Looking at the other person's stubborn attitude, Ye found it extremely ridiculous.
Even if there is not enough money and there are too many victims, the disaster relief funds allocated by the court can at least ensure that the people will not starve to death.
The fact that a large number of disaster victims were not rescued only shows that these corrupt officials were too greedy.
"So, this prince has misunderstood you?"
"Hmph, I do things that are worthy of the court and my own conscience.
It's not easy to properly relocate tens of thousands of disaster victims."
Ye nodded slightly: "In that case, please give Lord Wei a seat!"
Wei Guang's face was full of suspicion, but a hint of pride flashed in his eyes.
He originally thought that Ye was going to attack him aggressively, but he didn't expect it to be so easy to deal with.
"It seems this young prince is just so-so! How can he be as powerful as the rumors say?"
Wei Guang's expression relaxed a lot, he thanked him and sat down.
Yuye continued to question other officials.
How much relief money and food have been raised? How many disaster victims are there in each village?
Let them report truthfully.
These officials certainly won't tell the truth.
Falsely reporting the number of disaster victims rescued.
Surplus food is actually underreported.
Everyone is suffering.
"Your Highness, you don't know! Although the imperial court has allocated disaster relief funds, food prices have skyrocketed since the disaster.
It has more than doubled compared to usual.
The money given by the imperial court was not enough, which led to a large number of disaster victims starving.
How about your Highness report this matter to the court and allocate more disaster relief funds?"
The Governor said.
Ye did not refuse on the spot.
Instead, he pretended to be troubled and thought for a moment.
"This is a serious matter, and we must have sufficient evidence!
Bring all the grain merchants here, I want to question them personally.
Why are these grain merchants taking advantage of the disaster to profit from the national disaster?
Ye pretended to be very angry and asked.
The officials looked at each other.
One of the prefects quickly explained, "Your Highness, please calm down! Your Highness, you don't know that the rising grain prices are not due to grain merchants taking advantage of the opportunity to raise prices.
Due to the disaster here, the roads are difficult to travel on.
The shipping cost is several times higher than usual.
If food prices don't go up, they will lose money.
There were no merchants bringing food here.
This will have more serious consequences and cause more victims to starve to death."
Suddenly, Ye understood: "So that's how it is! What you said makes a lot of sense."
As the saying goes, the world is in turmoil, all for the sake of profit.
If there is no profit to be made, who would be willing to spend so much effort to transport food here?"
"In order to complete the disaster relief work as soon as possible and stop the victims from starving to death!
Bring all the grain merchants over here, we will negotiate a suitable price and let all the grain merchants ship grain here.
We also need to calculate how much money the court needs to allocate to feed these disaster victims."
The more he spoke, the more excited he became, his face flushed as he said, "This prince has received the order from His Majesty to come here to provide disaster relief, and I have already given the emperor a promise.
As long as this prince arrives, no victim will starve to death again.
You gentlemen must lend your full support.”
The officials present were all old hands, and when they heard what Ye said, they thought he was a complete novice who knew nothing.
There was an expression of immense joy in his eyes.
A prince like this came to help with the disaster relief, but he was definitely fooled around by them.
At the moment, they were very cooperative and expressed their full support for Ye.
"If only Your Highness had come earlier, no victim would have starved to death with Your Highness here."
"Your Highness is incredibly intelligent, seeing the essence of things at a glance! The Nanyuan clan is truly fortunate to have Your Highness here!"
"Your Highness is truly a dragon among men. You will surely be able to complete the disaster relief work quickly."
…
Listening to the officials' flattery, he became elated.
He took the opportunity to issue an order: "Don't wait any longer, immediately arrange for people to take out all the stored food.
Large pots were set up everywhere to cook porridge to provide relief to the victims.
I will explain the situation to the Emperor only after all this food is consumed.
Ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate more money.
In addition, this prince also brought 100,000 taels of silver.
Negotiate the price with the grain merchants first so that you can spend money to buy grain."
All the officials present were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling.
This prince is such a big head!
It was so easy to be deceived.
If the prince did not stay in the capital, he would know nothing about what was going on down there.
He had lived a life of luxury since childhood and had no idea of the sufferings of the Qi people.
But the more they do this, the more money they can make from it.
Anyway, the prince is taking the blame, so if anything goes wrong it has nothing to do with them.
After all, they all followed orders from Master Ye.
The emperor can't possibly kill his own son.
The governor was wary at first, but then became very enthusiastic towards Ye.
The orders given to him were carried out without reservation.
"With your Highness' words, I have no more scruples.
Open the granaries and release the grain immediately."
In his opinion, the little bit of food in stock was nothing.
First use it to help the disaster victims and make Ye happy.
As long as they raise the price of grain, they can collude with grain merchants to make huge profits.
Ye pretended to be trusting and had great trust in these officials.
Wei Guang originally thought that Ye would use him as an example to establish his authority.
I didn't expect to be fooled around.
His eyes were full of doubt and confusion.
He has received orders from the Crown Prince, and he is not easy to deal with.
Let him prepare in advance.
I originally planned to fight to the death with Ye and never compromise.
But it seems that this is not what the prince said.
The prince behaved like a complete idiot.
I really don't understand why Prince Qi is so wary of him.
Even the other officials were smiling.
But he still remained on guard in his heart, wanting to find out whether Xiao Ye was pretending to come out and deliberately let their guard down.
In order to make money, the officials quickly brought all the grain merchants to their side.
And a sumptuous banquet was set up.
Seeing that everyone in front of him was talking excitedly, Ye sneered in his heart.
The people affected by the disaster were almost starving to death, but they still lived an extremely luxurious life.
There was revelry every night, and every meal was filled with delicious fish and meat.
I wish I could kill all these people.
The governor happily raised his wine glass and introduced a well-known grain merchant to Li Ye.
Ye was also very enthusiastic about these grain merchants.
Let them remember all their names.
After three rounds of drinks.
The Governor then repeated Ye's original words in public.
"Tell me, what is the ideal price for food to ensure sufficient supply?
Don't hesitate, just tell the truth!"
As the governor spoke, he winked at the merchants, asking them to quote a higher price.
After all, the higher the price, the more benefits their officials can get.
"If we want to have sufficient supply, we have to at least triple it!"
“Yes, the road is too difficult to travel on and it is also very dangerous!
Ordinary businesses wouldn't dare take such a big risk."
"Three times is already the lowest price. I think it should be at least four times."
With the support of the government, businessmen became more and more daring.
Each offer is more outrageous than the last.
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