Chapter 68

"Your servant, Gu Ningya, pays respects to Your Majesty."

Inside the Yangxin Hall.

Gu Ningya rushed all the way, arriving before Emperor Yongsheng. His expression was abnormally excited, with joy in his eyes.

"Is there any situation?"

Seeing Gu Ningya appear, Emperor Yongsheng immediately put aside all his official duties.

He asked Gu Ningya with an urgent expression.

"Your Majesty, your servant has not let you down. In Jiangning County, I have diligently implemented the plan..."

Gu Ningya spoke, his face stern.

"Less nonsense for me, just tell me what the situation is."

Emperor Yongsheng gave Gu Ningya a slap on the head, telling him to cut the nonsense.

"Your Majesty, then you look at it yourself."

After being slapped, Gu Ningya felt a bit depressed. He wondered why he was being treated like this, was it his fault?

He directly handed the memorial to Emperor Yongsheng, letting him feel it himself.

Taking the memorial, Emperor Yongsheng did not waste any words and started reading immediately.

After finishing the memorial, Emperor Yongsheng could not help but be overjoyed.

"Good, just as Jinian said, it is exactly the same, exactly the same, hahahaha."

"The grain disaster in Jiangning County has been resolved, resolved."

Emperor Yongsheng was extremely happy.

According to the original plan, it would take at least 200 million taels of silver to resolve the grain disaster, no matter how frugal.

Now, following Gu Jinian's plan, it only took about 20 to 30 million taels of silver.

After all, a lot was spent on buying rice from merchants at high prices.

Not only did it save 90% of the cost, but more importantly, it suppressed the arrogance of the merchants.

200 million taels of silver, he could afford it, but the problem was where the silver would flow, and he knew it well.

It was not a big issue if the merchants made money.

The main issue was if the hidden enemies made money, which would not be good for him.

Now, with 20 to 30 million taels of silver, the disaster in Jiangning County could be resolved, how could he not be delighted?

Especially, the memorial clearly stated that the grain purchased before the disaster was enough to last for two to three months.

Moreover, there were still two or three large rice merchants who had not taken further action.

Now that the situation was settled, these two or three large rice merchants would eventually have to sell their grain to the government. If they did not, they would be prepared to die.

The court would settle accounts after the autumn, and finding trouble with a group of merchants might be exaggerated, after all, the law does not punish the masses.

But finding trouble with one or two rice merchants would be an easy task.

With the people's resentment rising, this would be a good outlet.

They would know what to do if they were smart.

The situation was settled.

Emperor Yongsheng took a deep breath, then returned to his dragon throne, picked up the brush, and started writing.

Gu Jinian's plan had resolved the flood disaster in Jiangning County, but there were still some things he needed to do.

Relief through work.

The grain issue was resolved, and now preparations could be made for repairs. The court would allocate funds, but more importantly, manpower was needed.

With millions of refugees, if they worked together, the situation could be gradually restored within a year.

Now that the court had purchased grain to ensure the people's meals, they needed to work, cooperate with the government, and rebuild the dams and homes.

To fully restore the economy in Jiangning County might take two to three years.

During this time, using grain as compensation would be just right.

Moreover, taxes needed to be waived for three years. When the main disaster areas in Jiangning County were exempted from taxes, targeted policies would also be implemented.

For example, donations from merchants and other matters.

These were also very important.

He had always had these ideas, but with the flood disaster in Jiangning County unresolved, he had no time to think about them.

Now that the trouble was resolved, he wrote down all the ideas he had conceived.

Large and small details, he would have the six departments verify, find loopholes, and implement them one by one.

The main issues, such as relief through work, needed to be executed immediately and supervised by him personally.

To prevent the six departments from bickering.

After writing thousands of words, Emperor Yongsheng finished almost in one breath.

"Gu Lao Liu."

"Have someone deliver this memorial to the governor of Jiangning County and have him act according to my instructions."

Emperor Yongsheng spoke, calling out.

"Your servant obeys the imperial command."

Gu Ningya took the memorial and then looked at Emperor Yongsheng.

"Your Majesty, can you change my name? 'Gu Lao Liu' sounds a bit strange."

Taking the memorial, Gu Ningya felt a bit depressed. He did not know why, but he always felt uncomfortable when Emperor Yongsheng called him 'Gu Lao Liu'.

"Calling you 'Gu Lao Liu' is a sign of closeness. If it were not for Jinian, I would have already sent you to Haibei Island."

"Moreover, Jinian has caused some trouble. Some scholars, who are blind, went to Daxia Academy to find trouble with Jinian. Now they have all been caught by your third brother."

"Go and interrogate them, take some of them to the Xuan Deng Si, and directly file a case. No need to go through the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court. Investigate the details before the morning court tomorrow."

"Deliver them to your father, and tomorrow I will have a good talk with the Duke about these damned people."

"Who else would dare to touch my nephew? They are truly a bunch of blind dogs."

Emperor Yongsheng spoke.

His gaze was cold, and he gave instructions to Gu Ningya.

Although he did not say it directly, Gu Ningya instantly understood what he meant.

At the same time, Gu Ningya could not help but grit his teeth.

"Finding trouble with Jinian? These dogs are truly asking for death."

"Your Majesty, I will take my leave now."

Hearing that these people were causing trouble for Gu Jinian, Gu Ningya could not sit still.

Emperor Yongsheng did not say more.

Instead, he continued to hold the memorial, repeatedly reading it, his smile unable to be hidden.

"Liu Yan."

At this moment, Emperor Yongsheng called out to his eunuch.

"I am here."

Liu Yan walked over, seeing Emperor Yongsheng so happy, he also put on a smiling face.

"In a few days, send some of my calligraphy and paintings to my nephew, let him learn well."

"Also, remind the crown prince to learn well from Jinian. If Jinian has any complaints about him, I will see if I do not beat him to death."

Emperor Yongsheng said.

The latter nodded immediately.

Thus, time passed bit by bit.

At the third watch of the night.

Outside the palace gates, the officials had already gathered.

The incident of Gu Jinian killing scholars and imprisoning literati had been fermenting for three days.

During these three days, the court and the country were in turmoil.

Curses and angry outcries filled the entire capital.

There were also many discussions among the people.

They deeply hated Gu Jinian.

The reason was simple. In just three days, someone had written an article detailing all of Gu Jinian's actions.

The content was simple: a noble, relying on his family's power, acted recklessly, killed innocents, was arrogant and tyrannical, and committed all kinds of evil deeds.

People's lives were simple, even boring, and now that such an event had occurred, it naturally became a focal point.

The rumors and trouble stirred up by the literati became even more terrifying.

What was surprising was that neither the royal family nor the Gu family reacted, did not explain, and did not suppress.

Instead, it gave the impression of tacit approval.

This made the literati even more excited. Whether it was to save people or to harbor ulterior motives, in short, Gu Jinian's name became the hottest topic in the capital of Daxia.

It even spread to other counties and prefectures.

In recent days, the officials were extremely angry, not only because of Gu Jinian's actions, but also because the news from Jiangning County had become increasingly dire.

More and more people were dying, and the rice merchants were becoming more and more arrogant, with prices reaching 600 taels per dan, although it was less than the previous 1000 taels per dan, which was a lie.

But 600 taels was still shocking.

As for the latest news, they had not received it, but they were not worried.

In one day, they did not think the disaster in Jiangning County would be resolved.

Yesterday, the price was 600 taels per dan.

Today, it would return to the original price, was that possible?

It was definitely impossible.

So, over these three days, the officials had reached a consensus.

To criticize Gu Jinian, force the emperor to allocate funds from the treasury to buy grain, solve the grain disaster, and at the same time, suppress the Duke of Guoning.

Now, with the people's resentment, all caused by Gu Jinian, such a rare opportunity, how could they let it go?

On a normal day, they did not dare to target the Duke of Guoning, because he was the first Duke of Daxia, brave and unparalleled, and had made great contributions to Daxia.

He had high prestige among the people, but now it was different. He had a grandson, a grandson who was a troublemaker.

They even began to doubt whether the famous articles and poems attributed to Gu Jinian were actually written by him.

Not only they, but also the common people and many literati believed that the articles and poems were not written by Gu Jinian.

A person who could write about the hardships of the people, yet remained indifferent to the refugees in Jiangning County, and who killed scholars and imprisoned literati, could such a person write such articles?

The answer was clear: it was impossible.

But the articles were not the main issue, just a doubt.

Politics was what they cared about.

"The court session begins."

At this moment, at the first watch, the palace gates opened.

The civil and military officials did not hesitate and walked into the palace.

Passing through the imposing gates, the officials stood in their places, with eunuchs recording their behavior and actions.

This was a matter of etiquette. The officials' attire, appearance, and interactions were all recorded.

It was extremely strict.

They finally arrived at the main hall of the palace, and the civil and military officials stood still.

The Imperial Guards came forward to search for weapons, including poison and needles.

This was not out of fear of assassination, but mainly to prevent some civil officials from bleeding in the hall due to disagreements.

Such incidents had happened before. If the emperor disagreed, they would commit suicide in the hall.

The emperor was not afraid of death, especially not of those who opposed him.

But it would dirty the floor and be bad for the reputation.

So, the search was extremely thorough.