Zhao Qian put his hands on the armrests of the dragon chair, closed his eyes, and then opened them again, "The only way is to resist it first, and then the situation will be much better after one side is over."
"Shang Shu of the Ministry of Finance."
"I'm here."
"News came back from Cangbei County yesterday that the previous food was not enough. Please remember to prepare for the delivery of food in the past two days."
The Minister of Household Affairs looked slightly stiff and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, how much food does General Qi need?"
Zhao Qian frowned and recalled, "About 100,000 stones."
Upon hearing this amount, the Minister of Hube's face fell.
When Zhao Jin saw this, he had a bad feeling in his heart.
Could it be that the national treasury does not have enough food?
really!
"Your Majesty," the Minister of Revenue said with a bitter face, "there is not enough food!"
"Due to plague and floods, a large amount of stored grain was consumed before. After allocating grain before, it is no longer enough."
This bad news was like a bolt from the blue, splitting the silent atmosphere in the court room instantly.
"How can we fight without food?"
"Yes! Don't talk about fighting, as long as there is no mutiny, it will be fine."
The courtiers stood close to each other, talking in twos and threes, and their low-pitched comments kept reaching Zhao Jin's ears.
"How much more food can we raise?"
"Twenty thousand stones."
Zhao Jin frowned tightly, "This is too far off."
He Zengshu, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, didn't know, but he had no choice but to say, "It's good to be able to raise 20,000 dan."
The noisy voices in the court gradually became quiet.
"Or, let's collect food."
I don’t know which courtier made this suggestion.
Zhao Jin's sharp eyes immediately looked towards the other party, and retorted in a deep voice: "If this is the case, I'm afraid that the food has not been raised yet, and I don't know how many people have responded to the eldest prince!"
Since ancient times, the most taboo is to collect grain and increase taxes.
"The imperial court has no food, how much food do you think the people have?"
Zhao Jin's suppressed voice was full of anger, almost scolding: "After several disasters, and now the country is in turmoil, if the people no longer have food."
"Zhao State is afraid that it will be even more chaotic!"
The minister who just made this suggestion did not dare to say anything.
Zhao Qian looked at Zhao Jin and said, "Duke Xuanping, do you have any good ideas?"
Zhao Jin raised his head, pursed his lips hard, exhaled heavily, and then cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I thought that we could collect grain from aristocratic families and wealthy businessmen."
The people had no food, and the court had no food, but these aristocratic families and wealthy businessmen often hoarded a lot of food.
The matter has come to this, the situation is urgent, and the Zhao army is already at a disadvantage. If the food cannot keep up, I am afraid that the defeat will be irreversible by then.
Zhao Jin no longer cares whether he will offend those wealthy families. Raising food is the most important thing now.
Almost as soon as Zhao Jin finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Zhao Jin.
The young man in the imperial robes of the prince, with tight lips and sharp eyes, stood upright, as if he was not afraid of all kinds of looks from around him.
Zhao Qian's eyes also flickered slightly, and he looked at the ministers, "What do you think?"
The courtiers had different expressions. The Prime Minister and the Tutor immediately stood up and said, "I think what Duke Xuanping said is reasonable!"
"This is a difficult time for Zhao State, and we should spend it together!"
"I am willing to give you three hundred shi of food."
"I am also willing to give you three hundred shi of food."
The Prime Minister and the Grand Tutor are both honest officials, and these three hundred shi of grain are already the maximum amount they can afford.
"Okay!" Zhao Qian gradually showed joy on his face.
Zhao Jin also breathed a sigh of relief. As long as everyone is willing to help, the remaining 80,000 shi of food will not be a problem.
However, Zhao Jin was relieved this time.
Next, no matter whether they are honest ministers, rich families, or wealthy families, all of them can only afford one or two hundred shi of food.
At most, it only takes 300 stones.
As a result, it is simply not enough.
Zhao Jin held his breath and said, "How many adults, do you only have this little food at home?"
Starry eyes stared closely at the family members with the deepest family background in Chaozhong.
Zhao Jin was already considered a person with a relatively weak financial background in the court. Most of the government's expenses depended on his cooperation with the Lin family. However, at least more than half of the people in the court had richer families and richer financial resources than him.
Zhao Jin gritted his teeth and was able to come up with two thousand shi of food. How could these people only come up with a measly one or two hundred shi?
The other party did not expect that Zhao Jin would question him directly. He looked stiff for a moment and said, "Duke Xuanping doesn't know. We don't have much food at home. These two hundred stones are already our limit."
After finishing speaking, as if he was afraid that Zhao Jin would continue to ask about money, he quickly said: "Although my family is huge, the expenses are actually a huge amount, but I can only barely support it."
This was said to Zhao Qian.
They were not afraid of Zhao Jin, but they were worried that Zhao Qian would have an attack.
The rest of the families, whose families had relatively rich assets, quickly responded and cried out how difficult it was for them.
Zhao Jin clenched his hands into fists and his eyes were extremely cold.
In the court, many honest officials who had almost spent all their wealth almost jumped out of anger when they heard these speechless remarks!
Zhao Qian, who was sitting on the dragon chair, suddenly grabbed the armrest and looked at the crying courtiers coldly, "That's enough!"
The emperor's roar finally made these people stop crying.
However, Zhao Qian could not force them to pay for food or money.
Zhao Jin half-closed his eyes, then calmed down after a while, and his eyes swept over the courtiers without any emotion.
He stood up and said, "Your Majesty."
When Zhao Jin's voice sounded, many ministers looked at Zhao Jin warily, fearing that he would say something again and force them to spend some money.
"I have a way to raise the remaining 60,000 shi of grain."
Zhao Qian's pupils widened, "Duke Xuanping, come quickly!"
"Although this matter is not difficult, it is a bit complicated. Please allow me to go down to court and write a charter and submit it to Your Majesty for review."
Zhao Qian was particularly anxious at this time, wishing he could know immediately what the solution was.
However, when he met those starry eyes, Zhao Qian agreed, "Okay, Duke Xuanping will hand it over as soon as he writes the charter today!"
"I obey the decree."
Many courtiers couldn't help but cast their eyes on Zhao Jin.
What solution?
Those wealthy families are even more worried. Will Zhao Jin's method be aimed at them? Will he force them to hand over their money and food?
No, they have to find a way to deal with it.
At the subsequent court meeting, Zhao Jin did not say a word.
After going to court, I went to the military camp to have a look, then hurried back to the mansion and locked myself in the study.
He didn't come out of the room until after the sun went down.
Zhao Jin took a horse and rushed straight to the palace.
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