Chapter 693 Debut - Guarantee

"What do you mean by this, Your Majesty? You can't come up with a solution, and you don't approve of the one I came up with. So why don't you come up with a foolproof plan?"

Lu Yuanbin felt that Lu Changqing didn't think highly of him and that he only stood up to deliberately obstruct the emperor from entrusting him with the task.

Lu Changqing ignored him and silently stepped forward, cupping his fists to the emperor and saying, "Father, the coastal areas are far from the inland. Even at the fastest speed, it would take more than twenty days to reach them, let alone transport so much food. Fish have a short shelf life, and in such hot weather, if they are left for twenty days, they will be inedible even if they are transported inland."

Lu Changqing's words immediately reminded the emperor that he had only been thinking about solving the problem of rising grain prices as soon as possible.

Therefore, the idea of ​​fishing by the sea is like trying to quench a fire with water from afar—basically useless.

"Who says you have to eat fresh fish? Fishermen along the coast also make dried fish from their surplus fish. We just need to soak and boil the dried fish before we can eat it."

Lu Yuanbin had long known that the fish would rot if transported inland, so he had already had them collected and dried. As long as the emperor approved his method, he could immediately have the dried fish sent inland.

Lu Changqing smiled upon hearing this, "My brother also said that the dried fish needs to be dried in advance. Not to mention how much manpower and resources are needed to catch and dry fish, it will take some time to dry the fish. By the time it is delivered to the inland areas, I'm afraid the people will have already starved to death."

Lu Changqing looked at Lu Yuanbin with a mocking gaze, making Lu Yuanbin want to stomp his feet on the spot.

Actually, his dried fish was already on its way, but this matter had been kept secret and no one knew about it.

Lu Yuanbin stepped forward and was about to tell the emperor what he had prepared beforehand when Minister Sun quickly stepped forward to interrupt him.

"Your Majesty, what the Fourth Prince said makes perfect sense. There are indeed some shortcomings in the matter of transporting the fish. I dare to ask the Fourth Prince if he has any other good ideas."

Minister Sun's words not only prevented Lu Yuanbin from making a foolish move, but also subtly implied that Lu Changqing couldn't come up with any solution.

Lu Changqing naturally understood what Minister Sun meant, but he wasn't annoyed at all.

"To be honest, I didn't have any good ideas at first, but after hearing my brother's suggestion, I do have a temporary solution in mind."

The fourth prince's words immediately caught the emperor's attention.

"In your opinion, Fourth Prince, what method can be used?"

Compared to Lu Yuanbin's grim expression, addressing the rapidly rising grain prices is the real priority.

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince bowed apologetically to the Emperor and replied, "Currently, our country has nearly 300,000 troops in the two border regions combined, with General Ji alone commanding 200,000. If we could temporarily allocate most of the military rations for disaster relief, and then replenish them at the end of the year when there is a good harvest, we should be able to get through these most difficult months."

"Your Majesty, you mustn't! Soldiers are the foundation of the nation; how can we so easily expend military resources?"

The fourth prince's words immediately drew a rebuttal from the Minister of War. Although the Minister of War was only a civil official, he knew the importance of a country's border defense.

The area guarded by the Ji family army was located at the border of Jin, Wei, and Zhou. If military supplies were reduced and the soldiers went hungry, how could they resist foreign invasion?

"I second that proposal!"

As the eldest grandson of the Ji family and the Vice Minister of War, Ji Wenjin naturally had to stand up and support his superior.

"Your Majesty, during the previous disaster relief efforts, the Ji family army allocated grain from their military supplies to help the people. If the military supplies are diverted again, the borders may become unstable."

Yun Yichen could no longer stand idly by.

Putting aside the fact that General Ji is his little girl's maternal grandfather, from a broader perspective, now is not the time to weaken the border defenses.

With the three of them taking the lead, many others stood up to second their opinions, while the Fourth Prince's faction also argued their case.

The emperor felt a headache coming on as he listened to the arguments below. Things were already complicated enough, and none of his ministers could truly share his burdens.

"Enough! Since you don't agree to use military supplies, then come up with a solution!"

The emperor was clearly getting impatient, and in a fit of anger, his face turned red.

Lu Yuanbin still hadn't given up on his fish-transporting days and immediately wanted to do it again for the first time.

But Minister Sun quickly shook his head at him, signaling him not to act rashly.

After the emperor's soul-searching interrogation, everyone fell silent, except for Lu Changqing, who stood calmly as if nothing had happened to him.

Yun Yichen may have previously thought that Lu Changqing's actions over the years were all for the purpose of becoming emperor, but only today did he truly understand that Lu Changqing simply wanted to destroy the Great Zhou.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, it would be better to purchase grain from the states of Wei and Jin."

The head of the cabinet suddenly spoke, and the emperor shook his head without even thinking.

"Buying grain from them at this time is just asking to be slaughtered."

The emperor knew the thoughts of those in power. If it were another country instead of the Great Zhou that was suffering from the disaster, and if they also came to buy grain from the Great Zhou, he would definitely have doubled the price.

This won't work, that won't work, after discussing it all morning, the problem has returned to where it started.

Lu Yuanbin was still waiting to discuss the matter of transporting the fish, after all, he had already spent a lot of money on this matter, and if it couldn't be done, what would happen to his money?

Compared to Lu Yuanbin's anxious expression, Lu Changqing's emotions remained unreadable.

Yun Yichen knew that besides his good composure, he was also certain that the emperor would use his own methods.

"Alright then! Let's go along with Fourth Brother's idea for now. The general needs to borrow funds for disaster relief."

As expected, after a period of silence, the emperor made this decision.

Although the other ministers still opposed the decision, they couldn't come up with any solutions and could only listen silently as the emperor made his decision.

At that moment, Gu Renjie, who had been motionless, reacted.

"Your Majesty, I may have another way to solve this."

Gu Renjie's words were like heavenly music to the assembled officials. These civil officials had all experienced the attack more than ten years ago, so they knew how important the defense of a country was.

Now that Gu Renjie has another solution, doesn't that put their minds at ease?

The emperor had been waiting for Gu Renjie to give him an answer, and upon hearing him speak, he hurriedly asked, "What good idea does Minister Gu have?"

"Well, it's hard to explain in a short time, but I assure you, it will definitely work."

Gu Renjie kept everyone in suspense, which only made everyone more curious.

"Lord Gu, you're not just saying this to amuse Father Emperor, are you?"

Lu Yuanbin couldn't say anything because Lu Changqing had stolen his thunder, but Gu Renjie, a mere subject, dared to interfere.