The ministers all felt incredible when they saw Nie Chen confidently reaching out for money.
Where does your face come from?
You formed your own army, grabbed King Anton's territory, and fought against King Anton's army, all for your own hegemony. Why do you have the nerve to ask the court for money?
In fact, everything Nie Chen said was true.
Weihu County is really poor.
It is simply impossible to support an army of 300,000 with a population of more than one million. Nowadays, neither food, grass nor wages are actually enough.
The food and grass had been saved by Liu Hu before and had not been transported to King Andong. This was a benefit to Nie Chen. However, Weihu County was originally a barren land and the food production was not high. The people were not hungry, so how much could they have? Where's the food storage?
As for silver, Nie Chen's main source of money came from doing business with King Ping Xi. Secondly, he came from doing business with barbarians and received taxes from merchants and robbed money.
But this can only be maintained for a short period of time. Over time, it will still be difficult to supply the consumption of an army of 300,000.
After all, even if King Pingxi can continue to do business, how much money will he have?
Feng Country itself is a poor country. It has been war-torn for years. The people live a hard life and don't have enough to eat. How much money can they have to pay taxes?
If the people are not rich, how can the country be rich and strong?
Sooner or later, King Pingxi will be unable to afford weapons, and there will also be a day when his weapons are saturated.
The most important thing is food and grass. The food and grass in Weihu County now is only enough for this winter. When spring comes next year, we will almost run out of food.
It is even more unrealistic to use money to buy food. If you don’t have much money, you still have extra money to buy food.
It was impossible for King Anton to sell it to him. King Pingxi also had to support his own army. The barbarians were so poor that they didn't even have enough to eat.
Therefore, Nie Chen must expand outward next year, feed war with war, plunder enemies, and gain more territory in order to survive.
For Nie Chen, if he doesn't expand, he will die.
Back to the subject, when he heard Nie Chen reaching out for money, Right Prime Minister Tong Yuan was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
The old man pointed at Nie Chen tremblingly and said,
"The truth... I have never seen such a shameless person!"
"Right Prime Minister, you are old, so don't be angry. Let me tell you, if you really can't help the court raise money and you are so old, why not take the initiative to become an official and abdicate in favor of someone more worthy? If talented young people come forward, they may actually have some good strategies for governing the country that can improve the poverty and plight of our country.
A mediocre person like you keeps occupying the manhole and does not work, and occupies the position but does not work. When will young people be able to make a difference? "
"Hmph, the longer a person lives, the wiser and more stable he becomes. If his true nature is not the prime minister, should he let a child with a yellow mouth like you become the prime minister? That would really bring disaster to the country and the people!"
Tong Yuan retorted sharply.
Nie Chen shook his head and smiled,
"What the right minister said is wrong. If the longer you live, the wiser you become, then why are there so many illiterate old farmers among the people who are older than you?
Since ancient times, heroes have been judged by their talent, but how can they be judged by their age?
Mr. Tong, there is a saying that goes well, if you are too old to die, you are a thief. You have occupied the position of Right Chancellor for so many years and have made no achievements. It is time to step down and make way for someone more worthy.
Otherwise, the longer you live, the more blessings and national luck you will devour from your descendants. "
Nie Chen's words meant that he was not asking the Right Prime Minister to abdicate, but asking him to die directly.
"Who said the truth has no achievements?"
Tong Yuan said angrily,
"Isn't the Prime Minister now proposing good political policies to His Majesty? Isn't he trying to collect money and food? But if you and other county governors refuse to cooperate, what can the Prime Minister do?!"
"Okay, okay, then you can think of a way. When the money and food are collected, don't forget to pay back the share you owe me."
After speaking, Nie Chen returned to his original position and sat down by himself.
Tong Yuan glared at Nie Chen fiercely, and then said to the other county guards,
"Master Nie's Weihu County has to resist the barbarians and cannot provide money or food. What about you? Your county cannot provide money or food?"
After hearing this, the county guards immediately said that without money, we are poorer than Weihu County.
There was no other way. The right minister could only look at the four kings and said,
"My lords, as far as I know, the governors of the various places under your jurisdiction have all given money and food to you, right? If you say that you can't come up with money and food, I'm afraid it's a bit unreasonable, right?"
The four kings were silent. You looked at me and I looked at you. No one spoke, they were all waiting for the other to speak.
Tong Yuan sighed, turned to look at King Zhennan, and said,
"Prince Zhennan, you have always been the most talkative before. Can you express your gratitude first?"
King Zhennan glared, slammed the table, and said,
"You old boy wants to harm me again. Your Majesty just told me to stop talking. Now you want me to speak again. Do you want to harm me for disobeying the Holy Will?"
Hearing this, the corner of the emperor's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Damn it, you are obedient at this time.
Then he said,
"Just say what's important and don't make random interruptions all the time."
King Zhennan nodded and said,
"Oh, that's it. Then I can settle the score. Since I inherited the title of king, I have fought many battles, big and small..."
Tong Yuan interrupted King Zhennan sharply and said,
"That was all civil war. You went to fight King Anton when you had nothing to do. How have you ever fought against a foreign enemy?"
King Anton wanted to cry after hearing this.
King Zhennan also got angry. He stood up and pointed at Tong Yuan and cursed,
"Then do you know how many soldiers and horses the Qi State has? They have 1.3 million soldiers and horses. Is it easy for me to resist the eager wolves in the south with the power of a few poor counties?
These counties of my king are the least and poorest among the four kings. It is difficult to maintain the consumption of the army. I pity my king's soldiers. They have to be hungry while guarding against the enemy. They have no food and clothing and no warmth. No matter how much they are, they are all loyal to me, Dafeng!
But what about the court? How many years has it been since the imperial court distributed money and food? Did the imperial court disregard the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers like this? Is this how we treat the soldiers who are loyal to our country?
Such behavior is heartbreaking! "
Well, King Zhennan directly copied and pasted Nie Chen's words to reply to Right Prime Minister Tong Yuan.
The old man was so angry that he almost vomited blood and said tremblingly,
"But didn't Qi State also fight? Can't your soldiers go to farm? They are self-sufficient and still have a surplus!"
"The soldiers have gone to farm. If they don't go to fight, where will the fighting power come from? Do we have to wait until Qi's army comes over and chop at their heads with big swords, and then our soldiers go to fight them with hoes?"
The more Zhennan Wang talked, the angrier he became, and he even wanted to hit the other party with a wine bottle.
