The substitute prince: Reported the emperor's brother at the beginning

The disaster victims in Jiangdong exceeded one million. The earth dragon turned over, and heavy rains and floods came one after another.

Countless people were left homeless, without food, and displaced. According to reconnaissance information, corpses were everywhere, and many places even began to rebel.

The situation has become extremely serious, and Emperor Wu also attaches great importance to it. Ning Yi naturally understands that the disaster in East China cannot be delayed.

Moreover, the common disaster relief methods that were once used are no longer able to alleviate the situation.

For example, we can take some money and food as a pretense, and the rest depends on the local victims' ability to bear it and hold on until next year.

This approach is completely unable to save East China and may even spread to the entire Dawu Kingdom.

Ning Yi didn't dare to be negligent, and the other three naturally didn't dare to be perfunctory anymore.

Tan Donglin finally came up with a rough estimate.

"Your Highness, to quell the disaster throughout East China, we need to distribute relief grain, gather able-bodied men to repair riverbanks, mobilize armies in various regions to quell the unrest and rebellion, train young and strong men in each city to prevent them from being attacked by the rioters, and also transport various medicines. All in all, the silver required is at least this much."

Ning Yi frowned as he looked at the roughly calculated amounts for each item, which made people gasp. It was an astronomical figure.

This is much more than the annual treasury tax revenue of the Dawu Kingdom.

It is indeed hard to find.

"Are these the minimum silver requirements?"

Fang Wanhua smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, these are all calculated by us according to your requirements."

"Relief food for the people, work-for-relief, riverbank repairs, military preparations, city defenses, and plague medicines are all calculated based on current market prices, based on the millions of people currently living in the disaster-stricken areas."

"But if time goes on, there will only be more."

Ning Yi tapped the table and said leisurely, "It seems that the money and food we have gathered now are really not enough to fill the gaps between our teeth."

This left the three of them at a loss for words.

Throughout the dynasties, there has never been disaster relief like Ning Yi's. In the past, a batch of money and grain would be allocated to the local areas.

Then officials from all over the country distributed the money and grain layer by layer, but they all understood that if even a little bit of chaff actually reached the hands of the victims, it would be a great favor from the emperor.

There has always been a saying among court officials that the victims of the disaster can no longer be considered human beings.

However, the disaster relief measures Ning Yi requested were unheard of. He simply treated the victims as his own sons.

The three of them looked at each other and exchanged glances.

It was Jiang Bingwen who gritted his teeth and bowed first, saying, "Your Highness, I have to say something unpleasant. I hope Your Highness will not blame me."

Ning Yi was having a headache right now. He glanced at him and said, "As for the idea of having to report to Father for this small amount of money, forget it. I can't just watch so many disaster victims starve to death. Besides, it's not that easy to get past Father."

Jiang Bingwen: "Your Highness is absolutely right. The disaster in Jiangdong this time is indeed different from previous ones. It is almost impossible to quell it as before."

"What I want to say is that Your Highness should not calculate the amount of disaster relief based on the current market price of grain."

Ning Yi was puzzled: "Then what grain price should be used for calculation?"

Jiang Bingwen glanced at Tan Donglin, who winked at him, and continued unmoved, "What I mean by abnormal grain prices is that I want Your Highness to calculate it based on the price of bran."

His words made Ning Yi stunned.

Tan Donglin's mouth twitched, and he sighed helplessly and shook his head.

Fang Wanhua also looked down at the ground.

In fact, Jiang Bingwen's words have violated the rules of officialdom.

In all previous disaster relief efforts, officials only needed to say that the amount was calculated based on the price of disaster relief grain.

No one would say bluntly that it should be calculated based on the price of bran.

After all, if the court said this, it would be too shameful and too conscienceless.

But His Highness Ning Yi really doesn't make sense.

Tan Donglin and the others didn't want to talk about this, as it made Ning Yi unhappy.

This master was the executioner who slaughtered a third-rank official on the spot. Killing small officials like them was no different from crushing an ant.

Only Jiang Bingwen, who always had a lot to say, spoke directly.

Just tear off this fig leaf, otherwise His Highness will not understand at all.

Ning Yi's eyes turned cold: "Do you want to let those disaster victims who are already skin and bones eat chaff?"

"Will that fill you up?"

"Your Highness," Jiang Bingwen said with a stiff neck, not worried at all, "Your Highness, I know you want to help the victims."

"If we use all normal food, how can we provide disaster relief? It would be a drop in the bucket. How many people can we help?"

“But if we buy it at the price of bran, we can help many times more people.”

"Bran is several times cheaper than grain. Disaster victims only need a bite to survive. Not starving is better than going without food, right?"

Jiang Bingwen's straightforwardness left everyone silent.

Tan Donglin smiled bitterly and bowed: "Your Highness, please don't blame Lord Jiang. Lord Jiang is also helpless."

"He also has good intentions and is looking forward to providing disaster relief for Your Highness."

Fang Wanhua also bowed and pleaded: "Your Highness, although Lord Jiang's words are too cold-blooded, this is the truth."

"In fact, every time disaster relief is provided, officials deduct money from every level, and if the only thing that actually reaches the people is just enough chaff to prevent them from starving to death, then they are already kindhearted disaster relief officials."

"Now that we can't gather enough money and food, buying bran to save more people is the best strategy."

"If Your Highness severely punishes Lord Jiang for this, it would be inappropriate."

Ning Yi didn't say anything, but continued tapping his fingers on the table.

He glanced at the three people in front of him. No one knew what this moody Sixth Prince was thinking.

In fact, Ning Yi understood in his heart what they meant.

The money and grain that was collected would probably be of little use if thrown into Jiangdong, just like pouring a basin of water into a deep pit.

If we use the money we have now to buy chaff, we can save more people.

If we can raise millions more taels in the future, we can save more people.

There is no need to think about good food, just bran is enough to survive.

As long as they can hold out until next autumn harvest, the disaster in Jiangdong will be over.

"You don't have to say that." Ning Yi put away his tapping fingers and said calmly, "Although what Lord Jiang said was indeed too cold-blooded and ruthless, his starting point was good. I wouldn't punish even the person who gave me advice. If that were the case, I would be even more inhumane."

Ning Yi's words made the three of them breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems that His Highness is not completely insensitive to right and wrong. He is magnanimous towards his own people who are willing to give him advice.

"Of course, let's not talk about the chaff anymore. Otherwise, if I take a pile of chaff to provide disaster relief, let alone compete for the throne, everyone in the world will curse me to death."

"Your Highness, if that's the case, where can we find so much silver?"

The three of them were also anxious, worried that Ning Yi would stubbornly stick to his guns.

Ning Yi remained unmoved: "These are my own business. I still don't believe that the entire Dawu Kingdom can't find the money. You guys go back first."