Chapter 568: Must Lament They Were Poor, Really No
More Money
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
In the Great Hall of Golden Flight.
As soon as the court session started, Su Yulun and Duke Jingguo stepped forward respectively to report to Xiao Jin about the disaster relief efforts and settlement progress in Kun City.
It had been more than two months since this disaster occurred, and the people of Kun City had basically been settled down by the Imperial Court.
However, the damage caused by the earthquake to Kun City was too great. The post-disaster reconstruction work would be an arduous and very expensive project. It was difficult to take out so much money from the national treasury to fund the project.
Xiao Jin turned to look at the Minister of Revenue.
The Minister of Revenue felt his skin go numb. He could only brace himself and step forward to say in a sorrowful voice, “Your Majesty, the national treasury has already expended a lot this year. The amount of funds that can be allocated to Kun City is really limited.”
There was no more money. Even if there was, he still had to lament they were poor!
Otherwise, who knew how many of these voracious wolves and tigers standing in the hall would still want to take money from the national treasury!
Xiao Jin’s heroic sharp eyebrows furrowed, giving him a somewhat troubled expression. “My dear minister, are you saying that the national treasury has no more money?”
The Minister of Revenue nodded with a troubled look. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Xiao Jin’s brows furrowed even more tightly. He slowly raised his eyelids and swept his gaze across the numerous officials below.
The ministers quickly lowered their heads and pretended to be dead. They muttered in their hearts, “You didn’t see me! You didn’t see me!”
One should not just look at the Emperor’s worried expression. In reality, no one knew what he was actually planning in his heart. That restrained and calculating gaze was clearly scrutinizing these ministers to see who was fatter so that he could scrape a layer of blubber from them!
One must say that these ministers had a fairly accurate understanding of Xiao Jin’s character.
Sure enough, everyone heard Xiao Jin say leisurely next, “Lord Li, I heard that you recently planned to buy a mountain villa in the suburbs to avoid the cold? Such a good manor would surely cost a lot of money, wouldn’t it?”
Lord Li’s hair stood on end. He had only mentioned it to his wife. How did this matter reach the Emperor’s ears?
Lord Li wanted to pretend to be ignorant, but the Emperor obviously wouldn’t agree.
“Your Majesty, there’s no… no such thing.”
Xiao Jin didn’t comment and turned his gaze to the other ministers. After a round of picking out names, every minister was so frightened that they wanted to cry out that they didn’t even want their salaries as long as His Majesty let them off!
However, it was obvious that Xiao Jin did not intend to let them off so easily.
Very few of those who could stand in the Great Hall of Golden Flight had empty pockets. The annual salary of an official of the Imperial Court was capped at a certain level. Even if they did not eat or drink for decades, they would not be able to afford a large residence in the capital city. Yet among these people in front of him, which of them did not live in courtyard residences with pavilions and terraces?
“Kun City is in such a difficult situation. As the ruler of a kingdom, I feel very awful. Eunuch Zhang, from today until Kun City is successfully rebuilt, I will not add any new clothes. The expenses of the palace will be halved again. In order to reduce the expenses of the palace, don’t talk to me about expanding the harem in the future. One more person means one extra mouth to feed. I can’t afford it,” Xiao Jin pronounced.
If the Emperor didn’t expand the harem, how could their eldest and younger daughters get close to the Emperor!
This would not do!
“Your Majesty, your humble subject has no other hobbies these years. There is still a surplus in my family’s finances. Your humble subject is willing to offer the remaining silver to make a small contribution to the people of Kun City.”
A minister with quick reflexes immediately stood up and expressed his stance.
Now that someone had taken the lead, the others had no choice but to follow. They could only express their willingness to contribute to the Imperial Court.
However, the amount of money they dared to offer was limited. Xiao Jin wanted more than that.
“Prime Minister Su, I heard that you have some dealings with the Imperial merchants in Jiangnan?”
After much tribulation, Su Yulun had finally returned to the Imperial Court. He wanted to keep a low profile, but to his chagrin, the Emperor picked him out in public.
“Your Majesty, I have no close dealings with the Imperial merchants. I have only met them once. However, I believe that as Imperial merchants, they have the responsibility to step forward and help the kingdom in times of crisis. Your Majesty, don’t worry. I will definitely inform them of this matter and get them to contribute to the kingdom. They will also definitely rally even more merchants to join hands and provide assistance to Kun City.”
Tsk!
Just listen to him!
The Prime Minister was indeed different. The moment the Emperor opened his mouth, the Prime Minister knew what the Emperor meant.
Sure enough, the crowd saw the Emperor nod his head in satisfaction. “Then I’ll have to trouble you, my dear minister. If the rest of you ministers know of such merchants, you can also inform them.”
Xiao Jin didn’t say what he wanted them to tell the merchants, but everyone knew that the emperor was telling them to ask the merchants for money!
The Emperor had planned so meticulously that no one could find any way to evade his order!
After the court session ended, the ministers were all cursing and swearing in their hearts. Fortunately, the Emperor did not make things difficult for them and only tasked them to get money.
“Sigh! Even if we get the money, the sum won’t be enough. It will be much better if we discover another gold mine.”
One of the younger ministers was ignorant and began to whisper to his colleague before he even walked out of the palace.
When his colleague heard this, he hurriedly made a shushing gesture to him. “Lord Zhang, you should be careful with your words.” What gold mine? Was it that easy to find one?
Even if they found one, would the Emperor let everyone know?
That lord also realized that he had said something wrong. After hurriedly keeping quiet, he could not help but quicken his pace to leave the palace.
Outside the palace gates were the horse carriages from the various residences. They were all waiting for the ministers of the Imperial Court to come out after the court session ended.
Behind these horse carriages, there was a thin figure hiding in the dark, quietly observing the location of the palace gate.
However, he could not recognize these officials at all. He could only guess who they were based on the horse carriage they boarded.
When he saw Duke Jingguo’s horse carriage flash past his eyes, he quickly chased it.
However, his injuries had yet to recover and he could not catch up with the horse carriage. Fortunately, the street was congested with carriages at this hour, so he was finally able to stop the horse carriage.
Shocked, the coachman quickly pulled the horse carriage to a stop. When he saw the person blocking the carriage, he could not help but scold, “What are you doing? Do you want to die? Didn’t you see whose horse carriage this is? Is this carriage one that you can stop?”
Si Chen looked at the emblem on the horse carriage and slowly knelt down. “Duke Jingguo, I beg you to help me.”
A powerful voice rang out from the carriage after a long time. “If you have any grievances, you can report it to the Capital Governor. Don’t worry. The Capital Governor is a fair and strict official. He won’t let anyone who has committed evil off.”
Si Chen clenched his fists and choked back his tears as he said, “Lord Duke, the Capital Governor can’t do anything about this. It’s about Kun City.”
The eyes of the person sitting in the horse carriage darkened slightly. He lifted a corner of the curtain and glanced at Si Chen before telling the guards to bring him to Duke Jingguo’s Residence.
Si Chen finally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Duke Jingguo was willing to see him.
He had received Duke Jingguo’s help long before he attained third place in the Imperial Examinations. To him, Duke Jingguo was someone who recognized his talent and he was also the only person he trusted in the capital city.
It was not that he had not thought of looking for Duke Jingguo in the past, but the letters he had sent to Duke Jingguo’s Residence seemed to have sunk into the sea like stones. Today, he decided to take a look outside the palace gate.. To his surprise, he bumped into Duke Jingguo’s horse carriage!