After the failed attempt to pretend to be dead, the sickly child was favored by the treacherous mini

"Thank you very much, Master."

Xie Nanxing bowed to Xun Zhan and thanked him. He smiled and confirmed again: "The money earned from the secret business is given to you, and the money from the open business belongs to me?"

Xun Zhan stood up from the window and looked quietly at Xie Nanxing who was standing in front of him.

Compared to when I first met her, she is much taller, and her figure and appearance are getting better day by day.

But the biggest change is actually the calmness and neatness of his whole body.

The timidity he showed when they first dealt with each other had long since disappeared. Now, he was so comfortable with all parties involved that people who didn't know his past would think that Xie Nanxing had grown up in this city of power.

But what is even more rare is that Xie Nanxing, who has struggled in the power and has been hurt by such power many times, has never forgotten to give warmth to others.

Loving the land under his feet and intending to protect the people living on this land is a subconscious behavior buried in Xie Nanxing's bones.

Xun Zhan didn't know why Xie Nanxing, who came from a low-income family, had such a firm determination, but Xun Zhan admired Xie Nanxing's determination.

"Xie Nanxing, if I were confined to the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty, I would use any means necessary to reach the top."

"But if it involves the sovereignty of mountains and rivers, Xiaojiu and I, as citizens of Daxia, will never choose to stand idly by."

"Even if Xiaojiu sits on the throne in the future, he will definitely not become a king like Xia Hong. He has always understood what kind of responsibilities he should bear when sitting on that position."

Because Xia Yu knew, Xia Yu understood that Xia Che was more suitable for that position than him.

But if Xia Che cannot take that position, Xia Yu will definitely have to take it and shoulder the burden of this mountain and river.

There was a sudden buzzing sound inside Xie Nanxing's head.

Xun Zhan came from a family of prime ministers who "lived in the world and managed the affairs of the world."

Xia Yu was personally raised by Zhong Yuanyuan, the founder of the country, since he was young.

Guarding the territory and protecting the people within the mountains and rivers are things they must remember from the time they are enlightened.

In the divine capital where one has to fight to make a living, if they don't fight, they will just become fish on the chopping board of others.

But when internal strife and external chaos conflict, Xun Zhan and Xia Yu will firmly put family and country first.

Xie Nanxing looked up and met Xun Zhan's gaze, and gave a firm answer: "Yes, I went all the way south and saw the warships of the Eastern Japanese parked in my inland sea."

Therefore, Xie Nanxing was willing to empty his family's pockets so that Daxia could speed up the process of building warships.

Xun Zhan's eyes were filled with a rare gentleness: "Xiao Jiu and I cannot touch the battlefield. I will give you 20% of the profits from the secret business. You can pay me back when you are rich in the future."

After all, Xun Zhan also has to take good care of Xia Yu.

And this matter naturally costs a lot of money.

--

It has never rained in Luoan since Xia Che left Luoan.

Nowadays in Luoan City, not to mention the fruits and vegetables, even the poultry in cages have become much thinner due to the sun.

After being exposed to the sun for several consecutive days, even ordinary people living under the emperor's feet have become much more cautious when using water.

They were afraid that the well would dry up and they would not even have water to drink.

The morning court was in progress in the Golden Throne Hall. Xia Hong sat majestically on the dragon throne in the Golden Throne Hall. Because of the hot summer, he never stopped fanning himself with the folding fan in his hand.

Xia Ling's face showed a look of concern for the country and the people: "Since the beginning of summer this year, it has been dry and rainy. Is there a risk of drought breaking out in various places?"

After Xia Ling asked this question, the ministers who were worrying about how to get rid of the bad news on hand knelt down one after another to report.

"Your Majesty, judging from the reports submitted by the counties in the first half of the year, the amount of rain that has fallen in various places since the beginning of spring is far less than in previous years. This year's harvest will definitely be much lower than in previous years."

"Your Majesty, Guanxi County has not seen any rain for two consecutive months and has suffered from drought. Yesterday, a document came saying that there has been another locust plague. The county magistrate of Guanxi County has sent three groups of people to seek help. I hope the court can assist in disaster relief."

After completing this report, the two officials smiled at each other, understanding the peace of mind in each other's expressions.

The topic was brought up by Xia Ling, and they took advantage of the opportunity to say what they needed to say, which meant they had fulfilled their responsibilities.

As for how subsequent matters are arranged, it naturally has nothing to do with them.

Xia Hong's eyebrows darkened suddenly, and his voice revealed a little dissatisfaction:

"Guanxi County has had bumper harvests for years. When faced with a natural disaster like this, they could open their granaries to release grain and organize the people to catch locusts to save themselves. But now they come to the imperial city for help when they encounter a little trouble. What is the governor of Dingxi County doing?"

The Minister of Personnel knelt down hurriedly after hearing this and said, "Your Majesty, except for a few granaries that were used for inspections in previous years, the rest of the granaries in Guanxi County have been vacant for many years."

Anger welled up in my heart: "Where's the county governor?"

"The county magistrate committed suicide ten days ago out of fear of punishment."

With a huge hole right in front of them, naturally no one would be willing to spit out the money that had gone into other people's mouths.

The county magistrate was unable to fill the vacancy on his own even if he took leave, so he could only choose to commit suicide out of fear of punishment.

Xia Hong slapped the dragon chair and said, "Where did all the grain go? What did the censors investigate every year?"

After two questions were asked, all the court officials in the hall knelt down one after another.

The hall fell into dead silence, leaving Xia Hong alone sitting in the court, looking at these useless court officials.

His gaze finally fell on Xia Ling, who insisted on bringing up this matter.

Something that is more than enough to succeed but more than enough to fail!

Wu Cixiu stood up from among the kneeling courtiers and walked towards the front of the palace:

"Your Majesty, locusts are raging right now, and the counties in Guanxi have no food left. To prevent the people from fleeing and becoming bandits, we should start disaster relief and locust control right away."

It is always better for someone to speak up than for everyone to keep silent.

Xia Hong looked at Wu Xiuci with a serious expression: "Taifu, how do you think we should treat this disaster?"

"Wherever the locusts pass, there will be no harvest. This year's tax exemption is inevitable."

"In order to protect the lives of the people of Guanxi County, we should immediately open the national treasury and arrange for people to transfer grain from all over the country to overcome the difficulties at this time."

"It is urgent to eliminate the locusts. We should send people who are good at dealing with locusts to Guanxi County to lead the people to kill the locusts together."

"This year, in addition to Guanxi County, twelve other counties have also suffered from drought. After a drought, locust plagues are most likely to occur. Now we should immediately find out the actual grain reserves of each county and make early preparations for prevention."

Every word Wu Cixiu said turned into two words in Xia Hong's ears: money.

Xia Hong is not a fool. The granaries in Dingxi County are now empty, and naturally there are many other counties that have falsely reported their harvests and grain reserves for the sake of political achievements in recent years.

Holding the dragon throne in one hand, Xia Hong took a few breaths and looked at the Minister of Revenue: "Sir Sun, how much money does the court need to allocate to help Dingxi County overcome the drought and locust plague?"

"Dingxi County is a large county in the west. If we only count the 300,000 people in the area affected by the locust plague, and assuming that each person gets 30 dan of food rations per year, we would need to prepare 900,000 dan of rice alone."

"Years of famine are not as good as normal years. If we deduct the surplus food that people have at home, we will need at least 500,000 dan of grain."

After the Minister of Revenue finished calculating the account, his whole head began to feel numb.

Now we have only counted one county under Dingxi County. If all those places that are suffering from drought and may suffer from locust plagues in the future are counted together, the entire national treasury can be emptied.