CHAPTER 571: CHAPTER 571: HEARTACHE

Consort Li and the Empress exchanged glances.

Why is the Emperor so angry?

"What happened?" Consort Li asked the eunuch guarding the door.

The little eunuch looked bewildered.

He didn’t know what had happened.

Before the Marquis Dongxiang arrived, the Emperor was in high spirits.

After the Marquis Dongxiang left, the Emperor was thunderously furious.

The problem obviously lay with the Marquis Dongxiang.

But the Marquis Dongxiang left with a beaming smile, clearly in a great mood.

The Imperial Study was vast, and the little eunuch had no idea what had transpired between the Emperor and the Marquis Dongxiang.

Even if he did know, he wouldn’t dare tell the Empress and Consort Li.

Consort Li and the Empress were curious, but the Emperor wouldn’t see them, and there was nothing they could do.

However, if they wanted to know, they would find out eventually.

When Eunuch Fu went for dinner, the Empress and Consort Li took turns summoning him for questioning.

At first, Eunuch Fu didn’t say a word, but after each of them gave him a Jade Bracelet, Eunuch Fu spoke falsely, "The Emperor was moved."

"The people all hailed the Emperor as a wise ruler, and when the Emperor thought of them still in deep suffering, he couldn’t bear it."

"Not knowing how to help them, that’s why the Emperor was irritable and angry."

Consort Li had a clueless expression.

Could the Emperor really be so worried about the country and people after being praised a few times by the citizens?

But that’s how people are.

The more they are praised, the harder they strive.

On the contrary, after being scolded, it’s easy to become discouraged and give up.

Especially when Eunuch Fu spoke so earnestly, it didn’t seem like he was lying.

Eunuch Fu excused himself to have dinner and departed with the Jade Bracelet.

Consort Li pondered how to help relieve the Emperor’s worries and difficulties.

Just at that time, a concubine offered advice to Consort Li, saying the Emperor was most troubled by the empty National Treasury and the extravagant waste in the harem.

If Consort Li could reduce the harem’s expenses and encourage the concubines and the wives of those ministers to make donations, the Emperor would surely be pleased.

Consort Li found this idea to be a good one.

Hanyuan Hall.

The Emperor was so angry he didn’t sleep well all night.

He woke up early the next day.

Having been reprimanded by the Marquis Dongxiang and also losing twenty thousand taels, the Emperor couldn’t swallow this grievance.

In the court, ministers frequently criticized the Marquis Dongxiang.

Today, no matter what, the Emperor had to find an opportunity to harshly reprimand him a few times to vent his anger.

Hmm.

At the morning court assembly, the Emperor indeed found an opportunity.

Yesterday, the Emperor ordered the Marquis Dongxiang to drive people out of the Capital City to prevent further trouble from the refugees.

This matter had been arranged in court yesterday.

Yet, as a day passed, there was no reaction from the Marquis Dongxiang or the Flying Tiger Army.

Although nothing happened last night, the refugees remaining in the city were still a major hidden danger.

The Marquis Dongxiang treating the Emperor’s words as nothing but wind beside his ear, Duke Chong took the lead in impeaching the Marquis Dongxiang.

The Marquis Dongxiang seized the opportunity to throw the messy situation to Duke Chong, "I simply can’t bring myself to do it, why doesn’t Duke Chong handle it instead?"

Could Duke Chong take it on?

"The Emperor tasked you, the Marquis Dongxiang, with this duty. Do you think evading it will make it go away? If other ministers follow suit, won’t chaos ensue?" said Duke Chong.

"Since you couldn’t accomplish it, why did you agree so readily yesterday?!"

Duke Chong spoke too quickly and received a stern glare from the Emperor.

These were words the Emperor intended to use for scolding.

The Marquis Dongxiang smiled and said, "Since you know the duty was given to me, if not done well, the Emperor will naturally punish me."

"I’m not anxious, so why the urgency from Duke Chong?"

Duke Chong choked on his words, "Is it possible not to be anxious? It’ll be too late when something happens!"

The Marquis Dongxiang chuckled, "I’d like to ask, knowing the Emperor ordered me to drive the refugees out of the city, why there were so many people distributing porridge yesterday."

The reason refugees flocked to the Capital was that they believed they could find food here and survive.

Outside the city, there’s no food, but inside the city, there’s disaster relief.

Would those refugees leave the city then?

Would they really have to send the Flying Tiger Army to drive the refugees out with knives and guns?

If they truly did that, the Flying Tiger Army’s reputation would be utterly ruined.

The Marquis Dongxiang wouldn’t do something so foolish.

He merely had the Flying Tiger Army patrol the main streets at night to ensure the refugees wouldn’t set fires and cause harm.

But that’s still far from enough.

As long as there is porridge being given, the refugees will not want to leave the city.

The city is bustling, while outside the city is desolate, a place no one wants to stay.

However, the Marquis Dongxiang couldn’t force people to stop giving porridge.

Some gave porridge with ulterior motives, but many acted out of kindness.

He couldn’t punish them all indiscriminately, as that would cut off the refugees’ means of survival.

What the Marquis Dongxiang could do was have the Flying Tiger Army record the families providing disaster relief.

Have the Ministry of Justice make banners inscribed with: Kind-hearted Family.

When delivering the banners, they also notified the families to distribute porridge outside the city.

Not knowing and distributing porridge inside the city can be excused, ignorance is not a crime.

But if, after being notified, they continue this practice, then the Marquis Dongxiang would have reason to suspect them of deliberately opposing the court.

Who would dare openly go against the court?

Thus, everyone hurried to cook porridge and steam buns, taking them outside the city.

The fragrant aroma of the buns spread everywhere.

It enticed the refugees to follow along.

With the Flying Tiger Army maintaining order, no chaos occurred.

The Marquis Dongxiang explained the plan to lead the refugees out of the city.

Prince NanAn was the first to step forward and praise the Marquis Dongxiang.

Duke Chong’s faction said nothing.

For indeed, it was a brilliant strategy.

The Emperor sat on the Dragon Chair, feeling utterly frustrated.

He had intended to scold the Marquis Dongxiang.

Now he was forced to praise him instead.

The Emperor’s praise was insincere and through gritted teeth.

Eunuch Fu thought, this is fate indeed.

No matter how the Emperor tried to break free, he couldn’t escape the Marquis Dongxiang’s grasp.

Praised yesterday, and saved twenty thousand taels.

The Emperor would rather spend money than submit.

In the end, the Marquis Dongxiang still heard the Emperor praise him, and the money was gone.

After the Emperor finished praising, the Marquis Dongxiang started to stab the Emperor’s heart.

Getting the refugees out of the city was far from enough.

No one would keep providing porridge forever, and besides, he couldn’t let the refugees keep suffering under the blazing sun.

He needed to build a place for the refugees to stay.

The Marquis Dongxiang asked the Emperor to grant him a piece of land and have the Ministry of Revenue provide Silver.

Land was easy to arrange, as long as it was ownerless land, the Marquis Dongxiang could choose freely.

But for the disaster relief grain, the Ministry of Revenue immediately cried poverty.

The Marquis Dongxiang retorted, "Can poverty be settled with just the word ’poor’?"

"The refugees in the Capital are not many; I’ve brought out twenty thousand taels myself to buy rice for relief, which is enough. For severely afflicted areas, the court must send people for disaster relief."

"Otherwise, the number of refugees flooding into the Capital will only increase."

"Then will we have to shut the city gates, leaving both refugees and the Beimo Envoy outside?"

Hmm.

The key point is that the Marquis Dongxiang donated twenty thousand taels for disaster relief.

Such an act of sacrificing wealth to save a crisis, how could he not be praised?

It was the Emperor’s money!

Money taken from him to aid refugees, and then he had to encourage officials to learn from this.

The Emperor contemplated if death might be better.

The Marquis Dongxiang was very humble, "This is what a minister should do."

Eunuch Fu stood by, feeling extremely sympathetic towards the Emperor.

Yet he had to admire the Marquis Dongxiang’s skill in manipulating for benefits.

This forced donation made the officials also contribute.

Eunuch Fu calculated roughly, at least a hundred thousand taels would be collected.

Among them, Duke Chong, holding back his breath, donated twenty thousand taels.

Eunuch Fu felt sorry for him too.