134 Strategy
You can handle it.
Du Xian, dressed in his official uniform, came early in the morning to see Rong Qianyu. While outsiders were not allowed to enter the inner palace, it was fine to see the Empress. "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you. May Your Highness live a thousand years!"
When I saw him today, he seemed more sharp and steady than before.
Rong Qianyu asked, "How are you doing in the Ministry of Revenue now?"
"I am grateful for your support, Your Majesty," he said, folding his hands in gratitude. "After a year as a Hanlin editor, I was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue, and now I am the head of the Ministry."
"Sixth rank official?" Rong Qianyu looked him up and down. "There's an opportunity to make a contribution, and I think you're a good fit. Would you like to take it?"
When Du Xian was asked the same question again, he was no longer as stubborn as the first time. He followed up with the question, "Your Majesty, are you talking about taxes and floods?"
Rong Qianyu nodded and handed him the memorial sent this morning regarding the disaster in Central and Southern China. "Currently, Central and Southern China has no harvest. The people are struggling, and naturally have no money to pay taxes. This makes it difficult for the local government to provide disaster relief."
Du Xian flipped through the contents while Rong Qianyu continued, "The Minister of Revenue, Lord Wei, came to see me a few days ago. I want you to take care of this matter. Are you willing?"
Du Xian was shocked by the news, his eyes filled with confusion. How could a sixth-rank official like him be assigned such an assignment? He wondered if he hadn't checked the almanac before leaving home today. Why had the empress suddenly promoted him? But he swallowed his words and didn't ask any further questions.
Since the Empress thought he was capable, he only needed to put on a good show. He hesitated for a moment, then knelt down to express his gratitude. "Thank you for your trust in me, Your Majesty. I will do my best!"
"Each prefecture governor will arrange for granaries to be established in each county to prepare for emergencies. Each county has four granaries for rice, flour, grain, and oil, but this Central and Southern Province doesn't seem to have enough." Rong Qianyu told him about the situation in the disaster-stricken areas of Central and Southern China. "Now there are three more problems..."
"Isn't it just the floods and poor harvests? All we need to do is distribute grain as disaster relief," Du Xian asked.
"Can you only see the floods and the people's hunger?"
Du Xian scratched his head and smiled, "Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."
"As the saying goes, political affairs are so complicated that one move can affect the whole body. If you can see one side, you should think of the other side." Rong Qianyu took out the map of Central and South China and pointed out each place to him.
"Floods will lead to a complete loss of harvest. The New Year is almost over, and it's time for the people to pay taxes. But how can they pay when they can't even eat? Without money, they can only sell their houses and land. Unable to pay taxes, they become refugees. From small-scale disaster relief to major disasters, there might even be rebellion. Without enough food to eat, who cares about the government?"
Du Xian couldn't help but nod his head repeatedly after hearing this, "Your Majesty has considered everything."
But she was a member of the harem, and although the emperor and the empress were one, it was still not good for the empress to say these things, as there was no guarantee that the civil servants would not gossip. Therefore, there needed to be someone to speak up, someone to make the decision, to resolve the matter, and this is when Du Xian came to mind.
Du Xian brushed the dust off the hem of his robe and knelt again. "I will devote my whole life to this matter and make it a perfect one until my death!"
"I'll give you a few suggestions. Go and petition the Minister of Revenue, Lord Wei, and I'll transfer you to the local area to handle disaster relief and the people's well-being. Do your job well. If you're successful, I'll report your proposal back to His Majesty and implement it nationwide."
"But for such a major matter, I am only a sixth-rank clerk, and I have never..."
Rong Qianyu walked up to him, looked up at him quietly, and said, "You are worthy of it."
"Your Majesty, this is such a compliment. I am deeply grateful."
His career in officialdom seemed too smooth. He had an unexpected success in the imperial examination and won the favor of the empress. Now he was promoted to the front line to provide disaster relief and comfort the people. He jumped from a sixth-rank clerk to the empress's envoy.
Many students cannot achieve this path to promotion. The more this is the case, the more we must not let down the trust placed in us and must do this job beautifully.
"First, abolish the poll tax and instead pay taxes based on land size; second, return the fire consumption tax to the public, standardize the collection rate; third, all citizens will serve and pay taxes together, eliminating the privileges of gentry and officials."
Rong Qianyu thought of two places for the Huohao money. One was to use it as a maintenance fee, but this also depended on performance and political achievements. If it became a fixed expense, some officials would take advantage of the loopholes and do nothing.
The second was to purchase seeds, rice and flour to replenish granaries in various places in preparation for any eventuality, but she always felt that something was not right about this and she had not had time to complete it.
"Your Majesty, there is no one in this world who doesn't covet small profits. What we need to resolve is not who took too much grain from whom, but to ensure clean governance from top to bottom, so that the people can benefit to the greatest extent."
"Rest and recuperation are important. When you speak to Lord Wei, suggest that the people affected by the disaster area be exempted from taxes for three years."
"Your Majesty's kindness is a blessing to the people!"
Rong Qianyu could see that Du Xian was a man of genuine talent, integrity, and the drive of youth. She was always willing to promote any capable official, regardless of whether they shared her political views or not, as long as they could deliver practical results for the people.
"Quickly compile this into a book and submit it to Lord Wei. Don't tell anyone that I told you this. I value you and hope you'll do a good job, set an example, and restore a stable life to the local people. Don't let me down."
Du Xian took office immediately and went to Central and South to deal with the disaster in person. Although no one said it was the Queen's idea, everyone in the capital said that the Queen handled the situation promptly and had sent an envoy to pacify the disaster.
However, Fu Hua was not mentioned at all in this disaster. For more than a year, he had been eating, drinking and having fun all day long, and no matter how the ministers tried to persuade him, it was in vain.
Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Now it is widely rumored in the capital that His Majesty has been in poor health recently and it is the Empress who is handling the disaster relief work.
The occasional glance but the money-conscious person questioned, "How can a woman like her understand these things?"
"The Empress is the niece of Rong Guo's Fang Xiang. Doesn't the Fang family know this? Besides, everyone has seen everything the Empress says and does. How can they not understand?"
A passing vendor jokingly said, "No matter how ignorant you are, it's definitely better than that ridiculous emperor who seeks immortality."
"In fact, as long as we live a good life, who cares who the emperor is?" said an old man carrying a load.
The vendor whispered, "The current emperor is in poor health, and these disasters are a sign of things to come!"
"What omen?"
Everyone looked at the old man carrying the load with an expression of disbelief, as if to say, "Everyone in the city knows about this, and you still want to ask what it is about."
"What else could it be, Your Majesty..." Someone leaned in and whispered, "It's just that it's going to fail!"
The old man was so frightened that he looked around, but the vendor held his head still. "Keep your voice down, keep your voice down!" Seeing that the man was so stupid, he even tried to cover his mouth. "How can you say that? This is punishable by death!"
He pulled the person forward and said in a voice that only the two or three people could hear, "Your Majesty has been obsessed with elixirs and beauties for over a year now, and your health has long been depleted."
The old man asked, "Tell me, if His Majesty fails, who will become the emperor?"
A passerby pushed him and said, "There's no way it could be you or me!"
"I just don't know, if the prince ascends the throne, then Master Xue, the seal holder, will be in heaven!"
"What's there to be afraid of a eunuch? Just kill him."
This was heard by a man dressed as a scholar passing by, who immediately joined the conversation, "Although this man is a eunuch, he hasn't done anything bad. He was involved in the imperial examination case, the epidemic, and last year advocated strengthening the defenses of the capital. I don't think he's a bad person."
"I heard that his family died in a disaster, so he entered the palace to become a eunuch," said the vendor.
"There's another reason."
There are many versions of the legend about Xue Ji in Beijing. One says he was injured in an accident as a child and was forced to become a eunuch. Another says he was castrated during a famine and entered the palace to earn money. Another says his family disliked him and he was sold to a castrator. However, most of these versions are not true.
No one knows the real reason why Xue Ji became a eunuch. All they know is that one year, a young eunuch who had just started out was suddenly appreciated by the crown prince, and now at such a young age he has become the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department.
The scholar listened and said, "Although he is a eunuch, he has not done anything to violate his superiors. He is a traitor disguised as a loyal person. As long as he doesn't harm us ordinary people, he is a good person!"
After hearing what he said, the merchants nodded in agreement. "What you said makes perfect sense, brother. Their struggle for power has nothing to do with us. As long as they can live peacefully, that's all that matters!"
The next day, the scholar came to Xue's house. "Sir!"
Xue Ji was dressed in casual clothes, his slender fingers gripping a short stick with a tassel at the end. He was sitting in a rocking chair in the courtyard, playing with a cat. "Have you said what you need to say?"
"I've said it all, and I've exaggerated it a lot."
"Are you saying I'm exaggerating?" Xue Ji asked.
"I am only a commoner, and I am only saying nice things. Your Excellency is selfless and a loyal subject!"
Xue Ji paused slightly, and the cat-scratching stick slipped out of his hand. He looked up at the scholar and said, "If you can't speak, you can shut up sometimes."
The scholar was very nervous and said "yes" tremblingly.
Xue Ji could hear the trembling in his voice, so he stopped blaming him. "You did a good job. Let's add more fuel to the fire. It's better to make it even more mysterious. Do you understand?"
After the scholar left, Xue Ji held the short stick he was using to tease the cat and carefully thought about what he had just said.
Junchen? Him?
Such a person is really considered a pure minister in the eyes of the people, but I am afraid it is just flattery from the other side. If he is a pure minister, there will be no evil people in this world.
The disaster relief issue was over. Fu Hua turned a blind eye to it throughout the whole process and turned a blind eye to the memorials handed over. For this reason, He Qiong came to him several times, and this time he came for this matter again.
"Your Majesty, you can't do this. You are the common ruler of the country. How can you leave all the government affairs to the Empress?"
Fu Hua was lying on the couch, lazily basking in the sun. When he saw He Qiong coming, he didn't even look at him. "Didn't you go find her? Then let her do it. I'm not feeling well, so you can leave."
"The Emperor and Empress are one, so naturally Your Majesty can make decisions, but that is only under special circumstances. Now that Your Majesty is well, how can you just sit back and do nothing?"
This was the usual rhetoric of these ministers, nothing more than ancestral etiquette and laws, something he'd already developed calluses from hearing. Over the past year, he'd been living a carefree life, pushing off every possible task and indulging in pure play, his health steadily deteriorating.
But he hated these words, as if nothing new was coming to him. At that moment, he sat up slowly and said, "Are you teaching me how to be an emperor?"
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