Chapter 1639: Where is the Grain?

Either the Emperor's Flowing Nectar wouldn't arrive for sixty years, or it would come several times within a year; they were truly luckier than their fathers and grandfathers!

The completion ceremony for the New City government office was held very grandly, and the King of Yao made a surprise appearance, giving the officials quite a shock.

Afterward, He Lingchuan buried himself in the project again, busy as a spinning top from dawn till dusk.

The people sent by Qingyang to monitor him at the construction site reported He Xiao's schedule to the Youhu Small Abode, and it was packed to the brim. Except for fifteen minutes for meals and thirty minutes for the latrine, he worked around the clock for seven shichen a day.

Great chaos was coming, great disaster was coming, yet this fellow not only didn't run, but also carried out the work assigned by the King of Yao conscientiously, as if he were single-mindedly devoted to building his career here. Even Qingyang was somewhat impressed.

To have a calm spirit when facing major events, and to pretend to give his all—such a person was too terrifying.

Such a young man who could keep his cool was destined to die.

At this moment, He Lingchuan was discussing with You Rongzhi: "Lord You, the progress of the eastern expansion site is too fast; we have a big problem."

You Rongzhi was very surprised: "Why? Isn't this a good thing?"

He had been busy with family matters for the past two days and had just returned to the site to hear He Xiao's strange words.

The Monarch and the Yao Court both hoped the progress would be as fast as possible; why did He Xiao want to do the opposite? "The progress is fast because the labor force has suddenly surged. More than 12,000 people have been added in the past seven days, basically all doing the rough work of moving bricks, laying tiles, and breaking stones," He Lingchuan shook his head. "Wages are secondary, and giving a little more for overtime is fine, but the grain supply can't keep up."

As soon as You Rongzhi heard "12,000 people," he immediately realized this was indeed a problem.

Grain prices inside and outside the city had skyrocketed. Money that could buy six or seven jin of grain before was lucky to buy one jin now. Even if people squeezed into lines outside grain shops to buy grain, it was likely that by the time they reached the front, the shop's grain would be sold out.

A large number of commoners and refugees inside the city eagerly signed up for the Tianshui eastern expansion project, precisely because—

This project provided meals! It had been rushing progress from the beginning, so naturally, it had to introduce preferential measures to attract commoners and craftsmen to work.

Although it was a fixed-time, fixed-quantity supply that didn't allow all the big eaters to eat their fill, and the grain wasn't good quality, one shouldn't rummage through it while eating, otherwise, one might rummage out a plump white meat worm. But who dared to be picky at a time like this? Everyone had to smile and eat it as an extra meal, then savor the aftertaste.

Within a few short days, the Tianshui eastern expansion project added 12,000 laborers, and added to the original ones, everyone was a ruthless eating machine.

The project department was suddenly stretched thin.

Grain prices were several times higher than before, and there was no market for it!

He Lingchuan smiled bitterly: "We've already scraped together everything we could just to let them barely eat. Originally two meals a day, now it's at most one. Complaints have started to arise at the site."

You Rongzhi also felt a headache: "Does Island Master He have any ideas?"

"I have already notified that the project will stop hiring people. The problem is that the number of existing laborers is already very large," He Lingchuan said sternly. "The grain for this project really can't be coordinated anymore; we still have to ask you to step in, my Lord."

There were some things he firmly refused to say, and some ideas he firmly refused to propose. Because these should all be decided by the King of Yao himself.

He couldn't get involved in this karma.

You Rongzhi asked him: "How many more days can we hold out?"

He also knew that those doing manual labor were especially big eaters. People are iron, rice is steel; how can one function without eating?

"At most two more days before we run out of food."

Two days! Sweat started to bead on You Rongzhi's forehead again. He Xiao saying it "can't be coordinated" was the truth.

It was just that this fellow was only a deliberative official with no real power; pressing him was useless, he couldn't conjure grain.

Without power, there is no responsibility.

The one who truly makes decisions and solves practical difficulties still had to be You Rongzhi, still had to be the King of Yao.

You Rongzhi thought for a while and could only say: "Let me make a trip to the palace."

He Lingchuan only moved his mouth; he was the true person in charge of the project.

You Rongzhi left in a hurry, and He Lingchuan smiled slightly as he watched his back.

The Soul-Absorbing Mirror in his arms coughed: "Hey, are you planning to?"

"That's right, adding fuel to the fire." Qingyang's plan was quite good, and He Lingchuan intended to add another bundle of firewood for her.

Yao Palace, Imperial Study.

You Rongzhi had already reported the grain shortage of the Tianshui eastern expansion project in detail.

"Two days?" The King of Yao frowned. "The site only has two days of rations left; why report it only today? Go coordinate with the Ministry of Revenue."

"I've already gone twice," You Rongzhi said with a bitter smile. "But grain prices are too expensive now; supplying rations for tens of thousands of people costs as much as it did for hundreds of thousands before."

The Tianshui eastern expansion was a super-large project, and the amount of grain consumed every day was staggering, and grain prices had risen six or seven times.

That cost had to be multiplied by six; it wasn't just staggering, it was terrifying.

"Minister Li of the Ministry of Revenue said that the surrounding granaries are all fully committed to ensuring supply for Tianshui City and have no spare capacity to look after the eastern expansion project, unless, uh..."

The King of Yao's brows furrowed tightly: "Speak, don't be so wishy-washy!"

His officials, one by one, were all so frustrating!

"Unless we take grain from the military granaries."

The King of Yao slapped the table, furious: "Military granaries? Military grain is always the priority for supply at any time; you actually want to do the opposite? Having been an official for so many years, have you eaten your common sense into a dog's stomach?"

Which country would dare to easily cut military grain? "This..." It wouldn't matter if they secretly took a little; hadn't they been doing that all along? How much better could military granaries be than price-stabilization granaries? Of course, You Rongzhi couldn't speak the blunt truth in front of the King of Yao, so he had to settle for the next best thing. "We could also go to the market to buy high-priced grain, but then we can't provide it to the laborers for free. Even if we only sell it at cost, the project is still... not easy to carry out."

It was agreed at the beginning of this project that free food and drink would be provided to the laborers; starting to charge for meals halfway through was already bad enough, forced by the situation. But at current grain prices, how could those commoners afford it?

I'm afraid a day's wages wouldn't even cover half a meal.

Were they here to earn wages, or to lose money at the construction site? You Rongzhi and the King of Yao could imagine that if this method were truly implemented, what kind of scene would erupt at the Tianshui eastern expansion site? Once those filthy ruffians got unhappy, stealing things and defecating everywhere would be minor matters; if they got excited, they might start a massive riot, smashing and looting on the spot.

But if they continued to provide free grain to the site, the cost would be too high.

Tens of thousands of people, six times the grain price! Every cent had to be paid from the national treasury!

Was their insignificant manual labor worth this price? Thinking of this, the King of Yao's heart twitched with pain.

Actually, there was another way.

He said heavily: "Let's do this. The Emperor's Flowing Nectar is about to erupt anyway, and the project will definitely stop for those days, so we might as well advance it."

When the Emperor's Flowing Nectar erupts, both humans and animals are driven by instinct and easily become unrecognizable to their own kin. Every time the Emperor's Flowing Nectar is in full bloom, the city is filled with chaos, so large projects involving multi-person collaboration like the Tianshui eastern expansion will definitely stop temporarily.

It's only a few days away, so we might as well advance it.

You Rongzhi asked in a low voice: "You mean?"

"Keep a few teams, settle the wages for the rest, and drive them away early." The King of Yao's words always made sense: "Rushing for a few more days won't build a temple; stopping for a few days won't delay the schedule much."

As long as the King of Yao was willing to make a decision, You Rongzhi breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, I will go make arrangements."

"Handle it beautifully, don't cause a major incident."

You Rongzhi agreed and respectfully withdrew.

His back was soaked with sweat. After exiting the Shuangxian Hall, he was blown by the cold wind of the Yuquan Palace and sneezed more than a dozen times.

Sigh!...

The person He Lingchuan waited for wasn't You Rongzhi, but Zhao Song, who had just returned from the palace.

He had gone to the palace this morning to report to the Monarch, reporting mainly on He Xiao's recent words and deeds, in short, snitching.

Seeing his strange expression, He Lingchuan asked with concern: "Brother Zhao, what happened?"

Zhao Song's lips moved, hesitating whether to speak.

But on second thought, He Xiao was so well-informed that if he didn't hear it from him, he would have other channels to find out.

So he pulled He Lingchuan into a corner and whispered: "Last night, the Tingwei took the palace guards to make arrests."

This was significant; did ordinary people require the Tingwei to take action?

"Who?"

"Hu Ganying, Left Envoy of the Carriage Guard, Wang Zuo, Magistrate of Tianshui City East, and I heard there are also two high-ranking officials from the Ministry of War; I'm not sure of their names yet."

He Lingchuan was surprised: "What does this mean?"

"The Tingwei took them and is holding them in the Heavenly Prison for secret interrogation. So far, no one has figured out their crimes."

Zhao Song only knew one thing: the Tingwei was acting on the orders of the King of Yao, without a doubt.

"Could these officials be related to each other?"

Zhao Song shook his head: "I don't know."

Having spent many years in the palace, he knew that gossip also required a sense of scale; some things could be said casually, while others must never be speculated upon, otherwise losing one's official position would be a minor matter.

Having been in Tianshui City for so long and entering the palace every few days, He Lingchuan understood the King of Yao's temper more and more. This old man was somewhat stubborn, but at the same time, he wasn't a man of swift and decisive action. He suddenly ordered the Tingwei to arrest people in secret, without even giving a reason, and disregarding the discussions in the court, which meant—

Either he was furious and couldn't care about the impact; or these people had committed such a major offense that the King of Yao felt it was urgent to arrest and interrogate them.

Of course, both situations might be true.

Recently, Tianshui City was in a troubled autumn: the project was hard to work on, grain prices were soaring, refugees were starting to riot, and the Roudian in the north were frequently harassing the border... Also, the King of Yao in the deep palace had likely just realized that Qingyang intended to deal with him.

Which of the above did the offenses of those officials fall under?

At night, more news came.

Bao Wei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, was taken away by the Tingwei and died of poisoning on the way to prison; Wu Xianlong, a physician, fled and his whereabouts were unknown.

These events caused a huge uproar in the Yao Court. Everywhere, people were discussing what crimes these high-ranking officials had committed.

Before the King of Yao could be open and honest, a nightmare followed:

A sudden fire broke out in the kiln granary!

This season was dry and windy, so the fire was exceptionally fierce and unstoppable. ===== CHAPTER 1640 =====