The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The current emperor has put a lot of pressure on him. If he could take the opportunity to embarrass the emperor or even distract him, it would be a great thing for him.

He's determined to do this, and nobody can stop him!

At this moment, Prince Zhongshun turned his gaze back to Jia Cong and said in a deep voice, "Tell me, what exactly is your purpose? If I can help, I will not hesitate to do so!"

"It's still a migrant population!"

Jia Cong didn't stand on ceremony and chuckled, "The noble families also need a large number of refugees. I hope Your Highness will provide some assistance then!"

"What, are you using me as a shield?"

Prince Zhongshun's expression was displeased, but his tone remained relatively calm: "The power of the nobility group is not insignificant. You do need a large population to develop the southwest, so you don't need my help, do you?"

"Your Highness, the power of the noble families may not be enough to withstand this!"

Jia Cong gave a wry smile and explained, "After the previous Prince of Nan'an was defeated, the nobility group has basically lost the power to bargain with the current emperor!"

"Not to mention, the drought situation in Guanzhong and Northwest China may have been covered up by local officials!"

"Once it explodes, it will be a major event that shakes the court. It will inevitably lead to a struggle with the civil service and even the cabinet. The nobility no longer has the will to fight!"

"Only if all the princes of the royal family step forward together can they withstand it!"

As for the other reasons, there's no need to explain them so clearly.

The reason Jia Cong rushed to Prince Zhongshun's mansion at the first opportunity was precisely to make the mansion take the fall, wasn't it?

If the Prince's Mansion cannot withstand the lightning strike, then future cooperation in the outer sea territories will have to be much more cautious.

There are some intricacies involved that even Jia Cong himself wasn't entirely clear about, but he had discussed them with Jia Huan in the southwest and knew what to do in such situations.

How could Prince Zhongshun possibly gain any benefits without paying a sufficient price?

It's not the end of a dynasty yet; the emperor's power and strength are still formidable.

Seeing that Prince Zhongshun and the chief secretary of the Prince's residence clearly had something to discuss in private, he tactfully took his leave.

Leaving the Prince's mansion, I was in a rather good mood!

He hadn't expected the local officials in Guanzhong and the Northwest to be so bold.

How could they dare to conceal something as serious as a major disaster? What are they trying to do?

It can only be said that his understanding of the imperial court and officialdom was not thorough or deep enough.

In the event of a major disaster in a certain area, local officials would naturally not be dismissed from their posts.

However, if subsequent disaster relief efforts are unsuccessful, or if there are attacks from political enemies, moving the position is a highly probable event.

As for what exactly happened inside, Jia Cong didn't know, nor did he want to know.

However, a bombshell was dropped in the court, shaking the entire court to its core.

Guanzhong, the northwest is suffering from a severe drought, but the local officials have completely covered up the disaster!

If it weren't for certain censors discovering the clues and conducting an in-depth investigation, this matter would likely have been concealed for some time, which is simply absurd.

In any case, the current emperor was stunned by this sudden bad news.

Such a bizarre incident will definitely be recorded in history books, and this emperor will certainly be a negative example!

At the very least, this creates the image of someone who is misled by his subordinates and is not very intelligent.

This is something the current emperor would absolutely find unacceptable; he doesn't want to take on such a burden.

Just then, the censors' impeachments came like snowflakes, so the emperor directly dismissed a number of officials in Guanzhong and the Northwest, and then dispatched a high-level investigation team to thoroughly investigate the disaster situation in Guanzhong and the Northwest.

The investigation results came out quickly, since the drought was a given and there was no need for in-depth observation.

Then, the current emperor was furious and wanted to suppress the news. The officials who were punished were not only dismissed and investigated, but some also lost their heads and their families. It can be said that they met a tragic end.

Yet, as a result, few officials sympathized with their plight!

It's really absurd to say this out loud. It makes it seem like the officials in the imperial court are all fools, easily manipulated by the local officials.

Moreover, the sudden upheaval in officialdom naturally triggered factional struggles within the imperial court.

In short, after the incident involving Cong Er was exposed, the entire court quickly descended into chaos.

The current emperor felt as if he had been hit over the head with a club. He was depressed but had no choice but to grit his teeth and allocate funds and grain for disaster relief as quickly as possible, otherwise his reputation would only get worse.

At this time, a group of powerful members of the imperial clan, led by Prince Zhongshun, volunteered to take on the tedious and thankless task of disaster relief, claiming that they were relieving the current emperor of his troubles.

That statement almost made him vomit; even a fool wouldn't believe it.

At this point, neither the cabinet leaders nor the nobles wanted to get involved in such matters.

The Guanzhong Plain in the northwest is a barren land, and the people are known for their fierce and unruly nature, making them difficult to govern. If not managed properly, serious trouble could easily ensue.

Li Zicheng emerged at the end of the Ming Dynasty, so the current emperor naturally pays special attention to him and dares not be careless at all.

Such a situation, where doing things well is simply one's duty, and failing to do them requires taking responsibility, is naturally something that the bigwigs in the court are unwilling to get involved in.

Fortunately, a group of royal family members were willing to take on the responsibility, so the court officials naturally had no objections.

Even though the authorities know there are problems, they can't do anything about it because the court officials are not doing their job. In the end, they can only hand over the disaster relief work to the royal elders, such as Prince Chungshun.

"The opportunity has arrived! Don't let this chance slip by!"

Seeing that things were going so smoothly, Jia Cong was in a great mood and hurriedly asked Niu Jizong, the head of the Duke of Zhenguo, to come forward and gather a group of nobles and bigwigs for a small meeting.

Once everyone had arrived, he skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point: "Right now, with the royal family leaders leading the way, we can follow behind and take in the refugees!"

What's the point of taking in refugees?

The fact that a powerful nobleman dared to ask a question immediately drew disdainful looks from the other nobles.

"Whether it's following the royal family to occupy territories in the outer seas or taking over land in the southwest, they all need a large population to populate them. This is the opportunity!"

Jia Cong wasn't angry. He patiently explained, "In the past, due to reasons such as the reluctance to leave our homeland, it was quite difficult for us to recruit a large number of people. Now, isn't this an opportunity?"

"Everyone, don't hesitate! You must know that the royal family leaders also need a large population to populate their many territories in the outer seas. We can't be slow, or we won't even get a drop of soup!"

Upon hearing this, the noble lord, who had been somewhat hesitant, immediately perked up, feeling that Jia Cong was right and that missing out on this opportunity would be a huge loss.

Who knows when the next natural or man-made disaster will strike?

And so it was; the nobles and powerful figures were quickly persuaded and decided to fully participate in the recruitment of refugees.

Then, something happened that left the court and the current emperor dumbfounded.

In the past, no amount of money or grain allocated by the imperial court and local governments was ever enough for disaster relief. The officials in charge of disaster relief would only keep asking the imperial court and the emperor for help, demanding money and grain like a death knell.

This time, however, the disaster relief team composed of royal family elders did not make much of a fuss.

They used the money and grain allocated by the imperial court directly as funds for the migration of displaced people. If the amount was insufficient, they would make up the difference themselves from their own pockets, without any intention of troubling the imperial court or the current emperor.

It wasn't until waves of refugees were organized and transported by boat or on foot to Tianjin Port and other port cities in Shandong that the situation suddenly became clear.

"Damn it, damn it, they're all a bunch of bastards!"

The high-ranking officials in the court remained silent, as long as the disaster victims were resettled, that was all that mattered.

As for how they were resettled or where they were resettled, they couldn't be bothered to care.

But now he's furious, because not only do the royal family leaders lack enough people in their overseas territories, but the overseas territories he controls now are the same.

Why should all the benefits go to the royal family bigwigs? He wants a share too!

Chapter 378 The Time Is Just Right (Please Subscribe)

This situation has never occurred before in the Great Qian Dynasty!

Including the current emperor, as well as the royal family elders and nobles, they are all vying for refugees.

The disaster in Guanzhong and Northwest China was extremely severe, affecting millions of people!

In the past, this would have been an extremely dangerous number, and could have even led to unrest.

But this time, nothing unspeakable happened!

The displaced people created by this drought were like hot commodities, recruited and taken away by various forces.

The disaster relief funds and grain provided by the imperial court all became the life-saving food for the displaced people during their migration.

Then, hundreds of thousands of refugees were taken to Tianjin Port and other port cities in Shandong, where they traveled by sea to new places to settle and farm.

No matter how many refugees appeared, all the various forces swallowed them up.

How many people are there in the entire Guanzhong and Northwest region?

Although millions of people were affected by the disaster, the actual number of displaced people did not reach one million.

Such a large number of refugees would have been an enormous problem in the past.

But this time, after being divided among many forces, even this small number of refugees was far from enough.

Putting aside everything else, the territory of Prince Zhongshun in the outer sea alone is more than the size of two prefectures.

A prefecture can accommodate a population of over a million, but this prefecture currently has only a handful of people.

At present, even if a prefecture can distribute resources to tens of thousands of people, it is still a drop in the ocean.

The other royal families' overseas territories each had at least one county, easily accommodating a population of 100,000.

Not to mention, they can continue to expand their territory, so the more people they can control, the better.