Time flew by. Before they knew it, winter had passed in a blink of an eye, and spring, the season of revival, had arrived. However, the peaceful days that had lasted for over a month didn't last long.
Early in the morning, Jing Xunche and Mu Fengqie were summoned to the Imperial Council Hall for a meeting. Although they had no idea what was going on, they rushed to the palace in a hurry.
When they arrived at the Imperial Council Hall, they found that almost all the ministers were already waiting there. Even the princes were waiting for the emperor. Mu Fengqie had never seen such a grand occasion before. Apart from the regular court sessions, there must have been something important going on.
After a short while, the emperor walked out with a frown on his face. He looked haggard, and there was no trace of his usual joking expression. One could tell from his appearance that something serious had happened.
"I've summoned all of you here today to discuss an important matter. Recently, there have been famines in various places. Some commoners have even fled all the way to the imperial city. I feel really heart - broken seeing the common people living a displaced life," the emperor sighed deeply.
No one knew why there was a famine this year. Some poor commoners couldn't even afford to eat and had to flee everywhere, even reaching the imperial city.
Not to mention the common people, even the food supply in the imperial city was running short. That's why the emperor was so worried. He didn't know how many people would die because of this famine.
When Mu Fengqie heard this, she couldn't help but frown. Food was the paramount necessity of the people. Without food, many people would starve to death.
She had always lived in modern times before, so she had no concept of such a situation. In modern life, people never had to worry about food. But in this era, many people would die because of the lack of food.
Mu Fengqie suddenly felt a sense of emotion. She was really grateful to have lived in a care - free environment in modern times. Although she also felt lucky to be here now.
"Father, your son is willing to lead the grain and grass to relieve the disaster!" Yuan Yuchuan stepped forward and said.
Hearing this, Mu Fengqie could only silently scold him in her heart for being extremely stupid. If it were that simple to solve the problem, the emperor wouldn't have summoned so many people to discuss it.
Yuan Yuchuan didn't seem suitable to be the emperor in many aspects. He still lacked the necessary wisdom. However, the fifth prince was different.
After the crown prince spoke, the fifth prince stepped forward and said, "Father, your son is willing to lead his subordinates to make donations together and raise some funds."
The fifth prince's words were exactly what the emperor had in mind. There wasn't much grain and grass left in the imperial city. If they wanted to solve this problem, they needed to buy grain and grass from other places. But now the national treasury was empty and couldn't fill this gap.
This was exactly why the emperor had summoned so many ministers. But the emperor was too embarrassed to say it directly. Unexpectedly, Yuan Yuhan thought the same as him and solved his problem.
The emperor showed a relieved smile and said, "It's still Han'er who understands my heart. Recently, the Qin Dynasty has experienced wars several times, and the silver in the national treasury has become increasingly scarce. So it would be best if all the princes could take out their savings to relieve the disaster."
The emperor also knew that just relying on a few princes and princesses wasn't enough to fill the gap. After all, the princes also had to live, and the silver they could donate should be limited. So the emperor set his sights on these ministers.
The ministers looked at each other. Many of them were reluctant, because they all knew that the silver was hard - earned. Forcing them to donate it would make anyone feel heart - ache.
"Your son is willing to donate 5,000 taels of silver to relieve Father's worries," Yuan Yuze stepped forward and said calmly.
Yuan Yuchuan originally wanted to donate 2,000 or 3,000 taels of silver, but unexpectedly, Yuan Yuze directly raised it to 5,000 taels. He looked at Yuan Yuze unhappily, but Yuan Yuze simply ignored him.
Yuan Yuze had had enough of the life of being suppressed. He wanted to strive for his own future and his own life.
Obviously, both of them were born to the queen and were legitimate princes. Why should he be just a stepping - stone for Yuan Yuchuan just because he was born one year later?
He was not willing to be a stepping - stone anymore. From now on, he would strive for his own future. The crown prince was so stupid that maybe that throne would be his in the future.
Yuan Yuhan also echoed, "Your son is also willing to donate 10,000 taels of silver."
"I'm willing to donate 1,000 taels of silver," a minister said.
"I'm willing to donate 2,000 taels of silver," another minister said.
...
In this way, more than half of the people made donations. The amount of silver was increasing, and gradually, it became a large sum.
Mu Fengqie observed everyone silently. When no one else was speaking, she stepped forward and said, "I'm willing to donate 100,000 taels of silver."
As soon as her voice fell, everyone looked at her in disbelief. They couldn't believe that she could take out so much silver. It was possible for everyone to take out 5,000 taels of silver, but 100,000 taels was not that easy.
Mu Fengqie had so many shops that she was already extremely wealthy. A mere 100,000 taels of silver was nothing to her.
Even Yuan Yuhan didn't expect Mu Fengqie to donate so much silver at once. But he also knew that Mu Fengqie had many industries and naturally had a lot of silver.
The emperor was overjoyed when he heard this. The silver donated by the ministers and princes was already a significant amount, and with this additional 100,000 taels of silver, they could buy a lot of grain and grass. Although they didn't know if it would be enough, it did solve some problems.
"Good! You truly deserve to be the princess of the Qin Dynasty. Han'er, I'll leave this matter to you. In any case, you must raise enough grain and grass as soon as possible. We mustn't let the common people suffer any longer."
"Your son obeys the order. Father, don't worry. Your son will definitely not disappoint you."
Yuan Yuchuan and Yuan Yuze were extremely angry when they saw Yuan Yuhan being favored by the emperor. They had also been trying hard to show themselves, but the emperor seemed to prefer Yuan Yuhan recently. He would assign any important matter to Yuan Yuhan.
This also made some of the ministers who had originally supported them gradually defect to Yuan Yuhan. Although they were angry, they couldn't change the emperor's decision.
It seemed that the first troublesome matter had been solved, but there was still a more troublesome one to deal with. The emperor, who had just relaxed his brows, suddenly frowned again.
"I have another matter. Does any of you have a way to solve the famine? Now that grain and grass are scarce, do you know of any other things that can satisfy hunger?"