The struggle for the throne during the Jiajing reign

Chapter 124 Swift and Decisive Action (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Soon, they arrived at the cabinet office. The two princes alighted from their sedan chairs, and the assembled officials knelt to greet them.

"Your Highnesses, we respectfully welcome you."

Prince Yu glanced at Zhu Zaizhen beside him before saying, "No need for formalities, let's go inside to discuss matters."

"promise."

The two princes, each holding a hand warmer, entered first and took the main seat reserved for cabinet ministers.

Yan Song and the others stood there. Most of them were seeing the two kings so closely for the first time, and they carefully observed them, trying to see what they wanted to see from the details. For a moment, no one spoke.

Yan Song stepped forward half a step and bowed, saying, "We are deeply moved that Your Highnesses have personally come to the office. Since His Majesty has issued an edict ordering the two princes to assist in disaster relief, I would like to take the liberty of reporting the various procedures that have just been agreed upon to Your Highnesses."

"Please speak, Your Excellency."

The Ministry of Revenue allocated 50,000 catties of unpolished rice and 50,000 catties of firewood and charcoal to provide relief to the disaster victims. Thirty soup kitchens were to be set up outside the city gates to provide porridge and save the people. The Shuntian Prefecture, together with the Five City Garrison Command, worked overnight to set them up.

An additional 200,000 shi of grain has been allocated to stabilize grain prices. The first batch of firewood and grain has already been dispatched from the Jing-Tong Warehouse No. 2 and is expected to arrive before midnight tomorrow.

Shuntian Prefecture has also drafted a price control order, limiting the price of coarse rice to six qian per shi and firewood and charcoal to three qian per dan. The order will be posted at the nine gates tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM). Five government-run firewood and charcoal shops will also be set up to sell the firewood and charcoal at fair prices to curb unscrupulous merchants from raising prices.

As for the resettlement of displaced people, twelve empty temples and monasteries outside the nine gates have been requisitioned, which can accommodate 3,000 displaced people. However, if the snow continues, this number may not be enough.

This is a drop in the ocean, especially since the snow hasn't stopped yet. The capital city has a large population, and hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the disaster, with more than 100,000 urgently needing relief.

The meager amount of food, even if boiled into porridge, wouldn't last long, and firewood, charcoal, and housing were in even greater shortage.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Prince Yu was a little nervous and could only speak in the manner he had learned before: "The regulations proposed by you gentlemen are very good, but you must thoroughly investigate the orphans, the elderly, the weak, the cold and hungry disaster victims in every street, properly settle their homes, distribute grain and rice, so that all the disaster victims have clothes to keep warm, food to fill their stomachs, and a place to settle down."

Nonsense. They all know that no matter how good the plan to pacify the people is, it is just empty talk without financial and material support.

Soup porridge kitchens need food, refugees need clothing, and resettlement needs money. Without donations from nobles and supplies from the national treasury, all measures to reassure the people will be completely paralyzed within ten days.

So only Xu Jie and the others responded listlessly.

Seeing that Prince Yu had nothing more to say, Zhu Zaizhen slowly spoke: "Regarding the money and grain, the Ministry of Revenue will squeeze out a portion, and I will find a way to deal with the rest."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Regardless of whether they could actually get their hands on it, Prince Jing had at least taken on the most difficult task himself.

Yan Song looked at the Minister of Revenue, and Xia Bangmo hurriedly bowed in agreement, but in his heart he lamented that the officials and soldiers of the capital garrison had lost their salaries and rations, and all they could do was curse him.

Zhu Zaizhen, with a cold and stern expression, continued to issue orders: "The Ministry of War and the Military Affairs Bureau shall send people and the Shuntian Prefecture yamen runners to immediately set out. All households that have stockpiled coarse rice, firewood, charcoal, winter cotton, and winter clothing shall be strictly prohibited from transporting them out of the country for resale or hoarding them for sale."

If anyone raises prices against the rules, the shop will be sealed off first, then the accounts will be checked. If hoarding and speculation are found, the property will be confiscated according to the law.

The Ministry of Justice and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were in charge of supervision. If anyone dared to take advantage of the situation to enrich themselves, their property would be confiscated!

Grain merchants selling normally will have their grain purchased at a fair price by the Shuntian Prefecture. Those lacking funds can sign a debt agreement first, and once the grain transport routes are open and the spring tax grain is deposited into the granary, the imperial court will make up the difference, ensuring no loss. Those who are obstinate will have their property confiscated!

Everyone was shocked and looked at Prince Jing in disbelief, especially those who were seeing him for the first time. Wasn't it said that Prince Jing was extremely unruly and had no real talent or learning, far inferior to Prince Yu in terms of benevolence and studiousness?

How can this seem so decisive and reliable?

It's just a bit too ruthless, confiscating property at the drop of a hat; they all dare not speak openly about it for the sake of their reputation.

But with Prince Jing's word, at least the problem of obtaining grain, firewood, and charcoal in the market became easier to solve.

You have to understand that at this time, any merchant who could still sell grain had powerful backers. If they didn't have anyone above them to hold them back, it would be difficult for those below them to act.

Xu Jie and Gao Gong were also surprised by Zhu Zaizhen's decisiveness, while Prince Yu was astonished that Zaizhen dared to issue orders directly.

"All departments shall immediately accept their orders and perform their duties. Anyone found engaging in favoritism or perverting the law, regardless of who they are, shall be executed by imperial decree!"

"promise."

Zhu Zaizhen did not pause for a moment: "From today onwards, in accordance with His Majesty's decree, all families who have received hereditary stipends and enjoyed the imperial favor shall be classified into three categories and registered. The first category—and so on—shall be classified and encouraged to donate, and grain shall be collected in accordance with regulations."

The Ministry of Revenue and the Six Ministries took the lead in compiling a register, and within five days, they were to sort out all the grain reserves in the capital, classify and register them, and verify them item by item, leaving no one out.

Officials from the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy were stationed at soup kitchens and refugee resettlement sites throughout the nine cities, patrolling and providing relief day and night to prevent officials from withholding funds, appease rumors in the streets, and ensure local stability!

The Ministry of Works immediately summoned—

When Prince Jing issued his first order, the Yan faction naturally flattered him, and not a single person stood up to object. The officials from the other departments were even less likely to object and all agreed and left.

It's not that these things wouldn't have happened without Prince Jing, but rather it's a question of who gave the order; whoever gave the order must be held responsible.

Zhu Zaizhen held the hand warmer and methodically filled in the details, but he knew in his heart that it was impossible without corruption and favoritism. In fact, many grain merchants who hoarded firewood and grain were actually members of Yan's faction.

So, you could say he's one of them. This world is a mess, where everyone is intertwined with each other.

But who can do something about it?

Thus, the Yan faction itself had to be the first to suffer losses, which was naturally unwilling. However, under the pressure from Prince Jing and Grand Secretary Ouyang, they had no choice but to endure it, turning from making huge profits to making less.

Unless Zhu Zaizhen had the ability to multiply into millions, specific matters could only be handled by officials of all ranks, which inevitably meant that others would interfere in the process.

As for the rest, don't be fooled by their current enthusiasm. Once they step outside and are hit by the cold wind, their fighting spirit will be halved by 70-80%. Those who can simply follow the established procedures are already considered good officials.

He wasn't trying to save everyone; he just wanted to do his best, hoping to save as many lives as possible.

As for those who are still going to die, blame God, blame the world, blame corrupt officials, blame unscrupulous merchants, blame human nature, just don't blame yourself.

Once everything was arranged, Zhu Zaizhen stood up and said to Yan Song, "Please have the Grand Secretary oversee the rest of the arrangements. I'm going to go beg for alms."

Yan Song bowed slightly, a smile appearing on his aged face: "Your Highness has taken on the most difficult tasks; these trivial matters will be handled by this old minister."

"Zaizhen, I'll go with you."

Prince Yu didn't think about anything else; he just wanted to ask each household for money and grain. Two people's face is always more important than one person's. He also wanted to contribute to the relief of the disaster victims. After listening to so many teachings from his teachers, he was finally ready to put his ideas into practice.

Zhu Zaizhen shook his head at him: "Your Majesty, first go with Minister Xu or Gao Gong to commend the loyal and virtuous families who are willing to donate grain, and record the silver and grain in the books. If there is any need for Your Majesty to step forward later, I will send someone to invite you."

"Zaizhen—"

"Do as I say!"

"Okay."

Prince Yu felt somewhat aggrieved, but he had no choice but to agree.

"Gentlemen, please do not be impatient. The Grand Canal is now frozen, the grain transport routes between the north and south are cut off, and the grain reserves in the Jingtong Granary are not much. The government cannot provide much grain for relief."

"We just need to close the granaries for a few more days, until the small shops on the market are completely out of grain. At that time, let alone one or two taels, even two taels and one shi will be bought with the money from selling our children."

Zhu Shouyi hunched his head and let the servant behind him massage his shoulders and neck vigorously. He was one of the most prominent grain merchants in the capital, with more than 30 private estates under his name. He had stockpiled more than 80,000 shi of grain all year round, and had replenished 30,000 to 40,000 shi before winter.

And this is only his own; he can also allocate the inventory of other businesses in the capital at any time. The total amount would probably make even the Minister of Revenue envious.

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The people sitting around in the hall were all heads of grain stores and managers of firewood and charcoal stores in the capital. They were all dressed in fine clothes and warm robes, and their faces showed no anxiety about the impending disaster. Instead, they were relaxed and at ease.

"That's small change. If a large family runs out of food, they'll have to sell their house and ancestral property to survive."

"Haha, I wonder if they'll rent my granary to store grain again this year. If it gets moldy, spoiled, or damaged by rats and sparrows, they'll make up tens of thousands of bushels in the accounts, which will be a huge sum of money."

"Brother Bao, you have quite the appetite!"

"What's there to be afraid of? We'll smooth things over with everyone, they'll be overjoyed."

Years of famine are the best time to make a fortune. In fact, the shortage of grain in the capital was so severe in just half a month, partly due to their large-scale purchase and stockpiling of grain.

An elderly man with a protruding belly toyed with a doucai cup in his hand and said, "This is the capital city under the emperor's nose. The court will definitely provide relief, but then they will inevitably try to seize it from us again."

These words made everyone's faces contort with righteous indignation. Of the scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, only the scholars were truly trampled on and treated like pigs.

"According to the old custom, each family should contribute a few hundred bushels of coarse rice and old grain to make do. If we ask for more, we will inevitably have to bother Governor Lu, the Duke of Cheng, to help us."

"Exactly! With the support of the young Grand Secretary and Chief Secretary Mai, who can do anything to us?"

How can you do business without connections? The fact that they dare to do business in the capital means they must have powerful backing.

These words struck a chord with everyone, and a chorus of agreement immediately rang out in the hall. In their view, collusion between officials and businessmen and protection by powerful figures had long been an unwritten rule in the capital's business community.

Hoarding grain and raising prices during famine years is commonplace; after all, no merchant is without guile!

At this moment, a servant rushed in to report. The people were not alarmed, but rather surprised.

Prince Yu and Prince Jing are out providing disaster relief? What is Your Majesty thinking?

Soon, several managers rushed in to report: "Something terrible has happened! The constables, along with people from the Ministry of War and the Military Affairs Bureau, have sealed off our shops, claiming that we were suspected of selling grain at high prices. Not only has the grain been confiscated, but the account books have also been taken away."

"What?! This is outrageous!"

Zhu Shouyi, somewhat displeased by the piercing roar, said, "Alright, how much grain could there be in the shop? What's all the fuss about?"

They had been anticipating this move. If too much grain was piled up in the shop, even if the government didn't keep an eye on it, the starving and unruly people would. Therefore, every night, a batch of grain was transported from the warehouse to the shop.

I'd rather work harder than let the government and the troublemakers benefit. It's always good to have multiple burrows.

Moreover, having spent over thirty years in the capital's grain trade and experienced countless years of disaster relief, he had long since mastered the ways of doing things in the imperial court. As long as he had the upper hand, the government officials and their men would only check the open stock in the shops and never dare to dig up the hidden private warehouses.

"The imperial court has always been all bark and no bite. Every year there are disasters everywhere. Every time they threaten to confiscate houses and seal shops, but in the end they just force each family to donate some old rice and grain to make a show of it."

"Yes, what Master Zhu said makes sense."

"Ah, the snow is just right, everyone! Let's drink!"

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