Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 186 Adding insult to injury
"Yes, Your Majesty, we actually have enough salt. The pure salt in the official salt bureau is enough for us to eat for more than three years. The problem is that everyone is panicking now and is constantly scrambling for it. Even if you buy salt, you can't eat it as food. But people are just panicking. If we can't calm everyone down, there will be more chaos."

"In fact, the officials below had also made announcements with gongs and drums, saying that there was enough salt in the salt depot, but no one believed them. If the anxiety could not be alleviated, chaos was bound to break out."

"Why hasn't the Prince of Binyang submitted a memorial to explain? The salt produced by the salt wells and salt lakes in Yancheng is enough for our Great Jing Dynasty to eat for hundreds of years. Now is an emergency. If we can produce a few dozen carts of salt first, it will alleviate the current urgent situation."

At this point, everyone fell silent, staring expectantly at His Majesty. If His Majesty truly had a solution, he should stop hiding it and tell them immediately; they were all extremely anxious.

Some secretly observed the Emperor and his officials' reactions, sneering inwardly. All the salt lakes and wells in Yancheng had been poisoned; the salt produced there would be inedible for at least eighty years. They wanted to see where the Emperor would conjure salt from. They wanted to see how this extraordinary emperor would handle this crisis.

"Not only that, but smuggled salt dealers have appeared in the market, and the price has increased more than fivefold! Buying salt is like being ripped off. In this situation, some people are still hoarding and speculating, which is truly malicious. I urge Your Majesty to deal with this as soon as possible..."

And so another discussion ensued. Emperor Jingtai, seated in his chair, calmly watched his ministers' back-and-forth debate. His deep, dark eyes subtly swept over them.

Just then, Jiu Fu walked in with a grim expression. Everyone was familiar with him, and seeing his unwell appearance, they all had bad guesses. However, no one expected that he would bring such news.

After reading the memorial presented by Jiu Fu, Emperor Jingtai was furious. He slammed the memorial on the table, panting heavily, his face flushed. The officials below looked at each other in bewilderment and hurriedly apologized.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Those damned northern barbarians! How dare they take advantage of our misfortune! They actually said they would sell our salt to our dynasty at ten times the price! How insolent! Unrepentant bastards!"

Everyone was initially confused about the Emperor's anger, but after hearing these words, their faces darkened. Was this an insult to the Emperor? No, it was an insult to the entire Great Jing Dynasty!
Especially since everyone present already knew why His Majesty had dealt with the Crown Prince and Consort De and her son, the Northern Barbarians were taking their Great Jing's salt and wanting to sell it back at ten times the price, while also mocking them and trampling on their faces!
This is truly outrageous.

In the Great Jing Dynasty, few with even a modicum of spirit could remain calm upon hearing the shameless actions of the Northern Barbarians. Especially since they were so brazen, not only had they taken their salt, but they also dared to humiliate them. Immediately, ministers rose up in anger, hurling insults.

Even more serious is that the Northern Barbarian envoys not only sent a letter of state, but also had soldiers shout these words aloud on the battlefield. Now the entire frontier knows that the Great Police has run out of salt; the remaining salt fields have been poisoned and will be unusable for eighty years. Such news will terrify not only the people of the Great Jing, but also the soldiers fighting on the frontier!

Especially while they are fighting tooth and nail on the frontier, His Majesty's princes are colluding with the northern barbarians, selling salt and iron there, and even selling their women at low prices. Isn't this undermining their own people? And it's even their own people undermining each other.

Fortunately, His Majesty had already dealt with the eldest prince and Consort De and her son. Otherwise, chaos would have broken out on the border. Even so, if the salt issue cannot be resolved, even greater turmoil will ensue.

After venting their anger, everyone present couldn't help but sigh. No matter how furious they were, the fact remained that they had no salt to eat. The common people could afford to wait, but if the soldiers on the frontier were to rebel because of this, the outcome of the war would be uncertain… Even His Majesty remained silent, indicating that the current situation was not one to be overly concerned with.

Everyone looked at each other with furrowed brows, unable to come up with a decent solution. Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. They simply didn't have any salt; even if they spoke eloquently, the people wouldn't believe them.

At this point, a courtier couldn't help but offer a suggestion.

"How about we send someone to secretly buy a batch of salt from a neighboring small country?"

"It's too late. Those small countries are all very cunning. They secretly raised the price of salt dozens of times as soon as they heard that we were out of salt. It's better to buy from the northern barbarians now than to buy from them."

“We can’t just bow down to the North Gate, can we? I get angry just looking at those barbarians from the grasslands. They committed all sorts of atrocities in our country, burning, killing, looting and plundering. It was only in the thirteen years since His Majesty ascended the throne that the people have had a little respite. If we were to bow down now, not to mention me, I doubt the people could swallow this insult.”

More importantly, if the Great Jing truly bows to the Northern Barbarians, regardless of the border wars, the people will be psychologically weakened. This is not a good thing.

The discussions went on and on, but no concrete solution was found; instead, everyone became even more worried. And that wasn't all; one bad piece of news after another arrived. Not only was chaos breaking out in the capital, but the surrounding prefectures were also quietly descending into disarray. While everyone was frantically trying to find a solution, some of these officials secretly sneered and felt a sense of smug satisfaction.

An emperor who seizes the throne through usurpation will one day be overthrown by someone else. He wanted to see what the Jingtai Emperor planned to do.
Amidst this undercurrent of tension, several groups of people had already set off from Yancheng, pushing fully loaded trucks in all directions. Cargo ships, also laden with cargo, drifted away on the long river. Whether transporting trucks or ships, everyone was beaming with joy and satisfaction. This journey was destined to be recorded in history; if they could even find a small place in the annals of history, it would be a source of pride and honor for their ancestors.

In the capital, Prince Zuo and his entourage had already been transported there. Before arriving, Prince Zuo had prepared himself for the possibility of death, but he hadn't expected to encounter such good fortune upon arrival. Although he had known the atmosphere in Yancheng was somewhat unsettling, he hadn't anticipated that Zhao Gou possessed such abilities. Well done!

Now, the envoys from the Northern Barbarians have arrived in the capital of the Great Jing Dynasty and made contact with him, which has improved the situation of the Left Prince. At least he no longer has to live in that dark and gloomy dungeon.

Now he even had a room in the post station, serving as his own envoy. This was the first time in his life that the Left Prince had experienced such a miraculous turnaround. What does it mean to find a way out of a seemingly hopeless situation? His situation was exactly that.

King of Binyang, Ying Jiuque! You would never guess that I am not only alive and well, but also a distinguished guest of your Great Jing Kingdom, and will be attending your state banquet tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)