The next day, in court.

The court bell rang, and all the officials took their seats.

The emperor sat high on the dragon throne, while Li Yuanzhao was placed aside obediently.

After listening to the prince's experience yesterday, Emperor Jing took the initiative to bring the prince to the court for more trials and learning.

I'm getting older too...

After all the officials had finished their salutes, Emperor Jing made a bow and then drank a cup of tea as usual.

Afterwards, the court fell into dead silence.

Emperor Jing also realized that today was unusual and waited quietly for his ministers to speak.

Li Yansong lowered his head and glanced at the palace, sighed, then slowly walked out of the queue and said: "Today's discussion in the court, veteran..."

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial!" Before Li Yansong could finish speaking, Feng Jie, the Minister of War, stepped forward first.

"What's the matter?"

Feng Jie said solemnly: "Your Majesty! I received an urgent report from Jianjiang Prefecture last night! Because the floods in Jianjiang have been unresolved for days and are getting worse, a rebel force has sprung up among the people."

"It's called the Water God Sect! Governor Jianjiang has sent people to investigate. The people in this sect are the remnants of the Qian Kingdom!"

"It is said that the Water God Sect, under the guidance of its saint, gathered thousands of victims and carried out operations in various counties and cities in Jianjiang to spread rumors and cause trouble to the people. In order to maintain order, the army and horses of Jianjiang Prefecture were already short of manpower, so they sent an additional 10,000 people to the court. People and horses, purge the Water God Sect!"

As soon as these words came out, the officials immediately started talking about it.

"It has reached this point. It has taken two years to wipe out the remaining evildoers in the Qian Kingdom?"

"Your Majesty, the top priority is to quickly send reinforcements to Jianjiang Mansion to quell the people's complaints. If this continues, I'm afraid the power of the Water God Sect will grow!"

"Soldiers are valuable and quick! We should strangle the Water God Sect in its infancy while it is still weak!"

"So..."

"Quiet! Silence!" Emperor Jing looked angrily and slapped the dragon chair hard, and the ministers immediately fell silent.

"The remnants of the Qian Kingdom have now been reduced to a cult. My dear friends, your reaction is a bit excessive!"

"However, the Jianjiang flood problem must be solved, but the national treasury has no money. I am willing to allocate another 10,000 taels from internal funds."

"As for the rest... All of you, my dear friends, are the pillars of the country. Now that the country is in trouble, I hope you can donate generously..."

As soon as these words came out, many people's eyes began to dodge.

Just like students who are afraid of being called in class.

After a few breaths, no one took the initiative to speak. Li Yansong scanned the audience and sighed.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, I must start with this.

What your Majesty said is true. Now that the treasury is empty, what else can we do? But taking money from other ministers is like cutting flesh from a human body.

They all say that they are for the sake of the people of the world, but the premise is that they cannot harm personal interests!

Li Yansong took a step forward and said loudly: "I would like to donate five thousand taels of silver!"

With Li Yansong taking the lead, several cabinet ministers began to step forward one after another.

Zhang Dongxiang said: "I would like to donate four thousand taels of silver..."

Zheng Qiao said: "I also donated four thousand taels."

Seeing that several cabinet ministers were the first to bear the brunt, the other ministers could not help but gnash their teeth.

Several cabinet ministers have been in the cabinet for a long time, hold many positions, and are highly trusted as the emperor's think tanks.

They are all well-known big landowners in their respective hometowns.

But it's different for other petty officials below the fourth rank! It's hard to say that it's nothing if you can spend thousands of taels at once.

But it really hurts my heart... Donate to the victims? Wouldn't it be delicious to buy two more pounds of high-quality Tianxian tea?

Emperor Jing nodded happily.

In the end, it is up to the veteran ministers in the cabinet to understand the general situation and take the overall situation into consideration...

Subsequently, the remaining officials began to report the donation figures one by one according to the size of their official positions.

It dropped from thousands of taels to hundreds of taels, and finally only a few dozen taels.

After doing all the research, I only managed to collect a total of thirty-four thousand taels.

Seeing the numbers compiled by the little eunuch, Emperor Jing's face gradually became ugly.

Counting the 10,000 taels he contributed, the dozens of ministers below donated a total of 24,000 taels, and he could raise more than 20,000 taels in two or three days by selling just tea leaves.

Emperor Jing really wanted to tell the story about the tea leaves and shame these ministers to death, but thinking that it might affect the subsequent income of internal funds, he decisively put an end to this idea, and then sarcastically said:

"Every one of the officials from the Jing Dynasty who didn't come to me first was so incorruptible... so many of them could only scrape together less than 40,000 taels of silver!"

There was silence below, and everyone began to look at each other in confusion.

Your Majesty's appetite is too big. How much is too much?

Zhang Shi, the Minister of Household Affairs, said: "Your Majesty, the top priority is to quickly support Jianjiang. Send as much as you have!"

"Yes! Your Majesty, please send troops to Jianjiang as soon as possible!"

Emperor Jing said slowly: "Feng Jie! Immediately send 15,000 troops to Jianjiang to destroy the Water God Sect!"

"In addition, bring another 20,000 taels of silver to assist Jianjiang Prefecture in disaster relief!"

The ministers were in an uproar: "Your Majesty! The number of 20,000 taels is too small. Why only 20,000 taels are distributed now that there are 130,000 taels?"

"Now only one-tenth of the two hundred thousand taels is distributed, which is really too little!"

Many people looked anxious, and most of them were officials from the Southern Department, fearing that the floods would continue to spread to their homes.

Emperor Jing said calmly: "How long will it take for the flood to end? Which of the Qing family can give me the answer?"

"If the flood does not recede in a month, do you want me to continue to send an additional two hundred thousand taels of silver?"

"This is a bottomless pit that cannot be filled. There are many people in the world who need to be saved, but the national treasury only has so much money. Regarding this matter... let's take it one step at a time and wait for a while..."

"Feng Jie, after sending troops to Jianjiang, order people to report back to the capital every day. The information must not be delayed for a moment!"

"yes!"

Seeing the emperor's resolute attitude, the people below could not hold on any longer, but they all had Xiao Jiujiu in mind.

Zhang Dongxiang came close to Li Yansong and whispered: "Mr. Li, what's wrong with your majesty...I think there is something abnormal."

Li Yansong said solemnly: "I don't know, Your Majesty has made his own decision... Just take it one step at a time..."
Chapter completed!