94: Chapter 94: Disaster Victims Enter the Capital 94: Chapter 94: Disaster Victims Enter the Capital “If it weren’t for him helping Your Majesty to gain control of the three guards, and also exposing the Fourth Imperial Uncle’s vulnerability, perhaps the current situation would not have arisen, would it?
At this moment, in the young Emperor’s heart, her thought was that this time, the Fourth Imperial Uncle probably wanted to exchange favors with her, trading something he wanted.
As for what that favor is?
According to the young Emperor’s guess, the other party must be wary of her continuing to investigate the matter of the Seven Star Grass, and wants to exchange some power to stop her from continuing the investigation.
And this alone is enough to show that the Fourth Imperial Uncle is definitely involved in this matter.
However, just as the young Emperor was thinking this, suddenly, the cold laughter of Lin Yi echoed in her mind:
[Hehe, what a crafty old fox.
He’s clearly setting a trap for the young Emperor.
It seems like he’s giving the power to the young Emperor, but in reality, he’s just throwing a problem to the Emperor, clearly trying to overwhelm the Emperor.]
As soon as these words arose, the young Emperor was stunned, and also began to ponder Lin Yi’s words.
Thinking about it carefully, it indeed was true.
It seems that she had thought too simply, this move by the Fourth Imperial Uncle was not about giving power to her.
If according to Lin Yi’s guess, the purpose of the Fourth Imperial Uncle this time was to set a trap for her.
On the surface, it seemed like he handed over power, but in reality, he threw a problem to her.
After all, the Minister of Revenue was clearly his man.
Even if she solved this problem, the other party would not submit to her.
Moreover, if Your Majesty stopped pursuing the responsibility for the Seven Star Grass, wouldn’t she be even more caught in his trap?
At this moment, when the young Emperor looked down at the Fourth Imperial Uncle, she noticed a slightly playful look in his eyes, although it was well concealed.
And also, because of these thoughts in Lin Yi’s mind, the young Emperor instantly regained her clarity, pulling herself out of the feeling of being elated by possessing power.
Her gaze then directly turned to the speaking Minister of Revenue, with a dignified expression on her face:
“Why haven’t the two surrounding prefectures of Anqing Prefecture extended a helping hand?
Why must the court provide disaster relief?”
It must be said, throughout these years, the young Emperor had never given up control over the court affairs.
Even if she could not get firsthand information, based on the books about governing the country left by her father, she had learned quite a lot.
“Replying to Your Majesty, due to the severe disaster in Anqing Prefecture, it has also affected several nearby government offices, severely reducing their production, they are barely able to take care of themselves, let alone manage the affairs of Anqing Prefecture.”
This response was reasonable and justified, also leaving the young Emperor temporarily unable to find any fault.
Moreover, it was clear that the other party intended to have the young Emperor immediately issue an order to dispatch soldiers and food for disaster relief.
However, at this moment, the Minister of Revenue continued to speak:
“Oh, by the way, Your Majesty, yesterday when I received the report about the situation in Anqing Prefecture, the Governor of Anqing Prefecture also mentioned that a large number of disaster victims have already fled in all directions.
According to reports from several other departments, the Capital City is their first choice of refuge.
A large portion of these refugees from Anqing Prefecture are heading towards our Capital City.”
As these words came out, the court instantly fell into chaos, with everyone beginning to whisper among themselves, and the young Emperor upon hearing this was furiously enraged, almost wishing to have this man dragged out and beheaded.
Not just this man, but including the Governor of Anqing Prefecture, the young Emperor almost wished to send an order to have him executed on the spot.
This matter had reached such a state before being reported upwards, which was enough to show the inaction of these officials.
If it were not for the refugees pouring out in all directions, making it impossible to suppress the matter any longer, these officials would probably still be covering it up.
This is how the officials of her great You Country behaved, these were the actions of the officials who had sidelined her over the years.
In an instant, the young Emperor felt a mix of anger and frustration.
Originally, when she had no control over any power, she worried about how she could reclaim it.
But now that the problem had been thrown out, she found herself even more troubled.
Disaster relief requires a large amount of Silver and a vast supply of food.
Given the current state of the National Treasury, although there is some surplus money, using it for disaster relief might deplete it.
As for her private funds, although Lin Yi had recently brought her a large sum of money, using it in this situation would also be like a drop in the bucket.
Moreover, she had her own use for these funds, and using them all for disaster relief would pose a major obstacle to her future plans.
She was still counting on this money to raise soldiers and horses, and even though she now controlled the three guards, the numbers were still far from enough.
At this moment, the entire court looked towards the young Emperor, waiting for her next words.
“Where are these refugees now?
And how many days will it take for them to reach the Capital City?”
[As for the matter of local disaster relief, actually, this isn’t difficult to handle, just by mobilizing some grain from regions that were not affected by the disaster could immediately address the emergency.
After all, based on their reports, that area has already experienced a long duration of disaster.
It seems that by now, many of the people of Anqing Prefecture have probably fled and not many are left.
Just issue an order for the surrounding government offices to appropriately open the granaries and not to ignore the situation]
Just as the young Emperor’s voice fell, Lin Yi’s voice also echoed in her mind.
Indeed, as Lin Yi thought, the current biggest headache for the young Emperor was those refugees heading towards the Capital City.
After all, the Capital City is the largest city.
And because of this, a good 70-80% of the refugees from Anqing Prefecture were likely headed this way.
One could imagine what kind of scenario it would be once that batch of refugees arrived at the Capital City.
And following the Emperor’s words, this time it was not the Minister of Revenue who stepped forward.
But the Minister of War:
“Replying to Your Majesty, according to messages from various garrisons, those refugees will be able to reach the Capital City in about three days.”