Chapter 578

Everyone present today is the head of each family; a fool couldn't be a family head; you should understand what the Great King means, if not, look at Du Weiyue frozen into an ice person.

The Great King looked at the consistently slick Gao Chang; Gao Chang's heart was thumping! The one who just said that irrelevant fact— a sly person wouldn't say that, right? He's feeling guilty; saying he got to this position not because of his surname Gao, nobody would believe that.

Gao Chang stepped forward, following Zhang Jing's lead, saying the Gao family also wanted to do what they could for Chang'an; this person was also sensible, not saying it was for the Great King, but for Chang'an. He didn't know the exact amount of grain stored at home down to the units, but he still roughly knew how much.

"I also set aside enough grain for my family to last until the autumn harvest; the remainder is roughly two thousand shi, and when I return I'll calculate the exact amount and donate it all to the Forbidden Army to get through this difficult period."

The Great King listened, very satisfied: "Hmm, the Gao clan doesn't have many people in the capital, Elder Gao has done his best." You should savor those words.

"Old Zhang, bring a pen, record Elder Gao's grain donation of roughly two thousand shi."

Everyone: ……

Good grief, you won't also make some kind of attendance ranking list, will you?!

The foundations of Zhang Jing and Gao Chang are actually quite ordinary; they set an example, and others followed suit. Starting from Minister of Rites Cheng, each person reported a number, and the king had Lao Zhang record them one by one. When the Grand Minister reported three thousand stone, the king shouted at Zhang Xu: "Grand Minister, you are a clansman of our Bai Li clan, yet you only have three thousand stone? Where am I supposed to put my face?!"

The Grand Minister stared. Is three thousand too little? No, wait! What does your face have to do with me?! Usually I don't see you giving extra stipend to clansmen!

"All these household affairs are managed by my lady; I am merely estimating…"

The king, vexed that iron won't become steel, said: "What? What you say at home doesn't count?!"

Grand Minister: ……

"Fine. Then write me down for five thousand stone; when I get home I'll calculate if there's any surplus to add, and if it's not enough five thousand I'll think of a way to buy more."

The king looked at him with a rather complex expression: "Alright~ Grand Minister, if you have nowhere to go, you can come to the palace and find me; I'll back you up~"

"Pfft~ cough cough cough..." Wei Shen choked on his tea beside them……

The Grand Minister wanted to explain but felt the occasion wasn't right—no, Prince of the Northern Border, what do you mean?!

The king looked down on his unsophisticated cousin: "Cousin, you should also record five thousand stone. Although the Wei clan isn't in Chang'an, raising the southwestern army already strains the Wei, but the situation in Chang'an is even more dire! As my cousin, just show a little token."

Listen to the words, listen to the tone.

Five thousand stone, just a little.

Wei Shen suddenly felt a huge debt drop from the sky, the world collapsing—this episode he hadn't even rehearsed! But today he couldn't drag the king down; thinking that his elder brother would arrive soon, he finally caught a breath of fresh air.

Besides, if Wei Ke can't, the king will back him up; anyway, it's not his turn to worry about being penniless. Having figured it out, the cousin vigorously supported the king's face: "We'll follow Your Highness's orders; Shen still has a valuable sidearm—sell it nearby to buy grain. Cousin feels ashamed; the Wei clan has long subsidized the southwestern army, truly penniless, otherwise the cousin would also have contributed a ten‑thousand‑stone amount to the king, so as to carve his name forward on the charity stele and avoid being at the bottom."

The king almost shed crocodile tears, his hot tears welling up movingly.

It's good to have one's own people; don't look at the cousin's pockets being cleaner than his face—this cleverness moves heaven and earth.

Others didn't think so; their heads swelled. Ten‑thousand? Does this imply that previously less than ten thousand was too little? Do we have to carve steles sorted by numbers? What nonsense!

The Minister of Rites, foremost among the Nine Ministers, had five thousand stone; the Grand Minister and the king's cousin also had five thousand stone. Afterwards, officials with better backgrounds had five thousand, those a bit worse had one or two thousand, and soon it was the gentry's turn.

The leading gentry should be the Wei and Du families; Wei Kai had just been scraped of three million taels of silver by the king, hurting his muscles and bones, while Du Yue…… was still frozen in ice.

The king gave the Minister of Revenue a look; the tool‑like Minister of Revenue reacted, then remembered that after the officials it was the gentry's turn. He steeled himself and came forward again, needing to plead for Du Yue.

"Du Gong speaks bluntly and offended Your Highness, but after reflecting this long he surely knows he was wrong. I see… Your Highness is magnanimous; perhaps you should pardon Du Gong this once, for further delay might harm the fundamentals. The court is at a critical juncture, exactly when we need personnel—Your Highness, what do you think?" While speaking he also gave Du Yue a look, indicating that if he wanted to live he should quickly adopt a soft, apologetic attitude.

The king snorted coldly: "What magnanimity? I'm just a little kid~ hum!"

Minister of Revenue: ……

Wei Kai, seeing someone finally mention Du Yue, and noticing the king's attitude seemed to soften, immediately came forward to echo.

Life and death at stake—no one is unafraid.

Du Yue by now was numb from the cold, feeling nothing below his neck. He had also sobered from the freeze; this shameless Northern Border king killing him today would be a pointless death, for he never cared about reputation. He also finally recalled that it was he who had thrown the Lu and Wei clans out of the Northern Border Academy, earning half a year of curses from the southern scholars.

Just now no one paid him attention; his ability to stiffen his neck and uphold his integrity stemmed from having no stepping stone, and he hadn't been given a chance to beg for mercy. Now Wei Kai and Zhang Jing are pleading for him, he immediately went along the slope, for he does not want to die.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness; I ought not to have offended Your Highness."

The king set down his melon seeds: "Oh~ Is it sincere repentance? Freezing to death is trivial; losing integrity is serious!"

Everyone: ……

Du Yue is no fool either; the king's purpose for this night banquet isn't just to obtain grain, is it?!

"I am willing to contribute thirty thousand stone of grain to beg Your Highness's pardon!"

The king burst into laughter inside, yet his face remained calm.

"Alright. Today I'll add one more thing: these days the world is troubled, our Northern Border laws are consistently strict; Du Gong's offense against me would originally be a death penalty. But I also said earlier that the court is now in a critical juncture; Du Gong has long resided in the capital and may not know my rules, yet I have seen his generous sincerity toward the imperial guards, so today I will let this pass. Someone, summon the imperial physician!"

Zhang Xu quickly had his apprentice call the imperial physician; the Dongdu Marquis was about to have someone smash the ice to rescue the person, but the king reached out to stop him. He stroked the little Jin lying before his seat—this creature, having eaten its fill, had no interest in the shabby melon‑seed and fruit feast, and was idly swinging its tail. The king pointed at Du Yue: "Little Jin, go release Du Gong~"

The beast rose, shook its fur, about to leap down the steps, but the king scooped it up again: "Control your strength—just break the ice, the person must remain, and alive!"

Zhang Xu beside him widened his eyes: "Heaven, that doesn't sound very reliable!"

Can this work?

It can.

Little Jin pushed off the ground a few times and leapt over; amid everyone's bewildered stares, it opened its mouth…… and let out a very gentle hum.

There's no way around it—it's a beast whose livelihood depends on its roar; if it exerts even a little more force, this fragile human would be gone.