Apocalypse left abruptly in the middle of a meeting in the Military Affairs Yuan, not because of an internal urgency or stomach pain, but because he suddenly remembered that today was also the time for the Government Affairs Yuan to discuss important matters. When he entered the council office, he saw that everyone was there, and everyone stood up and bowed when they saw him coming. A month ago, Tianqi decreed that no one in the Military Affairs Yuan and in the Government Affairs Yuan did not have to kneel and bow, the original intention was to gradually cultivate everyone's sense of equality, who knew that everyone was used to kneeling and suddenly did not kneel for a while, and was not very comfortable, and later under the repeated requests of the Apocalypse, everyone slowly felt that it was more comfortable not to kneel than to kneel, so they changed to bend slightly and bow. Apocalypse didn't talk nonsense, and after sitting down, he made a gesture for everyone to sit down, and then asked directly: "King Xin, tell me what you have been busy with for a while." ”

King Xin said: "In the past two months, the Government Council has been busy clearing acres of land and investigating the disaster situation, mainly by the provinces to summarize the number reported by the prefectures and counties, and then by the Government Council in conjunction with the household category. Later, the emperor's brother decreed that all provinces that had not completed the tax revenue should be liquidated by the household department, so the government affairs yuan switched to mainly inspect the grain depot and the domain treasury, and the situation was very bad, and in some places it can be said to be very bad. ”

Tianqi smiled and said: "Things have a process from scratch and then from coarse to fine, and they have been done very well, tell me what is bad?" ”

King Xin said: "Shandong, Shaanxi, Henan, Beizhili and other provinces in the north have been greatly affected, and the harvest season has just passed in these two months, but the harvest is low in many places, and the grain cannot be eaten until the harvest season next year. Fujian, Guangdong, Nanzhili, Huguang and other provinces in the south are better but limited in terms of the number of reports. I wanted to transfer grain from the south to the north, first, there was not much surplus grain reported from the south, and second, the canal was blocked, and the amount of water transported became smaller, and it was already very reluctant to transport it to Beijing, and then it was necessary to dredge the river to transport it to other places, which involved the river workers and silver, and the ministers were also very helpless Just now they were discussing with several assistant ministers. ”

Tianqi looked at Zhu Yanxi, Ye Xianggao, Han Yi and the others and asked, "What is the result of the discussion?" ”

Ye Xianggao said: "The ministers are discussing whether to transfer grain from the area around Taihu Lake, which has the largest grain stockpile, and then go directly out of Shanghai and ship it to Tianjin to Beijing without going through the canal. ”

Apocalypse thought for a moment and said, "Judging from the amount of grain you have gotten, can you meet the food shortage in the northern provinces?" ”

Zhu Yanxi said: "In terms of number alone, it is not much, but it is much worse to transport and remove the consumption, and if you unfortunately encounter the sea and sink, it will be troublesome." Even if it is transported to Beijing by sea, it will have to be transported to Shaanxi and other places. ”

Apocalypse asked again: "Are there any big households who do not sell their grain and refuse to pay it?" ”

Han Yi said: "I can't see it on the surface, I have accepted grain and sold grain according to the emperor's will, but I can't find out how much there is still in the family, and how many acres of land are hidden." ”

Apocalypse said, "I think you're thinking too much about it, and you've said so much, it's just three questions. The first problem is that there is surplus food in the south, and those who lack food in the north cannot eat it because of the long distance. The second problem is that some people in the south hoard grain in disregard of the orders of the imperial court, and only care about themselves and the life and death of those who lack food, but they don't know who there is; The third question is what I thought about further, that is, will the wealthy families with more acres of land in their families take the fields that produce grain to grow other crops next year to make money? How about we break it down one by one? ”

King Xin said: "Brother Huang's idea must be good, a while ago I saw that you were busy with military affairs and it was difficult to disturb, so I invited you to come over when I had no choice." ”

Apocalypse said: "Don't be lazy, let's talk about the first question first, I want to transport the grain from the south to the north, and the trouble is still lost, can I not transport the grain and pull the people from the north to the south to eat?" ”

Ye Xianggao said: "The minister has also thought about this problem, refugees will flock to Jingshi, Jiangnan and even Sichuan and other places when they have no choice, but it is begging, which can only solve the problem for a small number of people, and they can't get it if there are more." ”

Tianqi said: "Lord Ye said it well, because Sichuan and the provinces south of the Yangtze River are in the south, the climate is good, the grain production can be guaranteed, and the capital can transfer grain from the south through the canal, so people who have no food to eat will go to these places to beg when they see this." I wonder if I can turn begging for food into working for food? ”

Ye Xianggao asked: "Work for food?" What do you do? How to change? ”

Apocalypse said: "To put it simply, it is to build rivers, roads, and wasteland." ”

Han Yi said at this time: "The minister is also thinking about this problem, here to send the grain from the south to the north, the people over there are good hands and feet to lie at home and wait for the court to provide disaster relief, the court has not returned the money and efforts, is it necessary to do this?" ”

Tianqi said: "I said that these three are rewarded, this is to build the river and build the road, this next year's river work silver and road construction silver will be saved, the climate in the south is good, there are many barren mountains, you can settle down in the wasteland, and the future life will also be settled, if in two years, there is someone who runs a workshop and needs people to open a mine, these people are also laborers." Even if they can't do it, it is better than lying at home and waiting for the imperial court to help, and in terms of disaster relief, it is better to distribute grain on the spot in the south than to transport it all the way to the north. ”

King Xin asked: "Brother Huang's idea is good, the younger brother has estimated that letting the people in the disaster-stricken areas go out by one to two percent, it can alleviate the pressure of food shortage, and now that they have just received grain and food to eat, they will immediately go down and notify them to post lists in various places to recruit people, and the government in the disaster-stricken areas in the north will organize escorts, and the government in the south will accept the arrangements for them to be accepted by the government in the areas with surplus grain in the south as their performance evaluation in the past two years." ”

Zhu Yanxi said: "This method is good, it is necessary to see the return next year or the year after next, and now it is definitely necessary to escort so many people, where does this silver come from?" ”

Apocalypse said: "This is easy to do, and after solving the second problem, there will be money." ”

Seeing everyone's surprised looks, Tianqi took out a few pieces of paper and said: "This is the evidence that Wei Zhongxian has sent Dongchang and Jinyiwei to learn about the acres of land of the wealthy families in the south according to the complaints from various places in the past few months, as well as the evidence of skillful and coercive buying and selling. There are also your Ye and Han families, don't panic and don't explain that I don't want to punish anyone's sin according to this. Didn't Lord Han say at the beginning that they all listened to me, accepted grain and sold grain, and couldn't see it on the surface? Compare the number they admit with Wei Zhongxian's secret report, it's not too much, if it's much worse, send troops to surround them first and then raid the house, either bury them or bury Wei Zhongxian, I just want to cure the crime of bullying the liar! ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw Ye Xianggao and Han Yi kneeling down with a tom, and said in unison: "The minister is guilty, and the crime deserves death!" ”

Apocalypse glanced at the two of them and said, "Didn't I say that?" There is no need to make a big salute in the government council, hurry up. ”

After Ye and Han stood up in panic, Tianqi said: "There is no perfect person in this world, everyone will make mistakes, and if they make mistakes, they just need to change them." I'm going to eat soon, and the food has been good for the past two days, so let's eat with me here, and after eating, I'll see you right here until you see the results. Maybe after this thing is done, there will be no need to do the third thing, and no one will dare to deceive me about the planting species next year. ”

Ye Xiang whispered: "The minister thanked the emperor for his kindness, but the minister is now restless and difficult to swallow, and the minister wants to go and check the accounts now to see the results." ”

Seeing Ye Xianggao say this, Zhu Yanxi and Han Yi also said that they would go to the back hall to settle the accounts first, and they were also ready to have food to eat while doing things, and Tianqi agreed.

Waiting for Zhu Yanxi, Ye Xianggao, and Han Yi to leave, the apocalypse called the eunuchs to pass the meal, and asked King Xin, King Rui, King Hui and King Gui to sit down and eat together, watching the eunuchs put the food plates one by one, Tianqi said: "At the earliest, they prepared a big table every time, and I said that they couldn't eat and waste, and called the imperial dining room to prepare only a few plates for each meal. In the end, I realized that what I couldn't eat was eaten by the people around me, and not only did I save money by eating the same things as me, so no wonder they objected. ”

King Rui said: "The emperor is too frugal, and the people below are not easy. ”