"Since we talked about the household department and the Taicang Bureau, then Fan Shangshu and the people from the Taicang Department will talk about the situation of the official warehouse first." The empress was very majestic, and under the gaze of the empress, a group of courtiers in the seat successively bowed their heads slightly in submission, and the empress took in everything, and she retracted her eyes noncommittally, as if following the advice of the minister who relied on her, and finally spoke.

Since more than a year ago, after his son was exposed to the case of fraud in the imperial examination, although the empress saw that he was an old minister for many years, she had even more merit in following the dragon, and only exiled his son, nor did she take him as a scholar, but he was only fined for half a year, but he was obviously not used much over the years.

Yao Chongzheng, the head of the household, was praised several times by the empress in public in the early dynasty, there is no shortage of people in the world who see the wind and change the rudder, he has been in the officialdom for so many years, and he has seen it very clearly, it is the norm for everyone to push the wall, but when it comes to himself, he is a little less open, and those people in the household department see that Yao Chongzheng is valued by the empress, and they all think that Yao Chongzheng is going to take his position as the head of the household department, and he still seems to have a superficial respect, but compared with the previous enthusiasm, it can be said that it has plummeted.

Under the scorching state of the world in the past year, as well as the political sensitivity of being in a high position, Fan Yi somewhat realized that his household secretary was at the end of his life, and his son's fraud case had made him exhaust all his previous merits and future career in the empress.

If he doesn't make mistakes in the future, it is estimated that he can retire peacefully in the position of the head of the household, and most of them will not be able to go to seventy-five again, and will sit in this position for another three or four years, and then be persuaded to do so, or have an idle job to retire for a long time, although he is unwilling in his heart, he still wants to climb up again, but he also knows that there is no way, unless he supports the new emperor to ascend the throne again, and has a dragon skill, otherwise this ending is the best.

And before meeting the empress to give him the last chance to be stable, once he has any more mistakes, the empress will definitely not be merciful again, the previous credit has been exhausted, then there will only be a chance to be brushed down, the third grade and the third grade below don't look at the difference of only one order, that is an insurmountable gap, in order to save face, he has to go to the Shi immediately, and people go to the tea cool, he is gone, what should his children and grandchildren do?

None of them have been able to stand up yet.

Therefore, for more than a year, he has been trembling in the position of the head of the household, lest one of them be accidentally corrected.

If he had asked him questions before, he might still be a little difficult to answer, but now it is different from the past, and he can't help but draw inferences from every move of the imperial court, not to mention that such a big thing as the drought in Guanzhong has been in drought for so long, and the imperial court will have to open a warehouse sooner or later for relief.

However, in the past ten years, the entire Daguanzhong has been in good weather, and at least 200,000 stone of grain has been transported from Zhuzhou every year, how can this grain be consumed?

As early as January ago, he saw that Guanzhong was still in drought, and he knew that this year's autumn harvest was not expected, and he needed to open a warehouse for relief, so he understood it in advance, and then heard the empress ask questions by name, and Fan Yi of the household department was not panicked, and got up from the couch calmly, came to the middle of the golden palace, and bowed respectfully to the empress, and then said clearly: "Empress Qiqi, since the minister appointed the household department Shangshu to the present, the Guanzhong official warehouse has not been abundant. ”

He is also an old courtier by the empress's side, and he knows that it is not enough to talk about the data, but he also has to explain the cause and effect of the clauses, of course, it is also to let the empress know that he is doing things conscientiously, and today is also an opportunity for him.

No matter what the impact is, Fan Yi, the head of the household department, first laid out the fact that the official warehouse was not rich in food, and sure enough, there were discussions muttering around:

"Guanzhong is not rich in food? Isn't that a joke? If it was possible ten years ago, there were perennial floods and droughts, but these years have been smooth! ”

"Not bad! Grain is stored twice a year, summer is not June, autumn is not November, there will be grain from the counties, and then handed over to the state, and then transported to Taicang, every year to Taicang grain at least 200,000 stone, how can it be? ”

"If Fan Shangshu is not clear, it is better not to say anything and cause unnecessary panic."

......

Hearing the doubts coming from all around, Fan Yi sneered in his heart.

Now that he has lost the emperor's grace, he really doesn't take him seriously anymore, when did this happen before?

Fan Yi gritted his teeth, his face was bitter, and he smiled bitterly at the ministers sitting on the left and right: "Your ministers also know that Guanzhong does not use cultivated land, and it suffers from floods and droughts all year round, of course, there are at least 200,000 stones of grain transported to Taicang from various states and counties every year. However, the amount of these 200,000 stone grain has been a practice since Emperor Gaozu of the Shen family, and it has been more than 80 years, but the total amount of grain transported every year is only 60,000 stone more. However, at that time, the population of the country was only 2 million households, and now the population of the country has reached 6.15 million households, of which the population growth rate in Guanzhong is far higher than the average growth rate, reaching five times, and the population of Chang'an is nearly ten times! ”

As he spoke, he sighed, "As the population increases, the cultivated land becomes less and less, and it is used to repair houses and villages." ”

All take it to repair the house and repair the Zhuangzi?

Who takes it?

And the more you occupy, the lesser? Who took it all.

There is no doubt that the only people who can be qualified to annex land are the officialdom bigwigs who are here.

For a while, I didn't feel quiet.

Fan Yi couldn't help sneering again in his heart, what's wrong with his son's fraud in the imperial examination, everyone is not clean.

"The arable land has decreased, but the population has increased, but the total amount of food has not increased enough, even if Guanzhong has caught up with the good times of wind and rain in recent years, the grain is only barely enough for the people in Guanzhong to chew."

"In addition, every year, the grain transportation depends on the water transportation, and there are many storms on the river, and the boat often capsizes, and a lot of grain is just silent and drifting at the bottom of the water. Like passing through the Sanmenxia of the Yellow River, this is the famous Ghost Gate Pass, I have been in the Ministry of Officials for eight years, every year there are people from the Ministry of Water to record, here to lose at least 10,000 stone of grain, more than 30,000 stone. Therefore, the grain transported from various counties to Chang'an will be 260,000 stone on the list next year, but in fact there are only 200,000 stones. And ......"

Speaking of this, Fan Yi suddenly stopped, with obvious hesitation on his face.

"What else, go on." The empress's voice sounded at the right time, and the ministers could not hear the joy and anger.

You don't have to think about it to know how there will be joy?

It's so much to be furious.

260,000 stone of grain, there will be loss during transportation, but the loss of a full 60,000 stone of grain, that is simply a big fallacy!

The ministers present were stunned, and even worse, their faces could no longer hide their shock.

However, more exciting news is yet to come.