He didn't get angry, he looked at the three auxiliary ministers and asked, "The amount of grain needed by the Jingshi is quite a lot, and the land of Jinggi has been hit hard, and a lot of grain is also needed. The amount is too big, and you ask the people to hand over so much more food and only compensate after the fact, how can they wait until the fact? ”

When Hu Guang said this, after a pause, he raised his voice and said seriously: "My attitude is to try not to disturb the people, otherwise in order to solve the people's livelihood problems in one place, it will cause the people's livelihood problems in another place, so what's the use?" ”

"Or tell me how to avoid this problem without affecting the salt tax?" When he said this, his tone was a little harsh.

Wen Tiren listened, bowed down and replied: "Your Majesty is merciful and thoughtful, and the minister is deeply ashamed, but His Majesty's orders are obeyed!" ”

You sycophant, Cheng Jiming couldn't help but slander in his heart when he heard it. Shousuke succumbed to the divine will and had no shield.

Hu Guang nodded in response to Wen Tiren's words, and then looked at Cheng Jiming and Zhou Yanru and said, "You two, why do you teach me?" ”

Between the words, it's already a bit unkind. Cheng Jiming and Zhou Yanru looked at each other, they had learned the emperor's methods, and it was estimated that if they were to oppose for the sake of opposition, but if they couldn't provide a solution, they would be scolded by the old horseman.

Thinking so, the two bowed down together and bowed to each other and said, "The ministers are stupid, but Your Majesty's orders are obeyed!" ”

Hu Guangjian unified his opinion, and when he really wanted to speak, he heard Wen Tiren play again: "Your Majesty, there is no precedent for this matter, and the amount of salt is large, how can it be distributed to the people?" ”

This is the detail, put it forward to check and fill in the gaps, this is no problem. Hu Guang thought for a while and said: "The amount of salt introduced by each serving is indeed too large for ordinary people. That's it, take salt as a unit according to the government, exchange it for salt, and distribute it to the counties, and then the counties will distribute it to the people who pay the grain! ”

Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at Cao Huachun and said: "In addition to asking the Metropolitan Procuratorate to send the imperial history to supervise this matter, you Dongchang should not be idle, send someone to secretly supervise, if there is any violation of law and discipline or difficult to solve the problem, immediately report it to me." ”

"Slave obeys!" Cao Huachun didn't have the concerns of their civil servants, and immediately agreed.

When Hu Guang said this, his heart moved, and he thought of something, but it was inconvenient now, so he held back his thoughts first and waited until the discussion was over.

Then, he thought about it and said: "I have suffered a lot of disasters in the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the disaster of Jianqing, the northwest has been in drought for many years, and the demand for food, no matter how big it is, is not too much. The tragic situation in the northwest should be known to the Qing and others. Therefore, I decided to ......"

As soon as he heard this, several of the courtiers below stood up straight and looked at him, waiting for him to announce the matter.

Hu Guang glanced at them, and then said slowly: "Send angels to the countries of Southeast Asia, let them pay tribute to food, the amount required, not just for a show, should do their best......

"Ah, Your Majesty, this ...... Isn't that right? Zhou Yanru was the youngest, and he couldn't breathe when he heard it, so he interrupted him without waiting for the emperor to finish speaking.

Hu Guang didn't get angry, just looked at him and asked, "What's a bad law?" ”

"Your Majesty, I am the kingdom of the Heavenly Empire and the state of etiquette, so I am afraid it is inappropriate to ask for ...... from the country of the vassals, right?" Although Zhou Yanru was not sure between his words, his expression was very clear, that is, it was inappropriate.

Cheng Jiming also bowed, and then said: "Your Majesty, the tribute set by my Ming Dynasty is actually just a formality, and its purpose is to let the countries of the Quartet regard my Ming Dynasty as the suzerain, and its king must be canonized by my Ming Dynasty." Maintaining its etiquette is fundamental, allowing it to benefit, and inducing it to benefit is the means. In the past dynasties, there has never been any such thing as a suzerainty asking for tribute from its vassals, let alone a designated grain thing. ”

"Yes, I am in the Ming Dynasty, the land is vast, what is not? If you ask for something as ordinary as food from the subject countries of the Quartet, you will be ridiculed by those barbarians, and you will lose the demeanor of a great country! Zhou Yanru nodded in agreement.

The two of them spoke positively, but Wen Tiren kept silent.

He knew in his heart that what these two people said was generally speaking, and since the past dynasties, the so-called tribute is more of its political significance. But at the moment the emperor is a pragmatic man, and this argument is certainly not in line with the holy will, not that the emperor is young and does not understand the meaning of politics.

Sure enough, after Hu Guang listened to their words, his brows furrowed again, and as soon as they finished speaking, he heard him shout categorically: "It is an eventful autumn in the Ming Dynasty now, with floods in the south and drought in the north, and construction and captives are raging, disaster relief must be carried out everywhere, and money and grain must be used everywhere." I don't ask them for money, it's already the demeanor of a great country. In Southeast Asian countries, grain is common three times a year, and it is for them to consider that they should only provide food. Is there anything to argue about such a thing? ”

"Your Majesty, the ugliness of the family should not be publicized!" Cheng Jiming heard this and hurriedly admonished again, "If you let the Quartet know the inside story of my Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that I will have different hearts!" ”

Hehe, the ugliness of the family is not allowed to be publicized, it is really the rhythm of a swollen face and a fat man. Hu Guang sneered in his heart, and when he saw that Wen Tiren didn't speak, he looked at him and asked with a cold face, "What does Wen Qing think?" ”

"The minister thinks that His Majesty is reasonable. Today's plan must be to appease the country. Wen Tiren calmly replied.

As soon as these words came out, they immediately attracted the puzzled eyes of the other two, and then when they saw the emperor showing a look of relief, he immediately slandered Wen Tiren in his heart.

Hu Guang felt that his decision to promote Wen Tiren as the first assistant was the right thing. After he nodded in response to Wen Tiren, he turned his head to look at the other two and said solemnly: "You also said that the Quartet Yiguo knows that I am weak, and I am afraid of different hearts." This is the real relationship between countries, in fact, it is also the relationship of interests, and everything else is false. ”

"Let's put it simply, between countries, whoever has a hard fist is the boss. If a weak country wants to be recognized and sheltered by a strong country, it must pay protection money. The kind of tribute in the past, from now on, all will be abandoned, I only need to be affordable, not to lose face! ”

"......" The Wenhua Hall was very quiet, and it seemed that they were all frightened by the emperor's naked and straightforward words.

"Your Majesty, this is the work of barbarians, and my Heavenly Empire is a state of etiquette......"

Before Zhou Yanru's words of exhortation were finished, he was interrupted by Hu Guangyu: "Then you mean that the benefits are better given to friends than to the people of the Ming Dynasty?" Seeing the people of the Ming Dynasty waiting to be fed, I would rather them starve to death, be thieves, rebel, and overthrow my Ming Dynasty than lose that face, right? ”