Children of Loulan

Chapter 233 How can I calm down?

The king's eyes were like torches, scanning the court officials, and finally stopped at the Minister of Revenue standing in the crowd. He asked in a stern tone: "Minister of Revenue, I want to ask you, have you allocated enough funds on time to strengthen the construction of the West City according to the regulations?"

The Minister of Revenue, who was called by name, felt nervous, but he quickly calmed down and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have indeed allocated the funds on time and in full, and I dare not slack off in the slightest. The destination of each grant and the name of the recipient are recorded in detail, and they have gone through a strict signature and seal procedure, so there is absolutely no omission. Please look into it carefully!"

"Who is in charge of the purchase? Come out now!" The king's eyes were wide open, as if burning with rage, staring at the court officials below. His voice was as deafening as thunder, and the whole court was enveloped by this majesty.

At this moment, in an inconspicuous corner at the end of the court, an official trembled all over and walked out slowly. His steps seemed very difficult, as if every step was carrying a huge pressure. When he walked in front of the emperor, he fell to his knees with a plop, his body trembling constantly, and his voice was also filled with a hint of fear: "Your Majesty, it is me and the Minister who are in charge of the purchase!"

Upon hearing this, the king frowned, glanced sharply at the official, and asked coldly, "Where is the Shangshu?"

As soon as he finished speaking, another official stepped forward and answered respectfully, "Your Majesty, today the Minister asked for leave, saying that he had caught a cold and was feeling unwell, so he was unable to attend the court."

After hearing this, the king snorted coldly, with a mocking smile on his face: "Really? Then he got sick at a really good time."

Then, he turned his gaze back to the official who had just come out trembling, and asked sternly, "Grand Historian, are all the purchases handled by you and the Minister together?"

At this moment, the Grand Historian had already turned pale with fear, and a layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He was just a small official of the fifth rank, while the Minister of State was a high-ranking official of the second rank who held great power. As the saying goes, a higher official can crush a person, and the Minister of State's official position is several levels higher than his. Faced with such a huge gap in status.

Naturally, whatever the Minister said was what it was! He responded respectfully, "Your Majesty, that is indeed the case. In the past few years, I have accompanied the Minister throughout the procurement process, and all the relevant documents are available!"

However, in reality, he was just a supporting role. In most cases, it was the Shangshu who personally negotiated with others and discussed details such as materials and prices. Sometimes, he was not even present at all and just waited outside the door. But at this moment, how could he dare to report the real situation to the king?

After hearing this, the king continued to ask: "So, where did you buy these stones and wood?"

The Grand Historian quickly replied, "Your Majesty, this is the result of a transaction with a businessman from the Tang Dynasty. His name is Li Xuan, and he is a merchant near the border between us and the Tang Dynasty. He sent people to deliver the stones and wood to the border first, and then they were handed over to our people and transported to Xicheng!"

After hearing this, the king frowned slightly and asked again in confusion: "If that's the case, why don't we just let them transport the goods directly to West City? Wouldn't that be more convenient and easy?"

The historian reported to the king with a serious face: "Your Majesty, according to what Li Xuan said, the people of the Tang Dynasty transported the goods to Xicheng and then returned, which had many disadvantages. First, this seriously consumed the time required for mining; second, its labor cost was higher than that of Loulan; third, to enter Loulan, you need to handle all kinds of complicated customs clearance documents. Not only are the procedures cumbersome, but what is more worrying is that someone with ulterior motives may take the opportunity to sneak into our country and do something illegal!"

The king frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Did you inspect the goods when you received them?"

The Grand Historian quickly replied, "Your Majesty, they have all been checked. The Minister of State has issued a strict order that every time a shipment is received, it must be thoroughly inspected!"

However, the king looked annoyed and asked dissatisfiedly: "Since everything has been inspected, relevant documents are available, and all parties claim that there are no problems, then where did this mistake come from?" After saying this, he slammed the table in front of him, his anger evident in his words.

The ministers below saw this and shouted in panic, "Please calm down, Your Majesty!"

"Calm down?" The king's eyes widened with anger, and he shouted, "The basic materials for the construction of West City have been tampered with, how can I calm down? Such a serious matter has happened, and you only know how to persuade me to calm down!"

He took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, turned to look at the prime minister, and said sternly: "Prime Minister, please tell me!"

The Prime Minister took a step forward, leaned forward slightly, and said with a serious and respectful expression: "Your Majesty, this matter is really extraordinary! I don't know what kind of unfathomable power is hidden behind it. It is not easy to investigate it thoroughly. I am afraid it will take a long time. However, the construction of the West City is urgent and cannot be delayed. Let's not talk about other aspects for the time being. Just talking about the large number of craftsmen and laborers, the daily food expenses are a small amount of money."

"And now they have stopped construction for a month. If they continue to delay, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, I dare to suggest that we should split our forces into two groups. One group should immediately select capable people to escort new stones and wood to the West City to ensure that the construction can be restarted as soon as possible; at the same time, another capable person should be sent to take charge of the overall situation. As for the other group, we must make careful arrangements and conduct an in-depth and detailed investigation into where the problem lies and who is the manipulator behind the scenes!"

After hearing what the prime minister said, the king nodded his head repeatedly to show his agreement, and then asked: "Then according to the prime minister's opinion, which minister should be sent to West City to take charge, and who should be assigned to start the investigation?"

The prime minister was about to answer when he was suddenly interrupted by a clear and loud shout: "Father!" Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was King Cheng Batur.

Batur took a step forward and said solemnly and respectfully: "Father, I think this incident is related to the defense safety of our Loulan West City. You know, the West City is very close to our capital! It is obvious that the target of this manipulator is our entire Loulan Kingdom. As a citizen of Loulan, I am willing to do my part for Loulan!"

The king, sitting on the throne, gazed at his son, who was the last one to go to court and seemed a little lazy and cynical, and he couldn't help feeling a little relieved.

He asked slowly: "So, do you plan to investigate this matter yourself, or do you want to be in charge of the construction of the city?"

Batur replied without hesitation: "Father, I hope to investigate this case thoroughly with my elder and second brothers!"