There are always sick girls with ill intentions towards me

The Chu army gathered to invade, but was short of food and fodder in the east, so they requested food from the court.

Jia Wenhe placed the memorial in his hand on the table and sighed while staring at the chessboard.

"What a huge dragon you killed!"

Yan Donglou looked down at the chessboard and saw the white piece swallowing up the black piece's forty-six pieces and the hundred-eye dragon.

His thoughts seemed to be pulled back to three years ago, when the other party had tried hard to persuade him not to trade with the State of Chu.

Now, all the other party’s predictions have come true.

Although it is too late to regret now, if he had the chance to do it again, he would still make the same choice.

After all, he had no choice.

"Now, is there any chance to make amends?"

Jia Wenhe picked up the black pieces on the chessboard one by one and put them into the chess box.

When he saw the disasters in Nanyue and Western Zhou together, he finally understood what he had been unable to figure out.

Time!

There was a severe drought in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the disaster affected almost half of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

If people can’t even get enough to eat themselves, will they still sell food to others?

Even if we wanted to sell, there was no grain to sell.

The situation in Nanyue was even worse than that in the Western Zhou Dynasty. In order to reduce the burden on the people, the emperor once issued an order that no additional taxes would be imposed on fields planted with mulberry trees.

However, the income from growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms is much greater than that from growing crops.

This also led to a large amount of land being annexed and falling into the hands of officials and aristocratic families.

Look at Li Lingge again. He seemed to have predicted the future and started hoarding food two years ago.

He knew that with such a big plan, there was no way Li Lingge could die easily.

It’s a pity that everything is too late. It should be said that it has been too late from the beginning.

Li Lingge saw through South Vietnam, its emperor, ministers, and even all the officials.

“Use human hearts as chessboard.”

"It's urgent now, so stop playing dumb. If you can't come up with a solution, you won't see me tomorrow!"

Yan Donglou wanted to overturn the chessboard, but since he needed help from others, he had no choice but to lower his posture.

Cough cough--

Jia Wenhe started coughing violently again, his face turning red.

Yan Donglou panicked and quickly stepped forward to pat Jia Wenhe's back, his tone becoming a little weaker.

"I admit, I was a little loud just now."

However, as the prime minister of the cabinet, how could he not be anxious when he received so much bad news in one day?

After a while, Jia Wenhe calmed down a little, and he looked up at Yan Donglou in front of him.

"Now, they have already finished their plan, what's the point of you coming to me?"

Yan Donglou opened his mouth, not knowing how to argue, and just said something in a low voice.

"Who could have known that such a large-scale drought would occur in the Western Zhou Dynasty?"

Jia Wenhe said angrily: "Li Lingge knows!"

Ugh……

He sighed and stood up.

"Come on, I'll go with you to see His Majesty."

Yan Donglou hurriedly grabbed him.

"Do you have a solution? Tell me first."

This matter was too big, and he just couldn't think of a way to deal with it, so he hurried over to find this sick guy to discuss it.

Since His Majesty asked, he couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

Jia Wenhe put on his shoes and straightened his clothes.

"There is only one solution to this problem."

Yan Donglou immediately became alert.

"Why?"

"Li Lingge has already been sent as an envoy to the Western Zhou Dynasty. If he dies in the territory of the Western Zhou Dynasty, perhaps there is room for recovery."

After saying that, Jia Wenhe walked straight out.

This is indeed the only solution he can think of at the moment, but killing Li Lingge is not easy. At least two first-grade masters are needed.

Li Lingge faked his death for three years and suddenly reappeared.

This guy had planned everything, how could he not have expected that South Vietnam would send someone to assassinate him.

But Li Lingge still dared to go to Western Zhou, which showed that he must be confident of getting out of it safely.

……

royal palace.

The eunuch holding the pen bowed and reported.

"Your Majesty, the Minister Yan Donglou and the Grand Historian Jia Wenhe request an audience with you."

Wenren Houcong waved his hand.

"Let them in."

"Yes."

Soon, Yan Donglou and Jia Wenhe walked into the hall together.

"Your servant Yan Donglou pays respect to Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, I, Jia Wenhe, pay my respects to you."

Although Wenren Houcong was somewhat worried about the disaster, he was still unaware that border trade had been cut off.

"What is the matter that brings you two gentlemen to the palace together?"

The price of grain in the Western Zhou Dynasty has skyrocketed, and he has been under a lot of pressure recently.

Now, the only way left is to join forces with Western Zhou to attack the State of Chu.

However, there has been no news from the envoy sent to the Western Zhou Dynasty so far, and he has no idea what the empress is thinking.

At this time, his two right-hand men entered the palace together, and he inexplicably felt a little uneasy.

Yan Donglou submitted a memorial.

"The envoys to the State of Chu reported back that the State of Chu had banned trade between the two countries.

Now the Chu army has made unusual movements and intends to invade our border. The eastern border is short of food and grass, so I request the court to allocate food."

Wenren Houcong only felt a dizzy feeling in his head.

"What about the Western Zhou Dynasty? How did the envoys to the Western Zhou Dynasty respond?"

Jia Wenhe responded respectfully.

"No news yet. The State of Chu has already sent an envoy to the Western Zhou Dynasty. The empress is probably waiting for a good price."

Hearing this, Wenren Houcong had to prepare for the worst.

"How much grain can the court allocate?"

"About three and a half million koku."

Food is a big problem right now, so Yan Donglou knows very well how much surplus food is left.

Wenren Houcong thought about it for a moment.

"Then allocate 2 million stones to the East Territory first. The border must not be lost."

When things got to this point, he also knew that Jia Wenhe's original advice was correct.

Who could have imagined that such a great disaster would occur in Nanyue and Western Zhou at the same time, putting themselves in such a difficult situation.

But the emperor could not be wrong. Now he could only find ways to make amends and could not admit that he was wrong.

"According to the order."

Yan Donglou did not take the people of the three states seriously at all, but Jia Wenhe could not turn a blind eye.

"Your Majesty, the governors of Fengzhou, Yunzhou, and Yanzhou have submitted a petition requesting disaster relief from the imperial court."

"Disaster relief, disaster relief, how can the imperial court have any extra food?"

Wenren Houcong pushed all the memorials on the dragon's desk to the ground, and the emperor was furious.

The intention of the State of Chu was already very clear; the supply of food and fodder to the eastern border must not be delayed.

There are 150,000 shi left, and he can't use it all for disaster relief, otherwise he, the emperor, will starve.

Yan Donglou saw what he meant and immediately expressed his opinion.

"Your Majesty, the three states cannot provide disaster relief."

They both looked at Yan Donglou at the same time, and Wenren Houcong asked meaningfully.

"Why?"

"Your Majesty, we must prepare for the worst. The intentions of the Chu State are very clear. If we want to resolve the crisis in South Vietnam, we can only fight!"

After a slight pause, Yan Donglou continued.

"If Hu Meilin takes the initiative to attack, once he enters the territory of Chu, he can fight to support the enemy. Then we will have the conditions to negotiate with Chu."

As the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, it's not like he hasn't thought of a solution.

I went to Jia Wenhe in the hope of finding another solution.

After all, his method can be said to be a gamble, and the outcome depends entirely on Hu Meilin from the East Territory.

If a war really breaks out, it will be a battle that determines the fate of the country.

Jia Wenhe couldn't help but question.

"What about the people of the three states?"

Yan Donglou said bluntly.

"The soldiers are fighting on the border. Who knows if they will be able to come back in a few months."

Jia Wen and Tit for Tat.

"We can't just ignore the lives of millions of people. Among them are the families of those soldiers."

"If two people are going to starve to death at the same time, if one of the victims starves to death, this country will still belong to Nanyue. If all the soldiers starve to death—" Yan Donglou kowtowed to Wenren Houcong and said, "Nanyue will be destroyed."

Jia Wenhe's lips trembled slightly, and for a moment he didn't know how to refute.

"Your Majesty, if the court does not provide disaster relief, then millions of people will become millions of rebellious people!"

boom!

His forehead hit the ground heavily.

"Your Majesty, by then, South Vietnam will be in danger of internal and external troubles!"

Seeing this, Yan Donglou was not willing to be outdone and grabbed the ground with his head.

"Your Majesty can order Hu Meilin to fight a quick battle. As long as we win a great victory on the border, there will be room for us to turn around."

At the same time, he spoke first.

“In addition, as far as I know, the State of Chu has sent Li Lingge as an envoy to the Western Zhou Dynasty. All we need to do is send an assassin to kill Li Lingge in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

This would not only destroy the alliance between Chu and Western Zhou, but also stir up hatred between the Chu border troops and Western Zhou. "

"you--"