The prince is more stable

Chapter 106: Killing multiple birds with one stone

Zhao Xiaoqian cannot be hungry. If he is hungry, not only will his mind become confused, but his temper will also become bad.

It's not that he is pampered by wealth. In his previous life, he was just a miserable worker and he couldn't stand being hungry. Every time his boss asked him to work overtime, he would silently buy Master Kong, slurp it and greet his boss's ancestors of eighteen generations of women.

I was born into a wealthy family in this life, so of course I cannot starve.

Wei Jie immediately looked at Zhao Xiaoqian with admiration. Zhao Xiaoqian was the first person in the world who dared to say frankly that he was hungry in front of the emperor. This was even more rare than being the first to burn incense at Xiangguo Temple on New Year's Day.

This... is considered a breach of etiquette in front of the emperor, right?
However, Zhao Xu had no intention of blaming him. He just glared at Zhao Xiaoqian unhappily, and then ordered the imperial chef to prepare food.

Wei Jie's eyes became more and more admiring and awed.

The emperor doted on the Prince of Chu to such an extent that Wei Jie felt he was far inferior to him.

If Wei Jie dared to say that, even though he had been Zhao Xu's confidant for many years, he would probably at least be beaten with a stick.

Zhao Xiaoqian said it so frankly, as if he was at home and felt at ease and without any hesitation.

We are all doing official business, why are you so outstanding?

At this moment, Wei Jie finally realized that the emperor often said to Zhao Xiaoqian, "We are brothers." This was not a courtesy, but the truth.

The emperor really treated Zhao Xiaoqian as a brother.

The palace servants quickly brought out three servings of hot food.

Zhao Xu was an open-minded person. There were three people in the hall, and they couldn't just watch Zhao Xiaoqian eat alone, so they just had a meal together.

Zhao Xiaoqian apologized, sat down at the table impatiently, picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

After taking a bite, Zhao Xiaoqian nodded.

Not bad, familiar taste, typical Chu Palace style.

He did not forget that the last time Zhao Xu went out of the palace in disguise to visit the Prince of Chu's mansion, he was not satisfied with the food and drinks, so he took away two chefs from the mansion.

Obviously, the dishes Zhao Xiaoqian was eating at this moment were made by the former chef of the royal palace. It was a pity that training a good chef was harder than marrying a good wife, but Zhao Xu intercepted the opportunity.

Zhao Xiaoqian ate the palace delicacies, but he felt a faint sadness that his wife was taken away by his rival.

The three of them sat around in the hall, eating with grunts.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhao Xiaoqian burped. There was still a piece of cake left on the table, but he really couldn't eat any more.

Zhao Xu wiped his mouth elegantly with a handkerchief and looked at Zhao Xiaoqian.

"Zi'an, you've enjoyed my delicious food, but you can't eat it for free. Hurry and find a way to deal with the 50,000 refugees outside the city."

Zhao Xiaoqian thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial court is currently providing relief to those 50,000 refugees. But they can't just wait for their next meal after finishing their last one, right? If this continues, not only will it easily lead to trouble, but the imperial court will also be unable to support them."

"Yes, I think so too."

"So, I think it would be better to find them some work. Now that the Yellow River has burst its banks, the court is looking to repair the embankment and reinforce the banks. Let these 50,000 people repair the embankment."

Zhao Xu nodded. "Zi'an's words are very good. Zeng Bu and Zhang Dun also expressed the same view. However, this is not my concern. The Yellow River embankment will be completed sooner or later. Then what? How will these 50,000 people be resettled?"

Zhao Xiaoqian looked hesitant and turned to look at Wei Jie with a complicated look.

Wei Jie was shocked. What did this strange look mean?
Zhao Xu was also puzzled and asked, "What are Zi'an's concerns?"

"My concern is that what I'm about to say is quite confidential, and I don't know what Wei Gou has done... Well, if after hearing this, the emperor decides that the matter cannot be leaked and ends up killing him to silence him, it would be too unfair for Wei Gou to be wronged."

Wei Jie was startled and stood up without hesitation: "I...will take my leave!"

Zhao Xu pointed at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and said loudly, "Wei Jie, there's no need to leave. You are my trusted minister, so there's no need to avoid me. I still need you to handle many things."

"Zi'an, if you have something to say, please speak up."

"Yes, if the government wants to properly resettle these 50,000 refugees, the best solution is to distribute land to them." Zhao Xu snorted coldly, "Nonsense, don't I know that? The problem is, where can I get the land to give them?"

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled, looked at the remaining cake on the table, and then took the cake in his hand.

"Official, the benefits of the world are like this piece of cake..."

Zhao Xiaoqian tore off a third of it and said, "The emperor will take one."

He tore off another third and said, "Everyone in the world gets one share."

Finally, pointing to the remaining one-third, Zhao Xiaoqian said, "The literati and landlords will take one part. Does the emperor agree with my view?"

Zhao Xu thought for a moment and nodded, "Zi'an's analogy is very apt. I agree."

"There are now many landless refugees across the country, which means that the one-third of the people representing the world are much smaller."

As he spoke, Zhao Xiaoqian tore off another third of the piece representing the people and held it in his hand.

"The pie is only this big. The government's share remains the same, but the people's share has decreased. So the question is, where did the people's missing piece of the pie go?"

Zhao Xu's eyes showed deep thought as he stared at the piece of cake belonging to the literati and landlords for a long time without saying a word.

Zhao Xiaoqian gently placed the small piece of cake that the common people had on the pile of scholars and landlords, and sighed: "I won't say anything, the emperor must already know the answer."

Zhao Xu seemed to understand something and whispered, "Zi'an means to take back some of the bread from the scholars and officials and use it to resettle the 50,000 refugees?"

"That's probably what I mean, but we can't be so forceful. If we provoke a fierce backlash from the literati, I'm afraid the government won't be able to suppress it."

Zhao Xu sat up straight and said, "I would like to hear it."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and said, "The emperor needs a legitimate reason. If you come up with this reason, no one in the court would dare to say a word. Even if the emperor snatched the cake from their hands, they would only smile and reluctantly agree that the emperor did a good job."

Zhao Xu's face lit up with joy: "What excuse can I use?"

Zhao Xiaoqian said slowly, "Have you forgotten that the Yellow River burst its banks and flooded the capital? It was a natural disaster, but it was also a man-made disaster. If it was a man-made disaster, how could you not investigate such a serious and terrible incident?"

"A few days ago, we killed several officials from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue. Is that enough? Far from it! They are just the tip of the iceberg."

"How much money has the court allocated for river embezzlement over the years? How much has been embezzled by officials in charge of river management? How much has been embezzled by officials in the Ministry of Works? How much has been embezzled by officials in the Ministry of Finance? Digging deeper, the Secretariat, the Censorate, the Three Departments...are they all clean?"

These words were so explosive that not only was Wei Jiechen stunned, but even Zhao Xu took a breath.

This is going to wipe out the entire Song Dynasty court.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and said, "Don't be alarmed, Your Majesty. There's no need to make such a big fuss. It all depends on Your Majesty's wishes. Which government office to investigate, which officials to investigate, how wealthy these officials are, and to what extent the investigation will be carried out are all within Your Majesty's control."

"Those corrupt officials not only had wealth of hundreds of thousands or millions of strings of cash, but they also owned even more land. The government did their own calculations and found enough land to distribute to 50,000 refugees, and then they pretty much stopped."

"This way, not only can the emperor establish his authority over his officials for the first time since taking power, but he can also add confiscated money to the national treasury and obtain land to resettle refugees."

"More importantly... the government's drastic measures to crack down on corruption will win unanimous praise from the common people. They will be grateful that the Song Dynasty has produced a wise and righteous emperor."

"Besides, now is the time for the new party to replace the old party. With this reason, there are countless positions in the court that will be vacant, and everything can be settled. Isn't it wonderful to kill two birds with one stone?"

Zhao Xu was stunned. Every word Zhao Xiaoqian had just said was repeated over and over in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him.

What is the most important thing?
He had a legitimate reason. He used the Yellow River breach incident to investigate and punish a group of corrupt officials, confiscating their property and land, and then distributed the land to refugees, making room for the New Party...

The idea proposed by Zhao Xiaoqian solved many current problems at one stroke, and Zhao Xu himself firmly occupied the moral high ground, and no one could say that he was wrong.

"You, you really are..." Zhao Xu's face flushed red, and he looked like he was about to have a heart attack due to excitement.

"You are so bad, but I like you so much!"

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him innocently and said, "Your Majesty, I didn't say anything. This idea was proposed by Zeng Bu and Zhang Dun. It has nothing to do with me."

(End of this chapter)