When Li Rong arrived at the main hall, she saw that Wang Houmin, Gu Zichun, and Zheng Qiu had already brought a dozen people to sit in the hall.
Li Rong walked out and smiled at the crowd: "It's already so late, but you all still came here. Have you thought about the matter from last time and want to give me an answer?"
Everyone stood up and bowed towards Li Rong.
"Your Highness," Gu Zichun, the eldest, spoke first, "We understand Your Highness's meaning, but we don't know. If we follow Your Highness's orders, what if Your Highness …"
Gu Zichun didn't finish, but Li Rong already understood.
They wanted to form an alliance with her because they didn't want to force Li Ming on their own.
Li Ming was currently protecting Consort Rou and Prince Su because he was the Son of Heaven. If they didn't plan to rebel, whoever took the lead would have the risk of being punished by Li Ming.
If Li Ming forced the people who took the lead, it would be fine if the others joined forces and rebelled. But what if they all stayed silent for their own benefit?
Everyone had their own plans. The aristocratic families looked like an iron board, but they all had their own ways. Therefore, they needed someone to take the risk for them.
In her last life, Li Rong had taken on this role. She understood the thoughts of these aristocratic families very well, so she also understood that Gu Zichun was asking her for a guarantee.
A guarantee that if they made this deal, it wouldn't be worse than Consort Rou's position in the Inspector Bureau.
"Gu daren," Li Rong's voice was very soft, "I have a fief."
When these words came out, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Although Li Rong was part of the imperial family, she had her own fief, so she was no different from an ordinary aristocratic family.
"Daren, don't worry," Li Rong's voice was very soft, "What I want is," Li Rong looked up and smiled lightly, "stability."
Stability and order.
This was also what the aristocratic families wanted the most.
As long as the Crown Prince was still the virtuous and gentle legitimate son of a noble family, Li Chuan, and as long as the noble families still had their special privileges, nothing would change. This was the most important.
"Then, Your Highness, please tell me," Wang Houmin said respectfully, "What should we do next?"
"For the next few days, all of you should take part in Consort Rou together. Whatever the reason, just take part in it."
Li Rong tapped his palm with his fan. "I'll deal with the aftermath."
"In addition, this consort has another request." Li Rong raised her eyes to look at them. "Think of a way to deduct a portion of the northwest's military pay from Xiao Su's side and hand it over to Qin Lin."
Everyone was stunned. They didn't expect Li Rong to make such a request.
Seeing their hesitation, Li Rong laughed, "What? You just said you'd listen to me, but now I'm asking you not to take the military pay and send the money to the front line. You can't even do this? Xiao Su is Consort Rou's older brother. If you give the money to him and strengthen the troops, are you waiting for him to come back to Huajing and kill us?! "
"Your Highness, it's not that we don't want to listen to you," Cui Mingzhi, who was in the Ministry of War, said with some difficulty, "It's just that His Majesty has been keeping a close eye on the military pay sent to Xiao Su."
"His Majesty is keeping a close eye on it, and you can't think of a way?"
Li Rong sneered. These people just didn't want to cause trouble. If they were willing to cause trouble, she didn't believe that these aristocratic families couldn't think of a way with so many links.
If Li Ming could keep a close eye on Huajing, could he keep a close eye on the northwest?
"But the problem is that not only is His Majesty keeping a close eye on it," Cui Mingzhi thought for a moment and said, "the Xie family is also helping Xiao Su keep a close eye on it."
Everyone was silent for a moment and subconsciously glanced at Li Rong.
Li Rong exiled Xie Lanqing, and Xie Lanqing became the head of the Xie family. This grudge was formed, and they were afraid that no matter what, they would oppose Li Rong to the end.
Li Rong listened and didn't say anything. If a large family like the Xie family helped Li Ming keep a close eye on Xiao Su's military pay, then it would be easier for others to find fault with these soldiers' pay in secret.
But if this continued, Qin Lin wouldn't be able to support himself for long with Qingzhou's taxes. Xiao Su's troops were strong, and in the end, he would probably have to rely on the aristocratic families' troops to help Li Chuan.
Moreover, in this life, with Su Yongqing around, whether or not he could gather the aristocratic families' troops was still a problem.
While Li Rong was thinking, he saw a maid come in with snacks. There was a small folded piece of paper on the tray. Li Rong took the paper and glanced at it. He saw three words written on it: "Cut military pay".
Since Xiao Su's military pay couldn't be cut, then cut it. In any case, how much Xiao Su's military pay didn't affect Qin Lin.
He received the least in the first place.
Li Rong hesitated for a moment, then finally raised his head and looked at everyone, "Then cut it all."
"Your Highness means …" Li Rong picked up a cup from the side, "Don't the south build rivers? It'll cost money. In any case, Xiao Su is raising troops and horses in the north and doing nothing. Isn't it a waste of money to just take the imperial court's military pay? "
"But the front line …"
"If you're worried," Li Rong glanced over and said, "why don't you secretly send some to the front line? How much military pay can be sent to the front line? "Li Rong's tone was slightly cold," Daren, don't you all know? "
Seeing Li Rong's angry tone, no one dared to speak. Li Rong put down his teacup and thought of something, "Oh, speaking of which, I'm planning to build a residence in Qingzhou."
Hearing this, everyone immediately understood, "How much money does Your Highness need? We'll prepare it immediately."
Li Rong thought for a moment, then slowly said, "My residence, I want to use gold bricks to pave the floor and jade as the pillars. Although it's not big, it'll cost … 500 gold taels, at least, right?"
Everyone looked troubled. Li Rong laughed, "Or do you all think it's better to talk to His Majesty about Consort Rou?"
"Your Highness's matter is our matter."
Gu Zichun was the first to speak, "We still need some time to prepare."
"Alright," Li Rong nodded, "When the money arrives, I'll ask about Consort Rou."
Hearing this, Wang Houmin hurriedly said, "Your Highness, don't worry. We'll come up with the 500 gold taels within 10 days."
Wang Houwen was still in prison. After the execution in October, he wouldn't be able to come back.
Li Rong smiled and stood up, nodding to everyone, "Then I'll have to trouble you all."
After sending everyone off, Li Rong returned to the rear courtyard and saw Pei Wenxuan leaning against the courtyard's doorpost.
"Did you hear what I said just now?"
When Li Rong saw the note, he knew that Pei Wenxuan was secretly listening to their conversation.
Pei Wenxuan raised his hand and placed it on Li Rong's shoulder, whispering, "Your Highness wants an extra 500 gold taels. You have a good plan."
"Otherwise, who will take care of Qin Lin?"
Li Rong rolled his eyes, "Will you take care of him?"
"I don't dare." Pei Wenxuan smiled, "I have to rely on Your Highness to take care of me."
"Didn't you inherit the family business?" Li Rong poked him, "Do you still want to live off my woman?"
"Everything that's mine belongs to Your Highness." Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong entered the room, closing the door, "After all, I'm still eating Your Highness's food."
"Pei Wenxuan." Li Rong turned to look at him. Pei Wenxuan heard Li Rong call him and turned back in confusion, only to see Li Rong standing on tiptoe and kissing him, smiling, "You have such a sweet mouth!"
Pei Wenxuan didn't know why, but he felt a little embarrassed.
After September, the weather turned cold very quickly.
Qingzhou had a good harvest this year. Li Rong took a look at the tax revenue of Qingzhou and asked someone to count it. Then, she asked Tuoba Yan to circulate the tax revenue in the grain store. Finally, it was quietly sent to the northwest. After Xun Chuan received the grain, he wrote a reply to Li Rong.
Xun Chuan was now following Qin Lin in the army and had made some achievements. Together with Cui Qinghe, he became Qin Lin's left and right deputy generals.
At the same time, Li Rong also received 500 gold. She had someone send the money to the southwest, bought weapons, and handed them to Lin Feibai.
In mid-September, the memorials to participate in Consort Rou had already piled up like a mountain, and the debate about the tax reform was endless in the imperial court.
Li Ming was determined to protect Consort Rou. In the face of the officials' criticism of Consort Rou, not only did he not deal with Consort Rou, but he also punished several officials who participated in Consort Rou.
The imperial examination, tax reform, and Consort Rou's actions were passed down among the people. The voices of abolishing the Crown Prince and replacing him with Prince Su also gradually began to echo.
Compared to Consort Rou's reputation, the students who graduated from the imperial examination began to get used to their positions under the guidance of Pei Wenxuan.
Pei Wenxuan helped these students every day to lead the way and make friends with them. In the hearts of these students, Pei Wenxuan gradually became their benefactor and teacher.
At the end of September, before the tax reform was finalized, Consort Rou was reported by the Wang Family again. This time, she was accused of overstepping the etiquette and using a pattern that only the Empress could use. No matter how much Li Ming protected her, he still had to put on an act and fined her a month's salary.
Consort Rou hadn't suffered such grievances for a long time, so on that day, she asked Cui Yulang to prepare a memorial. She planned to confirm Wang Houwen's execution time in the morning court tomorrow and knock some sense into the Wang Family.
After receiving Consort Rou's life, Cui Yulang turned around and told Li Rong the news.
Li Rong looked at the letter from Cui Yulang. She thought for a moment and smiled. "That's fine too."
As she spoke, Li Rong turned to look at the Jing Lan. "Go inform the Prince Consort that tonight, I'll have Chen Houzhao go back to the city to complain to the Ministry of Justice. Tell him to tell Pei Liming to do his job and not let Su Yongqing intercept him. Prepare the confession that Consort Rou used to threaten the students and give it to me tonight. "
"Yes."
"And tell Miss Shangguan to organize all the evidence from before and give it to me."
"Understood."
"Prepare a beautiful dress." Li Rong walked to the mirror and raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. She looked at the mirror left and right happily. "This consort wants to go to court tomorrow looking beautiful!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
