After hearing Wei Zixuan's words, Dong Tianxing and Chen Hong couldn't help but look at each other, feeling something was wrong in their hearts. But the situation is tense now, and the court really has no money, so neither of them can say anything.
Li Bing had similar ideas to them. He was worried that this would make the people's burdens worse and their lives even more miserable. He couldn't help but hesitated and said, "I'm afraid this is not appropriate. The people are already suffering due to years of war. Adding more taxes will inevitably cause resentment among the people." It’s boiling.”
"Your Majesty, in an emergency, you should do extraordinary things." Wei Zixuan advised: "The imperial court is short of money and can't do anything. In the end, it's the people who suffer. Only when the country is good can the people live a normal life. "
He glanced at the emperor who looked troubled and continued: "I have calculated before that if the tax rate is adjusted to five taxes and one tax, then the national treasury can have a net increase of 50 million yuan a year. Leaving aside the south, at least there will be more. Collect 20 million guan. If we collect another war donation in the area we control, we can get another 15 million guan. These more than 30 million guan of silver can be used to build new warships or form heavy armored infantry. Legion, that’s enough.”
Li Bing was not in a hurry to speak. He was silently calculating in his mind, repeatedly considering the pros and cons of Wei Zixuan's proposal.
To be honest, he is really too poor now.
Even the salaries of officials and the food and wages of the army are in arrears. What future can such a court have? What other big things can be done?
Without warships, we cannot deal with the southern rebels; without heavy armor, we cannot defeat the Turkic cavalry.
As for Li Bing, he will always be a lame monarch.
Even worse, the country and the throne may not be saved.
In that case, what's the point of asking for the support of the people?
Li Bing raised his head and asked: "Chen Qing, Dong Qing, what do you think of this matter?"
Chen Hong hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded: "Your Majesty, I think I might as well give it a try. The court cannot be stretched all the time, as it will easily delay important events."
Dong Tianxing thought for a while: "Yes, yes, but can you not charge so high..."
"Not high enough is not enough to solve the problem!" Wei Zixuan didn't wait for him to finish speaking, and interrupted directly: "Mr. Dong, this is not a market to buy vegetables, there is no bargaining. When the money is not enough, don't rush me. and Chen Shangshu.”
Li Bing nodded at this time: "It is true. Without increasing taxes, it is difficult to solve the current problems. The country's difficulties are not the imperial court's own business. All the people of Shengtang must face the difficulties together. Zixuan, you Come up with a strategy as soon as possible. If there are no serious problems, I will make it right."
Wei Zixuan cupped his hands and responded: "I obey your order."
Li Bing sighed softly and asked Chen Hong and Wei Zixuan to leave first, and then asked Dong Tianxing: "How is the situation with the poison soldiers going? I remember last time I heard Gong Chengze say that more than 80% of the poison soldiers were swept away. Clear, is that it?”
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is indeed as Lord Gong said," Dong Tianxing said hurriedly: "The results of the suppression camp are very good. There are only sporadic fish that have slipped through the net in the Central Plains."
Li Bing suddenly smiled: "Dong Qing, thank you for your hard work. I know that you should take the lead in solving the poisonous soldiers. At the beginning, it was you who ran all the way from Yizhou despite the obstruction of the Minister of War Wang Bor. When I came to the Central Plains, I also brought two masters, Wu Rong and Amenta. Gong Chengze took the position of commander-in-chief of the Qing Suppression Battalion. I know what happened, don’t worry."
The meaning of these words is obvious: Don’t be afraid of anyone taking the credit. I have a bright eye and a bright heart, and I will never treat you badly.
Dong Tianxing cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. I dare not claim credit for it. The elimination of the poisonous soldiers who caused harm to the people was all due to the hard work of Wu Rong, Amenta and other soldiers, including Mr. Gong, who also put in a lot of hard work." "
Li Bing nodded: "It is very rare to take credit without being arrogant. I am actually very happy that Dong Qing is so humble. When those monsters are completely eliminated, I will reward you meritorious ministers."
"Your Majesty, speaking of this matter, I still have something to report." Dong Tianxing said.
"Oh? What's the matter?" Li Bing was a little curious: "Tell me."
Dong Tianxing frowned: "Although we have found the antidote, many poisoned soldiers have gradually recovered their consciousness, and the toxins on their bodies are being eliminated. However, the Turks still have no intention of stopping. Every once in a while, the Tongguan soldiers New poisonous soldiers will be released on the border, and I don’t know how many people in Hanzhong will suffer again."
Li Bing thought for a while and asked: "You mean, we can't just treat the symptoms, but also find ways to treat the root cause?"
"Your Majesty is wise, that's what I mean." Dong Tianxing said: "If we don't get rid of the enemy's roots, poisonous soldiers will continue to appear."
Li Bing asked: "Then how to cure the root cause? Unless the Turks are completely defeated, won't they be able to continue to harm people?"
Dong Tianxing explained: "Although we cannot completely drive away the enemy now, the culprit who created the poison soldiers should be eradicated as soon as possible."
"You mean Brother Shuxuan?" Li Bing nodded slightly: "Yes, this guy has committed a heinous crime and should have died long ago. Brother Shuxuan is the initiator of all this. If you kill him, the poisonous soldiers will probably stop, at least It can also slow down its refining speed.”
"This is exactly what I mean," Dong Tianxing said: "According to Miss Xiahou, she was investigating the poison soldiers at Beizhao Temple and learned from the Turks that the recipe for the poison soldiers was in the hands of Brother Shuxuan himself. He was the only one who could get rid of him. This is the fundamental strategy.”
Suddenly hearing Dong Tianxing mention Xiahou Ninghan, Li Bing felt a sudden pain in his heart.
He took a deep breath, temporarily suppressed the complicated thoughts in his mind, and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Dong Tianxing replied: "I'm afraid the Beiya Nilin Division will take action in this matter."
Li Bing deeply understood how powerful Ni Linsi was, so he agreed: "Okay, you go to Tian Mu and ask him to cooperate with you on this matter. You must kill brother Shu Xuan and use his head to comfort the innocent people of Shengtang who died tragically." .”
-
Nilin Division Guards Station.
After hearing what Dong Tianxing said, Tian Mu couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
The task of assassinating his brother Shu Xuan was the emperor's order, so of course he would never dare to shirk it. However, he had no idea whether Nilinsi could succeed, who should be allowed to do it, and how to do it.
Tian Mu has been working at the Yushitai all year round, and is good at investigating cases, interrogating and extorting confessions through torture. In addition, he does not know martial arts, so assassination operations are completely unfamiliar to him.
He pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Zhou Xing.
Zhou Xing knew what Tian Mu meant and said calmly: "My lord, since the fall of the imperial capital, the Nilin Division has suffered a series of fierce battles and the losses have been very heavy. Especially in the operations department responsible for assassinations and battles, many masters are no longer here. Like this It would be very difficult for us to go deep into the enemy's territory and kill the general with our current strength."
Tian Mu frowned when he heard this: "According to what you say, are we going to disobey the emperor's will?"
"It's not that there is no way at all." Zhou Xing said lightly: "There are two ways to choose from."
"Which two?"
"One is to ask the experts in the world to help, and the other is to ask the Intelligence Department of the Zhenjiang Army to take action."
Tian Mu was slightly startled when he heard this: "Intelligence Department of the Zhenjiang Army? Well... Zhou Xing, do you know the masters of the martial arts?"
Zhou Xing shook his head: "I don't know them, but Mr. Shen knows a lot."
Upon hearing Shen Lie's name, Tian Mu immediately changed his mind: "That's it...then it seems that we still need to find the Xinjiang Army."
Zhou Xing smiled calmly: "If we want to find the Xinjiang Army, Lord Shen will have to come forward. He has a good relationship with Li Jiangyao, so his words will work."
Tian Mu suddenly felt very depressed.
Originally, he wanted to avoid Shen Lie, but he didn't expect that whether he was looking for the Zhenjiang Army or Jianghu Guests, he would need the former Chang Shi to intervene.
However, Tian Mu also knew in his heart that Zhou Xing and his old Nilin Division members were not unable to ask for reinforcements. It was just that they had Shen Lie in their hearts and wanted to cause trouble for their new leader at all times so that he would not happy.
Thinking of this, Tian Mu sneered: "Which one's words will be effective is not a matter for me to consider. Zhou Xing, since the emperor has made a decree for us to cooperate with Dong Shilang to get rid of brother Shu Xuan, then everyone should do their job well and don't mess around. Moth. Let’s do this. I have ordered you to take full responsibility for this matter. You can look for whoever you like. If you don’t remove your brother Shuxuan’s head within a month, you will go to the emperor to answer the question yourself!”
Zhou Xing had already guessed that this guy would definitely take the blame in the end, so he didn't panic and said calmly: "I obey my orders."
After that, he said goodbye to Tian Mu, and then left Chang Shi's custody room with Dong Tianxing to arrange the assassination of his brother Shu Xuan.
"Brother Zhou, is it true that your Nilin Division can't do it?" Dong Tianxing asked as he walked back.
Zhou Xing shook his head bitterly: "Mr. Dong, do you think I was just trying to make things difficult for Tian Mu? In fact, that is not the case. How dare Zhou Xing make fun of national affairs? To tell you the truth, many brothers from the Nilin Division have been doing this in recent years. By sacrificing his life for the country, our losses are indeed very great, and now Chang Shi has left again... Alas!"
Dong Tianxing thought for a while: "I do have some helpers there."
"You are referring to the poison experts in Miao and Yunnan, right?" Zhou Xing responded: "They are indeed good candidates. However, to go deep into the tiger's den this time, we must have a thorough intelligence network and a powerful assault force."
Old Dong nodded: "It seems that we really need to ask Daduhu to take action. But... you also know that the emperor seems..."
Zhou Xing understood what he was going to say, shrugged and said: "We are facing a formidable enemy. There is no need for us to look forward and backward, thinking about what we have and what we don't have. Didn't Tian Mu just nod his head? Let's go and ask for the guardian."
Dong Tianxing pondered for a moment and agreed: "Okay, as you said, I will write a letter to the Protector immediately. You have experience in this area, please tell me carefully what kind of support we need from the Zhenjiang Army, and I will Go borrow it with this old face."
"Intelligence, raid, response, guarantee," Zhou Xing said with his fingers: "The entire assassination operation requires the participation of at least forty or fifty experts, and they must also be able to speak Turkic. The most important thing is to have a strong martial artist. , the commander-in-chief who remains calm in times of crisis.”
