The fifty golden silk nanmu in the inventory of the North Town Fusi were quickly exchanged for one million taels of silver.

This silver is enough to put pressure on the treasury.

As for the salaries of the sergeants on the frontier ...

Zhu Qianyuan already had a plan.

Yan Honglou is a piece of fat, since he provoked the person behind Yan Honglou this time, then he doesn't mind completely solving the trouble.

......

Shaanxi.

On the dilapidated hill, an old man with a yellow face and thin muscles looked at the corn that was about to ripen at his feet.

Three consecutive years of drought have led to a massive reduction in cereal production, starvation is rife in the village, and 80 percent of the villagers have died in the drought.

If it weren't for the family who left the only food they had to store for the old man and his granddaughter, the two of them would have become one of the desolate graves on the hill.

But even so, the rice cylinder has bottomed out and can't support it for too long.

"Grandpa... Grandpa, I'm hungry! "The little girl's eyes were dull because she had not eaten normal food for so long, and her eyes were blind.

The old man's stiff face took on a look, and he took out a piece of bread made of weeds, bark, and corn and pressed it, and handed it to the girl.

"Eat this first."

"Although this year is still dry, there is more rain than usual, and the corn in the fields is finally ripe."

"Then we won't have to go hungry, there will always be hope for survival!"

"If your father and mother can hold on a little longer, maybe... Maybe—"

said the old man's eyes, which began to moisten.

He wiped his tears with his fingers, then quickly wiped them on his chapped lips and muttered, "In a year of great drought, you can't waste anything..."

The little girl couldn't see, but she could hear the squirming sound.

"Grandpa... Grandfather...... Is it raining? This

time the old man did not reply.

The girl only heard her grandfather cry out and spit out something.

That thing, salty with a hint of disgust.

The rustling sound grew louder and louder, and something began to fall on the girl.

At this moment, she suddenly understood.

That's not rain, it's locusts....

The clouds that shrouded the whole territory of Shaanxi brought a long-lost coolness, but when the people saw the falling things clearly, the last glimmer of hope was completely ended, and a locust plague that frantically gnawed on grain and grass was set off, and finally added a stroke to the history books of the Ming Dynasty.

In the second year of the Apocalypse, the locust plague in Shaanxi was thousands of miles away, and not a single inch of grass was grown.

......

News of the locust plague in Shaanxi quickly spread to the capital.

Li Qiyuan, the head of the household department, looked at the disaster situation with a sad face.

In the face of natural and man-made disasters of this level, he was powerless.

Can the Commander really do it?

He knew very well that the imperial court must immediately organize disaster relief, otherwise once the disaster expanded, the entire Ming Dynasty might fall into turmoil.

"No, the commander can do it!" Li Qiyuan said firmly.

Subsequently, he sorted out his court clothes and couldn't wait to rush to the Qianqing Palace, ready to play His Majesty and report the disaster.

In the Qianqing Palace, hundreds of civil and military officials gathered one after another.

Zhu Youxiao came late, and he was holding a wooden cicada made of golden silk nanmu in his hand, which looked very delicate.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you have something to do, play early, and retreat from the dynasty if you have nothing to do!"

After the completion of the Zhendi Division, Zhu Youxiao lived in seclusion every day and thought about the way to balance the courtiers.

If it weren't for Mrs. Fengsheng's insistence that he see the minister every day, he would have planned to learn from Lord Wanli and not go to court at all.

In order to prevent His Majesty from withdrawing from the court ahead of schedule, Li Qiyuan took the lead in standing up from among the ministers.

"Your Majesty!"

"What?" Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly.

Li Qiyuan bowed down and said: "The locust plague in Shaanxi has caused starvation all over the land, countless people have died, and nearly thirty percent of the people have become displaced people.

"I hope Your Majesty will arrange disaster relief matters as soon as possible!"

Zhu Youxiao yawned: "Disaster relief? "

Aiqing, as the head of the household, just arrange the money as soon as possible, and I will leave it to you to handle it with full authority."

"But the treasury has long been out of food money, and the minister really doesn't know what to do." Li Qiyuan's face was embarrassed.

His personal ability is not weak, but this year is just over halfway through, and the treasury has bottomed out, with a shortfall of more than 6 million taels of silver.

This is beyond the scope of Li Qiyuan's ability to cope.

"No money in the treasury?"

Zhu Youxiao's face instantly turned pale: "I am very bright and rich, how can I have no money!" "

You'd better give me an explanation!"

Li Qiyuan wiped the cold sweat on his forehead: "Your Majesty, in recent years, natural and man-made disasters have continued, and the disasters have affected eight provinces, and the taxes collected at the beginning of the year are less than thirty percent of those of the Wanli Dynasty.

"It's already difficult to maintain the official's salary, but the clan's salary and the military salary of the border are also indispensable..."

Zhu Youxiao was furious, and smashed his fist on the dragon chair, smashing the wooden cicada to pieces.

He had just transferred 300,000 taels of silver from the treasury to buy gold silk nanmu.

If you continue to pursue it, it will become your own fault.

So it can only change the subject.

"I don't want to listen to this, just tell me how to solve the problem!"

In the Qianqing Palace, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty did not dare to speak when they heard this question.

In the Ming generation, the richest people have always been not the emperor, but these courtiers.

These ministers clinged to the Ming Dynasty to suck blood and eat the marrow, and when the Ming Dynasty really encountered a problem, these people had already converted the benefits they had obtained into private property, and they would not solve the problem at all.

Just when the ministers tried their best to avoid this question, Gu Bingqian, the first assistant of the cabinet, stood up from the crowd.

He said respectfully: "The minister has a word. "

Your Majesty's carpentry skills are the best in the world, and any object is a priceless treasure."

"It's better for Your Majesty to hold an auction above the court, whoever bids the highest price will get an item made by His Majesty himself!"

Hearing Gu Bingqian's words, Zhu Youxiao praised him again and again.

It's just that the ministers scolded Gu Bingqian thoroughly in their hearts.

"This grandson wants to please Your Majesty, and he still pulls us!"

"What's the use of that thing Your Majesty made?"

"He did it as a good man, we paid the money, and in the end, His Majesty had to reward him, this old thing is really a good hand of cards!"

Of course, Gu Bingqian is the head of the cabinet, even if these people are unhappy in their hearts, they can only greet each other with a smile.

Most importantly.

Now that he can easily please His Majesty, he may be able to drink soup behind Gu Bingqian.

"Your Majesty, so good!"

"That's right, everything Your Majesty has made is a treasure, and I want to collect it a long time ago!"

"In this way, we can not only fill the gap in the national treasury, but also quickly provide disaster relief, killing two birds with one stone!"

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