Emperor Zhizheng rarely received his ministers in the Longevity Palace.
But today he made an exception.
After the sound was over, a Taoist priest wearing a crane cloak and an immortal spirit walked out of the gate.
Seeing Qin Yan and Xu Song, the man bowed his head and said: "Immeasurable Life Buddha, Mr. Qin Ge, Mr. Xu Ge! Taoist priests are polite!"
Qin Yan smiled and said: "Master Lu is leading His Majesty to practice again? Thank you for your hard work!"
It turned out that this person was Lu Xixing, a native of Xinghua County, South Zhili, who claimed to be a disciple of Lu Zu.
Lu Xixing lifted his fly whisk and said with a smile: "Your Majesty has a deep blessing. He is the reincarnation of the Heavenly Lord of the Ten Directions, the Supreme Saint of the North and East, and the Taoist priests are just practicing with your Majesty!"
Qin Yan laughed, obviously not believing in such nonsense as the reincarnation of the Heavenly Lord.
However, he was extremely enthusiastic and said to Lu Xixing: "Director Lu, I happen to have some fine Laoshan tea sent by students. I will ask my servants to send you some later."
Lu Xixing smiled and said: "Then the Taoist priest will thank Qin Ge Lao!"
"you are welcome!"
After Lu Xixing greeted Qin Yan politely, he looked at Xu Song and said, "Mr. Xu Ge!"
He said this in Xinghua accent, and the expression on his face was much warmer than that of Qin Yan.
But Xu Song frowned slightly and said, "Master Lu!"
Lu Xixing felt a little embarrassed when his hot face pressed against his cold butt.
But soon he bowed his head and said: "Two pavilion elders, I will leave first!"
Qin Yan smiled and nodded: "Master Lu, walk slowly!"
After Lu Xixing left, Qin Yan turned to Xu Song and said, "Zhongwang, you are still like this, treating these Taoist priests and monks..."
Xu Song cupped his hands and interrupted: "Chief Assistant, let's go in, don't keep His Majesty waiting!"
Qin Yan smiled bitterly and shook his head, leading the way into the hall.
Because the emperor was the reincarnation of the Northeastern Saint Tianzun, he did not worship Taoist gods.
Taoism is actually a bit strange, and its genealogy is very complicated.
Among the immortals, there are the Three Pure Ones, the Five Lao Lords of the Five Directions, the Six Imperial Heavenly Emperors, the Golden Mother Mugong, the Three Official Great Emperors, the Ten Directions Heavenly Lords, the Heavenly Officials and Star Lords, the gods of mountains, rivers and seas, the Four Heavenly Masters, and the Four Marshals. , the Four Great Vajras, the gods on earth, the Eight Immortals, the difference between real people and immortals.
If you want to say who is the bigger official here, there is actually no clear statement.
For example, if Lu Xixing claims to be a disciple of Lu Dongbin, then he is a disciple of the Fifth Northern Patriarch, Chunyang Yan Zhengjinghua Caiyou Emperor.
Logically speaking, this belongs to real people and immortals.
Do you think Lu Dongbin can lead the Heavenly Lords of the Ten Directions?
No, even though Lu Zu was well-known among the people, there are really no Taoist scriptures that say how big an official he was and who he controlled.
Therefore, at this time, there was not even a statue of a god in the Longevity Palace.
In the end, the emperor of the Wei Dynasty practiced cultivation again and again, but he had no one to worship.
Also, isn’t it that His Majesty admires himself?
At this time, a rustling sound came from behind the palace.
Qin Yan and Xu Song quickly stood up, bowed their heads and waited for Emperor Zhizheng to come out.
"Unfortunately, things often go wrong, but the words are the same!"
Before Zhizheng Emperor's people arrived, the voice came out first.
When Qin Yan and Xu Song heard this, they quickly knelt down on the ground.
At this time, the pale-faced Emperor Zhizheng walked out of the back hall and sat directly on their couch.
"Say it!"
His voice seemed to be far away, making it impossible to hear the joy and anger in his words.
Qin Yan said: "Your Majesty, there are thieves in Jiangxi and Guangxi..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard Emperor Zhizheng interrupting him: "Qin Yan, you are my chief assistant. I asked you to sit in this position, not to be a mouthpiece. I want you to find a way to come out." , understand?”
Emperor Zhizheng's voice was still neither sad nor happy, but these words were already the harshest reprimand Qin Yan had heard in these years.
Qin Yan was lying on the ground, his old knees on the purple gold bricks, shaking violently.
To be honest, he is quite capable in terms of economic talent, but when it comes to using troops, this is really not his strong point.
But fortunately, he had already communicated with Xu Song when he was outside, and he quickly replied: "Your Majesty, I believe that the ultimate goal of the Guangxi soldiers and Jiangxi soldiers is to go north and collude with the thieves in Hefei."
"So, for the current plan, we should concentrate our forces to wipe out the enemies in Hefei first, and then use the king's army to go south to wipe out the thieves in Jiangxi in one fell swoop!"
After he finished speaking, you could hear needles dropping in the hall.
Emperor Zhizheng seemed to be thinking about what Qin Yan had just said.
After about half a cup of tea, Emperor Zhizheng slowly spoke: "Wang Ji, go and bring two brocade stools to the two pavilion elders!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Wang Ji, who had been standing nearby without daring to breathe, quickly asked the eunuch to bring the stools to the hall, and then personally helped Qin Yan and Xu Song stand up.
Qin Yan and Xu Song are both in their sixties.
After kneeling for such a long time, both of them could no longer hold on.
But the emperor was watching from above, and the two of them did not dare to rub their knees, so they could only endure it.
But at this moment, Emperor Zhizheng asked Qin Yan again: "It's already February, when will the enemies of Hefei be wiped out? Does your cabinet have detailed regulations to submit?"
Speaking of this, the sweat that had just subsided on Qin Yan's forehead broke out again.
Xu Song asked for food several times, but he refused with various reasons.
As for the reasons for doing this, firstly, the imperial court did spend money everywhere. It had been struggling to survive these years, so how could it have money to fight the war?
There is also the fact that he has always had a grudge against the selection of cabinet ministers, especially Xu Song and Wu Xingbang, both of whom are from Nanzhi, and always wants to get rid of one of them.
Previously, he had been targeting Xu Song, who had just entered the cabinet and had not yet established a stable footing.
But after the last discussion, he had quietly turned his attention to Wu Xingbang, the junior minister in the cabinet.
So thinking of this, he quickly stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, at the end of the year, all the yamen have to use money, and at the beginning of spring, they have to prepare for the places outside the Great Wall. The household department is also short of money. Mr. Xu Ge has asked for money several times, but the old minister is useless. , I have been unable to squeeze out any money!"
"Fortunately, spring has begun, and there are fewer places asking for money. I am thinking of squeezing some money from the river to support the war in Hefei!"
Xu Song remained silent, without even a trace of emotion on his face.
He had long expected that Qin Yan would use this matter to show off.
However, now I have only passed the first assistant level. If I want to get the money, I still have to see what the person above me wants.
"Xu Song, how much silver do we need in total?"
"Here we come!" Xu Song secretly thought.
He stood up and replied: "I originally planned to use a thousand Xuzhou Guards to be temporarily led by Zhang Jingxian, but now the thieves are likely to come down the Xiangjiang River, and we need to order the guards along the Xiangjiang River to assemble and bring them under the leadership of the high officials sent by the imperial court. Rule! In addition, there are needs in places such as Hukou in Jiujiang, Jiangxi..."
When Emperor Zhizheng heard this, he said impatiently: "Just tell me how much it is?"
"At least two million!"
After Xu Song finished speaking, there was no movement for a long time.
Finally, Emperor Zhizheng said: "There is only one million! I want your cabinet to ensure that if you throw this million away, you can hear the sound!"
Qin Yan was afraid that Xu Song would be the best, so he quickly stepped out of the queue and said, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Xu Song bowed at this time and said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Jingxian once trained a group of regiments when he was in charge of the Huaiyang Coastal Defense Battalion. The coastal defense battalion once faced off against the Japanese on the shore without losing!"
As soon as these words came out, Emperor Zhizheng and Qin Yan all stared at Xu Song.
Xu Song cupped his hands and said: "Accidents in the south, especially in Huguang and Jiangxi, will have a great impact on spring plowing immediately. These two places are important financial and taxation areas for the imperial court. If not in time..."
Emperor Zhizheng interrupted: "Yes!"
