The Good Grandson of the Red Chamber

Chapter 51: Debate with the Scholars

Xia Chengli said, "Eldest brother did the right thing. If we protect him just because he is a brother, how will Third Brother Zong realize his mistakes? He will probably become even more outrageous in the future."

Xia Chengyan said with great distress, "Third Brother Zong, you must know that the people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important."

"How can you be so harsh on the disaster victims? If word gets out, it will ruin the reputation of my royal family. Are you out of your mind!"

Xia Chengren didn't kick him while he was down; instead, he watched the spectacle with glee.

Emperor Yonglong had not yet seen the intelligence report and was unaware of this matter.

He didn't believe Xia Chengzong would do such a thing and felt there must be something fishy going on.

He asked, "Brother Zong, did you really do these things?"

Xia Chengzong nodded respectfully and said, "Grandpa Emperor, yes."

Upon hearing Xia Chengzong's personal admission, Xia Chengxu and the other three were overjoyed!

They felt it was all settled; from this moment on, the third son of the Zong family would likely lose the Emperor's favor.

Emperor Yonglong did not expect Xia Chengzong to admit it, and to admit it so readily.

However, he did not fly into a rage or show any disappointment as Xia Chengxu and the others had imagined.

Emperor Yonglong asked calmly, "Why do you do this?"

Xia Chengzong said, "Your Majesty, I have discovered a hidden detail while reading history books."

"During disaster relief, if the food given to the victims is too good, some local people will secretly pretend to be victims and collect the porridge."

"The amount of porridge distributed at the porridge distribution points is fixed each day. If too many people try to fraudulently claim it, the disaster victims will go hungry."

"If this continues, some disaster victims may even starve to death, so when my grandson distributes porridge, he specially buys brown rice."

"The porridge was very thin and contained sand. My grandson saw it with his own eyes today. Some of the disaster victims found it difficult to swallow after drinking the porridge."

"They secretly poured out the porridge, put the bowls in their pockets, and went into the city. These must have been residents of the city."

"After this experience, they probably won't come back again."

"In this way, although the disaster victims eat poorly, they can fill their stomachs and not starve to death."

"The same applies to quilts. If we give them new quilts, many of them will probably be snatched up, and they won't be able to use them at all."

After hearing these words, Xia Chengxu and the other three people's expressions changed drastically.

Although it has not been confirmed, they felt that Xia Chengzong's words made a lot of sense.

That is very likely the truth.

Xia Chengren spoke up, "Third Brother Zong, since you knew this all along, why didn't you warn us sooner? Did you just want to see us make a fool of ourselves?"

"This was originally a test from our Emperor. It's understandable that you want to be the best and surpass us."

"But have you never considered the disaster victims? How innocent they are!"

"Are you just going to stand by and watch them freeze and starve to death?"

Xia Chengren, that chubby kid, is quite adept at using moral blackmail.

Xia Chengzong said calmly, "What you learn from books is never enough; you must put it into practice to truly understand."

"Some things you have to experience yourself to leave a deep impression and never forget them."

"As for the disaster among the victims—with the Emperor watching over them, how could such a thing happen?"

"This is a test from Grandfather. Do you think Grandfather wouldn't have considered this?"

Xia Chengren was immediately rendered speechless by these words.

At this moment, Xia Chengxu asked again, "Since Third Brother Zong knew that some civilians had infiltrated the ranks of the disaster victims, why didn't you try to prevent this from happening, but instead wanted to reduce the treatment of the disaster victims?"

Xia Chengzong said calmly, "Grandfather only gave each of us thirty men."

"These manpower are sufficient for cooking porridge, distributing porridge, and maintaining order."

"But it's not enough to distinguish between genuine and fake; if it causes trouble, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Xia Chengli said, "Then you should have reported to the Emperor and requested additional manpower, instead of lowering the disaster relief standards like you did!"

"With your actions, how can the disaster victims not complain? Aren't you tarnishing the image of my royal family?"

Xia Chengzong said, "But have you considered the cost of sending more people?"

"For disaster relief, perhaps one thousand taels of silver would be enough, but if we send more people, it will probably cost an additional one thousand taels of silver."

"Using this money for disaster relief will save another thousand victims."

"The current situation is that the imperial court's disaster relief funds are already quite limited!"

"What I can do is save the most disaster victims at the lowest possible cost."

永隆帝正面情绪+1+1+1+1+1

Upon seeing this notification, Xia Chengzong was completely relieved.

His words had completely struck a chord with his grandfather.

Little did he know how pleased Emperor Yonglong was to hear his words.

The little guy does this when it comes to disaster relief, and so does the emperor.

It sounds like the emperor's word is law, and his word can decide life and death; he is the most powerful.

However, governing the world is incredibly difficult. Where can one find such prestige?

Does he not cherish the people? Does he not want to reduce taxes and levies?

However, the annual tax revenue of the Great Qian Dynasty was only so much, and it was always insufficient to cover expenses.

All he could do was manage to get as much done as he had the money.

Even if he were the emperor, he would certainly not be able to accomplish anything without money!

What Zong Ge'er said and did was another form of mutual forbearance and scheming against the country.

At this moment, Xia Chengyan added, "You're just guessing. Maybe there's no truth to the story of ordinary people in the capital fraudulently claiming disaster relief porridge?"

"Furthermore, how do you explain replacing the charcoal with charcoal powder? Where did the remaining silver go?"

Xia Chengzong said, "Indeed, I'm just guessing, but we'll probably know the answer tomorrow."

"As for replacing charcoal with charcoal powder, I'll keep that a secret for now."

"We should know the outcome in about three days. If things go well, we might be able to save a lot of money on disaster relief."

Emperor Yonglong laughed and said, "Now that you've said that, even your grandfather is curious."

"I'll just go out of the palace with you tomorrow and find out for sure what's going on, and see if it's as Zong-ge'er said."

"Grandpa Emperor is wise!"

After everyone dispersed, Xia Chengxu and the other three were filled with worry.

Although it has not been confirmed, they have already accepted Xia Chengzong's statement in their hearts.

Right now, they wish they could fly out of the palace to make their plans.

All those people who fraudulently claimed the money were intercepted and taken away.

However, the palace was already locked, so how could they possibly have the ability to communicate with the outside world?

By tomorrow, the cucumbers will be cold!

Now they can only hope that the third son's guess is wrong and that this is not the case.

Xia Chengzong, however, felt no burden whatsoever.

He had personally witnessed people fraudulently claiming disaster relief porridge that day.

His older brothers have more porridge distribution points than he does, so how could he not have any?

We'll find out tomorrow.

He slept soundly through the night, and when he ate breakfast the next day, he saw that his older brothers all had big dark circles under their eyes.