The next day, the court.
The morning bell rang and all officials took their seats.
The emperor sat high on the dragon throne, and Li Yuanzhao was placed obediently beside him.
Ever since listening to the Crown Prince's experience yesterday, Emperor Jing has been thinking about bringing the Crown Prince to the court for more trials and learning.
I'm getting old too...
After all the officials had finished their greetings, Emperor Jing said "Stand Up" and then drank a cup of tea as usual.
Afterwards, the court fell into dead silence.
Emperor Jing also realized that today was unusual and waited quietly for his minister to speak.
Li Yansong lowered his head and glanced around the hall, sighed, then slowly stepped out of the line and said, "Today's court meeting, this old minister..."
"Your Majesty, I have a report to make!" Before Li Yansong could finish his words, the Minister of War Feng Jie stepped forward first.
"What's the matter?"
Feng Jie said solemnly: "Your Majesty! I received an urgent report from Jianjiang Prefecture last night! Because the flood in Jianjiang has not been resolved for several days and is getting worse, a rebellious force has grown among the people."
"It's called the Water God Cult! The Governor of Jianjiang has sent people to investigate. The people in this cult are the remnants of the Gan Kingdom!"
"It is said that the Water God Cult, under the guidance of its saint, has gathered thousands of disaster victims and carried out operations in various counties and cities in Jianjiang, spreading rumors and causing trouble for the people. The troops and horses of Jianjiang Prefecture are already short of manpower to maintain order, so we have applied to the court to send an additional 10,000 troops to crack down on the Water God Cult!"
As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers began to discuss the matter.
"It has actually come to this. After two years, the remnants of the Gan country have not been completely wiped out?"
"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to quickly send money to Jianjiang Prefecture to calm the people's grievances. If this continues, I'm afraid the Water God Cult will become more powerful!"
"Speed is of the essence in war! We should nip the Water God Cult in the bud while it's still powerful!"
"In that case......"
"Silence! Silence!" Emperor Jing was angry and slammed the dragon throne hard, and all the ministers immediately quieted down.
"The remnants of the Qian Kingdom have now degenerated into a cult. Your reactions are a bit too radical!"
"However, the flood in Jianjiang must be resolved, but the treasury is short of silver. I am willing to allocate another 10,000 taels from the inner treasury."
"As for the rest....you are all pillars of the country. Now that the country is in trouble, I hope you can donate enthusiastically..."
As soon as these words were spoken, many people began to avoid looking at him.
Just like a student who is afraid of being called in class.
After a few breaths, no one took the initiative to speak. Li Yansong glanced at the audience and sighed.
As the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, it seems that I must take the lead.
Your Majesty, what you said is the truth. Now that the treasury is empty, what else can we do? However, taking money from other ministers is tantamount to cutting flesh from their own flesh.
They all claim that they are doing it for the benefit of the people of the world, but the premise is that it cannot harm personal interests!
Li Yansong stepped forward and said loudly: "This old minister is willing to donate 5,000 taels of silver!"
With Li Yansong taking the lead, several cabinet elders began to step forward.
Zhang Dongxiang said: "I am willing to donate 4,000 taels of silver..."
Zheng Qiao said: "I will also donate 4,000 taels."
Seeing that several ministers were the first to bear the brunt of the attack, the other ministers could not help but suck their teeth.
Several of the ministers have been in the cabinet for a long time and hold several positions. They are also highly trusted as the emperor's think tanks.
They are all well-known landlords in their respective hometowns.
But it was different for other minor officials below the fourth rank! It was not impossible for them to take out several thousand taels at once.
But it really hurts...Donate to the disaster victims? Wouldn't it be better to buy two more kilograms of Dapin Tianxian tea?
Emperor Jing nodded with satisfaction.
In the end, it is the old cabinet officials who have to understand the big picture and take the overall situation into consideration...
Afterwards, the rest of the officials began to report their donation figures one by one according to the size of their official positions.
It dropped from thousands of taels to hundreds of taels, and finally to only dozens of taels.
After all the effort, they only managed to collect 34,000 taels in total.
Seeing the numbers summarized by the eunuch, Emperor Jing's expression gradually turned ugly.
Including the 10,000 taels he contributed, dozens of ministers under him donated a total of 24,000 taels, and he could raise more than 10,000 taels just by selling tea in two or three days.
Emperor Jing really wanted to tell the story of the tea leaves to shame these ministers, but when he thought that it might affect the subsequent income of the treasury, he decisively killed this idea and said sarcastically:
"I didn't expect that all the officials in my Great Jing Dynasty were so honest... so many people could only scrape together less than 40,000 taels of silver!"
There was silence below, and everyone began to look at each other.
Your Majesty's appetite is a bit too big. How much is too much?
Zhang Shi, the Minister of Finance, said, "Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to quickly support Jianjiang. Send as much as you can!"
"Yes! Your Majesty, please send troops to Jianjiang as soon as possible!"
Emperor Jing said slowly: "Feng Jie! Immediately send 15,000 troops to Jianjiang to wipe out the Water God Cult!"
"Also, bring another 20,000 taels of silver to assist Jianjiang Prefecture in disaster relief!"
The ministers were in uproar: "Your Majesty! Only 20,000 taels is too little. Now there are already 130,000 taels. Why are you only distributing 20,000 taels?"
"Only one tenth of the two hundred thousand taels has been distributed. This is really too little!"
Many people looked anxious, most of them were officials from the southern faction, who were afraid that the flood would continue to spread and bring disaster to their own families.
Emperor Jing said calmly: "How long will it take for the flood to end? Which of you can give me an answer?"
"If the flood doesn't recede within a month, do you want me to send an additional 200,000 taels of silver?"
"This is a bottomless pit that can never be filled. There are so many people in the world who need to be saved, but the national treasury has so much money. For this matter... let's take it one step at a time and wait for a while..."
\"Feng Jie, after sending troops to Jianjiang, order them to report back to the capital every day. The information must not be delayed for a moment!\"
"yes!"
Seeing the emperor's firm attitude, the people below did not insist any longer, but they all had their own little plans in mind.
Zhang Dongxiang came close to Li Yansong and whispered, "Lord Li, what's wrong with your majesty... I think it's a little abnormal."
Li Yansong said in a deep voice: "I don't know. Your Majesty will make his own decision... Let's take it one step at a time..."
......
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