The concubine escaped and cried when she met the prince again

The emperor snorted at him and said, "Since you don't hide the grain, where does the annual tax go?"

Lan Mao understood what was going on immediately after hearing what the emperor said. He told the emperor the truth: "Your Majesty, there has been a drought in recent years. Lord Li and his men were unable to collect taxes, so they asked me to delay paying them, saying that the people would make up for it next year. I have mentioned this to you before!"

After Lan Mao finished speaking, he groaned in his heart because he had mentioned the drought to the emperor several times, but was interrupted by the beauties beside him every time. After a few times, he never mentioned it again.

The emperor frowned and asked, "Have you mentioned this to me?"

Lan Mao bowed his head and replied, "Your Majesty, when we collected taxes the year before last and last year, I mentioned this to you. You said that we should just keep the taxes we owe and let everyone make up for it later."

After hearing what Lan Mao said, the emperor didn't want to make things difficult for him, but his face was still very unhappy. The treasury was so empty, and the people were running away from their homes, so he didn't know what to do for a while.

Lan Mao saw that the emperor looked unhappy, and guessed in his heart that it was probably because of the empty treasury. He was silent for a while, and suggested to the emperor: "Your Majesty, if you want to solve the problem of the empty treasury, there is only one way at present."

The emperor, who originally had a dark face, listened to Lan Mao's words, he looked at him fiercely and asked, "What's the solution?"

Lan Mao glanced at the ministers present, and boldly proposed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, several countries in the north have been affected by the drought, and they are afraid that they can't protect themselves. But the situation is different in the Xia Kingdom in the south. Not only does Xia Kingdom have a lot of rain, but it also has abundant water resources. Although the geographical location is a bit mountainous, the annual harvest is definitely not small. They have no shortage of food from the dignitaries to the common people. If we send troops there now, it will probably be..."

Before Lan Mao could finish his words, two pairs of cold gazes shot towards him, frightening him so much that he dared not continue speaking.

The owners of these two gazes were Jiang Dichen and Qin Zhen. Both of them were military generals and they knew very well that once a war broke out, it would mean corpses floating thousands of miles away and rivers of blood, and it would be the ordinary people who would suffer.

When the emperor saw Lan Mao suddenly stopped talking, he looked at him and said, "Go on."

After Lan Mao heard what the emperor said, he glanced at Jiang Dichen, and quickly bowed his head and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, if we send troops at this time, we can grab the first share of the pie. This way, we can fill the national treasury and relieve the pressure of the people in the country who are hungry."

Of course, doing so is also extremely risky. If things go wrong, the country will be destroyed and the family will be ruined. Therefore, if a war is really provoked, Bei Ming can only win.

As Lan Mao finished speaking, several ministers suddenly stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, the treasury is empty now. It is not a good time to send troops. Please think twice."

"Your Majesty, please think twice." Several ministers stood up to object.

Military generals such as Jiang Dichen and Qin Zhen stood silently by the side, looking as if it had nothing to do with them.

After listening to the suggestions of the ministers from both sides, the emperor was silent for a moment. Under the current circumstances, sending troops is undoubtedly the best option.

But everything has its pros and cons. If it is not handled properly, the entire Beiming will be plunged into dire straits. He looked up at the prince beside him and asked, "Prince, do you have any better solution for the refugee issue?"

The Crown Prince heard his father asking him questions. He coughed a few times before saying to the Emperor, "In reply to your father's question, I think Lord Wu and his men are right. It is not appropriate to send troops now. As for the refugees, I think we should stop them first and then send them back to their hometowns."

As soon as the prince finished speaking, one of the ministers who supported the war quickly stood up and said, "Your Highness, the problem is that the refugees' hometowns have no water or food, so how can they go back obediently?"

Jiang Qing frowned after hearing the minister's words, but if they really had to send troops, the food in the national treasury would not last long. If the people really didn't want to go back, it would be a real headache.

The emperor saw that the prince had no good ideas, so he turned his gaze to Jiang Dichen who was standing beside him and said, "Prince Han, what about you?"

Jiang Dichen raised his eyebrows and glanced at his father. After a brief silence, he told the emperor truthfully, "In reply to your father, we should not think about sending troops or stopping the refugees right now. Judging from the weather this year, I'm afraid that the people will still have nothing to harvest this year. We must quickly find a way to help the refugees get through this difficult time. Otherwise, the loss of our people will become more and more serious."

After Jiang Qing heard what Jiang Dichen said, he sneered at him and said, "Who doesn't understand what you said? The question is how to help the refugees?"

Jiang Dichen glanced at Jiang Qing and ignored him. Instead, he bowed to the emperor and said, "Father, the country is in trouble right now and every citizen has a responsibility. I think that from the powerful and noble families to the common people, those who have the ability should contribute money, those who have the strength should contribute strength, and those who have the food should contribute food. As long as everyone unites, I believe that Beiming will successfully overcome this difficulty."

After he finished speaking, he paused and continued, "As an example, I will donate one million kilograms of grain to the people of Beiming."

As soon as Jiang Dichen finished speaking, the ministers present fell silent instantly. King Han maintained an army and gave away a million kilograms of grain at a time. This frightened the ministers with considerable wealth and made them dare not say a word.

Qin Zhen was stunned for a moment after hearing what Jiang Dichen said. He had no food or silver, and he had nothing to donate. Fortunately, he reacted quickly. He quickly stood up and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I am short of money and food, but I have brute force, and I am willing to run around for the people of Beiming."

In the hall, if others said that they were short of money, they would probably be impeached on the spot. But Qin Zhen's situation was different. He had 50,000 troops under his command, and the court had been slow to pay the military salaries. It was said that he had almost sold out his general's mansion.

He used to have an army of 150,000, but later he could not afford to support them, so he had to transfer 100,000 troops to the emperor.

After a brief silence, the ministers all stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to donate 200,000 kilograms of grain to the people of Beiming."

"Your humble servant has 100,000 jin."

"Your humble servant has 20,000 catties, your humble servant has 10,000 catties..."

After the ministers finished speaking, someone looked at Censor Lan and said, "Lord Lan, everyone has donated, why don't you say anything?"

Although Lan Mao was demoted, he had been prime minister for more than ten years. It was impossible for him to be as poor as Qin Zhen.