But as soon as he reached the door, he heard Zhang Tingyu launching into a long speech.
"Since the Imperial Observatory has made such calculations, it is only right that His Majesty arranges for Prince Chun and the Imperial Medical Academy to make preparations in advance for the sake of the common people."
"However, if this is taken as a precedent, the population of the capital is so large, and with the population within a radius of fifty miles, the cost would be truly staggering."
"The country is so big, there are many places where money is needed, and right now the national treasury is empty, and we also have to deal with possible natural disasters."
"If such a large fixed expense is required, it's truly a case of 'even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice.'"
"Even if we only have this year's money, we can only scrape together what we have and cut back on existing expenses to see if we can make a living."
After Zhang Tingyu finished speaking, the other ministers chimed in, all agreeing with his statement.
The chubby man frowned. These ministers spoke pitifully, but in reality, they didn't believe that an epidemic would occur. They also disregarded the predictions of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
They all say that there are gods watching over us, but in reality, they are the ones who believe in ghosts, gods, and feng shui the most, and they are also the ones who believe in these things the least.
However, Zhang Tingyu wasn't wrong about the empty treasury. Otherwise, he wouldn't have thought of having Sun Miaoqing pay the majority of the cost, with him filling the rest.
Once we get through these few years and the national treasury is more prosperous, we can hand over these matters to the Ministry of Revenue and add them to the imperial budget.
The chubby orange said, "The matters this winter are quite urgent. Consort Cheng, understanding my feelings and sympathizing with the people, has contributed 400,000 taels of silver. If there is any shortfall, it will be made up from my private treasury."
"The same applies to the next three years. After three years, Consort Cheng will give less silver each year, and the rest will be made up by the national treasury until the national treasury bears the entire cost."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tingyu and the others were immediately thrown into an uproar.
When did the concubines in the imperial harem become so wealthy! They give away one or two million taels of silver without a second thought!
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