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Jiang Shaohua didn't take General Song's disappointment to heart.

To her, all the civil and military officials in the court were her subjects. She knew who was loyal and who was disloyal, who was wavering, and who was wavering. When she wanted to employ people, she would naturally use trustworthy and capable subjects.

The general of Song was arrogant and self-righteous, so he led his troops to support the border troops, but was defeated by the Rouran army. His ability in fighting was mediocre.

General Liu was a low-key person and was cautious in his duties. With Liu Hengchang's favor, she naturally chose General Liu.

After agreeing on the candidates for disaster relief, the next step was to decide on the amount of money and grain to be provided.

Jiang Shaohua asked Minister Ji: "How much cash can the treasury take out now? How much rice can it buy?"

Minister Ji bowed and replied as usual: "I have to go back to check the accounts and inventory the warehouse. I can report to the emperor in two days."

Jiang Shaohua frowned slightly and said coldly: "I know that the Ministry of Revenue is busy with affairs, and taxes and grain are collected and paid every day. It is normal that Minister Ji does not know the specific figures. It is not possible that he does not even know a rough figure! When I was in the Nanyang Palace before, I asked Feng Changshi casually, and he could report the expenditure and accumulation figures of the palace treasury."

Minister Ji's face turned red after being scolded by the emperor. He was so angry that he had to bow his hands and confess: "It is my incompetence that has disappointed the emperor."

Jiang Shaohua said: "Instead of talking about these nonsense, you might as well focus on your work. Pay more attention to it in the future, so that you don't have to go back to check the accounts when I ask you."

Minister Ji was so ashamed that he kept nodding in agreement.

After the small court meeting, the officials hurried back to the six ministries. Other ministries were fine, as they mainly selected officials to go out to provide disaster relief. This was a lucrative job in the past, so officials were willing to go, and it was not difficult.

The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue were the real areas of chaos.

Only five people were left in the Ministry of Works, and all the others had to follow Minister Zhou to the river bank to measure the terrain and calculate how to build the river bank. This was a serious and difficult job. They had to go whether they were willing or not.

Yang Zheng volunteered: "I will also go with the Minister."

After Yang Zheng came to the Ministry of Works, Minister Zhou quietly dug a big trap for Yang Zheng. Yang Zheng was quite capable and did a good job in repairing the palace. Minister Zhou also had a good eye and stopped digging traps. He was quite polite to the emperor's eyes and ears.

Now that Yang Zheng took the initiative to go, there was no reason for Minister Zhou to refuse, so he nodded and agreed.

Time was urgent and they had to leave in three days. Yang Zheng ordered his attendant to prepare the luggage and took the several booklets he had compiled and recorded.

These books record the information of all the officials in the Ministry of Industry. Originally, they only contained simple information such as name, hometown, age, etc., but now they are more detailed and meticulous. They include everyone's personality, preferences, work habits, as well as their personal networks, private grievances, etc.

Yang Zheng, a clerk in the Ministry of Works, is still unfamiliar with and unskilled in his duties, but when it comes to investigating cases and people, Yang Zheng is a professional.

With Yang Zheng as a tough nut to crack, officials from the Ministry of Works became much more cautious in their words.

Compared with the Ministry of Works where all its staff were mobilized, the Ministry of Households had fewer people but was the busiest.

Tang Youyin worked for several nights in a row, his eyes were red from working so hard. The several newly-appointed scholars who served beside him also worked for several days and nights.

The male Jinshi were still physically fit, but the three newly admitted female Jinshi were all born into wealthy families and had never suffered such hardships. One of them fell ill and had to go home to rest. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue laughed at her behind her back, saying things like "women should stay in the inner house and not work as clerks." The other two newly admitted female Jinshi were very angry when they heard this.

These two female Jinshi were Lu Qingqing from the Lu family of Fanyang and Cui Yuner from the Cui family of Boling.

The two were legitimate relatives of the emperor, and they ranked fourth and fifth in the female imperial examination, so they were naturally proud. They were not so convinced of the three people who stayed in the palace to serve.

Lu Zhen was fine, but Wang Shu and Li Fangfei had strong backers, and in terms of talent and learning, they were not inferior at all. They first went to the Ministry of Rites, and then rotated to the Ministry of Revenue, working hard every day to study.

The Ministry of Revenue was now extremely busy, and a weak female scholar was holding them back, causing all the female scholars to be laughed at. The two of them were indignant, so they volunteered to Tang Youyin to go and provide disaster relief.

Minister Ji has indeed been having a headache lately trying to spare some manpower.

The Ministry of Revenue takes the lion's share of the responsibility for disaster relief. It is responsible for all the trivial matters such as raising food for disaster relief and supplying money and food to the army. At this time, everyone wishes they had more hands, but where can they find extra manpower?
The two female Jinshi candidates recommended themselves, and the anxious Minister Ji simply agreed and put their names on the list.

There were troops accompanying them, as well as a large number of officials, including several female Jinshi, so there was no need to worry about their safety, but they were busy and had hard work.

When Jiang Shaohua saw the list submitted by the six ministries, his frown suddenly relaxed. He turned to Chen Sheren and said with a smile: "There are a total of 32 new Jinshi who volunteered to go to provide disaster relief. Among them, there are eight female Jinshi."

Chen Sheren smiled and continued, "Those who are motivated and motivated will naturally seize opportunities. Regardless of how well the job is done, this courage is worthy of praise."

Jiang Shaohua hummed: "Write down their names. When selecting officials in the future, give priority to them."

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Chen Sheren nodded in agreement.

She now has a bunch of subordinates to command. This month, she was diagnosed with pregnancy, so the task of writing had to be given to Lu Zhen.

After reading the memorial submitted by Minister Ji, Jiang Shaohua could not help but sigh: "The court has been in deficit for years. After I ascended the throne, I have seized so many wealthy families. There are too many places to spend money. This time, six counties were hit by a disaster, and disaster relief is a bottomless pit. I am afraid that relying on the Ministry of Revenue alone will not be enough."

In the past, when faced with natural disasters like this, the imperial court would only pay lip service to providing relief, but in practice, it would focus on calming people's hearts. As long as the victims did not cause civil unrest, it didn't matter how many people died of drowning, starvation, or disease.

More people died and fewer people survived, so naturally we got through it.

Jiang Shaohua's "all-out relief" literally means to do everything possible to save all the people affected by the disaster. This is a huge test for the national treasury, which has just recovered from its financial difficulties.

Chen Sheren was most familiar with the emperor's temperament and temper: "Your Majesty is going to allocate grain from Nanyang County?"

Jiang Shaohua's eyes flashed: "Yes, I personally wrote a letter to Feng Changshi, asking him to send all the food that can be moved to the county government office affected by the disaster."

"I also plan to allocate money from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to buy grain."

It is certainly not easy to take money out of the purse of Empress Dowager Zheng.

Jiang Shaohua ordered: "Go to Jingyang Palace and pass on a message, saying that I have read the memorial and will go to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager." (End of this chapter)