The rural doctor bought a husband who was very treacherous

Chapter 274 Emperor Jing’s Plan

The Minister of War explained the matter in detail to Qi Lingheng, and the hall fell into a brief silence.

At this time, Xie Wenjing, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, "The King of Qi is brave and good at fighting, so I'm sure those barbarians in southern Xinjiang won't be able to cause any trouble. Moreover, the King of Qi has cannons, which are magical weapons for sieges. It's a good opportunity for the King of Qi to open the eyes of those barbarians in southern Xinjiang and let them see the power of cannons."

Qi Lingheng raised his eyes to look at Xie Wenjing who was sitting opposite him, clasped his fists and asked, "I don't know why Xie Wenjing is also in this palace today."

As soon as Qi Lingheng finished speaking, Xie Wenjing's face turned pale.

Seeing this, Emperor Jing smiled and said, "The King of Qi just came back today, so he probably doesn't know that Lord Xie has already started working at the Imperial Academy. The declaration of war sent by Southern Xinjiang was first received by Lord Xie."

Qi Lingheng nodded in understanding, "Sure enough, Lord Xie is very capable. The declaration of war from the southern border was not sent to the Ministry of War, but to the Imperial Academy."

"Indeed, I never thought that this declaration of war could be sent to the Hanlin Academy." The silent Minister of War on the side now had a look of indignation on his face.

This Minister of War was originally a powerful general, but because he was old and there was no man in his family who could inherit his legacy, he simply handed over his military power on his own initiative. Emperor Jing gave him the position of Minister of War as compensation.

But most of the veterans who have been on the battlefield are men of blood. Even if they are old, when they don’t like something, they always have to speak out first.

For this reason, Emperor Jing was really angry because of the temper of the Minister of War.

But considering that this old minister posed no threat, his family had been fighting in the wars for years, and all the men had died in the battlefields. Now there was not even a male descendant left, and the women in his family had all married civil servants in small border towns, so they were not a big deal.

Therefore, Emperor Jing was patient and finally kept the Minister of War in this position.

After hearing the words of the Minister of War, Emperor Jing just smiled and did not say anything else.

The Minister of Revenue spoke up at this time, "But if we go to war now, the money in the Ministry of Revenue is not enough to support a war..."

Upon hearing this, Qi Lingheng looked up at Emperor Jing, wanting to hear his opinion. After all, whether to go to war or not still depended on Emperor Jing's opinion.

After a long while, Emperor Jing seemed to have made a difficult decision. He looked at Qi Lingheng and said, "I also know that starting a war now is not good for Dayong, but the people of Southern Xinjiang have already pressed their troops to the border of Dayong, and we cannot avoid fighting."

Qi Lingheng understood that Emperor Jing wanted him to lead his troops to fight against the people in southern Xinjiang, but the national treasury was not enough to support the war. Emperor Jing wanted to use this opportunity to weaken the military strength of the Qi family.

Or maybe he wanted the Qi family to lose a battle and then use it as an excuse to deal with them.

Emperor Jing's abacus was clattering loudly.

Qi Lingheng stood up suddenly and bowed to Emperor Jing who was sitting behind the desk, "I will live up to your majesty's expectations and beat back the barbarians in southern Xinjiang."

"But the military pay..." the Minister of War asked anxiously.

"I believe that the treasury of our Dayong will be replenished one day. Your Majesty can then pay the military pay to the soldiers who are going to the battle. I believe the soldiers will understand your majesty's difficulties." Qi Lingheng clasped his fists and said to Emperor Jing.

The meaning of this statement was actually to inform the soldiers who were about to go out to fight that the court could not afford to pay their military salaries.

Let’s not talk about what these soldiers will think when they hear the news. Anyway, if they are forced to go to the army, they will definitely go. However, if they do so, the prestige of the court or Emperor Jing in the army will be greatly reduced, and the soldiers will lose their morale.

This was not what Emperor Jing wanted to see, so he frowned and said, "You don't have to owe everyone military pay. You can call on the court officials and wealthy families to donate some money to solve the urgent problem. I also have some money in my private treasury, so I'll take it out to subsidize the military pay first."

"This..." Xie Wenjing looked at Emperor Jing and wanted to say something, but stopped himself.

Why is he so unlucky? He just returned to the court and hasn't received the salary from the court yet, let alone any benefits. Now he has to embezzle money along with all the officials in the court.

The Minister of War and the Minister of Revenue had no objection to what Emperor Jing said. This solved their urgent problem, so they all said, "This is a good idea. I will go back and ask my wife to sort out how much money we can donate. We can't let our soldiers starve."

"Yes, the wealthy people in the city usually enjoy the peace and prosperity brought to them by our generals' shed blood, so it is reasonable for them to pay some money." The Minister of War patted his thigh, stood up and echoed.

"Cough." Eunuch Fu coughed lightly at the right time, and then stole a glance at Emperor Jing's expression. Sure enough, Emperor Jing's expression was extremely ugly at this moment.

"Okay, let's settle this for now. The Ministry of Revenue will see how much money is left and use it to buy food and fodder for the soldiers. Once the food and fodder are ready, the King of Qi will hurry to southern Xinjiang with the artillery. At this time, the King of Qi can also transport the two artillery pieces in northern Xinjiang to southern Xinjiang to avoid delaying the war. The Ministry of War will assist the Ministry of Revenue in getting this done as soon as possible." After saying this, Emperor Jing rubbed his brows, looking very tired.

Upon seeing this, Eunuch Fu immediately stepped forward and walked to Emperor Jing's side and whispered, "Your Majesty has been up for several hours today. It's time to take a rest."

"Well, I am a little tired. Now that today's matters have been settled, you can all leave if you have nothing else to do." After saying this, Emperor Jing waved his hand and rubbed his temple with his other hand.

Upon seeing this, the Minister of Revenue and others immediately stood up, bowed to Emperor Jing, and retreated out of the imperial study.

When they arrived outside the Imperial Study, the Minister of Revenue grabbed Qi Lingheng's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry for now. It's still not too late to prepare once the Ministry of Revenue has collected enough food and money."

Qi Lingheng looked at the Minister of Revenue and smiled. They had not gone far yet. They were still at the door of the imperial study. Even if they were talking quietly, the secret guards in the imperial study would be able to hear them clearly.

Seeing Qi Lingheng's smile, the Minister of Revenue sighed again, "Hey, don't think too much. If the people from Southern Xinjiang hadn't suddenly moved their camp to the border, they wouldn't have made things so urgent."

Qi Lingheng nodded and said, "I understand, but when to leave depends on your majesty's wishes."

The Minister of Finance sighed and shook his head, knowing that it was useless to say anything more. He had to go back and think about how to raise military funds from the court and the wealthy families in Kyoto.

If the amount of money raised is too little, he will not be able to complete the task.

"By the way, the princess mentioned Madam Ling at home a few days ago. She felt that she got along very well with her. You might as well mention it to Madam Ling when you return."

"Oh? After the last palace banquet, my husband did say that he had a very pleasant conversation with the princess at the banquet. Then I will ask my wife to go to the Prince of Qi's Mansion to deliver the invitation when I return." The Minister of Revenue was stunned for a moment, then immediately nodded in response as if he understood something.