96: Chapter 96 Minister of Revenue Zhang Liang 96: Chapter 96 Minister of Revenue Zhang Liang One simply cannot help but say that only this fellow could stroll within the Imperial Palace with a troop of five hundred without getting dragged out and beheaded.
No doubt, even the once-renowned Chen Baicheng would never have dared to do so.
But there is something unique about Lin Yi; the young Emperor never worries that Lin Yi might rebel.
Even as Lin Yi approached the Imperial Study Room with so many men, the young Emperor wouldn’t think too much of it.
After all, the young Emperor understood exactly what was on Lin Yi’s mind.
Of course, the most crucial factor was the relationship between Lin Yi and him.
Upon leaving the Imperial Palace, horses were promptly brought to them.
But as a person from modern times, Lin Yi genuinely had no experience with horses.
This meant that he couldn’t ride a horse at all.
Especially now that the horses had neither saddles nor stirrups.
This tested the rider’s skills even more.
Yet Lin Yi couldn’t care less, directly having someone find him a carriage.
And even had five or six layers of straw mats and soft cushions placed inside.
A magnificent carriage surrounded by a five hundred-strong cavalry procession made an extraordinarily grand appearance on the streets of the Imperial City.
With such a display, even a Prince upon seeing it couldn’t help but emotionally exclaim, “Am I the Prince, or is he?”
People on the streets who witnessed this grand procession were quick to clear the way for Lin Yi.
This allowed the troop to move much faster.
They traveled unhindered and finally reached the Ministry of Revenue Government Office.
Gazing at the gold-painted signboard, Lin Yi wanted to lift the curtain of his carriage and step down, but couldn’t help smacking his lips.
“Wow, such a lucrative Government Office, indeed.”
Here, Lin Yi’s arrival caused quite the stir, and as soon as his carriage stopped, someone had already gone to report his presence.
Moreover, Minister of Revenue Zhang Liang had just returned from the court, so as soon as he heard the report from his subordinates, he immediately knew who had come.
However, he was not in a hurry.
Instead, he got up leisurely with a disdainful smile on his face and strolled outside.
If the visitor hadn’t been representing the Emperor, why would he, the high and mighty Minister of Revenue, bother with a mere eunuch?
Nevertheless, while he looked down on Lin Yi internally, he still kept a warm smile on his face.
After all, being double-faced is a skill well-mastered by those in officialdom.
When Lin Yi walked in, this man had already leisurely made his way to the entrance.
But upon reaching the door, he quickened his pace, approached with a smiling face, and cheerfully said:
“Oh my, if it isn’t Eunuch Lin gracing us with his presence.
I apologize for not greeting you from afar, please forgive me, Eunuch Lin.”
It must be said, this fellow truly didn’t take Lin Yi seriously.
He knew well that a eunuch despises nothing more than being called ‘eunuch,’ yet he deliberately chose to address him so.
Even though the young Emperor had granted Lin Yi the title of Assistant Captain, he would never use that title.
In his eyes, a castrated man was a castrated man, and the idea of equating themselves with someone like him was utterly ludicrous.
Fortunately for Lin Yi, he was not a castrated man at all; he was indeed a full man.
And precisely because of this, even though he understood the other party was trying to assert dominance over him, he didn’t take it to heart and simply responded with a hearty smile to this Mr.
Then, he got straight to the point and said to this fellow:
“Minister Zhang has many affairs to attend to, how could I dare to trouble Minister Zhang to come out and greet me.
Hehe, this time my visit is for matters regarding His Majesty.
Therefore, I shall not beat around the bush and will be frank with you, Minister.
This time His Majesty has ordered me to go on a disaster relief mission that requires food, and I hope Minister Zhang will open the granary so that this official can take away 10,000 dan of grain.”
However, after Lin Yi finished speaking, the other party’s face revealed a tinge of bitterness:
“Alas, Eunuch Lin may not know, but our National Treasury does not have much grain left either.
These 10,000 dan of grain would already make up half of the pure grain in the Treasury.
This is absolutely impossible.
Even if we take out 1,000 dan, that would already be the limit.
Moreover, if we were to open the Treasury to release grain, it would have a very bad impact on our great You Country.
Therefore, according to my thoughts, I will not provide grain to Eunuch Lin this time.
Instead, I can give Eunuch Lin the silver for 1,000 dan of grain.
At that time, Eunuch need only go outside to make the purchases.
Not only can this solve the disaster relief matter, but it also preserves the pure grain of the National Treasury.
Wouldn’t this be a win-win situation?”
After saying this, without waiting for Lin Yi to speak again, he directly waved at his subordinates behind him and instructed:
“Someone come, quickly fetch 1,875 taels of patterned silver for Eunuch Lin.”
Hearing this, Lin Yi nearly went up and gave this fellow a big slap out of sheer frustration.
Just look, is this what humans say?
Giving oneself 1,875 taels of patterned silver and telling oneself to go outside to buy grain for disaster relief, this is…
this is treating me like a beggar.
Besides, the 10,000 dan of grain I initially asked for might sound like a lot, but in reality, it isn’t that much.
Nowadays, one dan of grain is equivalent to about 125 to 130 jin.
Meaning, I am merely asking for around 625 tons of grain.
This amount may sound substantial, but if you carefully calculate it, it’s not much at all.
Not to mention other things, even if there are only 30,000 refugees, then by the average of each person eating only one jin of millet per day, that’s 30,000 jin of millet per day, or about 15 tons.
And this 600 plus tons is only enough for them to eat for one month, let alone the fact that there are likely more than 30,000 people.
The most crucial point is, once these refugees gather, it won’t be a problem that can be solved in a month or two.
From now on until next year, these people will have no grain to harvest.
Thus, by these calculations, this 10,000 dan of grain is barely a drop in the bucket.
Of course, some might say that it’s impossible and quite extravagant to ensure one jin of grain per refugee per day.
But even if they are only given half a jin per day, this 10,000 dan would only last for two months at most.
It is precisely for this reason that what Lin Yi requested, this 10,000 dan of grain, was in no way an excessive demand.
But never would he have expected this Zhang Liang to be so shameless.
Not only is he planning not to give any grain, but he also thinks of getting rid of me with just a little over 1,000 taels of silver.