After the court meeting ended, the ministers came out of the Ganqing Palace, and each of them was a little confused.

It also has something to do with many people not understanding what Zhu Houzhao had discussed with the cabinet ministers and the Six Divisions before. When they asked clearly about the situation, they knew that Zhu Houzhao was going to Xuanfu again and had plans to depose the queen, they realized that Zhu Houzhao's willful behavior had risen to another level.

"Zhihou, what should I do? You signed a ten-year peace agreement with the Florians before. Now your Majesty means... Only three years will the Florians not respond?"

Li Li came over and asked Chen Xi.

If others don’t come, they have something to say to Chen Xi. Li Li is relatively careless and has a deep friendship with Chen Xi. It would be great if he comes to ask questions.

Chen Xidao: "Since your Majesty is an imperial appointment, what else can you do? It is an uncertain thing to do business with the Folang Ji people, and how much benefits can you get... It is really doubtful! Three years and ten years are not much different!"

Li Jue sighed: "Actually, the difference is quite big!"

Chen Xi asked, "Why did Brother Shiqi say this?"

Li Jue walked forward and said thoughtfully: "In the past, the Ministry of Works was short of budget and allocation every year. He was ruthless in everything he wanted to do. He was asking for money. The deficit was huge. If there was a major natural disaster, it would be helpless."

"The situation has improved a lot in the past two years. The Ministry of Revenue has allocated funds quickly. The projects under the Ministry of Works can meet the needs. In addition, there is still plenty of effort to repair the embankments of major rivers such as the Yellow River, Huaihe River, etc. Everyone knows that this is the result of a business with the Folang Jiren."

Chen Xi nodded.

Chen Xi knew about the situation in the Ming Dynasty. The cost of mining silver mines in this dynasty was too high, and the issuance of Baochao was not available as reserves, and the government's credit was not established, which caused Baochao to almost collapse.

The country does not have the right to issue currency and does not even have pricing power. The currency circulating in the market is seriously insufficient, which makes the entire society always in a deflation state. In the long run, it will definitely hurt the economy of the Ming Dynasty. Capitalism is always in its infancy and cannot grow and grow.

However, after the Ming Dynasty traded with the Folang Jiren and obtained a large inflow of silver, the country began to gain control of the issuance and pricing power of currency, which brought the market back to life.

Most importantly, the increase in currency has stimulated the market economy to move forward strongly.

The court officials also felt how convenient it was to do things with sufficient silver. As for the inflation brought about by the rapid growth of the overall economic growth of the Ming Dynasty, the people did not feel the inconvenience caused by the increase in silver, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm for production.

Chen Xidao: "Your Majesty won't say anything anymore. Three years later, I will send troops to the overseas territory of Folang Jiren to seize their silver mines!"

Li Li asked tentatively: "Zhihou, you have fought with the Folang Jiren and know their situation. In your opinion, how much chance of winning is there to fight with them? It is not in the waters of the Ming Dynasty, but to their territory or overseas territory!"

Chen Xi thought about it and couldn't help but shake his head.

Obviously, Chen Xi did not want to send troops overseas too quickly, which was not in line with the interests of the Ming Dynasty and cost huge costs. After all, the era of great navigation by the Westerners has been in the past many years, which does not mean that the Ming Dynasty has policies and sea boats can solve the problem.

The Ming Dynasty was a land power kingdom, and the people had a serious local complex and basically did not want to take risks. It was difficult for them to go out to compete with the navigators, let alone large-scale overseas expansion operations.

Li Wu sighed: "Your Majesty will not hold a court meeting for a long time, and you will come like this as soon as you come. Alas! Your Majesty is going to Xuanfu, what do you think about this?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "Where is Your Majesty? It is not a big deal. Based on the experience over the years, the court cannot cause trouble."

"I hope so."

Li Jue chatted with Chen Xi for a few more words, but did not want to have a deep conversation, so he went to the other side to discuss with Wang Qiong.

...

...

The group left the palace gate, got into a sedan chair in the river, and went straight back to the courtyard.

He came in and reported to him that the British Duke Zhang Mao had arrived.

This time, Zhang Mao was not summoned and wanted to know the situation in the palace. It was the most direct way to directly ask Chen Xi for inquiries.

Chen Xi could not avoid him, so he invited the person to the main hall, sat down and greeted him for a few words, and Zhang Mao asked, "Zhihou, I heard that Your Majesty is going to send troops to the country of Folang Ji?"

Chen Xi was a little surprised: "Old Zhang's news is very informative."

Zhang Mao smiled bitterly: "This matter is of great importance, so I have to know that it is closely related to the Governor's Office. Why doesn't Your Majesty ask me?"

Zhu Houzhao summoned civil officials to the palace. He thought it was about the central government and local government affairs, involving people's livelihood, but he did not expect it to be related to the battle between the Folang Jiren... It was really incredible that the emperor did not ask about the leading and nobles of the Five Army Governor's Office.

Chen Xidao: "Your Majesty is just a strategy that has not reached the implementation stage... Maybe he doesn't want the Governor's Office to get involved too early."

Zhang Mao was very concerned about the court's plan to send troops to Folangji. He also knew that Zhu Houzhao had been handed over to Tang Yin, but he thought that Chen Xi should be the one who was in charge of the situation.

He was scheming and went straight to Chenxi to find out the situation.

Chen Xi was indifferent to this and said, "Now he is no longer in charge of the Ministry of War. If Mr. Zhang has any questions, he might as well ask Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of War."

Zhang Mao said: "Your military achievements are beyond your reach. If Your Majesty insists on sending troops overseas, I'm afraid you will be the only one who coordinates the overall situation, and you may even lead the troops yourself."

Chen Xi shook his head: "As far as I know, from the Ming Dynasty to the Kingdom of Folangji, I have been wandering on the sea for several months. I have been on the sea for a long time. The soldiers are lazy, and plagues and disasters will happen... In this way, the plan for sending troops should be summoned by the court to discuss and make complete plans in advance. How can the next person decide?"

"As for commanding troops... it is even more nonsense. He is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and has part-time jobs in the cabinet. He is all civilian. How can he lead troops rashly?"

Zhang Mao smiled and said, "Zhihou, don't be anxious to deny it. I heard that you asked them for some territory in the Nanyang Sea during the agreement you signed with the Folang Jimen. It should be for the purpose of sending troops to Folang Jimen to transfer?"

Chenxi Road: "It has been a long distance from the Ming Dynasty to Nanyang, but going to Folangji Kingdom is more than ten times more than going to Nanyang. This is a transit... I'm afraid it's inappropriate."

Obviously, Zhang Mao had no idea about the distance at sea and the specific location of the country of Folang Ji. He naturally felt that Chen Xi was lying to him and complicating the simple problem.

Zhang Mao saw the indifference in Chen Xi's face, smiled and talked a few words, and stood up to say goodbye.

...

...

That night, Chen Xi met Yunliu at the contact station south of the capital.

Yun Liugang heard that the emperor was going to go overseas and thought it was caused by Chen Xi's advice, so he came to ask for instructions.

"...Sir, Your Majesty has arranged for Mr. Tang to be responsible for this matter. Do you want to send someone to send a message to let Mr. Tang know your specific plan?" Yun Liu asked.

On this day, Xiao Jing and Li Xing routinely reported to Zhu Houzhao, and once again mentioned the preparations for the sending troops to the Forang Machinery. Zhu Houzhao was immediately furious.

Xiao Jing was scolded and could only tell the truth in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has no clue about how to implement the preparations for the dispatch of troops. Wang Shangshu has never led his troops to fight a naval battle. He does not understand the details, so he can only ask His Majesty for instructions."

Zhu Houzhao said: "What's wrong with this? Sending troops at sea is just to put people on a ship. What's the difference between this and sending troops on land? Sending troops on land requires artillery, and sea ships also need to be equipped with artillery..."

Xiao Jing was very embarrassed for a moment and didn't know how to explain it. However, Li Xing next to him said: "Your Majesty may not know anything. From the beginning of preparation to the sea, Lord Shen was responsible for it. Now Lord Shen gave up the position of Minister of War, which made it difficult for the person who took over."

Zhu Houzhao frowned: "From what you mean, if the court lacks Shangshu Chen, nothing can be done? He must be responsible, and even leads the troops when sending troops, right?"

"This... Your Majesty, in fact, professional matters should be left to professionals. Others need to intervene. Unless Lord Tang returns to the capital or participates in formulating strategies, otherwise... he can only ask Lord Shen for advice." Li Xing argued with reason.

Zhu Houzhao was very angry and felt that Li Xing was competing with him, but he was not the kind of person who was completely unreasonable. After careful consideration, he knew that Li Xing was right. Shen Xi should have been responsible for it. Except for Chen Xi, others were unable to compete with this position.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Then we can't let the Ministry of War go directly to ask Secretary Chen?"

Li Xing continued: "As it is rumored outside, the Ministry of War involves the matter of sending troops to the state of Folang and Ji, Lord Shen has been avoiding it. Wang Shangshu wanted to ask Lord Shen for discussion several times but was rejected. When he submitted the cabinet, Lord Shen handed over the matter to Liang Zhongtang and Grand Secretary Jin, and never thought of participating in it... In this way, the matter was put on hold..."

"ah?"

Zhu Houzhao obviously didn't expect this to be the result, so she looked at Xiao Jing and asked, "Eunuch Xiao, is that true?"

Xiao Jing was also embarrassed, but he said the truth: "Your Majesty, the same is true for what I know. Your Majesty may order Shangshu Chen to be responsible for this matter in detail, which can solve the current difficulties."

Zhu Houzhao's breath was uneven, and she felt that her face was getting more and more uneasy, but she seemed to have done something wrong, thinking carefully about how to break the ice with Chen Xi.

After a long time, Zhu Houzhao said, "I decided to fight with Folang Jiren before, which was equivalent to denying the results of his previous negotiations with Folang Jiren. Now I go to him again, which means that I am begging him... I am the magnificent emperor, how can I be so humble?"

Xiao Jing and Li Xing certainly understood the emperor's difficulties. As family servants, they knew how to "share" the emperor's worries.

Xiao Jing said: "Your Majesty, you might as well let the old slave go to see Shangshu Chen and mention this matter to him."

Zhu Houzhao looked at Xiao Jing and finally nodded: "It's good that way. Let's first explore the words of Shangshu Chen and see what he meant. If he really insisted... I'll find another way."

Xiao Jing and Li Xing were both thinking: "What other way can Your Majesty find? What good opinions can others have except Shen Zhihou?"

"Abide by the order."

Xiao Jing quickly saluted, and the matter was discussed. Then he went to see Chen Xi in person, which was equivalent to surrendering to the emperor and Chen Xi and let Chen Xi participate in it.

...

...

Li Xing and Xiao Jing came out of the Ganqing Palace and the two were about to part ways.

Li Xing said: "Eunuch Xiao really wants to see Lord Shen? Lord Shen is afraid he is a little resentful about this matter. If you go there, it will be inappropriate if something goes wrong."

Xiao Jing glanced at Li Xing and said, "I won't go, are you going?"

Li Xing was immediately embarrassed. He speculated that perhaps he was speaking enthusiastically in front of the emperor just now and mentioned many things that "should not be mentioned" to the emperor, which annoyed Xiao Jing.

But Xiao Jing did not get angry with Li Xing because of this. He looked into the distance and said, "Shangshu Chen has great achievements and is proud of his capital, but in theory, as a minister, he should unconditionally obey His Majesty's decisions."

Li Xing added: "It was originally a matter that he also proposed..."

"Even if Your Majesty is really too impatient for this matter, you should advise in a gentle way, instead of facing Your Majesty and not asking about Your Majesty's decisions. Perhaps Shangshu Chen is too arrogant, so it is difficult to calm down."
Chapter completed!