"Du Antong!"
Above the court, Prime Minister Zuo Yunqi shouted like a voice of accountability.
"The official is here."
Du Antong, the Grand Governor of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, came to the middle position.
Seeing the calm look of Governor Du Antong, Prime Minister Su Yunqi of the Left asked: "Do you know that this time the Qi army went south to attack our Mo Dynasty?"
At this time, some of the ministers' gazes were directed at Governor Du Duantong, who was standing in the middle of the road.
"Go back to Prime Minister Zuo, and your subordinates will know." After the Governor Du Antong finished speaking, he looked at the two prime ministers sitting on the chairs in front of them.
"Tell me how to solve this matter?" Prime Minister Zuo Su Yunqi asked.
The Grand Governor Du Antong hesitated for a moment before answering: "Prime Minister Left, Prime Minister Right, this time the Qi army went south and spent a lot of money. The number of troops was hundreds of thousands."
"Hundreds of thousands?" Su Yunqi, the prime minister of the left, seemed very confident: "Da Mo has millions of troops! Are you afraid?"
Seeing Prime Minister Zuo Yunqi's confused look, Governor Du Antong explained.
"Reporting to the left prime minister, what I am afraid of is not the hundreds of thousands of troops, but the food and salary. Since this year, all the major disasters in the Mo Dynasty have required a lot of money, which has also affected the crops of the people. What I am afraid of is that the food and salary are not enough."
Listening to the explanation of Grand Governor Du Antong, Prime Minister Su Yunqi of the Left didn't quite believe it.
What I don’t quite believe is that the Momo treasury is so rich, how come there is a shortage of food and salary.
"Gui Shangshu!" Su Yunqi, the prime minister of Zuo, shouted.
In this court, even though the emperor did not preside over the affairs of the court, Gui Yuanwei, the Minister of War, still had to behave politely.
"The official is here."
"Is there really a shortage of food and wages?" Su Yunqi, the prime minister of the left, asked.
Gui Yuanwei, Minister of the Ministry of War, smiled slightly: "Reporting to the left prime minister, there is indeed a shortage. Tens of thousands of horses are raised in this stable every year, and they need to be purchased from the private sector. In addition to the disasters that occurred in various places not long ago, the Ministry of Revenue spent a lot of money from the national treasury. If it is used for disaster relief, we need a lot of labor and disaster relief money."
"Cen Shangshu."
Prime Minister Zuo Su Yunqi shouted again.
"Prime Minister Zuo, I'm here." Cen Wenxing, the Minister of Household Affairs, replied.
"How much silver is left in the treasury?"
"Back to Prime Minister Zuo, there are only sixty-four thousand taels now."
After hearing this, Su Yunqi, the Prime Minister of the Left, was a little unconvinced and stood up: "How could this be so?"
"Back to Prime Minister Zuo, there have been frequent disasters in various places this year, as well as the removal of Japanese pirates along the coast. These places all need silver." Cen Wenxing, the Minister of Household Affairs, reported truthfully.
At this time, Su Yunqi, the prime minister of the left, looked at the student Yang Youcheng beside him with a pair of bewildered eyes.
"Right Prime Minister, what can you do about the treasury deficit?" Su Yunqi, the prime minister of the left, looked worried.
Right Prime Minister Yang Youcheng listened to the words of his benefactor Su Yunqi, and shook his head honestly: "Back to Left Prime Minister, this national treasury deficit is a big deal, and we still need time to think about it."
Listening to the words of the student Yang Youcheng, Su Yunqi, the Prime Minister of the Left, sighed, looked at the ministers, and said: "After you go back, think about ways to expand the money in the treasury. If you come up with it, you will be rewarded with the truth."
Listening to the words of Zuo Prime Minister Su Yunqi, these officials started talking one after another.
Seeing that all the ministers were very interested in the rewards. Prime Minister Zuo Su Yunqi shouted.
"Everyone, please be quiet."
After calming down, Su Yunqi, the Prime Minister of the Left, continued: "Everyone, the war is urgent right now. What can you do?"
"Prime Minister Zuo, I don't know much about the war. I don't know if this is possible. For the time being, use the remaining money in the treasury to make up for the war needs, and put the rest of the war aside for the time being." Ding Liu, the Minister of Rites, expressed his opinion.
Listening to the words of Ding Liu, the Minister of Rites, Su Yunqi smiled slightly: "What Ding Shangshu said is absolutely true."
Ding Shangshu's words made these ministers agree with him.
Just then, an official came out.
He is Guo Xingwen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice.
"Prime Minister Zuo, it's already November, and in just over a month, we will go to Mo and Wan to exchange goods. I won't be able to get the goods out by then. Is that okay?" Guo Xingwen, the Minister of Punishment, became worried.
"Indeed." Cen Qi, the right minister of the Ministry of War, said.
Cen Qi was the Minister of the Ministry of War during the Hongdao period. At that time, he was demoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War by Emperor Hongdao because he failed to report the rebellion of the left prime minister Sun Zhicai and the prince in time.
After serving as the right minister of the Ministry of War for so many years, Cen Qi hated Su Yunqi very much.
Later, Su Yunqi also kept his official position, and Cen Qi hated it less.
"The war is urgent. Let's think about the war first. There is still more than a month before the goods are exchanged, so don't rush." After saying that, Su Yunqi, the Prime Minister of the Left, still looked to the Governor Du Antong.
"Du Antong, what do you think of this matter?" Su Yunqi, the Prime Minister of the Left, asked.
"Returning to the left prime minister, since I am willing to use the treasury silver for military supplies, I think that these military supplies should be used where necessary and save money. Although Da Mo has an army of millions, I think that we should mobilize Mo Zhang, The main forces from Huguang and Jianglai provinces went to reinforce and resist the enemy. Afterwards, the remaining four provinces of Nanyue, Guangnan, Nanzhong and Nanyu were on standby. If necessary, they would all be dispatched."
Listening to the words of Governor Du Antong, Su Yunqi, the left prime minister, although he didn't know much about military affairs, felt that there was some truth in it.
"Okay, let's do it like this." After saying this, Su Yunqi, the Prime Minister of the Left, just remembered something: "I heard that the Qi army went south this time and destroyed a city in Zhenshui County. The local military commander of the governor's office sent reinforcements to support, and the entire army was wiped out. , is there such a thing?"
The words of Su Yunqi, the prime minister of the left, made the governor Du Antong feel a little flustered, but he had to answer truthfully.
"Yes." Grand Governor Du Antong's words were a little soft.
"I heard that a general was lost?" Su Yunqi, the prime minister of Zuo, asked again.
"Yes." Grand Governor Du Antong replied again.
Su Yunqi, the prime minister of the left, sighed and tapped the wooden chair beside him with his fingers: "Why did the general send only 20,000 soldiers? According to what I know, the Huguang army has more than 200,000."
"Back to Prime Minister Zuo, the Qi army this time has about 800,000 troops. The Huguang general must know this and wants to send troops to extend their time and wait for reinforcements."
"Then... why did he send a capable general? He didn't know that General Hu Zhen was a hero in several battles between the Mo Dynasty and the Qi Kingdom?" Su Yunqi, the Prime Minister of the Left, was a little angry. .
"Yes, yes. This matter is a matter of the local commander-in-chief. I will resign from my post when I return."
"Can we send some support troops?"
"Sent, now on the way."
Seeing this situation, Prime Minister Zuo Yunqi became even more worried.
I thought that since the emperor was not pro-government, I could take good care of the country, but I didn't expect that the treasury would end up like this.
However, just now, Cen Wenxing, the Minister of Household Affairs, forgot to report something: the current queen often eats seasonal fruits, and almost all the fruits she eats every day are hurriedly transported by people and horses from various places. In order to keep the fruits fresh, they have to spend a lot of money. Great effort.
Because of this, Cen Wenxing, the Minister of Household Affairs, deliberately did not say this in court.
After all, the queen is the eldest daughter of the Su family, and speaking out may affect the reputation of the Su family.
A few days later...
After several days of bloody fighting, no, it should be said that it was easy fighting, Qi Jun captured several more cities.
Many men who were able to escape in the future either died or were captured by the Qi army as their own soldiers, while most of the young women were for the enjoyment of the Qi army. Only those old and young had only one fate, and that was death.
Fortunately, when the Qi army rushed into the county town, many people were able to escape smoothly and fled to unoccupied cities.
At this moment, in the Governor's Mansion in the provincial capital, Mr. Su looked at the letter on the table and his face was filled with anger.
"General Su." The young official just spoke, but when he saw General Su's face, his words shrank back.
After a long time, Mr. Su was so angry that he slammed his hand on the table.
The bang made several petty officials around him panic.
"Look! Look! This is what you said about sending tens of thousands of troops to try! Now that General Tiger has died, the court will hold me accountable. It just won't hold you accountable. Is it still reasonable?!" Mr. Su was angry! road.
"General Soldier Su, please... calm down, calm down." A small official said soothingly.
"Calm down, calming down is useful! What this letter says is: resign from my position! Never resign! Open your eyes and see if that's what it says!" Su Zongbing was so angry that he vented his anger on several young people. official.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and the angrier he became, the more he wanted to beat someone up. Finally, General Su couldn't help it anymore: "Who suggested it to me that day? Send tens of thousands of troops to delay the fight. Whether it succeeds or not, there won't be much loss." ?”
When asked, all the officials kept their mouths tightly shut and did not dare to say a word.
Even if he didn't say it, General Su still remembered that person.
Then, he raised his fists and struck at someone.
Suddenly, there was chaos.
Seeing this, the surrounding officials began to persuade.
"Commander Su, you can't do it, you can't do it."
