In the early morning of the next day, the magnificent palace,

Li Shimin sat on the dragon chair with a black face, and his face was not good.

The Minister of Civil and Military Affairs stood in two rows, with relatives in their hearts. I didn't even dare to come out of the atmosphere.

"Tell me, it's been a few days, and you still can't think of a way to help the disaster. What's the use of the court raising you? In vain, you claim to be able to govern the world, and I think it is a group of wine bags and rice bags. Li Shimin scolded angrily.

"Your Majesty, Wechen believes that the top priority now is to appease the people, Wechen is courageous, please ask Your Majesty to issue an edict for his own sin." Wei Zheng, who is not afraid of death, stood up and said.

"You fart, do you have a guilty edict, and the victims will have food? The most important thing now is grain, grain! You have to get me enough food, and I'm going to do it now. Li Shimin couldn't wait to smash Wei Gangjing's dog head on the spot.

"Uh......." Wei Gangjing reported that he was a good hand, but he really asked him to find food, and he had no way at all. He was speechless for a while.

"Hubu Shangshu, how is the collection of disaster relief food?" Li Shimin scolded Wei Gangjing, his mood improved a lot, and he asked Hubu Shangshu.

Liu Zhenghui, the head of the household department, walked out with a trembling face, "Your Majesty, Weichen is incompetent, and now only 20% of the disaster relief food has been mobilized, but now there is not much food in the official warehouse of Chang'an, and the people of Chang'an will fall into a situation where there is no food to buy after half a month." Wechen didn't dare to send out the disaster relief food he had collected. ”

"How so? I remember that there was still a lot of grain in the granary left by the former Sui, why did I only collect this? Li Shimin asked in surprise.

"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty after the Weishui Alliance, and Your Majesty ordered the sale of the old grain of the former Sui to enrich the treasury. This ......" Liu Zhenghui lowered his head and trembled.

Li Shimin patted his head and remembered his stupid decision.

There is a lot of grain in the six granaries of the former Sui Dynasty. I haven't eaten it for several years of war. But in the previous year's Weishui Alliance, the Turks emptied the entire treasury, and the imperial court couldn't even send out the officials' salaries.

In desperation, Li Shimin had no choice but to order the disposal of the old grain in the former Sui grain depot to enrich the treasury.

Unexpectedly, this year's locust plague broke out.

Ay...... To make matters worse.

Bowing his head and feeling annoyed, Li Shimin turned his head and asked the eldest grandson Wuji: "Ministry Shangshu, a few days ago, I asked you to contact the family to donate food, how is the situation?" ”

"Uh......" The eldest grandson Wuji is also helpless, how can the major families be easy to talk to? It's all a bunch of demons who eat people and don't spit out bones. Let them donate food, how is this possible?

They also hope that Chang'an will run off grain, so that they can take the opportunity to raise grain prices and make a fortune for the country.

But some words can't be said too carefully to the emperor, after all, his eldest grandson's family is also a member of the family who is preparing to make a fortune.

I had to be vague, "Your Majesty, in the past few years, natural disasters have continued, and the people's grain harvest has failed, and the major families have no surplus food. The fact that it is difficult to raise money for food is not moving an inch. ”

After thinking about it, he felt that he was too incompetent to say this, and then said: "But under the persuasion of the ministers, they promised to donate 200 loads of grain to each family for disaster relief. ”

200 quintals! My Li Shimin's face is only worth 200 loads! Are your families humiliating me, the emperor?

In an instant, Li Shimin was furious, his eyes were cracking, and his body exuded an inexplicable evil aura.

"Your Majesty, the locust plague has come to the world, it is really a warning from heaven, please Your Majesty will issue an edict to blame yourself and accuse God. Otherwise, the people will deviate from morality, and the Tang Dynasty will be chaotic. "Wei Gangjing is worthy of being a little expert in death, and when Li Shimin was angry, he dared to say such things.

Li Shimin was about to scold Wei Zheng, but who knew that the eldest grandson Wuji also knelt down.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what Lord Wei said is right. Now this kind of rumor is circulating in the market, which makes people panic. In order to prevent the victims from rioting, please make a decision as soon as possible to appease the people. ”

"Please issue an edict to appease the people." Most of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty knelt down and pleaded.

Only a few veterans of the Qin Wangfu did not kneel.

Li Shimin's nose was almost crooked. A wave of anger rushed straight to his head, and he couldn't wait to drag this sour Confucian out and cut it off.

These pickled goods will only shirk their responsibilities and never know how to share their worries for the court.

In their mouths, the outbreak of natural disasters is the punishment of heaven, and the riots of the victims are the ignorance of the people. The corpses of the people are all over the field, and the emperor is even more immoral, anyway, any disaster has nothing to do with them.

They are all loyal "rulers", and those who are at fault are others.

Phew, you and I are the kind of ignorant dumb king, can't you see your methods?

Do you still want me to make an edict against myself and say that all the natural disasters and disasters are my fault, because I killed my brother and forced my father, and God sent punishment?

If you really want to punish you, you should send thunder to kill you stupid people who are eating vegetarian food.

Li Shimin scolded in his heart. 、

I can't wait to drag these ministers who forced him out and behead them.

At this time, Li Xiaogong walked out cautiously and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, there is a way here, I don't know whether to talk about it or not." ”

"But it doesn't hurt to say it." Li Shimin waved his hand and said.

"Yesterday, the nephew of the minister developed a locust cake, which, according to him, was made up of fifty percent grain, three percent locust powder, and two percent bran. Although only 50% of the grain is used, its nutrition is no worse than that of the grain cake, and even more resistant to hunger than the grain.

The minister wondered if he would replace the grain cake used in disaster relief with this locust cake. In this way, a lot of food can be saved. In addition, adding locust powder to gruel is also a way to save food. ”

Locust cake can save 50% of food!

Li Shimin's eyes widened in shock, and he couldn't believe it at all.

He stood up from the dragon chair and asked impatiently, "King Hejian, what you said is true?" ”

"It's true, I tried it myself yesterday, and the locust cake is indeed more hungry than ordinary grain cake. It's just that the taste is a little worse than the grain cake. Li Xiaogong said respectfully.

The ministers of civil and military affairs were stunned when they heard Li Xiaogong's words, and they couldn't believe that locusts could be eaten, and even after several ministers heard it, they felt a wave of nausea in their hearts, and they couldn't help retching.

But Li Shimin didn't feel disgusted, he had been leading troops outside for many years, what kind of things had he never seen? As long as it can be used as food to save the lives of the people, even if it is disgusting, he will treat it as a treasure.

Then, he asked eagerly, "Can you bring locust cakes?" ”

"Bring it, in the minister's carriage," Li Xiaogong said.

Li Shimin waved his hand, and several guards ran out of the hall.

After a while, four guards carried two large baskets into the main hall.

Immediately, an inexplicable aroma of fried oil permeated the entire hall. The ministers of civil and military affairs couldn't help but shrug their noses and swallow their saliva wildly.

"What does it smell like? Why is it so fragrant? ”

"You're stupid. Didn't you just take the locust cake? ”

"But didn't the king of the river say that locust cakes are not delicious?"

"Uh...... Maybe it's just that it smells fragrant, but it doesn't taste good? ”

……

For a while, all the ministers whispered.

"Your Majesty, I'll test the poison for you first." Cheng Yanjin is a mischievous character, and he couldn't help jumping out when he saw something delicious.

As soon as he reached out and lifted the white cloth covering the frame, he grabbed a handful of fragrant fried locusts and stuffed them into his mouth.

As soon as the fried locusts were in his mouth, Cheng Yanjin's face changed, and he couldn't help but squint his eyes and smile.

The smell of fried locusts instantly filled his entire heart, and his soul seemed to be about to fly.

Cheng Yanjin grabbed another handful and stuffed it into his mouth: "King Hejian is right, this thing really doesn't taste good, it's very unpalatable." ”

As he spoke, he chewed the fried locusts and poured fragrant on his mouth.

I believe you're a ghost, you're a bad old man, you're bad.

If it's not delicious, don't eat it. What the hell is that look of enjoyment on your face?

The corners of the ministers' mouths twitched.

"Really? Then I'll have to taste what a bad way to taste! Cheng Biting Jin's "sworn enemy" Wei Chigong also stepped forward, grabbed a handful, and ate it in his mouth.

Then his face changed, "The taste is really not good, it's unpalatable." ”

As he spoke, he kept stuffing it into his mouth, for fear that he would eat less than Cheng Biting Jin.

Li Shimin and the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu looked at these two shameless fools with black lines, and your mouths were full of oil from one bite to me.

"Enough of you! The hall is so presumptuous, is there any rule! Li Shimin scolded with a black face.

Cheng Biting Jin and Yu Chigong smiled with hippie smiles, not caring about Li Shimin's scolding at all, arching their hands to confess, and not forgetting to put two handfuls of fried locusts into their arms when they left.

Li Shimin waved his hand, and a smile regained on his face, "Come, everyone taste this locust delicacy, how delicious it is, it makes the two of my lovers ignore their faces." Lost in front of the palace. ”

Li Xiaogong arched his hand and introduced, "Your Majesty, the two adults are eating the second locust delicacy that my nephew researched, fried locusts. “

"Deep-fried locusts are different from locust cakes in that they require some expensive ingredients. The cost is not low. But it is extremely sweet and a rare delicacy. ”

"My nephew said that these two locust dishes taste good and bad, corresponding to the two classes of the Tang Dynasty, one poor and one rich, and the rich can eat fried locusts as an example to remove obstacles to the implementation of the method of locust use. The poor eat locust cakes to reduce food consumption and reduce the pressure on the Datang treasury. ”

"Congratulations to Your Majesty, I am glad to have received a good disaster relief plan, and my Datang disaster victims have been saved!" After Fang Xuanling tasted the locust cake, he found that it was indeed as King Hejian said, although the taste was slightly worse, it was very easy to fill his stomach. was shocked in an instant, and hurriedly bowed down to congratulate Li Shimin.

"Good, good, good" Li Shimin shouted three times, and tasted two locust delicacies while applauding.

He never expected that Li Xiaogong, a nephew, would be so amazing.

Not only did it reduce the consumption of food, but it also took into account the promotion of locust eating methods.

All aspects are considered without leakage.

What an amazing talent!

"Congratulations to Your Majesty, and you are glad to have received a good plan for disaster relief."

A group of veterans of the Qin Palace's mansion also echoed. Say hello together.

"Hahaha......" Li Shimin couldn't help laughing.

But the ministers of the family had ugly faces, holding locust cakes in their hands, and their faces were gloomy.

These families have hoarded a large amount of grain, in order to make a fortune when the official warehouse is out of food.

But now, there is locust cake. If Datang implements the method of eating locusts, their wishful thinking will be in vain, all the arrangements and plans will be useless, and even each family will have to lose a lot of money, how can they not be angry?

Immediately, under the instructions of the eldest grandson Wuji's eyes, one of the imperial historians of the Fan Yang Lu clan came out and objected: "Your Majesty, the locust plague is a punishment from heaven, and the food is unknown." If we anger the locust god and bring more calamities, I'm afraid that the society will not be protected. ”

"Nonsense! Zi is silent, strange and confused, your sage books have been read into the dog's belly? Li Shimin shouted loudly, deafening.

These families who should be killed, you have no choice but to let me make an edict when it comes to disaster relief.

Now that someone else has figured out a way, you're demagogic again. Hindering the implementation of good policies.

What are you planning again, do you really not know?

Li Shimin's face was dark, and he was angry, but he didn't know what he thought, his face changed, his tone softened slightly, and he said to the ministers of civil and military affairs.

"You are all ministers of the country, and you should keep your mission in mind. In the face of a major disaster, concerted efforts should be made to implement good disaster relief policies. We must not mislead the people with false words and shake the morale of the army. ”

Then, facing Li Xiaogong, his words revealed a closeness. "King Hejian, your nephew is not ordinary, he can come up with a good plan for disaster relief, and he is a talent that can be created. When you go back, tell your nephew, and say that I have written down his merits, and I will reward him when the disaster is over! ”

"The old minister thanked Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty should remember your majesty's teachings."

The crowd bowed down one after another. Said one after another.