Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 201 Strategy
Lu Jing's move was brilliant. Not only could it immediately alleviate the court's urgent needs, but it also cleverly let the noble clans know that the court adhered to the principle of borrowing and repaying, and that the gold and silver notes could be exchanged for silver after the war - of course, all this was premised on the court winning the war. The risks were also obvious. If the southwestern rebels won, these noble clans would lose everything.

But it was also because of this that Lu Jing tied the noble clans firmly to the imperial court. For a time, there was a lot of discussion in the Golden Palace, and everyone was whispering with different expressions.

The emperor calmly took a sip of the tea respectfully handed to him by the eunuch, and his eyes met Lu Jing's quietly, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing an imperceptible smile.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that without the emperor's secret instructions, Lu Jing, as the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, would never have rashly interrupted in such a major matter concerning the fate of the country.

The night before, when Lu Jing was telling the emperor about his plan, the emperor asked with a hint of sarcasm: "Did Xiaojiu teach you this idea?"

Su Qingwan had used similar tactics when she was in the southwest. That year, the southwest suffered from famine, and the imperial court was so short of money that it could not provide relief. Su Qingwan had no choice but to find another way and apply her business strategy to raising food and grass.

She introduced gold and silver notes, promising to exchange them for silver in the future. After the situation in the southwest eased, the gold and silver notes were successfully exchanged. Since then, whenever the court was short of supplies, Su Qingwan borrowed money from the people with gold and silver notes. Many merchants are quite fond of gold and silver notes, because the Southwest Palace has an excellent reputation. The more gold and silver notes the merchants hoard, the more money the Southwest Palace owes them. In this way, when merchants want to expand their business and territory in the fiefdom, the Southwest Palace will give priority to considering the amount of gold and silver notes hoarded.

This is a typical "taking help from someone and then giving back" strategy, which uses the binding of interests to make all parties willingly lend a helping hand.

Hearing the emperor's question, Lu Jing smiled and responded frankly: "Nothing can be hidden from your wise eyes. This is exactly what the princess proposed. She even suggested that gold and silver notes should be issued not only to the noble clans, but also to the general public, so as to raise money and grain widely."

When the emperor heard this, he thought about it for a moment and immediately felt that this was a brilliant plan!
At this time, officials were arguing heatedly in the court. Some were positive about buying gold and silver notes, believing that this was a good opportunity to support the court and show loyalty; others were strongly opposed, believing that the risk was too high and that once the court was defeated, their wealth would be lost.

Prime Minister Lu was experienced and saw through the emperor's intention at a glance - it was clear that he wanted to tie all civil and military officials to the ship of imperial power.

If the imperial court can win this battle, after the war, those officials who do not have gold and silver notes will be held accountable; and those officials who have hoarded a large number of gold and silver notes will definitely be valued by the emperor.

This is undoubtedly a thrilling gamble!

Who on earth came up with such a "vicious" plan? For the noble clan, this was a direct blow and was heartbreaking.

The princess stared at Prime Minister Lu quietly, clearly catching the angry look on his old face. She could understand the reason for Prime Minister Lu's anger, but she just stood aside quietly without saying a word.

The emperor and Lu Jing were not in a hurry. They knew that the matter had just been raised and the officials would definitely argue about it for a few days. After the court session, Lu Jing accompanied the emperor back to the Yangxin Palace.

Several imperial doctors had been waiting here for a long time. Su Qingwan was also there, and she had been responsible for taking care of the emperor's health.

Today, the emperor vomited blood in the palace, which scared the doctors. They all thought that the emperor's health condition had deteriorated sharply. However, after taking the emperor's pulse carefully, the doctors all widened their eyes, their faces full of disbelief. Because the emperor's pulse was healthier and more stable than before. The doctors looked at each other, and they were a little at a loss for a while. The emperor looked calm, and seeing this, he took the initiative to ask: "Do you see anything wrong? Just tell me, I will never blame you."

Among this group of old doctors, some had served two emperors in succession and still worked steadily in the Imperial Hospital. The emperors of Dayuan had always respected the doctors and treated them with great courtesy.

Su Qingwan stood aside, watching all this quietly, remaining silent. The emperor himself knew that after being troubled by the remaining poison for more than ten years, his body was already riddled with holes, and it would not be cured overnight. He did not have much hope for the prescription prescribed by Su Qingwan, after all, he had only taken it for two days.

The leading imperial physician stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, please do not worry. After carefully examining your pulse, we all agree that your Majesty is in good health and there is nothing wrong with him. However, to be on the safe side, we need to observe him for a few more days."

The emperor was surprised when he heard this, and couldn't help but look at Su Qingwan. Unexpectedly, this was good news. No wonder he felt a little more refreshed after being so angry and vomiting blood today.

The emperor's mood suddenly improved, and he waved his hand, signaling the imperial doctors to leave. The imperial doctors filed out.

Seeing this, Su Qingwan spoke at the right time: "Your Majesty, if you follow the prescription given by your sister to take care of your body, you will definitely be able to remove the remaining toxins in your body. But you must avoid extreme ups and downs in your emotions. As the saying goes, anger hurts the body. You may not be as lucky as you are today next time."

The emperor nodded slightly and said with emotion: "Xiao Jiu, I am narrow-minded."

Su Qingwan was shocked. For the usually dignified emperor, this was already a very tactful admission of mistake.

She took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty, if you are willing to redress Huainan's injustice, I will be even more pleased."

After hearing this, the emperor's expression froze and he fell into a brief silence. Every time this matter was mentioned, the two would always part ways unhappily. However, the emperor was in a good mood today, so he did not bother with Su Qingwan.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little subtle, Lu Jing quickly changed the subject: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue's issuance of gold and silver notes is a foregone conclusion. Now it all depends on the officials' actions. I have secretly hinted to several ministers to take the initiative to subscribe to gold and silver notes tomorrow. Next, let's wait for the show to begin."

The emperor looked calm and said calmly: "These officials from powerful families are all shrewd people. They may not be easily deceived and willing to subscribe to gold and silver notes."

Su Qingwan took over the conversation: "Your Majesty is right. Of course, the clans are unwilling to subscribe. They are always smart. How could they easily put all their chips on the court? What's more, the court's army is fighting against the southwest army, and the outcome is unknown. If they spend all their money to subscribe to the gold and silver notes, once the court is defeated, it will be a waste of time."

Hearing this, Lu Jing couldn't help but cough lightly a few times, and secretly winked at Su Qingwan, indicating that she should speak more tactfully and not be so blunt, so as not to anger the emperor.

As expected, the emperor's face darkened, and the originally relaxed atmosphere suddenly became a little depressing.