However, after hearing this, Lin Chunhuan showed no intention of moving. He just raised his head and looked at the emperor with burning eyes.
"The Empress is hoarding grain and cotton for the sake of the people of Ming. Otherwise, she wouldn't have revealed this matter so clearly during the most difficult time for the court. This grain is enough to help the people of Kyoto survive the snowstorm. The Empress has foresight, and I am ashamed of myself for not being able to match her. The Empress is not only innocent, but has also made contributions."
"Queen, please stand up."
Looking at that familiar face, Lin Chunhuan was so nervous that her palms were sweating, but at this point, she still had no intention of standing up. "Your Majesty, I...can't provide food or cotton."
"What... I've hoarded so much, how come I can't take it out!"
"Queen, please think carefully before you speak. This food is related to the life and death of the people of Kyoto, the lives of tens of thousands of people!"
"What a woman's mind! Could it be that she has taken all these things for herself?"
Before she finished speaking, some of the court officials began to fuss and glare. In the end, the Prime Minister frowned and stopped them, saying, "Don't be impatient."
"Since the Empress has come today, she must give an explanation for these things. Otherwise, she could have kept it secret. Do you think you are capable of knowing it?"
Lin Chunhuan lowered his head and chuckled, then turned his gaze and looked at the Prime Minister.
When everyone quieted down, they realized that their master, the king in the high position, had not said a word yet, and they were all shouting loudly just now.
At this moment, everyone was watching their noses and their hearts, and no one said a word.
“I can’t get it out.”
The emperor took a deep breath. For a moment, he felt as if he had never fully understood the person beside him. "So, what exactly did the queen want to say when she came here today?"
"So much grain and cotton, can't you take it out?"
He kowtowed again, "Reporting to His Majesty, before the twelfth lunar month, the ten female officials of Yuhua Academy, headed by Yu Huier, have been selected. The remaining twenty deputies have been successfully appointed to official positions within the academy."
The emperor frowned slightly, not quite understanding why she brought up those female officials again at this time.
"Your Majesty, I have allowed them to take away all the grain and cotton."
As he said this, Lin Chunhuan's eyes showed an unprecedented tenacity. "Leave the food behind. We can only save tens of thousands, at most hundreds of thousands, of people in Kyoto!"
"But if we distribute those things to various states and counties, and curb the rapidly rising prices of grain and cotton, we can truly save the people of our Ming country."
"I acted on my own initiative and put the people of Kyoto in danger. Your Majesty, please punish me!"
In the imperial study, there were sounds of people sucking in their breaths of cold air one after another.
Just a moment ago, right at the emperor's door, food prices soared everywhere, and the memorial that a bag of rice was worth a fortune had not yet been submitted. Everyone racked their brains but could not think of a solution.
The road is blocked. Even if you have thousands of ideas in your head, everything is in vain if you can't get out.
The Ming Dynasty has been recuperating over the years, and the people have lived and worked in peace and contentment. Even if there was a snowstorm, there was enough food. Everyone just tightened their belts and could always get through it.
As long as there is food, at least most people can survive.
But human hearts are unpredictable. There are always people who make money from national disasters. Those grain merchants closed their own granaries and raised the price of grain day by day.
The government opened the granaries to release grain?
Even if those people are not in a hurry, the government's grain will run out one day. By then, those officials will have trouble feeding themselves, so how can they care about these ordinary people?
Moreover, there are many cases of collusion between officials and businessmen. They take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune and live a worry-free life for the rest of their lives.
unless.
Unless... there is a big merchant now, a big merchant who has stored up a huge amount of grain, who does not raise the price of grain, but sells it at whatever price it should be, or even lower than usual.
Not only will the price not be raised, but the quantity will also be limited. Now that people have a choice, who would still buy expensive food?
Force those grain merchants to lower the prices!
Don't surrender? Then expect to go bankrupt while holding on to that pile of grain!
The method is obvious and everyone can think of it, but where will the merchants come from? The imperial court is already busy with its own affairs. People in Kyoto cannot leave and people outside cannot come in. Where will the macro-control come from?
Those who can enter the Imperial Study may have unclean hearts and bad intentions, but none of them are fools.
But within a few breaths, everyone had figured out the cause and effect of the matter clearly, and their eyes unconsciously fell on Lin Chunhuan.
That hand belongs to the queen!
Silence...death silence.
No one in the imperial study dared to even breathe, including Lin Chunhuan.
Of course, she had her own selfish motives in doing this. She could take out all the stored grain and cotton and hand them over to the emperor before the road was completely cut off.
In this way, perhaps those experienced officials will do things better than the inexperienced female officials in Yuhua Academy.
But will the emperor believe her?
At that time, the snow had not yet fallen. Would the emperor believe that such a rare snow disaster would occur during his reign? It snowed even in the summer. Just hearing about it makes people laugh.
How can people believe it?
Even if the emperor believed it, would those officials who had enjoyed enough benefits from their positions really obey him? Would they collude with the grain merchants to withhold the imperial grain?
Will the things she worked so hard to stockpile become bargaining chips for those people to further raise food prices?
If that's the case, does everything she does have any meaning?
Last but not least, she did it for herself and for the female officials.
Without a benevolent gesture, how can the people be persuaded to accept the position of a woman official? Without showing the people the tangible benefits, how can they be persuaded that women can be officials?
Lin Chunhuan pursed her lips. Even if she would be punished this time, she would accept it if it could pave a way for women all over the world.
"The Queen."
The emperor's tone was very heavy, and it was impossible to tell what emotion he was expressing. Lin Chunhuan knew that this man was furious, furious to the point of rage.
"You dismissed those female officials, claiming it was for the benefit of the people. So tell me, what's the current progress on this matter? Why are there still so many memorials being sent to the capital requesting the suppression of grain prices?"
Lin Chunhuan's expression changed slightly.
She really didn't know the progress.
Although the roads were blocked, the imperial court had its own means to communicate with various places via letters and get the latest information on the disaster in each place. But she couldn't do that because she didn't have such means.
Those female officials had too shallow a foundation and did not have such means.
Therefore, whether the distribution of those people and food can achieve the expected results is still an unknown.
Clenching her teeth tightly and using all her strength to prevent her back from bending, Lin Chunhuan took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness, I don't know."
"I don't know?"
The smile on the emperor's lips turned cold, "What a clueless one."
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