Chapter 217: Xiao Jiwu is the one who did the offending business

Seeing this, Xiao Jiwu glanced at the Minister of Personnel calmly.

Even through the veil, the Minister of Personnel instantly understood Xiao Jiwu's intention through his actions. He took a deep breath and stood up, saying loudly: "This old minister believes that disaster relief is a must! If we leave it alone, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of the people!"

The emperor was so angry after hearing this that he threw a memorial in the face of the Minister of Personnel: "Do you even need to tell me that!"

The Minister of Personnel dared not move even after being beaten. He simply continued with a look of deep sorrow, "This is a critical moment. If disaster relief is delayed by even a day, countless people will starve to death. The drought in the previous dynasty also resulted in a complete crop failure, killing hundreds of thousands of people. There were even cases of people eating dead bodies and their own children."

"Our dynasty is now prosperous and peaceful, and Your Majesty is a wise ruler. Such horrific events must not occur. Therefore, I propose that Prince Yi use his salary and Your Majesty's rewards to provide disaster relief. After all, the locust plague in Yuquan County was caused by Prince Yi, so he should do something for the people."

As soon as the Minister of Personnel finished speaking, all the court officials in the hall immediately knelt down.

"I second the motion."

"I second the motion."

"I second the motion."

"Your Majesty, please issue an order!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Xiao looked at the Minister of Personnel and frowned, deliberately pretending to be resentful.

The emperor hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Wu'er, are you willing to atone for your sins?"

Obviously, the emperor also had this in mind, but firstly, Xiao Jiwu had not attended the court before, and secondly, he couldn't bring it up now...

If Yun Qingshi had listened to the emperor's words at this moment, even if he couldn't curse him openly, he would have definitely cursed him in his heart. What he said was really unpleasant, but unfortunately he was completely unaware of it.

But all this was exactly as Xiao Jiwu expected.

He quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to give you all your rewards, which total fifty thousand taels of silver."

"Wu'er is a sensible person with a kind heart." The emperor was relieved when he heard this, but he pretended to be relieved.

Xiao Jiwu continued, "Now we are only short of 100,000 taels. I will arrest a few corrupt officials and I believe we can get enough."

After these words were spoken, the court was in an uproar, and everyone was trying to shirk responsibility.

Xiao Jiwu pretended not to hear and continued, "So everyone, please consider it. Do you want to get it yourselves, or do you want me to bring people to get it in person?"

This time, the entire hall suddenly fell into complete silence.

The emperor was busy reading a memorial, obviously with no intention of stopping it.

In this way, everyone understood, and then a few people spoke up.

"I would like to donate five thousand taels of silver to the victims."

"I would like to offer three thousand taels of silver to the victims."

"I am also willing to offer one thousand taels of silver..."

————

"Did you finally collect the 100,000 taels?" Yun Qingshi asked anxiously.

Xiao Jiwu rubbed the boy's head in amusement, then shook his head: "It's not enough. Even if there is, they don't dare to take more."

Yun Qingshi frowned slightly after hearing this and asked, "Then what should we do? How much is left?"

Xiao Jiwu replied, "I still need 50,000 taels. My father has dismissed two ministers and asked me to bring people to confiscate their property tomorrow. This should be enough."

Well, it turned out that Xiao Jiwu was the one who did the offending business.

However, since the houses of corrupt officials were raided, the people would only applaud when they found out. From this perspective, it might not be a bad thing, Yun Qingshi thought.

————

Xiao Jiwu led his troops to search the houses of the two corrupt officials, and in just one day they found 70,000 taels of silver.

This means that the amount of silver is 20,000 taels more than the initial estimate of 250,000 taels.

As for the two positions that became vacant after being dismissed, they have been filled by Xiao Jiwu's people.

Next, it’s time to choose someone to provide disaster relief.

If disaster relief is done well, it will be a great achievement. Although the emperor considered letting Xiao Jiwu go, he finally changed someone else.

However, thanks to Xiao Jiwu's advance planning, the person who went was actually a censor under his command.

These 270,000 taels of silver could no longer withstand corruption, and no more accidents could occur.

The day before the Censor was about to leave, Xiao Jiwu called him in and strictly ordered him not to make any mistakes.

"If not a penny of this money is used to help the victims, you will be beheaded."

At this point, the disaster relief issue was temporarily resolved.

But the victims could not all leave the capital at once, so Yun Qingshi went to give silver to the owner of the gambling house again. This time he generously gave 1,100 taels, of which 100 taels belonged to Ying Twelve.

Now that the relief team has set out, the victims can eat better without a long battle.

He never gave everyone bad food just because he was stingy.

As for Prince Xiao's previous proposal to add his name to all shop contracts, Yun Qingshi ultimately did not agree.

Because it is too troublesome to activate the contract, and it even has to go through the government.

He was really worried that this matter would be discovered by someone with ulterior motives and cause some trouble.

What’s more, not all of those shops are under Xiao Jiwu’s name, which makes things even more troublesome.

But Xiao Jiwu did not give up. He directly handed the key to the palace warehouse to Yun Qingshi, and did not allow him to refuse.

After getting the key, out of curiosity, Yun Qingshi went to take a look at the warehouse and found that the whole room was full of treasures.

After all this trouble, time has unknowingly come to November.

It was already the middle of winter, and there were several heavy snowfalls in November. I even went out several times at the beginning of the month when the clouds were clearing.

Fortunately, the relief team arrived in Yuquan County before the snow fell.

Yun Qingshi learned from the letter sent back by the Censor that the disaster was under good control and no one would starve to death.

Most of the people who fled to other places due to famine returned home, including those who fled to the capital.

No one would be willing to leave their hometown unless they could no longer make a living there.

————

Since December, Yun Qingshi didn't like to go out much, because it was too cold outside. The north wind was howling and it felt like a knife blowing on people's faces. It was not as comfortable as the bedroom with a burning brazier.

Prince Xiao was naturally happy about this. Now he didn't have to worry about not being able to find anyone when he returned home from court one day.

But today Yun Qingshi still forced himself to go out. He made a special trip to one of the gates of the imperial city called Lai'an Gate, and then stared at it for two hours.

That's right, he was waiting for someone, someone who was related to the next plot and Xiao Jiwu's safety.

It was a pity that he had no idea on which day that man would bring his men into the imperial city. He didn't even know whether it would be in the morning or afternoon. He only knew that it would be in the days leading up to the New Year.

(Guess who it is, it should be easy to guess~)