On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Upon hearing this, Nangong Xiong seemed to have been injected with adrenaline, and he sat up abruptly: "What method? Tell me quickly! As long as you can kill Lin Yi, I will grant you anything!"

Liu Wentao turned around and glanced at the eunuchs and palace maids in the corner.

Nangong Xiong understood and immediately waved his hand, "Get out!"

"Yes."

They didn't want to stay there anyway, so they got up and left.

Even Sun Fu wanted to go with them.

But to his surprise, Nangong Xiong wouldn't let him leave: "Old Sun, you stay."

As a veteran of two dynasties, no one would doubt Sun Fu's loyalty to the imperial family.

But in fact, this person was the most disloyal from the very beginning.

Liu Wentao spoke after seeing that all the bystanders had left.

"May I ask Your Majesty, what are the loyalist troops fighting for? Are they truly fighting for some noble cause of purging the court of corrupt officials? This old minister doubts it. Those soldiers are just looking to make a living, and the generals leading them are only after promotions and wealth. Since the banner of righteousness can no longer be raised, then we will change our banner."

Nangong Xiong frowned and asked, "What flag should we change to?"

"money!"

Nangong Xiong was taken aback again: "You mean, you want me to use money to bribe them?"

"Yes! It's all about bribery! Since reputation is unreliable, we'll just throw real money at it! As long as the benefits are enough, even if they know His Majesty... knows what happened last night, they'll shut their mouths and obediently serve His Majesty."

Nangong Xiong leaned back in his chair.

He had considered this method, but an army of 200,000 was no small number. Even if each person received ten taels of silver, that would amount to two million taels.

This doesn't even include the rewards for the generals, or the provisions the army ate, drank, and used along the way. All of this adds up to an astronomical figure, which the emperor alone simply couldn't afford.

"Prime Minister, you make it sound so easy," Nangong Xiong sighed, his tone full of helplessness. "The national treasury is already empty. Before, to deal with Lin Yi, I ordered the closure of banks and the strict prohibition of trade. Now the court can't even pay the salaries of its officials. Where am I supposed to get so much money to bribe 200,000 troops?"

Liu Wentao had already come up with a plan, and stood up and took a step forward.

"Your Majesty, the national treasury is empty. But is Your Majesty's personal treasury also empty?"

Nangong Xiong's expression immediately changed upon hearing this.

The treasury was filled with his private savings, consisting of rare treasures passed down from two emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty, plus the fine gifts from various regions over the years since his ascension to the throne.

How could we possibly use it for fighting a war?

Besides, even if we took it out, it would be a drop in the ocean.

"Prime Minister, you want me to access the private treasury?" Nangong Xiong's voice rose eight octaves, his face full of reluctance.

However, Liu Wentao did not back down at all, and stubbornly faced Nangong Xiong's gaze.

"Your Majesty! What time is it? Are you still clinging to material possessions? Lin Yi is currently blockading the capital, intercepting supplies, and he has the Divine Machine Battalion and 300,000 troops in the northern border. What if he discovers our secret deployment of troops and we fight to the death? Once his army arrives and the palace is breached, won't all the treasures in your private treasury end up in his pocket?"

Nangong Xiong gritted his teeth, feeling extremely conflicted.

Liu Wentao continued to administer drastic measures.

"Those gold and silver treasures are things you can't take with you when you die. As long as Your Majesty can preserve the country and kill Lin Yi, once the world is at peace, won't all the good things in the world belong to Your Majesty? Now, take them out and use them to pay high salaries to the loyalist army. With such a generous reward, there will surely be brave men. When those soldiers see real gold and silver, they will definitely fight for Your Majesty with their lives."

Who doesn't understand the道理 (principle/reason)? The problem is that these are all his own ideas.

The South China Sea luminous pearl, the Western Regions red coral, and the calligraphy and paintings by famous artists throughout history—any one of these items would be priceless. Now, to have to exchange them all for silver to distribute to those soldiers was more painful than cutting off a piece of his own flesh.

But Liu Wentao is also right.

What's the use of money if you're dead?

If Lin Yi really storms the palace, he will definitely not let him go.

"Fine!" Nangong Xiong slammed his hand on the table, making up his mind. "I'll pay! As long as the Great Zhou dynasty can be preserved, I'll empty my private treasury!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Wentao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the emperor wasn't too stupid.

"Your Majesty is wise! With this money, the morale of the 200,000-strong army will surely be greatly boosted. Even if Lin Yi had three heads and six arms, he would definitely not be able to stop them."

Nangong Xiong waved his hand, interrupting him: "But relying solely on my private treasury is probably not enough; the expenses of an army of 200,000 are simply too great."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, this old minister will take the lead in soliciting donations from court officials upon my return. When the nation is in trouble, every citizen has a responsibility. Those officials have been lining their own pockets all along; now it is their turn to serve the country. Even if I have to hold a knife to their throats, I will make them hand over their money."

Loyal minister!

Loyal minister!

With such ministers in our Great Zhou, how could we possibly avoid rebels!

"Alright, I'll leave this matter to you. Tell those officials that anyone who dares to plead poverty and refuse to give a single penny will have their life taken!"

Liu Wentao quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I obey your decree. As long as Your Majesty takes the lead, your subjects will certainly not dare to refuse. This sum of money will definitely satisfy the loyalist army."

Sun Fu stood behind Nangong Xiong, head down, hands tucked into his sleeves.

He didn't speak, nor did he show any expression; he remained motionless like a wooden figure.

But inside, my mind was in turmoil.

The day before yesterday, Lin Yi summoned him to the Regent's Palace and forced him to set a trap. At the time, he only thought that Lin Yi wanted to use the emperor's scandal to cover up his own scandal.

But what happened this morning completely overturned his understanding.

Instead of hiding in the palace to watch the spectacle, Lin Yi sent the Divine Machine Battalion to the execution ground to rescue the people.

This act of repaying evil with kindness directly drove Nangong Xiong to a dead end.

Now Nangong Xiong's reputation is completely ruined, while Lin Yi has become a living bodhisattva in the hearts of the people.

These methods and schemes are truly chilling.

Sun Fu still feels a chill down his spine when he thinks about it now. He is glad that he did not negotiate with Lin Yi and instead obediently complied.

If he had even the slightest ulterior motive, he would probably have been killed long ago.

"These young people nowadays are really ruthless..." Sun Fu thought to himself.

Having served two emperors and witnessed countless palace intrigues, he had never seen a ruthless character like Lin Yi who was completely unpredictable and planned ten steps ahead for every step he took.

Compared to him, Nangong Xiong was like a monkey being played around.

Alas... the tide has turned.

Sun Fu silently mourned for Nangong Xiong in his heart.

At the same time, he was somewhat disdainful of Liu Wentao's ideas.

They even tried to bribe the loyalist army with money; what a clever idea.

Two hundred thousand troops—what does that even mean? It's a bottomless pit!

Even if Nangong Xiong's private treasury is incredibly wealthy, can it fill this hole? Even with donations from those officials, it's just a drop in the ocean.

Moreover, Sun Fu knew exactly what kind of people those officials were.

They always complain about being poor and pretend to be honest, but when it comes to actually paying out of their own pockets, they'll definitely make all sorts of excuses.

Therefore, Liu Wentao's idea of ​​raising enough funds for the military through donations is simply a pipe dream.

But Sun Fu didn't say anything.

I'm just a eunuch; it's a miracle I survived in this chaotic world.

If possible, I should still pursue my imperial ambitions, but for now, I definitely need to put them on hold.

Just then, Nangong Xiong suddenly turned to Sun Fu and asked, "Sun Fu, what do you think of the Prime Minister's idea?"

Sun Fu was taken aback, thinking to himself, "You're the emperor, why are you asking me this?"

"Your Majesty, this old servant is a man without roots and knows nothing about matters of state. But this old servant believes that as long as it can help Your Majesty share your burdens, any method is worth trying."

Actually, he put it quite skillfully, offending neither side, but Nangong Xiong was unwilling.

"You old fool, still playing dumb at a time like this! When I ask you a question, just answer yes or no, stop spouting nonsense!"

Sun Fu knew there was no way to avoid it, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's suggestion is a solution, and it's the only solution for now. But as for its effectiveness, this old servant dares not presume to say. After all, the expenses of 200,000 troops are too great. Whether Your Majesty's private treasury and donations from officials can sustain us until we defeat Lin Yi is still unknown."

His words were actually a way of implying to Nangong Xiong that this was unreliable and he should stop dreaming.

But he dared not speak too bluntly, for fear of disappointing the emperor.

Nangong Xiong pondered for a moment.

When Liu Wentao saw that the old eunuch dared to contradict him, he immediately became angry.

This was a brilliant plan he had come up with with great difficulty; how could he let a eunuch ruin it?