The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

Under the dual supervision of Chen Huai'an and Li Shimin, the efficiency of the Imperial Academy was maximized.

Two weeks later, Yu Shao excitedly approached Chen Huai'an, holding a bag of salt: "Master Chen, look!"

"Following your method, the artisans have successfully produced refined salt. Do you think this salt meets your requirements?"

Chen Huai'an opened it and looked at it. The shape was exactly the same as the one he made. He tasted it and there was nothing wrong with it.

"Very good, it meets my requirements. When can we start mass production?"

"Reporting to Lord Chen," Yu Shao said excitedly, "the method you provided is very detailed. Now all we lack are manpower to mine salt and produce fine salt."

"As long as we have enough manpower, we can start mass production now."

"Then recruit people!" Chen Huai'an immediately ordered. "Don't worry too much, just recruit people locally and get the refined salt into mass production as quickly as possible."

"As for the rest, let's proceed according to what we agreed upon beforehand!"

"Yes, Lord Chen!" Yu Shao readily agreed and then hurriedly left.

On this day, in addition to the production of fine salt, another piece of news reached Chang'an.

Before Yuchi Gong and Changsun Wuji could lead their army to quell the rebellion, Luo Yi was killed by his own men.

The head is already on its way to Chang'an.

Upon hearing this news, Changsun Wuji and Yuchi Gong nearly burst out laughing, and even Li Shimin was left speechless with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

The rebellion was thus quelled.

Chen Huai'an paid little attention to these matters.

Since that day, when Li Shimin proposed that Chen Huai'an concurrently serve as Minister of Revenue, he originally intended to issue the order directly.

Chen Huai'an refused, saying that he was too busy and couldn't spare the time, and suggested that Pei Ju continue to serve for now.

Li Shimin hesitated for a while, but finally agreed.

In fact, Chen Huai'an did not lie, nor did he make any excuses.

He not only kept a close eye on the sale of ironware and the progress of salt production every day, but more importantly, he would go to check on the progress of water conservancy and water storage in the interior of the pass every few days.

Any instance of slacking off will be punished immediately.

This terrified the craftsmen, who dared not slack off for fear of being caught by Chen Huai'an.

Throughout January and February, he was so busy that he couldn't find a moment to spare.

They are often away from home.

On the sixth day of the third month, a message reached the imperial court.

"Your Majesty, the Guannei region has experienced continuous drought since the beginning of spring, and a spring drought is imminent. Grain prices have skyrocketed in Chang'an and other places, and many people have already sold their children," Minister of Revenue Pei Ju reported.

As these words were spoken, the entire court was in an uproar, and everyone's eyes immediately turned to one person.

Xiao Yu stared in astonishment at the young man in his early twenties, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Chen Huai'an glanced at him: "Why are you looking at your father? Didn't you say you were going to rest for two years? Then go and talk to the people suffering from the disaster."

"Go tell that to all the people under heaven that you speak of."

"Damn it!"

Xiao Yu: "..."

"I..." He opened his mouth as if to refute something, but he had no idea how to refute it.

Initially, he disagreed that building a public granary now was a fact, but now that a natural disaster has occurred, it proves that Chen Huai'an was right, and that is also a fact.

This is beyond dispute!

Many officials were speechless.

When Chen Huai'an insisted on building a public granary, many officials, except for Xiao Yu, voiced their opposition.

Now, only a few months later, a drought has actually occurred.

Is there still any debate about who is right and who is wrong?

Everyone spontaneously recalled what Chen Huai'an had said back then.

"If these officials all think it's too early, then it means I did the right thing!"

"..."

"What exactly is the situation now? February was fine, so why did grain prices surge so dramatically in March?" Fang Xuanling asked, frowning.

Pei Ju shook his head: "In March, there was no rain at the beginning of spring. The same situation occurred in Jingzhao, Qi, Tong, and Hua prefectures. Everyone realized that a spring drought was likely to occur, which led to a rapid rise in grain prices."

"Many people had no way to make a living, so naturally, the situation of selling their children arose."

"If the drought continues... this year's grain harvest in the interior will likely be bleak, and we will have to rely entirely on imports from outside..."

"Your Majesty," another official reported at this moment, "Shandong, Henan, and Hebei provinces have also shown signs of drought, with not a single drop of rain falling for a long time."

"Your Majesty, this year, we fear we may face an unprecedented drought."

Upon hearing this news, Li Shimin could no longer remain seated: "Are there signs of drought again in Shandong?"

"Yes." The official from before had a bitter expression on his face.

Now, everyone was in an uproar.

The drought in the interior of China was actually barely acceptable, since the grain production cost in the interior region was not very high, and it mostly relied on imports from outside.

Now that drought is occurring even in other parts of the world, the impact is enormous.

If things go wrong, who knows how many people could die!

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that Your Majesty open the granaries to provide disaster relief and order the Ministry of Revenue to count the number of people affected by the disaster. This matter must not be taken lightly," Du Ruhui immediately suggested.

This immediately drew agreement from many officials.

Li Shimin gave Chen Huai'an a deep look, then raised his hand and said, "The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for counting the number of people affected by the disaster and preparing the necessary relief supplies."

"In addition, the imperial treasury's gold and silk will be used to redeem the children that the people have sold, and return them to their parents. A general amnesty will be granted."

"Shandong...the entire year's rent and taxes for the Shandong region are to be distributed to local officials for relief!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" all the officials shouted in unison.

Times have changed. The current imperial court is not particularly wealthy, but thanks to Chen Huai'an's efforts, it is still able to provide disaster relief without causing a fuss over a small amount of relief supplies.

Moreover, everyone knows that this year is the first year of Li Shimin's Zhenguan era.

With such a massive disaster occurring, Li Shimin must handle it properly. If too many people die or are injured as a result, Li Shimin's prestige will suffer a huge blow.

Therefore, Li Shimin would never allow anyone to hold him back in this regard. Even without Chen Huai'an's hard work to earn money, he would still have to provide disaster relief by cutting back on his own expenses.

Originally, after making the decision, Li Shimin planned to discuss the specifics of disaster relief with his officials, but to his surprise, Chen Huai'an suddenly stood up and objected.

"Your Majesty, I object!"

This single sentence left not only the officials, but also many of the Ministry of Works officials who secretly admired him, and even Li Shimin himself, dumbfounded.

Chang Gui, Ouyang Shu, and Yu Shao looked at Chen Huai'an in disbelief.

Oppose...?

Why oppose it?

Since the ninth year of the Wude era, and now in the first year of the Zhenguan era, hasn't everything our Minister done been for disaster relief when disasters occur?

Now that disaster has struck, people are selling their children to survive, and His Majesty has ordered disaster relief. Why is there sudden opposition?

They weren't the only ones who didn't understand; Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng—none of them understood it.

Li Shimin was stunned for a while, then asked uncertainly, "You object?"

Chen Huai'an took a deep breath: "Yes, I oppose this kind of disaster relief!"

"..."