Chapter 299: Zhao Bai is going to go shopping in Mongolia, Shaobai wants to send Zhao...
It was already early September when Qin Shaobai rushed back to Lin'an.
On the way from Nanyang to Lin'an, he punished one or two corrupt officials and distributed all the food stolen by the corrupt officials to the people.
He also taught officials from various places the importance of Toyota and water storage.
Pass on the practices of Nanyang County to one county after another.
For a time, the Jianghuai area became busy.
Those who harvest rice harvest rice, those who drive chickens, ducks and geese drive chickens, ducks and geese, and those who dig wells in search of water dig wells in search of water.
It actually made this lean year very lively.
Every time Qin Shaobai left a place, the local people would send him off.
If the Sixth Prince knew about it, he would definitely not know whether to laugh or cry.
The reputation of the Sixth Prince did not become so noble because of the Imperial City Secretary's work, but because of a small grain officer, he became a hero in the hearts of the people.
Qin Shaobai returned to Lin'an and found that Shi Miyuan was indeed using his power to create some trouble for the distribution of grain.
However, those were all minor matters and had been solved by Zhao Bai long ago.
Qin Shaobai knew in his heart that the resentment in Zhao Bai's heart was huge after the emperor stopped him from going to Zhongdu.
He did not use the matter of distributing food to torture Shi Miyuan to death, which was enough to give Shi Miyuan face.
However, it is said that Shi Miyuan was treated badly.
The emperor directly asked him to spend one month's salary to subsidize the people who were injured by the officers and soldiers.
Zhao Bai then encouraged the emperor to let Shi Miyuan and his subordinates provide porridge for three days in Lin'an City.
These were all what Wuchen told Qin Shaobai when he came to pick him up.
Qin Shaobai was about to go to the General's Mansion to have a chat with Zhao Bai, but Eunuch An was already waiting for Qin Shaobai at the city gate.
Ningzong of the Song Dynasty listened with great interest to Qin Shaobai's account of the grain distribution. He also called the Minister of Household Affairs and other senior officials to listen to Qin Shaobai's opinions on the current farming affairs.
Qin Shaobai also implicitly mentioned the heavy burden of the people's corvee service and suggested that Song Zong should appropriately reduce taxes in this year of great disaster.
Shi Miyuan sneered and said that Qin Shaobai had a good idea, but the government relied on the corvee taxation.
If it were reduced or exempted, where would the imperial court's military resources, food supply, and expenses go to fill up.
Qin Shaobai glanced at the senior officials in front of him, coughed and said: "I have a good idea. Why don't all the officials come and donate their property according to one-tenth of their salary?
This way, if you add up to a small amount, you will definitely be able to make up for the tax loss lost by the imperial court."
When Shi Miyuan and the others heard this, their expressions changed. He asked them to come up with money, so he wanted to cut off pieces of flesh from them.
Qin Shaobai had long expected that Shi Miyuan and the others would react like this, so he simply stood up and walked to the middle of the hall:
"Your Majesty, your younger brother is willing to take the lead in donating 10,000 taels of silver to replenish the household department in order to alleviate the financial strain of the imperial court."
Song Ningzong was so happy that he couldn't wait to get down from the dragon throne and hold Qin Shaobai's hand.
Shi Miyuan is such a smart person.
When he saw the emperor's attitude, he naturally understood that the emperor fully approved of the official donation.
Even though he was deeply unwilling to do so, he could not go against the emperor at this moment. His face was full of smiles:
"The Sixth Prince is concerned about the country and the people. We should follow suit and be willing to donate money to solve the urgent needs of the Song Dynasty."
Even Shi Miyuan said he would donate, but how could anyone dare to say not to donate?
Ningzong of the Song Dynasty quickly asked the Ministry of Household Affairs to draft a decree, instructing all officials to donate one-tenth of this year's salary to the state treasury to buy grain and rice and distribute it to the people.
"emperor."
Qin Shaobai spoke again.
Song Ningzong had just gained millions of silver coins, and he was full of hope for Qin Shaobai's progress.
Who knew that Qin Shaobai's opinion this time made him feel very unhappy.
Qin Shaobai said that the biggest daily consumption in Lin'an City is the palace.
Not to mention the East Palace and the West Palace, even the concubines and concubines' palaces can be used for one day by ordinary people for a year.
He also said that it was a waste of manpower and material resources for so many maids and eunuchs in the palace to only serve a few masters.
"Your Majesty, do you know that there are many concubines in this palace who have not seen you for many years. You are also missing the youth of other women."
When Qin Shaobai said these words, Shi Miyuan took a peek at Song Ningzong.
Shi Miyuan thought Song Ningzong would shout angrily and boldly.
As long as Song Ningzong said this, he could immediately add fuel to the fire and ask the emperor to punish the six princes for their crimes.
Who would have thought that Song Ningzong's face was so ugly, but after pondering for a while, he actually said to Mr. An: "Xiao Anzi, go and gather all the concubines and wait in front of the palace."
Qin Shaobai clapped his hands and said: "Your Majesty can let the concubines out of the palace at this time, which not only saves the cost of the palace, but also gives these concubines a chance to live a new life. They will definitely leave their names in history in the future."
All the concubines knelt outside the palace.
Song Ningzong found that except for the five or six concubines he often favored, he had almost no impression of the group of people kneeling in the dark outside.
Moreover, some of the concubines are already in their early thirties, but I have never favored them once.
When they heard that the emperor was going to let him out of the palace, the concubines who were almost white-headed were extremely happy, and most of them immediately returned to their palace to pack their luggage.
Song Ningzong looked at most of the harem with a sad expression: "I thought that in this palace, they could at least have food and clothing. Who would have thought that they would rather go out and accept the unknown life."
Qin Shaobai smiled: "Your Majesty, these maids are living in the palace with no hope at all. They are in a state of confusion every day. They only have the fear of death and the longing for their loved ones. Now, there is such an opportunity to go home and be with their loved ones.
How could they not seize this opportunity when they get together?"
Song Ningzong's eyes dimmed: "Well, it's a disaster year, but if they are willing to work hard to buy property, they can still live a happy life."
Song Ningzong's Qing Dynasty led to a significant reduction in palace expenses, which relieved the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue to a great extent.
The Ministry of Revenue received a large amount of silver, so it sent someone to take the silver to the north to buy grain.
The granary was full, and all prefectures and counties opened granaries one by one to release grain. The people finally had a mouthful of thin porridge.
Qin Shaobai has been looking for the whereabouts of the master since he came back from Nanyang.
Unexpectedly, unexpected things always happen when distributing food.
Ningzong of the Song Dynasty believed that Qin Shaobai handled the Nanyang matter very appropriately, so he gave Qin Shaobai full responsibility for the distribution of grain.
Qin Shaobai often just returned to Lin'an today to report on his duties, and the next day he was sent to another place to deal with disputes between officials and people.
Running back and forth like this, Qin Shaobai was so busy that he didn't even have time to meet Zhao Bai, let alone look for an expert who didn't know where he was.
In the twelfth lunar month of this year, good news came from various places. The victims had been properly resettled, and the phenomenon of starving people no longer existed.
However, after a severe drought there must be a severe cold.
This year's winter was particularly cold.
There were frequent reports of people freezing to death from various places.
Ningzong of the Song Dynasty had no choice but to send Qin Shaobai as a special shopping envoy to Mongolia to buy sheepskin, cowhide and other materials that could keep out the cold.
Before leaving, Zhao Bai came to Qin Shaobai and said that he had something important to discuss.
Zhao Bai said that going to Mongolia was a great opportunity to get a closer look at the strength of the Mongolian soldiers.
Secondly, let's see if there is any chance to cooperate with Genghis Khan to drive the Jin Kingdom out of the Song Dynasty.
Qin Shaobai wanted to say that cooperating with Genghis Khan was tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst, and it was not the best strategy.
But he also knew that with the current national strength of the Song Dynasty, it really had to rely on external forces before it could fight against the Jin Kingdom.
In the past few months, the situation in the Kingdom of Jin has become increasingly severe, and it is indeed a good opportunity for a desperate counterattack.
Seeing that Qin Shaobai was silent, Zhao Bai said again: "Actually, I still want to take Miss Jin back to the Kingdom of Jin. In the name of Princess Jinhua, I can summon the remnants of Jin Zhangzong to fight against Wanyan Yongji. It can be regarded as a famous disciple.
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Qin Shaobai nodded: "Does King Zhennan want me to go with you to ask the emperor for instructions?"
Zhao Bai shook his head.
"I want you, Shaobai, to go to the Kingdom of Jin, while I go to Mongolia to be your shopping ambassador."
This is not a bad idea.
Qin Shaobai has always wanted to send Jin Zhaoning back to the Kingdom of Jin.
No matter what, Jin Zhaoning is a princess with upright roots in the Kingdom of Jin, and she deserves to return to the Kingdom of Jin.
Besides, the miraculous doctors of the Jin Kingdom have excellent medical skills, and they might be able to cure Jin Zhaoning's illness.
The two of them reported their ideas to Song Ningzong.
Song Ningzong originally only needed someone to buy things to keep out the cold. He only trusted his two brothers in the court, so he naturally accepted all their suggestions.
However, Song Ningzong still told Qin Shaobai not to do anything without authorization when he went to the Kingdom of Jin, so as not to cause dissatisfaction with the Kingdom of Jin and add another layer of war to the troubled Song Dynasty.