Swap, the involutionary regent palace fight also forced me to rebel

Yun Ting looked displeased when he suddenly heard a different voice in the court.

He leaned forward to see who was bold enough to say something different at this moment.

Due to the large amplitude of the movement, the drapery of the crown on his head swayed, as if mocking his shaky throne.

Song Cheng, the Minister of War, stepped out from the line of military officials. He lowered his head but spoke in a high voice: "I think it is not appropriate to send troops at this time!"

Seeing that it was Song Cheng, Yun Ting frowned unconsciously. It was Song Cheng again!

The power of the Neutral Party has been growing recently, which has a lot to do with the joining of Songcheng.

Originally Song Cheng was a royalist, but for some reason, he recently chose to change his stance and became a neutral party watching the fire from the other side of the river.

Even if he doted on Song Cheng's younger sister and made her the Imperial Concubine Shu to compete with the Queen, it would be of no avail.

Seeing the uncontrollable anger on Yun Ting's face, Nan Yingzhi remembered that she had been slacking off. She went to bed last night without finishing reviewing the memorials, and the emperor could not see the contents of the memorials because she had not read them. No wonder Yun Ting looked so caught off guard; it turned out that he was really completely unprepared.

Yun Ting turned the jade ring on his thumb and said in a cold voice, "What do you think, Mr. Song?"

Song Cheng bowed and said, "Sending troops is no small matter, among which military rations and military expenses are the most important. Yesterday, I received a report from the northern army and knew that the situation was urgent, so I immediately calculated the military supplies.

“Not to mention that due to the locust plague, the amount of military rations collected from various states this year is far less than in previous years, and the military expenditure reduced due to disaster relief is completely unable to support the immediate dispatch of troops.

"The Northern Expedition is a long-distance raid, and supply from the rear is extremely important. How can we win if we let the soldiers fight on an empty stomach?"

After explaining the reasons, Song Cheng began to speak politely to save face for Yun Ting: "However, if we can gather enough silver for sending troops, I think we, the men of Dali, will be able to defend our country and bring peace to the people on the border."

Every word and sentence in Songcheng is based on actual conditions and it is really hard to find fault with it.

The rage burning in Yun Ting's heart gradually subsided, but his brows were still furrowed. Military expenditure... was indeed a big problem.

He turned his gaze to the Minister of Revenue, Jiang Chen, who was also in the Neutral Party, and asked, "As the Minister of Revenue, Mr. Jiang, you should know the treasury situation best. In your opinion, what should we do about the military expenditure?"

When Jiang Chen heard words related to money, he knew he would be pointed out. He was a smart guy and cried poor loudly.

"Your Majesty, Minister Song just mentioned that the locust plague caused a reduction in military rations and military expenditures. In fact, in order to help farmers who had reduced production but were required to hand in grain, I allocated a lot of silver and grain to make up for their losses, so the national treasury is now extremely empty."

When he said this, his voice was faintly tearful: "Even if we empty the national treasury, we really can't come up with that much silver for military expenses!"

His words were like a stone that caused a thousand waves. Civil and military officials looked at each other and whispered to each other.

Jiang Chen's words, "the national treasury is empty", aren't they clearly asking them to pay for the military expenses out of their own pockets?

Nan Yi had not saved much money over the years, but when it came to contributing to the country, he was extremely willing. He immediately stepped out and offered his half-year salary: "I am willing to give three hundred taels as military expenses."

Nan Yingzhi saw his former cheap father and current good brother coming out to be the sucker for donations. He drank the tea in the cup without commenting and thought about his next strategy.

For example, how much money should be scraped off from the greasy officials.

Even if Nan Yi gritted his teeth and made the donation, the others still adopted the attitude of “I won’t move even if the enemy does,” and shamelessly turned a deaf ear and dumb.

"Everyone," Nan Yingzhi put down the teacup, looked at the ministers, and said slowly: "The king has an idea."

Yun Ting, who was sitting on the dragon throne, was extremely anxious when he saw the tense atmosphere. When he heard that Nan Yingzhi had a solution, he hurriedly urged, “Brother, please speak quickly.”

"Now that the country is in crisis, we are all on the same boat, but the treasury is empty. It is not a solution to rely on Nan Yi alone to donate money. Not only will he bleed heavily, but the military expenses are far from enough.

"A bucket of water is heavy if carried by one person, but light if carried by ten people. Similarly, the gap in military funds is difficult to fill if filled by one person, but easy to fill if filled by a hundred people.

“In order to raise enough military funds and share the pressure, this king proposes that you all contribute to defending the country according to your own salary level, with those who have money contributing money and those who have strength contributing strength.

At this point, Nan Yingzhi changed the subject and said, "Now that the Beishuo army is heading south, the border guards are losing ground. When they attack the capital, I wonder if you will still be able to use the silver you have 'saved' now?"

The temperature in the throne room was clearly suitable, but she made everyone feel cold all over. She didn't rub her hair out of courtesy.

When did the Regent say so many words in one breath?

Normally, shouldn't he have left a cold sentence "Anyone who dares not to surrender will be killed without mercy", and then let the executioner wait by the side, ready to behead him in court at any time?

"I know that talking is useless, and doing practical things is the hard truth, so I intend to lead by example," she turned her face towards Yun Ting, "For the military expenses, I am willing to donate 500 taels."

"Good!" Yun Ting couldn't help but smile as if he saw the silver rolling into the national treasury. "My dear ministers, do you have anything to say?"

As soon as Nan Yingzhi moved, the Regent Party behind her followed suit and began to donate money.

Seeing how enthusiastic the opposing party was, the royalists were afraid of bringing shame to His Majesty, so they hurriedly stepped forward to donate money.

The neutral party, caught in the middle, was tormented by their conscience. They kept thinking about Nan Yingzhi's words "You can save money but not spend it", and were worried that the regent's patience would run out, so they had to follow suit and contribute their belongings.

The fundraising issue was settled, and Yun Ting turned the topic to "deciding the chief general", and mentioned the agreement he had made with Nan Yingzhi yesterday: "Nan Yi will be the chief general, and Zhao Qiao will be the deputy."

When the generals heard that Zhao Qiao was to be their deputy, there was some disturbance.

Zhao Qiao is a well-known dandy in the capital. He went to the battlefield just to gain military merit and might even get in the way - who knows if he gets angry and will disobey the military orders of General Nan Yi?

Due to the presence of Admiral Zhao, they dared not speak too loudly during the discussion and could only express their sympathy to Nan Yi in a low voice.

After finally becoming a main general, he had to partner with Zhao Qiao. It was like "escaping from the tiger's den and entering the wolf's den". One wave of troubles followed another.

Nan Yi heard the emperor's intention to win over Admiral Zhao and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, but since the emperor was willing to appoint him as the commander-in-chief, what else could he complain about?

He kowtowed deeply and said, "I, Your Majesty, will follow your lead. Thank you for your trust in me."

It was rare for Nan Yi to be so easy to talk to. Yun Ting's mood really improved. He said earnestly: "Zhao Qiao lacks experience, but he has good talent and is a good general. You have to teach him carefully, understand?"

The word "talented general" almost made some generals with low sense of humor laugh out loud. They pinched their arms hard and managed to hold it back with great difficulty.

Nan Yi lowered his head, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

It's not like he hasn't participated in hunting before, so how could he not know Zhao Qiao's talent? But since the emperor had said so, how could he refute it?

He swallowed all the words he wanted to say, and the only thing he said in the end was, "Yes, I will definitely guide Master Zhao with all my heart."

Yun Ting asked the Minister of Revenue Jiang Chen to collect the donations from the ministers, and the Minister of War Song Cheng to calculate the military expenses, and asked them to submit the memorials in the afternoon.

After getting the answer, Yun Ting winked at Gao Shu.

Seeing that Yun Ting was determined to leave the court, Gao Shu shouted in agreement: "If you have something to say, please report it. If not, please leave the court——"

After hearing this, everyone knew that even if there was something going on, they would just “do nothing”. Everyone dispersed tacitly and returned to their respective posts to start their day’s work.

Nan Yingzhi stood up and prepared to leave with everyone, but was stopped by Yun Ting: "Brother, I have something to tell you."