"allow!"
The emperor waved his hand, and Eunuch Jia brewed a pot of tea for Fu Xiaoguan.
The emperor and the five ministers present were all frowning in thought. Fu Xiaoguan's words basically explained why the relief supplies could not reach the hands of the victims, especially the last sentence. With three times the profit, they would dare to commit any crime. With ten times the profit, those officials would still take the gamble even if they knew they would be beheaded.
This is human nature, which means that no matter who tries, it won't work.
There are certainly honest officials among them, but in this environment, such honest officials cannot play a role.
The collusion between the upper and lower levels has formed a net, and the mesh of this net may be a senior official in the court.
Fu Xiaoguan simply found a seat against the wall and sat down, drinking tea while thinking about whether he should go and flatter his father-in-law later.
Not long after, Master Ning spoke.
"Are you exaggerating? Could it be that our government has become so corrupt?"
Before Fu Xiaoguan could reply, the Emperor spoke up, "Grand Tutor Ning, what I have said is very accurate." He pulled a memorial from the dragon table and had Eunuch Jia take it to Grand Tutor Ning. He added, "This is the latest memorial. Yan Xibai is currently in Henan Prefecture, Xijing. The price of grain here has increased fifteenfold, not twelvefold as Fu Xiaoguan claimed."
Taifu Ning took the memorial and looked at it carefully, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and the anger on his face grew stronger and stronger.
"I have arrived alone in Henan Prefecture. The city gates are closed, and hundreds of thousands of disaster victims are outside. I mingled with the crowd distributing porridge and exited the city. I saw that the porridge was watery and there was only a handful of millet. The victims' faces were pale, and they were all dying. Although it wasn't a situation where there were people starving everywhere, it was not far off. When I asked about the victims, they all said that the price of food had skyrocketed and they had no money left."
"I saw some relatively strong men gathering in a group. I was worried about mutiny, so I went to ask them. They said that if they stayed here, they would starve to death. It would be better to go to Jiangbei Road. They heard that there were kind people in the village below Linjiang Prefecture who took in the victims. The food was very good, and there was money for labor. If we went too late, we might miss it."
"When I returned to the city, I inquired about food prices. A pound of rice had risen to 260 wen, a pound of sorghum to 120 wen, and a pound of wheat to 200 wen... Not only were the victims unable to afford to buy, but even the city residents were complaining bitterly."
"When I went to the government office, the officials said that disaster relief was being distributed every day, but there were too many victims and the government was unable to do anything."
"I am deeply saddened! I will investigate these corrupt officials who are sitting on their posts and doing nothing but taking bribes and breaking the law!"
This memorial was a secret report and was not approved by the Secretariat. As it was circulated one by one, even Yan Beixi's face changed color.
After a long moment, Minister Dong bowed and saluted the emperor. "Your Majesty, I am guilty! Despite your high position, I never imagined that the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief funds would be embezzled to such an extent. I accept your Majesty's punishment and express my gratitude to the world!"
When Fu Xiaoguan heard this, he knew that this was definitely not possible. He wanted his father-in-law to be taken away by the emperor, so he stood up.
"I don't think this is Minister Dong's fault."
His Majesty was stunned. Why did this kid make excuses for Dong Kangping?
However, Master Yan understood clearly that this boy was quite clever.
"The Ministry of Revenue's responsibilities already include disaster relief. All supplies were allocated to various prefectures, counties, and prefectures through the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue has the responsibility of oversight. Why do you think it's not Minister Dong's fault?"
Your Majesty has asked a question, so I, Fu Xiaoguan, must answer it, and my answer must be to the point in order to solve the problem for Minister Dong.
"Your Majesty, I understand that the officials of each prefecture, state, and county were appointed and evaluated by the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Revenue distributed supplies based on the disaster data compiled by each prefecture. If there were any withholdings from the supplies distributed, that would naturally be the Ministry's responsibility. However, if the supplies distributed by the Ministry of Revenue were flawless, then that would be the responsibility of officials at all levels. While the Ministry of Revenue has supervisory responsibilities, it doesn't have that many officials to dispatch everywhere. The Ministry of Personnel, on the other hand, has many officials. If we're to talk about responsibility, it naturally bears the primary responsibility. I don't think now is the time to hold the Ministry of Revenue responsible. Should we get back to the main topic of disaster relief and discuss ways to improve it?"
Fu Xiaoguan was just being funny, successfully diverting the conversation. The emperor thought, "Yes, this disaster relief strategy hasn't come to a conclusion yet," so he said, "We'll discuss this later. Now, do you have any questions about this strategy?"
Dong Kangping sat down nervously and glanced at Fu Xiaoguan.
Yan Beixi spoke up: "This old minister still has a question, please enlighten me, Master Fu."
Fu Xiaoguan quickly bowed and said, "I dare not. Please tell me, old man."
He didn't know Yan Beixi. It was still the same point of view: the older the person was, the higher his official position must be, especially the one who spoke last, he was probably the prime minister.
"Why are those merchants raising the price of grain so high when the victims have no money to buy it?"
This is the limitation of the vision of the people in this world, or perhaps it is because they have been in high positions for a long time and are unaware of the suffering of the people.
"First, merchants controlled grain prices not to sell to disaster victims, but to make money from the wealthy in the city."
"Secondly, grain prices gradually rise. When a disaster strikes, let's say the victims from Henan Prefecture fled here first. They still have some money, though not much, but they can still buy some coarse grains. Then the price of grain gets higher and higher, and they can no longer afford it. They rely on the government to provide porridge. But the porridge provided by the government is not enough to fill them up. What do they do then? Merchants come to buy their land, and to survive, they have no choice but to sell it at a low price."
"So the real purpose of raising grain prices is to buy the land. Think about it, hundreds of thousands of people's land just fell into the hands of these merchants for such a simple and extremely low price. What a lucrative deal! This is their fundamental goal. As for the grain price, it is just a means to achieve this goal."
Everyone suddenly understood, whispered to each other and nodded frequently.
At this point, the drawbacks of the old method had been basically explained. Fu Xiaoguan waited for a moment and added, "Based on my understanding of the victims, if food prices don't rise, they can basically survive until the flood recedes."
"In just a dozen days, they'll be able to return home and start farming again. Life will certainly be hard, but they won't have to flee. And after the floods recede, the fields will be more fertile, and next year will generally be a bumper harvest. Their lives will improve again, unlike now, where without their fields, they've become rootless and there's no point in returning home."
"If Your Majesty were to show His Majesty's grace right now and exempt those disaster victims from taxes, or even provide them with oxen, farm tools, and seeds, those disaster victims would be eternally grateful for Your Majesty's immense grace!"
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