He wears a crown, has a majestic face, piercing eyes, and a long beard on his chin. From the perspective of the ancients, he is a rare and beautiful man.
"..."
In the Qianqing Palace!
When He Shen came to see him, Emperor Qianlong was looking at the memorial. For some reason, his face looked a little ugly, as if he had been made mute by something!
Emperor Qianlong, who was sitting on the throne, looked at He Shen who was kneeling to salute, and scolded him jokingly: "You little bastard, you actually knew how to come back, and you left for more than a month."
"If I hadn't sent that guy Zhang Tong to urge you, would it be possible that you would have continued to delay in that miserable place in Taiyuan Mansion?"
Emperor Qianlong's voice was deep, powerful and majestic, worthy of being an emperor of his generation.
However, Heshen saw Emperor Qianlong smiling, obviously just like a boss making fun of his close executives, so he was not nervous.
After feeling confident, He Shen told the story of his experience in exterminating locusts in Taiyuan Prefecture. Of course, it was inevitable to hide a small part.
He Shen spread his hands and looked innocent.
He said: "Your Majesty, you have wronged me this time."
"As the director of various departments of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wei Chen is well aware of how difficult it has been to circulate money and grain from the treasury over the years..."
"If the locust plague were to spread throughout Shaanxi Province, and tens of millions of victims would appear, where would Chaoyan find so much food relief money..."
"Your Majesty, you love the people like your own children. You will be even more upset when the time comes. As a subordinate of the Emperor, how can I dare to let Your Majesty work so hard?"
"So, the ministers can only stay in Taiyuan Prefecture to organize the local government and eliminate the locusts."
"…………"
Because, in the past few years, He Shen helped Emperor Qianlong plunder millions of silver and accomplished several major events, so Emperor Qianlong had great trust in him.
It is precisely because of this that when Heshen talked to Emperor Qianlong, it was like talking to a friend.
In the case of a good relationship, his situation would not only not cause dissatisfaction with Emperor Qianlong, but would actually make him appear closer to him.
Hearing what He Shen said, Emperor Qianlong snorted, waved his hands and said, "You kid, what you said makes sense. Forget it...forget it...get up."
After Heshen stood up, Emperor Qianlong looked at Heshen who had grown a lot taller, sighed softly and said.
"In fact, I have known about what you did in Taiyuan Mansion. I am very relieved that you can do this..."
"However, although it is hard for you to put out the locust plague in Taiyuan Prefecture, it is not easy for me in the capital."
"Have you heard about the fact that I want to build a pure gold pagoda for the Queen Mother?"
"…………"
Heshen heard the words, cupped his hands, and said respectfully: "I heard this, it seems that you intend to build a golden pagoda for the Queen Mother's birthday..."
"However, all civil and military officials in the DPRK and China are opposed to it, and now this matter is in a stalemate."
Emperor Qianlong snorted angrily and said angrily: "More than just a stalemate, these people simply want to use the power of all ministers to force me to bow my head, especially that hateful guy Agui..."
"I appointed him as the Minister of Military and Aircraft and the Foreman of the South Study Room. This time, he actually took the lead in opposing me...
"I have tens of thousands of powerful men from all over the world, but now I only need tens of thousands of kilograms of gold. They are all against me..."
He Shen couldn't help but frown when he heard this.
"………………"
Gold is not silver, and their values are completely different.
Tens of thousands of kilograms of gold, converted into silver, would cost at least two to three million taels of silver.
Moreover, to celebrate the "Longevity Festival" for the Queen Mother, it is not only necessary to build a golden pagoda, but also to do other things that cost money!
First of all, Chaoyan uses colored paint, cloth, ribbons, etc. to decorate the main streets of the capital in a colorful way, evoking the spirit of singing and dancing.
Paint, cloth, ribbons and other things all cost money, and they are very expensive!
Also, to celebrate the Queen Mother’s birthday, a national-level feast and celebration will be held.
The celebration must have thousands of troops in red, purple, silver and green, wearing jade crowns and turbans, dancing swords, holding brocade poles, holding treasure plates, and straddling carved arrows. This is another amount of money!
After careful calculation, this amount of money is simply unaffordable, and it will cost at least four to five million taels of silver.
For a seventy-year-old old lady who is about to be buried, it will cost two or three provinces and tens of millions of people's annual taxes. Is this really worth it?
"………………"
Thinking of this, He Shen couldn't help but reveal a wry smile.
Emperor Qianlong was very strong by nature, and he valued face more than his life.
This time, Emperor Qianlong wanted to build a gold silk pagoda to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday. Perhaps it was just a whim, but he did not expect that all the ministers in the dynasty were fully opposed.
Emperor Qianlong felt that he had lost face, so he lost his temper and became even more unwilling to give in.
"…………"
However, although Emperor Qianlong was the master of the world, he could not violate the wishes of many ministers.
The collision between imperial power and ministerial power has led to the current situation of things being in a stalemate.
"…………"
"Does even Mr. Agui, the chief military minister, object to it?"
On Heshen's side, he couldn't help but look surprised when he heard that Agui was also openly opposed to this matter.
The foreman, the military minister Agui, was the head of the ministers in the South Study Room. He was equivalent to the prime minister during the Tang and Song Dynasties. He was a superior official who was inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people.
However, although Agui was not as responsive to Emperor Qianlong's requests as He Shen was, he rarely explicitly opposed Emperor Qianlong's opinions...
This time, I don’t know what happened, but the opposition was so fierce.
After hearing He Shen's words, Emperor Qianlong's face became even more ugly.
Emperor Qianlong was so angry that he threw the folders on the table to Li Dequan, the eunuch chief next to him.
Afterwards, Emperor Qianlong sighed and said: "These days, I will ask officials from the six ministries to discuss the birthday wishes for the Queen Mother..."
"The result is that no one supports me in building a golden pagoda for the Queen Mother. These officials are as agreed upon. Please take a look at these details."
While Emperor Qianlong was talking, Li Dequan, the chief eunuch, came to Heshen holding a thick stack of folding notes.
He Shen, on his side, first bowed his hands politely to Li Dequan, the chief eunuch, and then picked up a booklet and opened it to take a closer look.
After reading this booklet, He Shen shook his head, sighed, and read several more booklets in a row.
"…………"
As Emperor Qianlong said, these excerpts were all submitted by important officials in the court, and without exception, the contents were all against Emperor Qianlong's erection of the golden pagoda, believing that this move was too excessive, extravagant and wasteful!
