Final Volume Chapter 82

Final Volume Chapter 82

After hearing Xiao Xiang's words, Xiao Yuan immediately stood up and poured the wine in his glass on the ground. Seeing this, everyone present also stood up and followed suit. (138 views.)

Xiao Xiang sat down again, picked up the second glass of wine, and said to Xiao Yuan and the princes: "This time, I would like to thank the second brother Wang and all the princes for their help. Without your help, I am afraid that the court will try to calm down The Hong Yuetian Rebellion will also take a lot of effort!"

Xiao Yuan and the princes hurriedly picked up the wine glasses and said with a smile: "Xiangmei, the whole family doesn't have to talk to each other anymore!" "Yes, Your Highness the Princess is too polite."

Xiao Xiang looked up and smiled and said: "Do it!"

"Dry!"

Everyone drank all the wine in their glasses. Putting down the cup, Xiao Xiang suddenly remembered something, and said with a smile to Xiao Yuan and the princes: "By the way, I have another gift for you." As she spoke, she raised her hand and slapped her hands twice. .

Soon, a guard approached from outside, holding a square brocade box in his hand.

The guard walked up to Xiao Xiang, then placed the brocade box on the table, bowed and retreated. With a smile on her face, Xiao Xiang patted the lid of the brocade box, looked at the princes, and asked with a smile: "Do you know what is in it?"

Naturally, what Xiao Xiang could show off in public must be a rare treasure. The princes were all smiling and guessing, but Xiao Xiang always shook his head, saying that none of them were right.

Finally, Xiao Yuan said with a smile: "Xiangmei, please stop being so tight-lipped and let us all open our eyes!"

"Okay! Now that Brother Wang has spoken, come and take a look!" As he spoke, Xiao Xiang shook his head to the personal guard on the side.

The guard stepped forward and slowly took off the lid of the brocade box. The moment the lid of the box was taken off, all the walls of the box fell apart. Looking at the box, it was revealed that what was inside the box was not a rare treasure at all, but a pale and bloodless human head.

Seeing that the box contained a severed head, everyone present was shocked, especially the princes, who were all shocked, and several people screamed in surprise.

Xiao Yuan jumped up, his eyes widened, he looked at Xiao Xiang without blinking, and asked in surprise: "What does Xiang sister mean by this?"

Xiao Xiang smiled slightly, looked down at the severed head on the table, and said quietly: "This is the head of the rebellious party Hong Yuetian. This thief was so bold that he secretly brought his troops back to the capital, colluded with the king's brother, and brought trouble to the court. He Damn it, his heart is to be punished. All the princes contributed a lot in defeating Hong Yuetian, so I will naturally let you princes see the results of this rebellion." As she spoke, she raised her eyebrows and glanced at him. Xiao Yuan asked with a smile: "What do you think the second brother Wang means?"

Xiao Yuan first looked at Xiao Xiang, then at the severed head on the table. He was silent for a while, then he laughed dryly and sat back slowly. The faces of the princes present turned uglier than the last, and before they knew it, they were all covered in sweat.

Hong Yuetian's crime is valid if it is placed on any one of them. Today, Xiao Xiang can kill Hong Yuetian with such a crime, then tomorrow, she can also use the same crime to get rid of herself. It is absolutely impossible to say that the princes are not afraid.

At this time, Xiao Yi bowed tremblingly, cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness the Princess, I... I plan to lead the army back to Changshan in the near future..."

Before he finished speaking, Xiao Xiang had already raised his head and smiled, waving his hands and saying: "Uncle Wang, why are you so anxious? Since we have already arrived in Zhaoyang, let's stay longer!"

Changshan Hou Xiaoyi and Xiao Xiang belong to the same clan. In terms of seniority, he is indeed a generation higher than Xiao Xiang. It is not wrong for the latter to call him Uncle Wang.

However, Xiao Yi's heart shrank when she called her, beads of sweat kept falling, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Xiao Xiang withdrew his gaze, suddenly changed the subject, and added: "Recently, our country has been in troubled times. There is the Feng Kingdom in the north, the Zhen people in the west are in constant rebellion, and there are frequent floods in the south. Just yesterday, Xiuyang County The county chief, Mr. Gao Yugao, sent an urgent message to the court. Xiuyang County has been experiencing heavy rains for days and the Tianjiang River has flooded, which has now affected the entire Xiuyang County. He requested the court to allocate money and food for disaster relief. "

The princes didn't understand why Xiao Xiang suddenly mentioned the disaster in Xiuyang County, and the two-foot-long monk was confused. Xiao Yuan rolled his eyes and answered: "Xiangmei, but now the treasury is empty and it is not enough for disaster relief?"

After listening to his words, the princes suddenly realized that Xiao Xiang was trying to rip off himself, but then again, as long as he can save his head, what does losing a little money and food mean? Changshan Hou Xiao Yi was the first to stand up and said: "Your Highness, don't worry. Since the imperial court is in trouble, we and other princes should do our best to help." After a slight pause, he immediately said: "Wei ministers are willing to give five...eight One hundred thousand taels of silver to help the victims of Xiuyang County!"

As soon as he finished speaking, other princes stood up one after another to express their opinions. People rushed to be the first, and the least number was five hundred thousand taels.

Xiao Xiang laughed loudly and said: "Thank you. I would like to thank you all for your help. However, the imperial court can still afford the money and food to relieve the people affected by the disaster. The reason why I raised this matter here is that Unfortunately, disaster relief alone treats the symptoms but not the root cause. Floods occur every rainy season in southern my country, and disasters occur every year. Relief and relief efforts waste too much of our country’s money, food, and national strength.”

"Your Highness the Princess means..."

"Build a canal!" Xiao Xiang said solemnly: "Build a large canal between Tianjiang and Shangjiang to divert the water from Tianjiang to Shangjiang. In this way, not only will the concerns about Tianjiang's easy flooding be resolved, but also the hidden worries about Shangjiang's increasing drying up will be resolved. This will benefit the people of both places and is also the last wish of the late king that has not been fulfilled in the future!"

The princes all took a breath of cold air when they heard this. Tianjiang and Shangjiang are the two largest water systems in the south of Sichuan. As Xiao Xiang said, the area where Tianjiang flows through is rainy and floods are common, while Shangjiang is gradually drying up and many tributaries have disappeared.

If a large canal can be dug between Tianjiang and Shangjiang, that would be good, of course, so that the excess water from Tianjiang can be diverted to Shangjiang, which has insufficient water sources. However, the distance between Tianjiang and Shangjiang is more than a thousand miles. To connect these two rivers, it would be a huge project, and it would consume a lot of manpower and financial resources. It is not something that can be solved with millions or tens of millions of taels of silver.

Even when Xiao Xuan was alive, he only dared to think about it, and at best he would bring this idea to the court to discuss it with the ministers, but he did not dare to really implement it. Now, it sounds like Xiao Xiang seems to have the intention of digging the "Tian Shang Canal".

The princes all thought that this was too unreliable, but no one dared to stand up and express opposition or doubt. They could not even protect themselves, so how could they dare to openly play against Xiao Xiang.

Seeing that all the princes were hanging their heads and silent, Xiao Xiang slowly frowned and asked, "Why, do all the princes disapprove of digging the Tianshang Canal? Don't you want to fulfill the last wish of the late king?"

Hearing her question, everyone shuddered and hurriedly looked up and said, "No, no, no, Your Highness has misunderstood. This is a great thing that will benefit the people in the south of our country. How can we oppose it!"

Xiao Xiang finally smiled and said, "So, all the princes support my decision?"

"That's right!"

"But verbal support alone is probably not enough!" Xiao Xiang said slowly.

Understanding what she meant, Xiao Yi was filled with hatred, gritted his teeth, and said, "In order to help Your Highness fulfill the last wish of the late king, this old minister... this old minister is willing to donate... three million taels!"

The last three million taels were squeezed out of Xiao Yi's teeth, and his face turned purple. He had already donated all his wealth.

When they heard him say he would donate three million taels, the other princes cursed in their hearts. You just shouted out three million taels, what should they say?

The princes gritted their teeth and shouted out an astronomical figure that even they themselves could not accept.

Looking at the princes who were like being cut off, Xiao Xiang smiled secretly in her heart, but she did not show it on her face. She shook her head helplessly and said, "The treasury is sufficient now, and it is not silver that is lacking!"

"Then... is it food?"

"Haha!" Xiao Xiang laughed and said, "The land of my country is fertile, when has there ever been a shortage of food?"

"I wonder... what exactly is the court lacking now?"

"People!" Xiao Xiang narrowed her eyes and said faintly, "What our country lacks most now is labor! As long as there is sufficient labor, it will be easy to dig the Tianshang Canal. The marquises should all know that our country is now facing internal and external troubles, and it is really impossible to mobilize so many laborers to dig the Tianshang Canal. My idea is that the family armies of the marquises can be temporarily lent to the court. After the court completes the Tianshang Canal, the family armies will be returned to the marquises. What do you think?"

Ah? After Xiao Xiang finished speaking, the faces of the princes and even Xiao Yuan changed drastically.

It turned out that this was the purpose of Xiao Xiang's banquet. She didn't want to kill the princes, nor did she want to extort money from them, but to deprive them of their military power. What's rare is that she actually found such a high-sounding reason.

"Your Highness, this... this..." Xiao Yi instinctively stood up and looked at Xiao Xiang, hesitating and not knowing what to say. The family army is their lifeblood, and it is the capital accumulated by each of their families over decades or even hundreds of years. Now Xiao Xiang is asking them to contribute all the family army and pull them to Tianjiang and Shangjiang to serve as laborers to dig the bullshit Tianshang Canal. How can they accept it?

Looking at Xiao Yi standing there with an uncertain expression, and then looking at the other princes with similar expressions, Xiao Xiang smiled and didn't say anything. She just picked up a chopstick and tapped Hong Yuetian's severed head on the table with ulterior motives and casually.