Tai Chi Palace Ganlu Hall
His Majesty, Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, is in a bad mood these days.
This year, due to drought in Hedong Province, a large number of people in Taiyuan County of Taiyuan Prefecture, Pingyang County of Jinzhou and Hedong County of Puzhou suffered no harvest and starved to death everywhere.
In order to survive, some people began to sell their land and even their sons and daughters!
Most of the people who lost their land also became refugees.
According to reports from various places, refugees from three places are now migrating to Chang'an.
Although the imperial court has asked county guards to open warehouses and release grain to accommodate the refugees, there are still a large number of refugees migrating to Chang'an.
The total number of people is expected to reach 100,000.
After Li Shimin went to court, he immediately summoned Zuopu Shefang Xuanling of Shangshu Province, Sun Wuji, Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel, Dai Zhou, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Hubu, Duan Lun, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Works, and Wei Zheng, the minister of the Ministry of Menxia, to Ganlu Hall.
Discuss with them the resettlement of the refugees.
At this time, the atmosphere in Ganlu Hall was solemn. Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng, Dai Zhou, and Duan Lun were all standing in the hall with solemn expressions.
Li Shimin sat on an official hat chair and looked at everyone, seeing that everyone had arrived.
Li Shimin coughed slightly and said:
"According to the news from Baiqisi, the first batch of refugees will enter Chang'an in about ten days."
"Dear ladies, I have summoned you here today mainly because I want to hear if you have any good ideas for resettling the refugees."
After hearing this, everyone looked at Shangshu Zuopu Shefang Xuanling.
Upon seeing this, Fang Xuanling thought for a moment, saluted Li Shimin and said:
"Your Majesty, I believe that the number of refugees this time has reached 100,000, which is more than in previous years. The following points must be considered first:
One is, where to place the refugees;
The second is to solve the problem of food and clothing for the refugees;
The third is the heating problem for refugees;
The fourth is the issue of public security for refugees.
These are the few points I can think of at the moment. If there are any that I missed, you can add them. "
After speaking, Fang Xuanling looked at several other colleagues.
At this time, everyone in the hall, except Fang Xuanling, was deep in thought.
After a while, Sun Wuji, the Minister of Civil Affairs, stood up, saluted Li Shimin, and said:
"Your Majesty, I think that the points mentioned by Fang Pushe are very important for the short-term resettlement of the refugees, but there is one thing that I think is inappropriate."
"Even if the imperial court has been supporting them, these refugees are not a long-term solution."
"I believe that the most important issue regarding the resettlement of refugees should be how to persuade these refugees to return to their hometowns, and the livelihood of these refugees after they return to their hometowns."
Li Shimin nodded when he heard this. Seeing that no one else had anything to add, he said:
"Well, what the auxiliary machine said makes sense, does anyone else have anything to add?"
Attendant Wei Zheng frowned, stood up and said:
"Your Majesty, I think we should first discuss the issue of short-term resettlement of the refugees raised by Fang Pushe."
"After all, the refugees are about to enter the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Mansion. If we try to persuade them to return now, it will easily cause rumors that are detrimental to the court. If there are unscrupulous people who secretly instigate them, there may be civil unrest."
Although Li Shimin usually disliked Wei Zheng, at this time he agreed with Wei Zheng's ideas, so he said:
"Well, what Wei Shizhong said makes sense, let's start from the first point. Duan Lun, as Minister of the Ministry of Industry, do you have a solution to the problem of accommodation for refugees?"
Duan Lundao, Minister of the Ministry of Industry:
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Industry can arrange for craftsmen to choose an open space outside Chang'an and build some houses or camps to house the refugees."
"However, this matter still requires funding from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. After all, the cost of housing even the most basic housing for 100,000 people is not low."
Everyone looked at Dai Zhou, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Dai Zhou cupped his hands and said:
"Reporting to Your Majesty, taxes from various places have not been collected this year. Now the national treasury is empty. There may be problems with the remaining funds, even if it is just to provide food and clothing for the refugees, let alone allocate funds to the Ministry of Industry."
"And looking at past years, every time the number of refugees in Chang'an increases, there will be grain merchants who drive up grain prices. The Ministry of Household Affairs really can't afford to give it to the Ministry of Industry."
After hearing this, the hall suddenly became quiet.
Everyone also lowered their heads in deep thought.
In fact, Li Shimin also knew that the national treasury was now empty.
In recent years, in addition to using troops against the Turks, the imperial court has experienced various disasters every year.
It is normal for the national treasury to be unable to make ends meet.
But what no one expected was that the number of refugees this year would reach 100,000.
If the court doesn't handle it well, there will be trouble.
After a long while, Changsun Wuji said:
"Your Majesty, I suggest that at the next court meeting, we call on the ministers and the aristocratic families in Chang'an City to raise funds to reduce the pressure on the treasury."
The ministers didn't say anything when they heard this, but they all complained in their hearts.
Everyone knows that your eldest grandson's family is the head of Guanzhong's noble family. They have a big business and control the iron smelting industry in Datang. They are very rich.
But we don’t have much property, so we live on the salary from the court.
How can you donate just like you said?
Looking at everyone's expressions, Li Shimin knew that the auxiliary machine's suggestion had offended his colleagues.
In fact, Li Shimin also knew this method, but as the emperor, he couldn't say it.
It can only be raised by ministers.
After sitting on the throne for five years, the court had resettled several refugees. He knew that the most important problem was actually money.
As long as you have money, all the problems raised by Fang Xuanling can be solved.
Seeing how worried everyone looked now, Li Shimin knew that there was no need to continue the conversation, so he said to everyone:
"Well, what the auxiliary machine said is a good idea. You can write a report when you go back and present it to the meeting tomorrow. Today's discussion ends here, so you can leave first."
After everyone saluted, they all exited the hall, but when they left, they all deliberately avoided Changsun Wuji.
When Changsun Wuji saw this, he just sighed.
He knew that His Majesty wanted to use him as a spearman, but he had no choice.
His eldest grandson's family has been bound to the royal family.
He had to take the risk.
However, he did not leave the palace directly like others, but transferred to the Li Zheng Palace.
At the end of the Youshi period, Queen Changsun came to Ganlu Hall. Looking at Li Shimin who was sitting on the chair, frowning and thinking, he slowly walked forward and said:
"Erlang, I just made you a bowl of chicken soup. You should drink it while it's hot."
As he spoke, he waved to the palace maid behind him, took the chicken soup and brought it to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin raised his hand to take the chicken soup from Queen Changsun, took a sip and put it on the table.
Looking at the virtuous queen in front of him, Li Shimin sighed:
"Mr. Guanyin, did the auxiliary machine go to your place just now?"
Queen Changsun said:
"I can't hide anything from Your Majesty. However, I am not here to plead for my brother's mercy."
"The refugee population is large, and it is his duty for my brother to share His Majesty's worries."
Li Shimin reached out to hold Changsun's hand and sighed:
"Hey. I, this is also a helpless move."
"Now that the national treasury is empty, I will not resort to this method if there is any other way."
Queen Changsun nodded and said:
"Erlang, I have just counted the internal funds and found that there are still 20,000 guan in the internal funds. If the palace expenses are reduced at the end of the year, 10,000 guan can be used to provide relief to the victims."
"Since all the ministers will donate money to the court tomorrow morning, our royal family will give out this ten thousand yuan as an example, so as to silence the public in the world."
.......
