In Sang Weihan's mansion in Tokyo, ever since he learned that Shi Chonggui had recovered from his illness, Sang Weihan knew that he had been cheated.
Especially after the Daning Palace medical officer who conveyed the news to him suddenly stopped meeting with him in private, Sang Weihan became even more sure.
Because the only one who could come up with this vicious plan of using Shi Chonggui's health to seduce him was Feng Yu, Empress Feng's brother who had always wanted to bring him down.
Only Empress Feng had the ability and courage to force the palace medical officer to send him false news that Shi Chonggui was terminally ill.
Others said that Shi Chonggui was terminally ill, which was a curse on the king, but to Empress Feng, it was just a joke between the young couple.
"Sir, an angel came outside to deliver a message, but it looks like some of the people who came are not good-natured." The eldest son's anxious voice sounded outside the door.
Sang Weihan once again reviewed all the people he knew in his mind, and after finding that he could not find anyone to intercede for him, he looked up to the sky and sighed, accepting the fate he deserved.
On the third day of March, before the victorious army arrived at Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, Shi Chonggui, who had recovered slightly from his illness, deposed Sang Weihan as prime minister and became the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture.
This Kaifeng governor was given a step down by Shi Chonggui because of his old love.
Of course Sang Weihan also understands that no one who has become the prime minister of a country would become the governor of the capital.
So after receiving the order, Sang Weihan quickly wrote a letter saying that he was seriously ill, and he closed the door and never went out again.
On the second day, Shi Chonggui worshiped He Ning as the minister of Zhongshu and Tongping Zhangshi, which were two of the three pieces of the prime minister's set.
However, Shi Chonggui gave his wife's brother Feng Yu the extremely important position of Privy Councilor with the power to take charge of the military.
Of course He Ning understood what this meant, and from then on, he never asked or answered any questions.
And he was very happy in his heart, because the Later Jin Dynasty was facing an extremely difficult matter.
That was the reward for the returning army after victory, but there wasn't much money in the treasury.
However, Feng Yu, who felt that he had become the prime minister, did not panic at all. When he saw He Ning looking at his nose and heart, he immediately walked past He Ning without ceremony and came to Shi Chonggui.
"Your Majesty, I inquired earlier and learned that I have only 70,000 guan in savings this year, and I still have to pay hundreds of official salaries. The maximum I can come up with is 40,000 guan. I would like to ask your majesty to provide some internal funds so that I can reward the troops.
.”
He Ning's appearance remained the same, but her nose twitched twice. Feng Yu's words seemed a bit inappropriate.
The difficulty with the reward this time was that Shi Chonggui was unwilling to provide internal funds, and the court's inventory was insufficient for the reward.
Shi Chonggui also looked at Feng Yu strangely, because Feng Yu knew that he was unwilling to use his money, so why did he ask him to use his money now in public?
When Feng Yu saw Baiguan and Shi Chonggui looking at him in surprise, he suddenly felt a sense of intellectual superiority and said to Shi Chonggui.
"The soldiers fought bloody battles for the country and need to be rewarded by Your Majesty. If you reward them with thousands of gold coins, the three armies will definitely be happy."
It turned out that he was only allowed to pay 10,000 yuan! When Shi Chonggui looked at Feng Yu, he suddenly felt pleased with him again.
But even he felt that the imperial court only had 40,000 guan, and he only gave out 10,000 guan. Is the total reward of 50,000 guan too little?
You must know that if this amount of money is divided equally, each person will only have a little more.
Moreover, this cannot be divided evenly. With so many officers, each person's reward must be at least a hundred guan. In addition to the pensions for the dead and wounded in battle, 50,000 guan may not be enough.
However, he was unwilling to ask Shi Chonggui to contribute more. Without money, how could he have fun with Feng? Where would the fine wine and food come from?
Recently, Shi Chonggui also recruited hundreds of weavers, called the brocade building, to pave the brocade floor for him and Feng.
This will cost 60,000 to 70,000 guan, so how can I have more money to use it as a reward?
Feng Yu waved his hand and said to Shi Chonggui: "Ten thousand guan is enough. I heard that the soldiers came from the north and got a lot of Khitan armor, good horses, gold and silver.
A horse sold to a merchant would be worth thirty guan, and the soldiers guarding the saint's left and right armies would have at least one or two horses.
I think it would be better to just give gold and silver brocade worth 50,000 yuan to each section commander and supervise him.
If there are those who are sent to Fangzhen, they can go to the local area to raise money and food. The Jin army will protect the saints on the left and right, hold the saints in high esteem, and strictly guard the troops. Then let the people in Tokyo and nearby areas contribute."
"Hiss!" He Ning, who had been pretending to be a clay statue of the Bodhisattva, suddenly widened his eyes. What Feng Yu meant by this was that he wanted to turn the reward into self-financing!
That is, local tooth soldiers, who will be rewarded by the commander after he returns to the town.
Those who were not originally military commanders with meritorious service, such as Hu Cile, were directly granted the title of military commander of the Wuning Army in Xuzhou. His Liangzhou Xiaoqi and some infantry were rewarded and sent to Xuzhou to raise the rewards.
As for the imperial guards, saints and other troops, they will be divided among the people of Tokyo.
This is really a ‘good idea’!
The soldiers fought bloody battles for the country, and the rewards for local soldiers were left to the commanders to raise their own funds. Are they soldiers of the country? Or are they private soldiers of the feudal town?
Will the central government still receive taxes from local governments in the future?
As for the rewards of the Imperial Army being shared among the people of Tokyo, this is not the treatment given to the army after they return victoriously. This is what Li Siyuan, Li Congke and others did after they led their troops to Beijing and ascended the throne!
However, He Ning moved her lips twice and saw that Shi Chonggui's face was already filled with excitement.
Looking at Feng Dao and Li Song again, they sat silently in the presence of the old god, as did the other officials.
He Ning sighed inwardly. Although Sang Weihan's conduct was terrible, he was really capable and responsible. If he were here, he would definitely scold Feng Yu to pieces.
Perhaps this is the reason why Shi Chonggui made up his mind to depose Sang Weihan with just a few slanderous words.
But thinking so, He Ning certainly wasn't prepared to step forward.
Who would be stupid to come forward to oppose it? Even if the emperor changes, they still have to rely on them to maintain the operation of the court. Why offend Shi Chonggui and Feng Yu at this time.
"The words of the privy envoy are exactly what he said to plan for the country. Even if the soldiers have great achievements, a single town commander is enough to reward them.
As for the Imperial Guards, it depends on His Majesty's benevolence to keep them in Tokyo. Nowadays, the household registration is prosperous and the merchants have accumulated tens of millions of money. It doesn't matter if they give a small sum of money to reward them!"
As soon as this person came out to speak, all the officials in the palace frowned.
This person was the scoundrel recruited by Feng Yuxin after Li Yantao was killed. Deputy Privy Councilor Yin Peng was the most shameless person.
However, his words were very appealing to Shi Chonggui.
Because Shi Chonggui doesn't think about anything else right now, he just wants to pay out some of the rewards for the soldiers, and then settle the matter without delaying his fun with Feng. That's enough.
This guy actually doesn't have much idea about running a country.
Because originally among Shi Jingtang's descendants, he was the one who was least favored.
On weekdays, he serves as Shi Jingtang's personal guard on the battlefield and as a personal guard in life. His biggest advantage is that he is very skilled, looks very honest, and does whatever he is told.
After almost all of Shi Jingtang's descendants were killed, Shi Chonggui began to enter Shi Jingtang's sight.
Shi Jingtang once arranged for him to serve as a guard in Jinyang in Beijing, but Shi Chonggui only served as a guard for more than three months before he could no longer serve. The evaluation given by his superiors and subordinates was that he had made no achievements.
But in fact, Shi Chonggui could not do anything, did nothing, and could not win the support of the warriors in Jinyang. Shi Jingtang could only transfer him back to Tokyo.
It can be said that Shi Chonggui did not have the education of an emperor, nor did he have the education of a commander-in-chief.
He has no idea how the country operates, nor does he know what is happening outside of Tokyo.
He also lacked sufficient understanding of his "Khitan Grandfather" who was angry but very strong-willed.
From Shi Chonggui's point of view, the situation at this moment was that the Khitan had been defeated so badly that they no longer dared to think of attacking the South. The world was in danger from now on, and he could rest easy.
So he nodded happily and said, "What you said is reasonable. I have summarized my merits. If there are any deficiencies in leadership, we will make arrangements together. Especially in the Hebei provinces, good generals should be placed in charge."
After solving the reward problem, Shi Chonggui left happily. He also wanted to supervise the construction of Zide Palace.
Last autumn, Shi Chonggui sent envoys to various places to collect autumn taxes back to Beijing, bringing with them a large number of local curios and beauties, including dozens of people who were good at music. Shi Chonggui then gave Empress Feng to train them.
This woman Feng may be very talented in training girl groups. The beauties she trained are good at singing and dancing.
Shi Chonggui liked her so much that he not only gave him a large number of brocades and silks, but also planned to build a new Zide Palace in Daning Palace to raise these beauties.
Now that he was healthy and the Khitans were defeated, Shi Chonggui was focused on when the Zide Palace could be built?
....
Shi Chonggui left, but He Ning, Feng Dao, Li Song, Feng Yu and his henchman Yin Peng could not leave yet.
Everyone came to the Privy Council together to discuss the prisoner presentation ceremony after the army returned.
Until this time, He Ning couldn't bear it anymore and looked at Feng Yu.
"Zhongshu advises the emperor to reward the soldiers for their great service with 50,000 guan. Please give me some instructions on how to do it."
After saying that, He Ning looked at Feng Dao and Li Song again, "But Dao Gong, Da Chou Gong, and the governor are currently in front of the army. If the soldiers are dissatisfied and get angry, our family will be in Tokyo."
Feng Dao's courtesy name is Ke Dao, and Li Song's courtesy name is Da Chou. The governor in He Ning's mouth is Shi Chonggui's eldest son Shi Yanxu, who was officially named the governor of Zhengzhou.
He Ning's meaning was obvious. If the frontline soldiers knew about this reward plan, they might not accept it so easily.
Shi Yanxu was still in front of the army. It would be bad if the soldiers were dissatisfied and simply supported Shi Yanxu to return to Beijing to cause chaos.
It's just that Feng Yu still doesn't understand. This person is uneducated and has a very thick skin.
He couldn't even distinguish between appeasement and betrayal, yet he dared to take the imperial examination.
When I was a scholar, I couldn't even draft edicts, so I relied on my lackey Yin Peng to write them all for me.
At this moment, he didn't understand what He Ning meant, and felt that He Ning had offended him a little. Just as he was about to step forward to question, Yin Peng next to him grabbed Feng Yu and whispered something in his ear.
"The father-in-law is still in the army."
Feng Yu trembled suddenly and immediately understood the danger of the matter.
Shi Yanxu was not the son of his sister Feng, but the son of Shi Chonggui's wife Zhang. Zhang's father, Shi Yanxu's maternal ancestor Zhang Cong'en, was in the army.
Feng Dao sighed and said to He Ning: "Taifu An and Duke Qi are loyal and good ministers. We can call them back to the capital first, tell them the truth, and ask them to come forward to appease the soldiers."
Li Song nodded and said: "After returning from victory this time, the soldiers have obtained a large amount of wealth from the Khitan people. The army is at ease. It can be rewarded by the local government, so that the soldiers can return with glory, or their dissatisfaction can be alleviated.
In addition, the merchants in Tokyo are cunning and cunning, so I will personally keep an eye on them so that they will not dare to cheat and lower the price, and they will be able to sell them for more money and make the sergeants happy."
Everyone acted as if Feng Yu and Yin Peng didn't exist. Now that things were like this, they were prepared to try their best to appease the soldiers so as not to lead to a mutiny.
The literati of the Five Dynasties could only do such things as wiping their butts.
"Lieutenant Zhang must be recalled first. If he is dissatisfied, he can be promoted to Yedu and stay here to reward his merits."
Feng Yu quickly added that he was really relieved that Zhang Cong'en would not be recalled. For this reason, he was even willing to take out Ye, who had been hanging around for a long time.
Feng Yu was lucky enough to come in and dare to promise that Ye Du would stay in such an important local position. This was actually the biggest joke of Shi Chonggui's dynasty.
Because in order to make the beauty happy, Shi Chonggui once promised in front of Queen Feng that Feng Yu would have to agree to remove any official position above the governor's level.
Don't think it was just a joke. Last winter, Feng Yu was ill and recuperating at home for more than a month. This is how Shi Chonggui told the prime ministers face to face.
With the respect of the emperor, if you can do this as a licking dog, you can be considered invincible.