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墨書 Inktalez
Currently, the Langya Prince and his ministers are not arresting Jiang Han. It's not just that Jiang Han dares to execute Minister of Justice Luo Yuhua without ironclad evidence. The key point lies with Emperor Su Qianxue! Without any evidence of wrongdoing, how could they arrest Jiang Han? With just a decree, Su Qianxue could resolve the issue.
The Langya Prince thought to himself, I control three out of the Four Major Grain Merchants! Even if I lower the rice prices to supply the disaster victims, I can definitely provide more food than you, Jiang Han! The mysterious forces behind you are likely other countries' grain merchants! Yes, I am the local power here.
Can your Qian Tiao Tiao match the amount of grain I can requisition locally? The logistics and operations involved will inevitably raise your costs above mine. As long as you can't compete, I will deal with you! And as for the disaster victims? This time, they will benefit from it; consider it a blessing for the people.
My dear ministers, since you are gambling against me, if I win, there will be no problem for the disaster victims! But what if you lose? Langya Prince, what do you say?
Su Qianxue began to counterattack; she had been holding back for quite some time! Hearing this, Lord Wang stepped forward and said, "If Jiang Han can provide more and better grain, then the disaster victims will be fortunate indeed. I would congratulate Your Majesty on that."
But they were unwilling to spend money! They wouldn't even agree to lose. Su Qianxue sneered and said, "Since Minister of Revenue Zhao and Minister of War are so patriotic and caring for the people, if we lose, would both of you be willing to each contribute twenty thousand taels? No problem, right?"
"Ah?" The two Ministers of Revenue were taken aback.
"We do have money," one of them said. "But how could we possibly give it to the disaster victims?"
"Why not?" the Langya Prince suddenly spoke up. "If they lose, I will put forth two hundred thousand taels to aid the victims!"
"And if Your Majesty loses, you must also contribute two hundred thousand taels to help the victims!"
"Not enough!" Su Qianxue said leisurely. "Since the Langya Prince is interested, how about this: if you lose, you will put forth two hundred thousand taels and relinquish five military commands to Wan Dajun! Or, you can provide four hundred thousand taels to aid the disaster victims and supply military needs."
Su Qianxue was making a bold demand, clearly waiting for the Langya Prince to respond. If this opportunity turned out unfavorable, it would be a foolish move.
"Four hundred thousand taels? Or two hundred thousand taels and five military commands?"
"Let's go with four hundred thousand taels," the Langya Prince replied confidently.
"Alright, it's settled!" Su Qianxue agreed decisively.
The Langya Prince's expression darkened slightly, but a faint smile appeared on his face. He was no longer hiding his intentions!
The two Ministers of Revenue remained silent, aware that with the Langya Prince taking the lead, there was no need for them to add anything further. The other court officials observed the situation; under the pressure of internal and external troubles, the Langya Prince had stepped out from the shadows to engage in a gamble with His Majesty, prompting them to keep quiet.
They understood that all the previous discussions were merely tactics by the Langya Prince to weaken Su Qianxue or to capture Jiang Han—two objectives that would serve him well.
At this moment, the Langya Prince crossed his arms and stared intently at Su Qianxue without any semblance of respect for the other officials. He thought to himself that this was merely a matter of inflicting harm upon each other; he could take it.
As long as you, Su Qianxue, lose once, your royal treasury will be devoid of silver. By then, when the Xia Kingdom Army attacks, the country will need a large army to deploy! A deployment requires supplies and military equipment, and you, Su Qianxue, will have to obey my orders.
Moreover, this is just the first wave of refugees! The second wave has yet to appear on a large scale; there’s time to play this out slowly. You little girl emperor, having just ascended the throne not long ago, dare to challenge me? Truly overestimating yourself.
Furthermore, the Ninth Princess and Mu Jinkun are both useless; they cannot deal with you, Su Qianxue! So I will take matters into my own hands. Let’s agree on this: each of us will wager One Hundred Thousand Taels of Silver! We will purchase grain from Jiang Han and the capital's grain merchants, and see who can provide more and better supplies!
If anyone loses—if I lose, I will put forth two hundred thousand taels; if Langya Prince loses, he will contribute four hundred thousand to aid the disaster victims. Su Qianxue has set the stakes clearly, and seeing that the issue was resolved, the ministers took their leave.
Once everyone had departed, Su Qianxue let out a long sigh, a look of desolation crossing her face. With internal strife and external threats, the imperial power was weak. To win, she could only take risks and make bold moves. She had no choice but to use such dangerous tactics to gradually regain control.
On the other hand, if the tens of thousands of disaster victims were well aided, it was possible to select many qualified soldiers from among them. With a Royal Guard, she could continue to expand her military force. Currently, there were Thirty Thousand Royal Guards; with ten thousand deployed to block the Ninth Princess's five thousand elite troops—not to defeat them outright but merely to hold the line.
First, she needed to stabilize the situation by addressing the needs of the disaster victims. Once the newly recruited Thirty Thousand Imperial Guards were ready, she could send out another twenty thousand Imperial Guards. This was the only way Su Qianxue could maintain her position for now.
"Your Majesty, shall we rest? Or...?" the Personal Eunuch inquired.
"Shopkeeper Jiang, have you returned?" Su Qianxue asked. She had placed all her hopes on Jiang Han.
The Personal Eunuch shook his head. According to what Shopkeeper Jiang had instructed before leaving, Yan Dong was to inform them that Shopkeeper Jiang would return that evening.
"Notify me immediately when Shopkeeper Jiang returns!" Su Qianxue said, shedding her fatigue before finally going to rest.
In the latter half of the night, within Langya Wangfu.
The Langya Prince, Che Cheng, and the Three Grand Ministers were gathered.
"You three are among the three of the Four Major Grain Merchants in the capital. How much grain can you gather?" the Langya Prince asked as he surveyed the three Retainers.
As a royal residence, they had many Jiang Jiangs and Retainers at their disposal. The Jiang Jiangs assisted the Langya Prince in commanding the army during expeditions. The Retainers had more complex roles; some acted as advisors while others were shopkeepers under the royal household.
One Retainer spoke up, "My lord, our Tianzi-sized grain shops can provide two hundred thousand stones of millet!"
"My lord, I just calculated that our three families can collectively provide four hundred thousand stones of millet! This should be enough for four hundred thousand disaster victims to eat for two months. If made into porridge, it could last five months."
"And four hundred thousand stones of millet," this Retainer pondered for a moment before continuing, "is worth approximately four hundred thousand taels of silver. If we were to inflate prices, we could sell it for one million two hundred thousand taels of silver. Our net profit could reach around nine hundred thousand taels. We have done this in previous times of disaster."
The Langya Prince waved his hand, signaling the Retainers. "Langya Wangfu has sufficient funds; therefore, this time we will not seek profit. We will donate three hundred thousand stones of millet to aid the disaster victims!"
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