The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 258

"Alright, let's adjourn the grand court assembly for today."

After the people left, Eunuch Kou served them lotus seed tea.

"Your Majesty, this lotus seed tea is to clear heat and reduce internal fire. You've been feeling too hot-tempered these past few days."

"How can I not be angry? There are so many disaster victims, and these victims are all human lives. We need to ask them to come up with a solution, but these three people are pretending to be deaf and dumb. What use are they?"

Moreover, it was Grand Tutor Xu who came up with the solution last time. If it weren't for Grand Tutor Xu drawing up the disaster relief plan, I'm afraid I'd still be troubled by the flood problem.

These two guys are useless; I have to swallow my pride and go to Grand Tutor Xu.

At the Xu residence, Xu Tian was giving a lesson. He had already taught more than half of the "Three Character Classic" and "Thousand Character Classic". Seeing that the students in Class A could already recite the "Thousand Character Classic" and "Three Character Classic" fluently, Xu Tian felt very gratified.

Seeing the flowers of the motherland growing up strong and healthy, Yang Tao felt a sense of pride and honor. Just then, he saw the housekeeper sneaking around outside.

Xu Tian, ​​somewhat helpless, went outside and asked, "What happened? The Emperor is here again?"

The steward nodded, and Xu Tian immediately became annoyed: "The Emperor has arrived, so please invite him to the main hall. What kind of behavior is this?"

Does that mean it's really necessary to make such a fuss over coming here? Xu Tian is starting to feel a little embarrassed that the Emperor is always left out in the wind on the bridge.

"Minister Xu, you don't know..." she said, grabbing Xu Tian's arm. Xu Tian tried to pull his robes outwards but couldn't budge them an inch, and looked somewhat helpless.

He desperately wanted to pat Li Er's head and tell him to calm down, that it was just a problem with disaster victims. (Search for related information!)

"This time..." Li Er wanted to save face, but seeing that Xu Tian didn't care at all, he coughed twice and said, "I'll just tell you the truth. There are huge numbers of disaster victims. Of the funds distributed in Hebei, less than one-tenth actually reached the victims after being embezzled by officials at every level."

I ordered the Ministry of Revenue to conduct a thorough investigation, but to my surprise, the ministers responsible for allocating funds had a particularly compelling reason: the floods were simply too difficult to manage, and it was normal for funds to run out. They added that every disaster relief effort was like this, consuming vast sums of money before the people's livelihoods were finally restored.

Isn't this profiteering from national disaster? Could the silver that Li Er invested really just vanish? Someone must have embezzled it, but the law doesn't punish everyone. Now even Li Er doesn't know what to do.

"Your Majesty does not punish the masses; the most important thing now is the disaster victims."

Li Er thought this made perfect sense. He would deal with these corrupt officials properly when he had the time. Li Er thought to himself, he had already allocated the silver, but what could he do if it didn't reach the disaster victims?

Xu Tian turned his head and saw what Li Er was thinking. He immediately said, "Your Majesty, since this silver cannot reach the people, let the disaster victims become self-reliant. We can assign the strong and able-bodied to work and become self-reliant. The remaining silver is less than one-tenth of the total."

It's a considerable sum of money to set up a shelter in the area, where the elderly, women, and children can receive their daily necessities.

In short, classifying disaster victims according to their circumstances can alleviate the disaster problem.

Upon hearing his almost sophistical discourse on governance, Li Shimin's eyes gleamed, making Xu Tian somewhat embarrassed.

Li Shimin immediately patted Xu Tian on the shoulder, and Xu Tian couldn't help but worry. If Li Er promoted him or let him serve in the palace for a long time, what would happen to his private school?

Unexpectedly, after holding back for a long time, Li Er finally blurted out: "My dear minister, come to the palace to play chess with me more often."