Chapter 383 Buying Food
Imperial study.
When Su Qingqing went in, only Rong Que and He Chao were left inside.
The two were talking when they saw her come in. He Chao immediately stood up straight and clasped his fists to greet her. Rong Que threw the wolf-hair brush in his hand on the table and walked around the table, "Have you finished your work?"
Su Qingqing let Rong Que hold her arm and lead her to sit on a chair, and said with a smile: "It's done, and there are some unexpected gains."
As he said this, he looked at He Chao.
He Chao looked confused: What are you looking at me for?
Su Qingqing looked at his reaction and said with a smile, "The wife of the Minister of Rites mentioned Mr. He to me today."
He Chao looked at Rong Que in confusion, then said to Su Qingqing, "You mentioned me?"
Su Qingqing smiled and said, "Did Lord He forget? Qingyue asked her about my situation in Huicheng, and she couldn't find anyone to discuss it with, so she went to Lord He."
When Su Qingqing mentioned this, He Chao reacted and slapped his forehead, "Yes, there was such a thing, look at your memory, you forgot it completely."
Rong Que smiled and said, "It was my idea to let He Chao reveal some information to her and pass it to Qingyue through her mouth. I wanted to see what Qingyue was doing. Later, He Chao also sent people to Qingyue to keep an eye on her, but they found nothing."
He Chao continued, "Yes, I thought Qingyue would take action after receiving the news, but she has been sitting still and I don't know what her plan is."
Since Rong Que knew about this, there was no need for Su Qingqing to say anything further. She just briefly mentioned what Zhou had said.
After Su Qingqing finished speaking, He Chao's face changed drastically. "After Duke Xue was arrested, everyone in Duke Xue's mansion was detained. At that time, Your Majesty gave this matter to me to handle. I took people there as soon as I received the order, but there were still some fish that slipped through the net during the arrest.
This manager surnamed Bai was one of those who ran away.
There was a roster of servants in Duke Xue's Mansion. After counting them one by one, it was found that a total of twelve people had run away from the entire Duke Xue's Mansion.
Eight of them have been recaptured, and the remaining four are: one is the man surnamed Bai, one is an old woman who was out shopping at the time, and the other two are servants who went to the farm to deliver things.
The four were not in the mansion at the time, and it was thought to be a coincidence. In addition, their identities were not too important, so their arrest was not taken too seriously later.
Those who were arrested in the Xueguogong Mansion were interrogated mainly on the stewards and some people who worked for Xueguogong.
This Bai, who manages carriages, is totally unrelated to me..."
He Chao clenched his fist and said, "It was my negligence."
Su Qingqing smiled and said, "We were indeed negligent before, but now, it is a good thing that they ran away. Only when they move will we know what they want to do.
Just like now, Qingyue is keeping silent, and we are actually in a passive position.
It just takes some hard work to find him."
He Chao clasped his fists and said, "I will go check that house now."
As soon as He Chao left, Rong Que poured Su Qingqing a cup of hot tea, "Do you suspect He Chao?"
Su Qingqing smiled and said, "I can't hide this from you."
Rong Que sat on the chair opposite Su Qingqing, "Not only can you not hide it from me, you can't hide it from him either, but he won't take it to heart."
Su Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "I trust Wang Yu and Zhao Kangjie so much, but sometimes, you have to doubt when you should, especially when you encounter important things. You should first doubt the people around you. Only by doubting them can you prove his innocence as quickly as possible. This is respect for him and also safety for me."
Rong Que held Su Qingqing's hand, wrapped it in his palm, and squeezed it, "I understand, what did you have for dinner?"
Rong Que had been discussing matters in the imperial study all day today and hadn't even found time to accompany Su Qingqing during dinner. Now, they were the only two left in the entire imperial study, and he felt indescribably relaxed.
Su Qingqing let Rong Que hold her hand and leaned back in the chair like Rong Que, "Shrimp dumplings."
After Su Qingqing finished speaking, the two of them held hands, leaned back in their chairs, and enjoyed this quiet moment.
But after all, they were all busy with work, so how could they have so much quiet time to waste like this? After about a quarter of an hour of silence, Su Qingqing felt a little drowsy, but she struggled to wake up.
"Post-disaster reconstruction and post-disaster support for the people in Guangdong and Guangxi should have been resolved, right?"
With the matter of Xu Kefeng and Xue Guogong in mind, there is no need to worry about the money for post-disaster reconstruction. The money seized from Xu Kefeng's property is enough to be used for the construction of Guangdong and Guangxi .
Take from the people and use it for the people, so that the people will be happy.
Traditionally, only officials have been in charge of collecting taxes from the people. This was the first time that the officials' homes were raided and used directly on the spot. The people felt very satisfied and were particularly cooperative in post-disaster reconstruction.
Rong Que hummed, "There are no problems in Guangdong and Guangxi. The problem is that many places suffered disasters this autumn, and coupled with the serious floods in Guangdong and Guangxi, the direct result is that there is not enough food this year. Many local grain merchants have begun to raise prices."
Once the price of food goes up, the consequence is that the hungry people will riot.
This is what the court fears most.
At this juncture, Duke Xue, who had been in charge of food dispatch, was arrested again.
Although the reasons why Duke Xue was arrested were clearly stated, people all over the world were indignant and angry.
However, if the food problem is not solved from this winter to next spring, and if there is a large-scale starvation and riots, then the wind direction will definitely change again.
People will automatically ignore what Duke Xue did to get him arrested, and force themselves to believe that the food problem arose because of the absence of Duke Xue.
At that time, Duke Xue was no longer the sinner, but the court and Su Qingqing were the sinners.
The whole day's meeting in the Imperial Study was devoted to discussing this matter.
Su Qingqing tilted her head to look at Rong Que. Seeing his haggard face, she patted his palm distressedly. Rong Que opened his eyes and looked at Su Qingqing sideways. "It's okay. Everything can be solved. You are with me."
Su Qingqing smiled and said, "Yes, they can all be solved."
"The Ministry of Revenue wants to buy grain from outside, but the budget for silver is a bit of a problem."
Su Qingqing was stunned for a moment, "Is the situation so serious that we need to buy food from outside?"
Whether a country can be stable and its people can have enough food and clothing is a big issue.
If they can't even solve the food problem, there will definitely be social unrest. They know this problem, and so must their neighboring countries and enemy countries. Once they start buying food from abroad, what will their enemy countries think?
It is not always possible to provide timely assistance, but it is common to take advantage of someone's opportunity.
Rong Que sighed, "The risk is huge, so how to buy and who to buy from must be planned in advance."
