The escape system takes me to dig for treasures

However, even though Song Zhaocheng arrived early, he was still feeling anxious.

But Song Zhaocheng didn't show it. Although it didn't show on his face, if you looked closely, you could see that Song Zhaocheng's brows were slightly furrowed.

When the last person arrived, the emperor, sitting on the high throne, ordered someone to read out the military report that was urgently sent from the border.

The effectiveness of resisting the Hu people this time was quite good. Not only did they repel the Hu people who were disrupting the border, but they even attacked and captured two Hu cities.

When everyone heard what was read out, they breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be good news.

Song Zhaocheng also breathed a sigh of relief, but he guessed that it might not be just this one incident.

Sure enough, the next thing that happened was that the Hu people were defeated by the Chu army. In order to seek peace, they agreed to pay tribute to Chu with 100,000 sheep and 2,000 horses every year.

In addition, in order to show sincerity, he presented a herb, Roselle, to the Emperor of Great Chu.

Rumor has it that this herb is one of the essential ingredients for making the elixir of life.

"My dear ministers, what do you think?"

The emperor was in high spirits. He was feeling elated after winning the battle.

But at the same time, another reason that made the emperor so radiant was the Roselle that the Hu people promised to give him.

Emperor Xuanyang of the Great Chu was so absorbed in state affairs when he was young that his hair turned gray at an early age.

Song Zhaocheng looked at the emperor sitting high in the temple and couldn't help but fall into deep thought. When the five princes competed for the throne, he stood on the side of Emperor Xuanyang because he had high hopes for him and was truly dedicated to the country and the people. His peers who used to be sincere now seemed to be full of drunkenness, and had dark circles under their eyes from taking elixirs for a long time.

Even though the good news of victory came from the border, it was difficult to conceal the gloomy aura emanating from him.

"Your Majesty, the Hu people have repeatedly come to the border to provoke us. This is not the first time, and it will not be the last. I think now is a good time to seize the opportunity and pursue them."

When the Hu people have recovered and regained their vitality, it will take twice as much energy to resist and attack them. It will be difficult to succeed. It would be best to defeat the Hu people in one fell swoop.

In the court, when everyone heard the emperor's question, there was silence for a moment.

In fact, everyone was watching the emperor's attitude. At this moment, Cai Chengyun from the Ministry of Revenue stepped forward.

"I think that our dynasty has experienced natural disasters and man-made disasters in the past two years. Now is not the time to launch a large-scale attack on the Hu people. The treasury is empty, and there are traitors and villains waiting behind us."

Once someone takes the lead, most people will immediately follow suit and start to line up.

Soon, the class began to debate the two plans.

For a moment, the court was like a vegetable market. If he was not afraid of losing manners in front of the palace, he would have lost control and his fingers would have fallen on the other person. But now he tried his best to spray his saliva on the other person.

Although Song Zhaocheng was a civil servant, he disliked this kind of behavior. Looking at them like a group of spray cans, he quickly moved away.

The emperor and Song Zhaocheng, a few others, watched them quarrel for nearly two quarters of an hour, and everyone was beginning to feel dry-mouthed.

The emperor sitting high up finally spoke, "Silence! It's disgraceful to have so much noise in the court!"

Everyone was waiting for the emperor to speak, and when they heard it, they immediately began to tidy up their clothes that were half wet, sour and smelly from the spray, and stood back in their seats.

After watching the people below return to silence for a long time, the emperor looked at the few people who had not spoken from beginning to end.

He called out the names one by one until he reached Song Zhaocheng.

Song Zhaocheng pondered for a moment, then stepped forward and replied: "In my opinion, I prefer to pursue the victory."

The Hu people are like an indestructible cockroach. They are pretending to be dead now, but once they recover, they will jump around in front of you again.

As for the empty treasury, many emperors in history made their fortunes by waging wars. Now is a good time to make money by attacking the Hu people. Why are they retreating instead?

Even those rioters who formed cliques for personal gain, this huge dynasty could even trample the barbarians under its feet. If it was not afraid of cockroaches, how could it be afraid of flies?

Dealing with traitors is just a matter of clapping your hands.

Song Zhaocheng didn't think these were big problems.

but...

Song Zhaocheng looked at the emperor's expression above him. His mind was full of thoughts. Before he could say many words, the emperor's face had already darkened.

From this we can see that the emperor had already made the decision in his mind.

Song Zhaocheng was interrupted halfway through his speech.

Seeing this, Song Zhaocheng stopped talking.

As a subject, he gave all the opinions he could. Although he was loyal to the emperor, he was not blindly loyal.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the emperor issued an imperial decree to accept the tribute from the Hu people.

Nothing could be seen from Song Zhaocheng's expression.

In the evening, Song Zhaocheng returned home.

Mrs. Song helped him change his clothes. Others could not tell his mood, but Mrs. Song could sense his depression at once.

That was why she was personally serving him today, and it was also an opportunity for the couple to have a heart-to-heart talk.

Mrs. Song asked directly, "What's wrong? Did something happen outside?"

Song Zhaocheng glanced at her, paused, and then told Mrs. Song the good news from the border.

When Mrs. Song heard that the battle had been won, she was also happy, but more importantly, she felt relieved that a heavy weight had been hanging in her heart.

The longer Song Yunting was fighting outside these days, the more she worried about him.

Upon hearing that the emperor decided to accept the surrender of the Hu people for his own selfish reasons, Mrs. Song was not as deeply touched as Song Zhaocheng.

"I'm afraid they are worried that the army will be fighting outside for a long time, and the morale of the troops will lean towards the ministers leading the army." Song Zhaocheng's tone was light, but one could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

The emperor, who is now middle-aged and old, is now more focused on maintaining the status quo. He no longer has the ambition he had when he was young, and he is even more afraid that his kingdom will be encroached upon by others.

Song Zhaocheng could understand all of this.

"The biggest reason that made the emperor accept the surrender of the Hu people this time was probably because of the Roselle Grass."

Speaking of this, Song Zhaocheng looked depressed.

Ever since the emperor fell ill five years ago, he has started taking elixirs and pursuing immortality.

In order to persuade him, Song Zhaocheng and his minister even quarreled twice.

Seeing that the emperor would not listen, Song Zhaocheng was so angry that he couldn't sleep for several nights. Mrs. Song comforted him, saying that he should think about the children, if not himself.

What good is there in going against the emperor like this?

It took Song Zhaocheng half a year to accept this matter. He forced himself not to say any more, and the relationship between the monarch and his subject eased a little.

But it is obvious that the emperor has indeed changed a lot now.

"Let's go! It's time for dinner."

Mrs. Song ordered the servants to serve the food.

Song Zhaocheng held the bowl, took only two bites, and suddenly put it down and said, "I think I have the answer to the question you asked me a few days ago."