bestfiction Chapter 1360 Dealing with the Orders
Chapter 1360 Dealing with the Orders
My darlings, I didn't finish writing last night, and it kept getting stuck in the review process, so I couldn't edit it until the early hours of the morning. If anything doesn't match up, please check the previous chapter again.
As soon as the Grand Minister of Agriculture finished speaking, other officials stepped forward and said, "When Your Majesty received the seeds from Grand Tutor Su, could you please set aside some for distribution to the prefectures and counties this year?"
"This year, most prefectures in the north have suffered from drought, resulting in a severe reduction in grain production. After paying their taxes, the people have almost nothing left."
"Grand Tutor Su, you currently have more seeds than anyone else. How about you give some of them to me?"
Su Yueyao, who had been listening silently without saying a word, was so angry that she laughed when she heard the official so blatantly trying to take advantage of her. She was about to say something when...
Then Wenren Qichi said, "Lord Zhong, I wonder how much silver the court plans to spend to buy the seeds in Grand Tutor Su's possession?"
"Currently, more than half of the prefectures are controlled by local powerful families. His Majesty has not yet fully taken back power, yet he is already rushing to send them grain, hoping to nurture them so they can march back to Fengdu!"
"Minister Wenren, you're putting too much pressure on them. They..."
Gongyang Ruoyu stepped forward to interrupt him, saying, "Lord Zhong, Vice Minister Wenren is right. Grand Tutor Su's contribution of grain seeds is a great achievement. She has the right to decide how to dispose of the grain as part of the court's reward."
"Lord Gongyang, everyone knows that your Gongyang family has the most land in the entire Fengdu. Last year, the Grand Tutor gave your Gongyang family the most seeds, and this year the harvest is even better. Now that you have seeds, of course you have nothing to lack."
“We don’t lack seeds, but last year, when there was a drought in the north, the Su family donated several thousand catties of grain through the Pei family business. Almost all of that grain came from the Gongyang family. Has Lord Zhong forgotten?” Su Yueyao snorted.
"When I first found these crops, I made it clear that it would take three to five years to plant them all over the country, and there can be no natural disasters or man-made calamities during that time."
"My grain, after deducting the donations, is only enough for planting on the estates of the various young men. This year, I absolutely cannot allocate any to other prefectures."
After Su Yueyao finished speaking, she looked at the Empress on the throne: "Your Majesty, I think the first thing to do is to win them over. The powerful families are in chaos and in power. The students who take the imperial examinations cannot enter the court. The court does not take over, so it is useless to give them the power. It will only strengthen their power."
"Since Grand Tutor Su says so, is there a solution?" Lord Zhong asked.
"I have only just entered the court today. If I were to resolve the problem immediately, wouldn't it make Lord Zhong appear so incompetent, having been in court all along?"
"Grand Tutor, you..."
"Your Majesty, I will go back and think of a solution to the problem of recovering the various prefectures."
"Today, I have a memorial to present to Your Majesty. I request that Your Majesty abolish the decree that men who are twenty-two years of age or older and unmarried must be conscripted into the army, and instead impose a fine, with the amount determined by local tax revenue in the prefectures and counties."
After Su Yueyao finished speaking, she held up the folded document in her hand.
Upon seeing this, Fu'an immediately went over, took the memorial from Su Yueyao's hand, and placed it in front of the Empress.
The Empress picked up the memorial and read it carefully. She looked at Su Yueyao with a complicated expression. With the court situation so complicated recently, she still had time to consider the issue of men's marriage.
The ministers, realizing what was happening, immediately began to whisper among themselves.
"Your Majesty, this regulation was personally established by Emperor Taizu during his reign, and it cannot be easily changed!"
"Your Majesty, I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
"Your Majesty, nowadays there are fewer and fewer women, and it is more difficult for men to get married. I think the matter proposed by the Grand Tutor is feasible and can also replenish the national treasury."
"I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
"..."
"Your Majesty, if men are unwilling to marry and only pay money, women will not be able to find husbands, and the population will decrease."
"His Majesty..."
Su Yueyao watched the officials below arguing and bickering, listening silently.
After arguing for a while, the Empress frowned upon hearing the discussion below and asked Su Yueyao.
"Yueyao, now that you've proposed this policy, do you have any rebuttal to the objections raised by other ministers?"
"Your Majesty, I have investigated the current ratio of men to women, which is thirty to one. This means that for every thirty men, one will be a woman. Some men are unable to marry because of their appearance or family background."
"They could only be sent to the army, and many talented and intelligent people were buried in obscurity."
"The amendment to the regulations actually only targets a small group of men, since men getting married and having children is what everyone wants most."
"The specific amount of the fine is determined by His Majesty."
Su Yueyao spoke evasively, which was practically an open statement that the regulations were aimed at the sons of officials, those who were favored and did not want to get married.
After Su Yueyao finished speaking, the officials in the hall fell silent for a moment, and most of them agreed, after all, which family doesn't have one or two favored children?
"Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor is right. I agree."
"I second the proposal."
"..."
After that, almost half of the ministers in the court agreed.
After observing the situation and considering it for a moment, the Empress directly issued an order: "The Minister of Revenue shall issue an edict that any man who is twenty-two years old and unmarried may be fined silver and sent to the army. The fine shall be three times the tax revenue of each prefecture, payable annually, and doubled every three years."
"The minister obeys the order."
That's the end of the matter.
Su Yueyao didn't expect that His Majesty would issue an edict to implement the matter that very day.
It seems that fining people is essentially sending money into the national treasury, something that poor people simply cannot afford.
Afterwards, some local matters were reported, and the morning court session ended an hour later.
The moment the court session ended, Minister Wenren came to Wenren Qichi's side and said, somewhat distraught:
"Chi'er, you mentioned before that the Grand Tutor petitioned at the meeting to abolish the decree for conscription! If that's the case, we can just fine him directly, why are you in such a hurry to get married?"
Wenren Qichi looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Father, I told you before, but you didn’t believe me.”
"If you don't believe us, why don't you say a few more words? This is about your lifelong happiness!"
"How have things been at your Su residence these past few days?"
Wenren Qichi looked at his father, feeling too tired to talk to him, when Su Yueyao and Chen Jingshu walked over.
"Uncle, are you worried about Qichi?"
"Grand Tutor, it was our fault before. Please don't make things difficult for Chi'er. The Wen family can provide more compensation."
“Uncle, this matter is over, there’s no need to talk about it anymore. Qi Chi will not be mistreated in my household.” Su Yueyao said with a smile, looking at her worried father.
Father Wen looked at Su Yueyao for a few seconds, a relaxed smile on his face: "That's good, that's good. From now on, Chi'er will be in Yueyao's care. If he doesn't do well, you tell your uncle, and your uncle will deal with him."
Su Yueyao smiled and nodded.
The group walked out of the palace gates, talking quietly to each other.