Hong Zhenji did not lie, he was indeed a pro-Xuan minister.
He tripped up Liang Yuyao and almost killed Xu Zhiqiong, but he did advocate that Qiancheng and Daxuan become allies.
Just because Hong Zhenji was pro-Xuan, he suffered a lot of ostracism in the court over the years. Most of his ministers were alienated from him, and the emperor was not very fond of him.
Hong Zhenji smiled bitterly and said: "I am in a situation where I have no favor from the emperor and no support from the people below, but Marquis Yun still thinks that I can have any wild ideas?"
Xu Zhiqiong frowned and said: "Since the pro-propaganda faction is not popular, why does King Shu still want to pro-proclaim it?"
Hong Zhenji said: "As a human minister, I should share the worries of the divine king. This is my duty as a minister of Qiancheng!"
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said: "If you talk about Ji Erdan, you might as well say less."
Hong Zhenji sighed: "Although I don't know what it means to pull a Gil egg, but if I guess correctly, Marquis Yun should be humiliating me.
Marquis Yun may not believe that I will fulfill my duty as a minister, but Marquis Yun must understand one thing. After all, I am a man of thousands of talents.
Let’s put aside those frivolous words and tell the truth, the reason why I am close to Daxuan is because Daxuan does not want Qiancheng’s land and will not let Qiancheng be subjugated.”
Xu Zhiqiong kept looking at Hong Zhenji. From the moment they met until now, Hong Zhenji finally told the truth, the same sentence just now.
He was close to Daxuan because he was afraid that Qiancheng would perish.
"Will Tunu let you subjugate your country?"
"Since the founding of the country, Tunu has continuously asked for three things from me, one is land, the other is grain, and the third is gold and silver. These three things are the key to the country!
The Tunu people take away 30% of our grain every year, and we give them to them. The land of Qiancheng is considered fertile, but the land of Qiancheng is still considered diligent..."
Bang! Xu Zhiqiong slapped Hong Zhenji on the face.
Hong Zhenji covered his face and looked at Xu Zhiqiong in shock.
Since he came out of his mother's womb, he has never been beaten.
Xu Zhiqiong said: "That slap just now will make you remember. You Qiancheng people are not just hardworking. Among the people I have met, they are the most diligent."
Hong Zhenji rubbed his face, nodded and said: "Yes, Qiancheng people are indeed hardworking. In addition to paying taxes and gifts, the food produced every year and giving 30% more to Tunu is barely enough..."
Snapped!
Xu Zhiqiong slapped him again: "Apart from serving the imperial court and giving to slaves, is there no other use for the food grown by Qiancheng people?"
Hong Zhenji touched his face and said, "Also, there are state and county taxes..."
Snapped!
Xu Zhiqiong raised his hand and slapped him again: "We'll talk about it after we think about it!"
Hong Zhenji covered his face and said with tears: "He, they can barely eat enough..."
It’s not that he doesn’t know what Xu Zhiqiong means. The food grown by thousands of people must be eaten by thousands of people!
But he really couldn't say these words.
Xu Zhiqiong shouted: "Can you barely eat enough? Why are you so reluctant? Let me listen to you tell me?"
Hong Zhenji sobbed and said: "The royal tax and silver cannot be less, the tax and silver of the state cannot be less, and the tribute to Tunu must not be less. Every year, Tunu has to pay a lot of gold and silver. If we can't get the gold and silver, we can't do it."
I have to use grain to make up for it. In fact, half of my thousand times of grain is given to Tunu every year."
Xu Zhiqiong said: "The imperial court collected a lot of food. Where did all this food go?"
Hong Zhenji wiped his tears and said: "Most of them have been given to the warriors. I have a standing army of 800,000 in Qiancheng."
Xu Zhiqiong said: "A standing army of 800,000 people was bullied into this state by Tunu?"
"This 800,000-strong army is not very good at fighting."
Xu Zhiqiong said: "If you are not good at fighting, what else do you want to do?"
"Staying here will be a shock after all."
Xu Zhiqiong frowned and asked: "Are you going to scare the Tunu people or the Qiancheng people?"
"Both, all..." Hong Zhenji couldn't think of a better answer.
Xu Zhiqiong was silent for a long time and then asked: "Tunu is a vast territory with a sparse population. It is not easy to raise an army of 200,000. I don't believe that an army of 800,000 cannot even defeat 200,000?"
Hong Zhenji sighed and said: "It's hard to predict what will happen to the sergeants. I have thousands of chariots but I lack generals."
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Since there are 800,000 standing troops, the generals can only train troops, and they will not be much worse."
Hong Zhenji shook his head and said: "A person who can lead troops cannot be a general, and a person who can be a general cannot lead troops, just because I employ thousands of people and put morality first."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled when he heard the words "put morality first", and Hong Zhenji sighed and said: "The Lord Shen knows how powerful the Qiancheng army is. Since the Lord Shen took the throne, he has given Tunu countless grains, gold and silver. The land ceded to Tunu is also countless."
Hearing this sentence, Xu Zhiqiong could sense something, at least he could see that Hong Zhenji had a hint of dissatisfaction in his heart.
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Tunu bullies you Qiancheng like this, but there are still people in the court who are close to Tunu? But you, the Lord of Gods, still insist on marrying Tu?"
Hong Zhenji said helplessly: "If you don't kiss Tunu, Tunnu is really fighting. In the past two years, Daxuan and Tunnu went to war, and Tunnu lost three provinces in a row. Tunnu was so angry that he declared war on me, Qiancheng.
I fought with them several times in thousands of battles, and could not bear the bloodshed in front of the battle line, so I gave ten cities to Tunu. The war ended only then. To this day, countless ministers still hate Daxuan for this."
Snapped!
Xu Zhiqiong slapped Hong Zhenjie again.
"Tunu hit you, why do you hate Daxuan?"
Hong Zhenji covered his face and said: "I understand the reason. I have never hated Daxuan. Daxuan does not want my Qiancheng land, and I am separated from Qiancheng by a huge sea. You will not use force against me Qiancheng. With Daxuan in check, Tunu will also be wary of Qiancheng in the future.
I asked my brother Hong Zuchang to go to Xuanguo as an envoy. I wanted to form an alliance with Xuanguo. Unexpectedly, Xuanguo was unwilling to treat me politely and looked down on me Qiancheng. We could only use Yu Xian's old master as a threat. , and Xuanguo sent envoys to take the initiative to make peace with me Qiancheng."
Xu Zhiqiong slapped him again: "How good would you say you put your thoughts on Tunu?"
Hong Zhenji covered his face and said: "Marquis Yun, you hit me and got angry, please remove the soul-obsessing technique from me. If I lose this life, Xuan Guo and Qian Cheng will be in trouble from now on." Let’s break up.”
Xu Zhiqiong sneered: "How can I break up with you? Daxuan is not even afraid of Tunu, how can he be afraid of you?"
Hong Zhenji whispered: "It is better to have many friends than many enemies."
Xu Zhiqiong sneered: "Isn't it easy to be your friend? Just beat you! Tu Nu beats you the worst, they are your friend!"
Hong Zhenji was speechless. Xu Zhiqiong stretched out his hand and Hong Zhenji quickly covered his face.
Xu Zhiqiong did not beat him, but used a hanging bag to trap the breath in his body.
"Are you feeling comfortable?"
Hong Zhenji let out a long breath and pulled out the knife in his heart again.
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Let me ask you again, do you want to be the emperor?"
Hong Zhenji lowered his head and said, "I don't have that fate."
"If I gave you this fate, would you like it or not?"
Hong Zhenji pursed his lips and said, "Who in the world doesn't want to be the Ninth Five-Year Planner?"
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Okay, if you say this, I will help you. You must do three things for me first.
The first one is to go back and raise one hundred thousand taels of silver and deliver it within three days.
The second thing is to tell me all the garrison defenses around the capital. It's best to draw a picture and send it to me tomorrow.
The third thing is, tell me all the cultivators of the fifth grade and above of Shen Ji Division, including Taoist sects and cultivation levels."
When Hong Zhenji heard this, he couldn't speak smoothly: "It's easy to talk about money, but these last two things, if there is a slight mistake, the family will be wiped out..."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said, "Wouldn't it be better if you were more cautious and didn't let him make any mistakes?"
Hong Zhenji lowered his head and said nothing.
Xu Zhiqiong frowned and said: "If you don't agree, I will restore the soul-capturing technique now!"
Hong Zhenji waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Yes, I just agree, but Lord Yun must be careful and don't let any news about this matter leak out."
"Since you want to be the emperor, but you are a bit brave, go back and customize a dragon robe and find a reliable tailor to make it more fitting."
"You don't dare to do this!" Hong Zhenji said, "The matter has not yet been revealed, how can we do such a useless thing?"
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "It's not for you to wear, it's for your brother."