Zhu Xiaochuan has always been a good person, and he has a good relationship with all the officials in the court, so it makes sense for him to submit a memorial to protect Chen's succession.
Surprisingly, Wang Anbang, who hated Chen Jisheng the most, also came to plead for mercy, and what he said was quite sincere, which surprised everyone.
what's the situation?
"Chen Jisheng is ridiculous and has no king, and is extremely hateful! However, what Pingyang Marquis and Anbang said seems to have a little bit of truth, which makes me embarrassed. My dear friends, what do you think?"
Li Wanjiang's face was as dark as water and his tone was calm. It was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
So there is silence, and you can hear the needle drop.
"I usually make a lot of noise and keep silent when I ask you about things. How could it be that I am so harsh on the speaker that you don't even dare to say anything?"
Li Wanjiang's tone was not good.
Li Hong and Liu Wenzheng quietly looked at each other and stepped forward at the same time.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"
"Oh? Or if you don't come out, there will be two of you when you come out? Let's talk about it." Li Wanjiang forced a smile.
"I think what Pingyang Marquis has done is very good! Chen Jisheng is an official, and he has the right to report things after hearing the news. Although he offended Tianyan, it was unintentional. I hope that our emperor will take care of him and demote him. It's a great job!" Li Hong said loudly.
"I think what Mr. Wang Anbang said is reasonable. As the saying goes, if a father has a disobedient son, his family will not be destroyed; if a king has dissatisfied ministers, his country will not be destroyed! Chen Jisheng must not be killed, otherwise the hearts of loyal ministers in the world will be chilled." Liu Wenzheng spoke harshly.
The two men's words were quite fierce, and they could almost be regarded as contradicting the emperor in public.
But there is no risk.
There are several reasons.
First, before they expressed their opinions, they carried out Zhu Xiaochuan and Wang Anbang. Therefore, if the emperor wanted to punish them, they had to punish these two people first. Would the emperor be willing to do so?
They are not guilty, and we brothers are also not guilty.
Second, Xiao Chen’s hint just now is already very obvious, that is, the emperor does not want to kill Chen Jisheng at all, otherwise he would have been killed long ago!
Since he will not kill, he will be spared, so the words of the two of us should be in the heart of the emperor.
Third, even if the emperor gets angry and kills both brothers, it will be considered as a loyal minister who died due to remonstrance, and his name will be left in history!
"Hahaha, that's good!" Li Wanjiang raised his head and laughed.
"Since you all want to be loyal ministers, do I want to be a foolish emperor? According to my decree, Chen Jisheng will be punished with twenty sticks, his position will be cut off, and he will go home and reflect... Never Accepted, as a warning to others!"
As soon as Li Wanjiang finished speaking, everyone knelt down together, saying that he was both benevolent and virtuous, lenient and strict, that the emperor was gracious and treated his ministers like sons...
Zhu Xiaochuan, Wang Anbang, Li Hong, and Liu Wenzheng were all relieved. It seemed that they had won their bets this time.
They looked at Xiao Chen together, and saw that his face was as calm as water, with no emotion or anger, and they secretly admired the depth of his city.
But he didn't know that what Xiao Chen was thinking was that he had done the queen a big favor this time, and she would definitely thank him deeply.
There should be no problem with the promised reward, but I don't know if there are any other special rewards?
When I think of Murong Danqiu's shy and charming demeanor, her meaningful smile, her skin that can be broken by a blow, her refreshing body fragrance, her soft and smooth waist, her sweet and delicious lips...
He actually got aroused shamelessly!
Fortunately, it was early spring weather, it was warm but still cold, and he was wearing a thick brocade robe. Otherwise, he might have exposed his big secret in front of the public, in front of King Longwei.
"Concubine Liu is like a cloud. She wants to go home to visit her relatives. I have given my permission and will set off soon... Xiao Chen?" Li Wanjiang turned to look at Xiao Chen.
"The slave is here!" Xiao Chen was shocked and hurriedly responded.
"Concubine Liu is here to visit relatives. The journey is long and bumpy. I am a little worried, so I want you to escort her for a while. Are you willing?"
Those questions are all bullshit!
Of course I will...
"Slave obeys the order!"
I didn't say that the slave was willing.
"Well, I can rest assured that you are doing things. This is your responsibility in the West Factory. You will be fully responsible for this matter. Liu Wenzheng, you can go along with it." Li Wanjiang pointed at Liu Wenzheng casually.
"My Lord, thank you for your kindness!" Liu Wenzheng peed with joy, knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.
I don’t know what makes him happy?
In fact, it was not a big deal for the imperial concubine to propose marriage, but because of Liu Ruyun's special status as the eldest princess of Myanmar, Li Wanjiang was so concerned about it and raised it solemnly in the court.
To put it bluntly, it is just to give face to the king of Myanmar and win his heart.
But of course it's not just that simple.
The reason why he sent Liu Wenzheng, a doctor from the Ministry of Household Affairs, to follow him was to have a first-hand understanding of Burma's current farmland, population, taxation, financial revenue and expenditure and other important situations.
Myanmar has been crying about poverty since it belonged to the Zhou Dynasty.
Today we talk about floods, tomorrow we talk about locust plagues, earthquakes, flash floods, plagues, and the remnants of some powerful men harassing us...
In a word, it is to ask the court to provide relief.
Moreover, the lion's mouth is wide open, and it is easy to get hundreds of thousands or millions of taels of silver!
After years of war, the world was in chaos, the treasury was extremely empty, and there were many places to spend money. Li Wanjiang was almost exhausted.
Where did he get so much money?
And according to his intelligence, those natural disasters did not happen in Myanmar at all. They were all fabricated with nonsense just to get money!
Do you think Li Wanjiang is angry?
But I can't get angry yet, so I can only issue gentle explanations and kind words to comfort me. I also have difficulties... I cry out to them about my poverty.
It's quite tragic for the emperor to do this.
"Now, although I, the Great Zhou Dynasty, have unified the world, there are many things waiting for improvement. There are clowns inside, powerful enemies around, and frequent disasters all over the country. We need money everywhere, but the treasury is empty and I am stretched. Dear friends, do you have any good advice?"
This is the big thing Li Wanjiang wants to talk about today.
The treasury is empty? Can't?
The money received from the previous dynasty alone amounted to tens of millions of taels.
Coupled with the confiscation of the homes of the ministers of the previous dynasty, as well as the proceeds from the four battles and plunders, the total must be 70 to 80 million taels, which should be very rich. The emperor is a bit alarmist, right?
When Chen Wenqi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, saw everyone looking at him, he coughed, took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, and began to read expressionlessly.
"Following the emperor's decree, our Ministry of Accounts has been counting the various accounts of the treasury since last year. It has been basically clarified. As of the end of December last year, the balance of our treasury totaled 5 million, 237,600 taels... "
"Old Chen, are you kidding me?"
"Do you understand this number?"
"Five million? Then where do the remaining tens of millions go? I ask you!"
"Have you forgotten the taxes you paid last year?"
"You can't talk nonsense about such a big thing!"
