"I, Wei Zheng, attend Your Highness!”
Li Chengqian looked up at Wei Zheng and waved his hand.
"Sir, there's no need to be so polite!"
When Wu Meiniang, who was in his arms, saw Wei Zheng, she hurriedly stood up and retreated to the side.
When there was no one around, she and Li Chengqian could be happy however they wanted. However, with the presence of the officials in the court, they still had to care about the etiquette of seniority.
The warmth in his arms dissipated. Li Chengqian was still a little reluctant. Then, he looked at Wei Zheng and asked in confusion.
"Sir, is there something you need?"
By right, after being educated by him, Wei Zheng should have given up on teaching his studies.
In other words, Wei Zheng had nothing to teach Li Chengqian.
Since that was the case, why did he come so frequently? Could it be that he wanted to freeload?
Hearing Li Chengqian mention it, Wei Zheng did not beat around the bush and asked the question that he had been holding back all the way.
" Recently, the frost and winter snow have been coming one after another. All parts of the pass have been severely affected. Countless livestock, cattle, and sheep have frozen to death. The people are starving…"
"The Imperial Court has ordered disaster relief, but the Ministry of Revenue is unable to allocate enough money and food…"
"There are many people in the pass. Although the exact area of the disaster has not been verified, it is likely that there will be many…"
"I want to ask Your Highness, is there any way to alleviate the current disaster?”
......
Wei Zheng asked. After saying that, he looked at Li Chengqian with anticipation, hoping that the other party could give him some "shallow opinions".
Li Chengqian was not too surprised when he heard Wei Zheng say that.
Having transmigrated, he had some understanding of what happened during the Zhenguan period.
The frost and snow disaster did not just last for the first year of Zhenguan, it lasted for three years!
This period was also accompanied by various disasters. It could be said to be the most bumpy period of the Great Tang, forcing Li Er to issue a self-reproaching edict…
Li Chengqian shook his head and blurted out.
"It's not just the area inside the pass that has been affected. The entire Hedong Road has also been severely affected!”
Wei Zheng was speechless.
Li Er was speechless.
Wei Zheng was stunned!
Li Er, who was standing outside the hall, was also dumbfounded!
The two of them were originally looking forward to Li Chengqian saying a strategy to resolve the disaster, but they did not expect Li Chengqian's words to make things worse for the two of them and increase the pressure!
Hedong Road was also a fertile grain-producing area of the Tang Empire. It was not far from Chang 'an, but it was still more than a day's journey.
At present, the imperial court had not received any news about the disaster in Hedong Road. If it was really as Li Chengqian said, then the situation would be even more severe!
The population of Hedong Road was also quite large!
Wei Zheng was shocked. When he came back to his senses, his expression instantly became flustered.
"Your Highness, is this true?"
"This can't be child's play!"
"May I ask where Your Highness obtained this information?”
Wei Zheng asked Li Chengqian nervously.
Even the imperial court had not received any news about Hedong Road, so how did Li Chengqian know?
Even the fastest messenger pigeon would be frozen to death in this frosty winter.
Faced with Wei Zheng's question, Li Chengqian realized that he had spoken too fast just now.
However, there was no way to deny it. No matter how slow the letter from Hedong Road was, it should be delivered tomorrow.
At that time, he would be able to prove whether what he said was true or not.
Li Chengqian pondered for two seconds.
"Hedong Road is adjacent to the Inner Pass Road, both in the north.”
"Now that the weather has suddenly dropped, frost and snow will definitely not only affect the inner pass. The weather in the east of the river will definitely be the same!”
"Of course, this is my humble opinion. Whether the news is true or not, we will know when the letter from Hedong Road arrives.”
As Li Chengqian finished speaking, Wei Zheng fell into deep thought.
He knew that what Li Chengqian said was most likely true, and because of this, his mood fell to rock bottom.
The disaster in the Central Pass was already a headache for him. If Hedong Road was also affected, the imperial court would not be able to provide relief.
"What should we do!"
Wei Zheng could not help but let out a long sigh.
Li Er, who was eavesdropping outside the hall, also had a worried expression on his face.
Although Li Chengqian's words were just a guess, but after thinking about it for a moment, it was clear that what he said was very likely true.
Li Er originally came to find a solution, but he did not expect to be the first to cause trouble.
This made Li Er feel very depressed, and his mentality almost collapsed.
Why was there so much to do as an emperor?
Just as Wei Zheng and Li Er outside the hall were frowning and about to shut themselves up.
Li Chengqian suddenly opened his mouth, his tone light and indifferent.
"What's so difficult about that? If there's a disaster, we'll order disaster relief. If the Ministry of Revenue can't take out enough money and food, we'll go to the people to raise it…"
As soon as Li Chengqian finished speaking, Wei Zheng and Li Er's eyes lit up. However, very quickly, the two of them became lonely again.
Wei Zheng looked at Li Chengqian and said with a bitter smile.
"Your Highness, it is not difficult to raise relief food, but the problem is that the common people do not have surplus food in their homes these days. Although the rich and despotic have money and food, who is willing to generously take it out to help the victims?”
It wasn't that no officials had proposed this method in the court, but it was quickly rejected by everyone.
They would definitely call for donations, but they didn't have much hope for the amount of money and food they could raise.
Not to mention those aristocrats, just ask those officials in the court, who would be willing to take out a large amount of money and grain from their pockets?
Only a fool would be willing to do that!
After Wei Zheng explained, he immediately lost hope.
He originally wanted to come to Li Chengqian's place to ask if there was any better strategy, but in the end, not only was he blocked, the method he gave was also very useless.
Wei Zheng was about to leave in disappointment, but Li Chengqian spoke again.
"If the imperial court can carve a monument for those wealthy merchants who donate money and grain, I think they will be willing to be generous…"
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