Chapter 74 The Emperor Has No More Food
"Brother Jiu, what brings you to Kyoto this time?" Yan Mou asked curiously.
Yuan Yuan smiled faintly and said, "I came here to propose marriage to Your Majesty."
"Petition His Majesty? Ninth brother, do you want to marry the princess?" Yan Mou asked curiously.
Yuan Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, I want to marry Her Royal Highness the Princess."
"If you marry the eldest princess, you will be related to the Queen's lineage. Wouldn't the Jiaodong Yuan family be further promoted?" Yan Mou said flatteringly.
Yuan Yuan nodded and said, "I haven't submitted my father's marriage proposal yet, and I don't know whether His Majesty will agree or not."
Yan Mou raised his eyebrows and said, "Your Majesty previously promised the eldest princess to that fool Xie Hanzi. Now that it has been replaced by a talented person like you, Ninth Brother, His Majesty will definitely agree."
"I will go to the palace tomorrow to submit my proposal. At that time, I hope the Grand Tutor can say a few good words for me." Yuan Yuan said.
Yan Mou patted his chest and repeatedly said that there was no problem.
After a few pleasantries, Yan Mou left.
Watching Yan Mou leave, Yuan Qing said to Yuan Yuan, "Brother, I think Yan Mou is so stupid that he can't even handle that fool. Are you sure you want to use him?"
Yuan Yuan said to Yuan Qing who was standing beside him, "Yan Mou is just too arrogant. After all, he is the grandson of the Grand Tutor and the only child of the Grand Tutor's mansion. It's not surprising that he is a little arrogant. As long as we control him, the old fox Grand Tutor will have to bow to us."
Yuan Qing nodded.
Yuan Yuan continued, "I also asked you to check the person behind Xie Hanzi. Have you found out?"
Yuan Qing shook his head and said, "Brother, I checked. There is no special person. The people he interacted with the most were just Guan Chong and the third princess! Could it be that he was pretending to be stupid?"
Yuan Yuan also shook his head and said, "He is not pretending to be stupid. If he was pretending to be stupid, he would not have to pretend to come to our Great Xia! He is just a fool, but there must be something wrong when things are abnormal . This fool has been a fool for half his life, but what he has done during this period is quite methodical. There must be someone behind the scenes directing him. Has Guan Chong checked it out?"
Yuan Qing also nodded and said, "I checked it, and there is nothing unusual. I suspect it's the third princess, but now the three princesses are locked up together with the queen mother..."
"No problem, there will be plenty of opportunities to deal with each other in Kyoto in the future!" Yuan Yuan said with a smile.
…
Next day
In the court.
Xie Xunfeng stood behind the princes and found that there were a few more people in the court.
That person was none other than Grand Tutor Yan, the head of all officials and Yan Mou’s grandfather.
Grand Tutor Yan's status is very transcendent.
When the emperor is absent, it is the emperor's power that is exercised.
It can be said that he is the emperor's most trusted person.
As soon as Grand Tutor Yan entered the hall, he glared at Xie Xunfeng, obviously knowing that he had bullied his grandson.
The other one was not wearing official uniform and was not a prince.
Xie Xunfeng heard from Heilong yesterday that this person should be the eldest son of the Yuan family in Jiaodong.
The person most likely to inherit the Yuan family's assets in Jiaodong in the future.
After Xiao Shentian came out, all officials shouted "Long live Xiao Shentian".
"Today is the first morning court after Grand Tutor Yan returned to the court. Does Grand Tutor Yan have anything to report?" Xiao Shentian said to Grand Tutor Yan.
Grand Tutor Yan bowed to Xiao Shentian and said, "Your Majesty, I do have something to report. There is a severe drought in Yuzhou, and I have repeatedly asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money and grain for disaster relief, but the Ministry of Revenue always prevaricates...Now in Yuzhou, victims are starving to death every day!"
After listening to this, Xiao Shentian looked at Wu Guozhang.
Wu Guozhang's face froze, and he stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty! Due to the years of wars on the border and the frequent natural disasters in various places, the Ministry of Revenue has no extra money and is unable to spare any money for disaster relief. Master Yan, a good cook cannot cook without rice, you are embarrassing me a little."
Master Yan was very smart. After raising the question, he didn't say much.
Xiao Shentian looked at the officials in the court, no one responded, and asked Grand Tutor Yan, "Grand Tutor Yan, how much money do you need for disaster relief?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the severe drought has affected at least 800,000 people. To survive this famine, it will cost at least one million taels of gold." Grand Tutor Yan said.
Xiao Shentian said to Wu Guozhang, "Wu Guozhang, how much money does the Ministry of Revenue have?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has less than two million taels of gold left. Moreover, the military pay has to be paid soon, and these two million taels of gold are for military expenses. Moreover, even if we have these two million taels, it is still not enough. I still have to find a way to raise it. If it is used for disaster relief, and the military pay cannot be paid by then, it may cause a mutiny! Therefore, these two million taels of gold must not be touched..." said Wu Guozhang.
"Then transfer it from my inner treasury!" Xiao Shentian said with a frown.
"Your Majesty, your inner treasury is also out of money. The military expenses for this Northern Expedition are from your Majesty's inner treasury... Now the palaces are already tightening their belts... If you use the inner treasury's money, I'm afraid that the food, clothing and expenses of the palace will become a problem." Wu Guozhang said with a bad look on his face.
Xiao Shentian looked unhappy when he saw this. He also knew that Da Xia's finances were tight every year.
He looked at the officials in the hall.
None of the officials dared to look Xiao Shentian in the eye.
"What's wrong? Are you all speechless? Could it be that our great country can't even come up with one million taels of gold?" Xiao Shentian said with a little anger.
