But Wei Hong's blunt response still slapped him in the face and embarrassed him.
Even if he achieves his goal, so what? Wei Hong disdains his petty tricks, just as he disdains his father, the emperor.
"How much military pay does the imperial court owe Shuozhou? If it's not much, we should find a way to make up the difference from elsewhere first, and then let's see what excuses they can come up with!"
"It is a young official," a young official said in a deep voice.
After he finished speaking, the official from the Ministry of Revenue almost jumped up: "You make it sound so easy. Where will you get the money? In recent years, natural disasters have been frequent in various places. Disaster relief funds have been flowing out like water, and we have to reduce taxes so that the people in the disaster-stricken areas can catch their breath."
"Fortunately, the Great Liang has been relatively peaceful in recent years, which has saved some money from military affairs, enough to keep things running smoothly."
"Right now, besides Shuozhou, other places are also in arrears with their military pay to varying degrees. If we make up for Shuozhou's pay, what if other places also submit memorials requesting payment? Will we make up for it from your salary then?"
The imperial court had been in arrears with military pay for quite some time; the only difference was the amount owed. Even Emperor Wei Chi was aware of this.
The young official, his face flushed red with anger, retorted, “I never said we had to fix everything at once. There are priorities. Let’s fix Shuozhou first, and we can wait for the other places.”
"That's true, but once this door is opened, it can't be closed off elsewhere. Moreover, the original intention of these memorials from Shuozhou was not to ask for money, but to refuse to send troops. The so-called military pay is just an excuse."
Someone tried to smooth things over.
Although many of these officials had never been to Shuozhou in person, they knew that Shuozhou had a strong and well-equipped army, and that the Jingyuan Army was so powerful that one soldier could fight ten men, making them feared on the battlefield.
Otherwise, the late emperor wouldn't have targeted the King of Qin as his first target after ascending the throne. Not only did he fail, but he also angered the King of Qin, causing him to completely turn against the court and almost raise the banner of rebellion.
In recent years, other parts of Daliang have been plagued by natural disasters and man-made calamities, but Shuozhou has been doing well, and the Qin King's army has grown stronger and stronger. Some people even said in private that the Qin King is the one destined by Heaven.
If the imperial court were to allocate the silver, it would be like throwing good money after bad, with no chance of recovery. Even if the King of Qin eventually sent troops, how the war would be fought and how it would turn out would all be up to him.
But the young man, full of youthful vigor, not only did not stop there, but continued, "It is precisely because we know it is an excuse that we need to make up for it, so that the King of Qin will have no excuse!"
"Wouldn't we be being blackmailed by the King of Qin, giving him what he wants? From now on, will anyone be able to use this method to threaten the court? Will they be able to disobey military orders and imperial edicts at will?"
The Ministry of Revenue officials angrily retorted.
"Isn't it all your Ministry of Revenue's fault for not allocating military funds on time, giving him a reason to threaten the court? If you had allocated military funds on time every year, why would he have this as an excuse now?"
The two sides started arguing, occasionally interspersed with vulgar language. One side said that the person in charge of the household didn't know the cost of firewood and rice, while the other side said that the person in charge of the household was just sitting on the lap of office and not doing their job.
The censor in charge of maintaining order in the court shouted himself hoarse, but no one paid any attention. There were constant arguments in the court, but everyone was blaming each other. In the end, no one could solve the problem, so naturally, no one could persuade the King of Qin to send troops.
Until the war between Southern Yan and Great Jin came to an end, Great Liang never sent troops. The pro-war faction made a fuss for a while, but found that although Wei Chi did not directly reject their opinions, he did not seem to have any intention of going to war for the time being, so they had no choice but to give up to avoid being annoyed by him.
...
Half a year after Yao Youqing left Hucheng, she returned to find everything as before, except that a swing had appeared in the courtyard at some point.
She looked at the swing that was still big enough for the two people to sit on and asked Wei Hong, "Your Highness, did you have this swing set up?"
Wei Hong nodded: "When I went to someone else's house, I saw that they had a swing in their garden, so I had someone build one here as well."
The Prince's Mansion has a large courtyard with an ancient tree in the middle. You can cool off under the tree and set up a swing there.
"But why make it so big?"
Yao Youqing asked, puzzled, and then stretched out her arms to demonstrate.
The swing was wider than the distance between her outstretched arms; there was plenty of room for two people to sit on it.
Wei Hong smiled and leaned close to her ear.
"When summer comes, we'll cool off here. I'll lie on the swing with my head on your lap, and you'll fan me while reading to me. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
That's why he had the swing set up in the yard, rather than in the garden.
With people coming and going in the garden, Yao Youqing would definitely feel embarrassed, and besides, if they had children in the future, it wouldn't be appropriate to do this in front of them.
Yao Youqing blushed and glared at him: "I don't want to!"
He then went inside.
Wei Hong followed with a smile and then took her to see the water pool in the washroom.
He had promised her before that he would change the washroom in the palace into a pool like the one in Cangcheng, and the servants had already done it during the six months they were away.
"This pool is huge!"
Yao Youqing exclaimed in surprise after entering.
The palace's washroom was large, and the pool was naturally even larger; she felt she could swim in it.
Her eyes lit up at this thought, and she turned to Wei Hong, asking, "Your Highness, can you swim?"
Wei Hong nodded: "Yes, I can. What, do you want to learn?"
Yao Youqing hummed in agreement twice and took his hand: "Will you teach me?"
Wei Hong chuckled: "This pond is too small for learning to swim. At most, I can only teach you how to float. I'll take you to the manor in Shuliang Mountain to learn later. There's a river there, which is perfect for learning to swim."
Yao Youqing was both longing and worried: "Then... what if someone sees us?"
Even though it was her own estate, the river on the mountain was different from the pool in the room, and she was afraid that someone would see her soaking wet.
Wei Hong laughed and pulled her into his arms, his arm around her waist.
"Who dares to look? I'll gouge their eyes out!"
Yao Youqing looked up: "I'm being serious!"
Wei Hong smiled and kissed her on the cheek: "Don't worry, I had someone cordon off the area before you went, so no one will see you."
Yao Youqing nodded upon hearing this, and then asked him when he would go.
"Not now, the weather is too cold and the water is too cold. I'll take you there in the summer."
After the two made their agreement, they returned to the inner room. At this time, Zhou Mama came over and said to them, "Your Highness, Your Highness, Madam Chu left the palace yesterday and left a letter before she left."
He then handed over the letter.
Chu Yan had asked to leave earlier, but she stayed temporarily because she was injured. Yao Youqing told her to recover before leaving.
Later, Yao Youqing went to Cangcheng with Wei Hong. During this time, Chu Yan recovered from her injuries, but did not leave immediately. Instead, she packed her bags a few days ago after hearing that they were about to return. Yesterday, knowing that they would arrive today, she left before they came back.
Wei Hong frowned, subconsciously assuming the letter was addressed to him, and said, "Why would someone leave a letter after they've already left? Just throw it away."
Although he treated Chu Yan well when she was in the Prince's mansion, it was only because of her face that he never mistreated her; he never truly developed any romantic feelings for her.
Now that he knows the truth about the engagement between him and Ji Yunshu, he has lost even the slightest pity for that face and doesn't want to read the letter at all.
Mrs. Zhou paused, her expression somewhat troubled.
"Your Highness, this letter... is addressed to the Princess."
Wei Hong: "..."
He looked down and saw that the envelope was indeed addressed to the Princess.
But why did his concubine leave a letter for his queen?
Should we speak ill of him?
Yao Youqing was also a little puzzled. She reached out and took the letter inside, then carefully read it over.
Wei Hong glanced at the contents of the letter out of the corner of his eye, but because there was a kang table in between, he couldn't see it very clearly, so he couldn't help but stretch his neck to carefully distinguish the handwriting.
Before he could even see it clearly, Yao Youqing had already finished reading the letter and turned around.
He quickly sat back down, coughed lightly, and said, "Don't believe anything she says about me. I've never liked her, nor have I ever mistreated her."
Yao Youqing frowned and scanned the contents of the letter again.
"Your Highness, Lady Chu did not mention you in her letter."
Wei Hong: "..."
Chapter 63, for example
Yao Youqing handed the letter directly: "She said that she had nothing to do in her spare time and had been managing my shop in Shangchuan with Uncle Ding. The letter was full of things about these shops."
When Yao Youqing left Hucheng, she did not take Ding Shou with her, but left him here.
Unexpectedly, Chu Yan has been helping Ding Shou manage the shop during this time, and they seem to be doing a very good job.
Although Yao Youqing wasn't particularly skilled at this kind of thing, she had learned a bit and could get the gist of it. From Chu Yan's words in the letter, it was clear that she had really put in the effort.
Wei Hong frowned as he took the letter and read it through. He found that almost the entire letter was about Yao Youqing's shops, telling Yao Youqing which shops had good profits and prospects and should be taken care of, and which shops had average prospects and could be abandoned if she didn't have enough energy to manage them.
She also mentioned some problems with the shops, some of which she and Ding Shou were already working on to rectify, while others couldn't be resolved quickly. She told her not to rush and to take it slow, and not to give up on shops that shouldn't be abandoned just because she couldn't see profits in the short term.
Finally, he earnestly urged her to take good care of herself, eat three meals a day on time, and remember to wear warm clothes when it gets cold, and expressed his deep reluctance to part with her.
Wei Hong read it from beginning to end, but he didn't see the words "Your Highness" appear on the last line, which read "Wishing you well".
Chu Yan didn't say anything bad about him, she didn't even mention him once, as if he didn't exist.
"When did you two become so close?"
He wondered.
If Yao Youqing weren't a woman, he would have suspected that Chu Yan was her concubine.
“No,” Yao Youqing said, “I’m not very familiar with Madam Chu.”
"..."
You don't know her well, so why is she so concerned about you?
Wei Hong looked puzzled, then suddenly thought of the people in the city.
To be honest, she wasn't that familiar with those people. She could easily win their favor with just a few simple greetings and words of concern.
He then realized that his princess was not only easy to get along with animals, but also easy to get along with people!
A sense of crisis welled up in Wei Hong's heart, and his brows furrowed more and more tightly.
From now on, we need to keep her away from those men, especially shady characters like Liancheng.
You can't talk about people during the day or ghosts at night. Wei Hong had only thought about it for a moment when someone came to tell him that Young Master Lian was looking for him and wanted to meet him at their usual place.
He nodded and returned the letter to Yao Youqing, saying to her, "I won't be having lunch at the manor. After you eat, take a nap and rest well. I'll be back when you wake up."
Yao Youqing nodded obediently, saw him to the door, and then had someone call Ding Shou over to ask him about the details of those shops.
...