Xianyu Infrastructure, I have a lot of troops in my hands

Situ Cui glanced at Xie Zhao with contempt and said: "If I remember correctly, the Xie family of Chen County offered the secret technique of black stone to the main lineage, but you, Xie Zhao, didn't take a single word from it!" This matter has spread everywhere.

Xie Zhao's face turned green. What could he say? There were tens of thousands of taels of silver in the wooden box that he sent from the great elder. He thought of just getting rid of it.

He didn't expect that this matter would be brought up now. If he said that he gave money, and people asked him how much, he would be even more embarrassed.

There is no other reason, there are just too few.

The Wushi Mine was very profitable, and one mine alone could sell 10,000 taels of silver in a month. Everyone present was a smart person, and seeing him like this, they all despised him.

Prime Minister Feng shook his head. He now understood why the Xie family chose Xie Zhao as the patriarch. After all, no matter how suspicious His Majesty was, he would not be suspicious of Xie Zhao.

As stupid as Xie Zhao is, the only thing worth looking at is his face.

Emperor Qi chuckled. He looked at Xie Zhao being excluded by the crowd and didn't care. He said softly, "You still have to reward him," and glanced at Prime Minister Feng.

Feng Zhuo understood and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Bai Tingjing has been rated as excellent. After three years in office, he can be transferred to the middle-ranking rank." The middle-ranking rank is a fifth-rank official, and can be appointed as a county governor of any place. For a commoner like Bai Tingjing who has no clan support, he can work less than ten years.

"As for the Xie family of Chen County, I know what they want." Prime Minister Feng said calmly.

"Oh?" Emperor Qi looked puzzled.

"The Black Stone Guards have always had the lowest food and salary, and their numbers are decreasing every year. Some time ago, the Ministry of War received a request from Yang Mao to recruit the Black Stone Guards."

Zhang Changli of the Ministry of War fell down when he heard this, and quickly interrupted, "No, no! If we recruit the Black Stone Guards, their salaries will be much more than this."

After all, the Blackstone Guards can only be considered as employed by the imperial court now.

If they become a regular army, who can they support with the little money you give them?

When Emperor Qi heard about the incorporation of the Black Stone Guards, excitement flashed across his face, but after hearing what Zhang Changli said, he fell silent.

After pondering for a moment, he thought, in just a few years, the Blackstone Guard has become so weak. Can it still resist the cavalry from the west?

His expression changed several times, and he stared at Cui Situ fiercely. It was because of lack of money. But he knew that if he wanted to support a strong army, he had to support their families.

Otherwise, where is the loyalty of the army? Forget it, let's just follow the old rules.

He coughed lightly and said, "What do the Black Stone Guards say?" Emperor Qi asked.

The officer smiled bitterly, "The Xie family sent a message, wanting to disband the Black Stone Guard and find other ways to make a living to support their family."

The court officials lowered their heads and blushed. Well, they just don't want to work anymore, and they don't give them money or food. You still want them to work for you, tut tut.

Emperor Qi looked a little embarrassed, "Apart from this, do you have any other requests?" He no longer asked for suppression, he just wanted to maintain the status quo.

Refugees were driven to their place and the military pay could not be paid. Now they have made contributions. I wonder if you feel guilty about it. If he really rewards too little and hurts the feelings of his subordinates, he will probably follow in his father's footsteps.

Disband? That's absolutely impossible! He placed all his hopes on the Black Stone Guards. Only they could resist the eastward threat from the Jin people in the west.

"Then reward them. Give Xie's family a thousand dan of grain and grant them the title of Viscount." Emperor Qi decided without hesitation. In this way, the Xie family could be given a title in name only and some money and property as a reward, so that they could concentrate on training their troops and serving the country.

Prime Minister Feng and Cui Cheng looked at each other, perhaps their Majesty didn't know that the current ruler of the Black Stone Guard was a girl!

Forget it, the viscount is neither too big nor too small, it’s okay.

After hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought. The Xie family of Chen County was originally decided by the previous emperor, but as time passed, everyone's memory had become vague, and they had never thought of bringing up this old matter again. An old minister could not help but sigh heavily.

It is a fact little known that the once feared Red Blood God of War has been imprisoned in the Xie Family Ancestral Hall for many years.

But now that Xie Xian has been conferred the title, Xie Yun's imprisonment will naturally be lifted. Several people looked at Emperor Qi, wondering whether His Majesty knew about this.

Prime Minister Feng bowed and accepted the order: "Yes!" The matter of the Xie family was finally settled.

Everyone in the hall had different expressions, some were solemn, and some had flashing eyes. Cui Situ and Feng Xiang exchanged a meaningful look.

Many years ago, the two of them had advised Emperor Qi not to weaken the military too much, especially the border guards.

This time, there seems to be a glimmer of hope in using the matter of the Xie family of Chenjun to test Emperor Qi's attitude towards military generals.

As Prime Minister Feng held a high position of power and influence, the Ministry of War was under his name and existed in name only.

Emperor Qi was extremely sensitive about military affairs, but the literati had great power in the court. In order to check and balance the emperor, they naturally wanted to take the military power back into their hands.

This small court meeting ended with everyone pulling and testing each other.

When leaving, the blue-robed attendant who followed behind Emperor Qi inadvertently made an eye contact with Prime Minister Feng, nodded and smiled, and everything was said without words.

Later, regarding the matter of Xie Yun, Prime Minister Feng suggested that all elderly people over the age of 60 be pardoned. Although the scope was wide, it did not directly name anyone, which not only avoided direct conflict but also saved some face for Emperor Qi. This plan was indeed a brilliant one.

In this way, the emperor's grace can be demonstrated and the border guards can be appeased without making a fuss, killing two birds with one stone.

When the news came out, the Mi Yu Wei were jubilant.

"That's great. Not only did the lady get the title of Viscount this time, but the husband was also able to escape from his predicament." This was great news for their second branch. Everyone was so excited that they couldn't express it in words.

Wu Nu's tense expression relaxed a little. He touched the bronze mirror on his chest and stood up to prepare things. If the lady knew about this, she would definitely be happy!

Lei Wu stared at the gilded copper box in front of him in a daze. The main lineage had just sent someone to deliver this item, saying that they had taken the wrong box that day.

Great Elder: I won’t take the blame for this.

"I don't know what the master is thinking. How can he say such words?" There were only 50,000 taels of silver notes in the wooden box that day, which was really not in line with the value of the Wu Shi Secret Technique.

Knowing the main line's working style well, Lei Wu was not surprised by this result.

What I didn’t expect is that there is a reversal now.

The copper box delivered this time was obviously much higher quality than the last time. In addition to 200,000 taels of silver, there was also a salt permit issued by the Treasury Department and sold by the Salt Transport Bureau that could be used to exit the Copper Pass in the west. Wow, this was really a good thing.

Lei Wu took the salt permit and read it over and over for a long time. It said that he could only sell salt to the west near Tongguan, and not to other places. This was too obvious and made people think deeply.

But, even if it was restricted to a certain area, it was not something that Xie Zhao, a fifth-rank minister, could get.

He seriously doubted whether Xie Zhao knew what was in the box. He looked towards the palace. What was this? Was it compensation?

Emperor Qi was flirting with Concubine Cui and talking about interesting things in the court. Hey! Who is talking about me again?