Zhu Yun had a fit, and Prince Zhao and others came out in despair.
Zhu Yang lowered his voice and complained: "We were just joking casually, and His Highness the Crown Prince lost his temper."
Isn't it?
Ding Lang was also a little angry: "If I had known how hard and boring marching is, I wouldn't have come."
He didn't want to come in the first place, but Princess Ninghui forced him to come. He was on the road every day, with no wine to drink, no meat to eat, and not even a gentle maid. He slept on a hard bed at night, accompanied by insects.
Songbirds are chirping. This life is simply unbearable.
Prince Zhao also held back his evil spirits and glanced at them with a sneer: "If you can't stand it any longer, just go back to the capital."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Yang and Ding Lang immediately shut up.
How could they afford to throw this guy away?
Besides, if you just go back in disgrace, you won't be able to hang out with the prince anymore.
No matter how good-tempered the prince is, he is still the crown prince of Da Qi. If the prince is really annoyed, what future will they have?
Yes, keep enduring it!
At this time, Zhu Yun sighed deeply in the room and regretted it endlessly. Why had he been soft-hearted and agreed to take these bastards out of Beijing in the first place? He couldn't do anything, and it was really bad to complain all day long and add to the trouble.
These bastards will never be soft-hearted when facing them in the future.
Zhu Yun secretly made up his mind.
Then he lay on the bed and took out a few letters. He put his father's letter aside first and read the letters from his sister Min and his mother first. Zhu Yun couldn't wait to open the letters from Yuan Min and Queen Yuan, and smiled happily after reading them.
As for the letter written by Emperor Qing'an, it was put aside alone!
…
After the attack that night, Prince Zhao and others became much more honest.
Zhu Yun's ears also became much quieter.
However, Zhu Yun's good mood did not last for two days. Soon, the bad news of defeat came from the border army.
General He frowned, looked solemn, and presented the battle report in his hand: "Your Highness, this is the battle report sent to the court by the border troops."
There were three groups of people from the border army delivering battle reports. The battle report in the hands of General He was from the third group. The first two groups did not stop and rode straight to the capital.
In other words, they received the news of defeat earlier than the capital.
One can almost imagine Emperor Qing'an's anger.
The previous defeats can be said to have been due to surprise and lack of preparedness. Now this is a series of defeats. No matter you have thousands of reasons, as a general, you always lose the battle. This is a crime that cannot be erased.
Zhu Yun's heart was heavy. He picked up the battle report and read it carefully. The more he read, the more frightened he became.
"The Tatars and Rourans actually joined forces to invade the border." Zhu Yun looked ugly and felt cold in his heart.
There are more than a dozen tribes outside the border. The largest tribe is Tatar, followed by Rouran. The Tatars and Rouran have constant disputes and conflicts with each other, so in the past few years, the border has been relatively peaceful. Now the two tribes have formed an alliance.
The alliance was formed, and several smaller tribes also participated in the alliance. The cavalry numbered one hundred thousand.
These cavalrymen, who are good at riding and shooting, are all strong and strong, their wildness is not lost, and their fighting prowess is in front of the group. The frontier army, which is mainly infantry and supplemented by cavalry, is difficult to resist, and can only rely on strong towers to hold on.
The morale of the border troops was low, but the Tatar Rouran cavalry became more and more fierce.
General He sighed and said: "Your Highness, we must rush to the border as soon as possible."
Zhu Yun nodded: "Starting from tomorrow, we will speed up the march."
…
From the next day, the army began to move quickly, marching a hundred miles every day. The cavalry was okay, but the infantry was struggling. It was difficult to keep up with the baggage and food, so it had to be postponed.
The war was urgent, and Prince Zhao and the others did not dare to make any noise. They sat in their carriages and endured the bumpy road and the hard work of marching.
As expected, Emperor Qing'an was indeed very angry after seeing the latest battle report. He immediately summoned his ministers to discuss the matter. After much discussion, the only thing they could do was to increase troops for rescue, and prepare a large amount of food, grass, and silver. As for post-war pensions, etc.,
Let’s not think about it for now. In short, many people want money everywhere.
Daqi's treasury has never been rich, but it immediately became tense because of the border war.
The Minister of the Ministry of Finance made a mental calculation, and his brows almost knitted into knots.
As the saying goes, the army must move forward before the food and fodder are used. It is impossible to fight without money!
Emperor Qing'an asked in a deep voice: "How long can the deposits in the Ministry of Household Affairs be used now?"
The Minister of Hubu calmly replied: "Back to the Emperor, the deposits of the Hubu can last for one month at most. Then, we have to wait for the summer grain tax."
Grain tax revenue is an important source of the national treasury. It usually occurs twice a year, once in May and once in November. Now that the first month has not passed yet, the money in the treasury can only be used until February. There are still three months of famine.
what to do?
Emperor Qing'an quickly made a decision: "I will issue an order now, ordering the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send all the silver deposits to the national treasury."
The money in the Ministry of Internal Affairs was used to finance all expenses in the palace. It is not an exaggeration to say that it was the emperor's private treasury. Now that Emperor Qing'an is taking the money from his private house, it is really touching.
The Minister of the Ministry of Finance looked grateful and moved, and he handed over his hands to thank you: "I thank you, Your Majesty."
After Empress Yuan learned about this, she fully agreed.
She is not a person who is extravagant. Moreover, there are only a few mistresses in the harem, and the concubines are all retiring, so they don't have much money to spend. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has saved a lot of money over the years, and it comes in handy at this time.
Furthermore, the commander-in-chief of the border army is her biological brother, so there is no reason why she should not support him.
After receiving the emperor's oral instructions, the eunuch in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs immediately got busy. He summoned everyone in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to settle the accounts, and within five days, three million taels of silver were sent to the treasury. This greatly relieved the pressure on the Ministry of Accounts.
The expenses in the palace were also reduced accordingly. Empress Yuan took the lead in reducing the expenses by 30%, while the prince concubine reduced the expenses by 40%. The expenses of the concubines were only reduced by 20%.
King Zhao went to the palace to visit Concubine Tian Shu. Concubine Tian Shu, who had been recuperating in the palace for a year, now has all white hair, a thin face, wrinkles on her forehead and corners of her eyes, and most of her teeth have been lost.
The beauty is old and has lost any charm, and she is no different from an ordinary sick and old woman.
When Princess Tian Shu saw her son, she couldn't help but cry: "I heard that the border passes were defeated one after another, and those barbarians outside the pass formed an alliance, with a hundred thousand cavalry. Why did you let the prince go to such a dangerous place? What if there was something wrong with him?
, but what should we do? It’s better to write a letter quickly and ask him to come back! We don’t want any military glory. Living well is better than anything else!”
King Zhao looked gloomy and frowned: "I didn't expect the battle situation to be so dangerous."
If he had known this, he would never have let Prince Zhao get this "military merit".
Concubine Tian Shu panicked and grabbed King Zhao's sleeve: "You write a letter now to ask the prince to come back."
