Yinyun looked deeply at the tablet in front of him, covering his face while bowing.
"Your majesty, helping the people is of paramount importance! But acting now will only lessen the treasury. Today we discuss the Yueling Province, tomorrow it's the Yangling Province! Your majesty, please allow us to calculate while the Ministry of Households calculates how many local workers can be mobilised!
According to the records, usually a local worker works at least as much as one and a half people for the same pay, so if possible, we should try to focus on paying the local workers and only transport food from outside, which will lower our costs!
The directors and assistant ministers have managed this countless times and they know best how to calculate quickly and handle this issue without great loss!"
Yinyun made his own suggestion while playing both sides, mainly focusing on his own side.
He agreed that people should gain help quickly, but wasting precious resources today would truly lessen the amount tomorrow. By then, when there is too little gold left in the treasury, it will be they, the Ministry of Revenue, who will be at fault.
Everything will be delayed, and the next disaster will have no help at all.
This will create a cycle of destruction and poverty, leading to criminality, low scholarship and high martial arts practice, leading to danger of banditry and rebellion.
One issue is never alone, countless things will follow along!
"The issue of budget is complicated and the Ministry of Land doesn't have a clear idea of it. It shall be handled by the Ministry of Revenue," the Emperor waved his hand, unwilling to spend more time on this matter.
Hearing this, the assistant minister wanted to speak up, but when he looked over to the eunuch next to the emperor, he saw him shake his head. He could only sigh and take a step back, knowing that their Ministry of Land couldn't get an advantage in this round.
While each of the thirteen provinces had a complete set of ministries, opening up a spot for a Minister per province per ministry... in fact, some ministries held higher power while others were weaker - some focused on local change while others focused on national matters, and the last focused on international moves.
The Ministry of Revenue was the second. Even if it was their own province, they wouldn't want to waste extra resources just to help ease the situation. After all, if everyone did this, who knows whether they would even have any money left when the next natural disaster hits them?
The ministries of revenue all had a general idea of the other ministries' revenue, knowing which province was poor and which was rich.
Yueling Province, among many, was in the medium range, neither poor nor rich. Taking care of this disaster was fine, but if the next disaster hit too soon, they won't have the money to cover it. Being greedy now would leave them no support next time.
The worst was that while they focused on national income, they still had to ensure there were enough savings in case of man-made disasters, such as wars. So, if there are no savings and they use the support of others for no reason, then the total loss will be a lot more than just a delay in reconstruction, as it is the case now.
Every move was calculated, and they deeply resented those who only focused on the local stage... but what could they do? The Ministry of Land was extremely important, so they could only slap away their greedy hands without doing anything else.
After the emperor announced everything, the officials raised their hands and lowered their heads, thanking him for this righteous ruling.
The next topics slowly came up, but Yinyun's mental power ran slightly low, so he simply listened without making great calculations...
Time passed and before he knew it, the morning hours had passed!
"The 10,234th morning court is hereby closed!" Emperor Huangyinghu announced loudly, rising and leaving the court as neatly as he entered it, seemingly lacking interest in staying for longer.
Just as Yinyun was about to stand up, he suddenly saw something appearing in front of him, a ding sounding -
Ding!
[First Morning Court concluded, listing rewards---]
[Attended Morning Court: +1 Renown (Rank 9 Official)]
[Participated in a Court Issue: +10 Renown (Rank 9 Official)]
[Assisted higher officials: +600 Renown (Rank Difference: 6)]
[Deflected higher officials: +1,200 (Rank Difference: 6)]
[Talked with the Emperor: +1,000 Renown (Rank 9 Official)]
[Influenced the choice of the Emperor: +10 Influence (Final Influence Calculating...)]
[Calculating Multipliers...]
[Integrate Radiant Silver County?]
[Integrate Jie Clan?]
[Integrate Faction?]
[Integrate Family?]
[Integrate Reputation?]
Yinyun was shocked at the window appearing in front of him, confusion halting even his steps.
Right as he looked at it, from the corner of his eyes, he saw an official approaching him.
"Greetings, Scribe Jie Yinyun," the middle-aged man said, cupping his hands at Yinyun.
Yinyun fell out of his reverie, hastily yet orderly standing up and cupping his hands, "Greetings, Senior Official Vice Director!" Yinyun greeted the man based on the colour of his robe carrying the pixiu symbol, his blue robe indicating he was a middle-rank official, the lightness indicating he was in the early stage. Yinyun's own white robe indicated he was a low-rank ninth-rank official!
The vice director nodded and came slightly closer, his words soft as if carried by the wind, a slight aura encasing Yinyun and him as he said, "Assistant Minister Yong liked your words this time and invites you to his courtyard to discuss the issue of the earthquake!"
"I thank the great Assistant Minister for his generosity! This junior scribe will follow all procedures and rightfully enter the minister's yard!" he said loudly, knowing only the two could hear his voice.
Then lowering his voice, he whispered another matter, "Thank you for conveying this message, Vice Director Fang! Please accept this small gift of gratitude," as he said this, he moved his hand from below his sleeves, handing out a silver note between his sleeve and the sleeves of the official, hiding this move extremely well.
The official nodded, "No need, no need, your thanks is enough! Let me remind you, since you're so sincere... the assistant minister's family comes directly from the Yueling Province!" after he said this, he smiled and dissipated his aura, walking away.
Yinyun remained on his spot, his thoughts winding, 'The Yong Clan is from the Yangling Province... I didn't have the information that the minister is directly from the Yueling Province! Then... even though my plan was directed at evoking feelings for Yangling, it seems I still achieved my goal...' but as he said so, he was shocked at the lack of information, nearly leading to him failing the long scheme...