Very quickly, under Xu Que's encouragement, the various wealthy merchants also began to donate.
Batch after batch of silver flowed out of the hands of the wealthy, flooding the lands.
And under the leadership of the wealthy, the common people also began to donate, contributing to the construction of schools.
But the world was not always perfect. Some people were willing to donate, and naturally there were many who were not.
In the imperial study.
"What do you mean? The Five Families and Seven Wangs said they are not willing to donate? "Xu Que looked at Gong Qiwei who had come to report and frowned.
The Eastern Tang was a society governed by status. Here, the noble families had high prestige and status. Among them, the Five Families were the strongest, and two of them each had two Wangs, so they were known as the Five Families and Seven Wangs.
Now that the Five Families and Seven Wangs had taken the lead in not donating, they would definitely set a very bad example.
At that time, the authority of the imperial family would be affected, and the other families would probably learn from them, looking down on the imperial authority.
This was not good!
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Five Families and Seven Wangs said that they have suffered from natural disasters this year, and have suffered great losses as well. They no longer have any extra money to take out to subsidize the refugees." Gong Qiwei knelt down and said in a low voice.
Xu Que was instantly enraged. "These old bastards have the nerve to say that they have no money? Do they really think I don't know that they are selling grain at a high price? "
Famine was rampant, and not only did the noble families not provide disaster relief, they instead hoarded grain. When even the imperial family could not do anything about it, they sold grain at a high price, forcing countless common people to sell their children.
Wine and meat stink in luxurious doors, bones of frozen corpses on the road. Such a scene could be seen everywhere where the rich and powerful were located.
It could be said that the glory of the Five Families and Seven Wangs had been built on countless corpses. Even Xuanyuan Wanrong had borrowed the power of the noble families to gain power.
Now that Gong Qiwei was seen as a confidant, he naturally began to actively give advice.
"Your Majesty, the heads of the noble families have made a vague request, for Your Majesty to first buy the grain they have hoarded, and then be at ease as your …"
Xu Que's eyes turned cold. "Continue."
Gong Qiwei hesitated, but finally opened his mouth. "They say … for you to continue being the carefree emperor."
"Haha, what a good plan!" Xu Que was so angry that he laughed.
Originally, he thought that since he was going to stay here for a long time, he shouldn't be too arrogant.
But now, the Five Families and Seven Wang were even more arrogant than him!
Who could tolerate this?
Do you really think I'm that useless emperor from before?
"Pass on my oral orders. Send people to the Five Families and Seven Wangs to collect donations." Xu Que narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Tell them that we will set up a Monument of Merit in the Imperial City according to the amount of donations and announce it to the world!"
Gong Qiwei didn't realize it at first, but after thinking about it for a moment, he immediately understood what Xu Que was thinking.
"Your Majesty, this move of yours is too ingenious … It can be said to be pulling the firewood from under the cauldron!"
"What kind of education level is this? This is called moral coercion! "
Humph, didn't you say you didn't want to donate?
Alright, then I'll announce the amount you've donated to the world and let all the commoners in the world know. I want to see if all of you from the Five Families and Seven Families have the face to donate less.
…
Within a few days, under Xu Que's push, the Monument of Merit was quickly set up in the Imperial City.
The Five Families and Seven Wangs instantly panicked.
They had been standing for a hundred years because they relied on their unending reputation.
To them, money was merely a by-product of the accumulation of time. Only being famous in the world was what these prestigious families pursued.
Now that the Monument of Merit was out, if they didn't donate, it was the same as being roasted on a stove. They would be scolded to death by the commoners at any moment!
"Dog Emperor is simply too cruel!"
"He can even think of such a despicable move. Just who is it that is giving him advice?"
"Are we still going to donate?"
"Donate my ass! My Liu-shi swears to die!"
"Old Master Liu, you're farting. I just received news that you've already sent people to donate several hundred thousand taels."
"Ah, is that so? It seems that this old man is getting old and my memory is bad! "
"Go go go, hurry up and donate. My Li Family will definitely get first place on the Monument of Merit!"
"My ass, the first place will definitely be my Wang Family!"
… …
For a moment, many people donated, especially the Five Families and Seven Wangs. In order to fight for the first place, they kept spending money, completely relieving the pressure on the national treasury.
After all, money was needed everywhere. Although Xu Que had developed all kinds of crops, the crops still needed a certain period of time to grow.
Therefore, the fastest way to relieve the disaster was to buy a large amount of food to continue the disaster relief.
Xu Que also took out a large portion of the donations and sent it to the disaster area.
After settling all this, Xu Que began to think of a way to take the jade seal from Xuanyuan Wanrong's hands.
Everyone would eventually die of old age together. Xu Que also wanted to do his best not to offend the other party.
After thinking about it, seeing was the most important thing.
No matter how much he talked here, Xuanyuan Wanrong would not believe him. It was better to bring her to see the scene.
"Follow me to the disaster area. Under my governance, the disaster area is now stable and prosperous. You'd better obediently hand over the jade seal!"
Xuanyuan Wanrong's expression was calm as she said, "How do I know you're not just putting on an act?"
Heh, this woman is simply impervious to everything!
Xu Que suppressed the anxiety in his heart. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "I understand. You're afraid to see my outstanding achievements and fall in love with me. After all, I'm handsome and talented. It's human nature to fall in love with me."
Xuanyuan Wanrong: "???"
Was this bastard's brain short-circuited?
Xu Que put on a narcissistic look and leaned forward. He said affectionately, "I know you've been saying things in anger all this time to attract my attention. I admit that your little trick has succeeded, but … woman, you're playing with fire …"
"Alright, shut up. I'll go with you." Xuanyuan Wanrong's eyes twitched. Finally, she could not bear to listen anymore and chose to compromise.
This fellow was too disgusting, too asking for a beating, simply shameless to the extreme.
"Why didn't you do this earlier?"
Xu Que revealed a smug smile.
A greasy man is invincible!
…
Not long after, under the protection of the guards, the two of them came all the way to a resettlement area outside the imperial city.
"Look, this is my development … What's going on?"
Xu Que saw the scene in front of him and was instantly stunned.
The entire resettlement area was full of starving people, and there were countless corpses lying on the road.
A large number of starving disaster victims were lying on the side of the road, shivering. It was obvious that they did not have long to live.
For no reason, Xu Que's heart surged with anger. He roared, "Gong Qiwei! Get over here! Didn't you say that the disaster relief funds were in place? Why is this still happening?! "
Gong Qiwei scrambled over and knelt in front of Xu Que. He said in a trembling voice, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I was about to report this matter to you. According to my investigation, the disaster relief funds totaled ten million taels of silver, but in reality, only three million taels of silver has been used. Even the food that was bought …"
After listening to Gong Qiwei's report, Xu Que's face was as gloomy as ink. "Take me to see the food that was bought."
Under Gong Qiwei's lead, the few of them came to the granary. There was a large amount of food piled up inside.
Xu Que casually tore open the packaging of a bag. Rice dripped down, mixed with a large number of stones.
He casually grabbed a handful. There were more stones than rice.
Xu Que silently looked at the handful of rice in his hand. After a long time, he said, "These … Who sold them?"
"It's … Five Families and Seven Wang. They sold them at a low price," Gong Qiwei said in a low voice.
"Hehe … Five Families and Seven Wang, how dare you … This is the first time I've been played like this."
Xu Que was very angry at this moment.
In all this time, this was the first time someone had dared to openly play him like the Five Families and Seven Wang.
As for the seven million taels of silver that had disappeared, Xu Que did not need Gong Qiwei to tell him where it had gone.
The money of the common people was split three-seventy, and the money of the gentry was returned in full. Since ancient times, the collusion of officials and merchants was nothing more than this.
"How dare they do this?"
At this moment, Xuanyuan Wanrong was also angered. Her gaze swept towards Xu Que, and she said in a low voice, "This is the so-called ability you want to show me? If you can't even suppress the Five Families and Seven Wang, how can you talk about governing the entire country? "
"En, you're right!" Xu Que nodded.
Xuanyuan Wanrong was instantly taken aback.
This was the first time Xu Que had agreed with her, and she could not quite react.
"If I can't even suppress the Five Families and Seven Wang, how can I govern the Eastern Tang?"
Xu Que grinned, revealing his white teeth, but his tone was full of coldness, "I'd like to see where they get the courage to actually control and play with me like a puppet!"
Not to mention that this is an illusory world, even in the Celestial Cloud Continent, the Celestial Emperor is not qualified to play with the Act-Tough Saint like this!
Who do you Five Families and Seven Wang count as?
…..
(End of this chapter)
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