Chapter 484 Poisoning
In the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Tianyou. The mausoleum of Emperor Yongchang had not been completed, and the mausoleum of Emperor Yongxing had not even been found. However, a lot of trouble was saved and the coffins were directly sent to the Shouhuang Palace in Jingshan, and then moved into the underground palace after the mausoleum was completed.

Today is also the annual imperial financial meeting of the Dashun Dynasty to check last year’s income and expenditure. Tomorrow we will officially enter the era of Emperor Tianyou.

There were two rows of long rosewood desks on the left and right sides of the main hall of Baohedian. At the long desk on the left sat the five cabinet ministers and Li Hu, and at the long desk on the right sat the ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Justice and the left vice minister of the Ministry of War, exactly six people on each side!

Eleven pairs of eyes were now looking at the Supreme Emperor sitting on the dragon throne.

The Supreme Emperor’s gaze fell on the account book in his hand.

Seeing that no one was talking, Li Hu yawned out of boredom. Since the Minister of War Shi Ding, Marquis Zhongjing, was away, he was captured to take the blame and help deal with the military affairs of Mobei and Liaodong.

Li Hu was busy until late last night and it started snowing again, so he did not go home and spent the whole night in the duty room of the Ministry of War.

Before daybreak, Shi Ding brought official documents from Liaodong, requesting food, money, and military equipment.

In order to transfer military equipment from the arsenal, the cabinet had to draft a bill and the emperor had to approve it. Money and grain were in the hands of the Ministry of Revenue. Li Hu ran around but not only did he not accomplish anything, he was also pulled into a meeting after get off work. Isn’t that infuriating?

After yawning again, Li Hu picked up the tea bowl, opened the lid and drank it.

Li Hu waved to the eunuch in charge of the seal standing next to the Supreme Emperor, signaling him to refill the tea.

The eunuch in charge of the seal had no choice but to walk to the side of the hall, pick up the copper kettle, and make tea for Li Hu.

Li Hu slowly picked up the tea bowl, pinched the lid to slowly drive away the non-existent tea foam, then put it to his lips and sipped it. After taking a few sips, he put the bowl back down.

No one was talking in the hall, so the sound of Li Hu drinking tea was particularly loud.

The chief and deputy officials of the six ministries looked at each other and smiled.

Jia Jing did not participate in the drafting of the will and became the one with the lowest status in the cabinet. Li Hu sat at the very end and he was the second to last.

Jia Jing half covered his mouth with his hand, leaned over to Li Hu and whispered, “Drink less water, we don’t know when this will end.”

Li Hu patted his waist and said silently: “My kidneys are fine!”

Jia Jing looked at him strangely.

Don’t understand? Li Hu leaned back in his chair and didn’t want to argue with the old man.

Finally, the Supreme Emperor spoke: “After deducting the income from the expenditure, the deficit last year was 8,433,000 taels! If compared with the expenditure budget at the beginning of last year, the overspending last year was more than 14 million taels!”

The Prime Minister stood up and said, “Among these overspending, 12 million taels are overspending in the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. In the first half of the year, Duke Lu suppressed the White Lotus Rebellion in the Central Plains. Then the war broke out in Mobei and Liaodong. The overspending of the Ministry of Works was used in two places, the Daming Palace of the Supreme Emperor and the Mausoleum of the Retired Emperor.”

The Supreme Emperor did not expect that this account would be attributed to him, so he raised his hand and said, “Okay, how much money is left in the treasury?”

The Minister of Revenue stood up and replied, “Your Majesty, the treasury currently has 32,085,064 taels, 7 qian, 3 fen and 5 li of silver in reserve.”

The Supreme Emperor was secretly shocked that the evil creature actually left behind so much silver!
The Prime Minister went on to say, “After the spring, the Ministry of Revenue will allocate three million to Lin Ruhai to rebuild the Yellow River dike. The military pay for the Nine Frontiers, Mobei, and Liaodong troops in the first half of the year will be more than four million. The Great Wall connecting the northwest and northeast will also be rebuilt this year.”

The Supreme Emperor rubbed his brows and interrupted the Prime Minister: “Just tell me how much silver is left!”

The Prime Minister was silent for a moment, then replied, “If the wars in Mobei and Liaodong cannot be ended as soon as possible, according to the tax silver collected last year, the treasury may run out of silver.”

The deputy assistant stood up and said, “There is also Southern Xinjiang.”

The hall fell into silence.

The second assistant spoke again: “I still have the same opinion. If we can avoid fighting in Southern Xinjiang, we should do so. The imperial court should send officials to win over the generals who are still loyal to the imperial court, seize the military power of the Southern Xinjiang army, and resolve this matter without bloodshed.”

There was an immediate slight commotion in the hall.

After pondering for a long time, the Supreme Emperor turned his gaze to Li Hu: “What do you think?”

Li Hu also stood up: “More than 30% of the wealth of the Mongolian tribes such as Ikh Ju League, Ulanqab League, Chahar, etc., as well as the spoils seized from Henan, Anhui and other places, went into the inner treasury. Even if the palace spends a lot, there should be 30 to 40 million left, right?”

When these words were spoken, everyone was surprised, and then looked at Li Hu with complicated eyes.

In the more than 100 years since the founding of the Dashun Dynasty, this was the first time that someone dared to reach out to the emperor’s inner treasury. Even the second assistant showed admiration in his eyes.

The Supreme Emperor did not expect that Li Hu would set his sights on the inner treasury. He was stunned for a moment before saying, “The inner treasury has money, and a lot of it. However, this money cannot be used unless it is absolutely necessary.”

Li Hu: “When will it be used?”

Supreme Emperor: “It’s a matter of life and death.”

Li Hu opened his mouth but said nothing more.

The Supreme Emperor looked at his Second Assistant and said, “There is no war without bloodshed. However, we can give your suggestion a try. Who knows, it might cause them to split internally, fight each other, and weaken their strength.”

Suddenly, the door was pushed open!
All sounds stopped abruptly.

The Supreme Emperor raised his head in surprise.

Li Hu and others were also shocked. This was a meeting before the emperor. Who was so bold? !

The eunuch in charge of the Yangxin Palace rushed in like a gust of wind. Before the eunuch in charge could open his mouth to reprimand him, he fell to his knees and cried, “The emperor suddenly fainted. The imperial physician said that the emperor was poisoned.”

The Supreme Emperor stood up suddenly: “What?!”

The eunuch in charge said: “The emperor has been poisoned and is unconscious.”

The Prime Minister was the first to run out.

Everyone rushed to the door.

East Warm Pavilion of Hall of Mental Cultivation
The little emperor lay on the couch, his eyes closed and his teeth clenched. Li Yuan from the Imperial Hospital was sitting silently on a stool beside the couch, with three fingers on his wrist.

The Empress Dowager did not care to avoid suspicion at this time, and stood aside crying. The Grand Empress Dowager sat beside the couch, holding the little emperor’s hand with one hand and wiping her tears with the other hand.

Li Hu and others also had worried expressions on their faces, staring closely at Li Yuanzheng checking the little emperor’s pulse.

Li Yuanzheng let go of his hand.

The Supreme Emperor asked anxiously: “How is it?”

Li Yuanzheng stood up and said: “It seems that the emperor has been poisoned for some time, and the poison has already invaded his internal organs.”

Before she finished her words, the empress dowager’s eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground.

The eunuch in charge of the seal exclaimed, “Someone come!”

The eunuchs and palace maids outside the door rushed in one after another.

Just as the empress dowager was carried out, the grand empress dowager fainted again.

There was another round of chaos!
The Prime Minister grabbed Li Yuanzheng’s arm and said, “Li Yuanzheng, think of a way! Think of a way.” His eyes were full of sadness and pleading.

Li Yuanzheng closed his eyes and said, “I’ll go make some medicine.” Then he strode out.

The Supreme Emperor was like a wounded beast, pacing back and forth in front of the couch. He came to Li Hu and suddenly stopped: “Torture all the people who served the emperor and find the murderer for me! And the people in the imperial kitchen, arrest them all and use the most severe means for me.”

Li Hu: “The food the emperor eats is tasted by someone in advance. It’s impossible.”

“I just want the murderer!” The Supreme Emperor with red eyes looked particularly scary at this time.

Li Hu was startled and replied, “Yes.” He turned around and walked out.

The Supreme Emperor’s two cold eyes slowly swept across the faces of the cabinet ministers and officials from the six ministries.

Everyone looked awe-inspiring.

The Supreme Emperor: “I know that someone wants to seize the country of Dashun. I will kill all nine of his clans, no, ten of his clans!” Suddenly his eyes went dark and he fell backwards.
(End of this chapter)