Xie Ming

Chapter 457: Night at Wuying Palace (Part )
In order to appease Xiao Lang and to continue to employ him, Emperor Hongguang Zhu Cilang explained the righteousness of the matter to him, did his utmost to appease him, and lowered his posture in the hope of achieving perfection through heart-to-heart talk!

But Xiao Jingchuan, who was focused on the northern border, could not change his mind for a while even though he heard this. How could he accept this completely? !
After hearing this, he hesitated and struggled, not knowing how to respond.

"Uh, this"

Seeing the deadlock, the one who was waiting for the king also started to think. He reached out to take the tea handed to him by the servant, and quickly brought it closer to Xiao Lang, intending to use it to start a conversation.

Seeing this, Xiao Zi was stunned, so he had to bow and stand up again to take over.

"Hehehe"

"General Xiao!"

"I know you are worried about the security of the North!"

"However, since the emperor said so, then he must be in trouble!"

"You, the foreign mission has not returned yet, and some things can't be sorted out for a while!"

"But there is one thing you should be clear about!"

"That's the emperor's trust in you!"

"Right now, in Nanjing City, the government officials and the various government offices seem to be packed with people!"

"But when it comes to the critical moment, there are really not many people who can really work hard and be of the same mind as us!"

"It's difficult to do everything!"

"Your Majesty, this is difficult!"

"General Xiao, you have come back to the imperial court to help the emperor!"

"What did you say?!"

Wang Zhixin spoke for him, acting almost angry, and everything he said was just out of consideration for the feelings!

In this case, Xiao Lang seems to have no choice but to accept the offer.

There was no time to delay, so after the old eunuch finished speaking, Xiao Jingchuan calculated the timing and hurriedly bowed down again to show his respect.

"Oh! This"

"I dare not! I dare not!"

"I am terrified!" He knelt on one knee and said to General Xiao Lang.

Seeing the situation, Zhu Cilang concealed his expression, remained calm, raised his arm and continued speaking.

"Oh, get up, get up and speak!"

"Xiao Lang!"

"I don't want to hide it from you!"

"In reality, there is a big problem in the court right now!"

"I had no choice, that's why you came back to Beijing!" The successor threw out a new introduction.

Upon hearing this, Xiao pretended to be confused and chased after him to ask.

"Uh, Your Majesty!"

"Where do you come from?!" Xiao obeyed the order and stretched his legs to recover his body.

"Ugh"

"You have been on the front line of Shandong in the north all these days!"

"I guess you can sense some clues in private!"

"Let's not talk about anything else, let's just talk about the supply of logistics, food, fodder, and money!"

"Recently, the imperial court has been repeatedly delaying the transportation of military supplies to the north!"

"Perhaps it has long been difficult for you, Xiao Lang, to satisfy your taste?!" Hongguang Zhu Cilang avoided the question and tried to figure out Xiao Lang's thoughts.

When asked, Xiao also felt that if he wrote this down, he could not just use empty words, otherwise he would be suspected. So he tried to imitate honesty and straightforwardness and told the truth directly.

"Well, yes!"

"Your Majesty, if you don't ask me about this, I...I really don't know how to talk about it!"

"It has only been a month since we planned the defense of Shandong!"

"But the teams transporting grain and money from the south to the north are getting delayed every time!"

"Although I am in Shandong, I have already made many plans on this matter!"

"I've thought of some ways to deal with it!"

"But, after all, there are tens of thousands of heads in the entire army!"

"It's just a drop in the bucket!"

"It's been less than a month since the logistics started, and it's already like this. There are always delays."

"If this continues, it will be disadvantageous to the military defense!"

"I hope Your Majesty can decide and get more military supplies and food for our brothers in the northern border!" Xiao Lai said.

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang breathed a sigh of relief and responded with a wry smile.

“Hehehe” “Yes, yes!”

"Why is it so?!"

"I wonder if you, Xiao Lang, have considered this?" Jin Bu continued.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan looked anxiously thinking and acted out the scene vividly.

"Uh" he hesitated for a long time, and deliberately stopped answering, waiting for Emperor Hongguang to speak.

But in reality, Qi Gang said before coming that Xiao already knew the outline of Nanchao's matter, but it was inconvenient to reveal it at this moment, so he had this difficult attitude, and he could only rely on it to get through!
"Ouch!"

"Our great commander-in-chief Xiao!"

"This one is not because the emperor is unwilling to help you!"

"It's true that right now, the imperial treasury is in too great of a deficit!"

"I can't even come up with a single penny!"

"No money!"

Unexpectedly, the servant Wang Zhixin was the first to interrupt!

Of course, this move can also serve as a preparation for the conversation between Emperor Hongguang and Empress Dowager Cixi.

"kindness?!"

"How, how could this be?!"

"Uh, Your Majesty!"

"Jiangnan has always been a prosperous place. Even if it is not so prosperous, it shouldn't be able to afford even the monthly salary." Xiao Zai sighed, expressing his dissatisfaction in his heart.

At this point, Zhu Cilang was more focused and had something to say.

"Yes!"

"As the proverb goes, the rich and prosperous south of the Yangtze River has abundant granaries and plenty of gold and silver!"

"Oh! I really hope that such a situation can actually happen!" Yan Dun sighed.

"But since the establishment of the new dynasty, what I have seen is that the treasury is in deficit, taxes are difficult to make up, and there is a lack of money and food to support the war in the northern border!"

"Moreover, the Southern Dynasty is currently experiencing frequent floods, banditry, and natural and man-made disasters that cannot be stopped!"

"In the final analysis, the crux of the matter lies in two words"

"No money!"

"If this kind of thing happens to the people's homes, it would be like a skilled cook having no rice to cook with!"

"Oh" Zhu looked miserable again.

"In my current situation, I am also the helpless young wife trapped at home!"

Zhu Cilang finally revealed the key point!
However, it would be inconvenient for Xiao Lang to continue the conversation here right now, as it is difficult to determine the true purpose of Emperor Hongguang's speech. Therefore, the best strategy is to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances and wait in silence to hear the emperor's instructions!
At the same time, on the couch opposite, Zhu Cilang paused, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat before continuing.

"Ugh!"

"Xiao Lang, you are appointed to lead troops, galloping on the battlefield, killing enemies to serve your country, and taking revenge with pleasure!"

"I envy you!" This sentence is very sincere.

"Your Majesty." Upon hearing this, Wang Zhixin was surprised, fearing that His Majesty might make trouble and go somewhere else, so he hurried over to argue.

Zhu Cilang understood what he meant, but shook his hand tightly to stop him.

"It doesn't matter!"

"That's nothing!"

"Xiao Lang!"

"I am weak, and I am powerless to recover the territory and conquer the land!"

"It's all thanks to you and the generals!"

"But this time, we need to raise food and money for the war on the northern front!"

"Urge the cabinet members to find solutions by all means!"

"I have never been idle for a moment!"

"What do you mean by increasing revenue? Cutting costs?!"

"Humph!"

"We have come up with quite a few ideas and solutions!"

"What about the actual matter?!"

"It is really useless to talk big and it is hard to get any real results!"

"Cough cough cough cough."

Perhaps Emperor Hongguang was sincere in what he said, and was so excited that he was filled with emotion!
I drew my sword and looked around, feeling lost, not knowing where to put my strength and where to start. This is when I feel depressed and melancholy.
So when he got to the middle of this section, he started coughing again!

Hearing this, Xiao Lang felt a little sorry for Zhu Cilang, who was a few years younger than himself.
(End of this chapter)