Chapter 577

The startled-bird guests, the unfamiliar dishes, the palace banquet full of twists and turns finally began. Meanwhile, many wealthy merchants below were excited, and if they still couldn't see that the king was promoting them today, they'd be pure fools.

Those who had been to the palace before felt, upon entering, that the king really had no foundation; it was truly the first time they'd seen such a chaotic palace banquet, with a mixed crowd and no rules at all. Now they finally understood what the Northern Border King relied on.

He simply fears no one's assassination!

Look at that eagle—it's perched there, surrounded by a bunch of masters!

Called a palace banquet, but nobody had ever seen a plate of melon seeds or a fruit platter before; they recognized the tea, yet the tense atmosphere kept anyone from drinking it.

The king's banquets are never good!

He was quite satisfied with the deterrent effect, not minding turning the banquet into a memorial; the king acted as if nothing had happened and calmly began chatting.

The king's opening remark was unusual; he said holding this Divine Spirit Platform night banquet was to meet Chang'an's heroes, because he loves making friends. But after just a few sentences he got straight to the point, beginning to list the crimes of Marquis Han Shou Bai Li Qi—for example, Bai Li Qi's slaughter of cities, and how he hung the Prince of Wuling on the city wall.

"Before I marched south, I'd already heard of Wuling's dire situation; that's one reason I went all‑in. Alas, the outside world is chaotic, and the news you've heard may not be accurate. Now that we have a chance to sit down, I'll share with you the fullest intelligence from the Northern Border's top‑rank intelligence agency."

"Originally our Northern Border lacked the strength to move south—mobilizing the cavalry would cost a fortune in gold. But I received intelligence saying Bai Li Qi slaughtered the city of Wuling, rewarding his own troops with the loot. Not even the Prince of Wuling's mansion was spared; he brutally killed a child of the fifth brother and hung the skull on Wuling's city walls."

When he paused, the Divine Spirit Platform fell silent; no one dared to eat melon seeds while the king was speaking.

Wei Shen was also seeing this kind of atmosphere at a banquet for the first time, with an ice statue standing in the middle. Yet he might be the happiest person at the Divine Spirit Platform aside from the king. His cousin-in-law watched with relish, eating bananas and grapes in the front row, then drinking tea after the grapes proved too sweet; he felt the banquet was quite good, far better than the ordeal of going with the king to the Yang family's banquet.

The king was still describing Wuling's horrors, and the sharp‑witted among them had already caught on—this is what they were getting at!

The Northern Border cavalry moved south without harming a single civilian—compared to the city‑slaughtering Bai Li Qi, they were practically saints! These days the Northern Border newspaper has been openly selling in Chang'an, and the paper already reported on the army's performance along this southern march; whether it's embellished or not, and whatever the motives, the results are basically the same.

After the king finished denouncing Bai Li Qi, he quickly changed the subject: "Come on, don't just sit there—try the overseas fruit and melon seeds! Why aren't you eating? Is it as hard to swallow as it is for me?"

"Cough cough!" Wei Shen nearly choked on a grape—who came here and downed two bowls of rice before arriving?

The king sighed, "Alas, you lot in Chang'an are really a hot‑handed potato!"

The officials below tensed up: "Here we come, you Chang'an people."

"I drained the Northern Border, spending a million taels of gold, and led the full elite cavalry south to support the Jin court—yet I arrived too late. What awaited me was a treasury so empty even a mouse would starve! The Ministers of Rites, Finance, and the Imperial Clan… you know this, and even the emperor's privy purse is bare! Who emptied the palace and the treasury? Find out quickly—I demand an answer."

Naming names amounted to naming none; the officials fell silent like chickens, nobody wanting to touch this deadly topic. Wei Shen's neighbor, the Minister of the Imperial Clan who had just picked up a banana, immediately put it down, and the Commander of the Imperial Guard, who had gone off to besiege a city, was already gone—no one knows whose head this will land on.

"I saw the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled in Chang'an's garrison feeling pitiful, so I borrowed silver from the Northern Border's finances and gave each twenty taels to let them retire. After all, they've fought for our Great Jin; I've done all I can, fulfilling my duty to my late father—but I'm powerless to feed the remaining two hundred‑plus thousand mouths."

Putting it another way, everyone here is a notable figure from Chang'an City, well‑informed and far more knowledgeable than the king, a mere child. I wonder what you think about the Forbidden Army of 220,000 suddenly running out of grain? Since we've finally gathered, why not devise a countermeasure together?

The Grand Minister of Finance began to breathe deeply, feeling the king would point at him any second.

Fortunately the king was still somewhat indirect; he pointed to the Marquis of the Eastern Capital.

"The Marquis of the Eastern Capital has years of experience leading troops—what would happen if the army ran out of grain?" the king said, not really understanding.

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital worried, "Your Highness, this is no small matter! Imagine a force of over 200,000 running out of grain—it's unthinkable; they might mutiny. If the Rebel King of Han Shou or any other force to the south learns of this and marches north, Chang'an will be in danger, Your Highness!"

The king then put on a show of great alarm: "Mutiny? How much grain does our Northern Border army still have left? Can we shift some?"

"Your Highness, the Northern Border army's supply battalion has brought enough grain to last a month."

The king grew anxious: "Isn't that about to run out too? Are we all going to run out of grain together? I won't even be able to nibble melon seeds right away, will I?"

Afterwards, the Marquis of the Eastern Capital became proficient; he knelt down and began speaking the lines of the Senior Minister of Agriculture Zhang of the Northern Frontier: "I am incapable, I am ashamed before Your Highness!"

The King immediately gestured for Old Zhang to help the Marquis of the Eastern Capital up, saying, "It's not your concern. You are a border commander; guarding the border is your duty."

The King directed his deathly gaze at Zhang Jing, the current Senior Minister of Agriculture of Chang'an.

The shoe he had been waiting for finally dropped; he inexplicably let out a sigh of relief, and he also swiftly came forward and knelt. "It's all my fault as the Senior Minister of Agriculture; please forgive me, Your Highness! I know that whatever I say now would be excuses; what matters is solving the problem. The army's grain shortage is the predicament of all Chang'an; even if I go without food, I must ensure the troops guarding Chang'an are supplied. When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact — I have already decided: I will set aside only a month and a half's worth of grain for my entire family, and donate all the remaining stores to the Imperial Guard."

The King stood immovable like a mountain, even pulling out melon seeds to snack. "Then how much can you donate?"

Zhang Jing dared not play tricks with him, fearing the King already knew exactly where his grain stores were. He gritted his teeth and reported a concrete figure: "1,592 shi."

Everyone else was stunned, having even gotten down to the ones digit? I never expected Zhang Jing to be this kind of person!

The King was very pleased upon hearing it; seeing that he had both fractions and whole numbers, it was clear he had calculated carefully—this attitude is indeed serious!

"Good, good, good! The Senior Minister of Agriculture can serve as a model for all officials! I just don't like those smooth-talking folks who do nothing practical.

"The Senior Minister of Agriculture is just fine; I like people with attitude.

"Like this, I will erect a stele outside the city walls, inscribing upon it the Senior Minister of Agriculture's generous contribution of 1,592 shi to aid Chang'an's garrison through the famine year. Even if… uh, even if there is a mutiny later, the soldiers will remember the Senior Minister of Agriculture's benevolent act of donating grain today, and his residence will surely remain safe!"

"Officials: ……"

"Gentry: ……"

"Wealthy merchants: ……"

"So, if they don't follow along, there's no hope of safety for the manor, right?"