unclear

Chapter 175 Helpless Decision

"Long live my lord, the governor of Fujian reported that since May, there have been heavy rains in Zhangzhou Prefecture, Quanzhou Prefecture, and Xinghua Prefecture, and flash floods have broken out in many places in Jianning Prefecture, with more than [-] local people killed and injured. Mr. Shen Ge asked the transfer department about the grain storage in each state government. Most of them have been transferred to Shaanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and other places and are unable to provide relief to Fujian anymore."

What Wang An brought was not good news. After severe drought broke out in the northern provinces in early summer, and after entering summer, the southern provinces suffered from floods.Faced with the increasing number of requests for assistance, the Ministry of Revenue expressed its inability to respond, and the cabinet was even more blunt, not even making suggestions and directly leaving the decision-making power to the emperor.

"So many people have run out of food supplies and are unable to provide relief... This is to force me to implement the "New Disaster Relief Law". It seems that some people have made full preparations and plan to make a fortune while taking advantage of the national crisis. They are so ambitious!"

The news of flooding in Fujian may be exaggerated, but Hong Tao believes it is not completely false, and he does need help from the court.However, the statement that all provinces and state capitals have insufficient food stocks is very intriguing.

Two months ago, when the drought in the northern provinces was severe, someone in the cabinet advocated launching the "New Disaster Relief Law", but he vetoed it on the grounds that the disaster was not as serious as the local state capital said, and some food would be allocated from the south. The emergency can fully cope with the autumn harvest.

Just two months later, someone was making an issue of the emperor's decision again.Isn’t it unwilling to activate the “New Disaster Relief Law”?Look, the consequences are serious!All the food has been transferred to the north. Once the south is hit by a disaster, the court can only watch the local people starve to death. The entire responsibility lies with the emperor!
So should the "New Disaster Relief Law" be launched?At this time, the problem was no longer itself, but extended to other aspects, such as food prices and the power struggle between some courtiers and the emperor.

When the "New Disaster Relief Law" was promoted, the attitude of the six ministries and nine ministers and the cabinet's bachelors was very subtle. From the initial firm opposition to the later cheerful agreement, the ideological struggle process only lasted half an hour, which was contrary to the original conservative attitude. Be creative and accept new things quickly and simply.

Under their influence, more courtiers joined the ranks of supporters, and wrote in large letters, praising the emperor's move for the benefit of the country and the people. I dare not say that it is a very wise policy that only happens once in a thousand years.

Could it be said that the new law can really solve the fundamental problems of disaster victims everywhere?As the designer and initiator of the new law, Hong Tao can say responsibly that this move can at best be regarded as an effective supplement to the court's relief efforts. It can neither cure the disease nor eradicate the root cause, it is just a patch.

So the question arises, why are the courtiers so enthusiastic about the new law? Whenever there is a natural disaster in the past year, someone always proposes to launch it. Could it be that the victims of the new law cannot survive without the new law?
The ancients said that all the hustle and bustle in the world is for benefit, and the bustle in the world is for benefit.Whenever there is a common pursuit for which there is no reason, there is no need to speculate. Just look for the possibility of profit and you will get the answer.

Food, Hong Tao found the answer.On the surface, the core content of the new disaster relief law is to change the traditional official transportation method, reduce losses and improve efficiency, but in essence there is only one key point, food!
No matter what kind of disaster relief food is transported, no matter where it is transported from, the food must first be available before transportation costs and distribution efficiency are involved.

Regardless of whether the officials of the Ming Dynasty were engaged in foreign trade, they were all like idiots in the village and were always cheated. But when it came to exploiting loopholes in domestic policies and reaping huge benefits, they must be number one in the world!

They keenly discovered the core of this new law when the emperor proposed it, and they also found an exploitable profit point, which was food.

Looking for merchants to buy grain and then transporting it to the disaster area, where the local clan will collect, store, and distribute it, can indeed reduce losses, lower costs, and improve efficiency. It is good for the country, the victims, and the emperor, but it is only a loss for some officials.Because they can no longer manipulate the procurement, transshipment, and distribution of large quantities of grain.

Plucking feathers from wild geese has been a way of serving officials since ancient times. Trying to eradicate it completely with just a "New Disaster Relief Law" not only insults the intelligence of the officials, but also treats the emperor as a child.

That's right, Hong Tao didn't expect the "New Disaster Relief Law" to solve the problem at all. The reason why he worked so hard to come up with it and even talked to the courtiers to promote it was for one purpose: to make them feel that he was inexperienced and ignorant of the world. A idiot who looks smart but is actually stupid, so he relaxes his vigilance and takes bold action.

With the current situation, he is still unable to appoint and remove court officials in a drastic manner. Even if he knows clearly or has a handle on certain people, he is unable to handle key positions. Forcible replacement will not only be ineffective, but will also trigger a more intense struggle. , without any advantage.

But there is an exception. If anyone really dares to jump out and do evil in the world, then he can do it justifiably.At this time, officials were no longer monolithic, but divided into several small groups.Those who should add insult to injury will not be soft-hearted, and those who should sit back and cheer and cheer will not hold back. They will even add fuel to the flames, wishing that they could use the emperor's hand to wipe out all the hostile forces and take the opportunity to allow their own forces to occupy more positions.

It's that simple?Yes, there are actually only a few methods commonly used by humans in social activities. They have evolved over and over for thousands of years, but the core remains the same. They are nothing more than changing the name and packaging.

There are only a few countermeasures, and they are still effective even after being used over and over again.Without it, this is greed in human nature.As long as there is an advantage to be taken advantage of, most people's IQ will immediately drop several notches.If the opponent is weaker and has no threat, he will basically not consider the danger, and his mind will be filled with gains.

"I'll delay it for a while, pretending that I'm in a dilemma but not too firm, so that they can see hope. There are still more than three months until the autumn harvest, and the less time they have, the more anxious they will be. Only by making mistakes in the rush can they close the net!"

Hong Tao originally didn't want to start so soon. He estimated that he would have to wait for two or three years, and then catch a big disaster that had not happened in decades or hundreds of years as an opportunity, so that he could make full use of the scene, dig deeper, and finally catch them all in one fell swoop. .

I don't think I have the patience to wait, but others are impatient.That's fine, teach them a profound lesson first, and then get some of it back and put it to other uses.What do you mean when someone hands you a pillow just when you're about to fall asleep?A few days ago, I was worried about the lack of money and food for a big project. No, this is coming to my door!
"Long live Lord, what should the victims do now?"

Wang An knew about this plan and had been responsible for monitoring the actions of all parties. Hearing that the emperor was closing the network, he was both happy and a little worried that he had met a smart master.The emperor and his ministers competed, but in the end it was the people who were unlucky.

"...Which is the lesser of two evils. I can only worry about the future now and cannot save the present. Inform Yuan Keli and Li Zhi that this move can only succeed but not fail. You must be careful when doing things. If you don't keep it secret, you will lose your virginity!"

Why were ministers in every dynasty beheaded, had their homes confiscated, dismissed from office, and exiled for admonishing the emperor?Just look at Wang An at this time and you will understand.The emperor is not a god. In many cases, he must make choices, and those who are abandoned are often the common people.

But some people insist on making a fuss about this, and even publicly bring it up to slap them in the face. It would be strange if they are not targeted.This is a side effect of human rule. There is no fixed standard for right and wrong, and it is entirely up to the people in power to decide.

If you say you are right, you are right if you are wrong; if you say you are wrong, you are right but also wrong; don’t be unconvinced, in the end, the result will be the same no matter who you ask to do this job, unless you are not a human being, or you deliberately abandon the seven emotions and six desires that humans should have.

Coincidentally, Hong Tao travels back and forth between various time periods. In terms of attributes, he is basically no longer a human being. After experiencing the hardships of all walks of life, his seven emotions and six desires are no longer the same. He is still willing to put himself in everyone's shoes and analyze the original intentions of everyone. , Wang An’s head was saved.

"You bunch of killers should be like Taizu, peeling day lilies, draining the intestines and boiling the meat, and die a worthy death!"

What the emperor said did make sense. When Wang An thought about the thousands of victims who would starve to death because of the officials' troubles, an unknown fire rose in his heart, and he started to curse as soon as he left Beixiaochang.

He is from Xiong County, a place with dense rivers and frequent floods.If his family hadn't been hit by a disaster and he was sold to the capital to survive, he might have become a grandfather now.

(End of this chapter)