At the end of the Wei hour, only Yu Wenyun and Fu Xiaoguan were left in the Xiuchun Pavilion of Dieyi Palace. Concubine Shang returned to the palace with the poem, saying that she needed a rest.

Fu Xiaoguan and Yu Wenyun were flirting with each other when they saw the eunuch who used to stand in the Chengtian Palace jogging towards them.

"Mr. Fu, His Majesty has summoned you. Please follow me to the Imperial Study."

Yu Wenjun pouted and glared at Eunuch Jia. Eunuch Jia quickly smiled and bowed, saying, "Please forgive me, Your Highness the Ninth Princess. This is exactly what His Majesty meant."

"Hmph!" Yu Wenjun looked at Fu Xiaoguan and whispered, "I'm going to Shulan's place for a while. I'll come find you later."

Fu Xiaoguan followed Eunuch Jia to the imperial study. Before they entered, they heard quarreling inside.

"Your Majesty, I think this is not possible. For thousands of years, so-called disaster relief has meant the court distributing money, food, and supplies free of charge to disaster victims. The problem now isn't the method of disaster relief, but the people doing it. Isn't that the purpose of Your Majesty's inspection of the thirteen provinces? To investigate these corrupt officials, punish them harshly as a warning to others, and then send new officials to take over. With this past experience as a lesson, I believe this kind of thing can be put to an end."

"I believe what Grand Tutor Ning says is reasonable. The original purpose of disaster relief is to benefit the victims and spare them the suffering of displacement. If we follow your plan, wouldn't it be like the court is selling grain to the victims? How will the victims feel? How will other countries view it? Won't they think that the Yu Dynasty is taking advantage of the disaster to exploit the victims?"

"We can't completely deny it. The post-disaster disposal measures mentioned in this strategy do make sense, especially the centralized cremation of corpses. While it's not very humane, it can effectively prevent the spread of plague. I still remember the 39th year of Taihe, when the Yellow River flooded in both directions. According to post-disaster statistics, the floods killed over 42,000 people, but the plague that followed the floods killed over 123,000 people. Now I think it was probably because the corpses weren't handled in time."

“…”

Emperor Yu Yin felt a headache while sitting on the dragon throne. The five people sitting under him, one was the Grand Tutor Ning Fachun, the other was the Minister of Revenue Dong Kangping, all of them clearly stated that this strategy was not feasible.

He had originally hoped to rely on Prime Minister Yan Beixi, but Yan Beixi was as slippery as a loach. He couldn't completely deny any of them. This strategy had already been completely rejected, and they brought up the insignificant issue of post-disaster management. I know post-disaster management is important, but it's not as troublesome as disaster relief, okay?

Fei Bang is the Minister of War, and Yan Shidao is the Privy Councilor. These two are in charge of military affairs, and they are planning to let them take a look at the policy paper on why to go to war. At the moment, they are discussing disaster relief, so these two probably won't speak.

He looked outside and felt delighted that Fu Xiaoguan had finally arrived.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

Just as Fu Xiaoguan was about to kneel down, the emperor said, "Come, come, no need to be so polite. This strategy was created by you. Now you can help them solve their puzzlement."

The emperor put the trivial matter aside and leaned back on the dragon throne to watch the show.

Fu Xiaoguan clasped his fists and bowed, smiling: "I am from the countryside and don't know the rules of this big place. If I have done anything wrong, I hope you will forgive me."

After saying this, he stood in the middle of the field and said, "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will explain them to you in detail."

The five big men present looked at Fu Xiaoguan again. This kid scolded the Minister of Rites Shi Chaoyuan in Chengtian Hall. He seemed ignorant but was actually very thoughtful. At this moment, he was standing in the imperial study with a calm expression and no restraint at all. This young man had a very steady mind.

Dong Kangping stood up first and asked, "Let me ask you, why do you think the imperial court is providing disaster relief?"

Fu Xiaoguan didn't know that this man was Dong Shulan's father, but he was handsome and a bit like Dong Xiude. What they were discussing now was the disaster relief issue under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, so the identity of this man was obvious.

He politely bowed to Dong Kangping and replied, "I thought the court's disaster relief was for the benefit of the people affected by the disaster."

"Since you know this, why does this strategy reject the millennia-old method and instead focus on stabilizing food prices?"

"Your Excellency, a thousand-year-old law is not static. I believe that if this law has fallen behind the development of society, it needs to be changed. If we blindly cling to the old ways, social development will stagnate, and then many problems will arise. If they erupt, at the very least, it will cause loss of life and property, and at worst, it may threaten the safety of the country."

"Do you think the disaster relief methods we have been following are outdated?" Dong Kangping asked with a frown.

"Yes, it is no longer suitable for the development of society."

Dong Kangping was silent for a moment, then asked, "So-called disaster relief was originally the court providing food and supplies to the victims free of charge. According to your proposal, this would require payment. For the Ministry of Revenue and the court, even if they sell at the original price, it's still income, which is a good thing. But what about the victims? Do they have the money to buy it? If they don't have money, won't they starve to death? And how will they view the court then?"

This was the crux of the matter. Emperor Yu Yin had been unable to figure this out, so he sat up straight.

"Your Excellency, my family is a landlord, and I'm sure you know that. But I'm a little different from the young masters of wealthy merchants. I like farmers and often chat with them. This time, we accepted over 30,000 refugees, and I had in-depth contact with them, so I know what they think."

"You gentlemen should be aware of the price of grain in the disaster-stricken areas. I was chatting with Brother Qin Bingzhong a couple of days ago, and he said it had risen five times its usual price. In fact, it's far more than that. In the Yellow River region, especially in Henan Prefecture, the Western Capital, grain prices have already risen twelve times their usual price! Henan Prefecture governs two prefectures and twenty-eight counties, and one prefecture and six prefectures were severely affected by the disaster. Grain prices in these prefectures and six prefectures have generally increased tenfold. Normally, rice costs 17 wen per jin (approximately 500g of rice), but after the disaster, it's already reached 170 wen per jin (approximately 500g of rice)! What a huge profit! My gentlemen, you might be thinking, since rice is so expensive, why not just eat coarse grain? Sorry, coarse grain has also increased in price by more than tenfold! So why is this? It's because not all of the relief grain from the imperial court reached the victims. Without food, they had no choice but to buy it, and at least 30% of the grain they bought was relief grain from the imperial court."

"Merchants all over the world will flock to it if they can make a 30% profit. If they can make a 50% profit, they will take risks. If they can make double the profit, they will dare to trample on all laws. If they can make triple the profit, they will dare to commit any crime. And now it's ten times the profit!"

"The same goes for officials. They will definitely be involved. So, no matter how much grain the court allocates, the final result will not change!"

Fu Xiaoguan spoke at length, and then there was a moment of silence. Feeling a little thirsty, he looked at the emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, may I have some water to drink?"