Chapter 446 No wonder my father trusts Marquis Jing’an so much!

Inside the Imperial Palace of Kyoto.

In the royal study.

Emperor Yanping received Yang Zhengshan's self-defense memorial.

Looking at the contents of the memorial, Emperor Yanping did not have much emotional fluctuations at first.

The first part of the memorial mentioned some of the past events that Yang Zhengshan had done in Tenglongwei, and Emperor Yanping had seen these events in previous memorials.

It was not until Emperor Yanping saw Yang Zhengshan say that there would be a severe drought in Liaodong that his face suddenly turned gloomy.

Severe drought in Liaodong?

It may involve most areas of Liaoyuan and Pingyuan!

It will affect nearly 10 million people, and may cause millions of people to lose their crops and become refugees!
Looking at Yang Zhengshan’s prediction in the memorial, Emperor Yanping’s first reaction was anger!
He found it hard to accept this speculation without evidence.

But when he saw Yang Zhengshan's memorial about the drought in Liaodong, he suppressed his anger.

"Go, call Lu Hua!"

Emperor Yanping ordered in a cold voice.

"Yes!" The eunuch serving in the imperial study hurriedly obeyed the order.

A moment later, Lu Hua hurried to the imperial study.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

Emperor Yanping raised his head and looked at him gloomily, "Have you found out about Marquis Jing'an's massive purchase of grain?"

"Your Majesty, we have already investigated it clearly!" Lu Hua took out a memorial from his arms and presented it.

At this moment, Nan Sheng walked into the imperial study. He stood respectfully not far from Emperor Yanping and did not speak.

Lu Hua just glanced at him and didn't say much.

Emperor Yanping opened Lu Hua's memorial and took a quick glance at it.

“Is the drought in Liaodong real?”

"Your Majesty, I have sent people to investigate. According to the feedback, there is indeed less rainfall in Liaoyuan and Pingyuan this year. Since the spring plowing, there has been almost no rain." Lu Hua said.

Emperor Yanping stood up and paced in the study with a frown on his brow.

The severe drought in Liaodong will not only affect Liaodong, but will also bring great trouble to him and the court.

Such a natural disaster occurred just after he ascended the throne!
It is easy for people to associate the severe drought in Liaodong with the new emperor.

Although the court is relatively stable at present, he is well aware that there are many hidden dangers in the court.

Civil and military officials also had many doubts about him as the new emperor.

Natural disasters are divine punishment.

At that time, there will definitely be people who say that the divine punishment came because the new emperor had lost his moral integrity.

If the situation gets out of control, he, as the new emperor, may need to issue an edict of repentance.

Sin yourself edict!
Absolutely not!

Emperor Yanping was secretly resentful.

Of course, he hated God, those ministers in the court who had doubts about him, and those villains hiding in the dark.

As for Yang Zhengshan!
Emperor Yanping sighed quietly and felt a sense of emotion in his heart.

"No wonder my father trusts Marquis Jing'an so much!"

There is no gap without comparison!
Comparing Yang Zhengshan with the civil and military officials in the court, Emperor Yanping suddenly realized that Yang Zhengshan was truly a wise minister.

That’s right, he is a wise minister, not a good general.

Be concerned about what the monarch is concerned about, and worry about what the monarch is worried about.

Be prepared for a rainy day and relieve your worries.

Before, he thought that Yang Zhengshan’s large-scale purchase of grain had some ill intentions, but now he felt that Yang Zhengshan was preparing for a rainy day and relieving his worries.

Thinking about the big gift Yang Zhengshan had given him before, his impression of Yang Zhengshan instantly improved several times.

Thinking of the great gift Yang Zhengshan gave him, his expression became a little more relaxed.

"Go and call Wang An! Well, you can leave first!"

Emperor Yanping asked Lu Hua to leave and summoned Wang An.

Wang An was originally a minor eunuch in Prince Cheng's Palace. After Emperor Yanping ascended the throne, he was appointed as the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and the commander-in-chief of the Jinwu Vanguard, specifically in charge of the glass workshop.

Emperor Yanping's glass workshop was built as early as last year. With his support, the scale of his glass workshop is now no smaller than that of the glass workshop in the General's Mansion in Chongshan Town.

Over the past six months, glass products have become popular in Kyoto. Many dignitaries and officials are very fond of glass products, especially the wives and daughters of officials, who are particularly fond of exquisite glass products.

It can be said that the most popular products in Kyoto today are various glass ornaments.

Anyone who doesn't have a few exquisite glass ornaments at home will be laughed at.

Even the palace was filled with a large number of glass ornaments.

The sale of these glass ornaments brought Emperor Yanping a large amount of silver and money.

However, Emperor Yanping was not sure about the exact number. He had been busy with court affairs recently and had not asked about the situation of the glass workshop for a long time.

Wang An soon arrived at the imperial study.

"Xiao Anzi greets His Majesty, may Your Majesty be well and safe!"

"Well, how much silver does the glass workshop have now?" asked Emperor Yanping.

"Your Majesty, the glass workshop currently has 2.83 million taels of silver in cash!" said Wang An.

"How much!" Emperor Yanping thought he had heard it wrong.

Although his glass workshop is now quite large, it was only built a year ago.

At the beginning of the year, he asked about the situation of the glass workshop. At that time, the output of the glass workshop was still very low, and it only earned tens of thousands of taels of silver a month.

It's only been a few months, and the glass workshop has more than 2.8 million taels of silver in cash?
Wang An grinned, "Your Majesty, the glass workshop received 780,000 taels last month, but this month's income may be lower. I estimate it should be around 700,000 taels."

"Currently, the sales volume of glass products in Kyoto has declined. If you want to make more money, you may need to transport them outside Kyoto for sale!" The dignitaries and officials in Kyoto are rich. In just a few months, they paid more than 2.8 million taels of silver. However, the market in Kyoto is limited, and the popularity of glass products will gradually fade.

It won’t be long before glass products become just an ordinary commodity. Although there will still be a large market for them, sales will certainly decrease.

"Then transport it outside Kyoto and sell it. What's there to worry about?" Emperor Yanping was somewhat dissatisfied.

silver!

Lots of money!
In less than half a year, he earned nearly three million taels of silver!
At this time, Emperor Yanping wished he could immediately transport the glass products out of Kyoto for sale.

“This~~” Wang An scratched his head and said, “Your Majesty, Marquis Jing’an arranged six agents some time ago. They are now selling glass products in various provinces. If we also sell them, we will be stealing their business!”

He didn't know Emperor Yanping's attitude towards Yang Zhengshan, but the glass-making method and craftsmanship were after all obtained from Yang Zhengshan. Now that he was trying to steal business from Yang Zhengshan, he felt somewhat guilty.

This matter must be decided by Emperor Yanping, he certainly cannot make the decision himself.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yanping sat at his desk and fell into deep thought.

He didn't care about competing with Yang Zhengshan for business. He was the king and Yang Zhengshan was the minister. How could Yang Zhengshan not give him what he wanted?

What he was concerned about was whether doing so would affect Yang Zhengshan's purchase of grain.

After all, the grain that Yang Zhengshan purchased was in preparation for the severe drought in Liaodong.

He still needed Yang Zhengshan to solve the severe drought in Liaodong, so naturally he could not affect Yang Zhengshan's purchase of grain.

"Forget it for now! I'll ask Marquis Jing'an first!" Emperor Yanping thought about it and decided to ask Yang Zhengshan's opinion first.

As his feelings towards Yang Zhengshan changed, he began to take Yang Zhengshan's opinions seriously.

"Yes!"

Wang An responded, but he was a little disappointed in his heart. In fact, he also wanted to earn more money for His Majesty.

"Also, please send one million taels of silver to Marquis Jing'an!" said Emperor Yanping.

The silver from the glass workshop was his private property. If he wanted to use the silver, he didn't need to discuss it with the cabinet or the Ministry of Revenue.

However, if the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue knew that he had so much silver, many people would probably come to him and cry poor.

Although Emperor Yanping liked silver, he was not greedy for money, but he did not want to be restricted by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue on silver and money.

The more money he had in the treasury, the more free he could be in doing things.

For example, if he wanted to give Yang Zhengshan one million taels of silver, if this matter were brought to the court, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.

But if he transferred the money from his treasury, there would be much less opposition in the court. He could even secretly transport the silver to Chongshan Town without informing the civil and military officials.

However, Emperor Yanping overlooked one thing, that is, the imperial city was a city with leaks everywhere.

Before Wang An transported the silver out of the capital, the news that he had transferred one million taels of silver from the treasury to Yang Zhengshan spread throughout the capital.

That’s one million taels!

Then, one memorial after another floated into the imperial study, all of them asking for money.

Not only did he submit memorials, but the Minister of Revenue Qian Xingwen even went to the Imperial Study to cry poor and apologize while doing so.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. The court is short of money, and the Ministry of Revenue's treasury has been empty for a long time. Now all departments are asking me for money, and all officials are asking me for salaries. I am really powerless. Please punish me, Your Majesty!" Qian Xingwen stood in front of Emperor Yanping, his face full of shame and powerlessness.

There is always a shortage of money in the court. No matter how much money it is, once it enters the Ministry of Revenue, it will all disappear in a short time.

It wasn't that someone had embezzled money, it was just that there were too many places in the court to spend money.

It's not easy for Qian Xingwen, the Minister of Revenue, to do his job. He wishes he could turn one tael of silver into ten taels to spend, but unfortunately he can't do it and can only procrastinate and make excuses.

It felt as if he had countless creditors in this world, each of them was like a debt collector.

"Alright, alright. You're so old and you're still crying!" Emperor Yanping was fed up with his nagging and said angrily.

"Your Majesty! This old minister~~" Qian Xingwen wanted to say something else.

Emperor Yanping raised his hand to interrupt him, "I will give you one million taels, and you will deal with these memorials for me!"

He pointed to the thick stack of memorials on the desk.

There are so many memorials, all asking for money, and each one has very sufficient reasons.

It seemed as if Darong would be in big trouble if he didn't give the money.

When Qian Xingwen heard that there was one million taels, he immediately smiled, his old face smiling like a chrysanthemum, "No problem, Your Majesty is wise!"

"Okay, please step back first!"

Emperor Yanping rubbed his brows and said in a distracted manner.

At this time, he was in a very bad mood, both because of the impending drought in Liaodong and because of the situation in the court.

How could he not be angry when what he did in the Imperial Study became known everywhere?

This kind of situation never happened before when Emperor Chengping was in power.

Although there were a lot of news coming out of the imperial city at that time, they were all insignificant little things.

And now, his every word and action is likely to escape the eyes of civil and military officials in the court.

After Qian Xingwen left, Emperor Yanping suddenly opened his eyes and asked, "Nan Sheng, how did the news get out?"

Nan Sheng bowed his body and said, "Your Majesty, maybe someone who doesn't know the depth of the matter spread the news by gossiping outside."

"Gossiping?" Emperor Yanping looked at him and said, "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly for me! I don't want this to happen again next time!"

Upon hearing this, Nan Sheng knelt down immediately and said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, it is most appropriate for the Imperial Guard to investigate this matter! This old servant is really not suitable to investigate this matter!"

Emperor Yanping narrowed his eyes slightly.

Imperial Guards!
That is the Secret Guard's dark guard department in the imperial city. Its main responsibility is to monitor and guard the imperial city.

Emperor Yanping already had some ideas about the Secret Guard.

He always felt that the Secret Armed Guard was too large, and he felt a little uneasy about letting Wang Zhongzhi be in charge of the Secret Armed Guard alone. After all, Wang Zhongzhi was not promoted by him.

"Pass the order to Wang Zhongzhi, from now on the Imperial Guard will have its own office, and you will be the commander of the Imperial Guard!" said Emperor Yanping.

Compared to Wang Zhongzhi, he trusts Nan Sheng more. After all, Nan Sheng is the companion who grew up with him.

Nan Sheng's eyes flashed with surprise, and he kowtowed quickly and said, "I obey your command!"

(End of this chapter)