You rascal, stop right there!

Go to the study room.

Because the Xuanli Kingdom refused to give an explanation for the pursuit of Daying's envoys, and had already begun threatening to station troops on the border.

When the Emperor of Jiaxing saw this, he was furious because he had not received an explanation and the treasury was empty and he could not send troops to fight.

"Snapped"--

He threw the folder to the ground with a bang.

"These bastards! Do they really think I'm afraid of them?"

He is clearly an emperor, but he behaves like an uncivilized child.

The old eunuch Gu Xiaoyu, also known as Eunuch Gu, stood alone at the side, fearing that he might do something that would provoke the angry emperor again.

After all, it was common for the emperor to kill people at will and imprison officials involved in factional disputes.

"Your Majesty, you are the emperor and you need to pay attention to your manners." said Prime Minister Li Simeng who walked out from the side.

"Prime Minister, it is clear that the Xuanli people want to be enemies with Daying. They want a bull to give birth to a calf! How can they do that? This is simply too much!"

The emperor trotted up to him, frowning.

Li Simeng smiled and said, "Your Majesty, they just said they wanted such conditions, they didn't really see it!"

The emperor asked anxiously, "How can we reach an agreement? Can we draw one for them?"

"Your Majesty? Let me think about it." Li Simeng hesitated for a moment, and felt pity for him when he saw how helpless he was.

In fact, he always felt that the little emperor had an erratic personality, no opinions of his own, and no talent for governing the country.

Compared with the previous emperor, Jiaxing is even less suitable to be a king. He is only suitable to be a dandy boy who is proficient in calligraphy and painting.

But in today's court, there is no one more suitable for this position than Jiaxing.

"The twenty-year agreement between Xuanli and my Daying will expire in more than a year. The new emperor Xuanli is a filial man. He will definitely wait until the treaty set by his father expires and will not start a war immediately."

"And if they just want 'bull calf' we'll give it to them..."

"In the next six months, we will raise money for military pay to fight against the Xuanli Army."

Emperor Jiaxing nodded repeatedly:

"What the Prime Minister said is true, but isn't it the empty treasury you mentioned? If we want to paint, then who will paint this picture? Who in the Daying Art Academy can take on this responsibility now? If it really doesn't work, Prime Minister, you can do it?"

"Haha!" Li Simeng laughed. "I have been in the government for many years and have long been unfamiliar with it. Your Majesty, please don't embarrass me."

Suddenly, he twirled his beard and looked at the paintbrush on the table, and the sound of thunder seemed to ring in his ears.

"Minister Ling is a suitable candidate. He not only understands foreign races, but also has a talent for painting!" Li Simeng said lightly.

Jiaxing was a little worried: "Although this Minister Ling is the Prime Minister's student, he has not written for five years. I have never been able to get him to draw pictures. Can you, Prime Minister?"

Li Simeng observed the face of the person opposite him and smiled, "Your Majesty was just joking when you asked for the picture before. Now it concerns the political affairs of the two countries. If you don't draw it, you will be disobeying your order!"

"You are the emperor, you have your own dignity."

The emperor nodded slowly, but still felt doubtful: "What if he really doesn't want to paint?"

Since Han Miaoran passed away five years ago, Ling Shumo has stopped painting, resigned from his painting position, and studied hard to concentrate on the imperial examinations.

This man had been working as a county magistrate in a border county until he graduated from high school three years ago.

It was not until he stopped the southern barbarians from attacking the city and rescued Princess Qinyang who was spending the summer there that he was promoted to the Minister of Rites.

Admittedly, his political achievements were commendable, but no more paintings were reported.

Even if there were millions of gold, the emperor's words could not buy a masterpiece of painting.

Now, it may be difficult to ask him to write again.

"If he disobeys my order and refuses to paint, then kill him!"

Li Simeng downplayed it, as if he was not talking about a human life, but just a random cat or dog he met.

"Prime Minister..., he is your student!" Emperor Jiaxing was very confused.

Ling Shumo was Prime Minister Li's disciple when he was a member of the Academy of Painting, and he watched him grow up.

Li Simeng suddenly felt the murderous intent in his eyes just now, so he put it away abruptly, and his whole face suddenly became kind and gentle again.

"Your Majesty, I certainly feel sorry for my apprentice. But if he disobeys your order, it will certainly harm you. If I draw it and prevent the two countries from fighting, it will be a good thing."

Jiaxing held his chin and returned to the table.

In the end, he still followed Li Simeng's words and decided to draft an imperial edict to Ling Shumo, who was still recovering from his leg injury.

It’s just a painting anyway. Minister Ling’s leg is injured, but his hand is fine.

However, after Emperor Jiaxing finished writing this edict, he was at a loss as to how to start writing another one.

"Prime Minister, what about the rest?"

Li Simeng immediately stood up and walked closer to the emperor, saying:

"I have four strategies."

"First, there are many people applying for the painter exam recently. It would be better to increase the number of admissions and divide the exam into different subjects. Those who have registered should be charged for each subject. Moreover, the fees in different prefectures vary. It would be better to ask them to pay for the four treasures of the study, namely, brushes, inkstones, and paper, provided by the court."

"Second, we can impose multiple taxes. Our dynasty has a large population, so we can collect more head taxes. Merchants are everywhere, so we can set up specific items to collect rice taxes, vegetable taxes, tea taxes, agricultural taxes, etc."

"Third, our army is in short supply, so we might as well go and suppress more bandits and recruit more people. If all the bandits in the world are incorporated into the army, we can also increase the number of soldiers and generals. In addition, since they are in a low position, their food, clothing and expenses will not need to be the same as those of our ordinary army."

"Fourthly, Lingyu is adjacent to Daying and Xuanli. There will be an envoy coming here soon. We can seek to borrow troops when we receive them. Lingyu has always been seeking a balance of power among the three countries and will not sit idly by and watch Xuanli grow stronger."

Jiaxing listened to what he heard and thought that the prime minister's strategy was the best in the world.

So he immediately picked up his pen and started writing.

He is the emperor with the highest position in the country. All the people, wealth, talents, even the bandits in the world should belong to him.

While writing furiously, Prime Minister Li watched silently as he issued an edict according to his own wishes.

He frowned, twirled his beard and looked down, as if he was looking down on some puppet that he could manipulate at will.

Although the two people are one standing and one sitting, one is the king and the other is the minister.

But no one could notice that their positions had quietly been replaced.

The next day, the emperor gave the order at the morning court.

Emperor Jiaxing mentioned the current Minister of Rites Ling Shumo, because he had the talent of a great painter, the responsibility of receiving foreigners, and the advantage of being close to the border town.

He needs to hand over the painting of "Bull Giving Birth" within the deadline to ensure the safety of the country.

The imperial edict arrived in Zhengzhou City seven days later.

By then, Ling Shumo's leg injury had healed.

He was wearing an official uniform, and knelt down with a handsome and upright demeanor: "Your Majesty! I accept your order!"

All the garden painters in Luo Mansion knelt on the ground.

But all eyes were focused on that back.

Everyone silently complained in their hearts.

If something goes wrong in this matter, not only will people lose their lives, but it will also harm the people of both countries and lead to war.

Hopefully, it can be solved...