Beam.
City of Gods.
Su Xian was at ease again.
He spent the whole day accompanying the two ladies in the house, occasionally bickering with Li Qingniu, and teasing his sister-in-law Tang Shujing. His days were carefree and happy.
Compared with Su Xian's leisure, Lan Ling, the Queen, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and even the entire Daliang court were very busy at this time.
The most important task is to promote the Quyuan plow.
Lan Ling is responsible for this matter, and it is said that it is progressing very smoothly.
After people from all over the country tried the Quyuan Li, without exception, they all praised it. Some even wanted to set up a shrine for Su Xian and worship it every day.
This startled Su Xian, and he was busy trying to dissuade him. He didn't want to be worshiped while he was still alive, for fear of losing his life.
One day, after dusk.
The Queen took some time to relax.
Suddenly he remembered that a few days ago in a certain room in Fan Yanghou's mansion, Su Xian had promised to send a jar of nine-branch nectar to the palace to taste together. Now that he had a little free time, it was time to relax.
So Su Xian entered the palace.
It was only at midnight that he left the palace and returned home.
It is worth mentioning that after dark, all palace gates are closed and no one is allowed to enter or exit. Su Xian left the city through a hanging basket, which was a thrilling and exciting process.
…
In my spare time, I spent another two days.
On this day, news came from the north——
The Liao Kingdom, which was previously in civil strife, has actually recovered, and the country has gradually stabilized.
It is said that the person who solved the civil strife in Liao was not the Emperor of Liao, but Nalanjie, the current crown prince of Liao!
Nalan Festival took this opportunity to establish its prestige in the Liao Kingdom.
He also advocated the resumption of trade with Daliang and the reopening of Ping'an City in Youzhou.
When the Queen and her ministers received the news, they were naturally overjoyed. The reopening of Ping'an City would bring in a huge amount of income, which was very important to Daliang at the moment.
However, there is a condition for the Nalan Festival. This time the mutual market is opened, the trading rules must be renegotiated.
In order to show his sincerity, Nalanjie will visit Youzhou as the crown prince of Liao Kingdom, and at the same time invite Daliang to send envoys to Ping'an City for joint discussions.
The Queen and her ministers discussed it for a long time and thought it was acceptable.
But no one took the initiative to go to Ping'an City in Youzhou.
Because this is not a pretty job.
First, the impression left on them by the Liao Kingdom is that they are cunning and cunning, and they will be deceived if they are not careful.
Secondly, if the negotiation fails in the end and the interests of Daliang are harmed, not to mention the Queen, I am afraid that the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty will not tolerate it.
The trip to Youzhou is too risky, and many ministers are unwilling to step into this muddy water.
In the end, it was Qian Zhongshu who took the initiative to stand up.
He urgently needed a big success to get rid of his bad image in the eyes of the Queen, and at the same time accumulate some capital for His Highness the Crown Prince.
Although Youzhou and his party are very risky, they are a sweet potato for him and worth fighting for.
After careful consideration, the Queen finally nodded in agreement, appointed Qian Zhongshu as the envoy, and appointed two deputy envoys for him. In the afternoon of the same day, she sent Qian Zhongshu to Youzhou...
Su Xian was not involved in any of these matters.
The Queen granted him half a month's leave.
If there is nothing very important, the Queen will not disturb him.
However, Su Xian also knew these things very well. He didn't pay attention to the problems in Liao Kingdom or the negotiations in Youzhou, so he thought there shouldn't be any problems.
His daily job is to accompany his two wives, or to play in the city, or to go hiking outside the city. Every day is very fulfilling.
Just like that, the peaceful days passed by in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, it was a few days later.
This morning.
royal palace.
Royal study room.
The empress summoned Princess Lanling, Liu Shizhong, and other prime ministers to gather in the imperial study to discuss matters. The empress sat behind the bookcase, looking unhappy.
When Lan Ling and the ministers saw this, they lowered their heads subconsciously and did not dare to make a mistake. From the look on the Queen's face, they had a premonition that the Queen might be in a bad mood.
Are you afraid that something bad will happen?
Snapped!
The Queen picked up the two folds and threw them on the side of the table close to the ministers. With a solemn look on her face, she ordered: "You guys take a look at these two folds first."
"yes."
Lan Ling and others bowed to accept the order, took the fold and looked at it carefully.
After a while, when the ministers finished reading, their expressions had already become worried, just like the Queen's expression.
What is written on these two brochures?
It turns out that the first report was submitted by Qin Tian Jian. Recently, Qin Tian Jian was watching the sky at night and predicted that Daliang would suffer another natural disaster this year.
To be more specific, this natural disaster is a flood.
To be more precise, the Yellow River will flood again within this year.
The second piece of information was presented by the inner guard.
The content of the excerpt is that the inner guards sent people to investigate the situation along the Yellow River. Based on the actual situation, it was concluded that the probability of the Yellow River flooding in July and August this year is as high as 80%!
Once the Yellow River overflows, it will not only submerge a small area, but the entire state and county. Several states and counties will turn into a swamp, and the losses will be extremely heavy!
After the floods, there will be a "population vacuum" in those submerged states and counties. This situation is really crippling for the current Daliang.
Needless to say, the ordinary people who were affected by the disaster will appear in the history books as a number at most...
"I don't really believe in Qin Tianjian's prediction."
The Queen spoke slowly:
"But I have no choice but to believe the internal security field investigation and the climate anomalies in recent years. Furthermore, once this happens, it will definitely shake the country's foundation, and I can't afford to gamble."
"The management of the Yellow River must be put on the agenda. Please discuss how to avoid this situation from happening? How much money will it cost?"
Lan Ling and all the ministers accepted the order in unison.
Then they quickly exited the Imperial Study Room and collected various materials to study. After two hours of discussion, they returned to the Imperial Study Room again and reported the results to the Queen.
How else can the Yellow River be managed?
It is nothing more than dredging rivers and building and strengthening embankments.
But the difficulty is that the river is really long.
There are countless states and counties involved along the way. If you want to avoid floods like last year, the amount of money you will spend will be an astronomical figure!
"How much silver is needed?" the queen asked in a deep voice.
"Reporting to your Majesty, I have made a rough estimate that a minimum of two million taels of silver is needed to avoid a flood of the same scale last year." Lan Ling replied in a low voice.
"Two million taels of silver!"
The Queen stood up, her face changed suddenly, and a thought came to her subconsciously: "Two million taels, even if you sell me, you can't get so much money!"
Lan Ling and the ministers had nothing to say, so they had no choice but to bow their heads, not daring to look at the Queen's face.
At present, the Liang Dynasty's treasury is really not sufficient. Last year was full of disasters, and they purchased a large amount of grain from Shu, which has already used up all their decades of savings.
This year's harvest and taxes are really not much, and arrangements have been made for their use long ago. They are all very important matters, and there is no waste.
Now, there was suddenly a gap of two million taels of silver. Where could she go to raise two million taels of silver? It can't be raised at all.
A heavy dark cloud weighed on the heads of the Queen and her ministers.
My heart felt heavy, and even breathing became difficult.
After everyone was silent for a while, Lan Ling's brows suddenly trembled, as if he thought of something, his face lit up, and he hurriedly reported to the Queen:
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I suddenly remembered something. By coincidence, it is just right for me, Daliang, to get through this difficult time!"
"What did you think of?" The queen's face changed, and the ministers also turned to look, with hopeful expressions on their faces.
"Ping An City!" Lan Ling said word by word.
"Ping'an City...yes, how could I forget this!" The queen immediately turned from worry to joy and cast an approving look at Lan Ling.
The ministers also felt relieved and laughed one after another:
"Ping'an City is about to reopen. This income alone can add millions of taels of silver to our Daliang. The money needed to sort out the Yellow River has finally been secured."
"Such an important matter, I didn't think of it before, and it made His Majesty worried. I deserve to die for waiting."
The queen smiled and ordered:
"It's nothing. I almost forgot about it even if I didn't tell you about it. Thank you for reminding me in time... Please do some calculations. How much tax can Ping'an City collect in a year?"
The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance took a step forward:
"Your Majesty, judging from previous years' experience, the increase in taxes Ping'an City has brought to our Daliang in one year, converted into silver, is basically around five million taels."
"Five million taels is enough now." The ministers were overjoyed.
The stone that was weighing on the Queen's heart finally fell to the ground. She looked calm, found a comfortable position on the dragon chair, and said with a smile:
"Five million taels, of which two million taels will be used to dredge the river and build river embankments!"
"As for the remaining three million taels, well, there are still many places where we need to spend money. Let's all discuss how to spend the three million taels."
"I obey the order."
"..."
Right now, Daliang really needs money for a lot of things. Although the huge sum of three million taels seems like a lot, it was clearly arranged by them in a few moments.
It feels good to have money.
Spending money feels better!
After the Queen and her ministers arranged this "budget", they felt refreshed, smiles could not help but appear on the corners of their mouths, and their hearts were satisfied and fulfilled.
Suddenly, someone outside the royal study said:
"Your Majesty, urgent report from Youzhou 800 Miles!"
"Urgent report from Youzhou? Or urgent report from Eight Hundred Miles? Submit it quickly."
The queen's smile faded.
The Queen was sitting upright, while Lan Ling and other ministers were bowing and standing in awe. The words "Eight Hundred Miles Urgent" made them feel a little scared. They always felt that something was going on in Youzhou.
Soon, the urgent report was delivered to the Queen.
The queen looked solemn and quickly opened it and started reading.
Lan Ling and other ministers held their breath and stared at the Queen without blinking. They all prayed silently in their hearts, hoping that there would be no news of the chaos in Youzhou.
"It's a personal letter from Qian Zhongshu."
The Queen looked at the beginning, her expression relaxed, and then she showed a strong look of expectation.
Lan Ling and other ministers also breathed a sigh of relief, as long as there is no chaos in Youzhou... By the way, since it is an autographed letter from Qian Zhongshu, does that mean that the Ping An City matter has been settled?
The ministers also looked forward to it.
Some even had smiles on their lips.
However, after just a few breaths, the smiles on their lips slowly stiffened until they solidified.
Why?
Because the Queen's complexion became ugly, her eyebrows were furrowed, even uglier than before!
Could it be that there was an accident in the negotiations in Ping'an City, Youzhou?
The ministers speculated in their minds.
If something unexpected happens, the five million taels that I "just got" will be gone!
After a while, the Queen finally finished reading.
She was stunned for a moment, and then her expression suddenly changed. She crumpled the urgent report into a ball and threw it directly on the ground. She stood up panting and said angrily:
"Qian Zhongshu is so incompetent that he missed me as the leader. I really want to drag him out and behead him immediately!"
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
Lan Ling and other ministers were frightened. From the looks of it, their guess must have come true.
They bent down to pick up the emergency report crumpled on the ground, and gathered around to read it.
After reading it, their faces became extremely ugly——
The negotiations in Ping'an City were not a complete failure, but because Qian Zhongshu was incompetent, Daliang was in a weak position.
During the negotiation, Nalanjie proposed a new set of trading rules. If these rules are followed, the annual tax Daliang receives from Ping'an City will be directly reduced from 5 million taels to 3 million taels!
A full reduction of two million taels!
The two million taels spent on combing the river channels and strengthening the river embankments are gone!
The most uncomfortable thing in the world is this.
They have already made arrangements for the two million taels, which will be used to dredge the river and strengthen the river embankment. Although the money has not been earned yet, it is expected to be a certainty, and they are full of expectations for this.
But, in the end, he told them that the two million taels were gone?
The cooked duck flew away under their noses. It felt like the meat was being cut out of their bodies. The pain was excruciating and unbearable.
In addition, this is only the first condition of the Liao Kingdom.
Second, the Liao Kingdom also asked for the drawings of Quyuanli.
These two conditions are indispensable. If Daliang cannot meet them, Liao will no longer trade with Daliang, and even the three million taels will not be available.
"Gather the ministers together to discuss matters in the Wanxiang Palace!" the Queen ordered in a deep voice.
"According to the order!"
"..."
After a while, Vientiane Shrine.
All civil and military officials gathered together.
This court meeting is the scale of a large court meeting.
The queen sat on a dragon chair and announced two requests from the Liao Kingdom in court, as well as the possible flooding of the Yellow River in July and August this year.
After all the ministers heard this, it was as if a pot had exploded in the hall, and there were heated discussions:
"Liao people are just beasts, how dare they threaten me like this, Daliang? You must know that I, Daliang, belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. This anger is really hard for me to swallow!"
"We should recall the envoys and drive out the prince of Liao. If we don't open the border market, we won't open it. Who is afraid of whom?"
"However, if the border market is not opened, the remaining three million taels of silver will be gone."
"Yes, we should focus on controlling the Yellow River. If it really floods, our losses will be too great."
"But I, Daliang, belong to the Celestial Kingdom, and the Central Plains are orthodox. How can I bow to the Liao people? If word spreads, where will the state of Daliang be, and where will your Majesty's face be put?!"
"..."
The ministers were noisy, some were compromising and some were tough, but no one could convince anyone.
Regarding the Liao Kingdom's request for Quyuanli's drawings, ministers also had different opinions, and they could not reach a conclusion after long discussion.
"enough!"
The Queen had a splitting headache, rubbed her eyebrows and shouted: "I didn't come to you to listen to your quarrels. What I need is a solution."
The ministers looked at me and I looked at you, and they suddenly shrank, lowered their heads, and said no more.
When the Queen saw this, her heart quickly sank to the bottom.
"Your Majesty, it is such a difficult problem that none of the ministers are able to solve. In addition, Quyuanli was created by the Taiwei. Why don't we invite the Taiwei? Maybe the Taiwei has a solution." Someone shouted.
"Su Aiqing!"
The Queen's eyes lit up, as if grasping a life-saving straw, she turned her head and quickly searched the crowd: "Where is Su Aiqing?"
