The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 432 Without money, you can't do anything.

Emperor Qianxi was not deceiving Jin Fu!

The imperial edict had indeed been issued long ago.

However, this imperial edict... was issued before the edict on "halving the taxes of officials and gentry".

Why did they do this? Well, this was the last bit of face Emperor Qianxi was giving the Crown Prince!

After all, the crown prince is the heir apparent of the country. Repairing the mausoleums of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong to show filial piety is a duty he should fulfill, and it sounds perfectly justified!
What does this have to do with His Majesty reducing taxes paid by officials and gentry? Hehe, but those who know, know!
Officials who knew the whole story understood perfectly well: His Majesty's intention was to warn everyone in the world who dared to go against his will.

Even if you are the crown prince, you still have to obediently accept the punishment!
This was Emperor Qianxi's goal!
Upon hearing that the matter was a done deal, Jin Fu was not anxious. Instead, he sincerely said to Emperor Qianxi, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has accomplished many great things for the court this year."

"Your Majesty is young, and although he may be a bit stubborn at times, he will surely become more and more mature under your wise guidance."

See, this Jin Fu has really been through a lot; he didn't utter a single word of pleading.

But anyone could tell that Lord Jin was praising the Crown Prince's abilities and his great potential.

After all, Emperor Qianxi did not explicitly state his intention to depose the crown prince, so which minister would dare to presume to guess the emperor's intentions and speak out of turn?
Sending the crown prince to the capital already carried a sense of punishment.

However, as long as Emperor Qianxi didn't utter the words "depose the crown prince," his ministers could only pretend to be deaf and dumb for the time being.

This is because it not only concerns the safety of the crown prince, but also whether the entire court will be thrown into turmoil; it is a matter of great importance.

Therefore, the more this is the case, the less one should speak carelessly.

If we accidentally ignite the powder keg in the imperial court, we'll be in deep trouble.

He simply told the Qianxi Emperor about the Crown Prince's good points.

The Crown Prince is exceptionally capable and has great potential.

If the crown prince were to be changed at this time, it would definitely cause resentment throughout the land.

Hearing Jin Fu's words, Emperor Qianxi nodded and said, "I have my own plans regarding the Crown Prince's arrangements."

"But you, coming back in this freezing weather, should go to the post station and get some rest."

"Wait until the snow stops before you continue your journey."

Jin Fu felt bitter about Emperor Qianxi's seemingly caring but ultimately disapproving dismissal, but he could only express his gratitude honestly.

Although he was unwilling, he knew that in the vast imperial court, as long as Emperor Qianxi spoke, it was an imperial edict, and no matter how unwilling he was, he had to thank the emperor and leave.

He desperately wanted to secretly meet with the Crown Prince and give him a heads-up about the current situation.

But as soon as the thought arose, he immediately rejected it.

The Crown Prince is currently being viewed with suspicion by His Majesty. Wouldn't going there at this time only cause trouble for him?

Just as Jin Fu was taking his leave, an urgent memorial was quickly delivered to the Southern Study.

Although the atmosphere inside the South Study was still quite serious, it carried a hint of relaxation.

This feeling of ease is indescribable and can only be experienced personally.

The two Grand Secretaries were still reading memorials, but they were very tolerant of all the staff members of the Southern Study.

Even when someone accidentally smudged a memorial with ink, the two men did not reprimand them, but simply reminded their subordinates not to be so careless.

Everything seemed so peaceful and serene.

"Scholar Zhang, try my ginseng tea. It's made from old ginseng from Changbai Mountain!" Tong Guowei said to Zhang Ying with a smile during a break.

Zhang Ying knew that Tong Guowei was not lying. As the emperor's uncle, the extremely valuable ginseng on the market was like cabbage to Tong Guowei.

Because his nephew gave him so much to drink that he couldn't finish it all.

"Then thank you very much, Lord Tong." Zhang Ying did not refuse such kindness. He said with a smile, "In the South Study, I have benefited a lot from your help."

The two chatted and laughed, showing a strong sense of camaraderie.

Tong Guowei smiled and said, "It takes ten years of cultivation to share a boat ride, and a hundred years to share a pillow. What a great destiny it is for us to work together in this Southern Study!"

At this point, Tong Guowei smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I have quite a few things here that were sent to me by Prince Lian."

"Although he is young, he is a kind, generous, and exceptionally sensible person."

"You'll understand once you spend more time with him."

Zhang Ying knew that Tong Guowei's words were not just casual conversation.

He was subtly trying to recommend the Eighth Prince to himself.

His kind and generous nature was actually telling himself that the Eighth Prince was not as strict as the Crown Prince.

Officials and gentry should pay taxes together.

If he were made crown prince, or even inherit the throne and become emperor, the eighth prince would surely make everyone's lives much better.

With that thought in mind, Zhang Ying smiled and replied, "I have always trusted Prime Minister Tong's judgment."

The two of them laughed as they spoke.

Just then, someone rushed over and said urgently, "Two Grand Secretaries, urgent military intelligence!"

"The Junggar invaded the snowy region, Sunlight City fell, and the Snowfield King was killed!"

"This is an urgent report from the General of the Border Garrison!"

Upon hearing this news, Tong Guowei and Zhang Ying's expressions turned extremely grim.

As scholars, they were very familiar with the situation in Dzungar.

Although Galdan was defeated, Galdan's nephew Ayunbutan had already seized the opportunity to rise to power.

He fought alongside the imperial court when he defeated Galdan.

Emperor Qianxi was very wary of him and had been thinking of restricting or even dealing with him, but he did not expect that he would send troops to the snowy region.

The Snow Region and the Dzungar Khanate are linked. Once the Snow Region falls under Ayunbutan's control, the Dzungar Khanate's strength will increase dramatically.

Their territory would exert pressure on several of the Great Zhou's inner territories. "When did this happen?" Tong Guowei asked first.

The messenger said in a deep voice, "The General of the Border Garrison sent a messenger with urgent news over an 800-li journey. The messenger took seven days to arrive. According to the report, this incident occurred half a month ago."

"The General in charge of the border defense is afraid that the Dzungars will attack Dingkang City next. Please make a decision as soon as possible."

Neither Tong Guowei nor Zhang Ying spoke immediately. They quickly exchanged a glance and said, "Let's go. Let's report this matter to His Majesty as soon as possible."

Although they were high-ranking officials, they knew that such matters were not something they could decide.

When they went to see Emperor Qianxi with the memorial, both of them looked rather grim.

The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, and this has happened.

Given Emperor Qianxi's personality, he would absolutely not tolerate the snowy region under his protection becoming a territory of the Dzungar Khanate.

Once Jungar establishes a foothold in the snowy region, the next challenge will be Jungar's multi-pronged offensive.

The roles have reversed!

In just a quarter of an hour, the two of them arrived in front of Emperor Qianxi.

Emperor Qianxi's face darkened as he read the contents of the memorial.

He said with a hint of anger, "That fool, the Snowfield King! Not only did he invite wolves into the house, but he also failed to put up any decent resistance and collapsed at the first touch!"

"That brat Ayunbutan is despicable! His actions are clearly a provocation against me!"

"He has no respect for the court, no respect for me."

"Back then, I was able to kill his uncle, and now I can kill him too!"

……

After Emperor Qianxi finished venting his anger, he quickly calmed down.

He knew very well that getting angry would be useless at a time like this.

He needs to react quickly!

"What do you two think we should do?" Emperor Qianxi asked the two Grand Secretaries.

Tong Guowei said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, the Snow Region cannot be lost!"

"We should send troops into the snowy region to help the remnants of the Snowfield King reclaim Sunlight City!"

"Only by taking control of the snowy region can Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan remain as stable as a rock!"

"I believe that we should let the General of the Border Garrison stabilize Dingkang City, and then the imperial army should split into two routes, one into the snowy region, and the other out from the grasslands to attack the territory of the Dzungar Khanate, making it difficult for him to attend to both ends."

"This way, we can strike at Jungar, making him unable to attend to both ends, and at the same time, we can weaken Jungar's power while reclaiming the snowy region."

Emperor Qianxi nodded and said, "Prime Minister Tong's words are those of a wise and experienced strategist!"

At this point, his gaze turned to Zhang Ying.

Zhang Ying weakly reminded, "I have no objection to Prime Minister Tong's decision to divide his troops into two routes, but the amount of provisions and supplies required for two routes is not small."

"As far as I know, the Ministry of Revenue currently has only about one million taels of silver in its coffers."

"To win this battle, the Ministry of Revenue's funds alone are not enough!"

The three men present were no strangers to warfare; they knew very well that war was essentially a battle over provisions and supplies.

Without provisions and pay, the soldiers cannot set out.

The cost of various armors and weapons is an even greater expense.

Without sufficient financial support, the battle is already half lost before it even begins.

Upon hearing the word "money," Emperor Qianxi's expression immediately turned grim.

Although his Imperial Household Department had a million taels of silver, it was still far from enough to start this war.

Not to mention that the imperial court has to deal with all sorts of things every day, and there are many places where money is spent.

The Ministry of Revenue is now empty; what will happen to us from here on out?
Emperor Qianxi silently calculated the amount of silver the court could provide, and then felt a sharp pain in his teeth. He said to the two Grand Secretaries, "If the silver is not enough, we can raise more."

"But this battle absolutely cannot be avoided."

"Liang Jiugong, summon the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers and have them come to the Qianqing Palace for a meeting as soon as possible."

At this point, Emperor Qianxi pondered for a moment and said, "Have all three officials from the Ministry of Revenue come here."

Under normal circumstances, Emperor Qianxi would have the Minister of Revenue attend to discussions of state affairs.

The fact that even the two vice ministers were called upon this time was naturally because of money; they needed to work together to find a solution.

Just as Liang Jiugong was leaving in a hurry, Emperor Qianxi suddenly looked up at Tong Guowei. The two exchanged a glance and had the same thought at the same time.

Or perhaps it's because someone came to mind.

The amount of silver needed for this great battle was not small, and in the imperial court, the one who was good at financial management was not Ma Qi, the Minister of Revenue.

Instead, it's that "financial whiz" who's going to Beijing!
If he comes, he might be able to solve the problem.

But we just sent them to the capital, how could we possibly ask them to do more work?
Does the absence of Butcher Zhang mean we have to eat pigs with hair still on?

The two of them remained silent, tacitly putting the idea aside.

As for Zhang Ying, he had actually thought of Shen Ye, the crown prince.

For more than a year, the Crown Prince has been the one to solve the problem of the court's lack of funds.

Now that the crown prince is gone, and such a large-scale battle has suddenly broken out, can the Ministry of Revenue's funds sustain it?
Zhang Ying glanced at Emperor Qianxi and Tong Guowei twice, then very tactfully lowered his head.

　The first update of the day is here! Please support, recommend, and vote, everyone!

(End of this chapter)