Child Bride’s Peaches and Plums Are All Over the World

In half a year, the new emperor has firmly secured the throne, and the Great Chu court has settled down. Not to mention the turbulent undercurrent in private, at least it is calm on the surface.

As for Tatar, although the second prince has ascended the throne, the civil strife is still not over. This time the civil strife in Tatar killed many people and weakened a lot.

The former Khan, his three brothers, the eldest prince and the leaders of several tribes are all dead. Now the battle for the throne is not completely over, so Da Chu can take advantage of the fire to loot.

Moreover, although there have been no major battles at the border in recent years, there have been many small conflicts. The Tatars are increasingly ignoring the upper kingdom. The new emperor, who was at odds with the first emperor and his son, was very annoyed.

Therefore, the hearts of the people in the court are floating, and many people are fighting, wanting to avenge their shame and teach the Tatars a lesson.

Among them, some sincerely consider the country and think that it is better for Dachu to go to war, and some want to benefit from this war out of self-interest.

But Qin Xinfang, Peng Dan and Ji Qing, Minister of the Ministry of War, all advocated peace.

There are four cabinets and two lords, and the emperor hesitated for a while.

Ji Qing's reason is very simple, "Your Majesty, the soldiers of the Great Chu have lived in peace for a long time, and the treasury is empty. Even if they can win the battle by rashly raising troops, it will be a miserable victory."

Qin Xinfang and Peng Dan had the same opinion, "The new dynasty has changed and the people's hearts are unstable. At this time, we should rest and recuperate, and we should not talk about war lightly."

It's not that the Tatars have to fight back when they hit the door. There are also many problems and contradictions in Dachu's country, and he really doesn't want to fight.

The main fighters felt that this was a rare opportunity. Otherwise, after a few years of Tatars recovering, how could they know that they would not send troops to Dachu?

From the assassination incident and the constant provocations over the years, it can be seen that their wolf ambitions are not dead. At this time, they should rush up and beat them down so that they dare not move their minds.

The situation stalemate for a while.

The prince who was standing beside the emperor saw his teacher standing upright with his eyes downcast, he couldn't help but interrupted and asked, "What do you think, teacher?"

Gu Jingyun raised his eyelids and glanced at him, then looked at the emperor.

The emperor was also looking up at him, and said with a smile: "Just say what Qinghe thinks, this is just a small private court meeting, it doesn't matter if you say something wrong."

Is this when he was a child?

Gu Jingyun looked away calmly, lowered his eyes and said, "I think peace is the most important thing."

This is really different from the Gu Jingyun they knew. The emperor raised his eyebrows slightly. Although this child has always been gentle and polite, he has always known that this child is a little bit vengeful. Shouldn't he be leading the battle according to his personality?

The emperor waited for him to give a reason.

Gu Jingyun had already finished speaking, and continued to stand quietly with his back straightened and his eyes lowered. If his back was not bent or bent, the emperor almost thought he was going to fall asleep.

He could only ask helplessly, "What's the reason?"

"Does Your Majesty really want to listen?"

The emperor nodded, feeling a little uneasy in his heart.

Gu Jingyun raised his head, with a serious expression on his face, and said: "Your Majesty, this time I have traveled all the way from west to south, crossing half of the Great Chu, whether it is in the early winter when autumn is just harvested, in the deep winter of cold wind and heavy snow, or when everything is recovering. In the beginning of spring, traveling all the way from south to north, every day you can see refugees with their families or wandering alone, which means that Dachu is uneasy."

"I asked those refugees and local people, and made statistics. I asked a total of 547 households along the way. After paying the summer and autumn taxes last year, 40% of them had less than 30% of their annual labor income. Among them, those who are few and borrowers accounted for 10%, and most of the 10% became refugees except selling their children to tide over the difficulties. Those who have more than 60% will get 10%."

Gu Jingyun looked up at the emperor with clear black and white eyes and said: "Perhaps it is because the people selected by the minister are too poor, so this data is not good-looking, but your majesty, in addition to the summer tax and autumn tax, they also need to pay the poll tax. Donations, if there is an order from the local government, they have to do hard labor, and this has not yet been deducted from the income."

"Although it's hard to say these words in front of you adults, as we all know, the officials in the Great Chu are very turbid. Now how many officials in the DPRK and China can confidently say that they have never been greedy?"

"The people are uneasy, the treasury is empty, and the soldiers are weak. Is Your Majesty sure that after increasing the military tax and military service, the people who have already suffered from hardships can bear it and not rebel or flee and become refugees?"

The emperor was silent.

Gu Jingyun's words were very unpleasant, but he couldn't blame him.

The rest of the ministers were displeased and couldn't help being a little dissatisfied. Just as they were about to yell at him, Gu Jingyun suddenly turned his head and looked at the Minister of War, "Master Ji, how much is left in the warehouse of our Great Chu Army? The last time we replaced it for the whole army When were the weapons, chariots and horses replaced, how much were they replaced, and how much wasted? How much did the frontier soldiers get?"

Ji Qing lowered his eyes, his face darkened.

Everyone followed Gu Jingyun's gaze to look at Ji Qing, and their hearts sank when they saw this. No wonder Ji Qing has always opposed sending troops.

Gu Jingyun turned his head to look at the Secretary of the Household Department, and asked: "The spring plowing has just arrived, and the summer flood is about to arrive. Excluding these two expenses, how much grain can the treasury allocate for food and grass?"

Gu Jingyun looked around at everyone and asked, "How long do you plan to fight this battle, and how much manpower will you invest?"

Everyone was silent. Weren't everyone discussing whether to fight or not. Only after a decision can we count these things.

However, the Minister of the Household Department and several ministers still calculated the expenses subconsciously, and their spines couldn't help but feel a chill.

Gu Jingyun raised his head to look at the emperor, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, this battle is not about whether the Great Chu will fight, but whether the Great Chu can fight. The bitter cold of the Tatars and the civil strife have indeed weakened a lot, but the situation of the Great Chu It is also not optimistic, injuring the enemy one thousand and injuring eight hundred is not for the protection of the people, nor for the defense of the country, why do we fight such a war?"

"You are the king of a country, so you can't just see the borders of the two countries and the honor and disgrace of the royal family. You should also look down at the country under your feet, and look up at the people under your rule."

Qin Xinfang went out and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please think twice."

Peng Dan and Hubu Shangshu followed closely, "Your Majesty, please think twice."

The emperor was shocked in his heart, and he was silent for a while before saying: "Everyone, step back first, let me think about it."

Qin Xinfang and the others bowed and were about to step back, but the emperor left him and Gu Jingyun behind.

The matter has not been dealt with yet, and he also wants to ask the two of them for their opinions in detail on this matter.

Peng Dan, who withdrew, felt a little uneasy like all the ministers. What Gu Jingyun raised today directly hit the most fundamental problems of Da Chu, and these problems are closely related to the interests of everyone.

But at this time, they couldn't say anything to refute. It wasn't that they were incompetent, but that they couldn't.

Taxation, government administration, national treasury, deficit in the military and greed, these are all issues that can make people irrecoverable, but Gu Jingyun said it so lightly.

But at this time, he is only a fourth-rank Hanlin, just the prince's teacher, and has no real power to participate in politics. The emperor and the prince just asked him about politics, and they could find reasons to criticize him for his answers, but the gains outweighed the losses.

It's going to be cold now, Gu Jingyun has no real power to participate in politics, and Qin Xinfang has always been prudent, so he won't rush forward at this time...

Everyone left the palace in wild thoughts, but the emperor inside the palace completely relaxed, leaning his whole body on the back of his chair and said wearily: "Qinghe, is my country really in such a critical situation?"

Gu Jingyun remained silent.

The emperor smiled wryly, "I should have expected it earlier, but the brochures handed over by the local government in the past two months are too good. They are all about praises and good news. My heart is overwhelmed."

"It is a blessing in the world that Your Majesty knows this today," Qin Xinfang said solemnly, "Qinghe's words are useless, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

The emperor waved his hand, "It was he who woke me up, and it was too late for me to thank him, so how could I blame him?"

Thinking of Gu Jingyun's talent, the emperor was very moved. He sat up slightly, looked at him with piercing eyes and said, "Qinghe, I will give you an official position. How about you assist me and the crown prince?"

Gu Jingyun refused without even thinking about it, "If the humble minister holds real power, I'm afraid the current balance of the court will be disrupted, and I don't have much interest in it."

He paused and said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the minister is the prince's teacher, and governing the country is within the scope of the minister's teaching. If you have any doubts, you can ask the prince to ask me. What's more, you are the king and I am the minister. You and my minister are aboveboard. As for real power, I really don't like it."

The crown prince loves his arrogant appearance the most. Hearing this, he burst out laughing, sweeping away the gloom, "Okay, if I come to you if I have any doubts, you can teach me like you teach the crown prince."

Gu Jingyun nodded solemnly, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, there is no distinction between ministers and ministers, no matter who they are, they will teach them seriously."

The emperor admired his self-confidence and honesty, but Qin Xinfang kept sighing in his heart. After only seeing him for a few months, he became more calm, capable, intelligent and transparent.

He wanted to intervene in the government and shape the great Chu, but he found it troublesome and wasted his mind, so he only took the identity of the prince's teacher.

The prince represents the emperor, and he can continue to intervene in the government through the prince, but he is only a fourth-rank Hanlin and does not actually participate in politics, which means that the battles caused by the court will not affect him at all.

Participate in it, but pick yourself clean.

Qin Xinfang didn't know whether to praise him for being smart or scold him for being scheming.

The crown prince and the emperor may not be ignorant of Gu Jingyun's calculations, but they don't care. Gu Jingyun doesn't love power, and participating in state affairs is not for money, power, fame and fortune, so he can only serve the country and the people.

They are not the first emperors who were focused on balancing, grasping power, and enjoying wealth and honor. They are very happy to have such courtiers.

So the four people in the hall are in a good mood.