Chapter 35: A Four-Year-Old Child Shakes the Imperial Court

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, the crowd of officials below all widened their eyes.

This was a strategy proposed by Chancellor Hu, after all.

The Emperor was actually asking a four-year-old child if it was feasible.

Wasn't this implicitly suggesting that Chancellor Hu was not even as good as a four-year-old child?

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang's words caused Hu Weiyong's expression to change, though his formidable composure quickly restored it to its original state.

But the gloom in his heart did not dissipate, and the look he cast at Zhu Gaoxu was somewhat frightening.

Zhu Gaoxu did not look at Hu Weiyong at all; facing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, he said directly, "Chancellor Hu's words indeed have merit. If we listen to Chancellor Hu, we actually don't need to do anything right now, and the problem will already be solved."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the crowd of officials all laughed one after another.

Clearly, they thought Zhu Gaoxu understood nothing and was just talking nonsense.

Hu Weiyong, however, narrowed his eyes; he had crossed swords with Zhu Gaoxu before and knew the other party was not that stupid, so saying this clearly had a deeper meaning.

And Zhu Yuanzhang, of course, understood this point as well, and immediately asked in cooperation, "Oh? What do you mean by that?"

Zhu Gaoxu touched his little head and said, "There are so many disaster victims in the North, so the grain required must also be enormous."

"Preparing relief grain from now will take at least a month at the fastest, then transporting it from the South to the North, with people needing to escort it in between, and it cannot run into overcast or rainy weather—anyway, even under perfectly smooth conditions, it would still take until next year to arrive."

"By the time the grain arrives, I reckon there won't be many commoners left in the North, so we might as well just do nothing now and wait."

Once Zhu Gaoxu said this, the crowd of officials all fell silent.

This was a point they had indeed not thought of, or rather, they had thought of it but did not mention it out of regard for Hu Weiyong's face.

Thinking about it, it was true; what Hu Weiyong had thought of was not just solving the disaster problem in the North, he also had to cover for his own cronies.

Therefore, this method was also the most suitable one he could think of.

It was just unexpected that it would be exposed in a few words by a four-year-old child, Zhu Gaoxu.

But some people still disagreed; an official of the Huai-Xi Faction stood out and questioned, "The Nanyang Commandery Prince is mistaken."

"Just now, Chancellor Hu also said that we can first mobilize grain from granaries near the disaster area for immediate relief, then the imperial court can begin preparing grain and transport it to the disaster area in batches; this can significantly alleviate the pressure on the disaster area and stabilize the victims."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but nod.

The Northern recovery strategy Zhu Gaoxu gave him was indeed very good, but the immediate crisis was to save the disaster victims in the North as much as possible.

Post-disaster reconstruction was still secondary compared to the current victims.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked again at Zhu Gaoxu, who was standing beside him.

That look was clearly asking what he thought of this method.

After all, a general position is not so easily obtained; you have to cough up some more solid goods for me.

Zhu Gaoxu rolled his eyes at Lao Zhu in his heart, but for the sake of this general position, he endured it.

"The granaries in the North are mainly for supplying the army. With so many disaster victims in the North, the soldiers don't even have enough to eat, yet you want to distribute the grain to the victims."

"If the soldiers are left hungry, the consequences will be even more terrifying than the disaster victims."

"And besides, even if you open the granaries to distribute grain, don't you have any idea how much grain is actually in those granaries?"

Once Zhu Gaoxu said this, some officials below were suddenly shocked in their hearts.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes narrowed slightly.

The issue of the Northern granaries had clearly surpassed the Northern disaster situation at this moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not believe Zhu Gaoxu would spout nonsense; clearly, there were things in the North he did not know about.

If what Zhu Gaoxu said was true, Zhu Yuanzhang instantly understood what Hu Weiyong had meant just now.

If it weren't for the fact that the North was currently in disaster, the rear still needed someone to manage it, all resources needed to be mobilized, and the imperial court needed stability, Zhu Yuanzhang would really want to execute this Hu Weiyong right now.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang could only play dumb at this moment and did not dwell on whether the Northern granaries were empty.

Glancing at Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly spoke to the crowd of officials: "What this little monkey of mine says is not without reason, but the disaster victims in the North are currently in dire straits, and transporting grain from the imperial court is too late; do you have any other methods?"

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang did not go on to discuss the granary issue, some officials all breathed a sigh of relief.

But when it came to solutions, they all lowered their heads and said nothing.

In fact, the Great Ming at this time was not that pathetic; there were still quite a few capable and sensible people.

But the head of the hundred officials, Hu Weiyong, had just had his suggestion rejected, so no one was willing to go out and steal the limelight.

If you speak well, you overshadow Hu Weiyong and earn his hatred; if you speak poorly, you get scolded by the Emperor—caught in a dilemma, it was better to just say nothing.

Watching the hundred officials below, each with shifty eyes and keeping their mouths shut, Zhu Yuanzhang was furious.

"Why is no one speaking? What am I paying you all to do!"

After finishing, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu again.

It was clear he wanted Zhu Gaoxu to come up with another method.

But at this moment, Zhu Gaoxu acted as if he didn't see it and began to play dumb.

Zhu Gaoxu was currently in a tug-of-war with Lao Zhu.

He certainly knew Lao Zhu wanted him to come up with another idea, but the benefits hadn't arrived yet, so he definitely couldn't reveal all his cards now.

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu's indifferent appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately understood his little scheme.