The loyal minister was forced to marry the traitor

Wei Chengfeng fell into Xiao Jiuqin's trap unconsciously, and by the time he realized it, he had already fallen behind.

"You are making too much sense!" Wei Chengfeng couldn't find anything to refute, but he didn't want Xiao Jiuqin to show off, so he stepped on him.

But how can things in this world be as expected, Xiao Jiuqin is not a good person at all, he is a military commander, and he can be so patient and pull him back and forth with Wei Chengfeng, but it is just because he does not want to fall into others Tongue thoughts.

"Your Highness, think it through before you say it. But what sentence is inappropriate? It's His Highness who said it himself, and Confucius said, 'Do not do to others what you don't want to be done to others'. Why is it a different scene when you come to Your Highness?"

"You!" Wei Chengfeng's eyes were tearing apart, and it was like this again, this Xiao Jiuqin was going against him in a different way.

Just when the atmosphere between the two of them was stagnant, Bai Yan next to him said lightly, "I want to report to Your Majesty, I have a word."

The emperor who was watching from the sidelines fell on Bai Yan, but Huai Chun squinted slightly.

"It's okay to say it." The emperor had a surprisingly good attitude towards Shang Baiyan, and it was rare to show a bit of tolerance from the elders to the younger generation, "You always have ideas, let's see if you can do it again this time." Come up with a clever strategy."

Being so "preferred", Bai Yan always looked as usual, neither arrogant nor impetuous, "Listen to the narration of the Fourth Highness and... Pingjin Hou, I think that at this time, not only can't increase taxes, but also stabilize prices, strictly Control the places to hoard grain and cotton."

Even if he was kneeling on the ground, Bai Yan did not lose his bearing, "Most of the turmoil/turmoil caused by wars, natural disasters, and man-made disasters in the past dynasties is because the people have nowhere to live and people have nothing to use..." His eyes were serious, " The damage to the dam is an imminent thing. The next step is to prevent the epidemic and provide relief to the victims. However, if the tax is increased at this time, it will be tantamount to adding fuel to the flames. , is to place a knife on the necks of the people and force them to rebel."

"Bai Yan, what do you mean?!" Wei Chengfeng didn't sound right, he proposed to increase the tax, Xiao Jiuqin and Bai Yan said something wrong, it was clear that they were refuting his words.

"Fourth..." the emperor said, "Listen to Xingzhang."

"...Yes." Wei Chengfeng had to shut up even if he didn't want to, his eyes were full of hostility, but Bai Yan didn't pay any attention to it.

On the other hand, Xiao Jiuqin looked at Wei Chengfeng's sullen expression and wondered what he was thinking.

"... Disaster relief and flood control are actually the same. Instead of trying to block it, it is better to try to unblock it..." He actually had such an idea earlier, but it just happened to happen today. , Bai Yan didn't take him to heart at all.

Compared with fighting with a contemptuous prince, the safety of the people is more important.Bai Yan is not a benevolent person who saves all sentient beings, but he will not abandon human life like a shoe.

"How do I get rid of it?"

"Yongzhou Prefecture is low-lying, and most of the people live in low-lying places. Now we should first move out those who have not been affected by the disaster and have less impact. According to the records of the county annals that I have consulted for nearly a century, Yongzhou Prefecture has a waterlogging disaster almost every 17 years. Autumn is earlier, this rain is already an early warning, if it drags on for a long time... I am afraid it will lead to a catastrophe!"

When he said this, the people below began to whisper, which was also mixed with many people's malicious speculation.

Bai Yan seemed to be ignorant, and continued to say, "This year, most of the 47 counties in the three prefectures around Yongzhou are planting millet rice. People pay taxes in kind, but at [-]% of the usual price, supplemented by tax exemption from corvee, I believe there will be many people paying taxes for exemption from corvee."

"Those are not enough!" The Secretary of the Household Department shook his head, "The tax squeezed out is just a drop in the bucket, worth one day but not ten days and half a month."

"This is just one of them." Bai Yan glanced at the Minister of the Household Department indifferently, "If you remember correctly, Beidi begged to surrender not long ago, but he offered a lot of gold, silver, cloth and silk. If you calculate it, it should be 20 taels Money, these are not a drop in the bucket!"

As soon as this remark came out, not to mention the household ministers, even the emperor's face changed.

Huai Chun's eyes sank even more, staring at Bai Yan, wishing he could pull this guy over and beat him up.

What kind of things Beidi begged to surrender was clearly the emperor's private treasury. This fellow Bai Yan had a bad idea. He insisted on telling the truth, and wanted to "appropriate" it openly.

Bai Yan had expected everyone's reaction long ago, but his expression remained unchanged, "The foot cold is sad, the people are cold and the country is hurt, if the disaster relief is not enough, one day it will turn into a bitter fruit, then even if there are mountains of gold and silver, it will not help."

He spread the words out, without any taboos, and without any euphemistic words, "The lack of food in the household is not a reason for not giving relief in time. Besides, human lives are at stake. If it is delayed for a while, there will be more people." In deep waterlogging, you adults can understand the difficulties, but the difficulties of the common people, I hope I can understand a thing or two."

It was a bit false to say this, but Bai Yan knew that he had no shame in his heart. After he finished speaking, he met the emperor's gaze, "Your Majesty, I am incompetent. I invite you to go to Yongzhou to relieve the disaster. I hope Your Majesty will allow you."

"Hiss..." Someone in the crowd gasped.

This Lord Censor is really bold, he really thinks that disaster relief is some kind of fat job... The fourth prince was sent out earlier, and there are countless people who can be sent by him, so he almost messed up the matter, but he is just a young official, On weekdays, picketing hundreds of officials is a good thing on the surface, but in fact, it offends many people overtly and secretly.

He suddenly asked for an errand, not to mention other people, but the officials who were offended by him laughed first.

There is no such thing as a diamond to do porcelain work, a censor can't stay in Yingdu, and he has to plan for disaster relief. Guilty bad luck.

"Master Bai, you are the censor, and you have other important things to do. It is better to leave the disaster relief to others..."

Huaichun endured it for a long time but still couldn't hold it back, so he opened his mouth, causing the emperor to glance at him, and then said vaguely, "Xingzhang, Huaichun has never meddled with the affairs of the court, it is rare to speak today, but call me A lot of surprises!"

Seemingly saying it casually, Bai Yan's hands under his sleeves curled up slightly, and the emperor was still suspicious.

His friendship with Huai Chun is not something shameful, but the two still maintain a superficial estrangement. After all, one is a powerful eunuch, and the other is a censor who is not involved in everything, but everyone will never forget it. Bai Yan has an inextricable relationship with Pingjin Houfu.

The emperor was suspicious, even though he hadn't paid that much attention to political affairs in the past few years, he didn't know that he was paralyzing others.

"Forming a party for private interests" is a taboo of the emperor, Huai Chun holds the power of "voting and drafting", once he has a different heart, it is tantamount to setting up a big knife behind the emperor. Once there is a slight disturbance, the emperor will definitely kill by mistake. The attitude of the past will deal with people.

Even the "supervisor" who is famous on the bright side is still just a dog under the feet of the emperor after all.

"Eunuch Huaichun's words are reasonable, but this time, I have the courage to ask for your order. I hope His Majesty will allow you. If the disaster relief is not effective, you can be punished in any way."

The emperor was a little surprised. He thought that Huai Chun had reminded him that Bai Yan would shrink back, but he did not change his original intention and went to Yongzhou for disaster relief. As a result, the emperor couldn't help but doubt those rumors.

There is always that gossip who said that Bai Yan and Eunuch Huaichun have a very close relationship, they have differences of heart, and they have many ties to Grand Master Yun, although Grand Master Yun accompanied the second prince into the temple to pray for the Queen But the rumors about them never stopped for a day.

He also said that Bai Yan committed himself to Huai Chun, and the two had such a dirty relationship, that's why Huai Chun would defend him everywhere, and only waited for one day to support Bai Yan to rise to the top and enter the cabinet.

But looking at it now, it seems that Bai Yan is not under the control of Huai Chun.

The emperor's thoughts were not on his mind, so Bai Yan added at the right time, "The waterlogging disaster is not an ordinary and trivial matter. I asked you to leave for no other reason. It is only because I am more familiar with the situation in Yongzhou that I boldly ask for orders. I hope Your Majesty will be magnanimous."

After exhausting every word and every sentence, the emperor hesitated before opening his mouth slowly, "I am very relieved to act for the country and the people. This time, your wishes have been fulfilled."

"As for the money and food for disaster relief, as Xingzhang said earlier, tax cuts and corvees are exempted, and the gold and silver treasures of the Beidi's tribute are converted and used for the disaster. Its greatest convenience is that the affairs of the people are more important than anything else.”

"The ministers and others respectfully abide by the holy will."

"Thank you sir."

The court meeting ended, the emperor left, and Bai Yan's request was fulfilled, with the same indifference on his face as before.

Wei Chengfeng approached and snorted coldly, "Master Bai has a good idea, are you proud of it?"

"So what if you are proud?" Bai Yan had already tore up his face with him, "Say more words, the second highness will come back soon, if your highness wants to secure your current position, why don't you learn to be smarter. Or... be more sensible, don't do any more thankless things, it's better than doing nothing in the end!"

"You!" Wei Chengfeng's eyes turned red with anger.

Bai Yan didn't care, "That's all for now. If His Highness doesn't listen to you, you'll be a low-ranking official." After speaking, he turned and left.

It is not appropriate to stay here for too long, when Huai Chun has finished handling all matters, he will definitely come to deal with him.

He sighed secretly while thinking, but he didn't know that someone was waiting for him outside.

"Master Bai is so majestic today!" Half-sarcastically, half-sarcasm, it sounded like he was still gnashing his teeth, Bai Yan raised his head, and it was Xiao Jiuqin who was no surprise, he sighed silently, it was not good, he was only focused on hiding Huai Chun, he forgot There is also a Marquis of Pingjin here.

It has to be said that in Bai Yan's opinion, Pingjin Marquis Xiao Jiuqin was easier to deal with than Huai Chun, but the next moment he withdrew his thoughts.

Xiao Jiuqin is no longer the honest boy he used to be, the force he held on his wrist was so strong that Bai Yan gasped in pain, "Can I change places if I want to go crazy?!"