Zhao Xin waved his hand upon hearing this, "We are the ruler and his subjects, and we should speak our minds. There is no question of punishment or non-punishment.
I'm probably aware of the situation outside, but if I'm to be punished, my guilt is far greater than yours."
He couldn't help but sigh as he spoke, "These past few days, I have been acting on my own and left the capital for Bingzhou.
After returning to Beijing, you have been locked up in the palace for the past two days and have not taken care of state affairs. I know without you telling me that you must have complaints in your hearts.
Perhaps they think I am truly foolish. At this moment, I have abandoned the disaster and the people, and only indulged myself in drunkenness and debauchery in the palace!"
"Your Majesty, your words are too serious. We are terrified!"
Hearing Zhao Xin speak so bluntly, Liu Muzhi and others were suddenly a little panicked and hurriedly stood up together. Even Qiao Sanniang couldn't help but turn pale.
Although the emperor's behavior during this period did make them feel a little resentful, they did not dare to say so.
The emperor himself said it so bluntly, which made them even more uneasy.
Zhao Xin didn't care. He waved his hand and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to provide disaster relief, nor is it that I don't want to fight the drought.
Don’t I know that if we can provide effective disaster relief and drought relief now, we can keep some people in their hometowns and recover the losses to a certain extent?
But I can't do that, and I can't do it.
Because if I really give them money and grain to help with disaster relief, I can guarantee that 95% of that money and grain will end up in the hands of those officials and aristocratic families.
Not only was it impossible for the people to stay in their hometowns, but they suffered even greater losses.
When the last bit of capital in our hands is gone, then both I and the people will be fish on their chopping boards."
After hearing what he said, Liu Muzhi and others couldn't help but feel moved, and then they felt sad.
Because Zhao Xin's words pointed out their current predicament.
It is indeed as Zhao Xin said, although they still have millions of stones of money and grain in their hands.
But if we really use this money and grain for disaster relief, then in the end there will undoubtedly be nothing left, not even a trace of it.
But……
"Now that this disaster has occurred, and this year's autumn harvest seems hopeless, the court can't just sit back and do nothing."
Kou Zhunren frowned.
Wang Xuance also said, "Recently, many officials in the court have submitted petitions requesting relief for the victims of the disaster. Some have also suggested taking advantage of this rain to remove the dead seedlings in the fields and replace them with new ones.
Memorials from various prefectures and counties requesting disaster relief from the imperial court poured in like snowflakes."
Zhao Xin didn't respond directly. Instead, he smiled and asked, "You've been impeached a lot lately, haven't you?"
Everyone couldn't help but laugh bitterly when they heard this.
Kou Zhunren said, "It's not so bad for us ministers. There are indeed quite a few memorials impeaching Mu Zhi."
Yu Qian frowned and said, "What those people are doing is, as Your Majesty said, forcing us to give them the little money and food we have!
These noble families are truly ambitious!"
He doesn't understand much about political struggles between individuals.
But they see this kind of group conflict more clearly than others.
Because in his previous life, it was he who saved the Ming Dynasty from danger and completely consolidated the status of the civil service gentry group.
It completely transformed the Ming Dynasty from an imperial regime to a civil service regime.
It was from that time that the Ming Dynasty gentry group completely surpassed other social groups.
From this point of view, his position at that time was similar to that of the current aristocratic families.
It’s just that he has more responsibility and a broader vision for his country and the world than those aristocratic families.
The gentry group at that time was not yet as corrupt as it was later.
To some extent, they are the backbone of society.
However, when one social class completely dominates other classes and groups and completely controls the power and interests of this society, it is not far from complete degeneration and becoming a scourge.
The same was true for the Qin Dynasty at this time, except that their positions were different.
At this time, he was not one with those aristocratic families, but one with the emperor.
Moreover, in Yu Qian's eyes, these aristocratic families of the Qin Dynasty had no integrity at all, and had no sense of responsibility towards the country and the people.
Zhao Xin didn't say much about this.
After thinking for a while, he smiled and said, "In that case, let's provide relief.
But they couldn’t provide the relief they wanted.”
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Zhao Xin, knowing that he must have something else to say.
"Mu Zhi, how many refugees are there in the capital now?"
Zhao Xin turned around and asked.
"Your Majesty, I cannot answer the exact number of refugees, as it is increasing rapidly every day and is impossible to count.
However, before I came here, I roughly estimated that the number of refugees gathered in the capital alone is no less than 30,000."
Liu Muzhi said solemnly.
Although everyone else knew that the number of refugees was increasing day by day, they still gasped in shock when they heard this number.
Kou Zhunren hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this matter cannot be neglected. With so many refugees gathering in the capital, if they were to be taken advantage of by bad guys, it would inevitably lead to a devastating disaster!"
The others nodded in unison.
Then he asked Liu Muzhi, "Does the Minister of Agriculture have any plans for this?"
Liu Muzhi nodded and said, "I have already ordered a group of tents to be set up along the Luo River in the Cuiping Mountain area west of Beijing to temporarily accommodate the refugees.
However, because there are too many refugees and the rate of increase is too fast, priority can only be given to the sick, women and children.
In addition, I have ordered the Taicang magistrate to set up twenty soup kitchens in the area around Junma Temple west of the city, but these can only ensure that fewer people will starve to death."
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