"Minister Xie, what do you think?" Emperor Mingde tapped his fingers on the table. To be honest, the matter requested by Physician Peng could boost his prestige, but what if it had no effect? If it didn't play a significant role, it would become a joke.
Xie Yun stood at the head of the court officials. He originally did not want to speak. As for disaster relief, as in the past, it was enough to open the granaries and distribute grain. The most important thing now was to have grain. No matter how much they argued, the result would be the same, so he did not intend to speak.
Having been called upon, he had no choice but to step forward, bow first, and say, "Your Majesty, I second Lord Zhou's suggestion." This was the safest method; fermenting alcohol also required grain, and such a waste would be better used for disaster relief.
Emperor Mingde nodded after listening, then turned to Yang Zhong and asked, "What does Minister Yang think?"
Faced with natural disasters and man-made calamities, the leaders of the old and new parties temporarily put aside their prejudices and reached a rare consensus. Yang Zhongdao said, "Your subject seconds the motion, Lord Xie."
"Where is Minister Huo? Does he have anything to say?" Emperor Mingde's gaze fell on Huo Baichuan, who rarely spoke, as if he had no interest in anything.
Huo Baichuan was still dressed in a black bamboo-patterned white robe, not in his official attire. He stood behind Xie Yun. Upon hearing Emperor Mingde call his name, he stepped forward, glanced at Physician Peng, and then at Zhou Lixing, saying, "Both of you make good points, but I think Physician Peng's method is excellent."
"Huo Baichuan, stop playing games with your words and gamble with the lives of millions of people. If you want to play games, go back to your Huo family and stop making a fool of yourself in the court!" Zhou Lixing had disliked Huo Baichuan for a long time. He was given official robes but refused to wear them, insisting on wearing all white to make himself stand out among the officials. Official robes don't cost money? They're five taels a set!
"Lord Zhou, you are too excited. In the eyes of the people, you have already reached the highest position of the court. You must not be so frivolous. Let me finish speaking. We need to produce goods, but we also need to collect money. We don't need to collect from disaster areas, but we must collect from non-disaster areas, and we must collect from them at high prices. The national treasury's silver is just a drop in the bucket for disaster relief. Just now, after listening to what Physician Peng said, I had a flash of inspiration and came up with a way to collect silver."
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