vrcanaries Chapter 294 Greed and Selfishness
Chapter 294 Greed and Selfishness
Fang Lu was so angry that he shouted,
"When have I ever been so afraid of death? When the Yan army attacks, I will be the first to fight them!
It is not a pity for me to die, and it is not a pity for you, Censor Zhang, to die too. It is not a pity for all the civil and military officials in the court to die too!
But Censor Zhang, have you ever thought about whether we can defeat the Yan army? We have already defeated an army of 900,000. With only 300,000 men now, can we defeat the Yan army of 600,000 men?
Yes, you are noble and you are amazing!
Lord Zhang, you can sacrifice your life for the country and be remembered forever. Your great achievements will be recorded in history books!
You are so noble, but have you ever thought that if you resist and are defeated, the angry Yan army will rush into the city.
Let all the civil and military officials in the court die. What will happen to His Majesty? What will happen to the Empress? What will happen to the royal family? What will happen to the people of the city?
Just for your immortal fame, are you going to drag 300,000 soldiers, the entire court, the imperial family, millions of common people, His Majesty, His Majesty, and the fate of the country to be buried with you? ! ! !
How could you be so selfish?
At the end of his speech, Fang Lu was roaring. That deafening roar, that roar of loyalty and ruthlessness, mercilessly accused Zhang Qiong of selfishness.
Zhang Qiong's words can only represent the opinions of a minority.
Fang Lu’s words are what most people think.
Everyone is afraid of death. No one is not afraid of death.
It is better to live a miserable life than to die. If you can preserve the country's destiny and keep half of the country, it is just a matter of ceding land and paying compensation. What's the big deal?
Then an official stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, I agree with Doctor Fang's point of view. I will die, but you and Your Majesty cannot die, the people of this city cannot die, and the Dakun Kingdom cannot be destroyed."
"Your Majesty, I also agree with Doctor Fang."
"And the minister!"
In a short period of time, more than half of the people stood up and expressed their support for Fang Lu's words.
"You can't feed the Yan State. These jackals from the north are insatiable. They won't stop until they have completely devoured our Da Kun. Don't be fooled by them!"
Zhang Qiong looked at them with despair, then looked at the Three Dukes and said,
"Three Lords, please tell me what you think."
The general shook his head and sighed without saying anything.
The Imperial Censor remained silent.
He looked at the Prime Minister again, walked up to him and said,
"Prime Minister, Prime Minister Yuan, your family has three dukes for four generations. Your Yuan family has been prime ministers for over a hundred years. You are a loyal minister of Dakun. Please say something."
His eyes were filled with despair yet hope, and his tone was firm yet pleading.
At this moment, he is isolated and helpless, and he really hopes that someone can stand with him.
Prime Minister Yuan Chu raised his head, looked at the queen, and then looked at the civil and military officials behind him.
He also knew that the queen was good at assisting in government affairs, but she was not good at making decisions and was always hesitant.
So he stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, I think what Censor Zhang said is very good..."
Zhang Qiong smiled when she heard that.
"But what Doctor Fang said is also true..."
Zhang Qiong stopped smiling again.
"Yuan Chu, are you trying to smooth things over? There's no point in trying to smooth things over. This isn't a factional dispute; this is an enemy army coming to destroy our country!"
Zhang Qiong roared angrily.
The Prime Minister was in a good mood. He sighed and said,
"Master Zhang, would you please listen to what I have to say?"
"You said."
Zhang Qiong stared at him intently.
Prime Minister Yuan Chu said,
"Your Majesty, we can do this on two fronts. On the one hand, we can prepare the army for war, and on the other hand, we can call on the people to join the army.
We agreed to all of Yan's conditions in person, raised the gold and silver, and sent them over.
If the Yan army signs the treaty and withdraws, we will accept it and live in peace from then on, and concentrate on fighting the Qi and Liang armies. Moreover, as our suzerain state, Yan also has the responsibility to protect us and needs to help us attack those two armies.
If the Yan army refuses to sign the treaty and insists on attacking us, then we will have no choice but to fight. These 300,000 elite troops will fight the Yan army to the bitter end, even if it means fighting to the last man standing."
As soon as the Prime Minister said this, all the civil and military officials in the court brightened up and praised the Prime Minister's strategy, saying it was a great strategy and a golden mean.
You can ask for compensation, we will give you money. If you still fight after I pay you, then we will have no choice but to fight.
Yeah, what else can we do?
This is the Southern King's strategy of boiling a frog in warm water.
First give them a hope that they can barely achieve so that they can accept it and not fight to the death.
Then further squeeze and put forward conditions.
At that time, they had paid so much gold and silver, and in order to avoid wasting the previous money and for their own lives, they had no choice but to hold their noses and raise more money.
By then, the Kun people will destroy themselves.
Zhang Qiong lowered her head dejectedly.
He knew that this was most likely a strategy of the Yan army, and these jackals could never be fed.
But he was not the only smart person among all the civil and military officials in the court. No one was a fool and could see it.
but……
Everyone has a sense of luck.
What if? What if those Yan people kept their promise?
These Yan barbarians from the north are poor and have never seen money. What if they are really fed and sent away?
In the end, all the civil and military officials in the court, except Zhang Qiong, unanimously agreed that the prime minister's words were feasible.
Seeing that everyone supported her, Tang Xinyi sighed and said,
"In that case, let's raise money over there. Shaofu, Zhisu Neishi, how much money is left in the inner treasury and the national treasury now?"
Two officials stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, there are still 1.5 million taels of silver in the inner treasury."
"There are still 30 million taels of silver in the treasury."
Hearing this, Tang Xinyi frowned and said
"This isn't even enough. The Yan people want 160 million taels. We only have three days left, and one day has already passed. Where can we get the money?"
The ministers remained silent.
"My dear ministers, those of you who have money at home, please give it to us. I will also collect the money in the palace and see if I can raise enough for the Yan army. How do you think?"
The ministers remained silent.
Seeing them pretending to be dumb, Tang Xinyi got angry.
"You are the ones who are asked to pay the money. Now the national treasury is out of money and we ask you to pay. You are all playing dumb, aren't you?
You don't want to take the money, right? Then don't take any. Wait for the Yan army to come and chop off our heads. By then, the money in your family will still belong to the Yan army, and you will have lost your lives in vain! "
"Your Majesty, I am a poor man, and my family can barely make ends meet. I have no money to spare."
"Your Majesty, I still owe foreign debts."
"Your Majesty, I do have twenty taels of silver in my savings that I can give to the Yan army, but I'm afraid it's just a drop in the bucket..."
These princes and nobles all have extremely wealthy families.
However, it is okay to pay compensation, but it is not okay for me to take the money.
The selfishness of human nature is fully revealed at this moment.
They want to survive and also want to keep their wealth and glory.
Tang Xinyi sat weakly on the dragon throne, looking at the civil and military officials in the court who were acting with numb and helpless eyes.
What should I do...