Xu Yan was shocked and wanted to laugh.
You want me to be a slave and you still want me to forgive you?
However, judging from Zhou Che's method of defeating the Qian family and forcing Zhou Ming to bow down the day before, and arranging for Gai Yue to visit today, it seems that this sixth prince is definitely not a waste.
Could it be that it is really a blockbuster and has the potential to rise to the top of the world?
"stop!"
With no way out, Xu Yan gritted his teeth and said, "I'll just take a gamble!"
He put on his official uniform and followed Gai Yue out.
On the way, ask about what happened.
"You said that the Zhen family fell in love with the Sixth Prince!?" Xu Yan was greatly surprised.
"Yes." Gai Yue nodded and spoke briefly: "My Lord was worried that some people were eager to take action, so he asked you and me to keep an eye on him while he went to the palace to exonerate Zhen."
Xu Yan shook his head: "The fifth prince holds evidence in his hands. It is impossible to get away with this crime. Otherwise, all the salt merchants in the world will follow suit. After all, the interests of the royal family will be harmed. The emperor will not agree."
Gai Yue paused for a while and then said: "Before this, if I told you that Zhen would turn to my lord, would you believe it?"
Xu Yan was stunned.
After a while, a ball of light burst out from his eyes, and he whipped his whip violently to speed up.
If His Highness the Sixth Prince is like the other princes, how can he think highly of himself?
It is precisely because of this that at this moment, each of my small fifth-rank officials seems extremely precious.
if……
Xu Yan's heart suddenly became hot.
In the main hall, the emperor was dealing with an important matter: the invasion of Hedong thieves.
Hedong County is located northwest of Luodu, across the river from Henan County where Luodu is located.
Since five years ago, the land east of Hedong has suffered from disasters for five consecutive years.
Although the imperial court provides disaster relief, Hedong is a large county with two million people. You can't always rely on disaster relief, right?
In addition, it would be great if half of the money spent by the court could be left in the mouths of the victims.
As a result, the people of Hedong had no other way out except to become bandits.
Starting last year, a leader named Guo Zhenyue emerged from this gang of thieves.
He actually led an army of thieves to cross the river and plundered into Henan County.
The imperial army attacked repeatedly, and although they were repelled, they could never be completely pacified.
This time, the Hedong thieves were even more arrogant and raided directly to the outskirts of Luoyang.
After listening to Henan Yin's report, the emperor glanced at everyone: "Tell me, do you have any good strategies?"
The second prince Zhou Han walked out first: "Send troops to fight against the thieves!"
Several generals also agreed: "As His Highness said, if bandits invade the country, we should send troops to attack them!"
Hearing this, the emperor frowned.
Lu Huang, the chief financial officer, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this proposal is inappropriate."
"In recent years, money and food have been wasted repeatedly in order to fight against thieves, which has put great pressure on the national treasury."
"We even built three river protection camps for this purpose, which cost a lot of money, but achieved little results."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance at the few warriors standing next to Zhou Han.
These people are the generals of the third river guarding battalion.
In the past two years of fighting against thieves, they have had enough to eat and have more and more soldiers under their command.
The more they gain in the battlefield, the more they advocate fighting against thieves.
Today, the court is in a dilemma.
"What Da Sinong said is wrong!" Zhou Han immediately refuted: "If we don't punish the thieves, these thieves will invade Luo Jing. Will Da Sinong be able to bear the responsibility then?"
"That's right, if Da Sinong doesn't agree to punish the thieves, he will find another way."
The generals immediately agreed, making it difficult for Lu Huang to deal with it for a while.
"Silence."
The emperor flicked his sleeves and everyone immediately shut up.
"Besides begging the thief, is there any other solution?" he asked again.
The silence was still there.
The emperor's eyes fell on Zhou Ming: "Lao Wu?"
"Father." Zhou Ming hurriedly handed over his hand: "My son is not familiar with military affairs, so I dare not speak nonsense; but I heard that the emperor's brother has made great gains against thieves several times. It is better to go on the expedition as usual. I can at least keep the thieves away from Luo Jing."
Because of their dealings with Zhou Che, the two of them had a good relationship recently and were considered half allies.
Zhou Han glanced at him gratefully.
The emperor refused to comment and looked at Zhou Che: "Lao Liu, what do you think?"
Zhou Che took a step forward and explained his opinion: "Father, the land east of Hedong is barren. Under successive years of drought and locust plague, the people have no way to survive."
"Forced to survive, they have no choice but to leave the grass and plunder everywhere to make a living; in this case, thieves will not be able to plunder them all."
"To solve the problem in Hedong, we must open up other industries so that the people can do something and support themselves."
"The people of Hedong have a way of survival, who is willing to be a thief who licks blood from his knife edge?"
Hearing this, Da Sinong Lu was shocked and immediately leaned over: "Your Majesty, what the Sixth Highness said is straight to the point. This is the right truth!"
"Hmph!" Zhou Han glanced at the two of them and said, "It sounds nice to open other products, but people are all based on agriculture. Can other products be opened casually?"
"What the second brother said is true." The emperor nodded slightly: "If you can't come up with specific measures, just relying on the word 'other' will have no effect."
Zhou Che held up the wooden box in his hand and said, "To my father, I have this so-called 'other property' in my hand."
"However, before that, please allow me to appeal."
The emperor smiled: "You tell me."
"The fifth prince, Ming, colluded with He Changlin of the Tingwei Mansion to fabricate charges and imprison the entire Zhen family. Please be aware of this."
"Old Liu, you are a thief and you are calling for a thief!" Zhou Ming snorted coldly and said to the emperor: "Father, the Zhen family opened salt mines without permission and stole the royal family's property. The amount is huge. For this crime, their clan should be exterminated."
"The Sixth Emperor's brother is coveting the beauty of Zhen's daughter and wants to cover it up. Father, please take a closer look!"
"Interesting." The emperor was not angry, but laughed: "Lao Wu, weren't you originally going to marry the Zhen family? Why did you accuse him instead?"
Zhou Ming gritted his teeth and said, "I was a blind minister before... How can such a sinful family marry my royal family?"
"Father, there is a huge difference between the amount of salt Zhen produces and sells and the salt mines he rents. The Tingwei Mansion has the accounting books, and the evidence is conclusive!"
The emperor looked at Zhou Che: "Lao Liu, how are you going to excuse them?"
"Zhen's business is a brine mine. This mine was previously regarded as a waste mine. It is neither the royal family nor the imperial court. What crime is Zhen's guilty of?" Zhou Che said.
"Nonsense!" The emperor shouted softly: "Brine salt mines are extremely poisonous. Do you think I don't understand anything?"
Zhou Mingyi was happy to hear this.
Do you think you have some killer moves, and you dare to trick your father into thinking he is a fool?
He immediately said: "Father, the sixth man not only protected the Zhen family, but also intended to deceive the emperor, please punish him!"
Zhou Han also jumped out: "It must be severely punished!"
"What are you two so anxious about? I haven't even finished what I said."
Zhou Che's voice was even louder: "Father, the Zhen family has a secret method that can remove the poison from brine salt mines and turn waste into treasure."
"What!?"
Everyone in the hall was speechless for a moment.
Even those who know nothing about salt and brine know the meaning of "turn waste into treasure".
Anything involving salt and iron is a huge profit!
The emperor's eyes seemed to be on fire.
As the person in charge of the world, he is the richest, but also the most short of money.
Any official who can bring him huge income is a living treasure!
As a result, the Emperor, who showed no emotion or anger, excitedly said: "Lao Liu, are you serious about this!?"
"If there is any lies, I am willing to kill myself in front of the palace!"
