After the reconciliation, the villainous stepmother has blessed the world!

Tu Huaiyu was very reassuring in his work. After explaining everything to him, Suxin left with peace of mind.

That night, Fang Tiejun took Su Xin's token and went to the military camp to reinforce the patrol of the city. By the morning, Tu Huaiyu had already fully ascertained the number of the recently missing people and had someone send a message to Su Xin.

The number of missing people has indeed increased a lot recently than before, especially children. More than 20 people can't be found. Most of them are refugees outside the city or orphans in the city without fathers and mothers.

These were all discovered and reported by someone, so I'm afraid there are still some missing people here that haven't been counted.

In the past, there were major cases of child abduction and trafficking among the people, but the public security in the capital is still much better. In addition, abduction and trafficking of good citizens is a capital crime, so there are not many people who dare to commit the crime. Now that there are so many children who can't be found suddenly, Fu Yin There must be a lot of worry over there.

……

Early in the morning, according to his father's request, Suxin even had to attend the morning court with several of his younger brothers.

My father has already appointed six assistant ministers. These are all loyal ministers who have been trained by my father over the years. They have not participated in party politics before. This time, they are said to be to assist the government, but the most important thing is The purpose is to examine the abilities of the princes for my father.

As a woman, Su Xin was not qualified to go to court, but His Majesty ordered Su Xin to go to "look after" the other princes. Several ministers did not stop her and only regarded Su Xin as one of the personnel to "monitor" the prince. One, he was quite polite to her.

However, the atmosphere in the DPRK has been a bit strange recently.

In the past, the eldest brother, the fourth brother, and the fifth brother were the most powerful. One was the leader, the other was the respecter, and the other was the favorite. Each had its supporters.

In just a few short months, the eldest prince was placed under house arrest and the biological mother of the fourth prince was demoted to the cold palace, leaving only the fifth prince still able to watch.

It's just that in the past, His Majesty was still there, and he tried to focus on teaching. Most of the time, they were just going through the motions. Even if they didn't listen carefully, the political issues were not big. But now, the civil and military officials of the whole court have to keep an eye on them every day, and Lao Wu has a bad temper. Seems a little naive.

"The number of rains in Jincheng and Fengcheng has decreased significantly compared with before. Now the weather is getting hotter. If it doesn't rain, there will be a severe drought. According to local county records, these cities have severe droughts every 60 years. If it happens, you have to prevent it..."

"According to the old minister's opinion, canals should be built in advance to store water, and more warehouses should be built to prevent severe drought from happening..."

"There is no drought now. Building canals and expanding warehouses will cost a lot of money. The court's tax revenue has not been as good as before in recent years. Before Tu Ke left, he took away a large amount of grain and grass. He also said that the border defenses need to be repaired. Where is the extra money? It would be too childish to use it to prevent drought, and it would be childish to conclude that a severe drought is coming just based on a few short rains..."

"Fifth Prince, what do you think?"

The ministers had different ideas. After the quarrel, they stared at the fifth prince.

The fifth prince's heart tightened.

"I think... Lord Cen is right, the severe drought has not come yet..."

"But if a severe drought comes, it will be too late to prepare by then. Once the spring plowing is over and the drought arrives, I am afraid that this year's food will not be saved. By then, hundreds of thousands of people will not be able to fill their stomachs, and they will not even have water to drink. If it really comes to this, will the fifth prince be responsible?" Mr. Li narrowed his eyes slightly, looking very fierce.

With his fierceness, the Fifth Prince's position immediately became a little unsteady.

"Then prepare for drought first..." the fifth prince said immediately.

He felt extremely embarrassed at this time. He really didn't understand. These people were all old ministers. Couldn't they decide on these matters?

They even came to ask him. He had never been to Jincheng and Fengcheng, so how could he know whether there was a drought there?

The fifth prince was very depressed. After the imperial concubine was driven to the cold palace, the mother-in-law was very happy and felt that he finally had a chance. However, he felt that these political affairs were really too troublesome. The public said that the public was justified and the mother-in-law said that the mother-in-law was justified. Who should listen to it? None of them are right, and even though he is a prince, these ministers still make fun of him!

Even the ministers who were kind to him before seemed to be a different person now and didn't take him seriously at all.

"The princes and the eldest princess, do you have any ideas that you might want to share?" Another adult asked.

The six auxiliary ministers were all asking them questions at the same time. They were not polite at all as long as they could talk about big or small things. However, they were already pretty good. They also knew how to use their own ideas to guide the princes. , otherwise, this scene will be even more embarrassing at this time.

The second prince looked solemn and said seriously: "In my opinion, if you plant more trees, there will be more shady forests, and the possibility of drought will be reduced. In addition, the people will be encouraged to dig their own canals, and the number of local corvees will be increased, so that there will be more people to work in this way." , and you can also save some money. As for the charity warehouse, if there is a severe drought, you can call it from nearby cities..."

Several ministers nodded after hearing this.

It can be regarded as a method, but it sounds good but is not easy to use.

It is not winter now, and the people are busy with farm work. Just encouraging them to dig canals by themselves will not be effective.

If we increase the number of corvees and order them to do it, there will be no wages and no benefits, and I'm afraid they will boil with sorrow!

Of course it is right to plant trees to protect the land, but if we do it now, small trees will not be able to grow for a while. Transportation and care of large trees require a lot of manpower and material resources. Preparation must be made at least several years in advance before prevention and control is possible.

As for calling charity warehouses from other cities... it is feasible, but once a severe drought comes, it may not only affect three or two cities, but those that will be called upon by then will not be enough!

"Princess, what do you think?" Lord Cen looked at Su Xin and kept silent. He felt that he still had to give His Majesty some slack, so he asked.

"Are the county records accurate? Has the local water level dropped significantly?" Suxin asked.

"It's very accurate. The water level has indeed dropped a lot compared to before." Master Cen said.

Suxin nodded: "It is still necessary to take precautions before they happen. It's just that several adults said that the national treasury is empty. I don't agree with this point. During my father's reign, most of the money was used for construction and military supplies. Last year, too, I just thought about building a garden in the northern suburbs. This year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has prepared money to build it. As far as I know, this garden is expected to cost nearly 200 million taels of silver. If there is a drought in Jincheng, we should use it. The people are the priority, and the gardening is temporarily postponed. Wouldn't it be better to use this money to prepare water storage canals and charity warehouses?"

As soon as he said this, several adults had strange expressions.

To be honest, they certainly know how to deal with the severe drought, and the national treasury... is not short of money.

The current purpose is to test a few princes, pretending to be poor, and want to see what is going on in their minds.

"What the princess said is that your majesty has always been very simple during his reign for so many years. The garden in the suburbs is used for your majesty to escape the summer heat. If it is suspended, your majesty will definitely be extremely sad... As children, the prince and the princess will propose this. , I’m afraid His Majesty will be very sad..."