The most romantic little emperor

Early morning the next day.

After Qin Hao sat down, he saw that Su Zhengfang had actually attended court today, and asked with a smile: "Sir Su, I haven't seen you for a few days. You look so healthy. I was planning to visit you in person after court."

"Thank you for your concern. I am feeling much better now." Su Zhengfang paused for a moment, then continued, "It's just that I haven't been to court for the past two days, which has delayed many important matters for Your Highness. I am very worried."

"I heard that the Left Vice Minister Kong Boli had a quarrel with the new Imperial Censor, Mr. Guo, yesterday. I am furious. I have already taught him a lesson yesterday and he has realized his mistake. Now he is waiting outside the court. I beg Your Highness to give him a chance to admit his mistake to Mr. Guo."

Su Fangzheng was openly exonerating Kong Boli. Qin Hao was very angry, but he still smiled and said, "This matter depends on Lord Guo's opinion. If Lord Guo agrees, I have nothing to say."

"But it's morning court now. We can't let such a small matter affect government affairs. Let's talk about disaster relief!"

Seeing this situation, Su Zhengfang had no choice but to give up.

"Lu Yuanshan, have you prepared the 500,000 taels of silver and 10,000 dan of grain that I asked you to raise yesterday? Lord Guo is waiting for disaster relief."

Lu Yuanshan suddenly heard His Highness calling him, and his anus tightened involuntarily. He walked forward with his head held high, glancing at Su Zhengfang, as if asking for his opinion.

At this time, Su Dingfang was thinking about what had just happened. He suddenly heard that the amount of silver and supplies provided by the prince for disaster relief was only a quarter of the original amount. He thought that these silver and supplies alone could not solve the disaster, so he might as well agree to it. It would also ease the relationship with the prince, do Guo Jia a favor, and maybe he could even get Kong Boli, the useless guy, out.

Lu Yuanshan was waiting for Su Zhengfang's nod. Seeing that his boss didn't take any action, he was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead.

Guo Jia, who was standing beside him, could not tolerate his bad habits. He was displeased and said to Lu Yuanshan: "The Crown Prince is asking you a question. What are you looking at Minister Su for? Do you want Minister Su to answer for you?"

Guo Jia forced Lu Yuanshan to speak. If he didn't, the prince would blame him and he would be in big trouble. He would die anyway. If he offended the Shangshu, there was still room for redemption, but if he offended the prince, it would be terrible. Kong Boli is an example.

He quickly wiped the sweat off his face and glanced at Minister Su again. This time, seeing Minister Su nod, he straightened his chest and said in a loud voice, "Your Highness, the 500,000 taels of silver and 10,000 dan of grain you asked me to collect are ready and can be used at any time."

Qin Hao slapped the table, said three good words in a row, and immediately commended Lu Yuanshan, saying happily: "Lu Yuanshan has made great contributions in raising military funds this time. His position will remain unchanged. He will be transferred from the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue to the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue as a reward."

"The former Left Vice Minister Kong Boli slandered the Imperial Censor and was disrespectful to his teacher. This king, considering his past merits, and today Minister Su personally pleaded for him, will punish him to go home and reflect on his mistakes for three days, and transfer him from Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."

The Left Vice Minister and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue are both deputy heads of the Ministry of Revenue, assisting the Shangshu in managing the affairs of the department. Although they have the same official rank, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is ranked behind the Left Vice Minister. Because the Great Xia Kingdom has a strict hierarchy system, left and right are one of the symbols to distinguish between the superior and the inferior, and are commonly used in various etiquette. Therefore, the Left Vice Minister has a higher and more honorable position than the Right Vice Minister.

Lu Yuanshan could not hide his joy and immediately thanked the prince to show his loyalty.

Su Zhengfang's face was gloomy, and he felt a pang in his heart, thinking that something bad had happened. In the eyes of the people below, the Left Vice Minister and the Right Vice Minister had the same official position, but in the court the idea of ​​respecting the left and despising the right was deeply rooted. The prince's seemingly ordinary move actually left him with a great hidden danger.

"Sir Su, do you have any objection to my punishment of Kong Boli?"

Su Zhengfang regained his composure, laughed loudly, and praised: "Your Highness, you have made great progress in handling state affairs during this period. I am very pleased. I have no objection to the punishment of Kong Boli. So be it!"

Qin Hao glanced at Su Zhengfang, knowing that he was not sincere, and said with a wry smile: "Sir Su, it is reasonable that I should not interfere in the internal affairs of your Ministry of Revenue, but you have not come to court for the past two days, and Kong Boli went too far yesterday. If I don't punish him, it will not be enough to appease Sir Guo. Please don't resent me."

Su Zhengfang cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, you worry too much. I think your punishment is still light. If I were to punish him, I would just skin him alive and ask him to get out of the court. Humph."

Qin Hao laughed heartily, "Haha, that's good. We should not have any grudges against each other as king and subject."

Then he asked, "Lord Guo, how have you prepared the disaster relief plan? While all the ministers are here, let everyone listen, discuss it, and add some suggestions."

Guo Jia immediately took out the prepared plan, cleared his throat and said: "Your Highness, I plan to gather the victims in different areas according to the disaster situation, first provide them with porridge and food to ensure that they can all survive, and then use work instead of relief, such as digging deep wells, repairing canals, clearing the canal, building high river embankments, etc. The court will pay them wages, so that the victims will have work to do and can earn money to support their families. Digging deep wells and repairing canals can irrigate the land, so that the people will not have to worry about drought in the future. Clearing the canal can increase the inland river transportation, and the north-south goods trade will increase the court's tax revenue. Building high river embankments can prevent floods..."

Guo Jia spoke eloquently, and it took him nearly half an hour to finish.

After hearing this, all the ministers were shocked by Guo Jia's advanced disaster relief method. In the past, disaster relief meant providing porridge and food, but this was the first time they had heard of work-for-relief.

Many court officials raised their doubts, but unexpectedly, they were all answered easily by Guo Jia.

Many ministers looked at Guo Jia with admiration and agreed that this was a move that would benefit the country and the people.

Qin Hao saw that the ministers had almost finished their discussion and asked, "Do you have any other opinions?"

Everyone shook their heads. At this time, Su Zhengfang stood up and asked directly, "Master Guo, I wonder how much silver and grain will be spent on disaster relief this time?"

Guo Jia pondered for a moment and said, "The Ministry of Revenue previously budgeted 2 million taels of silver and 50,000 dan of grain. However, if we want to completely solve this disaster, I estimate that we will need to mobilize at least 100,000 laborers and spend at least 5 million taels of silver and 100,000 dan of grain."

After hearing this, everyone gasped and stopped talking. They knew that the treasury had no money, and without money, no matter how good the idea was, it would be like a moon in the water or a flower in the mirror.

Seeing everyone's performance, Guo Jia felt a little powerless. How could he achieve such a feat that would benefit the country and the people without money? Even the 500,000 taels of silver and 10,000 dan of grain just now were obtained by the prince with great effort, and this was only one-tenth of it.

Guo Jia couldn't help but wonder if his plan was a mistake or if he had misjudged the difference between ideals and reality. After all, judging from the current situation in the country, he was going to empty the national treasury. If he was slandered by his political enemies, it would be another matter whether he could walk out of the court alive. Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.