Chapter 491: The Final Verdict on the Northern Expedition

"Your Majesty, as the commander of the Northern Expedition, Yang Feng bears inescapable responsibility for the failure of this campaign. Your subject believes he should be executed at the Meridian Gate to serve as a warning to others."

Golden Throne Hall.

Zhao Heng had just sat down on the Dragon Throne.

Dou Wei stepped out of the ranks, looking filled with righteous indignation.

"Your subject seconds this."

"Your subject seconds this."

"..."

Seeing this, Liang Kai and the others immediately spoke up in agreement.

At yesterday's banquet, the Rich Clans had already decided on a strategy to contend with the Imperial Clan.

On this matter, their attitudes were naturally unanimous.

Moreover, even without yesterday's consensus, they would have seized this opportunity to put Yang Feng to death.

After all, once Yang Feng was dead, Zhao Heng's control over the Imperial Guard would become even weaker.

Sitting securely on the Dragon Throne, Zhao Heng felt as if his backside were on fire.

After returning to Jingshi, he had felt incomparably at ease.

But anxiety followed immediately after.

The failure of this Northern Expedition was truly caused by him and the Second Prince.

Yet how could he admit that he was at fault?

Thus, the blame for the failure of the Northern Expedition could only fall upon Yang Feng and the Second Prince.

Therefore, he prepared to have the Second Prince and Yang Feng each shoulder half the blame.

But before he could speak, Dou Wei suddenly launched an attack.

And with Liang Kai and the others echoing him, it seemed the Rich Clans were determined to see Yang Feng dead.

"Although Yang Feng is guilty of dereliction of duty, in this campaign, Dou Xiao, Wang Bi, and the Second Prince also bear inescapable responsibility. If it were not for their repeated offering of fallacious advice, it would not have come to this. In my view, Yang Feng's death penalty shall be waived; strip him of his official position and titles, and sentence him to exile three thousand li away to Yanzhou," Zhao Heng said.

Two days ago,

he had received a memorial from Yan Wang.

The content of the memorial was to protect Yang Feng; in Yan Wang's view, the Rich Clans would certainly attack Yang Feng.

Therefore, he begged him to spare Yang Feng's life.

And this was his bottom line as well.

After all, he knew very well in his heart whether Yang Feng was guilty or not.

If he killed him, he would not be at peace.

Zhao Heng brought up Dou Xiao and the Second Prince, and after Dou Wei and Han Zheng exchanged a glance, they said no more.

Clearly, Zhao Heng was making a trade with them.

If they insisted on Yang Feng's death, Zhao Heng would inevitably have to investigate the two of them.

It was better to each take a step back.

In any case, Yang Feng had been stripped of his official position and would be far from Jinling, the center of power, posing no further threat to them.

As for the exile to Yanzhou, Zhao Heng was merely trying to keep Yang Feng alive.

After all, if it were any other place, they would not let Yang Feng survive in his place of exile.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Dou Wei said at this moment.

He was not worried that Yan Wang would employ Yang Feng; after all, a disgraced official, without an imperial decree, could not be employed even by a vassal king.

If Yan Wang did employ him, that would give him the perfect reason to impeach him.

Having settled the matter of Yang Feng, Dou Wei continued: "Your Majesty, although the peace talks are concluded, the matter of the marriage alliance remains unfinished. I hope Your Majesty will order the Ministry of Rites to prepare early and send Changle Junzhu to the Northern Di."

"After the morning court, I shall summon the Prince of Chun," Zhao Heng said; he dared not be careless about this matter.

"There is also the matter of the annual tribute. Because of the Northern Expedition, the national treasury is in deficit, and the Northern Di are pressing hard for these five million taels of silver. I hope Your Majesty will raise it as soon as possible," Dou Wei added.

Zhao Heng's brows furrowed.

This Northern Expedition had lasted nearly three months, and the provisions alone had cost countless sums.

These provisions were all paid for by the national treasury.

Furthermore, there was the subsequent compensation for wounded soldiers.

Moreover, having lost so many troops in this battle, he wanted to replenish them, all of which required a massive amount of Silver.

Now, with the annual tribute added, this gave him an even greater headache.

"Do you ministers have any solutions?" Zhao Heng asked.

He had actually already asked Mi Yan, but Mi Yan had no solutions either.

In the provinces controlled by the Rich Clans, taxes could not be collected.

In the provinces controlled by the Imperial Clan, taxes had to pass through the exploitation of officials at every level, and the Silver that finally entered the national treasury was simply insufficient to maintain the massive expenditures.

For these years, he had been living off his reserves.

In the last two years, the reserves had gradually been exhausted.

Now, only the option of increasing taxes remained, but Mi Yan strongly opposed this method.

He believed that this tax would ultimately only be added to the people in the provinces and counties controlled by the Imperial Clan.

The Rich Clans would likewise not pay the taxes.

In this way, the people in the provinces and counties controlled by the Imperial Clan would certainly fall into an extremely difficult situation.

Land annexation among the people had reached its extreme, and the Rich Clans would only pass the additional taxes on to the tenant farmers.

He knew that Mi Yan's words made sense, but Mi Yan could not come up with any other solutions.

It is impossible to stop the annual tribute to the Northern Di, or the war between Great Song and the Northern Di will surely reignite.

"The only path to take is to increase taxes."

Just as Zhao Heng was hesitating, Dou Wei suddenly spoke.

"That is correct, Your Majesty. By negotiating peace with the Northern Di, the common people will live in peace and contentment from now on; they ought to pay more taxes to buy their own safety," Han Zheng chimed in. "Furthermore, without this Northern Expedition, the Northern Di would never have agreed to peace, and the military expenditures consumed by the Northern Expedition should also be borne by the common people."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng deeply agreed.

Moreover, the expenses for training troops before fighting the Northern Di should also be included.

Thus, this became the Sanshang.

"Your Majesty, you absolutely must not." As Dou Wei and Han Zheng successively proposed increasing taxes, Mi Yan grew anxious at once.

Zhao Heng ignored Mi Yan; he knew well that Mi Yan could not come up with any solution.

Then how was the empty national treasury to be filled?

Thinking of this, he said, "No need to say more; add the training tax for the troops, and this time we shall impose the Sanshang."

Upon hearing this, Dou Wei chuckled inwardly.

In truth, having Zhao Heng increase taxes was not a conspiracy, but an open stratagem.

Given the current situation of Great Song, taxes must be increased to alleviate the financial difficulties.

It was not just Mi Yan; even he could not think of a better way.

Unless the powerful clans were made to cut their own flesh, but that was absolutely impossible.

After all, the annual tribute alone was five million taels, plus the Northern Expedition costs mentioned by Han Zheng and the troop training expenses mentioned by Zhao Heng—no one wanted to bear these.

"Sigh!" Seeing that Zhao Heng's mind was made up, Mi Yan stamped his feet.

He was truly anxious and helpless.

"Could this be the sign of a dynasty's end?" A thought suddenly sprang up in his heart, and he was suddenly startled.

When the news of the Northern Expedition's failure arrived, he had secretly thought that things were looking dire.

For this Northern Expedition, Zhao Heng had nearly exhausted the national treasury; after such a disastrous defeat, the Imperial Clan would inevitably suffer a severe blow to its foundations.

In history, there was a prosperous dynasty that once exhausted the nation's strength to campaign against the barbarians three times.

The result was that they forcibly dragged a prosperous dynasty into a state of widespread public grievance and regional warlordism, eventually leading to its collapse.

Great Song was already weak and unbearable, and it would be even less able to withstand this.

And this tax increase would likely be the greatest evil consequence triggered by the failure of the Northern Expedition.

Having settled these three major matters following the Northern Expedition, Zhao Heng waved his hand, signaling the end of the morning court.

In Qinzhou, he had suffered too much, and now he wanted to take the opportunity to make up for it and enjoy himself properly.

Dou Wei and Han Zheng Jia exchanged glances, and faint smiles appeared on all their faces.

The common people of Great Song were extremely capable of enduring hardship; perhaps increasing taxes would not cause any trouble.

But if they secretly fanned the flames, it would be different.

In his view, taking back the military and political power of the home provinces that originally belonged to the powerful clans was now a certainty.

The morning court ended, and the news spread into Jinling City along with the people from the court.

Yan Commandery Trading Firm.

Dong An sat by the window, preparing to organize the news he had received.

At this moment, a gust of wind suddenly arrived; he was startled and hurriedly ducked to dodge.

He saw a short arrow fly past and lodge itself into the wooden pillar of the room.

The arrowhead seemed to be wrapped in a slip of paper.