Fei Kai's face suddenly turned pale and he could no longer laugh.
Zhou Boxu looked at him leisurely and continued: "I heard that Master Fei's master also came to the capital. I wonder how loyal he is to Master Fei?"
In the face of life and death, when it comes to loyalty, it is important to save one's life.
"You..." Fei Kai's face turned red with anger, and he stared at Zhou Bo Xu fiercely, wishing he could rush out of the cell door and bite him to death.
Zhou Boxu had seen this kind of look many times and didn't care at all. He was condescending, looking at Fei Kai who looked like a toothless vicious dog with contempt, and said in a leisurely voice: "Master Fei is so bold, and his bones must be stronger than ordinary people. I look forward to Master Fei being a guest at the front office of the palace."
After Zhou Boxu finished speaking, he left a playful smile and turned around to leave.
Fei Kai's face turned gray and he fell to his knees in despair.
In the blink of an eye, it is mid-July, when the scorching heat is at its peak.
North Korea and China received urgent reports that there were continuous plum rains in the south and drought in the north. Many places were affected and grain production was greatly reduced.
The emperor sat high on the dragon chair, his face dark.
Food is the foundation of people's livelihood. A large reduction in grain production can cause famine at the least, and shake the country at worst. It is not a small matter.
"What do you think, sir?" the emperor asked, looking at the ministers below.
All the officials in the court stood in silence with their heads bowed, but no one responded.
The emperor snorted displeased: "Everyone is eloquent on weekdays, why are they all mute today?"
Facing the emperor's rebuke, the palace was silent for a long time. Finally, Prime Minister Xie spoke despite the emperor's anger.
"Food is the first priority for the people. In years of famine, the first priority is to ban alcohol to reduce food loss."
Almost everyone in Dazhao loves to drink. Once a ban on alcohol is issued, it will be opposed by all the people. Therefore, it is not possible to issue a ban on alcohol easily unless it is absolutely necessary.
"What Xiang Xiang said is reasonable. Brewing requires a lot of grain. If this part of the grain can be saved, famine should be avoided." Taifu Zhou agreed.
The Minister of Household Affairs also said: "In addition, wasteful consumption of food should also be curbed, especially in wealthy families. The amount of food wasted every year cannot be underestimated, and it is enough to feed several families or even hundreds of people."
After hearing the useful words, the emperor's expression softened a little and let the officials continue to brainstorm strategies.
With someone taking the lead, other courtiers became more courageous and started to accept their advice.
"Last year's grain production was abundant, and there will definitely be reserves. We can order the governors and governors in various places to stockpile grain appropriately to prepare for emergencies, and beware of unscrupulous merchants driving up grain prices."
This is a good plan, but if you want to collect food, you have to allocate money to various places.
A few days ago, Duanzhou was revitalized, and a lot of money came out of the treasury. Coupled with the dispatch of troops to the garrisoned various places every Western month, the treasury is now nearly empty. This year's taxes have not been paid yet, so there is no money left at all.
When the trouble is serious, all the officials in the court will talk to each other and discuss good strategies together.
But after all, there are only two things, money and food.
If you want to farm grain, you must first have money, but where does the money come from?
In the end, this problem was solved by Yu Zheng.
"In last year's Jiangnan corruption case, no money embezzled by Governor Lin was found. After a long period of searching, we finally found Governor Lin's master and followed the clues to find the location of the stolen money."
"This money should be able to solve the urgent need of collecting food." Yu Zheng said at the right time.
Yu Zheng was in charge of this case, but after a year, the matter was almost forgotten.
At this time, Cao Qian was shocked when he heard Yu Zheng mention it.
Did he find the stolen money that Governor Lin had embezzled? And that master...
I wonder what else Yu Zheng found out? Cao Qian felt very uneasy.
"His Royal Highness King Jing has already identified the stolen money, why did he only report it today?" The courtiers of Cao Qian's faction questioned.
"How did you know that I had already found out?" Yu Zheng glanced at the man sharply.
The man choked, unable to argue.
The matter was handled by Yu Zheng, and no one else knew. He found it out whenever he said he would find it out.
Yu Zheng had indeed found out earlier and sent someone to confirm. But the amount of stolen money was huge, and once it was touched or reported, Cao Qian would be alert.
To avoid disturbing the situation, Yu Zheng suppressed the matter for the time being.
Now the court is in urgent need of silver, and the evidence of Cao Qian's crime has been collected, and there is nothing more to worry about. This money can be used.
The emperor trusted Yu Zheng and didn't care about these minutiae. He was overjoyed when he heard that Yu Zheng said that the stolen money could solve his urgent needs.
So in the past few days, the imperial court issued successive edicts, first a ban on alcohol, and then a food restriction order, restricting each government and household from purchasing food as needed, and strictly prohibiting wasteful spending.
As soon as the Prohibition came out, major wine merchants and wine shops complained endlessly, and they had no choice but to close their doors because they were drunk.
In Jing'an Marquis Mansion, Shen Changze and Shen's mother and others were sitting in the Shouyong Hall, their faces full of sadness.
"If you are not allowed to sell alcohol, how can the government support it?" Shen's mother frowned worriedly and could not sit still.
Shen Changze's salary is far from enough to cover the expenses of the Hou family.
Mrs. Shen had a sick look on her face. After coughing a few times, she asked, "Did the Holy One say when the alcohol ban will last?"
Shen Changze shook his head: "I didn't say, but at least I will get it next year."
The prohibition on alcohol is due to the reduction in grain production. If the prohibition on alcohol is lifted, we will have a bumper grain harvest next year.
Calculated, it will take a year.
"What should I do if I get drunk after such a long time?" Cheng Jinchu wrung his hands anxiously.
Wen Xiangzui poured all her efforts and dowry into her, and was one of the things she relied on to stabilize the Marquis House. It was extremely important to her.
Shen Changze frowned and said: "As of now, we can only wait for the lifting of the alcohol ban before reopening."
"Is there no other way?" Cheng Jinchu was unwilling.
Shen Changze looked at her and said, "This is an imperial order, more important than a military order."
Although Cheng Jinchu was the daughter of a general, she had grown up in the border areas since she was a child and had never been taught by ladies of the world. She did not understand many things, which made people look down upon her.
Hearing the disgust in Shen Changze's words and seeing the impatience on his face, Cheng Jinchu felt like he was being pricked with needles.
They were once dependent on each other for life and death, but now they have become disgusted with each other.
Looking back on the past between the two of them, Jane's head looks like a joke.
Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was not right, Shen's mother hurriedly said: "Okay, okay, it's useless to talk about this now. Let's think about how to spend this time."
"With the money I've earned over the past two years, coupled with Nagasawa's salary, I can barely sustain myself for more than half a year."
"As for the future, let's take it one step at a time."
If it doesn't work, we can only sell the gold and jade items.
"It's all up to mother to make the decision." With these words, Shen Changze stood up and left.
As a man, Shen Changze felt very embarrassed because he could not support the expenses of the house.
Cheng Jinchu was humiliated and didn't want to stay any longer, so he got up and left.
Watching her figure disappear at the door, Mother Shen sighed: "It would be great if Shu'er was here."
If Jiang Shu was still here, no matter what the prohibition on alcohol and food restrictions, the Hou Mansion wouldn't have to worry about anything and just live a comfortable life.
Unfortunately, the glory of the past can never be returned.
Suddenly hearing Shen's mother mention Jiang Shu, Mrs. Shen also sighed with sadness.
Since her birthday party the year before last, her illness has become more and more serious. She no longer has rare and expensive medicine to nurse her back to health. Her health is getting worse day by day, and she doesn't know how long she can survive.
Thinking of Jiang Shu, Mrs. Shen sighed: "She is Princess Jing now, so we can no longer call her by her first name."
When Mother Shen heard this, she felt more and more melancholy, and her intestines turned green with regret.
