Yao Kui couldn't stand still and almost collapsed on the ground. His calves were shaking. At this moment, he was extremely panicked.
Not only was the emperor's plan on the line, but also Li Qing's murderous aura, which frightened him even more.
Afraid, can you not be afraid?
That bastard Li Qing has a criminal record, a criminal record for killing officials.
This guy went crazy and chopped him with a knife. Who can he ask to reason with?
Even if the emperor couldn't withstand the pressure afterwards and dealt with Li Qing severely, then... he wouldn't be able to save his life!
The Heavenly Officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs are also human beings. If their heads fall off, they will never grow back.
The annual salary is only a few hundred taels, what a waste of money!
Yao Kui felt regretful.
However, what is more, there is no alternative. In most cases, the interests of the monarch and his ministers are in conflict, and it is almost impossible to get along harmoniously.
As the head of a hundred officials, it is necessary to fulfill his responsibility as a 'leader', otherwise, he will be a heavenly official in name only, let alone have any prestige.
Power is a double-edged sword. At this stage, he has no control over many things.
Back then, Sanyang was an example.
Yao Kui knew that this time was unusual, and he didn't originally intend to fight to the end, he was just pretending.
But I didn't expect that the emperor was so up to date, and Li Qing... was such a bastard!
In desperation, he had no choice but to make amends: "Your Majesty, I am doing this for the imperial court and for the country and the country of the Ming Dynasty."
This move, 'It's all for your own good', has proven successful over and over again, making him almost invincible. Yao Kui used it again, bursting into tears for a while:
"Your Majesty, what bad intentions can I have? I also want to save the court expenses and for the sake of the Ming Dynasty soldiers..."
Crying, in the eyes of civil servants, is never a shame, but a sign of loyalty.
Preventing the dispatch of troops will most likely not work. The only option is to allow the emperor to send as few troops as possible in order to suppress the rise of military generals to a certain extent.
Although the use of troops internally once was far from enough to make the generals stand up, they were oppressed by the generals for several dynasties. Although today's civil servants have not experienced it, they also know how their predecessors were bullied.
Before Sanyang, civil servants were really just younger brothers.
Now that they have finally taken the lead, they will never give the generals another chance.
Yao Kui's shameless style of play was very shameless, but it was quite popular, and he quickly became a trend... There were many people who responded.
In addition, a considerable number of civil servants were in favor of sending troops, and the matter was quickly settled.
Send troops!
However, in order to reduce the financial expenditure of the Ming Dynasty, it sent as few troops as possible.
Especially the ministers and ministers headed by the Ministry of Revenue... Keer poured out their bitterness, telling how tight the finances were and how difficult it was for the Ministry of Revenue.
When they did this, the generals who were originally eager to try their desire to fight were greatly reduced.
Everyone knows how difficult it is to fight a chieftain. If you can't crush him with strength, you won't be able to fight him at all.
Let alone credit, thank God if you are not impeached or punished. Who would do such a hard job?
Zhu Jian took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "There are too few troops and it drags on into a protracted war. Who among you is responsible?"
"But the treasury really... has no money!" Ma Ang, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, said with a grimace, "Your Majesty, you know that in the first year of Chenghua, we could hardly make ends meet. Then we built the Loop, and then sent tens of thousands of troops to Oara. Inquiring into the grassland situation... The chieftain is indeed hateful and should be severely punished. However, the Ming Dynasty's finances are really tight..."
This is true, the Ministry of Revenue does not have much money.
Zhu Jianshen knew that someone would make an argument about this, so he said calmly: "What if the money problem is solved?"
Ma Ang: "..."
The noisy hall fell into silence. This time, even Yao Kui did not remain silent.
Everyone knew what the emperor would say next.
Zhu Jianshen lived up to expectations and hummed: "The required military expenses will all come from internal funds, and the Ministry of Household Affairs does not need to contribute a tael of silver."
"..."
We still can't let the emperor have money in his hands, he is too passive...the officials are helpless.
…
The emperor paid for it out of his own pocket, no one could voice any objections, and it was settled.
However, a memorial to impeach the emperor was soon sent to the imperial court. The main content was: the emperor should not include the court's financial revenue into internal funds as private property;
This is wrong. It should be merged into the national treasury and handed over to the Ministry of Household Management...etc.
This contest made them more aware of the importance of financial power and the terrifying nature of the emperor's control of financial power.
They also gave a plan, in which 19% of the national fiscal revenue will be allocated to internal funds and 90% to the national treasury.
When Zhu Jianshen saw this allocation proposal, he was so angry that the table was turned over. It was too much!
This is simply... worse than kneeling down to beg for food.
Of course he knew that by doing this, the civil servants also left room for bargaining, but he could not accept the move.
If you follow the opponent's rhythm, the best you can do is 'kneel down and beg for food'.
Simply, Zhu Jianshen was overwhelmed, and all impeachment memorials regarding the distribution of financial power were left unpublished.
The ministers sent them one after another, but not a single splash was made.
Within two days, they couldn't stand it anymore and started talking directly to Zhu Jianshen in the court, all of them using sharp words and almost swearing.
Zhu Jianshen didn't get angry, not because he had a good temper, but because he was numb.
Just scold me, and you won't lose a piece of meat. No matter how ugly you say it, you can't cede your property rights. I have the final say on how to divide them.
He listens with the left ear and throws it with the right ear. Sometimes when he really can't listen anymore, Zhu Jianshen will stop the morning court on the grounds that the dragon is ill, so that these individuals have nowhere to vent.
At the same time, he put more energy into this dispatch.
Influenced by Li Qing, he also felt that pushing and crushing quickly was the best option. For this reason, he added an additional 10,000 elite soldiers on top of the 150,000, and they were also the Shenji Battalion.
No wonder Zhu Jianshen attached so much importance to it. This was his first true battle after he ascended the throne. It was of great significance and far-reaching influence. He didn't want any changes to occur.
Li Qing only mentioned some precautions, such as: to what extent the fight will be fought, and how to deal with post-war matters...
He had no involvement in the specific tactical arrangements or personnel scheduling. Firstly, it was impossible to lose such a big battle. Secondly, Zhu Jianshen didn't want him to be in the limelight.
Li Qing was not uncommon with this, and was used to it. In private, few of the emperors of the old Zhu family liked him, including Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di.
But thinking about it on the contrary, such an emperor made him feel more at ease. At least... he had the consciousness of being a loner.
Especially since Zhu Zhanji, except for Zhu Qiyu who emerged in the middle, who is slightly better, the three of them can be said to be the same.
How to put it, from the emperor's point of view, this is understandable.
No emperor wants to have a top-level minister, unless the emperor is not in power at all and must rely on this powerful minister to stabilize his position... But Zhu Jianshen is obviously not this kind of person.
Li Qing didn't care. He was just doing what he wanted to do and sticking to what he wanted to stick to. As for the rest... it wasn't important at all.
After a few busy days, Li Qing returned to the small courtyard and spent the whole day leisurely...
In the court, there was a heated argument about the distribution of property rights. Li Qing did not interfere anymore. Zhu Jianshen seemed embarrassed and did not come to ask for help. He was left to die alone...
~
One morning in early February, two luxury carriages stopped at the entrance of the small courtyard.
One car belonged to Li Hong's father, and the other belonged to Zhu Wanqing. One of them wanted his son, the other wanted his husband, and they came together.
Li Hong was so happy. He went to the vegetable market and bought a lot of vegetables and came back, ready to show off his skills to everyone.
In the living room, Li Qing and Li Hong's fathers sat opposite each other, drinking tea and chatting.
Father Li glanced in the direction of the east kitchen and sighed: "Brother Li, this child is already twenty-three years old, and that girl is about to reach the age of leaving the court. Before coming this time, I went to the house to propose marriage..."
"You don't want him to fight the rebellion?" Li Qing asked.
"Uh... not really." Father Li said with a sneer, "When you start a family and start a career, you should start a family first and then start a career, right?"
Li Qing smiled. He understood Li's father's mentality. To put it bluntly, it was exactly the same as before, letting his son inherit the title of Marquis of Yongqing and live a prosperous and prosperous life.
"He is an adult and has his own ideas. I have advised him on this before, but he insists on it." Li Qingdao, "It is a rare opportunity and he wants to prove himself. It is understandable."
After a pause, "You are Hong'er's father. Of course you have the right to express your opinion. If you don't want him to go, you might as well go and persuade him."
Under your influence, the bastard has become disobedient a long time ago. I thought it was useless... Father Li smiled bitterly: "Brother Li is also Hong'er's father, how about we come together?"
Li Qing shook his head: "I have already advised you not to go. Brother Li, please do it."
Father Li: "..."
After a stalemate for a while, Father Li was defeated and said instead: "Brother Li, how about this? Let's settle the marriage of the two juniors first. What do you think?"
Li Qing asked strangely: "It seems like I shouldn't be the one to make the decision on this matter, right?"
"Brother Li is Hong'er's father, why not?"
"No... I am his godfather, yes, but I am not that girl's father!" Li Qing was speechless, "You should talk to Mr. Zhu about this matter." gòйЪ.ōΓg
"Brother Li and Brother Zhu are brothers and sisters, and they don't distinguish each other..."
"Wait a minute, we are brothers!" Li Qing stopped him quickly, feeling offended again, "He is him, I am me, we have no friendship."
Father Li didn't believe it. Why should he hand over such a big business to him without friendship?
This is definitely a two-pronged friendship!
"Brother Li, Hong'er can't delay any longer!" Father Li tried to play the emotional card.
Of course, Li Qing didn't accept this trick at all.
He has no feelings for Zhu Qizhen, but Zhu Wanqing is Zhu Qizhen's daughter, his sweetheart.
No matter how bad Li Qing was, he would never do such a generous thing.
What's more, this is nothing else, but a living person.
Although the two little guys are in love and have been childhood sweethearts, for any major marriage, they should seek the consent of their parents.
Engaging in secret operations? Too humble!
Li Qing said calmly: "Why should a man worry about not having a wife? Besides, Hong'er is only in his early twenties, so he is not in a hurry."
Father Li had no choice but to smile bitterly: "Brother Li, I have also read books about saints and sages. How could I not communicate with that girl's parents... But I can't communicate!"
"They didn't give me a chance at all. During the Chinese New Year, I went to the house to propose marriage, but..." Father Li said with a headache, "I was kicked out directly, and all the gifts were thrown out by the wall across the courtyard and smashed to pieces. "
Li's father was angry about this. After all, he was also a descendant of Cao Guogong. Although he was a commoner, he still had the aura of nobility.
To be treated like this by a rich man...and a rich man who is dependent on someone else, is simply a shame and a great humiliation.
If his son hadn't been determined not to marry her, and the girl was sensible and lovable, he would have really wanted to rush up and argue:
What are you so proud of? !
