PDLP Chapter 388
Chapter 388
It could only be said that this was a beautiful misunderstanding. Because of Bei Ye's fear and guilty conscience toward Yue Fuguang, he didn't dare utter a single word even though he knew she was the one who did it.It could be said that Song Tu's departure was both earth-shattering and completely silent.
On the way back to the city, apart from Yue Fuguang who had gained new pets, the Yu family father and son, who had finally avenged their great grievance, smiled the most joyously.
On the day they set off to return to the capital, Emperor Mingxi saw how much Yue Fuguang loved the five fluffy little creatures and smiled, saying they would come again next year.
Although it is said that a ruler never speaks in jest, Emperor Mingxi was clearly going to break his promise this time. No one anticipated that the situation would develop so rapidly. By the time the emperor and his subjects returned to hunt here again, several "next years" would have already passed.
And the five fluffy creatures would have already started their own families, becoming a large clan of beasts.
But at this moment, the five cubs were still at the age of playfully competing for favor, completely unaware that the winds of change were approaching!
Ever since Yue Fuguang began feeding the little ones with Spirit Beast Pills, they grew smarter by the day.
Whether it was the little fox or the panda, they were the intelligence representatives of the animal kingdom. With the enhancement of the Spirit Beast Pills, their intelligence had already reached the level of a three- or four-year-old child. Who would have thought that these adorable little things would one day rule over all beasts?
Nearly two months had passed since their return from the hunting grounds. The aftermath of the aristocratic families' affairs had not yet concluded, and the end of the year was fast approaching.
Just as the wealthy households and commoners of the capital were beginning to purchase goods for the New Year, reports of droughts from various regions began to consecutively roll in.
Across the entire Great Yan territory, barely a drop of rain had fallen for over four months. The crops in the fields, especially in areas where winter wheat was planted, were barely holding on because they had stored water early on. However, the situation was not optimistic. In the water-scarce north, some villages and counties were already beginning to suffer to varying degrees.
Fortunately, although the drought in Great Yan was severe, there was still just enough water for the people and livestock to consume.
If it hadn't been for the Ministry of Works starting to build water conservancy projects and river channels two years ago...
...digging wells and opening ponds, and the Emperor secretly decreeing that all prefectures and counties consciously and secretly store water, the drought would have been much worse.
During the grand court assembly before the Emperor officially sealed his jade seal for the holidays, the atmosphere was noticeably heavy.
Emperor Mingxi sat majestically on the dragon throne, his brows furrowed as he listened to the Minister of Revenue, Dong Qianli, report on the recent drought.
After reporting the drought situations in various regions, Dong Qianli continued, Your Majesty, according to the reports from various places, the grain reserves in the Ever-Normal Granaries, Charity Granaries, and Community Granaries are still considered sufficient.
However, if it is truly as the Junior Preceptor's master said and the drought lasts for two or three years, this humble subject worries that chaos will inevitably arise over time.
Should we mobilize some of the local garrisons to protect them?
Over the past two years, due to the promotion of three high-yield superior seed varieties, most regions had planted one or two seasons, and the commoners rarely had abundant surplus food to live on.
But due to seed supply issues, a small portion of people only received the seeds during this year's autumn harvest, meaning the earliest they could plant them would be next year.
Dong Qianli, like the venerable Lord Wang Shouchen of the Court of Agricultural Affairs, worried that if the drought truly became severe, the common people would become so hungry that they would eat the seeds.
After all, the group of people who had just received the seeds were those who were only just starting to plant high-yield grains and didn't have much surplus food at home.
If the drought really lasted for two or three years, no one knew what it would develop into by then. If they were truly on the verge of starving to death, who would care whether what they were eating was seeds or not, just to stay alive?
You might ask, since they were worried the commoners might eat the seeds out of hunger, why did the imperial court go against common sense and distribute them early?
Couldn't they just wait until the beginning of spring next year to distribute them?
This brings us to the personal motives of Wang Shouchen and Dong Qianli. They made this decision after careful consideration from multiple angles.
The tens or hundreds of catties they distributed were both seeds and the final lifesaving grain for those families! It could also be considered a tacit form of compensation.
If the drought continued until next spring without a single drop of rain, even with stored water, planting grains on a large scale would no longer be realistic.
Sweet potatoes and potatoes, which could not be stored for too long, could become a family's lifesaver in addition to the portion used for planting.
After the two proposed this decision, the court debated it for several days. Ultimately, it was Yue Fuguang who had the final say, allowing the seeds to be smoothly distributed.
Because Yue Fuguang knew very well in her heart that the heavens wouldn't rain next year or the year after, but she could make it rain! Therefore, these seeds would definitely be planted on time.
At this moment, hearing Dong Qianli ask about the guards, Emperor Mingxi thought for a moment and then asked Huo Ying, What does my beloved subject Huo think?
Seeing the Emperor address him, Huo Ying stepped forward and bowed in salute while pondering and carefully choosing his words. To reply to Your Majesty, this humble subject personally believes that Minister Dong's words are reasonable.
At present, it seems the commoners have surplus grain on hand, and the granaries across the regions are safe. However, if it is truly as the Junior Preceptor said, and the drought continues without rain for a long time, the people will inevitably panic. As their stored grain is slowly consumed, during this period, if anyone with ulterior motives stirs up trouble, it will very likely bring about disaster. The more he spoke, the more confident he became, his voice growing much firmer as he boldly guessed, Then, their first target will undoubtedly be the granaries.
What he didn't say was that the current small number of guards at the regional warehouses seemed fine for now, but later on, as the drought worsened, even if the imperial court intervened, grain prices would inevitably rise.
He was afraid that someone might embezzle the grain they were guarding or collude with outsiders to target the reserves. Mainly, he had been frightened by the large number of corrupt officials caught in Great Yan over the past two years. Huo Ying admitted that he didn't quite trust the integrity of his colleagues.
[Master, did Dong Qianli just say that the grain reserves in the Ever-Normal Granaries, Community Granaries, and Charity Granaries are sufficient?]
[It seems he said so. What's wrong, is there a problem with what he said?]
Is there a problem with what he said? This sentence replayed over and over in Dong Qianli's mind. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead, and his heart sank halfway.
Anyone who understood the Divine Artifact Lord knew that whenever this happened, it meant something bad was about to occur.
At this moment, Dong Qianli couldn't help but feel suspicious. Could it be that there was a problem with all these granaries?
Just a tiny bit of suspicion surfacing in his heart made Dong Qianli feel as if the remaining half of his heart had also gone completely cold.
If this was truly the case, once the Divine Artifact Lord spoke today, who knew how many people's lives and deaths would become unpredictable.
Trembling, he used the opportunity of wiping his sweat with his sleeve to steal a glance upward at the Emperor.
At this time, Emperor Mingxi appeared calm on the surface, earnestly listening to the admonitions of his courtiers, but his hands had gradually tightened their grip on the armrests of the dragon throne.
A great disaster was approaching, and only food and water could stabilize the hearts of the people and the military. If there was a problem with the Ever-Normal Granaries, who knew how many disasters it would provoke.
He muttered in his heart, only hoping that the problem was isolated to one or two places, and that the embezzlement of a small handful of people would still have harms within a controllable range.
[The problem seems to be a bit big, but that's not important. Even if the sky falls, it won't delay Master's three meals a day, right? How about we just ignore it? It's quite tiring!]
The words just ignore it made Emperor Mingxi's heart not only turn cold but also clench tight. If one looked closely, they could see his chest heaving up and down. His face, which had been fairly calm just a moment ago, was now slightly distorted and flushed red.
The entire grand hall also suddenly fell silent for a moment. As if by prior agreement, everyone silently shrank their bodies and lowered their heads even further, striving not to stand out too much.