In the Manlu Palace, two people of similar age, after pondering over Ling Zhan's marriage for a while, His Majesty the Emperor asked Shen Yi to sit down and talk about business.
"In the past two years, you have been fighting smoothly in the front battle, and even I in Jiankang have been proud and proud."
The emperor smiled and said: "When the Northern Expedition first started, at least two or three memorials to dissuade each other were sent to my desk every day. Some of the so-called loyal ministers could be said to weep every word. I wish I could crash to death in the Golden Palace and risk the whole country."
"Now, they are all honest."
Emperor Hongde smiled cheerfully: "Even Zhongshu and several prime ministers dare not say a word about the Northern Expedition in front of me."
Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and said: "This cannot be entirely blamed on the ministers. When I and Your Majesty planned the Northern Expedition, I had little chance of winning. From guarding Huai'an to now, in addition to His Majesty's wise judgment, It takes a little bit of luck to achieve this winning streak."
The emperor did not answer this, but said with a smile: "Now among the five prime ministers in Zhongshu, there is only one left who occasionally says something about the Northern Expedition. Can you guess who it is, Shen Qing?"
Shen Yi sighed: "That's probably Prime Minister Zhao."
Emperor Hongde touched his palm and praised: "You are really smart."
After boasting, His Majesty the Emperor also sighed slightly.
"No Money."
"Zhao Zhi has nothing to do. The Ministry of Household Accounting will do the accounting in the second half of this year, and by next year the court will have no money to use. At the beginning of next year, the court will increase donations in various places."
"I feel uncomfortable in my heart."
His Majesty the Emperor said silently: "Next year, I will have been in power for seventeen years. In the past seventeen years, I have not raised taxes once, but now I have to start raising taxes."
Shen Yi said softly: "Your Majesty, maybe you can ask Xu Fu to find a way to get some money for temporary use. Even if you sell the large and medium-sized commercial houses in the southeast and squeeze out some money, you should be able to survive next year."
"In the next year, I am sure that I will be able to establish a winning streak. Even if I cannot capture the capital of Yan, I will be able to capture most of the places in the north except the capital of Yan. In addition, Shandong and Henan will supply money and food to the imperial court. The pressure will be reduced a lot.”
"After two years, when affairs in the north are normal, the imperial court will suddenly have more than half of its land, and your majesty and the Ministry of Revenue will not be left without money."
Emperor Hong De glanced at Shen Yi and said angrily: "From your tone, it sounds like Dazhong Commercial Bank is your property, and then Dazhong Commercial Bank is my property! Part of my internal funds come from here. You said you would sell it to me?"
"Your Shen family has a lot of budget, but only a dozen people have to eat. As a big family member, I don't know how much we spend every day, and we always have to reward people."
Emperor Hongde sighed: "It's difficult for the court, and it's difficult for me too."
Shen Yi smiled and said: "Your Majesty made an agreement with me at the beginning that the money from Liulichang will be used for the Northern Expedition for two years. After the New Year this year, the two years are up. With the money from Liulichang added to the internal funds, your Majesty's internal funds will not be enough." used."
Emperor Hong De showed no interest and waved his hand: "Two years or two years is just a casual comment. I can't cut off your money before you finish the battle."
His Majesty the Emperor lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and said helplessly: "You can use it first. It doesn't matter if I live a hard life for a few years."
"As for the increase in donations next year, I will discuss it with Prime Minister Zhao in the next two days. If I can decide whether to increase the donation, it is better not to increase it."
Shen Yi bowed slightly: "Your Majesty, you are wise."
"pity…"
The emperor looked at Shen Yi, shook his head and said: "It's a pity that you, Shen Qing, have no skills at all. If more Shen Qings come out, I will send them out for a tour, and maybe the money will be enough."
Mr. Shen shook his head helplessly: "Your Majesty, I cannot make something out of nothing."
The emperor lowered his head and took a sip of tea, yawned without caring much about his personal image, and then looked at Shen Yi.
"Your contribution this time is really not small. I discussed it with those old men a few days ago and spent a lot of time to convince them."
The emperor looked at Shen Yi and said with a smile: "Prince Taibao, please be the Minister of the Ministry of War."
The two people were chatting, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious. Suddenly hearing this sentence, Shen Yi felt a chill in his heart. He quickly stood up, lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, before the Northern Expedition, I have been rewarded many times, and even received the death penalty." Marquis, you have already violated the rules. Now I am just returning to Jiankang to report on my duties, and there is no reason to receive any more rewards."
"In Lincheng, Shunde, tens of thousands of enemies were wiped out, the Dengzhou navy troops came to Tianjin, and the Huai'an army occupied Hejian Mansion. These are all great achievements."
"more importantly…"
The emperor said solemnly: "More importantly, the Huai'an army took control of Taiyuan Prefecture and blocked the Tatars outside Yanmen Pass. This is all thanks to Po Tian."
"The Crown Prince and the Taibao only gave you a half-level title. As for the title of Minister of the Ministry of War..."
The emperor smiled and said: "I'm not asking you to take up the post. Most of the governors assigned abroad are ministers of the Ministry of War. It's not unusual."
"Originally I wanted to give you the title of Governor, but it was really hard to think of a title. There is no precedent for the two positions of Governor of Henan or Governor of Shandong, so I have to let you continue to be the Governor of Shandong for the time being."
"That's it. I still feel that I have wronged you, so don't shirk it. In two days, the imperial court's decree will be carried out."
Shen Yi thought about it carefully, and then said: "Your Majesty, I will accept the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, but I must not do it..."
The emperor frowned: "Why not?"
"Your Majesty, the imperial court has not yet set up the East Palace, where will the crown prince and his guardian come from..."
"It's just a false position. I'm not really asking you to serve as an official in the East Palace."
The emperor smiled and said: "Which of the prime ministers in Zhongshu does not have an official in the Jiadong Palace? Didn't they all suffer?"
He raised his head and looked at Shen Yi: "Did Shen Qing think something wrong? No matter who is in the East Palace in the future, you will be the crown prince's guardian."
Shen Yi still insisted on not accepting it and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, my qualifications are too young. If I receive a first-class official position like this, it will be really, really..."
"Don't mention this."
Emperor Hongde smiled and said: "Regardless of qualifications and achievements, no one in the court can compare with you."
"This matter has been settled, and the official document has been sealed. I am just mentioning it when we are chatting."
"It can't be changed."
With that said, he pulled Shen Yi to sit down and said with a smile: "Let's not mention this. I still have many things that I want to talk to you about slowly."
The monarch and his minister were originally of the same age, but now they had too many things to talk about, and they talked for more than an hour.
At this time, in the Manlu Palace, His Majesty the Emperor was still very excited and said: "Originally, the Northern Expedition went so smoothly, I was planning to go to Mount Tai to become a Zen monk in the next few years. If this is done, even if I am an emperor, I will not be in vain. Do."
"However, the court has really run out of money in the past two years, so this matter can only be postponed for a while. I don't know how long it will take."
"To be honest, I feel really itchy in my heart."
Shen Yi thought carefully for a moment, then looked at the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, the six prefectures of Shandong have slowly returned to normal under the governance of Zhang Jian, the chief envoy, and they are now Han Dynasties."
"I think that if your Majesty wants to be granted the title of Zen Emperor Taishan."
He lowered his head and said: "After the new year, you can prepare to go. In the middle of the new year, I will accompany your majesty to worship Mount Tai."
The emperor frowned: "I told you, I'm short of money."
As soon as the emperor left, he spent a lot of money to pave the way. After all, as the emperor, the emperor was bound by etiquette. Not to mention anything else, the palace alone was a huge expense.
More importantly, after the palace was built, once the emperor left and could no longer live in it, the palace would gradually fall into disuse.
Because no one can overstep his bounds and live in the emperor's palace.
"As for the money matter, I can think of a solution in the future. As long as Your Majesty is a little more frugal and doesn't build a palace excessively, I should be able to find a solution."
He looked at the emperor and continued: "Your Majesty, I suggest that you become Zen, not just to flatter others. Now the Northern Expedition has reached its most critical moment. It is precisely because of this time that orthodoxy has become extremely important."
"The Emperor of Chen, by ennobling Zen to worship heaven, is declaring to the world that the orthodoxy lies with His Majesty, and that Hu Qi in Yandu is just a puppet dynasty after all."
"If orthodoxy is corrected, people's hearts will be convinced, which will greatly benefit the war."
When the emperor heard this, his eyes almost gleamed.
He stood up, walked left and right, but was still undecided. He shook his head and said: "This matter, this matter..."
"I have to think about it carefully, think about it carefully..."
After muttering twice, he looked at Shen Yi and said, "Shen Qing, if I go there next year, won't anyone say that I'm so happy about my success?"
"Absolutely not."
Shen Yi looked back at the living room attendant who was still taking notes, and said with a smile: "Even if someone mentions this matter in the future, they will say that it was me who suggested that Your Majesty go to Mount Tai."
Emperor Hong De sat in his seat, dazed and silent.
After a while, he finally said: "It's too late tonight. We, the monarchs and ministers, will stop talking here. Tomorrow I will summon your beloved to come to the palace to discuss matters. Gao Ming, give me a gift for Lord Shen."
Eunuch Gao walked up to Shen Yi respectfully and said, "Master Marquis, please."
Shen Yi stood up, bowed his hands to the emperor, and then walked out of the Manna Hall with Gao Ming.
After walking out of the Manna Palace, Shen Yi looked at Eunuch Gao and suddenly asked: "Eunuch Gao, are you feeling well lately?"
Gao Ming looked back at Shen Yi and saw that something seemed wrong in Shen Yi's eyes. Then he hesitated for a moment and said, "That's good."
"There are just too many things going on in the palace."