Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

As night fell, the Jizhou Inn was brightly lit.

Gu Mingyue sat at her desk in the side room of the main hall, with a map about half her height spread out in front of her.

The map was marked with dense circles and arrows using vermilion pen.

Hearing footsteps outside, she put down her pen and looked up.

When Xiao Ye and Gu Mingli pushed open the door and came in, they were covered in dust from their journey.

"His Majesty is back!"

Eunuch Liu quickly stepped forward and called for someone to fetch water for His Majesty to wash and change clothes.

Gu Mingyue stood up and quickly scanned the two faces.

"Your Majesty, brother, you're back! How did things go?"

"It's even more disgusting than I imagined."

Gu Mingli walked directly to the tea table, picked up the teapot, and poured two cups of tea.

He handed one cup to Xiao Ye, and downed the other himself.

Xiao Ye took it, not minding that he hadn't washed his hands, and drank a couple of sips himself.

The three sat around the map.

Gu Mingli recounted in detail the Cui family manor's secret use of chemical reagents, the land-for-grain exchange scheme, and the comings and goings of state carriages from and from the manor.

After listening, Gu Mingyue quickly thought about it.

"So the Cui family's strategy is: first, use medicine to protect their own land, then spread rumors that the imperial court is only concerned with holding the Cuju (ancient Chinese football) tournament to maintain the nobility?"

"The people have no harvest, and the Cui family is taking advantage of this to raise grain prices and seize land?"

"That's right."

Gu Mingli snorted coldly.

"Killing two birds with one stone. It both expands the territory and makes the court appear incompetent and corrupt, thus shaking the hearts of the people."

Xiao Ye leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced on his knees.

"They deliberately wanted the imperial court to wait until the disaster escalated, and the peasant uprisings and food shortages occurred before they could react."

"By the time the capital received the disaster report and sent people down to provide relief, the fields had already been completely swallowed up. With food shortages, we had no choice but to ask grain merchants in the south for help."

"And now the biggest grain merchant is the Cui family of Lingbo."

Gu Mingli nodded.

"Most importantly, they want to use the Pujitang, which is hosting the Cuju tournament, as a sacrifice to appease public resentment."

The brother and sister exchanged a glance.

Therefore, their trip not only had to solve the disaster relief problem, but also had to find a place for Pujitang to stay.

Let the people know that Pujitang is a business that can improve people's livelihoods and serve the country and its people.

Instead of unscrupulous businesses that blindly curry favor with the powerful and wealthy while disregarding the lives of ordinary people.

Gu Mingyue pondered for a moment, then looked up at the emperor.

"Your Majesty, have you already devised a disaster relief plan for this trip?"

Xiao Ye raised his eyebrows slightly and answered casually.

"I don't know how to control locust plagues."

"ha?!"

Gu Mingyue stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"You don't understand governance, yet you personally came to provide disaster relief? And you even made a guarantee to Magistrate Zhao?"

"Um."

Xiao Ye calmly picked up his teacup and took another sip.

She smiled slightly and glanced at Gu Mingli.

"It's alright, I have capable ministers. Your brother can do everything."

Gu Mingli was drinking water from his teacup when he heard this and almost choked.

Gu Mingyue: "..."

After an incense stick has burned.

Gu Mingli, who "knows everything," came up with a solution.

"What?! You want to bring in ten million ducks?!"

Gu Mingyue and Xiao Ye were both somewhat shocked.

After listening to the plan, Gu Mingyue raised her hand to ask a question.

"Brother, I believe your insecticide will be useful. But you said you'd bring over ten million ducks from Pujitang to be part of the locust-killing army. Is that feasible?"

"Of course!"

Gu Mingli got excited just thinking about that scene.

"Using ducks to eat locusts is a biological pest control method—zero pollution, zero cost. Plus, the ducks that have eaten the locusts can still be raised to lay eggs. It's a win-win situation!"

Gu Mingyue tilted her head in thought.

"Won't that scene be quite chaotic?"

Gu Mingli coughed lightly.

"I'm willing to swallow my pride and negotiate with them."

Gu Mingyue: "..."

understood.

Xiao Ye watched the brother and sister excitedly discussing something, wondering what kind of code they were using.

He tapped the table lightly with his fingertips.

"Alright, let's do it according to reason."

"How long would it take at the fastest to transport ten million live ducks from Jiangzhou to Jizhou?"

Gu Mingyue immediately picked up her pen to calculate.

"It takes seven days by canal. If we use all the existing ships on the Pujitang logistics line, it can be shortened to five days."

Xiao Ye was deep in thought.

"That's enough," he said decisively.

"Send a message back to Jiangzhou tonight, and the shipment will begin immediately."

"good!"

Xiao Ye then turned to Gu Mingli.

"Mingli, what materials are needed for the insecticide you mentioned?"

Gu Mingli quickly drew a simple recipe diagram in the blank space next to the map and wrote down a few key ingredients.

"By boiling poisonous herbs such as neem, sophora flavescens, and tripterygium wilfordii, the resulting liquid is mixed with wheat bran and chopped grass to make poisoned bait, which is then scattered in locust-infested areas. This only kills the locusts without harming crops, livestock, fish, or shrimp."

He looked up at Xiao Ye.

"This recipe doesn't require the complicated techniques of the previous dynasty. It can be made using traditional methods. However, it requires a large amount of raw materials and manpower."

Xiao Ye nodded.

"Regarding the procurement of raw materials, I have instructed Xue Ren of the Imperial Medical Academy to handle it. As for manpower..."

"Zhao Pucheng can be put to use; let's see if he has real skills."

Gu Mingli was taken aback for a moment, then understood what Xiao Ye meant.

"You mean... mobilizing the people?"

Xiao Ye nodded.

"The people's land has been eaten by insects, and they want to get rid of the insects more than anyone else."

"Give them the tools and the recipe, and they'll turn every inch of land over three times."

"At this time, they need an official they can trust to step forward. Zhao Pucheng is the most suitable."

"Regarding the issue of disaster relief food..."

Xiao Ye looked at Gu Mingyue.

"The imperial court allocated 100,000 taels of silver for disaster relief, which was handed over to Master Gu for management."