"Your Majesty, I agree."
"Your Majesty, I agree."
The ministers all nodded in agreement to provide disaster relief.
"What does the Prime Minister think is the best person to send for disaster relief?"
Emperor Jing wanted to know who they would recommend, so he could ask Jing Le to help him make a selection.
Before stepping forward, the Prime Minister exchanged a glance with the Minister of Revenue when he was called upon, and then looked up to reply:
"Your Majesty, both the north and south urgently need people to provide disaster relief. The situation is severe, and the grain and silver must be properly stored and ensured reach the people..."
"I recommend that the Vice Ministers of the Ministry of War escort the silver, and the Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Revenue lead troops to open the granaries for disaster relief."
The two vice ministers of the Ministry of War had long since pledged allegiance to the prime minister, while the minister of war had been stripped of his power and knew nothing.
[Father, don't believe his nonsense. Because of his lies, not only were the people in the north and south not saved, but many died, and there was widespread resentment.]
Emperor Jing: Don't worry, with Lele's help this time, the people will definitely not end up in such a state.
[As for the Ministry of Revenue, apart from Yuan Zhengqi, everyone else is the Prime Minister's man. Perhaps this disaster relief effort will also be used to eliminate Yuan Zhengqi and frame him.]
Emperor Jing: Yuan Zhengqi is also unlucky. Because he finally joined the Dayong Dynasty, he became a thorn in their side. Don't worry, this time I will send people to protect him.
"By having the Censors of the Censorate supervise the construction, we can prevent corruption from happening."
The Prime Minister continued speaking.
[Tsk, you've even infiltrated the Censorate, which belongs to Father Emperor, and have the Left and Right Censors oversee the work. Isn't that a case of the emperor being far away, so you can say whatever you want?]
Emperor Jing: Don't I have any loyal ministers by my side? They all want this position.
Look how grand and eloquent the Prime Minister's words are. If Emperor Jing hadn't known what kind of person the Prime Minister was from Jing Le's words, he would have really been convinced by his superficial remarks.
The Ministry of War was responsible for escorting the silver, the Ministry of Revenue was responsible for opening the granaries, and the Censorate was responsible for supervision.
If anything goes wrong, he won't be blamed, since the supervisors are all the Emperor's men.
"Do any of my beloved ministers have any other suggestions?"
Looking at the assembled ministers below the stage, Emperor Jing grew increasingly disappointed. There were too few capable ministers and too many sycophantic and mediocre ones. He thought that once the disaster was over, he could hold the imperial examinations to select talented individuals.
Jing Le was speechless to see that all the ministers were like mutes. They had been in high spirits when she went to court just now, but now they were acting like cowards.
No wonder the plot portrays how much Emperor Jing trusted his prime minister.
A minister who, from Emperor Jing's perspective, considered the interests of the Great Yong Dynasty (though only superficially).
A bunch of mute officials who do nothing but scheme and plot against each other.
It's obvious which is more important and which is less important.
However, this old scoundrel's arrangement is indeed quite good.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jing became interested and silently looked at the audience below, sending chills down the spines of all the ministers.
Actually, his attention was entirely on the little princess in his arms.
Jing Le didn't need to be urged; she had already started nagging.
The Prime Minister's choice of them was based on the premise that those people were all from his faction. If he replaced them with his own people, wouldn't the problem be solved?
Emperor Jing was surprised that Jing Le had also thought of this, which coincided with his own idea.
"Then it's decided."
Emperor Jing paused for a moment, and saw that the Prime Minister indeed breathed a sigh of relief.
Emperor Jing's lips curled into a sarcastic smile as he continued, "Yuan Zhengqi, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is in charge of the grain issue for disaster relief in the south, while the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works is in charge of escorting silver to the south and disaster reconstruction."
"The Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief accompanied the supervisor."
"The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was in charge of grain transport in the north, while the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works was in charge of escorting silver and disaster relief reconstruction, and conducting on-site inspections of water conservancy projects."
"The Right Vice Censor-in-Chief accompanied the supervisor."
"Furthermore, each side shall send a squad of Imperial Guards to accompany them, departing tomorrow."
As these orders were issued, the Prime Minister and others looked as uncomfortable as if they were constipated.
Jing Le almost slapped the table with her little hands while watching, trying hard to suppress her laughter. Her lips twitched uncontrollably, but in the end she couldn't hold back any longer and buried her face in Emperor Jing's arms, laughing softly, though she was laughing wildly inside.
[Pfft, hahaha, the Prime Minister's expression of utter disgust is hilarious! You didn't expect this, did you? My father has pulled off a surprise attack, catching you all completely off guard.]
[I must say, this time Father's judgment was right; the people he chose are all loyal and capable.]
Emperor Jing: Of course, he would never admit that he just randomly selected the officials. It seems that after the court session, I must have Yingyi and the others thoroughly investigate the court officials.
Now that we have time, we should get rid of all those with disloyal intentions to make room for talented people in the imperial examinations.
Seeing that the matter was almost resolved, and receiving a signal from Emperor Jing, Eunuch Xu stepped forward and called out:
"If there is anything to report, speak up; otherwise, the court may adjourn."
The emperor ignored them and left with Jing Le in his arms.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
...
Kunning Palace.
The Empress has been unusually quiet these past few days. Apart from secretly having affairs with Consort Yang behind Emperor Jing's back, she hasn't bothered Consort Yang or even Consort Jing Jiayue.
That day, the empress became even bolder, engaging in illicit affairs with men in broad daylight, and was currently soaking in the bath.
Granny Wu came over with a letter: "Your Highness, it's a letter from the Master."
"Give it to me."
The gentle woman in the bath took the letter and began to read it without any hesitation.
"Things have changed? Heh, what a useless piece of trash, the old man is utterly incompetent."
Who would have thought that the Empress would be scolding her own father?
Yes, the letter was sent by the Prime Minister. The original plan was good, but one of the lines went wrong, causing today's plan to fail completely.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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