Despite Nie Zhou placing the blame on the Prince Regent, the court officials remained unconvinced.
“The Emperor is still too fond of play. How could he sneak out of the palace?”
“Indeed, this cannot continue.”
“If the Emperor were excellent enough, he wouldn’t be influenced by those around him.”
“Ultimately, it’s a matter of poor character—unfit for such great responsibility.”
“Alas, what are we to do about this?”
“Could there be some misunderstanding?”
“…”
Chu Rui lowered his eyes, his lips curling into a cold smile.
As long as the young Emperor’s reputation for mischief was established and gradually spread, when the time came for him to depose the young Emperor, he shouldn’t encounter much resistance.
Nie Zhou clenched his fists in anger.
A frame-up—this was definitely a frame-up.
He looked toward the dragon throne, hoping the little Emperor would say something.
As long as His Majesty denied it, he would charge to the forefront and sweep away all opposing voices for the Emperor.
However, the little Emperor’s round, large eyes kept sweeping over all the officials below, making it unclear what he was thinking.
At this moment, Minister Chen from the Ministry of Works stepped forward and spoke: “His Majesty does indeed leave the palace for over an hour each afternoon, and he goes to this humble official’s home.”
Nie Zhou’s eyes narrowed.
That dog Minister Chen was supposed to be neutral—when had he been turned? Was he now joining in framing the Emperor?
He was about to retort.
But Minister Chen continued: “This humble official can testify that His Majesty’s departure from the palace is not for play, but to study battle plans.”
Chu Rui’s fingers tightened as he raised his head.
Minister Chen took out blueprints from his sleeve—these were improved versions he had redrawn himself.
“This is the result of His Majesty’s many days of dedicated study.” He unfolded the drawings and said excitedly to everyone, “This is a weapon for naval warfare against Dongling Kingdom. Installed on warships, it will ensure those petty scoundrels from Dongling Kingdom meet their doom…”
The blueprints were passed around among the officials.
“This—this was truly conceived by His Majesty?”
“Extraordinary, truly extraordinary! If this device can be made to work as shown in these blueprints, we’ll be able to crush Dongling Kingdom very soon.”
“At such a young age, His Majesty can design such military weapons—truly a heaven-sent genius!”
“The Late Emperor chose His Majesty to succeed him—he chose correctly.”
“…”
For a time, various words of praise filled the air endlessly.
Chu Hongyu sat on the dragon throne, feeling somewhat elated. When he heard Yun Chu cough lightly, he immediately straightened his posture, appearing extremely composed.
Several members of the Prince Regent’s faction were stunned.
They had long known that the Emperor snuck out of the palace daily, always assuming it was for play.
So he had been doing important work instead?
Originally, no one knew the Emperor was secretly doing important work, but as a result of their impeachment, they had instead brought the Emperor unprecedented praise.
A miscalculation.
A complete miscalculation.
Chu Rui’s jaw tightened into a straight line.
Then he smiled, that smile filled with murderous intent.
He had arranged a group of worthless tutors for Chu Hongyu. Several of the tutors’ fathers were his subordinates. These people spent every day with Chu Hongyu, yet none of them reported such important matters.
Besides Chu Hongyu being deeply secretive about this matter.
There was another reason—those worthless tutors had all been won over by Chu Hongyu.
At such a young age, he already knew how to recruit advisors. This truly made him think more highly of the boy.
His original plan would need some adjustment.
Seeing the court officials’ praise, Minister Chen was also quite proud. He bowed and said: “Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, with the great battle imminent, this humble official believes we should immediately allocate funds to manufacture this device!”
Marquis Pingjin stepped forward: “This official seconds the motion.”
Now that one hundred thousand troops were in position, provisions were gathered, and they had military weapons, the other ministers had no reason not to agree. They all stepped forward one after another.
The people in court were rarely this united.
Minister Zhu from the Ministry of Revenue spoke at an inopportune moment: “This official also believes we should immediately manufacture this device and send it to the eastern front. However, the national treasury lacks sufficient silver. These past days, this official has raised three hundred thousand taels of silver for military provisions in the war against Dongling Kingdom, but it’s still somewhat insufficient… If we manufacture this device, there will be a shortfall in military provisions. To guarantee military provisions means we won’t have funds to manufacture this device.”
Once silver was mentioned, the court officials fell silent.
No matter what great undertaking, silver was of paramount importance. Without silver, nothing could be discussed.
“If there’s no silver, then we’ll gather silver.” Chu Hongyu stood up from the dragon throne and spoke: “After inheriting the throne, I also inherited Imperial Grandfather’s private treasury. Since funds are needed now, I shall donate my entire private treasury to the national treasury.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was filled with disbelief.
The Emperor’s private treasury must contain countless treasures—various supreme jewels, peerless paintings, rare curiosities… All to be donated?
“Absolutely not! This cannot be!” Nie Zhou knelt directly in court. “If a country falls to the point where it must rely on the Emperor selling his private treasury to maintain military expenses, it can only mean this country will soon be finished. With so many civil and military officials above and below the court, no matter what, it shouldn’t fall to the Emperor to sell imperial ancestral property. This will make our Great Jin a laughingstock to all surrounding nations. Please, Your Majesty, rescind this order!”
The little Emperor wrinkled his nose: “But we lack funds—there’s no other way.”
“With so many officials here, what use are we if, even when short of funds, we let a child figure out solutions?” Marquis Pingjin stepped forward, patting his chest. “This official’s ancestors were quite wealthy, and this official still has some family property. This official is willing to donate one thousand taels of silver to the national treasury!”
Yun Chu looked up.
Last time when Ding Yiyuan became Imperial Preceptor, it was also Marquis Pingjin who gave the push.
This time donating silver to the treasury—unexpectedly, it was still Marquis Pingjin.
Marquis Pingjin was someone without much brains. Relying on his ancestors’ merits, he spent every day eating, drinking, and making merry. His family affairs were constantly mocked by court officials.
But Marquis Pingjin had a carefree temperament. When others mocked and ridiculed him, he couldn’t even sense it, addressing everyone as brothers daily.
Because he truly had no ability, Chu Rui had never even considered recruiting such a character.
Yun Chu spoke: “Marquis Pingjin has Great Jin in his heart and harbors righteousness. This Empress Dowager decrees that the Marquis Manor’s title shall be preserved for the next generation.”
Generally speaking, noble titles were reduced by one rank with each generation passed down, until eventually the title was lost. Now that Yun Chu had spoken, allowing the Marquis Manor’s next heir to still inherit the marquis title, this was an immense favor.
Marquis Pingjin was completely stunned.
He had only donated one thousand taels of silver. Last year when he redeemed a concubine from a pleasure house, he had spent more than one thousand taels.
Money spent on a concubine was like throwing meat buns at a dog—gone without return. Who would have thought that donating to the court could extend the noble title by one generation?
It was truly too worthwhile.
“This official kowtows in gratitude to Your Majesty, kowtows in gratitude to the Empress Dowager!” Marquis Pingjin knelt directly on the ground. “This official has an ironsmith shop at home and wishes to donate it to the court to forge military weapons for the court!”
“Marquis Pingjin, rise!” Chu Hongyu then looked toward everyone. “All beloved ministers should take Marquis Pingjin as an example.”
Many nobles in court were filled with regret.
Speaking of wealth, refined officials were absolutely no match for these nobles’ solid foundations. None of them lacked money—donating one thousand taels of silver was like child’s play.
But they also understood in their hearts that it wasn’t that donating one thousand taels would earn the Empress Dowager’s reward—one had to be first, playing a leading role… They had all missed the opportunity. No matter how much they donated afterward, it would be useless, so one by one they were unwilling to donate. Wouldn’t donating just highlight that fellow Pingjin even more?