Lonely non-good minister

Chapter 388 Wei is short of money

Song Yuan was very worried. When he returned to the Yamen, he happened to meet Huo Ying face to face. Just when he was thinking about whether to say hello in advance and check his voice, Huo Ying was pulled by the people around him to say a few words. He must have been very busy. After hearing what the other party said, he raised his feet and left, but he did not forget to nod to Song Yuan.

"You and Huo Ying are already very familiar?" Yan Yan, who was following him, felt incredible: "This is King Huo Yan, aren't you afraid of him?"

"I'm not very familiar with you, but I can still say a few words." Song Yuan waved away the others: "I am the prince, no matter how serious he is, he can't check me without evidence, right?"

Yan Yan followed her footsteps and said in a worried tone: "Originally, I thought that if Xu Yingrong was caught, he would definitely confess you. According to Huo Ying's temperament, he would definitely cause you a lot of trouble. But it depends on the situation. Xu Yingrong doesn't seem to pose any threat to you."

"Threats were made, but I was lucky." Song Yuan didn't want to say clearly that her eldest brother always defended her. The relationship between her and Yan Yan was far from a heart-to-heart relationship.

She had to deal with official duties, and Yan Yan also went to do his own. As soon as he returned to the house, a letter was placed on the desk. The signature was from An Zhou, and Song Yuan immediately opened it and took a closer look.

She once asked An Zhoushi to go to Jincheng County when he was free. There were all kinds of seeds there. It would take several months to sow them and wait for them to mature before you could tell which ones they were. It was a waste of time. An Zhoushi agreed. Yes, he said in the letter that he had been to Jincheng County and was now on his way to Jiuquan.

The last time he went to Jiuquan, Zhang He, the county magistrate, asked him to give him guidance on farming in Jiuquan. He always kept this in mind. This trip to Jincheng County allowed him to find suitable seeds for Jiuquan, so he immediately rushed to Jiuquan.

"Now the northwest is unstable, Jiuquan is the border, and there are more Huns wandering around. Is there anyone around Mr. An to protect him?" Song Yuan was afraid that the old man would encounter the Huns, which would be a big trouble.

The guard waiting in the study immediately said: "Mr. An set out with the Mu family's caravan. The Mu family's caravan has bodyguards. If it encounters a small group of Huns cavalry, it should not be a big problem."

"Mu family caravan?" Song Yuan then remembered that he had not contacted Mu Wantang for several months and did not know what she was busy with: "Their family also has business to do in Jiuquan?"

The guard shook his head, but Song Yuan was so curious that he asked him to call Wei Yan over.

Wei Yan came quickly. As soon as he walked in, he heard Song Yuan ask: "Are the Mu family planning to go to Jiuquan to do business?"

"Yes, my subordinates went shopping a few days ago and met the old shopkeeper of Miss Mu's family. They said that the cotton harvest last year was good, so they are considering whether to expand the scope of the business. Maybe this is the reason for going to Jiuquan."

Go to Jiuquan to expand your business scope?
This sounds a bit ridiculous, but if you recall carefully, An Zhoushi seemed to have said that Jiuquan was suitable for growing flax, wheat and corn. Maybe he found seeds this time that were suitable for Jiuquan and could be grown in Jiuquan. As long as the Mu family took over It’s fast and more profitable than shipping it from within the customs.

Of course, this was just a guess, and Song Yuan couldn't guarantee it. It was inconvenient for her to chase Mu Wantang and ask her about her every step of the way, so she had to tell Wei Yan to send someone to carefully look after the Mu family's business and try not to let Mu Wantang get in trouble. Being bullied.

She was very busy. She was either reading official documents or discussing various matters with officials every day. She had almost no free time. After Yan Yan handed the drawings to Song Fu, Song Yuan didn't have time to ask for money when writing a brochure. If it weren't for Huo Ying, She was so busy leading people every day that she had to wonder if she was the only one in the entire northwest who was too busy to keep her feet off the ground.

The word firearm is unfamiliar to everyone, but after the gunpowder was delivered to Jingzhao, and after a demonstration by the people personally sent by Song Fu, even the common people in the market could talk about the word gunpowder and firearm. Two sentences.

This is a novel thing. Even though many people have never seen it, people in the market are already praising it. "It's unbelievable that a small bamboo tube filled with gunpowder can be a sharp weapon for injuring people." Song Chun sat in the courtyard, holding the exploded firecracker in his hand and looking at it carefully: "However, gunpowder can be made, and it can be made into a Firearms, he is really a powerful person.”

The East Palace official beside him immediately flattered him: "I heard that it was His Highness Ninth Prince who discovered gunpowder. His Highness Ninth Prince is really awesome."

"Yuan'er discovered it? Did it say it in the brochure?" Song Chun remembered that Song Fu didn't detail who discovered it in the brochure. He didn't ask anyone for credit. The whole description could be summed up in one sentence: This is a good thing. Things, please give me money quickly, I want to make them.

The subordinate official said hurriedly: "I heard from the person who brought the things back that the person was recommended by His Highness Ninth Highness. That is, His Highness Ninth Highness recommended him, so it must be His Highness Ninth Highness's credit."

"Even if it is credit, it is the credit of recommendation. Yuan'er is not someone who pretends to claim credit. If you say this to others, it will especially humiliate his reputation. Don't talk nonsense." After warning the subordinates, Song Chun looked at Firecracker in hand: "That boy, for such an important matter, I didn't even send back any news. I'm afraid I've been too busy recently."

He didn't think bad things about Song Yuan at all, and the subordinate officials didn't dare to talk nonsense.

"Your Highness, Lord Situ is here."

Song Chun then dismissed his official, and after Situ had seen the ceremony, he motioned for people to sit down and talk: "What is the result of Situ's government's discussion about the fifth brother's report?"

"This is why I came here. The drawings have been carefully looked over by experienced craftsmen. As the Fifth Master said, things are good things. If they can be made, it will not be a problem for the Wei Dynasty to go south and north. But there is no problem. The cost is too high and the state treasury cannot come up with so much money.”

No money?

Song Chun was confused: "The taxes in the Wei Dynasty are extremely high. It shouldn't be a shortage of money. Even if it can't come up with millions of taels, can't it be that it can't come up with hundreds of thousands taels?"

Situ shook his head: "Even 10 taels is hard to come by. Since the emperor ascended the throne, he has built palaces, built palaces, repaired palace gardens, raised war horses and exotic animals, received rewards from the harem, and given official rewards to the favored concubines and their families. I have already spent all my time on it. It’s a million taels of silver. After the Imperial Preceptor is conferred, the items needed by the Imperial Preceptor’s Office are all extremely expensive. The palace treasury cannot afford them, so we have already borrowed several sums of money from the national treasury.”

"Why aren't these funds reported?" Song Chun was frightened when he heard this: "Didn't you try to dissuade me when you gave me the money?"

Situ looked troubled: "The money was all transferred from the account of the palace treasury, and there is indeed a precedent for the palace treasury to borrow money from the national treasury. All formalities and documents are complete, and the expenditure of these few pieces of silver has missed the release." It was the time of year when military pay and other large expenses were incurred, so it was not reported.”

"So the treasury was emptied?" Song Chun was so angry that he had a headache: "Can you report this to the emperor?"

Since it was Emperor Hongming who spent the money, you should tell him, right?

"My superior Zhe said that the emperor said that His Highness will deal with it on his own."

(End of this chapter)