"Ice storm in Heyin County?"
Xie Yuan received the memorial, glanced at it, and without much thought, said, "Since there is a disaster, let's carry out relief efforts according to the established procedures!"
It's only natural to provide disaster relief when there's a disaster.
However, after saying this, Xie Yuan realized something was wrong! If it were such a simple matter, the Political Affairs Hall would not have sent the memorial to her.
This is--
A show of force?
Or is he trying to test the waters?
Let's test her, the Empress Regent, to see if she is an ignorant woman or truly capable.
"Your Majesty, disaster relief is easier said than done!"
Sure enough, just as Xie Yuan realized the problem, Cui Hong spoke up.
He stood up, holding his official tablet, and stepped out of the queue.
He was the one who volunteered to step forward, but after he stood in line, he looked embarrassed and hesitated to speak.
have to!
They've already gotten into performance mode so quickly.
Unfortunately, as someone involved in politics, one cannot simply point out the truth in black and white terms.
You need to know how to compromise, how to play dumb, and often, you also need to "cooperate."
Xie Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Difficult? What difficulties? Please tell me, Minister Cui."
"Firstly, disaster relief requires money and food!"
Cui Hong was respectful, but his words were barbed.
He almost pointed his finger at Xie Yuan and asked her if she was stupid—she kept asking for help!
Is disaster relief so easy?
Do you want money or food?
Now that we have the money and supplies, which official should we send?
What if there is embezzlement, or if people take advantage of the national crisis to make a fortune and incite good citizens to rebel?
Should we increase manpower or arrange for guards?
These all need to be considered in advance and appropriate arrangements made.
Empress Xie, who sat high on the side of the dragon throne, simply said "Go to the rescue," which was quite casual!
Xie Yuan: ...Of course it's easy!
One of my principles is that professionals should do professional things.
The collection of funds and provisions should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue.
Officials should be selected by the Ministry of Personnel or recommended by the three prime ministers;
As for whether officials had any misconduct such as embezzlement, the Censorate and the Supervisory Commission were responsible for oversight.
There are also imperial envoys, guards, and soldiers, which require the cooperation of the Ministry of War!
Xie Yuan was the Empress Regent; all she needed to do was make decisions.
Instead of doing everything personally, no matter how small.
Xie Yuan understood Cui Hong's "accusation" but showed no reaction.
I felt neither angry, nor ashamed, nor embarrassed.
She remained seated with poise and elegance, quietly watching Cui Hong.
Xie Yuan seemed to be saying: And then what? Is there a "second part"?
Cui Hong: ...Did Empress Xie not get affected by the first wave of attacks?
Whatever!
Perhaps Empress Xie didn't understand what I meant at all.
Yes, a woman!
Do you understand what "sinister sarcasm" means?
Xie Yuan maintained his innocent expression.
Helpless, Cui Hong could only say, "Secondly, besides money and grain, all the wheat fields in Heyin County have been damaged."
It's already April, and in less than two months, the wheat fields will be ready for harvest.
As a result, the grain that had just begun to ripen was gone, and the farmers lost their entire year's harvest.
Of course, as long as it wasn't the last dynasty, and as long as the emperor wasn't incompetent, they would choose to reduce or exempt taxes and distribute relief grain.
But what about the money? What about the food?
These things don't just appear out of thin air.
Even if you go to the Ministry of Revenue, the Minister of Revenue is not a god. If there is no money in the national treasury, do you think he can turn stones into gold?
"Your Majesty! What Minister Cui said is absolutely right!"
As expected, the Minister of Revenue, fearing that Empress Xie would call on him, stepped forward voluntarily.
He held the imperial tablet in both hands, looking troubled. "His Majesty's campaign against the Turks this time involves an army of 130,000 and 40,000 warhorses—"
The amount of food and fodder required for humans and horses is enormous.
The Minister of Revenue glanced at the official tablet in his hand.
Well, in this era, the scepter was more like a "memorandum".
The court officials would write "cheat sheets" on them in tiny characters.
If you forget or can't remember clearly, you can look at the tablet while playing the instrument.
For example, the Minister of Revenue wrote down some specific data this time.
He glanced at it and said loudly, "For the Emperor's personal expedition, the Ministry of Revenue has allocated 300,000 shi of grain."
"This is only enough for ten months of consumption!"
"To be on the safe side, I have specially allocated grain from the official granaries of several counties along the army's route!"
At this point, the Minister of Revenue raised his head, his eyes showing obvious difficulty and guilt: "Among them are the five thousand shi of grain from Heyin County!"
Xie Yuan: ...Wow! What a coincidence!
Helian Jue was about to go on an expedition, and the Ministry of Revenue was raising funds and provisions.
To ensure the army wouldn't go hungry, the Minister even emptied the granaries in several counties along the way.
Heyin County, which was among the affected areas, was one of them.
The people of Heyin County suffered from the ice storm, and were starving and freezing, crying out for food.
The grain reserves that should have been used to help disaster victims have been used up...
Haha, if someone wanted to deliberately incite unrest, they could cause a civil unrest in Heyin County in no time.
"Minister Li, is the national treasury really this empty?"
Xie Yuan deliberately gave off an expression that said, "I don't believe you, don't lie to me."
Her reaction was somewhat like that of an ignorant woman who had never experienced much hardship, who became flustered and helpless at the slightest difficulty.
Next, she might become ruthless, shameless, and unreasonable!
"Your Majesty, the national treasury originally had a surplus, but—"
At this point, the Minister of Revenue suddenly fell silent.
Well, this is another subtle way of blaming Helian Jue for sending troops to the Turks.
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