si-mexico Chapter 295 Desperate Tang Xinyi
Chapter 295 Desperate Tang Xinyi
Tang Xinyi ordered that all the gold, silver and jewelry in the national treasury, the inner treasury and the imperial palace be counted to see how much was still missing.
In the palace, many antique jades, gold and silver were being moved out.
All of them were placed in the large square in front of the palace.
Tang Xinyi was not spared in the harem.
He took his guards directly into the harem and plundered all the concubines' private money and other hidden possessions, robbing them openly.
The concubines complained bitterly, crying and cursing Tang Xinyi as a vicious woman.
They united and wanted to go to Emperor Kun to file a complaint.
Tang Xinyi only said one sentence coldly.
"The Yan people said that the compensation money must be paid in full, not a cent less. If the money is not enough, the women in the harem can be used to pay off the debt.
Now I am only taking your money. If this money is not enough, I will send you out to the Yan army for entertainment to pay off the debt."
"You vicious woman, you evil woman, Kun Kingdom will perish in your hands sooner or later. Why are you using us to pay off your debts? Why don't you pay off your debts yourself? Are you, the queen, more valuable than us?"
Facing the curses from the concubines, Tang Xinyi was extremely tough.
Damn it, I can’t afford to offend the ministers, so why can’t I afford to offend you?
So what if your family has a backer?
The country is destroyed and the family is ruined, who cares about you?
If we don’t collect enough money, everyone will die!
Tang Xinyi was thinking as she walked.
This time, it seemed like she had offended too many people.
The national treasury was empty, the inner treasury was empty, the entire country suffered a major blow, and it also offended many upright officials who were unwilling to negotiate. Now it also offended the concubines in the harem and their relatives.
After peace was negotiated with the Yan army and the world was at peace, someone had to stand up and take the blame for these humiliating treaties and actions.
This person can only be her.
Even though she did this to save the country, no one would be grateful to her.
The scar has healed and the pain has been forgotten. Those people will not remember that it was Tang Xinyi who saved their lives. They will only curse her after having a full meal. They will only remember that she signed so many unequal treaties and paid so much compensation.
They shouted that they should fight the Yan army to the death instead of losing money and humiliating the country.
However, it is okay to fight hard, but it is not okay to ask them to fight hard.
Just like now, it is okay to lose money, but it is not okay to make them lose money.
Being ungrateful, cursing after having enough, and shifting the blame are what ministers are best at.
Tang Xinyi walked slowly inside the palace. The eunuchs and palace maids behind her stood at a distance, and no one dared to disturb the empress who was in deep thought.
She didn't care about the country, nor did she care about the lives of the civil and military officials in the court and the royal family. She only cared about whether she could survive.
She is still young and just a weak woman. These burdens should not fall on her.
She is not the emperor and this country is not hers, so why should she be responsible?
Now, there are three things that can happen.
If she doesn't pay compensation, the Yan army will come and kill her, because she is the current supreme leader of Kun State. She is a war criminal and must die.
She was offered compensation, but the Yan army broke their promise and would attack again and kill her.
The Yan army kept its word and withdrew its troops after compensation. She was liquidated by the ministers. Emperor Kun was dying and it was estimated that she could not be saved. If other princes came to power, they would also kill her.
No matter what, it's a dead end.
It was late autumn and the north wind was howling, but Tang Xinyi was sweating all over.
How... can I survive?
Surrender? Surrender the entire Kun Kingdom?
According to the Daxia etiquette, when a vassal state was being annexed, if it surrendered voluntarily and showed a good attitude, the invading country would treat the surrendering emperor well.
They are usually given a title and kept.
At least the superficial work will be done.
Let other countries see that surrender will have a good outcome. In this way, when attacking other countries again, at least the monarchs of other countries will know that surrender can save their lives and will not resist to the death.
If she surrendered, the Yan army would surely treat her well.
but……
The conditions now offered by the Yan army are not to annex the Kun State, but to preserve the Kun State's destiny. They only want land and compensation.
Those ministers saw the hope of saving their lives and the country's destiny, so they must have firmly opposed surrender.
Oh, the Yan army didn’t even say they wanted to destroy our country, but you want to surrender voluntarily?
She was afraid that as soon as she uttered the word "surrender", those ministers would immediately mutiny and tear her to pieces.
Neither the upright nor the powerful will allow surrender.
At least it will not be allowed until faced with a desperate situation.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the concubines are all clamoring to go to His Majesty and file a complaint."
A little palace maid came to her and said anxiously.
Tang Xinyi frowned, feeling very annoyed, and shouted,
"Have the guards lock them all up in one room. No one is allowed to leave, and no one is allowed to disturb His Majesty while he recovers."
"As ordered."
Tang Xinyi's eyes were gloomy and full of murderous intent.
Damn it, you ungrateful people. I'm almost dying and I just want some money from you, but you're all complaining about the world.
If you really make me angry, I will send all of you to the Yan army camp.
If you don't mind being embarrassed, then I'll let you be embarrassed enough.
By the evening, all the money that could be found was counted.
The national treasury has a little over 30 million taels, and the inner treasury has more than 1 million taels. Originally, the inner treasury was quite rich, but it was squandered by Emperor Kun and there is not much left.
Of course, this is not much, but it is based on the huge national strength of Kun State. If this number were given to Emperor Chongzhen, he would be so moved that he would cry.
If all the gold, silver and jewelry in the palace were counted and converted into silver, they would be worth about 10 million taels.
But all together, it was only over 40 million taels.
This is far from the 160 million taels that the Yan army wanted.
Tang Xinyi sat tiredly on the chair, looking at the mountains of gold, silver and treasures in front of her, and she couldn't muster any strength in her body.
The Yan people are all jackals that can never be fed. If we don't collect enough money, I'm afraid they will attack again.
……
On the other side, in the afternoon, Shen Changgong finally returned to the Yan army camp.
As soon as I entered the camp, I saw many Yan soldiers pulling carts full of gold, silver and jewelry, all of them smiling happily.
"Where did you get so much money?"
Shen Changgong asked, pulling a general aside.
"Meet the prince."
The general said with a smile,
"We didn't know it at first, but the people from Kun Kingdom suddenly came to us and told us not to touch their imperial mausoleum. When our prince heard this, he couldn't let go of such a good opportunity, so he immediately asked us to lead the troops to protect the imperial mausoleum.
These are the fruits of our labor in protecting them.”
Shen Changgong raised his eyebrows and smiled.
"Good fellows, you dug up someone's ancestral grave? How wicked! How much gold and silver did you pull out this time?"
"Not many. We haven't counted them yet. These are the small ones. The big ones are coming later."