Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

The emperor frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

Zhao Liangchen: "Chanzhou was struck by a disaster, but the national treasury was empty. You contributed money from your own private treasury out of concern for the people, but you have only been on the throne for five years, and your private treasury is not full. You have taken out all the money you can, but it is far from enough for disaster relief. Therefore, the officials have voluntarily donated to fill the gap in disaster relief."

The emperor was silent. He understood what Zhao Liangchen meant. To be honest, he didn't know the intricacies of this reputation before. His father and the Grand Tutor only taught him how to love the people like his own children and to govern diligently and be a benevolent monarch, but no one told him about the human heart and how to improve his prestige in the hearts of the people.

He thought that since he was the emperor, the people should naturally submit to him and believe in him. Even if they didn't worship him as a god, they should at least be grateful to and respect him.

But the thing is, he was wrong.

He also sent people out to inquire these two days and found out that few people mentioned him, and even if they did, they would curse him in a low voice. He found that the people knew very little about him, but knew King Liang very well. They even knew more about officials like Tong Zhongqian and Grand Tutor Yan than he did.

This made him very angry and dissatisfied, but he didn't know what to do. Today, Zhao Liangchen led the victims to thank the emperor for his grace, which instantly increased his prestige. He was very happy and thought that this was enough to let the people recognize his goodness. But judging from Zhao Liangchen's intention, it was still far from enough.

He looked at Zhao Liangchen and asked, "Do you have any other good ideas?"

Zhao Liangchen: "Your Majesty, the case of disaster relief silver has been delayed for too long, leaving the victims with a very bad impression of the court and you. If you want to help the victims change this impression, you must let the people know what you and the court have done.

In order to prevent the disaster relief funds from being embezzled again and not being distributed in full to the victims, you should have the amount of disaster relief funds announced.

Not only should the amount of relief money be announced, but also the amount donated by all ministers should be announced. This way, the victims can understand the origin of this relief money and know who to thank, so that they will not be deceived by those with ulterior motives.

The emperor nodded and said, "You are right. I will discuss this matter with all the officials during the morning court tomorrow."

Zhao Liangchen: "Your Majesty, you are the emperor. You don't have to consult with the ministers on everything. You can make the decision yourself."

The emperor hesitated: "But I haven't taken power yet. All my orders need the approval of the regent."

Zhao Liangchen: "The announcement of the amount of disaster relief silver was not a decree issued by you, but merely a notice. You were grateful for the efforts of the officials for the victims and wanted them to know what they had done for them, so you announced the amount. The victims are grateful to the officials, and even the ministers who assist in the administration will benefit from it. How could they blame you?"

Besides, you have to let the regents see your ability, so they can let you rule the country with confidence."

The emperor thought about it and said, "Okay, then you go and do this for me."

Zhao Liangchen: "Your Majesty, I captured Zhao Kuo a few days ago and found the disaster relief silver. Today, I even led the disaster victims out of the city to thank Your Majesty for his grace. This is really too much of a show. I shouldn't do anything else from now on, or I'll be punished by jealous people."

The Emperor: "If you don't go, who else can go? You know there aren't many people I can trust."

Zhao Liangchen thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the issue of silver is originally the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue. You should let Mr. Chang of the Ministry of Revenue take charge of this matter."

The emperor asked in surprise, "Are you talking about the Minister of Revenue, Chang Shanqi? He's already so old, wouldn't it be a hassle for him to be asked to handle such a trivial matter? If the Grand Tutor finds out, he'll nag me again."

Zhao Liangchen: "Your Majesty, you should govern your country according to your position. Since Lord Chang has not resigned and is still holding the position of Minister of Revenue, it means that his health can handle it.

Now that such a big thing has happened in the Ministry of Revenue, Lord Su has been imprisoned, and Lord Li, the Left Vice Minister, has also been suspended from his post on suspicion. I don’t know whether they can return to their posts in the Ministry of Revenue after the case is investigated. How can such an important department as the Ministry of Revenue be left without anyone in charge? Before a new Vice Minister takes office, Lord Chang should take on this responsibility.

As a veteran of three dynasties, he is experienced and capable. When the important matter requires his assistance, the Ministry of Revenue has a problem with the disaster relief silver case, so naturally it is Lord Chang who has to restore face with the disaster relief silver.

Besides, there's no need for him to do anything. With so many officials in the Ministry of Revenue, there must be records of their donations. He can just have his subordinates copy the list and take it out of the city to announce it to the victims, so that they know the emperor and the officials care about them. That's all.

The emperor nodded and said to Liu Jin, "Go to Lord Chang's residence and tell him that he doesn't need to do anything. Just leave the city and let the victims know that I and the officials have them in our hearts."

Liu Jin: “Yes.”

After Liu Jin left, the emperor looked at Zhao Liangchen and said with emotion: "I used to think you were a military commander, only suitable for fighting and killing, but I didn't expect you to have a brain."

Zhao Liangchen smiled embarrassedly, not daring to admit or deny it, because these were all taught to him by Su Qin.

Su Qin felt that since King Liang wanted to use the disaster relief money to gain fame, he should let the victims know clearly where the disaster relief money came from to stop his idea.

Once the list of donations is announced, the victims will be grateful to the emperor and all the officials, but it is definitely not what King Liang wants, that they will be grateful only to him.

Although the amount he donated was not small, the people would think that he was a member of the royal family and a prince, and donating more would only prove that he was rich and it was what he should do, so they would not be overly grateful.

His thoughts of money were cut off. If he wanted to go to Chanzhou to earn a good reputation again, he would have to personally provide disaster relief and help the victims rebuild to win their favor. That couldn't be done by just sending a few people to say a few good words. The victims had to see with their own eyes what he did.

Doing all this takes time. Does he have the time? As someone planning a rebellion, he doesn't have the time to stay in the disaster area. So Su Qin guessed that if he didn't get the benefits he wanted, King Liang would find a way not to go to Chanzhou.

As for asking Lord Chang to do this, it is because Lord Chang is a veteran of three dynasties. No matter whether he is truly loyal or cunning, he will attribute the credit for disaster relief to the emperor and will not favor any one person.

These were not Zhao Liangchen's ideas. He was embarrassed to admit that they were his own, but he also didn't want to deny it and admit that he was stupid.

Seeing that he was silent, the emperor did not care and talked about another matter: "Regarding the case of embezzlement of disaster relief funds, I don't have anyone to discuss it with, and I would like to hear your opinion.

Now the evidence sent by Tong Zhongqian proves that Su Jijing and Li Zheng are both suspects, but it seems that neither of them is a suspect and it is difficult to convict them. It may take some time to verify it, but this case should not be delayed too long.

Jin Tong went even further, sending me a list of thousands of suspects. How can I choose? If I deal with all those people as he wants, I won't be able to sit on the throne."

Zhao Liangchen had to admire Su Qin's cleverness. Today she really talked about her father's case. She said that King Liang's goal was to remove his father from the Ministry of Revenue and replace him with his own people. This time he didn't get any benefits at all, so he must be unwilling to accept it and will bite her father to death, so there is a high possibility that her father will be convicted.

Since they want to convict him, it would be better for them to take the initiative and give him a lighter charge so that the emperor can demote him and transfer him from the Ministry of Revenue. In this way, Prince Liang may not keep pestering her father. After all, it will not be good for him to let Tong Zhongqian continue the investigation.