The Empress blinked her phoenix eyes and asked, puzzled, "Why would you mix sand into perfectly good grain?"
Qin Chuan smiled and said, "You just don't understand!"
Xiao Yue snapped, "Stop pretending, just say it!"
Qin Chuan rolled his eyes at the woman, thinking to himself, "You're ruthless. You dare to be mean to me just because you're a princess..."
Seeing the Empress's expectant gaze, Qin Chuan said in a serious tone, "Why is sand mixed into the grain? This has to do with the corruption of officials..."
"If grain were transported to the two provinces, at the current market price of thirty taels per shi of rice, tell me, which official wouldn't be tempted? Even if the law is strict, they would still secretly embezzle some and sell it to grain merchants to make a profit. In the end, less than one-tenth of this grain would actually reach the stomachs of the starving people, and they would still starve to death..."
At this point, the Empress's eyes lit up, and she interrupted, "You mean, if we mix sand into the grain, those officials won't embezzle it anymore?"
"That's for sure. As long as enough sand is mixed into the grain, even if officials want to embezzle, they will still go to great lengths to extract the grain from the sand, because the time cost is too high!"
"But the starving people are different. All they have left is their bodies and time. As long as there is food, they will eat tree bark and grass roots, and they will even eat clay. Taking millet from the sand is nothing to them."
After listening to Qin Chuan's words, the Empress nodded: "I understand. I will immediately issue an edict to purchase grain from other provinces across the country, then mix it with sand, and then import it into Henan and Shandong provinces to relieve the famine..."
As soon as the Empress finished speaking, Qin Chuan said, "Your Majesty, there's no need. I've already purchased the grain and mixed in the sand. We can just send people to transport it to the two provinces for disaster relief!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress, Yun, and Yue were all shocked.
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