Poor Family Chapter 478

  Chapter 478 First Court Meeting (Part 2)

  Li Yanqing hurriedly urged his horse forward, cupped his fists and saluted: "For humble ranks, see the general!"

   "Yanqing, this is your first time going to court!"

   "Exactly! But I already know some basic rules."

  Cao Ping glanced at the whitebait bag on Li Yanqing's waist, and nodded with a smile. Since he knows to hang up the gifted whitebait bag, it shows that he knows the rules.

   Cao Ping said again: "Yesterday my granddaughter caused you trouble again."

   "I would like to take her shopping on holidays, but it's not convenient at ordinary times."

  Li Yanqing implicitly told Cao Ping to control his granddaughter and not let her break into Yushitai again.

"Yes! In fact, my house is very strict. She can't leave the house alone. Yesterday, her brother Cao Xing took her out without permission. I scolded him severely last night and promised not to leave the house again. There is a next time, and besides, I will make up the money Yan Qing spent for her."

  Li Yanqing smiled slightly, "It's my intention to buy her something, don't talk about money."

  Cao Ping was rather apologetic. He thought for a while and said, "I have a family banquet on the tenth day of this month. Some relatives and friends will come to attend. The number of people is very small. I wonder if Yanqing can honor me?"

  Li Yanqing hesitated for a moment, but nodded in agreement, "Since the general has spoken, how dare Yanqing not come!"

  Cao Ping chuckled, "Let's go! Don't delay the court meeting."

  Li Yanqing bowed his fists to him, and urged the horse to continue towards Xuandemen

When you arrive at Xuande Gate, except for the prime minister who can go on in a sedan chair, all other officials must dismount and walk until they pass the north corridor. , here is the temporary waiting area for the court.

   There is still about a quarter of an hour before the court time. Daqing Square is full of officials waiting for the court. There are more than a thousand people. They gather together in twos and threes, discussing something.

Although Li Yanqing can win the favor of Liang Shicheng, Cai Jing and others, his connections in the court are still very weak. Senior officials like Zheng Zhi knew Li Yanqing, but when they saw Li Yanqing, they just smiled and nodded, and then continued to chat with the people around them.

   "Li Yushi!"

  Finally someone called him, and when Li Yanqing turned around, he saw his immediate superior, Deng Yong, running over, "I'm so sorry, I happened to be away yesterday. I didn't expect there to be a temporary court today, so I didn't inform you in time."

   "Director Liu has already told me."

  "He just told you that you will go to court today, but he didn't tell you the content of the morning court."

  Li Yanqing was taken aback, "Could it be that the early court has something to do with humble positions?"

   "It's not directly related to you, but related to Yushitai."

  Deng Yong looked at both sides, pulled Li Yanqing aside and said in a low voice: "The Son of Heaven has decided to strengthen the Supervising Army and plans to set up a second Supervising Army to be responsible for supervising the army's logistics supplies. He is going to hand over this power to Yushitai."

   "Why do you have this idea?"

"Isn't it because the national treasury is so empty that the army's consumption is a bottomless pit? This time to prepare for the battle against Liao, the imperial court plans to recruit 200,000 troops. The various armor materials, food and military salaries needed are innumerable. According to some internal information, the prices of salt, wine, tea, and food are all going up, and Wang Xiangguo plans to launch "ten coins", so many senior officials have proposed not only to increase revenue, but also to cut expenditures. The proposal to monitor military logistics supplies is Out."

Li Yanqing sighed secretly. Salt, wine, tea, and food are basic materials. If their prices increase, other prices will inevitably rise in an all-round way. Xiaomin's livelihood will be even more difficult. He even has to introduce "ten coins". He has met Cai Jing before. The "Dangwuqian" launched, the so-called "Dangshiqian" is a lot of money, and it is the most direct way to plunder people's wealth.

   "Is it clear that Yushitai will supervise the logistics supplies of the army?"

   "The participation of Yushitai must be clear, otherwise how could Shi Yushi also attend the court today, but I heard that the Privy Council and the Ministry of War also requested participation, but it has not been finalized."

   Right at this moment, the Jingyang bell on the Daqing Palace rang, and all the civil and military officials lined up. Li Yanqing had long discovered that there was a rank line in front of the steps, and the officials could stand in line according to their own ranks.

Li Yanqing has found the sixth-rank official rank line, and he is already the last of the team. Today, only six censors have been added. Except for Li Yanqing, the other five censors have already stood on their seats. In the fight for the position, he had to stand at the end, as if he had become the last in the entire morning court.

  At this time, the official of the palace supervisor shouted from above the steps: "Enter the palace!"

Prince Zhao Huan is the first civil official, Liang Shicheng is the second, and Prime Minister Bai Shizhong is the third, while the military officer is the king of Yun, Zhao Kai, and Tong Guan is the second, but Tong Guan is not in the capital and has Prince Shaobao. Cao Ping, who holds the title, ranks second among military officers, but the number of military officers is relatively small, less than half of the number of civilian officials.

The civil and military teams walked up the steps silently. On both sides of the steps stood two royal servants in the palace. They watched all the officials sharply. Such situations as being late, making noise, standing in line at will, etc., will be recorded as the basis for impeachment.

Compared with the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial palaces of the Song Dynasty were far inferior in grandeur. Not only did they occupy a small area, but also the palaces were not very grand. Compared with Daxing Hall and Hanyuan Hall, Li Yanqing could no longer stand at the end, the team could only be divided into several rows, and Li Yanqing stood at the end of the third row.

  The top of the main hall is covered with lanterns, illuminating the main hall like daytime, and the hall is very quiet. For a moment, a guard shouted, "His Majesty the Emperor is here!"

   Immediately, the music sounded. Amidst the melodious music, I saw the emperor Zhao Ji walking in from the side of Danbi under the protection of the Sixteen Palaces and eight guards.

  Zhao Ji sat down slowly on the dragon chair, looked majesticly at the ministers, and all the ministers bowed together, "See Your Majesty!"

   Zhao Ji showed a weary smile on his face, and waved his hands, "Everyone loves you!"

  Everyone was flat, the hall was silent, Zhao Ji said slowly: "Today is a temporary court meeting, I invite all ministers to come here to discuss an important event."

  Zhao Ji spoke very slowly. Although his voice was not loud, he could hear it from the front of the main hall. Although it was difficult to hear from the outside of the main hall, Li Yanqing had sharp eyes and ears, and he could faintly hear Zhao Ji's voice when he stood at the end.

"Since the founding of the country in the Song Dynasty, it has always been our national policy to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun. The state has been occupied by aliens,

Now that the current situation has changed drastically, the Jurchens are rising, and the Khitan is exhausted. This is a good opportunity for us to take back the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. We have ceased war with Xixia last year. Xixia surrendered to the Song Dynasty. The threat from the western front is lifted. Then we can concentrate our forces on the northern expedition. , I have been thinking about this matter for two years, whether we can realize the great deeds of our ancestors depends on whether we have the courage to take this step."

  Li Yanqing heard clearly that today's interim court meeting turned out to be a discussion about the Northern Expedition. In name, it was a discussion, but in fact Zhao Ji had already made up his mind. At most, there was only the difference between Plan A and Plan B.

  The high-pitched voice of Cai Xing, the young supervisor in the palace, came from a distance, "Please offer advice to the king!"

At this time, the officials in the main hall couldn't bear it any longer, and began to discuss in a low voice. The so-called suggestion is to come up with a plan. The Northern Expedition plan is more legitimate.

  At this time, Wang Fu walked out from the group of officials, bowed to the emperor Zhao Ji, and said, "My minister, Wang Fu, is willing to present the plan of the Northern Expedition."

  Zhao Ji nodded, "Wang Xiangguo announces to all officials!"

Wang Fu took out a scroll, unfolded it slowly, and read aloud to the officials: "Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, it has been a national policy to recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. , and since Emperor Ming ascended the throne, he has repeatedly climbed high and looked north, with great ambitions to recover the Han family, and made great efforts to rule in time. , the power of the Liao Kingdom is exhausted, and God has given a good opportunity to the Song Dynasty. Wang Fu formulated this strategy according to the order of the emperor. The strategy is one: the strategy of preparing for war, a total of seven twenty-four strategies."

  Wang Fu read impassionedly, but countless ministers frowned. In his countermeasures, Wang Fu proposed that the government and the people share the burden of the Northern Expedition. Obviously, he wanted to damage the interests of all officials, or cut salaries, or canceled many subsidies.

  As for appropriately raising the official prices of grain, salt, iron, wine, and tea, or even issuing them as ten coins, this is directly plundering people's wealth to raise military expenses.

  After Wang Fu finished reading, Zhao Ji asked slowly: "About Wang Xiangguo's plan for the Northern Expedition, can all the lovers object?"

  At this moment, Liang Shicheng walked out of the queue and said, "Your Majesty, I have some doubts."

  Zhao Ji glanced at Liang Shicheng with dissatisfaction. In the past few months, the two factions have been fighting fiercely, and Zhao Ji is also happy to see their disputes, but Zhao Ji does not want factional struggles in the matter of the Northern Expedition.

  But Zhao Ji still restrained the unhappiness in his heart, and asked lightly: "Teacher please tell me!"

  Of course Liang Shicheng would not be so stupid as to oppose the Northern Expedition. He just opposed Wang Fu. To put it bluntly, he was picking on Wang Fu.

   "Your Majesty, the veteran is not opposed to the Northern Expedition, but thinks that Wang Xiangguo's strategy is still a bit rough, and some points need to be discussed."

  Wang Fu couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, and said coldly: "What's wrong, please speak up!"

"For example, Wang Xiangguo proposed to raise five million guan for military expenditure, so how did the five million guan be calculated? As far as I know, last year we attacked Xixia and spent a total of 6.5 million guan for military expenditure. , Food is not counted, is it better to attack the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun than last year's Song and Xia battle? I am afraid that in the middle of the battle, I will suddenly find that the money and food are exhausted, and the Northern Expedition cannot continue. Isn't it a major event for the court?"

Wang Fu was at a loss for words for a while, and Cai You, a scholar of the Xuanhe Palace next to him, explained: "The military expenditure of five million guan is just the initial recruitment fee. The imperial court has decided to recruit 200,000 troops, at least five million guan, and the follow-up military expenditure is far more than that. "

   "So that's the case, then the plan for the Northern Expedition was a bit hasty. This is a great dynasty, and Wang Xiangguo should come up with a complete plan."

Wang Fu was publicly criticized by Liang Shicheng, his face turned red and then turned white, and he was really a little bit embarrassed. At this time, Zhao Ji was also a little annoyed, and said coldly: "The details of the plan can continue to be improved, but the plan for the Northern Expedition has been decided. The Taifu Do you have an opinion on this?"

   "Veteran has no objection to the Northern Expedition Plan!"

   "Do the other ministers have a different opinion?"

   There was no sound in the hall, and at this moment, a cold voice came from the entrance of the hall, "Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end