Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 174, the wrath of Emperor Hongzhi
In the imperial palace of the capital.

"what?"

"No food?"

"how can that be,"

The good old Emperor Hongzhi was furious, and this time Emperor Hongzhi was really angry, so that Xiao Jing, who had followed Emperor Hongzhi for many years, became extremely cautious, for fear of accidentally angering Emperor Hongzhi at this time.

Good old people usually don't get angry, but it's not normal to get angry, especially when the emperor is angry, he bleeds and lays a million corpses.

In the hall, the faces of the three cabinet scholars were also very ugly, especially Xie Qian had already knelt on the ground, and the matter seemed to be a bit serious.

Last year, Liu Jian predicted that there would be a famine after the beginning of spring this year, and things really happened as Liu Jian predicted. Because the winter was too cold, the winter wheat harvest in the three northern provinces failed, and there was a famine.

Originally, a famine would not make the good old Emperor Hongzhi angry. Every year, there would be some famines more or less, whether it was floods, droughts, or locust plagues.

It is only necessary to dispatch food in time for disaster relief and disaster relief, and naturally nothing will happen.

Although Huaxia Shenzhou is rich, it has been plagued by disasters since ancient times. All dynasties have also made preparations in this regard, building granaries and hoarding grain for military supplies, disaster relief, etc.

Daming is no exception. Large and small granaries have been established in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, storing a large amount of grain, such as the Guangyun warehouse in Xuzhou, the Dezhou warehouse in Dezhou, the Linqing warehouse in Linqing, and the Fenghuang warehouse in Huaian. Jicang, these four granaries are very famous water transport granaries, which store a large amount of grain.

Don't look at the fact that the Ming Dynasty's court collects less than three million taels of silver in taxes a year, but this is actually only a small part of the collection. Most of the taxes are collected in kind, such as grain, cloth, silk, and tea. Wait, among them food is the most important.

This time, there was a famine in the three northern provinces. According to the usual practice, Emperor Hongzhi naturally issued a decree to the subordinates, asking the local governments to open warehouses to release grain and cook porridge for disaster relief. They only need to survive these few months and wait until the spring wheat harvest. Even if this famine is over, nothing will happen.

But the problem lies in the food.

Last year, because of Liu Jian's prophecy, Emperor Hongzhi also appointed Xie Qian to take stock of the grain reserves in granaries in various places in the north. Don't panic if you have grain in hand.

Xie Qian's work efficiency is naturally extremely high. After some inventory, he also reported to Emperor Hongzhi. His Majesty worked hard to govern, the country is rich and the people are strong, and the major granaries in the northern provinces have sufficient food. A lot of old food is gone because it has not been eaten It's starting to get moldy.

After receiving Xie Qian's report, Hongzhi was naturally in a good mood, because Emperor Hongzhi had really worked hard to govern these years and never dared to slack off.

In addition, in the past few years, the weather has been considered to be good, the river is clear, and the Emperor Hongzhi has also saved a lot of property. In addition to the internal funds of one million taels of silver, the warehouses all over the Ming Dynasty are also full of food. There are countless silk cloth, tea leaves, etc. collected by the imperial court.

So it's not just him, everyone in the court is very relieved, and they are also confident in coping with this famine, because there is enough food, and food can be transported from all over the south, it is simply impossible to get through this famine easily. No problem.

However, in recent days, with the passage of time, the common people have run out of food, and the famine continues to spread. The major cities in the three northern provinces have begun to gather a large number of hungry people.

When the disaster relief needed to pick up food, it was discovered that the granary was already empty, and even the mice were starving to death.

The news reached Emperor Hongzhi, who was furious.

I was told earlier that the grain piled up like a mountain, and the old grain had already started to go moldy. Now when I need grain, I tell you that the granary can already starve the rats to death. I really played him like a monkey.

It's nothing to play Emperor Hongzhi like a monkey. Emperor Hongzhi is a good man, and his former enemies can be forgiven, so it's nothing to hide it.

What really angered Emperor Hongzhi was that the disasters in the three northern provinces were getting worse and worse. The court urgently needed food for disaster relief. If the disaster relief was not timely, there would be wars everywhere, and countless Chen Sheng and Wu Guang would definitely emerge among the ordinary people who could not survive. , Zhu Zhongba and others.

Once that time comes, the matter is no longer just a matter of famine. Once the peasant uprising spreads, it will be like a single spark that can start a prairie fire.

This is the reason why Emperor Hongzhi was furious, and it is also what he is most worried about now. Moreover, he has always loved the people like a son and sympathized with the sufferings of the people. How many human tragedies have occurred in which children are eaten by others.

"Xie Qian, you are the one who checked out the granaries in these places. Tell me, what is going on?"

"The Dezhou warehouse and Linqing warehouse in Shandong are one of the four major granaries, and they are the granaries that need to be inspected. I remember you said that these two warehouses were piled up with grain, but now you tell me that the two warehouses are empty. The food is less than one-fifth of what you reported."

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Xie Qian who was kneeling on the ground, and he was like an extremely angry lion. He had always respected the three elders in the cabinet, but now he called Xie Qian by his first name, which was obviously extremely angry. .

"I... I don't know either."

"At the beginning, I was ordered to check the granaries. I personally went to the Dezhou warehouse and Linqing warehouse. They were indeed piled up like a mountain. As for why these grains are missing now, I don't know."

Xie Qian also felt that he was very wronged, because when he checked the granaries, he really checked very clearly. The two granaries had enough food, which was indeed enough to deal with the current famine. He also went to check the granaries in other places, although some The granary is insufficient, but most of the granary is full of grain.

Now that something like this has happened, he has decided to take the blame.

"It's really piled up like a mountain?"

"Then all the food flew? Or was it eaten by something?"

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Xie Qian, and his voice was so loud that everyone in the hall fell silent.

"Now you want to deal with me if you don't know anything, do you think it's possible?"

Emperor Hongzhi walked back and forth, thinking quickly in his mind, took a breath to calm down his mood and said: "I will give you a chance to redeem your crimes, and you should investigate this matter, and you must investigate to find out the truth."

"Yes, the guilty minister obeys the order."

When Xie Qian heard this, he immediately felt relieved, as long as there is still a chance to make amends, otherwise this time, this test will be really difficult, and maybe the black hat on his head will not be able to keep.

　In ancient times, taxes were often collected in kind. I still remember that when I was a child, I had to pay food for farming at home. I accidentally exposed my age~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)