Chapter 350: The dawn is quiet here

The corners of his mouth twitched a few times, and Qin Lei said helplessly: "Okay, wipe my face and then change my clothes."

Ruolan pulled Qin Lei to sit down, and a row of palace maids came forward with various trays. She picked up a warm towel from the first tray and carefully wiped Qin Lei's face and dusted. After a simple wipe, she put the towel back into the tray, and the palace maid bent her knees and stepped back.

The second palace maid came forward with a tray. Ruolan picked up a hot towel from it and applied it gently to Qin Lei's face. She then gently tapped it with her clever fingers for a while before slowly removing the towel. The palace maid took the towel and bowed her knees and retreated.

Next, eight or nine palace maids also had their own affairs. When the last one retreated, Qin Lei had already dressed in court. According to Ruolan, this set of services was the service that the prince should enjoy, although it was thoughtful, but it was extremely complicated and very dissatisfied with Qin Lei's character. But he knew that this was Ruolan's intention... he was already half-hearted, so how could he not even give her this little patience?

When Ruolan brought the jade pendant on his waist, Qin Lei breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, stood up and smiled, "Thank you for your hard work." Ruolan shook her head and smiled, "I like to serve the prince." Qin Lei hooked her chin and smiled in love, "Let's go." Then he took Shi Gan to leave Qinghe Garden again and rushed towards the palace.

Along the way, I saw chaos everywhere, people were rushing over and over again. It was the Kyoto Prefecture, the Bingma Temple, and the soldiers and yamen runners from the Ministry of Justice who were searching the whole city and vowed to capture the thief who robbed the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Close the car window and separate the noisy sounds outside. Qin Lei chuckled at Shi Gan and said, "It was all caused by that loud noise, otherwise, if there is a Si, it would be just a show."

Shi Gan nodded and said a little depressedly: "One night, I just listened to the lively front, and I didn't get any work."

Qin Lei empathized with it and laughed and said, "I watched the fun all night, no better than you." Seeing Shi Gan's expression a little unnatural, Qin Lei comforted her with a smile: "Don't care too much. After all, we are from the army and are good at destroying, blocking, infiltration, and such rough work. It's like breaking a mechanism or stealing something. Of course, experts like Mr. Le are more capable."

Shi Gan said with a little heartbroken: "Should our guard also introduce some martial arts people to deal with the assassination of local masters?" Although he did not see him personally, he immediately had an association when he heard others telling the story of Le Buyi riding alone.

Qin Lei nodded in agreement, then smiled bitterly again: "Many people know how to do kung fu, but too few who have real kung fu are hard to find." Although a master like Le Buyi is not helpful in rushing into battle, if he hides in the dark and hurts people suddenly, it is still hard to guard against.

The best way to deal with such people is to find some experts to defend themselves, but experts are called masters because of their small number. At least the masters Qin Lei has seen can be counted with one hand - the super master Le Buyi, the old man in brown clothes of a great master Yun Shang, the woman in purple clothes of a half master, and the rest, such as Iron Ying, the eldest prince, Chu Qianjun, Bo Shang Saiyang, Li Erhe, etc., can only be considered as having the strength and good at fighting, and has no chance of getting a master.

After thinking for a moment, Shi Gan said softly: "Mr. Tie is my favorite disciple of Ziyun Swordsman Xia Suiyang, the number one master of the Qin Dynasty. Do you think he should ask him to think of a solution?"

Qin Lei smiled and said, "I don't believe he is better than Le Buyi."

Shi Gan scratched his head and whispered: "Even if he is not as good as Mr. Le, he is also the second master of the Qin Dynasty."

Qin Lei couldn't help but smile: "I'm getting more and more knowledgeable. Well, you write to Tieying in your own name and ask him to do this quietly. Don't forget to tell him that if you don't have a master, don't take some guys who are half a bottle to me to be conspicuous." Shi Gan quickly responded respectfully.

As he spoke, the carriage arrived outside Chengtian Gate, and all the civil and military officials were already lined up in front of the gate. Qin Lei couldn't help but feel depressed: "Hurry up, but I still haven't gotten rid of the late fate." Since the 16th day of the first lunar month, he has started to attend court normally, but every time it is the last one, which makes the ministers gritted their teeth. Even the censor Guo Bizheng had no choice but to remind him: 'Prince, it's only a matter of three things to do. If you arrive the last one, the official will have to write a note for you.'

The so-called "recording a note" for ordinary officials is that they do not get a good or above year-end assessment, which will directly affect their promotion. However, for Qin Lei, it is a shame. Imagine that many years later, it will be written in history books: "His Royal Highness Longwei is lazy by nature, and he especially loves to sleep well, and even arrives late in the morning court..." How ugly it should be.

Thinking of this, he slowly tidied up his clothes and walked out of the carriage. Shi Gan said strangely: "It's too late, why is the prince not in a hurry?"

Qin Lei smiled and said, "Anyway, it's too late, why are you anxious?" Shi Gan stretched out his tongue in the dark and said to himself: "What's theories?"

When Qin Lei arrived in the team, he found that his last name had been taken away... The position of the first in the civil service team was empty. Looking at Wen Er and Wen Xiao Er, they were all gone. He couldn't help but look at Guo Bizheng beside him with great joy. Old Guo nodded helplessly and thought to himself: "You are lucky."

After waiting for a while, he still couldn't see Prime Minister Wen's figure. At this time, the bell on Chengtian Tower rang and the door slowly opened. Jingshi Guo didn't even have time to sing the name, so he shouted: "Go to court..."

All the officials lined up to court slowly. Emperor Zhaowu arrived, shouting long live the mountain and reporting the matter calmly.

As soon as Emperor Zhaowu came in, he saw that the old man Wen Yanbo had not appeared and was not waiting for the officials to report the matter. He asked lightly: "Why didn't the Prime Minister come?"

Everyone whispered for a while, but no one could tell Ding Mao. This happened recently. All officials knew that the Prime Minister's Mansion had been thieves, and they didn't know any details. If they knew that Wen Yanbo had lost the official account book, they would probably be so scared that they would be sick at home.

Seeing that there was some dismay in the hall, Qin Shouzhuo had to put out with his tablet and said, "Long live the prime minister's mansion was stolen in the early morning of this day, and there was a huge roar, which seemed to have suffered heavy losses.

The prime minister might be cleaning up the mess at home.” Since he had already shown up his car and horses to follow the royal family, he had to perform more in Emperor Zhaowu to save some impression points.

Emperor Zhaowu was happy when he heard this, but he scolded him sternly: "Didn't Kyoto Prefecture make public security well? Why did this happen suddenly? "

Qin Shouzhuo quickly knelt down and pretended to beg for guilt, but he was not afraid at all. At this critical moment, as long as he did not wander around in his position, even if Emperor Zhaowu did not protect him, Prince Longwei would protect him.

Sure enough, Emperor Zhaowu ordered the case to be solved as soon as possible, and asked His Highness Longwei County Prince to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to express his condolences on his behalf. The name here is very simple, and anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance that His Majesty the Emperor is very happy with the robbery of the Prime Minister's Mansion - the so-called case to be solved as soon as possible, but there is no limit to the date, ten days or a hundred days? It is too flexible.

The second order is even more outrageous. Who doesn’t know that the fifth prince and the prime minister are facing tit-for-tat and about to start. Send him to the prime minister’s house to express condolences. What’s the difference between asking a cat to cry for a rat?

Qin Lei and Qin Shouzhuo took the order seriously. They heard Tian Minfen come out and said, "Your Majesty, spring plowing will begin in less than a month, and hundreds of thousands of farmers from other provinces are still stranded in Zhongdu. If they let them go idle, the nearly one million acres of farmland in my Great Qin will be deserted."

When Emperor Zhaowu heard this, he was just a little bit of a reason. He immediately remembered the plan agreed with Qin Lei, and then twisted his fingers and asked in a deep voice: "What Tian Aiqing said is right, what do you mean?"

Tian Minong bowed and said, "I ask Your Majesty to issue an order to urge all farmers from other provinces to return home."

Emperor Zhaowu rolled his eyes in his heart and cursed inwardly: "I always want to be a villain, but I don't even have any door!" He still laughed and said, "Your dear, this is a bit worth considering."

Tian Minnong quickly looked in a fearful and fearful manner and leaned over and said, "Please give me advice."

Emperor Zhaowu said majesticly: "Indeed, my imperial edict is naturally a golden rule. No one dares to refuse to obey it, but those refugees from other provinces are also my people. I can't bear to expel them like this."

Tian Minnong laughed in his heart and said, 'Your Majesty is a blessing for the people. However, letting these refugees stay in the capital and sleep in the open air is their little blessing. Sending them back to their hometowns and live in peace and contentment is their great blessing.

This guy can really tell, but he just couldn't find any fault with Emperor Zhaowu. Fortunately, Emperor Zhaowu didn't want to find fault with him. He smiled faintly and said, "You are saying something, so-called a little bit of inbearance will cause big plans."

Tian Minnong said happily: "Your Majesty has a great vision and I admire you." Before he finished his happiness, he heard Emperor Zhaowu say: "But I cannot issue this imperial edict, so I can't bear it. So, can you go to Master Wen and ask him to issue a document in the name of the Secretariat? Can it work?"

Tian Minnong didn't know the strange thing, so he thought that Emperor Zhaowu would not want to be this bad person, and thought to himself: "Anyway, the prime minister is not a good thing in the hearts of the people, and it's okay to be worse than bad." He kowtowed, and thanked him and stood up and returned to work.

At this time, the new Minister of War and General Tiance of Li Qing came out of his squad and bowed: "Your Majesty, please ask, can the first quarter of the army paid for the three armies in Zhennan and the east? The three marshals wrote letters to ask closely." In the Qin Dynasty, the Ministry of War was responsible for military logistics such as recruitment, fundraising, and supply. As for the appointment and removal of officers, the command power of the army belonged to the Taiwei Mansion.

Hearing this question, Tian Minnong, who had just returned, had to leave the list again and bowed: "Your Majesty, the national treasury was tight last year. After the autumn taxes came, he paid off the salary owed to all officials. This year, he was only enough to pay the salary of the imperial guards. As for the salary of the border military and the salary of all officials, he still had to wait until the spring taxes came up before he could pay it."

Emperor Zhaowu frowned slightly and said, "Didn't it mean that after going to that part, you will not be denied again?" Although he did not say it explicitly, all officials knew that it was referring to the abolition of the army with the name "Wei". This plan was to be implemented in the beginning of spring, which was already a well-known secret.

Tian Minnong swallowed her mouth and spitted, glanced at the Prince Longwei who was resting on the imperial steps, and replied in a low voice: "When I planned this last year, I included it in the south, but the autumn tax of one son of the two provinces was not collected last year, and the few million taels of silver were missing, so I was in a difficult position." The man looked aggrieved, as if he was angry at the young wife.

Emperor Zhaowu glanced at Qin Lei and asked calmly: "What did you say when you were protecting the South last year?"

Qin Lei bowed and smiled, "Your Majesty, the child said that the south will not shorten the imperial silver, and he just wanted to delay the payment for a few days."

Tian Minnong heard this and whispered: "The taxes in autumn should be distributed to the national treasury in October, and now the first month is almost over."

Qin Lei looked at him with apologies and bowed and said softly: "Please wait a little while." No matter what the position of both sides, he admired this haggard old man who was working hard to avoid the collapse of the Qin Dynasty's financial affairs, so he naturally couldn't bear to play ruthlessly with him.

But it is absolutely impossible for Qin Lei to agree to pay taxes. The south has suffered such a big man-made disaster. It is said that three years of tax exemption is necessary, otherwise how can we resume production? But Wen Yanbo insisted on paying taxes on the south as scheduled. Qin Lei could not control the Ministry of Revenue, nor did he control the Prime Minister's Office, so he had to use the "drag" technique. If he delayed it for one period, he would have to rely on it for at least half a year to avoid paying taxes for one year.

Tian Minnong was not afraid of Qin Lei. When people were poor and crazy, they were really not afraid of heaven or earth. He wanted Qin Lei to crippled himself so that he could throw it away and go home to recuperate. So even if the fifth prince was very rare to whisper, he still did not let go and raised his voice slightly: "I have also learned about the situation in the south and have recovered well... I should be able to bear it by collecting some taxes on land households."

Qin Lei was slightly annoyed in his heart and said patiently: "Mr. Tian, ​​if he had plundered every grain of grain from the rice jar of the southern people, he could indeed pay taxes, but how could you let the people survive the spring famine? If he couldn't eat and starve to death, it would definitely greatly affect the harvest of wheat in spring and delay your spring taxes!" He had lived with people for a long time and had developed a self-righteous nature, and his patience to the people below was always limited.

Hearing the sarcastic meaning in the tone of the Prince Longwei County, Tian Minnong's old face turned red and said tremblingly: "The prince clearly understands that if he hadn't really waited for the rice to be put into the pot, why should he force the people of the two provinces to force the people of the two provinces? But the salary of the border soldiers can no longer be deducted, and they will be delayed again... they will become a child."

Li Qing on the side also spoke and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, the soldiers of the border army are responsible for protecting the territory and defending the country. They can't be disappointed!"

The officials in the hall thought to themselves: "Okay, they can't let their hearts be cold, but they can let our hearts be cold at will? Without any discussion, they decided to give us a deposit and let people live again?" But after the difficult period last year, they also knew that the treasury really had no money, so they had to do this first. Anyway, everyone didn't point to this salary to live.

When Qin Lei saw the two great ministers firing at him together, he rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, you go and collect it." He thought to himself, "It's weird if you collect it." But he used to cheating skills.

Every time there is a deadlock, Emperor Zhaowu got used to it, so he said in a timely manner: "The court and the local government have their own difficulties, so it is difficult to unify." The tone sets: Stop fighting, it's nothing wrong. It's a conflict within the court, so you can negotiate.

The three of them had to bow and say, "Please give me advice."

Emperor Zhaowu nodded slightly and said, "Since it is an internal conflict, you need to be careful when dealing with it. Let's do this. The Ministry of War will take a look at the lowest number of demands. The two southern provinces will also be tight and give the highest number of payments. If it is not enough, the Ministry of Revenue will think about making up for it."

As the saying goes, "As an expert takes action, he will know if there is any." Emperor Zhaowu is worthy of being a bricklayer for 17 years, and his skill in digging has reached the point of returning to the essence. These remarks seem to be very reasonable and all parties have taken care of the interests. But in fact, Mao has no effect. In the end, he must be too much and too little. He added that he said nothing, and everyone still has to continue to argue.

But at this time, the three of them thought it was not bad, and bowed and said in unison: "Your Majesty, wise." The reason why Qin Lei felt it was good was that quarrel was also a kind of "drag". As long as it could be delayed, it would be better for a year. Tian Minnong didn't want to offend the fifth prince too much. Besides, he was just a supplement. The main leader had not yet fought, so what was he going to be anxious about?

As for Li Qing, this guy thought Emperor Zhaowu was very reasonable and had already started to figure out how much it should be, but he couldn't understand the trick behind it.

When the three of them retreated, the Prince Wuyong, who had been silent, came out of his squad and bowed: "I have heard from Your Majesty. My holiday has ended. I will say goodbye to Your Majesty."

Emperor Zhaowu's expression slightly darkened when he heard this, and he said lightly: "When will you leave?"

"I have said goodbye to the emperor's grandmother and leave immediately after the court."
Chapter completed!