"I'm deeply gratified by your kind intentions. In fact, as long as you can make appropriate donations to the people in the south of the Yangtze River, I'm sure the commoners will be very touched. By then, we'll have fulfilled the test from heaven."
Hearing the key point he made, the faces of the court officials all looked rather grim.
The grand tutor was the first to step forward. "Your Majesty has come up with such a brilliant idea. As your subjects, we'll surely cooperate. However, unfortunately, I'm limited in ability and can't contribute much. I can only make a small donation."
With the grand tutor setting the example, the others rushed to chime in.
"We highly agree with what Your Majesty said. Although we can't do much, we'll still do our bit. After we return, we'll hand over the money to the Minister of Rites."
Ji Heng knew this matter wouldn't go smoothly, but he didn't expect that the grand tutor, a man who had read the classics, would say such things. It was simply vulgar.
His little face fell, and Fu Lu beside him immediately understood.
His shrill voice rang out again. "Your Majesty hasn't finished speaking yet. Are you all in such a hurry that you want to make decisions on behalf of His Majesty?"
Hearing this, a large number of officials immediately knelt down in the hall. "We're terrified. How dare we make decisions for Your Majesty? We're just too worried about the people in the south of the Yangtze River and want to implement this matter as soon as possible." And also to minimize their losses as much as possible.
Of course, they would never say the last part. They were all waiting for the young emperor to make a decision.
At the same time, their kneeling in a row was also putting pressure on the young emperor.
How could Ji Heng not see what these people meant? He clenched his fists. Originally, he wanted to ask the national master for help, but then he thought that he should grow up. He forced himself to look directly into the eyes of these court officials.
"Before I summoned you here, I had already decided the minimum amount for this donation. You may all go directly to the Ministry of Rites."
The court officials were stunned for a moment. They didn't expect the young emperor to have such a move.
But they had no choice. They had to put away all their tricks and then quietly asked the calm Minister of Rites, "Lord Lin, I wonder how much His Majesty wants each of us to donate this time?"
The Minister of Rites held up one finger and smiled at everyone.
"His Majesty is considerate of all of you. You only need to donate this much."
After seeing the finger he held up, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Although a thousand taels is a large sum, it's still His Majesty's kindness to us."
Hearing this, the Minister of Rites burst out laughing. He almost thought he had heard wrong.
"Gentlemen, you may not understand what I mean. I said, ten thousand taels."
"What?"
An official couldn't help but exclaim. When he noticed the person on the high seat looking down, he quickly lowered his head.
"Lord Lin, this is no joking matter. His Majesty is so considerate of us. How could he ask us to donate so much?"
"Yes, you must have heard wrong. Why don't you go and ask His Majesty again?"
Lord Lin rolled his eyes and scanned their faces.
"I never tell lies. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask His Majesty yourself. Besides, after all these years, surely none of you can't even afford ten thousand taels? And this is for the people in the south of the Yangtze River. Do you want other countries to laugh at us and think that we can't even protect our own people?"
His words left everyone blushing with embarrassment. They couldn't find a word to refute for a moment.
Finally, Ji Heng broke the awkward silence. "Alright, all you gentlemen may go back after making your donations early. And think about where we can raise the next batch of funds."
After he left, everyone could only hand over the money reluctantly and leave with pained expressions on their faces.
Cui Qizhou also learned about the origin of this suggestion from the shadow guards.
He didn't have any other thoughts. He just thought that woman had become more and more strange recently.
"She's completely different from before. Knowing that there are still people from the Shi family involved, she just let the emperor extort them. I'm suddenly a bit curious about how the Shi family will treat their empress dowager from now on."
At this moment, in the Shi Mansion, Shi Qintian had smashed all the things that could be smashed in the study.
"Good, really good! The daughter I've painstakingly raised for so many years finally got to a high position, but in the end, she harmed our own people. How can I explain this to those people? They've given out so much money today. They'll surely put all the blame on us. Who will trust the Shi family from now on?"
Shi Li was standing beside him, gently waving his fan. He seemed not to notice his father's outburst at all.
After Shi Qintian finished venting his anger, he slowly said, "We can't blame little sister for this. The situation in the south of the Yangtze River is turbulent, and there are refugees everywhere. If we can't solve this problem properly, it will also endanger us."
"How could it possibly endanger us? We're far away in the capital city. Even if she's soft - hearted and wants to help those refugees, she can't touch the interests of our own people. You go to the palace right away and ask her to persuade the emperor to revoke the imperial edict. This matter must not develop like this. Otherwise, we'll lose our status in the court."
Seeing that his father still didn't realize the seriousness of the matter, Shi Li frowned slightly. His face turned cold, and he put away his fan.
"I'll never go and persuade little sister. She did a good job this time. Moreover, if the commoners are suffering and no one in the capital city intervenes, it will chill the hearts of the people all over the world. If the people have the intention to rebel, even the Shi family won't be able to maintain our current power and influence."
Although his words made Shi Qintian feel a bit better and calm down a lot, he still thought his daughter should persuade the young emperor to revoke the order.
Just as Shi Qintian was about to continue speaking, a hearty laugh came from the door.
"Second brother is right. Father is just too impatient and didn't carefully analyze the drawbacks. Those people don't take the young emperor seriously. It's not a bad idea to teach them a lesson. Anyway, we still have to support the royal family on the surface."
With his eldest son's words, his mood completely calmed down. "Those old foxes will surely come to our door one by one later. If necessary, you can go to the palace. Just put on a show for them and comfort them."
Just as they were discussing here, the voice of the butler came from outside.
"Master, there are visitors. Shall I let them in?"
The visitors were already at the door, and it was his daughter who had caused this trouble. What could Shi Qintian do? He could only go out to meet them.
"All of you have come together today. Is there some good news?"