…
"What? Aren't you loyal to my noble widow and supporting the father-in-law who rescued the lonely king? Now that the treasury is empty, the lonely king asks you to borrow some money and refuses?"
Qi Ruosi shouted angrily at the group of scum in the palace, which could be described as hysterical.
When a minister heard this, he immediately knelt down and cried: "Your Majesty, my family's wealth is only enough to feed my family. I really can't afford any extra money. I hope your Majesty will be kind and spare my family. "
As soon as he finished speaking, another minister behaved even more exaggeratedly. He beat his chest and stamped his feet and shouted loudly: "I have been poor all my life.
There is no extra money at all. If your Majesty insists on asking me to pay, I will have no choice but to sell all the property in my family manor. "
As soon as he finished speaking, perhaps because his movements were too exaggerated, the money bag tied around his waist accidentally slipped, and the golden gold ingots instantly fell to the ground.
However, the minister immediately lay down on the ground as if nothing had happened, and put the gold ingots scattered on the ground one by one back into his money bag in full view of everyone.
After cleaning up everything, he continued to cry that he had no money and was helpless to rescue the father-in-law. He was a shameless role model.
Seeing this, the other ministers also tried their best, either crying about the difficulties at home, or saying that the money was not in the city. For a while, the palace was like a mourning hall, and the one crying was none other than Qi Ruosi in the seat.
Qi Ruosi suppressed the anger in her heart, and the veins on her forehead popped out.
He never imagined that the pillars of the country who usually kept loyal to the noble widow would be so shameless now and didn't know how to share their worries.
Only Orton sighed and said to Qi Ruosi: "I am willing to donate 10,000 gold ingots to solve your urgent need. In short, I will redeem the father-in-law first and then make further calculations."
Oton's words made Qi Ruosi feel a little relieved. He pointed at the ministers and said, "Look, these are the pillars of the lonely king. Looking at you again, the lonely king is really disappointed."
After speaking, he asked again: "Prime Minister, how many gold ingots do we still have in our treasury?"
Orton said: "Reporting to your Majesty, in order to raise food and grass, most of the gold ingots in the treasury have been used to purchase food and grass. Currently, the remaining gold ingots in the treasury are less than 10,000 ingots..."
"What? Less than ten thousand ingots?"
These words frightened Qi Ruosi.
"The lonely king remembers that there were 40,000 gold ingots in the treasury last month. How come it has become so little?"
Orton sighed again: "Your Majesty, last month you invited a large food craftsman to build a palace for you to celebrate the queen's birthday. It cost a lot of money..."
Qi Ruosi quickly asked: "What about the taxes? The taxes from the merchants in the city should be collected, right?"
"Your Majesty, in order to raise military pay for this army expedition, we have collected taxes from merchants in the city for three years in advance.
At present, the commercial taxes in Tuoluo City have been collected for fifteen years. If they are collected again, those merchants are afraid that they will rebel.
Not only the merchants in the city, but dozens of manors and nearby towns around Tuoluo City also collected taxes for three years in advance. It was really impossible to collect taxes from the people and merchants anymore. "
Qi Ruosi immediately collapsed on the throne. He never imagined that a home war would cost so much.
If I had known this, it would have been better to have peace talks with the Han army, and we would not have ended up in this situation.
"Your Majesty, if the Han army stays outside the city and does not retreat, it will surely upset the hearts of the people in the city. I feel that we must make plans in advance, either to repel the Han army or to persuade them to retreat."
Orton slowly analyzed the current situation between the enemy and ourselves.
"If the Han army beheads the father-in-law in a rage, the consequences will be unbearable for us. Please make a decision quickly."
Qi Ruosi looked helpless.
How to decide? No Money!
At the same time, I complained in my heart why Saidan wanted to attend some clan feast? If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have caused so many troubles.
Of course, he hated the sudden appearance of this Han army, which put him in an extremely embarrassing situation.
"What can the Prime Minister do?"
Orton took a deep breath and said: "For the current plan, we can only send all the gold ingots and silks in the palace to the Han army camp first to appease the Han army generals and ensure that the emperor is fine.
As for what to do next, I think I can only seek help from An An or Dashi, but I think Dashi may not have time to take care of his widow right now.
It is better to send envoys directly to Parthia and ask Parthia King Mohetar to borrow some money to tide over the current difficulties. Of course, it would be best if the two countries can send troops.
But the price is probably unbearable..."
Qi Ruosi looked troubled. She didn't care what Orton meant by "having too much food to take care of herself", but she was worried about how she would pay back the money if she asked An An to borrow money.
Thinking of this, Qi Ruosi suddenly asked: "Prime Minister, do you think the army led by Nanzhuan encountered something unexpected?"
Orton shook his head: "Although there is no news from the front line, I believe that if something happens to the army led by General Nan Zhen, the Han army that appears outside the city will not only have a thousand riders.
This cavalry must have spared the Turbine City Fortress, turned around and appeared outside the city, and put pressure on my noble widow. "
Qi Ruosi immediately said: "If Nan Gu is allowed to lead his army to come back for reinforcements, does the prime minister think he can solve the current predicament?"
"You must not do it!" Orton quickly stopped this crazy idea, "Nan Zhen's army has entered a stalemate with the Han army. If he is ordered to retreat at this time, the morale and morale of the army will also be lost.
How could Bai Qi miss this opportunity? The pursuit will be endless. At that time, my noble widow is afraid that she will be doomed. Please, your Majesty, please do not have such an idea. "
Hearing this, Qi Ruosi felt that this was also the case.
In this case, we can only ask An An for help.
"Then according to the prime minister's words, first send 10,000 gold ingots to the Han army camp. If the emperor can be redeemed, it would be best. If not, I hope they can treat the emperor well."
"I accept your order."
…
In the evening, Mi Buye and his entourage arrived at the Han camp carrying a full cart of gold ingots.
"General Tianchao, these are the gold ingots sent by the king. The total is ten thousand. Please take a look."
Looking at ten boxes of gold ingots, Geng Gong casually picked up one of them and began to inspect it.
I saw that the gold ingot weighed about thirty grams, which was about the same weight as the silver coins currently issued by the Han Dynasty.
However, the workmanship is difficult to describe. The gold ingots are roughly round, but the edges of each gold ingot are uneven, and even the pictures and texts engraved on the surface are rough.
This is also subject to the level of craftsmanship in this era. Even the Sasanian gold coins that are widely praised in the Western Regions are not as exquisite in workmanship as the Han Dynasty silver coins.
After all, these gold coins are cast manually, while silver coins are directly stamped and formed in one go with a water-powered forging hammer or a steam forging hammer. The technical aspects are naturally different.
However, after all, this is gold. Although the gold content of this gold ingot is only about 60 to 70%, it is still very valuable.
Geng Gong dropped the gold ingot in his hand and asked, "Didn't we agree on fifty thousand gold ingots? Why only ten thousand?"
Mi Buye said hurriedly: "General of the Heavenly Dynasty, please calm down. There are only so many gold ingots that can be taken out of the palace. I hope that the General of the Heavenly Dynasty will be merciful and wait a little longer."
Geng Gong snorted coldly: "Humph, in the capital of a great country, you can't even produce such a small amount of gold ingots, and you still boast that you are the overlord of the Western Regions?
Forget it, for the sake of your good intentions, I will grant you a few more days of grace. If you really can't come up with it, forget it. "
Mingbuye was overjoyed when he heard this and said hurriedly: "Can the general, the superior, take the father-in-law back to me that day?"
Geng Gong's expression became condensed: "This general asked you to try your best to raise money. Didn't I say that he would be released immediately? You don't understand people's words, do you?"
"Don't dare, don't dare, General of Heaven, please calm down."
Geng Gong waved his hand: "Okay, you can go back. In order to show your sincerity, you can also take away the widows and common people outside the camp.
But your father-in-law and his family must stay here. I will come back in three days to ask. If you really can’t come up with the money, you can use food, vessels, furs, etc. instead.
Well, the general is busy with military affairs, so I won’t accompany you. "
"Yes, I will retire."
As soon as Mian Buye left, Saidan angrily emerged from behind the screen in the tent.
"What a strange person. When the old man tried his best to help him ascend to the throne, he unexpectedly turned out to be so stingy with money and ignored the old man. In this case, you can't blame me for being unjust if he is unkind!"
He immediately expressed his position to Geng Gong: "General Geng, you said before that you would help your old son to become the king of the noble widow. Is that true?"
Geng Gong nodded: "Shuai Bai must advise His Majesty on this matter. However, as long as the father-in-law is willing to cooperate with me in taking Turbine City and swear allegiance to my great man,
I can guarantee that after Qi Ruosi's death, the Saidan family will become the new royal family members. It will most likely not be a problem for your son to be the widowed king. "
Saidan nodded vigorously: "Okay, most of the generals defending Turbine City are my former confidants, Saidan. I will definitely help you capture Turbine City!"
"In this case, Geng would like to thank the father-in-law for his support!"
