amaotonovel Chapter 324: The stingy man fights against the officer and the garrison?
Chapter 324: The stingy man fights against the officer and the garrison?
How many?
All the officials took a deep breath.
As a county magistrate, how could she have hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain?
If calculated in terms of silver, hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain are not cheap, but you can all afford it.
But to take out hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain at one time is not a question of silver, but a question of grain.
During years of famine, there were places where the grain reserves were less than 100,000 kilograms.
Ji Benchang raised his hand and asked tremblingly, "Your Majesty, where did Lord Shen get so much food?"
The emperor chuckled.
"This year, all the grain seeds for Tongan County were found by Shen Qing. If Shen Qing wants the people of Tongan County to bring their fields to be her 'tenants', my dear ministers, do you think the people are willing or not?"
Of course I am willing! Although officials are not allowed to occupy farmland, can this high-yield rice be allowed to do the same?
Suffer for a year and enjoy a lifetime, why not?
The emperor continued, "Shen Qing not only did not let them become 'tenants', but also proposed to use grain to pay for the capital. She only wanted 10% of the harvest. And now she has donated all of this 10% to the east in the name of Tongan County."
There was another gasp in the hall.
Just donated it all? Not even a pound left for yourself?
This Lord Shen...is not going to be like that.
Someone was shocked and thought about it and asked:
"Your Majesty, I have a concern... The grain donated by Tongan County this time is all ordinary high-yield rice. Although these rice grains do not meet the seed preservation standards, if they are used for planting next year, the yield per mu will definitely be much higher than the rice seeds on the market. Why did Lord Shen donate them all as disaster relief grain?"
"That makes sense. Lord Shen, why don't you transport this rice to Shangjing, exchange it with the Ministry of Revenue for ordinary grain, and then transport it to the east for disaster relief?"
"That's right. Even if we don't transport the grain to the capital, we can transport it to the east to keep it as seeds, so that they can have a good harvest next autumn..."
All of a sudden, more and more doubts about Shen Zheng arose in the palace, but the people in the Ministry of Revenue looked at them as if they were fools.
"That's right!"
Ji Benchang stood up with his hands on his hips, pointed at those people's noses and started cursing.
"When did it become your turn to point fingers at my Ministry of Revenue? Do you know anything about grain? Do you know anything about seed preservation? You are actually questioning others."
He swung his sleeves and said, "Come, come, let me tell you why Lord Shen donated all the ordinary rice to disaster relief!"
The faces of the people who were scolded by him looked extremely ugly, with their faces turning blue and white.
Aren't they doing this for the good of the Great Zhou? Ji Benchang is really crazy today!
Seeing the emperor looking at him with a half-smile, Ji Benchang suppressed his arrogance and said:
"You know, no matter what kind of grain comes out, saving seeds in the first year is crucial. If you don't save seeds well in the first year, it's equivalent to destroying the grain! Let me ask you, if you use ordinary rice to save seeds this year and grow 600 to 800 kilograms per mu next year, you still think it's good, right?"
Some people secretly complained: If six hundred or eight hundred is not beautiful? Then when will it become beautiful?
Ji Benchang sneered.
"Then in another year, 400 to 500 kilograms, is that still good? In another year, 200 to 300 kilograms, is that still good? Of course, this is the worst result. Maybe the rice seeds are strong and stable, and there will be a harvest of several hundred kilograms at the worst. But why should we rush for this moment and bring disaster to future generations!"
Someone murmured quietly: "It's just an inferior species, is it that serious?"
"Not serious enough?"
Ji Benchang felt like he was talking to a cow.
"This rice has a high yield and a high seed rate. If everyone in our Great Zhou keeps the good seeds and does not keep the bad seeds, in just two years, all the people will be able to grow rice with a yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu."
"But if inferior species are mixed in, the inferior species will surely drive out the good species. If we want to wait until the whole Great Zhou reaches a yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu, it will take not just two years, but twenty years... Which do you think is better?"
The people from the Ministry of Revenue echoed, "Master Ji is right. No matter how urgent it is for us, we must not rush even a little bit when it comes to preserving the seed. We must not lose the big picture for the small."
Now everyone in the palace understood what Ji Benchang meant and had no way to refute it.
It has to be admitted that when it comes to food, they cannot compare with the people in the Ministry of Revenue.
But they were scolded by the old man Ji Benchang, and it was true that they were dissatisfied.
If you can't pull the rice seeds, then just pull something else.
"Then even if Lord Shen doesn't want to keep the ordinary rice for seeds, he can hand it over to the Ministry of Revenue and exchange it for old grain, which can then be shipped to the east for disaster relief."
Ji Benchang gritted his teeth when he heard this.
"Are you the Minister of Revenue or am I the Minister of Revenue? Come on, come on, I'll let you take this position!"
He was angry again and started talking a lot.
"Even if the rice is delivered to the Ministry of Revenue, it can only be used like ordinary rice. It can either be used for disaster relief, stored in local granaries, sold, or distributed to you as salary."
"Please use your brain to think about this. If this happens, won't the inferior seeds flow into the world? But it will be different if it is transported to the east. It will be smashed and eaten by the disaster victims. They will have no choice but to eat it, not to mention using it as seeds for the next year."
The troops from the Ministry of War also joined the battle:
"First, transport it to the Ministry of Revenue to exchange for grain, and then transport it to the east for disaster relief. It's not your Ministry of Rites who are causing all the trouble. The lives of the hungry disaster victims have nothing to do with you, right?"
The emperor also frowned and glanced at the man lightly.
"Your Majesty, please understand! I have absolutely no such intention!"
The emperor exhaled a breath of foul air.
Why don’t I think these people are so stupid on weekdays? The more I watch them, the dumber they seem.
He turned his head away and asked Ji Benchang:
"With the great help of Shen Qing's Tong'an County and Liuyang Prefecture, the grain tax has been reduced. Do you have anything to say?"
Ji Benchang made a calculation in his mind.
Although these hundreds of thousands of grains were certainly not as much as the 20% grain tax of the entire Great Zhou, His Majesty was firm in his attitude and he had no choice but to obey. Moreover, he had a better idea...
"Your Majesty, I have no objection. But I feel that Lord Shen, as the magistrate of a county, has donated hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain for disaster relief, and the entire Liuyang Prefecture has set an example. How can I, the officials in the capital, not respond?"
"Oh?"
The emperor glanced at him and asked, "My dear minister, how do you think the officials in the court should respond?"
Ji Benchang was happily calculating.
If every official contributed a little more, there would be enough relief grain, and his Ministry of Revenue would no longer allocate grain.
In this way, the amount of grain in the granary is still gratifying.
"I am willing to donate tens of thousands of catties of grain and a thousand ounces of silver to the disaster-stricken areas in the east out of my own pocket!"
He said tens of thousands of kilograms of grain, but he didn't give a specific number. I don't know how much I can buy now, so I don't dare to be too confident.
In fact, he felt very painful.
He only has that little salary throughout the year, but now he has to sacrifice his own child to catch the wolf.
Everyone's expression froze.
Damn Ji Benchang, he’s waiting for them here. Even this stingy guy has been plucked out of his feathers. How could they lose!
All the officials knelt and shouted:
"Your Majesty, we are willing to do the same!"
"Well, I am very pleased that you all care about the national situation."
The emperor finally smiled sincerely, and then uttered a harsh word lightly.
"In response to what Lord Ji said before, I will send troops to the east to monitor the relief grain this time. The grain must be delivered intact to the east. If there is a pound missing, anyone who handled it will be beheaded."
Everyone felt a chill on their necks.
Your Majesty is really angry this time.
Yes, things are changing.
The emperor glanced around the palace, "As for the selection of garrison troops..."