help but open their mouths in surprise. In the past few years, this was the first time they saw Li Hong making such a big move to Li Dan and Li Zhe. temper.
(End of chapter)