Chapter 521: There are dangers everywhere

This time, Lu Bing was not released a few days ago. The emperor regained power. The two sides were so moved when they met. The etiquette of the monarch and ministers was fully performed. At this time, the middle and lower-level officials of the Western Party who were recently promoted outside were all very experienced. Although they were in high positions, they were not qualified to say anything in front of the emperor. The only one who was qualified in the center of the court and who could say something in front of the emperor was the only one who could say something in front of the emperor. The only one who could say something in front of the emperor was the commander of the mighty Duke and the Jinyiwei Lu Bing.

The place where the summoned was still in the emperor's study. At this time, the smell of the elixirs in the study had dissipated a lot, and all the elixirs and repair equipment were cleaned up.

Emperor Jiajing sat behind the desk, and several small eunuchs were running around to serve, placing thick memorials and papers on the table. While Lu Bing sat down, there was a small eunuch holding a memorial and a letter to walk inside. Looking at Lu Bing's attention, the emperor smiled and said:

"Rui Xiaosan just now looked like an internal minister. He led a group of people to approve red marks in the Sili Supervisor. The internal and external ministers' control is the way of peace, and I have understood it today."

The words were quite in control of everything. Lu Bing bowed and said a few words of congratulations. Emperor Jiajing was obviously very interested and said again:

"The generals of the governors and governors of the north and south provinces still know the importance of the matter. The memorials in various places all say that the emperor is a saint's reason for acting, and everyone below agrees. It seems that you and I are too concerned..."

After saying that, he couldn't help laughing at first. Obviously, the words Lu Bing said to him that day were quite touched, which made him very alert. In the past few days, the memorials and documents of real power figures in the northern provinces flew in like snowflakes. The words above were extremely humble, which made Jiajing relax.

Lu Bing was there to speak, but he hesitated for a moment. He also saw that the emperor was in high spirits at this time and considered how to speak next. While thinking about this, he saw several palace maids walking in with porcelain pots and jade cups, and the person in the lead said respectfully:

"Long live the lord, it's time to take medicine."

Emperor Jiajing nodded. The little eunuch who had served him had taken out a brocade box next to him. When he opened the box, a strange fragrance immediately spread in the study. The emperor took out a red pill and put it in his mouth. He took the jade cup and drank water directly to deliver it. He breathed a long breath with his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, he seemed much more energetic than before. It was exaggerated to say that it was like glowing.

Seeing this scene, Lu Bing had always been in charge of military guards from Prince Xingxian's mansion to the capital. He could be said to be knowledgeable about such things. Naturally, hesitated for a moment, and still stood up and spoke:

"Your Majesty, the elixirs of these alchemists are mostly made of lead and mercury, and the nature of a wolf and tiger is harmful and useless. Your Majesty has the body of a thousand golds, so you should cherish your body!"

After taking the pill, Emperor Jiajing spoke much louder and seemed more determined. Hearing Lu Bing's advice, he was a little displeased and said:

"When I was in the palace, if it weren't for the effectiveness of these elixirs, I'd probably have had a long time ago having had a quarrel with the traitors outside. How could I have regained power today? Don't speak nonsense!"

When he said the last sentence, his tone was already a little heavy. Lu Bing sighed secretly in his heart, and was not ready to continue talking on this topic. He paused for a while before he spoke:

"Your Majesty, I have read the documents of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Justice, and the documents of various government offices in the past few days, and called the officials of the ministries from each department to ask. Finally, I had a rough understanding. When I met Your Majesty before, I said that the situation at this time was as dangerous as the edge of a deep abyss. After reading these, I found that the real situation was probably even more dangerous than what I said!"

As soon as he said this, Emperor Jiajing was obviously a little unhappy and threw the note in his hand at the table. The little eunuchs serving him were shocked. Lu Bing knew in his heart that if he were an ordinary emperor, he would rarely do such a behavior of being a person, but those who took pills had such problems. People could never control their emotions and were prone to being irritable.

The emperor waved his hand to repel the eunuchs, and ordered them to call Eunuch Rui and Admiral Zhou to come to the study room, took a sip of tea, and said solemnly:

"The Qing family has been working hard these days. When Rui Xiaosan and Zhou Lin come over, you will tell everyone what you have come up with. Now, among my confidants, you can see the general trend clearly!"

This is not like he said after taking medicine. Eunuch Rui's corporate rituals are near the emperor's study. Zhou Lin is responsible for the imperial guards and the capital, and the power of the Imperial Horse Supervision Barracks is now in charge of the power of Eunuch Rui and his army camp, so he is also nearby. Soon he was invited to this study.

When he was still in the residence of King Xingxian, Zhou Lin was just a low-ranking military officer in the palace, and Lu Bing was already the companion of Emperor Jiajing and the leader of the guards. Rui Xiaosan was just a small eunuch on duty. So after coming in, the two of them stood at Lu Bing's lower head after visiting the emperor.

Although Emperor Jiajing now cannot control his emotions, he knows that the confidants who can rely on at this time are the most reliable people in front of him. He also arranged for the eunuch to see the two people behind him. The king and his ministers were sitting there talking. Of course, the three people below sat half of their butts to show that the emperor did not dare to be arrogant in front of him.

Lu Bing sorted out his remarks in his heart, and began to say quite directly as he owed to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, the national treasury is empty, and there is only 300,000 taels of silver to save. This is a major danger."

Hearing this sentence, Emperor Jiajing was stunned. After a while, he spoke:

"At the beginning of the year, the Minister of Revenue said in the court that the country's treasury had 1.5 million taels of silver in stock, plus the taxes from various places, it would not be so much silver!"

Lu Bing said this. It turned out that no matter how merchants evade taxes through loopholes or how officials embezzled each year, the scale of industry and commerce was many times as big as before. Even with so many loopholes in the front, there was still a lot of money paid than before. After spending the military pay, officials' salaries and all the money they should spend, there was still a large surplus.

This money is indeed mouth-watering, but it is different from what others think. It is precisely because the amount of money is too large that no one dares to embezzle it. Everyone is staring at each other and is unwilling to take advantage of other people. But this does not mean that there is no way to make money. Because of the development of industry and commerce, there are higher requirements for urban infrastructure, land and waterways.

The money is naturally unwilling to be taken away by the private individuals. According to common sense, this is something that the state should do. Since it is the need of merchants, civil servants are busy with enthusiasm that they have not been before. The Ministry of Industry has come up with various plans to expand urban renovation and water conservancy and widen road reconstruction. The Ministry of Revenue also approved the money with great efforts. Of course, there is no limit to the amount of oil and water. The state-owned service personnel have always been an example of unchanging for thousands of years.

Moreover, the real beneficiaries of these roads and expansions are officials. For example, a cabinet master in his hometown, there are three decent official roads leading to the surrounding prefectures and counties. With convenient transportation, gold, silver and money will naturally come.

There are even things that seem to be a joke. Although the order for the ban on the sea was in name only, it has not been cancelled yet. However, the court officials from my hometown built a large-scale sea dock to facilitate the docking of sea ships. For this reason, the Huazhou fleet also issued a special order, which means that this place is protected by the fleet and no one must cause trouble here. This is a bit ironic, but it is absolutely true.

For civil servants, the more they spend, the more they earn. Naturally, they have this habit. After the taxes are released every year, they leave their salary and fixed expenses, and all the remaining money is allocated as soon as possible. As for how much money is in the project and how much it has entered its own pockets, it is not certain.

Hearing this, Emperor Jiajing had no smile any longer, but suddenly turned around and asked Eunuch Rui and said:

"How much money has been raided out in the past few days?"

Rui Xiaosan obviously did not expect the emperor to suddenly ask this question, and hesitated for a moment before answering:

"Long live, it's almost three million taels of cash!"

Lu Bing, Zhou Lin and Emperor Jiajing all understood what this hesitation meant. No matter what the eunuchs were, they were most concerned about gold, silver, wealth and other things. This time they were raided and arranged for them to go, and the emperor also wanted to reward the eunuchs by raiding their houses. These things were all things that were ordered to be finished, and everyone knew it.

I don’t know how much the eunuchs were greedy, but the 3 million taels still scared the emperor. Emperor Jiajing scolded him hatefully:

"This is the financial and tax revenue of the world six years ago. These people are really the borers of the country!"

Then Emperor Jiajing spoke up and said:

"We will do this money slowly, and we will eventually turn around. Fortunately, the frontier has been peaceful in recent years and there is no major storm in military affairs. Otherwise, the country will be in turmoil, and I will have no face to see the ancestors and ancestors in the Taimiao!"

Speaking of this, Lu Bing took a deep breath, and said with courage:
Chapter completed!