As soon as Liu Mingzhi tied the reins of his horse, a Yamen servant rushed over and stared cautiously at the stranger, Young Master Liu.
"In the Yamen of the Ministry of War, idlers will stop."
Liu Mingzhi smiled lightly and took out an official seal from his arms and held it in his hand.
"Liu Shu, a member of the Household Department, was ordered by Ren Shangshu, the acting minister, to hand over some documents to Song Shangshu. Could you please inform Song Shangshu?"
The yamen servant looked at the official seal in Liu Mingzhi's hand, then at Liu Mingzhi's appearance, then lowered his head and muttered.
"Isn't it Huang Hai, a member of the Ministry of Revenue? Why did he change the willow tree again? And when did the officials of the Ministry of Revenue become so good-tempered that they bothered to tell me what the hell this Ren Guozhang is up to?"
The yamen servant muttered and nodded to Liu Mingzhi: "Shangguang, please wait a moment. I will inform the minister immediately."
"Good work."
The moment the yamen servant turned around and left, Young Master Liu was stunned, because he actually saw a look of disgust in the yamen servant's peripheral vision.
But the reason for this look of disgust was not because of himself, but because of the fake official seal on his hand. The yamen servant seemed to dislike the official seal on his hand.
The official seal he mentioned represents the official seal of the Ministry of Husbandry, so the yamen’s disgust is because of the officials of the Ministry of Husbandry.
Has the Ministry of Household Affairs reached this point now?
What has Lao Jiang's appointment and Ren Wenyue's succession made the current Ministry of Household Affairs look like?
While Mr. Liu was thinking, Song Yu followed the yamen servant who had greeted Mr. Liu earlier and walked out of the yamen with excited eyes.
Seeing Young Master Liu standing next to the horse-tying post, Song Yu's eyes twitched, and the surprise in his eyes was beyond words.
After scanning the surrounding government officials, Song Yu took a deep breath, walked towards Young Master Liu with a calm expression, and nodded slightly to Young Master Liu.
"Liu Shu, a member of the Ministry of Household Affairs, is going to talk to the office of the Minister of Finance, right?"
Apparently, his use of the name Liu Shu made Song Yu, the old fox above the court, realize something. Liu Mingzhi nodded respectfully and returned the salute to Song Yu.
"I'll take the order, Lord Song."
Young Master Liu followed Song Yu into the yamen of the Ministry of War. He didn't know that the yamen servant who greeted him earlier spat on the ground and cursed a few times.
"You bitch, there are times when you cry."
After Young Master Liu and Song Yu entered Song Yu's office, Song Yu hurriedly closed the door and pulled Young Master Liu towards the chair on the side.
"Sit down quickly and tell your uncle about the results of the Northern Expedition?"
Liu Mingzhi looked at Song Yu's expectant eyes and sighed silently: "The great cause of the Northern Expedition was aborted because of the difficulty in sustaining the supply of food and grass. If the food and grass were supplied in time, Commander Yun, Commander Nangong and I should have wiped out the gold and the sudden two The whole country.”
"Now we can only return to the court and return the territory we conquered in vain. Without food and grass, it is impossible for us to station there and defend the territory we conquered."
Liu Mingzhi took off the baggage on his back, took out a stack of war reports, and handed it to Song Yu.
"Uncle will understand the specific process after seeing it."
Song Yu took the literary policy from Liu Mingzhi with a blank expression, suppressed the regret in his heart, sat on the chair and started reading.
After a long time, Song Yu slammed Wen Ce in his hand on the table.
"Traitors are harming the country, traitors are harming the country!"
"Uncle, my nephew did not inform the court when he returned to Beijing, nor did he alert anyone. He came to you first just to find out what happened."
"With the current situation of the national treasury, it can fully support the one-million-strong army in northern Xinjiang for several more months. Why is it that when my nephew is about to complete his work, the food and grass are in trouble?"
"Before my nephew went to the north, he sent a letter to inform His Majesty, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and your Ministry of War in advance."
"On this occasion, everything must make way for the great cause of the Northern Expedition to unify the world. If this is the case, why does this situation still occur?"
"Millions of soldiers are fighting for the country, but the imperial court cannot even supply the necessary food and grass. Doesn't it make the soldiers who are fighting for the country feel heartbroken? You, the Minister of War, have a great responsibility!"
Song Yu looked at Young Master Liu's gloomy expression, shook his head and sighed.
"These things are inseparable from this guy Ren Wenyue. It is difficult to sustain food and grass because the money in the treasury is used elsewhere."
"It was already used before your letter arrived."
Liu Mingzhi's eyes suddenly widened and he looked at Song Yu: "Has the money been used elsewhere? Let alone seven million taels of silver. Where can so much money be used?"
"Even if there were natural and man-made disasters in all the fifteen states south of the Yellow River, we wouldn't need so much money."
"Alas, there were no major disasters south of the Yellow River, but there were floods south of the Yangtze River and the Jianghuai area. The imperial court had to allocate a penny to control the floods."
"However, not much money was spent on flood control. The real bulk was spent on other places."
"What was spent on?"
Song Yu sighed and looked at Young Master Liu with complex eyes: "December 28th."
Liu Mingzhi's eyes were stunned, and the doubt in his eyes was self-evident.
"What kind of day is December 28th? It would consume so much... December 28th, could it be..."
Liu Mingzhi paused as he spoke, and looking at Song Yu's helpless eyes, he realized that he most probably guessed it right.
"Father's three-year grand ceremony?"
Song Yu nodded silently: "It is the three-year national mourning of the late Emperor Ruizong. Ren Wenyue didn't know what he wrote to His Majesty, but Your Majesty actually used the money from the treasury to prepare for the three-year state mourning of the late Emperor Ruizong."
"Even three years of national mourning will not consume tens of millions of taels of silver."
"It's just a national mourning, so naturally we can't spend that much money, but the court also repaired the imperial mausoleum."
"When Wu Guogong Wan Buhai led troops to recover two lost territories in Heshuo and Hetao, all the money from the imperial treasury supported Wan Buhai's great cause of the northern expedition. For this reason, the late Emperor Ruizhong stopped even the construction of his own mausoleum and went all out to support the old country. The Duke’s feat of regaining lost territory.”
"Until the lost territory was recovered, the Three Kingdoms War ensued, and the late Emperor Ruizong passed away, the mausoleum was only hastily completed. However, before his death, the late Emperor Ruizhong summoned his left and right ministers, six ministers, and nine major temple ministers to talk about the matter."
"Abolish all measures that waste people and money, save money, and go all out to deal with the national war below."
"Then the late Emperor succeeded to the throne and immediately started the unprecedented move of the Northern Expedition. This was all arranged by the late Emperor Ruizong."
"But I never expected that after His Majesty ascended the throne, I don't know what slander he listened to, and he actually wanted to renovate the imperial mausoleum for the two previous emperors Ruizong and Wuzong."
"All the officials tried their best to dissuade him, but His Majesty said that Dalong governed the country with filial piety, so how could he ignore the late emperor's mausoleum? Your Majesty repaired the imperial mausoleum in the name of filial piety, and all the officials had nothing to do."
"The petitions that should be submitted, the remonstrances that should be remonstrated, were not stopped after all."
Liu Mingzhi looked at Song Yu with complicated eyes, full of anger and unhappiness, and Li Zheng's voice and smile appeared in his mind.
Since becoming acquainted with him, this majestic emperor has also become greedy for money. He always thinks about accumulating money and becomes like a miser. Liu Mingzhi thought that Li Zheng was led astray by him.
Now I understand how much effort Li Zheng put in for Dalong's empire and the foundation of his ancestors.
'You bastard, I haven't been willing to change my dragon robe for three years. What's the point of sharing a little more dividends? '
'Want money? I don't have it. If you see what's valuable in the palace, you might as well take it out and sell it. '
Liu Mingzhi nodded silently: "I know, my father even abolished the bad custom of burial."
"But repairing the imperial mausoleum doesn't require so much money. Considering the scale of the imperial mausoleum, it will cost more than four million at most. Including the disaster relief, this year's autumn tax will throw out emergency treasury silver, which can support another three years at least. Months of food and fodder.”
"Yes, but with the addition of the national funeral, the money in the treasury is almost exhausted."
"Where are the account books? Repairing the imperial mausoleum is a state matter, and it is not a matter for one person in the household department. The left and right prime ministers, the other five ministers, and the nine major temple ministers all have the right to calculate the account books."
"Have you ever checked the accounts to see if they are correct?"
"According to the calculation, there is almost no big difference, and the loss is within the range allowed by the court."
Liu Mingzhi got up and walked around, quickly calculating something in his mind.
After a long time, Liu Mingzhi slammed the table heavily.
"I don't believe it. It doesn't cost so much money to build a new imperial mausoleum. What's more, it's just to repair an imperial mausoleum that already has a foundation. There must be something fishy in it."
"Uncle, do you have a copy of all Ren Wenyue's deeds after entering the court?"
"Lao Du has it in his hands. Now Lao Du's life is not easy."
Liu Mingzhi nodded silently, picked up the roster on the side and handed it to Song Yu.
"Uncle, please enter the list of fallen soldiers of my central army into the Ministry of War's records. Originally, you would give it to me after everything is finished."
"Okay, this is my job."
Song Yu looked at the Wen Ce in his hand, his face condensed and he sighed heavily.
"Hey, 110,000? How come there are so many?"
"Since ancient times, one general has achieved great success, but my nephew........."
"When is the next court meeting?"
"Three days later!"
"My nephew understands. My nephew will go to Du Chenghao, the Minister of Civil Affairs first."
"My nephew will meet Ren Wenyue personally in three days to see what extraordinary abilities he has."
"Don't be careless. The current climate of Ren Wenyue cannot be underestimated. He is surrounded by many people who want to be popular, and he has the support of the Queen. Don't underestimate this person."
"Even the left prime minister fell into his hands. Although this person has a bad reputation, he still has some tricks. You must understand it clearly before acting. Don't..."
Before Song Yu finished speaking, Liu Mingzhi opened the door with a cold look, holding the Heavenly Sword, and walked towards the outside of the Yamen with the Heavenly Sword.
"Uncle, is he comparable to Li Yunlong who has 400,000 troops?"
"He's just a father-in-law who gained power for a while. Not to mention his nephew, even Duke Jingguo won't take him seriously."
"If he is not as good as Li Yunlong, he will definitely see blood again in the Qinzheng Palace."
Listening to Young Master Liu's loud response, Song Yu was stunned.
This nephew, whom he regards as his own, has become much different than before.
