Chapter 649 The Court’s Response

The Dali court also received the urgent memorial sent back by Zhao Minglou.

After Xie Zhan disappeared, Song Mo, who had been attending court for days, was extremely upset. Zhao Minglou's memorial completely ignited his anger, "What is this idiot Zhao Minglou doing? He actually gave Pingzhou such a big handle!"

Facing the furious emperor, the ministers dared not say a word.

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" In the end, it was Li Shijie, the Minister of Agriculture, who spoke up. The main reason was that he had served in Zhuozhou when he was young. Now he heard that the people of Zhuozhou had suffered such a disaster, and he couldn't bear it, so he spoke up.

If the court did not take action, Zhuozhou would end up in a mess.

Song Mo roared, "What should we do? Zhao Minglou is a parasite and an incompetent! Zhuozhou has been run into this state by him. I am lucky enough not to punish him. Do you expect me to clean up his mess?"

"Your Majesty, Zhao Minglou should indeed be punished."

The ministers did not mention Xie Zhan, the military commander, whose life and death are unknown now.

"But we can't just ignore Zhuozhou."

"Control? How?" Wu Chunyu, who had been busy just now, spoke up now.

As soon as he saw Wu Chunyu, Li Shijie knew what he was going to say, and said first, "Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, I know that the treasury is not rich, but can you allocate some silver and grain to Zhuozhou appropriately, and buy the donkeys in Zhuozhou at a normal price?"

Wu Chunyu shook his head, "Lord Li, you really don't know anything."

"The game set by Pingzhou is a winner-takes-all game, there are only two results, win and lose, and no draw. Unless we are sure of winning, we will prepare enough money and grain to fight with Pingzhou in the Zhuozhou donkey market. Otherwise, no matter how much money and grain we have, it will end up like a mud cow in the sea, and will eventually be drowned."

Because Xie Zhan said before that Pingzhou set a game for Zhuozhou, these ministers have been working hard to learn knowledge related to business for more than half a year. Wu Chunyu is talented in this area, so he can see the key point of the crisis in Zhuozhou at this time.

"Then let's have a fight! Can't we Dali beat a small Pingzhou in terms of money and grain?"

"Yes, Pingzhou dares to plot against Zhuozhou in this way, and we Dali will never let it succeed!"

At this time, Wu Chunyu had just calculated the price they would have to pay if they took over the mess of Zhuozhou.

"My lords are so ambitious! Do you know how much silver the court needs to spend to stabilize Zhuozhou?" After saying that, Wu Chunyu looked around at the ministers, "Conservatively estimated, at least 15 million taels of silver are needed."

"How much tax did we collect in Dali last year? Less than 12 million taels! And there are many places to spend money!"

When it comes to this tax, Wu Chunyu's heart is bleeding. Last year's tax revenue shrank suddenly, and the reason why the salt tax could not be collected was that Pingzhou was doing something bad!

When the ministers heard the numbers reported by Wu Chunyu, they were all shocked.

Song Mo, who was sitting at the top, was also unwilling to hear this.

The situation in Zhuozhou is very obvious. Xie Zhan is incompetent. He knew that Pingzhou had set up a trap so far in advance, but he still couldn't break it!

In addition, the people are also extremely stupid. They are running around and raising donkeys. I don't know what's in their brains?

Why should he pay for their stupidity?

It will cost 15 million taels of silver to save them. Do they deserve it?

"Your Majesty, I believe that as long as Your Majesty is willing to save Zhuozhou, this difficulty is not a problem."

Wu Chunyu found that these people were still determined to waste money after all his persuasion. He was furious and said, "The court is short of money. Can you all pay for the money to save Zhuozhou?"

"Your humble servant is willing to do your best." Li Shijie expressed his willingness to deduct money.

The ministers stopped talking. They had no money.

Besides, even if they were willing to donate generously, there would still be a big gap. Unless the emperor made a move for the noble family.

The ministers glanced at the emperor from time to time.

Wu Chunyu advised Li Shijie, "Lord Li, don't make things difficult for the emperor. The most important thing is that even if you throw in so much money, you may not win." Pingzhou's trap is probably waiting for them to jump.

Li Shijie still insisted on persuading, "Your Majesty, even if you don't save Zhuozhou Donkey Market, you should release grain to Zhuozhou for disaster relief. The people of Zhuozhou have no food."

Open the warehouse to release grain for disaster relief? Song Mo was unwilling to do so.

Because they had speculated before that in the fourth year of Tianhe, Dali, Pingzhou and Xianbei all agreed to a truce for a year, and this year they would definitely start a war.

To fight and win, food and grass are the top priority.

Wu Chunyu refuted him, "Disaster relief is impossible, and Zhuozhou has not yet reached the point of desperation."

Prime Minister Shen Wan hesitated and said, "But Your Majesty, are we just going to leave it alone?"

It's shameful to surrender without fighting.

Xiao Qun would not show up if he could because of Xie Zhan.

Shangshu Ling Sang Baiqing also said, "Your Majesty, Pingzhou attacked Zhuozhou. We Dali cannot let Pingzhou succeed so easily. It will hit the morale of the country."

Li Shijie on the side quickly echoed, "Sang is right. Morale is always a thing of one side rising while the other side falls."

Pingzhou has always gained something every time it has taken action, which has made Pingzhou full of momentum.

If the court turns a blind eye to the difficulties in Zhuozhou, I believe that under the propaganda of those with ulterior motives, the morale of Dali will be greatly hit.

Sang Baiqing suggested, "The court can allocate some affordable grain there."

Li Shijie thought this idea was not appropriate, "Zhuozhou also needs money to buy, where do the people of Zhuozhou have money?"

Some ministers thought this idea was good.

"The court doesn't care. They have no money, but don't they have donkeys?"

"The people of Zhuozhou have donkeys, so we can let them exchange donkeys for grain."

"Aren't you adding insult to injury?" Li Shijie felt cold.

"Why are you adding insult to injury? It's good to distribute affordable grain. If other places learn from Zhuozhou, how much grain can our court waste like this?"

Song Mo saw that the people of the prince were still arguing, and he said impatiently, "Let's do it this way. Allocate some affordable grain to Zhuozhou."

"Your Majesty, if you do this, it may cause public resentment." Li Shijie had been sent out and served as a parent official. He knew very well that the court's decrees would become unrecognizable when they arrived at the local area.

At this time, the people of Zhuozhou could only be appeased, not forced.

If the court did this, it would probably be even more unpopular. Pingzhou has always been good at winning people's hearts...

People's grievances? Song Mo thought, why not push the culprit out to vent their anger? "Issue an order to punish Zhao Minglou!"

"Your Majesty, we can also try to divert the blame. Issue an official document to condemn Pingzhou. For their own selfishness, they set up such a sinister situation, making the people of Zhuozhou miserable." A minister suggested.

Hearing this suggestion, Song Mo's face turned black.

The colleague next to the minister immediately stood aside, determined not to stand with the fool.

"Just do as I say!" After saying that, Song Mo stood up. He had done everything he should do. Even if the final result was not satisfactory, it was just a small Zhuozhou, he could afford to lose it!