"Clap, clap, clap!"
Regardless of whether it was sincere congratulations or fake flattery, there was still a warm round of applause in the classroom.
Meng Wenhao clenched his fist and was so excited that his face was red. He did it, he really did it. His hard work for the day was not in vain. At this moment, he really wanted to shout to the sky.
Ke Shiqing, who was sitting not far away from him, looked at him in surprise. At the same time, a sense of crisis rose in his heart. At present, the waters in the School of Mathematics were getting deeper and deeper. It would not be easy to get first place in the exams like before.
Li Tai sat in the front and was a little depressed. This method was discussed by him and a few mathematics experts for a long time before they came up with such an answer. He was very confident that he would get first place, but he did not expect that there would be an accident. However, he was also very impressed with Meng Wenhao's answer. Hence, the unhappiness in his heart quickly dissipated in the warm applause.
Li Zexuan stood in front and looked at Meng Wenhao. He was a little emotional. He did not expect this child to be able to think of such an answer. He really could not underestimate the wisdom of the ancients!
The applause gradually stopped and Li Zexuan began a new day of teaching. What was different from the previous time was that today's class would have a fifteen minute break every forty-five minutes. This made the students more energetic in class, and the class was livelier than before.
Li Zexuan believed that as time passed and they got used to this way of teaching, their learning progress would be much faster than before.
.....
Taiji Palace, Sweet Dew Hall.
After the morning court, Li Er gathered Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui to the Sweet Dew Hall to discuss the plan to eliminate the locusts.
Li Er knelt on the seat of honor while Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui knelt on the cushions below. Li Er looked up and asked lightly, "How are the three of you thinking these few days? Do you have any countermeasures for next year's locust plague? "
Zhangsun Wuji took the lead and said, "Your Majesty, since Your Majesty has already firmly believed that there will be a locust plague next year, I think that the most important thing now is to increase the storage of food in case of emergency."
Li Er nodded and looked at Fang Xuanling and asked, "What do you think?"
"Your Majesty, I estimate that the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have much money left. I'm afraid that it will be difficult to deal with this locust plague. I'm afraid that Brother Fuji's plan won't work!"
After some thought, Li Er explained just how difficult the Imperial Court's situation was. "It's true that the Bureau of Revenue currently has no more than four million strings of string of coins left. Adding on the various expenditures, we can only use a little more than one million strings of coins. Relying on this amount of money to buy food will not be enough for the people of the Great Tang to survive the plague of locusts."
Du Ruhui could not help but say, "Your Majesty, this old subject did not think that the finances of the imperial court would be so tight. From today onwards, this old subject will voluntarily not take any salary from the imperial court."
"This subject is also willing to do so!"
Zhangsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling couldn't help but agree.
Li Er waved his hand and refused, "My three beloved ministers, you have followed me to conquer the world and have suffered a lot. Now that the world is peaceful, how can I let you suffer? Let's continue discussing the locust plague!"
When Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui heard this, their eyes reddened. They were extremely touched.
At this moment, Du Ruhui stood up and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you mobilize all the wealthy merchants to donate money? The imperial court can use this to tide over this crisis!"
It had to be said that Old Du's idea was quite advanced. However, he had neglected a fact.
"But in what name will the imperial court use to mobilize the wealthy merchants to donate money?"
Li Er's eyes lit up at first. However, after a while, they dimmed again. The reason for the donation was indeed a big problem!
Du Ruhui was taken aback when he heard this. He immediately reacted. The prophecy of the locust plague could not be made known to the world. Naturally, they could not use the name of the locust plague to get people to donate money. However, if that was the case, what convincing excuse could they find?
The hall fell into silence. The three important ministers all calmed down and pondered carefully.
Li Er was a little disappointed. He did not expect that the three ministers he relied on the most were also at a loss. Was there really no other way?
"Your Majesty, Li Xiansheng has asked Duke Lu to send in a secret memorial!"
At this moment, a chamberlain ran in with a memorial in his hands. He bowed and reported to Li Er.
Li Er perked up and scolded jokingly, "This brat finally sent the memorial over. Quickly hand it over. If it's not written well, I will not let him off easily!"
The chamberlain quickly did as he was told and handed the memorial to Li Er.
Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui looked at each other. They were very surprised by Li Er's reaction.
…
After about half an hour, Li Er put down the memorial and looked at the three old ministers. He smiled and said, "Li Zexuan has sent in a memorial. He mentioned some locust-control strategies. My dear ministers, please take a look and see if they are feasible!"
The chamberlain took the memorial and handed it to Zhangsun Wuji. The three of them gathered together and began to read it carefully. They saw the words written on it.
"I have thought hard and obtained three locust-control strategies. I would like to present them to Your Majesty for your reference.
Firstly, I believe that since the imperial court does not have much money left, why not send a large ship filled with silk and porcelain to the small countries in the Southern Sea to exchange for food? I have heard that the weather in the Southern Sea is extremely hot. Rice matures three times a year and the price of food is extremely cheap. Those uncivilized people have never seen such beautiful silk and exquisite porcelain of our Great Tang. A bolt of silk can be exchanged for five dan of food. Actually, even if our Great Tang has tens of millions of gold in our treasury, I do not agree to purchase food from within the country. That is just robbing the east wall to pay the west wall. It is no different from some grain merchants hoarding food in advance. In the end, the ones who will starve are the local people.
Secondly, I believe that the imperial court can issue a decree to encourage the people to raise chickens, ducks, geese, and other poultry through tax reduction. When the number of these poultry reaches a certain level, it can guarantee that the crops will not be harmed by the locusts when the locusts come. What the imperial court has to pay is just a portion of the tax for the coming year. Otherwise, when the locusts come and the people are unprepared, all the crops will be eaten by the locusts. At that time, not only will the imperial court not be able to collect ten percent of the tax, they will also have to fork out additional money to provide relief.
Thirdly, I suggest that Your Majesty issue a decree to allow the officials of the various provinces of Great Tang to set up warehouses to store the food collected this year. When the locusts come next year, the various provinces will open the warehouses to provide relief. This will prevent the transportation of food and huge losses during the journey!
I have thought for half a night and came up with these three strategies. If there is anything wrong with them, I hope that Your Majesty will not blame me. A child's words carry no harm, a child's words carry no harm! "
… … …
Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui originally thought that Li Zexuan's words were very reasonable. However, when they saw the last sentence, they almost laughed out loud. To dare to write such a joke in a secret memorial to Li Er, this kid is really bold!
… … …
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