Zhao Guangyi was reluctant, but Zhao Xu was very excited. Any person would not miss such an opportunity to see how his descendants lived in the future.
So, he walked to Li Shimin's side and said with a fawning smile.
"Your Majesty Taizong, may I come along?"
"Want to go? Sure, the travel fee is ten million taels of silver~"
Li Shimin readily quoted the price. When Zhao Guangyi followed him, Fang Er's asking price was the same.
For the same thing, there shouldn't be two prices, right?
Zhao Xu was instantly stunned upon hearing this. Ten million taels!
With the annual tribute and the expenses of the three redundancies, the national treasury was not completely empty, but producing ten million taels at once was definitely beyond its capabilities.
He cupped his hands at Li Shimin with a dejected face and said, "Your Majesty Taizong, when you and your great-grandfather came, I was discussing reforms with the ministers."
"The national treasury cannot afford so much money at once. Can you give us a discount?"
Li Shimin was merely quoting Fang Er's price. He didn't know how much it cost to bring someone along.
Therefore, he could only throw the question back to Fang Er.
"An Zhi, what do you think about this?"
Fang Er nodded slightly, then looked at Zhao Xu and asked, "How much money can you come up with?"
Zhao Xu was overjoyed, but then he froze. He only knew that the national treasury couldn't produce ten million taels at the moment, but he didn't know how much it could produce.
"Jie Fu, how much silver is left in the national treasury?"
Wang Anshi knew very well, as he was in charge of it now.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this year's tax revenue will not be in the treasury for another two months. At most, we can take out three million taels right now."
Upon hearing this figure, Zhao Xu's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
They were asking for ten million, and even with a discount, it wouldn't be reduced to such a ridiculous extent, right?
Fang Er didn't know, nor did he want to know what Zhao Xu was thinking. He only knew that the system that brought people through time and space didn't ask for money this time.
So, no matter how much he collected, it would go into his own pocket. Even a mosquito's leg was meat, and it smelled good~~
Thus, he readily agreed: "Three million it is~ consider it a group purchase for you two."
This was beyond Zhao Xu's expectations. He widened his eyes, his emotions running high.
"Are you serious, Duke Fang?" Zhao Xu trembled as he spoke, his excitement palpable.
The world was so vast, and the population so numerous. How many people could traverse through time?
He only needed to spend three million taels to experience it, to see how posterity evaluated him, and to summarize the gains and losses of his reign. This price was simply too cheap!
Fang Er smiled and nodded, "Your Majesty Shenzong, rest assured, I always keep my word."
Zhao Guangyi, standing beside them, almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
What a group purchase was didn't matter. What mattered was that he had spent ten million taels and was rebuffed by his great-grandson.
But this grandson only needed to spend three million to go on a trip?
Why did he feel like he was being ripped off?
And it was a colossal rip-off~~~
Wang Anshi and Ouyang Xiu sent their subordinates to retrieve the silver from the national treasury, and then they wrote down the matters that Zhao Xu needed to pay attention to.
For example, what natural disasters occurred in the current dynasty in later records.
Or, what avoidable failures occurred in the dynasty's wars against the Western Xia.
Or, whether any major events that could influence the outcome of the war would occur between Western Xia and Liao in the future.
If Zhao Xu could clarify these matters, the situation in the Song Dynasty would be quickly turned around after his return.
It had to be said that three cobblers were better than Zhuge Liang. Zhao Guangyi had not even considered these matters.
Zhao Xu listened patiently to Wang Anshi and the others' instructions.
Zhao Guangyi watched this scene, his mind filled with the sole thought of going back and beating Kou Zhun and the others severely.
Half an hour later, the three million taels of silver were prepared. Fang Er did not accept it directly but had it sent to the Imperial Library to be stored first, to be collected upon their return.
Nine helicopters slowly took off, and Ouyang Xiu and the others stood below, waving goodbye to Zhao Xu.
"Your Majesty, have a safe journey!"
"Your Majesty, please go with peace of mind. We will surely look after the state affairs for you."
"Your Majesty, please eat well and drink well over there, and take care of your health!"
"Your Majesty~~~"
However, their voices could not drown out the roar of the helicopters, so Zhao Xu could only see their mouths moving through the window, unable to hear what they were saying.
The aircraft formation flew all the way northwest, passing over Western Xia.
In Xingqing Prefecture, Western Xia officials and citizens stopped and looked up at the sky in curiosity as nine giant unidentified flying objects appeared overhead.
"Your Majesty Shenzong, would you like me to show you some excitement?"
Fang Er said with a smile at Zhao Xu.
"Oh, is the excitement Duke Fang mentioned related to this Western Xia?" Zhao Xu was very curious about what kind of excitement it was.
Fang Er nodded slightly, "Naturally. For just one million taels of silver, I guarantee that Western Xia will be too preoccupied to consider war with the Song Dynasty in the short term."
Li Shimin's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something, "Kid, are you going to drop something again?"
Zhao Xu didn't understand what they were talking about, but Fang Er's proposal greatly tempted him, so he patted his chest and promised.
"As long as it can be done as Duke Fang said, I am willing to pay one million taels!"
"Hahahaha~ Good!"
After a loud laugh, Fang Er pressed a few switches on the control panel.
They were in another anti-submarine helicopter, and the two torpedoes in the belly had been idle.
As he operated, the bomb bay doors on the outside of the helicopter opened, revealing two torpedoes. The next moment, they plunged towards the Western Xia imperial palace with a shrill whistling sound.
The guidance system was not activated; it was simply freefall.
But even so, the impact force generated by falling from an altitude of a kilometer was enough to detonate the torpedoes.
The Western Xia emperor at this time was named Li Bingchang. He ascended the throne in the same year as Zhao Xu.
Li Bingchang heard the eunuch report that several strange objects were hovering above the imperial palace, so he personally went out to inspect. As soon as he stepped out of the palace gate, he heard a piercing whistling sound from above.
He subconsciously looked up and saw two black dots growing larger within his field of vision, falling from the sky.
"What are those things!"
But no one present could answer this question.
Moreover, no one had the chance to answer.
The two torpedoes, in the eyes of the Western Xia people, one pierced the roof of the palace, and the other landed on the bluestone paving stones in the imperial palace.
"Boom! Boom!~"
The next moment, the torpedoes detonated due to the impact force upon landing.
Two miniature mushroom clouds rose in the imperial palace, sending bricks and tiles flying everywhere, and countless people were killed on the spot.
Li Bingchang felt his vision go dark and collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.
When the eunuchs found him, they saw a tile the size of a palm embedded in his back.