I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 49 The prodigy in the court, Northern Expedition?

The morning court was still the same as usual, bustling before Li Chen arrived.

The court officials were all greeting each other and chatting in groups of two or three.

Many court officials also praised Li Chen for making Master Yu kneel down and pay homage to him yesterday, which brought honor to them.

Those ministers who went with him yesterday started bragging about how awesome His Majesty was at that time, making the others who didn't go envious.

However, there were some disciples of Master Yu among the court officials. These people looked unhappy, but they did not dare to say anything.

To put it bluntly, these court officials were well-informed and would discuss current hot topics during the morning and evening court sessions every day.

Some of them were discussing the banquet held at the residence of the Minister of Justice last night. As they were talking, their eyes were also looking at Feng Huai.

Those who dared to discuss Feng Huai were basically high-ranking officials at the Shangshu level.

It seemed that they had heard some rumors, but they didn't know exactly what happened in the residence of the Minister of Justice last night. Feng Huai did a good job of keeping it secret.

Prime Minister Zhao Wenyuan still stood there with an unchanged expression. No one knew what he was thinking, and no one dared to talk to him.

Guo Poyun, the leader of the military generals, was still under house arrest and did not show up.

"Your Majesty is here!"

Following the eunuch's voice, the court officials returned to their seats, kneeling on the ground and shouting slogans to welcome Li Chen's appearance.

Li Chen looked more and more lazy when attending court, but his majesty was getting higher and higher.

The first person to report on his work today was the Minister of Revenue, Liu Minghan.

The position of Minister of Revenue is not only an important official in the court, but also the core of national finance and household registration management.

He needs to be in charge of the national finances, ensuring that the treasury is full and the revenue and expenditure are balanced.

This requires not only proficiency in arithmetic, but also a far-sighted strategic vision to deal with various emergencies and the needs of national construction.

At the same time, he is also responsible for household registration management, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of population data, and providing a reliable basis for the country's human resources allocation and tax collection.

Liu Minghan is not a simple person. When the late emperor was alive, he always praised him highly.

He was known as a child prodigy in his childhood, and there was no doubt that he would become a top scholar and serve as an official in the court.

It is said that all the candidates in that session were aiming for the second place, and no one dared to compete with him for the first place.

Liu Minghan's promotion speed after becoming an official was astonishing.

But the problem is that he is just strong in business ability.

As for other court officials, they all have some connections to a certain extent, but this one has real power and there is no way to criticize him.

With a god-like figure of this level in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, there has never been any trouble in the Ministry.

It can be said that he contributed to the stability of the Tiance Dynasty.

To be honest, Li Chen listened carefully when he was reporting.

Liu Minghan mentioned the issue of military expenditure right from the start. Now in order to stabilize the situation and suppress those vassal kings who have their own armies, all the army groups of the Tiance Dynasty are increasing their military expenditures.

In addition, the tense situation at the border is also increasing military spending.

If this increase continues, the national treasury will definitely be unable to make ends meet, so Liu Minghan suggested that Li Chen lay off some idle troops to reduce military spending.

As soon as these words were spoken, the court was in an uproar.

The military generals began to accuse Liu Minghan of having ulterior motives. Without an army, how could the various regions be stable?

Especially those generals who were related to the laid-off troops, they said bluntly: If the Northern Royal Court attacks, will you, Liu Minghan, go to resist?

Even though some troops were idle, they would be the key force if a war really broke out. Some generals even said bluntly that His Majesty was going to fight with the Northern Royal Court, and you, Liu Minghan, did this just to embarrass His Majesty.

Li Chen couldn't hold back after hearing this. You guys are really good at talking nonsense, you even drag me into this.

It can be seen that the general wanted to use Li Chen to suppress Liu Minghan. Li Chen kept saying that he wanted to clean up the Northern Royal Court. Wouldn't it weaken his prestige if he cut down the army at this time?

Liu Minghan was not to be outdone and said that if military spending continued to increase, there would be no need for the Northern Royal Court to attack. As long as the treasury was out of money and the army could not pay their salaries, they would find ways to raise money on their own, and the world would then be in chaos.

Anyway, everyone has their own reasons and no one wants to give in to the other.

Li Chen did not say anything. This was the 'custom' of the morning court. When they had quarreled enough, Li Chen looked at Zhao Wenyuan and said, "What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Zhao Wenyuan was speechless. Your Majesty, you are so awesome. Why are you kicking the ball to me at this time? Do you really want me to offend so many people?

But he was the prime minister, and he couldn't help but express his opinion.

If he doesn't say it, he will seem like a waste.

Before he even opened his mouth, Zhao Wenyuan felt a group of people staring at him. If what he said was not satisfactory to others, he would definitely be scolded.

Of course Li Chen is passing the buck. Your job is to take the blame for me. You have no choice.

After thinking for a while, Zhao Wenyuan stood up and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, we can launch a northern expedition!"

When in doubt, head north!
Anyway, most of the troops to be laid off are those stationed in the north. In recent years, the north has been increasing its military spending in order to intimidate the royal court. It would be better to let them fight directly.

Moreover, Your Majesty has already made such a request last time, and there is basically no room for easing.

As long as you win, everything can be solved, and you can also grab some loot at the same time.

Li Chen nodded, thinking that this was a good idea, so he said, "I agree, let's choose a day to march north."

Now, Liu Minghan and those generals stopped arguing and the problem was solved perfectly.

The generals have even volunteered to capture the Khan of the Northern Royal Court and present him to Your Majesty.

These words made Li Chen look disgusted.

I'm not interested in men, why did you capture the Khan for me?

These generals don't even know how to flatter.

If you ask me to capture some beauties for you, I will let you go.

In fact, the most confused person is the Khan of the Northern Royal Court.

These few days, he had just received the humiliation of "marriage" from the new emperor of the Tiance Dynasty, and before he had time to get angry and condemn it, he received a declaration of war from His Majesty the Tiance Dynasty.

Because when a war breaks out between big countries, especially one like the Tian Ce Dynasty, they must first tell the other side, I want to fight you, and then kill you.

I can't even deal with the Khan of the Northern Royal Court. Didn't you say you would give me half a year to prepare? Why did you declare war in just two days?
Are you really that anxious?

What did I do that you come up to me?

Normally, faced with such provocation and declaration of war, the Khan would surely be so angry that he would send troops.

But the emperor of the Tiance Dynasty was so abnormal that he began to doubt. Why was the other side so eager to start a war? Could it be that they were already prepared?

Is there a traitor on his side? Have the leaders of those tribes really surrendered to him?
If the other side is not prepared for this and starts a war for no reason, wouldn't that be a waste of time?

People of the Tiance Dynasty have always been very shrewd, and he doesn’t think Li Chen would fight an unprepared battle.

When this information reached the ears of the third prince at the border, he was even more shocked.

"Could it be that Lao Liu has discovered my intention by doing this?"

In the imperial court, the military expenditure incident had just been settled, and Chief Censor Zhang Ancang directly impeached the Minister of Justice Feng Huai!
(End of this chapter)