Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 391 Exile

"You are making a fuss. How can these things be mixed up?"

"Why can't they be confused? Besides, what you wear, what you wear around your waist, the carriage you will ride in when you get home, the horse pulling the carriage, the food at home, and even the soap for bathing, if these things were not transported to you from all directions by merchants from all over the world, would you think they all fell from the sky? You enjoy the fruits of others' labor, and then pay them. It is only natural that the goods and money are exchanged. If the merchants are lowly, then aren't you also lowly when buying things from them?"

"You ignorant child! You are just making sophistry!"

Song Chunlin looked at the old man who was so angry that his beard was about to stand up to the sky, and wondered what to say next so as not to make this man angry to death.

"You said I was ignorant, but who is ignorant? This... old man, let me ask you something. You said merchants are lowly. Then give me an example and tell me where they are lowly. We should have evidence for everything. You can't just say something without any evidence and call people lowly, right?"

How can the old man provide evidence? Hasn't it been like this since ancient times?

"Businessmen value profit and money as their life, but people with integrity disdain the smell of money."

"What you said is really funny. You keep saying that businessmen value profit. Why? Don't you get paid by the court for your work?"

"Humph, we get our salary based on our real talents and knowledge. Don't insult our talents, kid."

This man was the superior of the young man who had just proposed sending troops. Song Chunlin had disliked him for a long time. He glared at him coldly and then retorted to him without any politeness.

"Since you are so talented, why don't you come up with a useful solution? Why, you have been talking for so long but can't even come up with a solution? Now you are using your talent to fill your brain? What were you doing before?"

Song Chunlin kept on talking back and forth, insulting the man's reputation and dignity. The man was left with no room to retort, his face turned red, and he didn't know how to refute.

The emperor was not afraid of the big deal. He called the man's name with great interest and asked him to come up with a solution immediately. The man was sweating profusely, but his brain was like a paste. He hesitated for a long time but couldn't even think of a specific solution.

The emperor looked disgusted and said, "You guys can't even speak clearly, yet you still have the nerve to question others. You are old, but you are not even as good as a teenager. If you tell others, it will really make people laugh."

Well, this guy scolded everyone present except Song Chunlin. But his scolding was not wrong. After all, Song Chunlin did give feasible suggestions, but the people below only instigated the emperor to send troops to collect taxes. They knew very well that the territory was the Prince of Pingnan. The emperor's sending troops was not only a slap in the face of the Prince of Pingnan, but also a slap in the face of the emperor himself.

There are still places in one's own country where taxes cannot be collected. Isn't this a disguised way of saying that one is incompetent in governing the country?

Can the emperor tolerate this?

The emperor looked at those ministers and felt really disappointed. He felt more and more that it was time for these old people to return home and enjoy their retirement. Not only were their legs and feet not as good as those of the young, their thinking and ideas were also not as good as those of the young. Not only were they inflexible, they were also stubborn, which made him feel helpless in many things.

After the emperor blasted those ministers, he sat back on the dragon throne refreshed and announced the adjournment of the court.

Adjourn the court? Song Chunlin was shocked. He didn't understand. Adjourn the court now? Why? Did he miss some steps?

Facts proved that nothing was missed. When the emperor said he would adjourn the court, he really did. Then all the ministers outside the hall left in a rush. Then those ministers near the door followed suit. They really left in a large group, and the hall was immediately half empty.

Song Chunlin didn't move, because Gu Fengyue and Gu Fengyun beside him didn't move either. In fact, the people in the front line in the hall basically didn't move. Song Chunlin immediately understood that the climax was about to begin.

As those people walked away, the emperor's court meeting finally got to the point.

"I gave you all night to think about it yesterday. Now, have you come up with a suitable response plan?"

The hall was completely silent. No one spoke or even changed their posture, including Gu Fengyue and Gu Fengyun. Song Chunlin was rather curious as to what they had discussed yesterday and why everyone was so silent now. Did they have an argument?

In fact, his guess was not wrong at all. There was indeed a quarrel yesterday. In the emperor's study, the ministers were divided into three factions. One faction advocated accepting the surrender of the barbarians, while the other faction expressed strong opposition, believing that the barbarians were fickle and that if they surrendered now, they might regret it in a few years.

The remaining group is trying to smooth things over. They neither oppose nor agree. But if you ask them if they have any good solutions, they cannot answer.

"Why, you thought about it all night but couldn't come up with anything? So, Brother Song, how about you say something?"

Song Chunlin widened his eyes. No way, why is it him again?

He pointed at himself in disbelief: "Your Majesty, you ask me?"

"Yes, Gu Fengyue will definitely tell you as soon as she gets back. Now that you know the whole story, tell me what you think."

Hiss~ The emperor's approach is really, extremely tricky. Is it okay for Song Chunlin to say that he doesn't want to answer?

Of course not.

"Well, Your Majesty, I think we can give it a try."

As soon as Song Chunlin said yes, the old ministers who advocated opposition immediately refuted him.

"The barbarians have just finished attacking our Dajing. Now they are out of ammunition and food and are asking us for help. Why should we save these jackals?"

"That's right. The Turks are untrustworthy, and the Huns and Tatars are even more untrustworthy. Now that they are being robbed by the Jin people, it's nothing more than a dog-eat-dog fight due to uneven distribution of benefits. Why bother to help them? When they recover, won't they come back to fight us? What should we do with the people on the border then? Brother Song, have you ever thought about it?"

"Yes, I have thought about it, but have you ever thought that if the Jin people strengthen themselves by looting the grassland tribes, will they also attack us from the south? You know, the Jin people are further north, and our defense is weaker. We can't withstand the Jin people's attacks many times. What will the people of Dajing in the north do then?"

"This……"

"Brother Song, the north is a place of exile, and there are not many local residents. If these exiled prisoners are killed by the Jin people, it can be regarded as sacrificing their lives for the country, and their lives are not in vain."