"Dong!"
The morning bell slowly sounded in the dark depths of the imperial palace.
On the streets of Chang 'an, the moment the morning bell sounded, two lanterns were lit on the doors of each official's mansion.
Fast horses and palanquins were already prepared at the gate of the mansion. They were only waiting for the dazed officials in robes to get on the horses or the palanquins before they rushed to the Vermilion Bird Gate.
When everyone entered the Vermilion Bird Bridge, there were basically no people in the market on the bridge. Even if there were people, there were only a few new types of barbecue. Basically, they had eaten until they vomited. However, the smell of barbecue still made the officials with empty stomachs buy a bamboo barrel of beer and a few big chicken legs to eat and drink as they walked.
When they reached the gate of the Political Announcement Hall, their stomachs were round.
When they entered the Political Announcement Hall.
The officials were all shocked by Li Shimin, who was sitting on the dragon throne.
Seeing that Li Shimin was in a daze, everyone closed their mouths tightly, lowered their heads, and stood in their positions to wait.
Everyone knew that the emperor could be like this.
It was all because of the locust disaster.
Although the emperor used a strange technique to control the locust disaster, the locust disaster was stopped. However, the food was really gone.
If it wasn't for the shopkeeper of the small tavern in Tong Hui Fang.
That's right.
Zhang Feng.
Moreover, this name was like thunder to the ears of all the officials.
Not to mention that he personally received the emperor's imperial edict, he was also bestowed the title of viscount. The school he opened was also of the same level as the Imperial College!
What was this?
Everyone didn't understand.
They couldn't understand the meaning behind it.
But they knew that this person was highly regarded by the emperor.
After all the officials had arrived, Xiao Guizi said something in Li Shimin's ear and shouted at the top of his voice, "Morning court! Kneel down! "
"Long live the emperor!"
"Give him a seat!"
Li Shimin waved his hand.
"Today, I don't want to hear any memorials about where to ask for grain. What I want to hear is which disaster victims have been treated, which disaster has been solved, or whether the grain from Henan Province has been delivered. As for other matters, I won't discuss them today!"
Li Shimin decisively interrupted everyone's thoughts.
However, even though they said so, it was obvious from the constipated look on their faces that they had already thought of a countermeasure for today's morning court session.
However, Li Shimin did not give them the chance.
"I've learned that the grain from Henan Province will arrive in Chang 'an in half a month. Minister of Agriculture, tell me, can the grain in the Chang' an Local Treasury last for half a month?"
"This …"
"Your Majesty, the total population of Chang 'an and its surrounding areas, plus the refugees who have flocked here in recent days, is less than 100,000, but it's not far from that. However, there are only 70,000 dans of grain in the Chang' an Local Treasury. What's more, the price of grain has skyrocketed every day in recent days, which has caused panic among the people in Chang 'an …"
"Therefore, I feel that these seventy thousand stones can only last for less than ten days!"
"Ten days!"
Although Li Shimin knew it, he could not help but feel his heart sink when he heard it again.
However, on second thought, if he gave out porridge in the same way as Zhang Feng did, if everyone could control their diet every day, would it last for 15 days?
After thinking for a while …
Li Shimin could not help but shake his head.
It sounded simple, but when he really thought about it, it was absolutely impossible.
How much time would it take to gather all the people in the city? Moreover, if he did so, wouldn't it be tantamount to announcing the grain shortage in the world?
Therefore …
Li Shimin sighed and said, "Because of this, the empress has reduced all the expenses in the palace to the minimum. Even I eat porridge every day, just to get through the grain shortage as soon as possible."
"But my strength is too small, so I know that each of you has at least dozens of acres of land, and at most tens of thousands of acres of land … Alas!"
Li Shimin stopped at the right time.
However, how could they not understand the emperor's meaning?
"I've already reduced expenses, and I eat porridge every meal. It's up to you!"
What should they do?
They also had a big family to feed!
What should they do?
"Your Majesty, this old official is willing to donate 30 dan of grain to help the disaster victims!"
"This old official will donate 50 dan."
"This old official will donate 150 dan!"
"This old official will donate 300 dan!"
Starting with Wei Zheng, Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling, Cheng Yaojin, and the others all spoke one after another.
How could they not know the emperor's meaning?
Last night, they all knew about what happened to Zhang Feng. They expected that the emperor would do something this morning.
Who would have thought that they would really guess it right?
Seeing that Cheng Yaojin and the others had spoken,
Xiao Guizi also hurriedly knelt and said, "Your Majesty, this servant's Chamberlain Province is willing to donate all the surplus, a total of 320 dan of grain!"
"Good!"
"Good!"
Li Shimin looked at Xiao Guizi with appreciation.
He glanced at the officials.
There was no need to say what he meant.
Even the eunuch could donate so much, what about you?
How could the officials sit still after hearing Xiao Guizi's words?
They were so embarrassed that they panicked!
"Although this old official doesn't have much land and has suffered a disaster, this old official is willing to donate half of the family's grain, a total of 57 dan …"
"This old official will donate 30 dan!"
"This old official …"
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