Chapter 490 Falling into a Plot
Chapter 490 Falling into a Plot
After arranging the support for Jiangnan Road, Yang Guang said, "There is another matter. The King of Jin suggested that the court clean up the charity granaries in various places as soon as possible. He believes that the charity granaries are a big hidden danger. I agree with his suggestion. This requires important officials to take the lead and organize manpower to clean up. Prime Minister Yang, how about you arrange it?"
Everyone knows that the charity granary is a toxic abscess, involving too many interests and is extremely difficult to deal with. Yang Su was unwilling to do such an offensive thing. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have to go all out to arrange support for Jiangnan, and I cannot spare the time for the time being. It is better for the Ministry of Revenue to take the lead. This is their responsibility."
Yang Guang's eyes turned to Yu Shiji again, and Yu Shiji said quickly: "I am willing to share your worries, but March is the critical time for the Ministry of Revenue to calculate the taxes of the whole country. I know that Prime Minister Yuwen has some brilliant ideas about the charity granary. Your Majesty, why don't you listen to Prime Minister Yuwen's ideas!"
Yuwen Shu stepped forward and bowed, saying, "I am willing to share your worries!"
Seeing that everyone was trying to shirk their responsibilities, Yang Guang felt a little unhappy, so he said calmly, "Prime Minister Yuwen, please stay, and the rest of you, please leave!"
In the imperial study, Emperor Yang Guang sighed slightly: "Only Prime Minister Yuwen is willing to share my worries without any complaints. I am very touched!"
Yuwen Shu bowed and said, "I know that I am a military officer and my intelligence is not as good as that of a civil official, but I will never retreat in battle. Governing the world is like a battlefield. How dare I stand by and watch when the commander-in-chief is worried?"
"Well said, governing a country is like a battlefield. My dear, tell me about the charity granary. I want to hear your thoughts!"
"Your Majesty, I came into contact with the Charity Granary when I was digging the canal last year. His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin said that the Charity Granary had serious problems. I think we need to consider what is serious. Is it the serious shortage of food or the serious confusion of accounts? I think it is the latter. We need to sort out the accounts and find out how much tax was deducted from the Charity Granary. This way, whether the court is investigating or explaining to the people, they can see it clearly without being confused."
Yang Guang was originally very troubled by the charity granary issue, and Yuwen Shu's words made him feel more at ease. He nodded and said, "I'll leave this matter to you, my dear minister. Just give me a report when the time comes."
Yuwen Shu bowed and said, "I am willing to share your worries, Your Majesty. I only ask Your Majesty to give me more time."
"How long will it take, my dear?"
"Your Majesty, it will take me at least three to five years!"
Yang Guang frowned slightly, "Why does it take so long?"
"Your Majesty, the problem with the charity granary has accumulated little by little over the past 20 years, and it is definitely not something that can be cleared up in a short period of time. In addition, I am also considering extending the time. If there is a gap, I can give the local government a chance to fill the gap, so that the court does not have to pay for it."
The anti-righteous granary problem was not an urgent matter. As long as the court did not have to pay for it, it was not impossible to slowly clean it up. Yang Guang nodded and said, "Then I will give you five years. You can set up an office and recruit a group of officials. The Ministry of Revenue will allocate money and grain for you. I will not ask you any more questions. Within five years, you must completely solve the problem of the granary."
"Your Majesty, please be at ease. I will definitely solve the problem."
Inside the East Palace, Crown Prince Yang Zhao was sleeping soundly on the couch, his back was full of silver needles. Zhang Qiao removed the needles one by one, while Empress Xiao and Crown Princess Cui were sitting beside him, watching nervously.
It had only been ten days since Zhang Qiao arrived, but the treatment had shown remarkable results. The black spots on Crown Prince Yang Zhao's back had disappeared, his skin color had returned to normal, and the swelling in his hands and feet had also disappeared, which gave Empress Xiao hope.
Zhang Qiao took out the last silver needle, looked at it carefully again, and said with a smile: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is detoxifying faster than I thought. I thought it would take at least half a year, but I didn't expect it to take almost three months. Now the silver needle has not changed color, which means that the toxins in the Crown Prince's body have been basically eliminated."
Empress Xiao was overjoyed and asked quickly, "Didn't Qiao say it would take at least half a year?"
Zhang Qiao smiled slightly and said, "When I said it would take half a year, I was referring to the most serious situation. The Crown Prince's physique is very suitable for the Scale-Resistant Pill, so the effect is very good."
"Do you still need to take medicine?" asked Princess Cui.
Zhang Qiao nodded, "You need to take medicine for another two months, and reduce the dosage by half to completely remove the remaining poison. I will come again when the time comes. The rest is to recuperate well. As long as you recuperate well, I think it is not impossible to extend your life to 50 or 60 years old." Zhang Qiao's last words moved Empress Xiao to tears. She held Zhang Qiao's hand and said, "Good boy, thank you so much!"
Zhang Qiao said somewhat embarrassedly: "The prince is my husband's elder brother, which means he is my elder brother. I will always take good care of my brother."
"Okay! Okay! I feel relieved when you say that."
At night, Empress Xiao told her husband Yang Guang about Zhang Qiao's illness. Yang Guang was also very happy, "That's great. As long as the poison can be removed, Zhao'er will be saved."
Empress Xiao said quietly, "Aqiao said that Zhao'er could live to be fifty or sixty if she took good care of herself. At that time, I thought that if Aqiao was willing, I would rather let her be the Crown Princess, so that Zhao'er could live longer."
Yang Guang smiled bitterly and said, "This is not very realistic. Didn't you say that she regards Zhao'er as her brother? I think this is enough."
Empress Xiao nodded. "I know that, so I was just saying that. Your Majesty, I want to win her over. Can we make her a concubine?"
Yang Guang pondered for a long time and said, "Liang Di is the prince's concubine. She is the prince's concubine. It is not in accordance with the etiquette to make her Liang Di. However, we can make a compromise and downgrade her to Liang Yuan. In this way, the court will not object."
The highest rank for a prince's concubine was Liangdi, which was the third rank, followed by Liangyuan, which was the fourth rank, and then Chenghui, Zhaoxun and Fengyi, which were the fifth, sixth and seventh rank respectively.
The highest rank for a prince’s concubine was Ruren, which was the fifth rank, followed by Yi, which was the sixth rank.
Empress Xiao was grateful to Zhang Qiao for treating her eldest son, so she wanted to win her over. Empress Xiao thought for a moment and said, "In fact, there is no need to call her Liang Yuan. The system was set by the emperor. Your Majesty can add a fourth-rank eunuch in front of Ru Ren and set it in the system. This way it will be justified."
Yang Guang nodded and said with a smile: "That's fine. Father has added noble ladies, so I will add two more fourth-rank noble ladies to the prince."
Luo Shixin led an army of 10,000 and stationed them in the old military camp in the south of the city. This was a military camp built during the Southern Dynasties. The camp covered a large area and could accommodate up to 20,000 troops and tens of thousands of horses.
However, the buildings in the military camp had been destroyed in the war, leaving only an open space and a wall. The Wujun government did not turn the military camp into fertile farmland, but instead used it as a garrison and training ground for the state soldiers.
Now Luo Shixin has led his troops to station in the camp, set up hundreds of large tents in the camp, and built watchtowers around it.
There is a small river to the west of the sentry tower. The Jiangnan region is densely covered with rivers and streams. All kinds of supplies are transported by boat, and the military camp is no exception. Their food and vegetable supplies are also transported to the military camp by small boats.
That night, five small boats sailed on the river and slowly approached the military camp.
A man in black on the leading boat whispered, "Get your weapons ready first. Move quickly. We are going to rush in directly."
There were five men in black on each boat, two of whom were responsible for rowing, and the other three were holding bows and arrows.
If there were not 10,000 troops stationed there, the fleet could move freely in the creek. But after the army was stationed there, the fleet had to be inspected by soldiers before entering the section of the creek near the military camp. At night, the fleet was directly prohibited from passing through, the barrier was lowered, and soldiers were standing guard on the watchtower.
The fleet was getting closer and closer, and was immediately spotted by the soldiers on the sentry tower. The soldiers raised their crossbows and shouted, "No passage at night, stop immediately!"
Instead of stopping, the first ship sped up and slammed hard into the roadblock. With a "crack", the roadblock was broken into two by the bow of the ship.
(End of this chapter)