After Yan Bing presented the sword to Xu Hui, he turned to face the imperial platform, cupped his hand, and continued: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the third tribute presented by Master to Your Majesty, although it is a common thing, it also represents Master's patriotism.
,
This thing is what the master got from selling all his swords. Two million taels of silver are all dedicated to your majesty to fill the national treasury to strengthen the border defense. Please help me, your majesty, to build the beam, which will be used for thousands of generations.
!”
"What!?"
"Two, two million taels!?"
Before Yan Bing finished speaking, the court below was already in chaos, everyone was whispering to each other, and there was a lot of discussion.
And Emperor Xuan Si, who was always as calm as water on the dragon throne, raised his eyebrows at this moment...
Although there was a lot of excitement in the court today, all of this was within his plan.
Only these two million taels were completely beyond his expectation. He didn't like this feeling very much...
However, banknotes... he still likes them very much.
Because what he lacks most now is money...
Five years ago, the "Beizhen tribe" in the north declared the establishment of a political power and harassed towns in northern Daliang many times, plundering people and destroying cities.
The Waruo Kingdom in the Western Region seems to have secretly communicated with the Beizhen Clan. In the past five years, it has become more and more rampant, attacking the Xiguan border defense many times. Although the scale is small, the intention of testing is very obvious.
In addition, the opponent's deployment of troops and the location of the assembly area indicate that the Varo Kingdom is actively brewing plans to break out a national war with Daliang at this time.
And once the war started, what was needed most was a large amount of money and food.
At this moment, in order to avoid fighting on two fronts, he had sent an envoy to Varro.
On the surface, it was through diplomatic negotiations to delay the start of the war. Secretly, the spies in the mission were bribing Varro officials, seeking information, and delaying the Varro court's decision to start the war.
Then, use this period of time to mobilize troops and horses to first defeat the "vanguard" of the Varo Kingdom, the Beizhen regime, and then turn the army's frontline and aim directly at Xiguan to force Varo to negotiate a peace, thereby restoring the country's strength, and then slowly plan for it.
But all the plans are inseparable from one word.
"money"
Now, these two million taels of silver were just like falling from the sky, stuffed into his pocket for nothing. Although he was extremely happy, he had to think more about it.
"There is no free meal in the world." This truth was taught to him by his father when he was still a child.
I need to know his intentions, all of them! Intentions!
But before that, in exchange, I will satisfy your intention of "muddying the water"!
Thinking of this, Emperor Xuansi raised his hand and waved. The eunuch in front of the palace immediately understood, stepped forward, and shouted in a long tone.
"Quiet~"
The ministers who were talking a lot below suddenly returned to silence.
"I understand the thoughts of my ancestors, and I am deeply touched. The ancients said that blood is thicker than water, and sincerity will not deceive others. Now, my ancestors are no longer idle clouds and wild cranes, and they have dedicated all their savings to Daliang.
I, as the king of the Liang Kingdom and the younger generation of our ancestors, how can I ignore the responsibility of providing for you..., declare the decree!"
As soon as Emperor Xuansi said the last two words, all the officials immediately knelt down and worshiped, but the old man still smiled and sat firmly on his chair.
But Yan Bing did not have the identity and strength of the old man, so he could only kneel down quickly and lie on the ground, but his heart was filled with ecstasy.
Because she knew that the first step of the deal was done...
As expected, I heard Emperor Xuansi say loudly on the dragon throne: "I, thinking of our ancestor Linfeng, he is old and cares about his family and country, so he has spent all his money. I hereby confer a book of treasures.
He is named Prince Kang, and he will never be replaced, and he will take care of the capital."
The old man was very happy after hearing this, Yong Xi? Why don’t you replace me? What do you mean?
Are you really too old to give birth to a son?
I'm so angry!
I’ll find you a great-grandmother who’s younger than you some other day!
Let’s have another litter of sons! I’ll let you call me Grandpa! I’ll make you mad!!
But when he wanted to think about it, he did what he did, made him a king, disturbed the public opinion, and then used the prince's convenience to participate in the national war, which caused the Varo court to persecute, and the Roman sect also participated in the national war.
If the Luomen Sect were ordered to participate in the national war, it would be an open violation of the tenets of the martial arts world, which could then force the Zijin Sect and the Supreme Sword Master to also participate in the national war, kill the enemy and prove the Tao, thus completely tearing apart these sects and the Luomen Sect.
Collusion among sects.
If they don't follow the order, the Luomen sect will be at odds with the Varo court. During this period, they will be busy. I'm afraid they won't have time to take care of themselves, let alone think about the Central Plains.
How did they use their conspiracy in the first place to deceive us into losing our sect?
Let's just take advantage of the fact that we are now helpless and use scheming to get back.
From the beginning, their master and apprentice had planned a plan for this trip. Now that the first step has been taken, they cannot hold back.
The old man could only bite the bullet, stand up, bow and salute, and said in as sincere a tone as possible: "I accept the order and thank you."
As soon as the old man said these words, the courtiers below followed the law and knelt down and shouted: "I obey the order."
They stood up again, collectively faced the old man, bowed and saluted, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, congratulations to Prince Kang."
The old man looked at this group of "officials" and were polite to him. For a moment, he only felt one head and two heads. He hurriedly squeezed out a smile as kind as possible and raised his hands to express his gratitude.
In this way, the etiquette in the court is completed, and all the ministers return to their respective places.
Emperor Xuansi, seeing the old man's troubled expression when facing his father, could not sense any deception, and felt a little relieved.
Now that the first step of the transaction has been completed, the second step of the transaction is not enough to deal with outsiders.
"Is there anyone else who has something to report to you today?" Emperor Xuansi asked casually while adjusting his dragon robe.
Of course he knew that these people would have nothing to talk about. If it weren't for him, he would have retreated half an hour ago in order to wait for the old man to complete the deal.
Seeing no one answered, Emperor Xuansi stood up and said to the old man: "Ancestor, it has been a long time since I returned to the palace. I, perhaps, have not reminisced with my ancestor for a long time.
Today, I invite you, ancestor, to stay and sit down with me over a glass of wine and chat about family matters as a family."
After saying that, without waiting for the old man to say whether he wanted to go or not, he directly said to the minister below: "Others, please retreat."
Then, he threw up his sleeves and went straight to the imperial study.
The eunuch in front of the palace immediately took a step forward and shouted: "Retreat from the court...!"
As if they had received the "disband" signal, all the ministers immediately fell into groups, chatting, and then dispersed.
It was as if the old man, the prince, had no value in clinging to him, so he simply left the master and apprentice aside, without even a single person coming over to say a few polite words.
Of course, this does not rule out the reason why they never want to smell stinky feet again.
Only Xu Hui and the thin man who had been holding back his laughter just now walked up to the old man and Yan Bing, bowed, raised their hands in salute, and left the hall without saying a word.
Yan Bing knew that in the court, there were rules in the court, and in the party, there were rules in the party. It was already difficult for these two people to do this, so he smiled and said nothing and watched them leave.
"Qihua, thank you today..."
When only the master and apprentice were left in the hall, the old man whispered.
"What are you talking about, Master? Isn't this what a disciple should do?" Yan Bing looked at the old man with a smile.
The old man nodded, smiled happily, and then whispered: "Master, I really feel uncomfortable in this palace. Can you find a way to postpone this luncheon?"
When Yan Bing heard this, how could that work?
I was about to say a few words to the old man, but then I thought of something. I smiled and read the name of the dish: "Shark's fin, abalone, sea cucumber, bear's paw, deer tail..."
Before Yan Bing could finish reading, the old man shouted directly, "Let's go! We must go!"
