Hearing Emperor Qianxi mention Ling Yun, Xiao Lizi could not help but look towards him and saw that he was lowering his head, thinking about something.
Turning around, his eyes kept wandering, and he glanced at Emperor Qianxi cautiously, and said in a tentative voice like a mosquito, "Your Majesty, I don't know, but since Your Majesty wants to know if he has any good ideas, why don't you ask him to come over and ask? "
Upon hearing this, Emperor Qianxi became interested and gave Xiao Lizi a look. The latter nodded in understanding and strode towards Ling Yun.
Speaking of which, the eyes of Emperor Qianxi and Xiao Lizi swept over Ling Yun one after another. It was impossible to say that he didn't notice it himself.
It just makes Ling Yun confused. Why do these two people keep looking at him no matter what?
After all, the person who glanced at him was Emperor Qianxi. No matter how unhappy he was, he didn't dare to protest.
So I just lowered my head and pretended to think about the problem so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.
However, just as he lowered his head, Xiao Lizi came over, smiled and shouted at him, "Master Ling."
Ling Yun lowered his head and did not notice the arrival of Xiao Lizi. He was surprised when he heard someone calling him.
He only looked up and saw that at some point, Little Plum had arrived in front of him, squinting his eyes and showing a lewd smile, staring at him with a smile that made his hair run cold.
"Li...Eunuch Li."
"Your Majesty invites you."
Ling Yun blurted out, "What?"
At this time, he felt like there were seventy or eighty windlass spinning in his heart, making him upset and restless.
Cheng Cheng came to Emperor Qianxi in fear, knelt down decisively on the ground, kowtowed and said, "I have seen your Majesty, I am a humble minister."
Emperor Qianxi stretched out his hand gently, "Get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Ling Yun stood up from the ground uneasily, his body bowed slightly, his head naturally drooped, and he stood motionless, waiting for Emperor Qianxi's instructions.
As expected, Emperor Qianxi said calmly, "I remember you once said that you were particularly interested in articles about the military. Is this the case?"
When Ling Yun heard Emperor Qianxi's announcement, he was already in a state of confusion. Now when he heard Emperor Qianxi's inquiry, his heart was churning. He rubbed his fingers habitually and twisted his body from time to time, looking very coy.
Perhaps seeing his nervousness, Emperor Qianxi said calmly, "There are no other people around now, so there is no need to be too cautious."
"Thank...Thank you, Your Majesty."
Emperor Qianxi continued to ask, "Tell me, what do you think about the Mang envoy?"
Being asked a question suddenly, Ling Yun was hesitant in his heart. He was not sure what would happen when Emperor Qianxi arrived, so he only replied vaguely, "Your Majesty, Wei...Wei I don't know."
"Why!"
Emperor Qianxi sighed softly, with disappointment on his face. Although he didn't think about what the person in front of him thought, he still sighed involuntarily when he heard the answer!
Hearing Emperor Qianxi sigh, Ling Yun thought that the question would end like this, but he just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Emperor Qianxi ask another question.
"What do you think of the outcome of the ministers' deliberations?"
The meaning of this is nothing more than asking him whether he agrees to increase the annual tribute or not.
If Ling Yun were to tell him, he would definitely disagree, but there were some things he didn’t dare to say!
If you accidentally go too far, the game is over.
"Your Majesty, I am a humble minister..."
Ling Yun was about to say that he didn't know, but Emperor Qianxi interrupted him and said, "Ling Aiqing can speak freely, but I guarantee that you will not be held responsible."
Hearing this, Ling Yun's burden was reduced by more than half. He glanced at Emperor Qianxi and found that his eyes were twinkling, as if he was expecting something.
After hesitating for a while, Ling Yun gritted his teeth, raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, I wonder if your Majesty wants to hear the truth or what is in your heart?"
Emperor Qianxi was slightly startled. He did not expect Ling Yun to ask such a question. He was really shocked.
"Oh? What about the truth? What about what's in your heart? Let's talk about both of them and listen to them."
"Your Majesty, the truth is that Wei Chen spends money to buy stability."
Emperor Qianxi felt very disappointed when he heard this and replied absently, "Oh! What do you think too?"
After a long pause, he asked again, "What's on your mind?"
"Your Majesty, as for what the humble minister is thinking, that is, we, the Daqian Dynasty, must righteously reject the Mang Kingdom's advances."
Emperor Qianxi's eyes suddenly lit up and he said in surprise, "Oh? Why is this?"
"Your Majesty, I heard Master Dongfang's remarks in the Jinluan Palace a few days ago. He is so ambitious that he has been asking for an increase in annual tribute since last year. It will be increased this year. It is not difficult to see that as long as I agree this year, it will continue next year. .”
Emperor Qianxi nodded slightly. It could be seen from Ling Yun that Emperor Qianxi had heard Dongfang He's words in his heart, so he was reluctant to agree to the discussion of the prime ministers.
Emperor Qianxi moved his body slightly forward and gestured, "Keep talking."
"Your Majesty, spending 10,000 taels of gold and 50,000 taels of cloth, if the national treasury is full, is just a trivial matter for us, but a reckless man is ambitious and has ulterior motives."
"Last year, we only increased one thousand taels of gold and ten thousand taels of cloth, but this year we have gone even further. The lion asked for ten thousand taels of gold and fifty thousand taels of cloth. If I grovel and compromise this year and agree to increase the annual tribute, next year It will definitely be exchanged for even greater demands from the Mang people."
Ling Yun became more and more excited as he spoke. He paused and continued, "Your Majesty, our dynasty's national treasury has weakened and we have to increase annual tribute. In the long run, our dynasty's national strength will be exhausted by the reckless people and we will have no money to train our troops." An embarrassing situation.”
"Your Majesty, the Mang people have been eyeing our Daqian dynasty from the beginning to the end. Although they spend money to buy peace, who can guarantee that they will not send troops when our dynasty agrees to their conditions? Some people may say that the country signed a If you sign a contract, the Mang people will never go back on it, but Your Majesty, if you think about it carefully, haven't you done enough to break the promise? Isn't tearing up the treaty in front of you and demanding an increase in annual tribute a bloody example?"
"Consume the treasury of our Daqian dynasty to fill the treasury of the Mang people, and consume the military expenditure of our Daqian dynasty to train the army to train the Mang people's army. If things go on like this, our army will only become weaker and weaker, and the Mang people's army will only get weaker and weaker. Come stronger and stronger.”
"If one day, the Mang people are no longer satisfied with this small profit and send troops to attack our border, how will our country's weak military strength resist the growing Mang army?"
The more Emperor Qianxi listened, the more purple his face turned. The veins on his forehead had already popped out. He was breathing heavily, like a tiger trying its best to suppress its rage.
In this situation, Ling Yun was not sure whether Emperor Qianxi was angry or not. For the sake of his own safety, he did not dare to continue talking.
Because he stopped talking for a moment, the surroundings were quiet, as if no one was there. If Ling Yun hadn't clearly heard Emperor Qianxi's heavy breathing, he would have doubted whether Emperor Qianxi was talking, chattering, and messing around. As he said that, he left this place.
[Author's digression]: Today is Children's Day, I wish everyone a happy Children's Day!!!
If the little scholar does not update at noon, it means that the little scholar has been to Children's Day, and he can only wrong his brothers. Men are still young until they die, and who doesn't have a childlike heart!