"Master Fu, His Majesty wants to see you!"
Eunuch Jia's serious words immediately made Dong Yuanshi and Dong Shulan nervous, but Fu Xiaoguan smiled calmly and said to them, "It seems that there is nothing serious. You don't have to worry. Aunt, this braised lion's head is delicious. If it is convenient, we can also serve it for dinner."
It’s already this late, and this guy is still thinking about dinner!
Dong Yuan glared at Fu Xiaoguan and said, "If you have nothing else to do, I'll make you another serving of this braised lion's head. If you have something else to do... forget it!"
Fu Xiaoguan chuckled, "I promise everything's fine. Okay, just wait for news. I'll go see the emperor first."
Fu Xiaoguan's face darkened only after he followed Eunuch Jia out of Dong's residence and got on the carriage.
It seems that my guess has come true. These bastards deserve to die! They delayed my relationship with my mother-in-law. I was about to conquer her, and this happy day was about to beckon, but was suddenly knocked down by those bastards.
Fu Xiaoguan's gnashing teeth and vicious look scared Eunuch Jia. This kid... looks like he wants to eat someone, what is he doing?
"Ah, Eunuch Jia, look at my memory..." Fu Xiaoguan pulled two bottles of perfume from his sleeve pocket and handed them to Eunuch Jia. "I just arrived in Beijing yesterday. I wanted to go to the palace and give these perfumes to you, but I didn't expect to be delayed because of too many things. I only found out today that he was on leave. I was a little disappointed, but today, His Majesty happened to ask you to come out and look for me. This is fate."
Eunuch Jia was delighted, as this thing was now on sale in the capital. Although a small bottle cost ten taels of silver, it was certainly nothing to him.
This thing is very good. He has never stopped giving it to Fu Xiaoguan since he gave him a bottle last time. Today, Fu Xiaoguan gave him two more bottles. Although the gift is not expensive, what is valuable is the boy's ingenious thought.
"I won't be polite with you, Master Fu..." Eunuch Jia put the perfume into his sleeve and continued, "Your Majesty was originally going to the Cining Palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager today, but unexpectedly, Minister Dong came in a hurry and mentioned something... Minister Dong said that this is your opinion, that Master Fu is truly young and promising. Although Your Majesty has not yet approved of it, in my opinion, Your Majesty attaches great importance to your opinions, otherwise he would not have been so anxious to send us to invite you to the palace."
Fu Xiaoguan chuckled, "You are so kind, eunuch... May I ask, besides His Majesty and Minister Dong, are there any other officials in the Imperial Study?"
"Not yet, but after we welcome you to the palace, we still have to go to the Yan Mansion and the Fei Family."
"Oh...thank you for your help, eunuch."
Your Majesty must discuss such an important matter with Yan Beixi and Yan Shidao. As for the Fei family... Fei Bang is in charge of the Ministry of War, so he should be involved.
Fu Xiaoguan pondered for a moment and came up with an idea. After meeting His Majesty, he had to go find Eunuch Nian. This was a bit troublesome. He could not enter and exit the harem at will. Without the invitation of Concubine Shang or the guidance of Yu Wenyun, he had no way to enter.
They entered the palace and arrived at the imperial study. Mr. Jia said goodbye and left, and Fu Xiaoguan walked in.
It was silent inside.
His Majesty was standing next to a wall with a huge map on it.
Dong Kangping was sitting at the coffee table, flipping through a thick account book in his hand.
No one paid any attention to Fu Xiaoguan, which was a bit awkward. He looked left and right and said, "Your humble servant pays respect to the emperor!"
The emperor ignored him and continued looking at the map. Dong Kangping didn't look up at him either, still frowning as he looked at the account book.
Okay, Fu Xiaoguan pursed his lips, sat down at the coffee table, and poured a cup of tea for Dong Kangping and himself.
Dong Kangping glanced at him. This kid is so brave!
"What's going on?" Fu Xiaoguan leaned over and asked in a low voice.
"Not good."
"Oh... let me see."
Dong Kangping raised his eyelids and thought to himself, how can you understand such a complicated thing?
He handed an account book to Fu Xiaoguan, "This is the grain account for Shannan East Road this year."
Fu Xiaoguan took it and read it quickly, flipping the pages. He would only pause for a few moments occasionally and then continue flipping. In a short time, he had finished reading the thick account book.
Dong Kangping glanced at him again and thought that this kid was good at writing poetry and essays, but he was no expert in accounting.
"According to the records in this account book, the two largest amounts came from May and July. In May, Shannan East Road transferred a total of 186,000 dan of grain to Xinzhou, on the pretext of preparing for the war in the north. At the end of July, another 230,000 dan of grain was transferred from Shannan East Road to the north and south of Henan Province, on the pretext of disaster relief by the imperial court. Shannan East Road collected a total of 527,000 dan of coarse and fine grains this year. Excluding these 316,000 dan, there is a remaining 211,000 dan... The grain in Shannan East Road cannot be moved. So, it seems that the same is true for Jiannan East Road."
Dong Kangping raised his head and looked at Fu Xiaoguan. He was extremely surprised because the number was correct!
Fu Xiaoguan frowned and said, "Then we need to transfer grain from the south and north of the Yangtze River..." He stood up, walked to the side of the emperor, and said four words: "Please make way!"
Dong Kangping's eyes suddenly widened, and His Majesty raised his hand and almost slapped Fu Xiaoguan on the head.
Fu Xiaoguan didn't look at him, but stretched out a hand and placed it on the map.
The journey to transport grain eastward along the north and south routes of the Yangtze River... is so damn far!
This map is very different from the map of the previous life. According to the route on this map, grain from the north and south of the Yangtze River is transported by water up the river through Jinling to Zhenjiang Prefecture, and then transferred to Shannan East Road by land to Lanling, the largest town east of Dayu - where is the sea?
At least there is no sea on this map, the names of the towns along the Yangtze River are almost different, and the names and divisions of the entire administrative area are also different.
Fu Xiaoguan felt very strange. This world was so different, so didn’t it mean it wasn’t a parallel world?
Where the hell am I?
Now was not the time to dwell on this issue. Fu Xiaoguan spoke up, "It would take at least a month to mobilize food and fodder from both sides of the Yangtze River to Lanling, not to mention the winter snow that blocks the roads. Therefore, this matter depends on your majesty's decision."
Yu Yin's slap didn't land after all. He glared at Fu Xiaoguan fiercely and growled, "Do I need to choose? I am the Son of Heaven, the ruler of a country. Why should I choose?"
Fu Xiaoguan turned and bowed. "Your Majesty, this is what I believe. A step back opens up a new horizon; a moment of patience brings peace. What we need now is time, and... we also need intelligence. I don't know if the Yi border troops have made any unusual movements, but I imagine they have. At the very least, they need to make a gesture for Your Majesty to see. Actually, you don't need to worry about this matter at all. Why should you? Isn't it better to settle the score later?"
Yu Yin took a deep breath. He had received the news of the unusual movements of the Yi State's border troops two days ago, but there would always be a few unusual movements of the border troops in a year, so he did not take it seriously. After all, there were 300,000 troops on the eastern border, and the Yi State did not have the courage to attack.
But after hearing what Dong Kangping said today, he suddenly woke up and felt that this matter was of great significance. Then Dong Kangping checked and found that as expected, through the hands of Tao Zhuo, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the grain in Shannan East Road and Jiannan East Road was gone.
If the war breaks out, the food stored in Lanling City will only last for a month at most. Now that it is winter, there will be no time to transfer food from other places.
"What a wolf's ambition! How could I ever treat them unfairly? Yet now they dare to let the wolf into the house!"
"Your Majesty, I have a plan, but I'm not sure if I should share it with you."
"Fart if you want to!"
"Oh...then I will release you. Since these corrupt officials have been investigated, I think it would be better to execute them directly and recall the imperial envoy. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"Behead him? I haven't even interrogated him yet. Now that I've got this net in my hands, how can I give it up so easily?"
Fu Xiaoguan pondered for a moment and replied, "I'm not suggesting that Your Majesty give up, but... we need time. Executing these imprisoned criminals without trial and recalling the imperial envoys will demonstrate Your Majesty's stance to those people. They'll think Your Majesty will no longer pursue the issue of disaster relief corruption, and then the war in the east won't start easily."
"If we kill them all, how can I know who is behind this?"
"Your Majesty, there are actually a lot of white ducks."
Yu Yin was stunned and stared at Fu Xiaoguan. This kid... is pretty good!
Dong Kangping was shocked again. The incident of beheading white ducks had happened in the third year of Xuanli's reign. Sixty-two prisoners were beheaded in the autumn, and fifty-two of them were white ducks - scapegoats. His Majesty was furious about this incident and conducted a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Personnel, which resulted in the dismissal of nineteen people including the Vice Minister. This kid actually dared to advise His Majesty to use white ducks instead of those prisoners!
"Sir, don't talk nonsense about this matter. His Majesty has his own ideas." Dong Kangping said hurriedly.
Yu Yin waved his hand and said, "Let's mobilize food from the south and north of the Yangtze River, but be careful to keep a low profile and avoid attracting their attention."
This is very difficult. After all, the imperial court's grain mobilization is quite large, and it is impossible to hide it from all the officials in the court.
Fu Xiaoguan sighed and thought that he had to do this difficult thing himself, just to help his father-in-law.
"Master Dong, please leave this matter to me."
"Can you do it?"
"As a man, I must be able to do it. You just need to prepare the silver. But it's best not to go through the Ministry of Revenue. As for the rest, I will arrange it."
The Fu family was originally a large landlord in Linjiang, and the relationship between Mr. Fu and the grain merchants was very good. Besides, his fourth wife's family was engaged in shipping, and he also had Xishan Express. If he did not go through the court's private operation, the movement would be much less noticeable.
"Okay, if you do this well, I will give you a promotion."
"Your Majesty, absolutely not. I am but a pawn in your hand, a mere pawn who has yet to cross the river. I am merely doing my humble part to relieve your Majesty's worries. Furthermore, I have a small request."
"You tell me!"
"Please limit today's events to the three of us here."
"allow!"
"Also...I have another favor to ask of you."
“…”
"I want to go to the harem, but I don't have a badge, which is quite troublesome. This matter..."
The emperor glared at him, took out a jade token and threw it to Fu Xiaoguan, "Get out!"
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