The wives of the concubines are empresses

Inside the Golden Palace

Shangguan Wanjun looked at the ministers and asked solemnly.

"My dear ministers, do you have any good ideas to allow the refugees to return to their hometowns to live?" The court had already closed the granaries, mainly because the grain was less than one-third full and they did not dare to open them any further.

The Minister of Revenue, Mu Qinghai, wanted the refugees to go back the most. After all, the granary was under the management of their Ministry of Revenue. Without food, it would be difficult for them to do their work and they would encounter a lot of trouble.

Besides, there are too many refugees, and they won’t be able to sustain the food for long. After all, there are still a lot of expenses in the palace. I heard that the emperor has already cut all expenses in the palace.

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to make some steamed buns for the people and let them go back home one after another. Anyone who returns home ten days ago will be exempt from taxes for a year. What do you think?"

"That's a good idea, my dear ministers. Think about it and see if there's anything else you can do. The number of refugees is too large. It's not feasible to keep them in the capital. They'll likely clash with the people inside and outside the city, and that would only lead to more trouble."

According to previous statistics, there are about hundreds of thousands of refugees in and outside the capital, not to mention those in other areas.

Concubine Wu - Propaganda Wind: "Your Majesty, the weather has been so bad recently that the steamed bread might spoil easily and be difficult to store."

The Right Prime Minister asked anxiously, "What does General Xuan think?"

They have been providing too much disaster relief and porridge recently. No matter how big their business is, it cannot withstand the impact of such a large number of refugees.

Therefore, he was also a minister who particularly wanted the refugees to return.

Concubine Wu - Propaganda Wind said: "We have to find a way to get some food that can be stored for a long time. Otherwise, I am afraid the refugees will not want to leave the capital. After all, the court has to take care of them."

Taifu Yun nodded and said, "General Xuan is right, but I'm afraid it's hard to find food that can be easily stored."

Shangguan Wanjun pondered for a moment and said, "It's not that difficult."

The ministers were shocked, and the Minister of Works Lin Linchenghao was overjoyed.

"Your Majesty, do you have any good ideas?"

All the ministers also looked towards the high position.

"White radish is fine, right? Besides being eaten cold, in soups, and stir-fried, it can also be eaten raw."

De Fei Mu Wennian said: "Your Majesty is right."

"There are also sweet potatoes, which can be eaten raw. There are also sweet potatoes. Everyone, think carefully, what else can be eaten raw?"

One brain is not enough for her.

Wang Bo, the Imperial Guard of the Palace, exclaimed in surprise: "Your Majesty, you can eat dried fish directly."

And nutritious.

An adult refuted him on the spot: "Master Wang, you are confused. It's already this late, and you're still talking about dried fish."

It’s good to have something to eat at this time, especially dried fish.

"What Lord Wang said makes sense. I had some dried fish dried before. By the way, Lianhua, how much dried fish do we have?"

"Your Majesty, there are currently tens of thousands of kilograms of small dried fish and thousands of kilograms of large dried fish left."

The ministers were dumbfounded when they heard this. There really was dried fish? No, when did the emperor prepare it?

How come they didn't know anything at all? The emperor is really hiding it well.

Finally, we decided to eat white radish, sweet potato, dried fish, sweet potato, pickled radish, pickled long beans to satisfy our hunger on the way, and take some dried vegetables back home to keep us going until the vegetable seedlings grow in our own vegetable garden.

The Kyoto Commander-in-Chief, General Xuanwei, Concubine Wu - Propaganda Style, General Huaiyuan, officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and people under Lianhua cooperated with each other to distribute food and vegetable seeds to the first batch of people who were willing to go back.

"Your Majesty, isn't the emperor's preparation too rich? There are ten dried fish, five large white radishes for each person, and five sweet potatoes for each person. Most importantly, he also gave a jar of pickled radishes." The emperor was really generous.

After hearing his subordinate's words, the Minister of Revenue, Mu Qinghai, said, "The Emperor has his own considerations."

The reason why Shangguan Wanjun asked people to prepare such rich things on the first day was that she wanted to allow more refugees to return at one time.

Minister of Revenue Mu Qinghai glanced at the refugees and said, "Fellow villagers, I have been ordered by the Emperor to come and distribute food and vegetable seeds for the first group of people who wish to leave Beijing and return to their hometowns. The Emperor and the court remember you all, and the first group returning will be exempt from taxes for one year. Please consider this carefully."

Hearing that food would be distributed on the way, vegetable seeds would be taken back, and that there would be tax exemptions this year, many people were tempted.

When those with families saw so much food, they immediately decided to register to leave Beijing.

No matter how good it is to live under the emperor's rule, it is not as good as having a house and land in your hometown.

"We'd like to go back."

Upon hearing this, the Minister of Revenue, Mu Qinghai, burst into laughter and called out, "Quick, help them register."

There are ten people in their family, including the parents, their son and daughter-in-law, two teenage grandsons, a nine-year-old granddaughter and a seven-year-old grandson.

"Dad, this is really food. We can really go back." The woman was very excited. She thought that her whole family was going to die.

"Here, take it. We will have special soldiers to escort the first batch of civilians."

After much deliberation, Shangguan Wanjun decided to let the generals escort the first group of people out of Beijing and back to their hometown. This way, she would feel more at ease and the generals could get training and realize their value.

Minister of Revenue Mu Qinghai and Concubine Wu - Xuanchuanfeng went to the palace to meet the emperor together. When Shangguan Wanjun heard Shi Qingxue report that it was they who wanted to see her, she hurriedly summoned them.

"how?"

Minister of Revenue Mu Qinghai was very excited: "Your Majesty, there are a full 10,000 people registered today."

"Really? That's great! We'll reduce the dried fish supply tomorrow, but everything else remains the same."

The refugees who thought they would have more food the next day were dumbfounded. They thought they could leave Beijing with more food, but they never expected that the court would directly reduce the amount and even remove the only meat, dried fish.

Some refugees were quick-witted and immediately registered to leave Beijing with their families.

Commander Chang looked at the long queue, seemingly pondering the profound meaning of the emperor's action.

The queue ended in the evening and everyone brought their registration records into the palace to present to Shangguan Wanjun.

She saw that there were 8,000 people registered and decided to reduce the amount tomorrow. Originally, each person had five white radishes and five sweet potatoes, but in the end it became four white radishes and four sweet potatoes. The rest remained the same as yesterday.

The refugees regretted their decision.

"Hey, if I had known this would happen, I should have left Beijing on the first day so I could have gotten more food."

By the early morning of the fourth day, there were 29,000 fewer people in the capital.

The Right Prime Minister was passing by in a carriage and saw that the number of refugees had obviously decreased. She was very relieved, but she also hoped that the number would continue to decrease, as they would have to start reducing food supplies in their mansion.

On the tenth day of the policy, there were 100,000 fewer people in the capital, and the remaining people were mostly elderly, weak, sick and disabled, and many were even pregnant, which gave the officials a headache.

"Your Majesty, what should we do with these people?" The Minister of Revenue, Mu Qinghai, wanted to resign from his post as he was exhausted both physically and mentally.

"My dear ministers, what do you think?" She needed to listen more to the ministers' opinions and let them think more, otherwise their brains would become rusty.