November 5th, Shanhai City.
In the imperial study, Ceng Guofan was reporting the disaster situation to Ouyang Shuo.
Among the six cabinet elders, Zhang Liang and Wei Zheng were working part-time and did not participate in the division of work. Jiang Shang was the chief minister of the cabinet, which was equivalent to half a prime minister. When Ouyang Shuo was not in the capital, Jiang Shang was the governor.
The remaining three cabinet elders, Kou Zhun, Yan Song, and Ceng Guofan, had their own priorities.
Kou Zhun was in charge of human resources and was Jiang Shang's first assistant. Every time Great Xia conquered a new territory, Kou Zhun would be in charge of it, except for special areas like the Central Plains Province that required high standards of treatment.
Of course, if a few provinces were conquered, the cabinet elders might be in charge of it.
Apart from that, Yan Song was in charge of the imperial court, mainly to keep an eye on the imperial court in the capital. Ceng Guofan was in charge of local government affairs and had the most say in local affairs.
The two of them worked together to maintain the authority of the cabinet.
Yan Song was a man of ability, but he liked to cultivate henchmen. If Yan Song was placed in charge of local government affairs, Ouyang Shuo would not feel at ease. However, it would not be difficult for Yan Song, who was old and experienced, to be in charge of the court.
This involved a local disaster, so Ceng Guofan was the one to report.
"The natural disaster in October affected 17 of the 22 provinces of the dynasty, affecting more than 13 million people, 1 million hectares of pastures, and nearly 20 million mu of farmland. Preliminary estimates show direct economic losses of more than 19 million gold coins. Indirect economic losses are inestimable and are still being calculated. "
Ouyang Shuo gasped when he heard this.
Gaia was really ruthless this time, cutting off a piece of meat for the Great Xia Dynasty.
"What are the provinces that suffered the most?"
"Liaojin Province, Central Plains Province, Wannan Province, Jiangnan Province, and North Africa Garrison. These five provinces suffered the most." Ceng Guofan remembered them by heart.
Ouyang Shuo did not know whether to feel sad or happy.
More than half of them were newly added territories. They were really unlucky.
What made Ouyang Shuo feel slightly relieved was that the people of the three provinces would definitely be grateful if the imperial court was generous. They would then eliminate their estrangement and unite with the imperial court.
"Have the disaster relief rations been distributed?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
Ceng Guofan replied, "According to His Majesty's instructions, disaster relief is like fighting a fire. The imperial court directly took out a portion of the grain reserves they bought before the new year and used it for disaster relief. Wait until the unaffected areas have been harvested before filling the warehouses. "
Ouyang Shuo nodded in satisfaction.
Great Xia was a large empire, and this natural disaster was probably the biggest loss to the entire world.
However, it was also because of the large scale of the family business that there were still many areas in Great Xia that were not affected by the disaster or that were not severely affected by the disaster. By robbing the east wall to pay the west wall and moving the left and right, as long as the imperial court provided some assistance, they would be able to make up for the losses.
It was unlike some dynasties that had small territories. Once a disaster struck, the entire territory would be affected, leaving no room for maneuver.
Not to mention the other regions, just in China alone, the Mongolian Empire on the plains, the Great Zhou Dynasty on the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the Great Tang on the upper reaches of the Yellow River were all severely affected.
On the other hand, the Xixia Country and the Great Qin Country, which were right next to the prairie, were lucky enough to avoid the disaster because the vast prairie had been fed with locusts.
What made Ouyang Shuo even more wary was that the Mongolian Empire was one of the hardest hit areas, and as a nomadic people, they only had a single source of food. Their ability to resist disasters was weaker than a farming civilization.
The Mongolian Empire would definitely have a hard time this winter.
With Genghis Khan's personality, he would definitely not lower his head and admit defeat to anyone. The only possibility was that he would send out his troops and plunder before winter arrived, using the enemy's blood to feed his people.
The Central Plains would be the first to bear the brunt of the disaster.
The Mongolian Empire had a good reason to do so. The Mongolian Prairie had helped the Central Plains to block the disaster, so it was only natural for them to collect some interest.
Therefore, a month ago, Ouyang Shuo had ordered the Northern Frontier Army to strengthen the border defense.
What worried Ouyang Shuo was that the Fengxiang Army and the Hedong Army that were stationed in the north were still in the process of being formed. If the Mongolian Empire chose to invade the border at this time, they might not be able to withstand it.
If the situation was urgent, they could only force them to do something beyond their abilities.
Ouyang Shuo put this matter aside for the time being and instructed Ceng Guofan, "Now that the price of grain is rising, the cabinet has to be prepared and control the price of rice. We cannot let the merchants take the opportunity to suck the people's blood, and we cannot let the people hoard too much rice."
Food was the most important thing to the people.
Once the price of grain rose, the people would panic and it would easily lead to panic buying. It would cause the rice that could be guaranteed to be in short supply, giving the merchants a chance to profit.
Stabilizing the price of grain was the duty of the imperial government.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. The cabinet has already ordered the Commerce Department to send out investigation teams to various places to supervise this matter. Once the merchants are found to have committed illegal acts, they will be severely punished. The Imperial Court has also sent a greeting to the governor-general's and protector-generals' offices, telling them to oversee this matter. "
Ouyang Shuo nodded. With such an efficient cabinet, it saved him a lot of trouble.
Ceng Guofan followed, "Your Majesty, the price of grain has been rising recently. The grain we hoarded before the new year is not only self-sufficient, but we still have a large surplus. Should we sell a batch of grain for a profit?"
Upon saying this, Ceng Guofan was impressed by his Majesty's foresight.
Before the new year, Ouyang Shuo had insisted on using tens of millions to purchase grain, betting that Gaia's grain production would decrease in the next six years. Back then, the ministers, including Ceng Guofan, were puzzled.
They were not interested in such an astounding bet.
Now, it had been proven that his Majesty's judgment was correct. If the batch of grain was sold, the imperial government would earn a net profit of one to two thousand gold coins. There was no better deal than this.
At times, Ceng Guofan would think that any King could see what ordinary people could not.
If not, there was no way to explain how his Majesty was able to determine that Gaia's sixth year would be plagued by a natural disaster just from a hint of it, leading to a decrease in the grain production.
His Majesty's guesses from back then had all come true.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head and said with a smile, "How much money can be earned by selling grain? It's just a small amount. "
Ceng Guofan was taken aback. He could vaguely guess his Majesty's intentions, but he did not dare to say it out loud. He could only brush it aside and bring up another matter, "Your Majesty, with the imperial government suffering from the disaster, will the grand ceremony scheduled for the new year be held as scheduled?"
"Of course."
Ouyang Shuo glanced at Ceng Guofan.
The imperial dynasty promotion ceremony was the biggest event in the Great Xia in recent times. It concerned the dignity of a country. Since the date had been set, it was impossible to change it no matter what difficulties they encountered.
With Ceng Guofan's intelligence, he would not ask such a superficial question.
Since he had asked, there must be a deeper meaning behind it.
Ceng Guofan was definitely worried about the grain, so he did not dare to ask openly. He could only ask in a roundabout manner.
Indeed, Ceng Guofan took the opportunity to say, "The imperial dynasty promotion requires at least one province to be conquered. His Majesty has given the order to stop fighting before the end of the year. I wonder how this one province will be resolved."
Ceng Guofan was not the only one who had such questions.
Ouyang Shuo smiled. He felt a sense of accomplishment to be able to figure out the thoughts of these ministers. He replied, "The remaining province can be taken without spending a single soldier. All it lacks is an opportunity."
Ceng Guofan fell into deep thought when he heard this.
… …
On the 10th of the eleventh month, the Indian Empire sent an envoy from thousands of miles away to Shanhai City.
Although there was a communication compass that allowed communication to break through the geographical barriers, the various dynasties were still used to sending envoys solemnly when it came to national affairs. They would hand over the national affairs to show their respect.
The envoy from the Indian Empire made a strange request to Ouyang Shuo.
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