Seeing Li Jianye say this, Queen Murong's face looked much better, and she said bitterly: "You, you must be broad-minded and tolerant, so that you can make a difference in the future, you know?" ”

Li Jianye nodded obediently: "Erchen remember the teachings of the queen mother!" ”

Empress Murong nodded, and changed her words: "By the way, I have time to interact with your eldest brother more, you are brothers, and you should support each other." ”

Hearing this, Li Jianye's expression was a little unnatural, and he nodded reluctantly and said, "I know the queen mother." ”

The eldest brother mentioned by Empress Murong is his brother Li Chengye, who is a compatriot of his mother, and is closer than other princes in terms of blood relationship.

Li Chengye is the son-in-law of Emperor Qianwu, he is the eleventh son, and the age gap between the two is quite large.

According to tradition, the prince is to inherit the unification.

Although today's Emperor Qianwu is not in the prime of life, he is in good health and in excellent spirits, and has never been crowned the crown prince.

This made Li Chengye a little anxious, and he fought openly and secretly with several other princes who were expected to compete for the crown prince all day long, and his thoughts were extremely deep.

On the other hand, Li Jianye has a straightforward temperament, is obsessed with martial arts, and does not like people who conspire and calculate, so Li Jianye does not like the eldest brother Li Chengye very much, and the relationship between the two has always been quite average.

Empress Murong naturally saw it, didn't say anything, chatted for a while and sent Li Jianye away.

The next morning.

Hundreds of civil and military officials in the Xuanzheng Hall gathered, and adult princes who had been out of office for ten years were also listed.

After worshipping according to the number of rituals, when the prime minister Feng Qu rushed out of the queue, bowed down and bowed: "Your Majesty, the flood disaster in Shangzhou has been delayed for many days, and the disaster situation is constantly worsening, so we must make a decision as soon as possible!" ”

Emperor Qianwu returned to Beijing ahead of schedule for this matter.

However, he didn't have any good ways at the moment, so he asked, "Ladies and gentlemen, is there a good plan?" ”

Feng Qujian arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, now Shangzhou is still waterlogged, and it has not affected the entire territory of Shangzhou, but it has been raining for days, the water level has risen, and the embankment is already in danger. If it collapses, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land will be destroyed in one fell swoop, and reinforcing the embankment is the most important thing at present! ”

Emperor Qianwu nodded: "What do you think?" ”

As soon as the words fell, the eldest prince Li Chengye was just about to speak, but the second prince Li Shou took the lead: "Father, what the prime minister said is very true, the son of the minister asked for the order to go to Shangzhou to strengthen the embankment, and if the flood does not recede, the son will not return for a day, and swear to advance and retreat with the people of Shangzhou!" ”

Li Shou spoke earnestly, with a look of concern for the country and the people, Emperor Qianwu nodded with satisfaction, but did not express his position.

Li Chengye's face became a little gloomy, and Murong Changkong, the uncle on the side, gave him a look, signaling him to be calm and not to be impatient.

Seeing that Li Shou saw that the second prince was so impassioned and appreciated by Emperor Qianwu, Gu Tiancheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, was overjoyed and hurriedly came out: "Your Majesty, the second prince cares about the people of Dawn, which is the blessing of my great Qianjiang and mountain society, and our Ministry of Industry will fully cooperate with the construction of the embankment to relieve Your Majesty's worries!" ”

As soon as this remark came out, a group of officials who secretly supported the second prince stood up one after another to express their approval.

Li Chengye looked at everyone expressionlessly, and a subtle sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

After everyone finished speaking, the eldest prince Li Chengye stood up, and first arched his hand towards the second prince: "The emperor's brother cares about the people of Limin, which is really admirable!" ”

Then he changed his mind and said: "But there is something more important at the moment, that is, to open up the treasury to help the victims!" ”

Speaking of this, Li Chengye looked at Emperor Qianwu and said: "The flood has been spreading for several days, a large number of people have been displaced, and they are hungry. ”

Chen Dingyuan, the head of the household department, who had been silent, couldn't help but twitch his cheeks after hearing Li Chengye's words, and sighed secretly.

Li Shouyan's face sank when he heard this, and he said with a bit of yin and yang: "With the meaning of the imperial brother, don't you have to take care of the embankment?" ”

Li Chengye shook his head: "No, no, the dam is very important, how can you ignore it?" I'm just prioritizing things. ”

Li Shou was speechless for a moment, his face turned red and he didn't say more.

As soon as Li Chengye's voice fell, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites stood up: "His Royal Highness the Great Prince is far-sighted, and Weichen feels that what he said is reasonable!" ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department also stood up: "The remnants of the previous dynasty have not yet been cleaned up, and there is indeed a possibility of taking the opportunity to cause chaos, and I also agree with what His Royal Highness the Great Prince said!" ”

Uncle Murong Changkong also spoke at this time.

"Opening the treasury is a two-pronged approach, giving priority to the relief of the victims, what His Royal Highness the Great Prince said is a good policy!"

At this moment, Chen Dingyuan, the head of the household department, came out of the ranks, glanced at the eldest prince and the second prince, and said loudly: "Whether it is to help the victims or to strengthen the embankment, money is needed, this is the fundamental!" Do you know how much money the treasury has now? Less than 500,000 taels! ”

Speaking of this, Chen Dingyuan paused, turned his head to look at Emperor Qianwu and arched his hand, his face full of helplessness: "Your Majesty, after the flood, the household department made ......a budget based on the number of people affected by the state government officials, and those embankments that urgently need to be reinforced."

Speaking of this, Chen Dingyuan paused again, took a deep breath and raised his palm, and the helplessness on his face became even stronger.

"Five hundred thousand taels! It will take 500,000 taels of silver to solve the current disaster! So the topic now is not how to provide disaster relief, but how to make money, without which everything is impossible! ”

As soon as these words came out, the entire Xuanzheng Hall suddenly fell silent, and everyone bowed their heads and remained silent.

The treasury is empty, there is no money and food, what can they do?

Because of following Li Jianye, who also followed the early dynasty, he was silent, glanced at Li Chengye and Li Shou, and felt a little disdain in his heart.

When they were in the limelight, they shouted fiercer than the other, and when they encountered real problems, they became turtles with shrunken heads.

However, he can't help it.

Emperor Qianwu also had a headache after hearing Chen Dingyuan's words, how long has the world been decided, how could the treasury come up with so much money?

However, the matter is in front of him, and it can't be solved if it is not solved, Emperor Qianwu said in a deep voice: "What Chen Aiqing said is extremely true, now that the treasury is empty, what good plan do you have?" ”

The hundred officials lowered their heads, you look at me, I look at you, but no one spoke, and finally the prime minister Feng Quji, who was the head of the hundred officials, had no choice but to take the lead in speaking.

"For now, we can only cut back on other expenses and focus all the money on disaster relief."

Chen Dingyuan immediately shook his head: "How can it be too late to reduce now?" Even if it is reduced, the gap is still too big! ”

"What then? What else can be done to cut costs? ”

Then the ministers spoke one after another, arguing for an hour, but they did not come up with a practical plan.

Emperor Qianwu looked at these courtiers, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and his eyes were full of disappointment.