Yun Chi left the capital, and a lot of court affairs were on An Shuli's body again.
Fortunately, the emperor's health improved a little bit, and when he entered the early court, with the emperor supporting him, An Shuli could take a breather.
Ever since Huayan was rescued and returned to the capital, he had only glanced at it. At that time, Huayan had just come back and fell asleep. He didn't go inside, and he didn't see anyone. He planned to visit again in two days. The troops were mobilized, and Yun Chi was in a hurry to leave the capital. He had more things to do.
He stayed up all night last night, discussing food and grass with Cheng Guzhi, thinking about the natural disasters last year, although food and grass are not in short supply now, but they can't last for a few months, what he is afraid of is that this will be a long battle, if it doesn't go so smoothly, If it takes half a year and a year, it will be stretched.
Cheng Guzhi analyzed the current situation with him, and also felt that it would not be optimistic if both the north and the south raised troops at the same time. After all, in addition to food and grass, there are also horses, military uniforms, armor, and supplies for the barracks, all of which cost money. The bigger it is, the longer it takes and the more it costs.
There are four places in the southeast, the northwest, and the southeast. Last year, the chaos was restored, and the consumption was huge. It has just recovered, and there is not much food and grass. The north has been hollowed out by Su Zizhe in recent years. The king rebelled, and the southeast area became the territory of the Lingnan king. Now, in the huge southern Chu, if you want to prepare food and grass, and discuss it, there is only one place in the south, which is Lin'an.
For many generations, Lin'an and Le'anping have been rich and prosperous places, and the Hua family has been operating for generations, but they are not sure. After all, the restoration of the Southwest after the war is due to the efforts of the Hua family to devote the entire Southwest. Sixth, with the help of An Shiqi, An Shuli knows this matter best. As for Beidi, Huayan and Su Zizhan also brought the Hua family with them when they cleared the Qing Dynasty. It can be said that last year's fight was even more ruthless in Beidi. Hua Yan almost accompanied her in, although An Shuli didn't know, but Cheng Guzhi did.
So, now that Hua Zhuo has brought the Hua family's influence to Huangyuan Mountain again, they really don't dare to protect the Hua family's ability and financial resources, so they still have to ask Huayan if she can be relied on.
When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince left, he said that he would rather not let the Crown Princess worry about his mind, and try not to disturb her, but for such matters, he still needs to find her. If the Hua family is also powerless now, then they will have to rely on the people from all over the world to pay more taxes When food and clothing are cut short, and wars break out, the people suffer the most. If taxes are increased, the people will inevitably complain.
But Nanchu is in such a situation now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is sitting in this position, capable and capable, and he gritted his teeth to hold on. If it were someone else, even An Shuli felt that this was a sign of the country's ruin.
Who would have imagined that the four hundred years of development of Southern Chu, and the rule of the world, has come to such a precarious place? If he hadn't joined the court, sat down deeply in the position of prime minister, and didn't believe in the huge country of Southern Chu, There was a tendency to fall everywhere.
An Shuli thought that the Crown Prince had just left, and the Crown Princess would not get used to it for a while, and he would look for her again in a few days. Unexpectedly, when he got off the morning court, he received a message from Hua Yan, and immediately dropped what he was doing, and immediately came to see her.
Hua Yan woke up late, after tidying up, it was already noon.
Mother Fang was afraid of starving herself, "Crown Princess, it's good to pass on the meal."
"No hurry, I'll make up for two pieces of pastries made by my stepmother first, Zaifu An will come soon after I get the letter, let him have lunch here together." Huayan glanced at the sky.
Nanny Fang nodded, and brought two plates of pastries to Huayan.
Sure enough, as Huayan expected, An Shuli came to Dongyuan soon.
Hua Yan ordered someone to set up tables and chairs in the courtyard, and sat in front of the table to wait for An Shuli.
After An Shuli arrived, he greeted Huayan, saw that she looked good, and said with a smile, "I'm still worried about the Crown Princess, it seems that I'm worrying too much."
"Sit down." Hua Yan smiled and waved her hands, "Shu Li doesn't need to be polite."
An Shuli sat down, and saw that she was addressing her by name, so he stopped calling himself a minister, and said with a smile, "Your Highness just left, I planned to come back to bother you in two days, but I didn't expect you to be unable to sit still."
General Huayan was not in a hurry to talk about things, and Mrs. Jingguo pushed the pastry made by Mrs. Jing toward him, "This is the pastry made by my mother-in-law after a busy morning. It's delicious. You can try two pieces."
An Shuli nodded, took a bite of the pastry, and commented with a smile, "Mrs. Jing Guo's ingenuity is better than the pastry made by my mother."
Hua Yan pursed her lips and smiled, "If Wang Hao hears about it, I will beat you."
An Shuli sighed, "I haven't been back to the palace for more than a month, and she can't see me even if she wants to, let alone beat me."
"The court affairs are busy, and they are all on your shoulders. It's really hard work." Huayan smiled, "I never thought that the situation in Nanchu would be as severe as it is now."
"Who would have thought that." An Shuli ate a piece of pastry, took a sip of tea from the teacup, and said solemnly, "Even if His Highness is given another three years to rectify, it won't be where it is today."
"What's happening now may not be all bad. The longer the backlog, the more powerless you will be." Hua Yan said softly, "Now Yunchi is better than Liang Huaiyu in the past, and there is no way to save him."
"That's right." An Shuli saw that Huayan spoke calmly, and he asked just now, "You called me over in a hurry today, but do you have any plans for me to arrange?"
Huayan nodded, "I want to ask you about food and grass. It can last for half a year."
An Shuli shook his head, "It took less than half a year to raise troops in both the north and the south, and at most four or five months." After he finished speaking, he rubbed his brows, "I never expected that the King of Lingnan would take 450,000 troops from the imperial court and take the entire All the granaries in the southeast are in their hands. Over the years, the court has never been harsh on Lingnan because of its trust in the King of Lingnan, and it never occurred to them to raise a big rat to become a fierce tiger."
Hua Yan nodded.
An Shuli looked at her, "What good plan does the Crown Princess have?"
Hua Yan looked at him with a smile, "Why don't you just ask me how much rice the Hua family can provide as a backing?"
An Shuli smiled embarrassedly, coughed lightly, "That's exactly what he meant."
"If I say that the rice grains of the Hua family are not enough to last for two months, you can believe it." Hua Yan looked at him.
An Shuli immediately said, "I believe." After saying that, he sighed, "Yesterday, when I was discussing with Cheng Guzhi, I also felt that the Hua family might have been emptied and there was not much left. But things like rice grains can’t be kept for too long, as long as three years, they will become old rice grains, and no matter how long it takes, they won’t be usable, even if they are fed to horses, they won’t eat them for fear of getting moldy.”
Huayan nodded, "If you say that the Hua family's wealth is gold and silver, it is comparable to the national treasury. I am a princess, brother and Hua family member. Although I have the ancestors' precepts, I will not be stingy when the country is in crisis, but no matter how much I have. Gold and silver are not rice."
"It seems that it is indispensable to take rice from the hands of the people." An Shuli pursed his lips, "But if you buy it with gold and silver, you are afraid that someone will inflate the price of rice."
Huayan shook her head, "No, don't buy it yet. This is the last step."
An Shuli stared at her, "The princess has a strategy"
"Yeah." Hua Yan nodded and looked at him, "It is said that the lawsuit of the An family is still in chaos, and there is no conclusion."
An Shuli was taken aback for a moment, but he didn't expect that when she said this, the conversation would turn to the An clan, he nodded and said with a headache, "Brother Hua Zhuo saved me, don't thank the gift, just push it on His Highness, the father decides I searched and sorted out the An clan by myself, and opened a way for His Highness. But I didn’t expect it to be really tricky. Later, His Highness went to the wilderness mountain, and now he rescued you, and it happened that Lingnan King rebelled, and His Highness left Beijing again. Still dragging on, His Highness wants to eradicate the filth of officialdom implicated by the aristocratic family, so he can only shelve it for the time being, and I can't spare my hands to care about it."
Huayan picked up the teacup, waving the light blue water in the tea with her wrist, and said slowly, "Now is an opportunity, why don't we work together to solve the problem of food and grass in one step, and take advantage of this opportunity to settle the matter of the aristocratic family?" The root of the imperial court was uprooted. What do you say?"
An Shuli shivered, "What do you mean?"
"That's what you think, are you willing to take the An family under the knife?" Hua Yan asked.
"Naturally." An Shuli has been fed up these days, and his eyes are filled with chills, "The people of the An family are so weak that they thought I became Zaifu An, and they followed the chickens and dogs to heaven, Father. For the Baoan family, I would rather resign from the hereditary title. Although my eldest brother is a womanizer and ordinary in ability, he is not confused. A group of people, the old and the young, not only do not think about their own mistakes, but also attack the father, saying that he does not care about the life and death of the clan for my official position. In the past month, the father has been angry and sick three times. I I can't tolerate them making a fuss with blind eyes and confused hearts."
"Well, since you're willing, let's play a game together, using An's family to open the way, and the clan to open the way." Hua Yanxiu's eyebrows were awe-inspiring, "In the face of Southern Chu's peaceful and prosperous age, no one can be a moth again."
"Yes" An Shuli made a final decision.