After the Queen was happy for a while, she sat back on the throne, her joyful smile gradually fading away.
She glanced at the ministers below and asked: "What happened to the secret purchase of grain from Shu? I heard that something unexpected happened? Young Sikou, what on earth is going on?"
Shaosikou bravely went out to pay homage and said:
"Your Majesty, there was indeed an accident... The people we secretly sent to the Shu Kingdom to purchase grain were discovered by the Shu Kingdom for some reason, and the Shu Kingdom has sent them all back home."
"Everything is being done in secret, why was the Shu Kingdom aware of it?" the Queen asked with a cold face.
"Your Majesty... this..." Young Si Kou was sitting on pins and needles, how could he know so much.
"..."
The Kingdom of Shu is recognized as the most prosperous place in the world today.
The territory of Shu has been experiencing good weather for more than ten consecutive years, and grain production has increased year after year. Granaries across the country are almost full of capacity, and the price of grain on the market is even as low as two cents per catty.
After the Liang Dynasty encountered a food shortage crisis, the queen and prime ministers turned their attention to Shu.
The Shu Kingdom cannot accumulate enough food, and they are short of food in Daliang. It is a perfect complementary relationship.
However, due to historical reasons, the current Shu Kingdom has long lost contact with the Central Plains Dynasty. A long time ago, the Shu Kingdom paid tribute to the Central Plains Dynasty every year. Later, even the tribute was stopped due to some things.
The two countries are at odds!
After all, the queen couldn't let go of her dignity and asked Shu to buy grain. What should she do?
The way is to find some suitable people, sneak into Shu, pretend to be grain merchants, buy grain from the Shu market, and then find a way to smuggle it back to Daliang.
This plan progressed quite smoothly. In just over ten days, hundreds of thousands of grains were smuggled back to Daliang. The effect was very remarkable.
But something went wrong in the past two days, and the Shu Kingdom discovered Daliang's plan.
All the "grain merchants" sent to Shu were arrested and sent back... The plan to secretly purchase grain from Shu was finally shattered.
"After this incident, the Kingdom of Shu will definitely close its doors. Where can I, Daliang, buy enough food?" The queen held her forehead and rubbed her eyebrows, feeling a headache.
"Yeah..." The ministers below were whispering to each other, worried. Nanchu was Daliang's mortal enemy and it was impossible to borrow food. Nanchen and Daliang were not dealing with each other. It seemed that there was no way to raise food.
"..."
While the Queen and her ministers were looking sad, Shao Sikou coughed and said, "Your Majesty, although Shu has sent our people back, it has not completely stopped us from purchasing food from Shu."
The Queen's spirit was immediately shaken and she immediately asked: "How do you say it?"
Shaosikou said:
"The Kingdom of Shu sent a message saying that it is possible to purchase grain from them, but it requires negotiation between the two courts. The Kingdom of Shu will soon send envoys to Daliang to discuss the matter of purchasing grain."
The Queen's face immediately became happy and she said with a smile: "That's very good. The two courts can also negotiate. We were taking a wrong approach before, but now we are back on the right path."
The prime ministers also became happy. In this way, there was finally enough food to tide over the crisis.
At this time, Liu Shizhong suddenly came out and said: "Your Majesty, if the two countries negotiate, we will be in a weak position, and the Shu Kingdom will definitely ask for high prices, and we have to guard against it."
These words seemed to pour cold water on everyone.
The heated discussion in the hall suddenly stopped.
The Queen pondered for a while and then said: "It might as well meet with the Shu envoy first. The most important thing is to be able to purchase the food we urgently need from Shu."
"Your Majesty is wise!" All the ministers bowed in unison.
After the matter came to an end, Qian Zhongshu stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, the deposed envoys sent by the imperial court to the major disaster areas have returned to Beijing and are waiting for your Majesty's summons outside the palace."
When the Queen heard about this, she frowned slightly. She had heard that plague broke out in major disaster areas, but...who can stop the plague?
"Xuan!" The queen decided to meet the three deposed envoys.
"..."
at the same time.
Outside the main hall of Vientiane Shrine.
The deposed envoys of Henan Road, Hedong Road and Duji Road were waiting outside the palace.
"...Su Xian's actions wasted people and money and delayed disaster relief. It can be described as a heinous crime!" Henan Province's deposed envoy said sadly.
"Yes, he will definitely not be able to protect himself this time, and will also implicate Princess Lanling... The princess will definitely push this person out to take the blame!" Hedong Road's deposed envoy also looked pitiful.
"Hey! That's it? He wanted to be granted the title of Marquis before? Haha, that's just wishful thinking!"
"Who says it's not..."
On the side, the deposed envoy of Duji Province was Liu Shizhong. Liu Shizhong had always been neutral in the court, so he just listened silently and remained silent, with a look of pity flashing in his eyes...
At this time, a eunuch came with a whisk in his arms and said that His Majesty had summoned him.
The three deposed envoys immediately tidied up their clothes and followed the eunuch towards the main hall of the Wanxiang Shrine.
After entering the hall, the three of them were greeted by the emperor and his ministers. They were all still wearing tattered clothes and their hair was messy, to highlight the difficulty of completing their task.
When the Queen saw this, she sighed and said warmly:
"Although plague broke out in Henan Road, Hedong Road, and Duji Road, with tens of thousands of casualties and casualties, your early disaster relief efforts were considered to be attentive..."
After some praise, the Queen personally promised a reward, then rubbed the center of her brows, preparing to retreat and rest for a while. She had not slept well at night these past few days and needed to catch up on sleep during the day.
Qian Zhongshu saw the right opportunity and winked frantically at Henan Dao's deposed envoy.
After receiving the order, the deposed envoy of Henan Province immediately bowed loudly and said:
"Your Majesty, I have one more thing to report."
"Go ahead." The queen straightened her posture.
"Your Majesty, I want to impeach someone. This person is the counselor in Princess Lanling's palace, Su Xian!"
"Um?"
The Queen was startled when she heard this. This name was too familiar to her. Among other things, she said that the brown sugar ginger tea that Su Xian had invented recently had indeed brought her relief.
And that hood, the Queen is wearing it now. This thing is really useful. It is very convenient to do anything after wearing it.
While the Queen was stunned, the six ministers raised their heads and stared at Henan Dao's deposed envoy with unkind eyes.
If he impeached Su Xian, he would be at odds with Princess Lanling, and all the six ministers were subordinate to Princess Lanling.
"Then what happened to Su Xian?" the queen asked after she came to her senses.
"Your Majesty, Su Xian, who doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth, actually came up with some 'method to prevent the plague' and encouraged Princess Lanling to waste people and money in Hebei Province."
Henan Dao deposed the envoy and made an impassioned speech, and continued loudly:
"That series of methods is quite cumbersome and will definitely consume countless manpower. However, it was a critical period for disaster relief, so it should not be such a waste!"
"Your Majesty, Su Xian regards disaster relief as child's play first and encourages Princess Lanling to waste national resources. I request you to deprive Su Xian of his official status, demote him to a book title, and put him in prison. What is his intention? I suspect him. They are remnants of the previous dynasty."
"Remnants of the previous dynasty!"
Upon hearing these four words, the expressions of the Queen and all the ministers changed at the same time. The atmosphere in the hall instantly became solemn and strange, making it difficult for people to breathe.
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