After my soul traveled to ancient times, I don't want to be cannon fodder

"I heard that the imperial court has set up a charity granary specifically to prevent natural disasters. When the market drives up grain prices, I wonder which lord is in charge of it?"

At the end of the line of courtiers, a middle-aged official stood up and knelt on the ground to apologize. "Your humble servant Hu Yiming greets Her Royal Highness. I am guilty... Although I am willing to rectify the situation, my influence is insignificant. Those grain merchants are all backed by princes and nobles. I... I am incompetent. Please forgive me, Her Royal Highness!"

"Princes and nobles?" Zhong Ning sneered, then with a palm he slapped the kneeling official who had been muttering in dissatisfaction and sent him flying. "I'll ask you one last time, who are they?"

The voice was filled with internal force, shaking the entire court.

In just a moment, a quarter of the officials who had been stubbornly unwilling to admit it immediately stood up...

Among them were Left Censor-in-Chief Wei Kaishu, Prince's Junior Tutor Yu Qingyuan, Hanlin Academy Academician Mo Yishan, Deputy Minister of Public Administration Li Cheng, Ministry of Revenue Left Vice Minister Wang Qinruo, Ministry of Justice Left Vice Minister Yu Ming...

From the first rank to the fifth rank...all have representative officials online!

A total of sixteen officials!

There are more than 40 grain shops in the three cities of Xiyan, and at least half of them are controlled by these people.

Another part was the work of aristocratic families and dukes' houses.

These people are not in the court.

"Very good... They are all representatives of the upright officials of Dayong. Today, I have witnessed the integrity of the officials of Dayong..."

"You have stepped forward today and admitted your guilt. I am not unreasonable. Within three days, I will see that the price of grain in the three cities of Xiyan drops to less than 40 coins per catty..."

"If you can do this, I will give you a lighter punishment, demote you one level, and ask you to write a 10,000-word self-criticism. If you can't do this, your entire family will be exiled... The choice is up to you..."

"Your Highness..." One of the officials who came forward to confess his guilt remained unconvinced. "The law doesn't punish everyone, so how can we just kill them all with one blow?"

Zhong Ning sat upright, leaning slightly back in his chair. "The law doesn't hold everyone responsible? Then who should be held responsible? Dayong doesn't need profit-seeking officials, and the people don't need officials who only know how to drink blood. If you don't wish to, you can simply resign. I will still investigate!"

"The Spring Examination is coming soon. The last thing our Great Yong lacks is officials. If you don't want to be one, then quickly vacate the position. There are plenty of people who want to be one!"

The officials kneeling below were all scolded so hard that their faces turned red with shame!

"Drinking blood is so natural! How shameless!" Zhong Ning became more and more angry as he thought about it. He shouted directly at the official who stepped forward, "Since you refuse to obey, I will start with you. Come, drag him away, remove his official position, and confiscate his property!"

Several imperial guards immediately rushed in and dragged away the official who stood up to protest his injustice.

All the court officials looked horrified.

Zhong Ning continued to hammer home, "I'm not after your little fortune. All the confiscated property will be sent to the disaster area and exchanged for rice, flour, grain, and oil to support the people there. If anyone still refuses, feel free to come forward and give it a try!"

"Hu Yiming!" Zhong Ning said suddenly.

The official named Hu shouted back, "I am here!"

"Did you hear clearly what I just said?"

"I understand. I will do my best to cooperate with you, my Lords!"

"Alright, I'll leave this matter to you... I want to see results within seven days. If you have any difficulties, just come to me!"

Hu Yiming immediately prostrated himself and thanked him, "I obey your command. Thank you very much, Your Highness!"

"Minister Gu..." Zhong Ning continued, "Please, Minister Gu, please take care of this matter. The matters within the court have been handled, but the matters outside the court... Minister Gu, please pay more attention to them!"

Prime Minister Gu's face twitched slightly. Princess Zhaohua wanted him to control those aristocratic families and dukes' homes.

This is an offensive job!

Prime Minister Gu felt a little pain in his heart. If his son was not the future prince consort, he really wanted to quit!

Well, His Majesty is now seriously ill, and he has the responsibility to stabilize the court. Thinking of this, Gu Xiang immediately stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Old minister, I obey your command!"

.......

After the court session, Murong Yun continued to study in class with several old teachers, while Zhong Ning listened to the situation report from the Black Dragon Guard.

Hei Shiliu: Your Highness, the arrangements in the three cities of Xiyan are already in place, and the food that Your Highness previously asked me to purchase from Jiangnan has also been delivered in large quantities!

"Very good. First, we will sell a batch of old grain at a low price. Each person can only buy one jin per day, and sell it at 30 wen per jin. We will cooperate with the court to lower the grain price..."

"You should go and discuss this with Hu Yiming, the head of the charity granary. Only by cooperating with each other can we better control grain prices."

"As long as food prices can be kept down, the people will probably be able to survive this period... Also... have the local prefects and county magistrates send people to visit the villages and towns where the people are most affected by the disaster, distribute relief proposals, and instruct those responsible for disaster relief at the imperial court to deliver food directly to the villages and towns and distribute relief supplies according to the proposals."

"The Black Dragon Guards must be more vigilant and secretly monitor disaster relief efforts throughout the entire process. If there are any corruption cases, investigate the facts and report them to the court!"

Hei Shiliu bowed and replied, "I obey your orders!"

"Go ahead, you'll be responsible for this matter. After this, if you perform great merit, I'll give you a generous reward!"

Hei Shiliu was immediately excited: "Yes, thank you, Princess!"

After Hei Shiliu finished his report, he led his team away in a hurry.

Afterwards, Black Eleven and Black Thirteen entered the palace together to report. Black Eleven and Black Thirteen represented the Black Dragon Guards who had investigated and eliminated Prince Cheng's forces and placed secret agents in the palace in the past few days.

"Your Highness, I have been searching the inner palace these past few days. In addition to discovering the hidden spies planted by Prince Cheng and the Queen Mother, we have also discovered that Prince Cheng had ordered the arrest of two people."

"One is the Hanlin scholar Fang Fangfang, and the other is Master Yingjibo Fu Yanfu!"

"Prince Cheng once wanted to hand Master Fu over to Fu Lin, the son of the former Duke of Ying, but Fu Lin was killed by Master Fu..."

"Master Fu is currently imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, suffering severe torture. His life hangs by a thread. I have requested the Imperial Physician to treat him, but he remains unconscious."

"Shen Yan was tortured?"

"Yes, Master Fu was severely tortured in the Heavenly Prison. I investigated the situation and learned that these two gentlemen were specially sent by Prince Cheng to be captured. He intended to hold them hostage and use them to threaten the princess in the future..."

"So, they were actually implicated by me!" Zhong Ning frowned slightly. The methods of Prince Cheng were really too despicable.

"What about Fang Ping? Is Fang Ping also in the Heavenly Prison?" Zhong Ning asked again.

Hei Shiyi shook his head slightly. "For some reason, Lord Xiao Fang escaped the disaster... Afterwards, I sent someone to investigate and found out that Lord Xiao Fang was riding a horse lightly, leaving the city and heading towards Zhenguo Temple. I suspect that Lord Xiao Fang might have intended to go to Zhenguo Temple to inform Her Royal Highness the Princess!"

Hei Shisan took over the conversation, bowed and said:

"Your Highness, we sent people to investigate at Zhenguo Temple, but found no trace of Master Xiao Fang. Later, we found him in a village at the foot of the mountain. He appeared to be seriously injured and had been rescued by a farmer's daughter."