When Xu Kaida talked about it, he was filled with runny nose and tears, and he fell down on the Jinluan Palace with sadness.

"There are some people in the Ministry of Household Affairs who are unable to open the door. They are gritting their teeth and not asking for their salary. They are worried about their accounts and are running around trying to find people to donate money. You, Wang Weitao, are upright and upright. You talk about the truth. When you open your mouth, you can tell the pros and cons, and what you say is clear and logical.

Reasonable and well-founded.”

"Do you think that money just popped out of your mouth?!"

Wang Weitao was so scolded by Xu Kaida that his face turned red.

If someone were to cry like this with snot and tears in the Jinluan Palace, he would suspect that the other person was acting.

But the one who said this was Xu Kaida, who would never change his court clothes unless they were shabby.

As the most lucrative department among the six ministries, Xu Kaida, the Minister of Hubu, was the poorest courtier in the entire government.

All the money saved was invested in the almshouses in Beijing to help homeless people such as widowers, widows, orphans, and others who had no one to rely on.

If he is pretending, if a person can pretend to be poor for decades and invest a lot of money into people's livelihood, then it would be good for more people to pretend like this.

Since Xu Kaida said that the Ministry of Revenue has no money, it can be seen that the situation of the national treasury is really worrying.

This war is fought with manpower and financial resources. Nowadays, the soldiers and horses in Western Xinjiang have no advantage in numbers, and the national treasury and financial resources cannot keep up. Not to mention a quick victory, even if you want to win, it will not be easy.

Just when Wang Weitao was also beginning to worry about money, he heard Xu Kaida finish crying about the difficulties of the Ministry of Revenue and began to complain about the current war.

"If you ask me, this battle should not be fought! Let alone ask Daliang to borrow soldiers or money!"

Xu Kaida complained angrily, "We just fought with Xirong and both sides suffered losses. Although Xirong sent more troops this time, the corresponding consumption of food and grass will be greater. It is difficult to transport food and grass in the desert. We only need to hold on to the city and delay him for a year.

After half a year, when Xirong's food and grass are gone, they will leave on their own."

"As for the Qiang bandits and grass bandits in the southwest, what great achievements can they make? If they temporarily abandon Huailin and occupy the natural dangers of the Xiangzhang River, what can they accomplish?"

"After we have settled the floods in Zhanghuai and the matters in southern Xinjiang, we can change hands and press the border with troops to capture the Qiang country. What's wrong with that?"

"We have to borrow money and troops from Daliang! It's okay now. The generals of Daliang died in our territory of Wu'an. If the Emperor of Daliang takes the opportunity to use Wu'an to attack the Qiang country, can we stop him? If not, wait until Daliang conquers the Qiang country.

They turn around and attack us from the inside, can we defend it?"

Xu Kaida was also furious and lectured Wang Weitao, "We have to fight at this time! Internal and external troubles must be mixed together! You are pedantic! You are reckless! You don't know how to adapt!"

Wang Weitao, who originally felt guilty for Xu Kaida's accusation because he talked too lightly about money, his face darkened after hearing Xu Kaida's next words: "Master Xu, you think it's easy to stick to it? Those ambitious things

, If we don’t beat them to the ground, let alone defend until Xirong’s food and grass are exhausted, even if we defend for ten days and a half, we will have to use human lives to fill it!”

"Xirong's grain and grass can't keep up, how can our grain and grass keep up?"

Wang Weitao asked, "If it weren't for the two hundred shi of grain that King Rongjin borrowed from Daliang, half of the people in southern Xinjiang would not be able to afford food at this time. How can you defend the city with just one sentence?"

"We are short of troops and horses. Even if there is a city wall, how long can we defend it? Qiang and Xirong join forces, and Xirong's grain and grass can be transported from Qiang. If we really have to fight, will Xirong's grain and grass be exhausted?"

Wang Weitao's series of questions forced Xu Kaida to remain silent. However, Wang Weitao's words continued, "This time Xirong united with the Qiang State, nearly 200,000 troops pressed into the border, and Western Xinjiang and Southern Xinjiang, including those from Eastern Xinjiang,

His Royal Highness's troops heading south are only one hundred thousand."

Gu Can

"The other side is even more poisonous and evil. One person can kill thousands of people! Once the poisonous people attack the city, how can we defend it?"

Wang Weitao's eyes turned red when he thought of the tragic sacrifices caused by the poisonous people that he learned from the battle reports.

Unlike these civilian officials in the DPRK, he had been on the battlefield and even lived on the border as a military governor for several years.

He knew very well how tragic the battle situation was behind the few numbers in the battle report.

What's more, the list of fallen generals reported in the battle report included people who were once as close to him as brothers.

"This time, if His Highness King Shu hadn't put himself in danger and trapped all the poisonous people in Talir in the city tower and burned them all; if Marquis Dingyuan of Daliang hadn't made a decisive decision to shrink the defense line, and when Yan Qing led his army to attack the Qiang country, he led three

Thousands of elite soldiers entered the enemy camp, strangled all the poisonous people, and held back the enemies on the southwest border..."

The more Wang Weitao spoke, the darker his voice became, "If this were not the case, I am afraid that the Xirong and Qiang coalition forces would have already broken through the defense line and entered the interior. How could there be such successive victories?"

Xu Kaida opened his mouth, and the expression on his face changed many times, but in the end he had no choice but to flick his sleeves and look away.

Wang Weitao didn't know about the financial difficulties, so how could he really know about the dangers on the frontier?

only……

"But now the treasury really can't get even half a penny out."

Xu Kaida sighed and spoke, looked at the emperor, and cupped his hands, "I am ashamed to be trusted by the Holy Emperor."

"This is not your fault, I don't have to blame myself."

The emperor comforted Xu Kaida, then turned to ask the ministers who had stopped talking since the two quarreled, "Nowadays, the national finances are tight and the food and salary supply for border defense cannot be provided. I wonder if you, dear ministers, have any advice?

"

The ministers lowered their heads and remained silent.

However, Wang Weitao stood up again: "I am a humble minister and it is difficult for me to do big things. I am willing to donate most of my family wealth and reduce my salary to alleviate the shortage of food and salary on the front line."

The emperor nodded approvingly: "Wang Aiqing is serious."

As he said that, the emperor looked at the other ministers who had their heads lowered. The meaning in his eyes was very clear, but he did not say it clearly. He just said, "My beloved, you all have this heart to serve the country. As the emperor, if I

It would be a shame not to do something."

"From today on, my expenses for clothing, food, housing, transportation, etc. will be reduced by half. The unimportant things in the palace will be put into the national treasury to wipe out the deficit."

With a wave of his hand, the emperor transferred a large amount of money to the treasury, then turned to the chief steward An Ning who was standing aside and said, "From now on, the usage of the harem will be reduced, and all palace banquets will be banned."

"Now is the time when the country is in danger of survival. It is time for the whole country to work together to overcome the difficulties."

The emperor looked at the courtiers pretending to be deaf with deep meaning.
Chapter completed!