Peasant Woman's Decreed Life as a Wife

This news returned to the court, and the decision for grain distribution, which had yet to be determined, immediately became the biggest issue at present.

That day, Emperor Xuanming summoned the Fourth Prince, Li Chongjin, to the palace.

Li Chongjin arrived at the palace and waited outside the Imperial Study for half a quarter before he was called in. The person he passed by was none other than Duke Zheng, Liu Yanzhen.

“Fourth Prince, please wait,” Liu Yanzhen called out to him.

Li Chongjin’s steps paused slightly, “Does Prince of the State have any matters?”

“The Fourth Prince has contributed greatly with the cultivation of the new grain variety. The Emperor will surely value you more. It’s just a pity that this time, it seems the Emperor intends to entrust Prince Qi with the new grain for disaster relief. Your intentions…,” Liu Yanzhen smiled with a meaningful look, his unfinished words couldn’t be clearer.

...

Li Chongjin’s expression remained cold, “Oh.”

“If Prince of the State has no further business, I shall proceed to see my father,” he stated.

Without giving Duke Zheng any chance to react, he stepped forward into the Imperial Study.

Liu Yanzhen narrowed his eyes slightly. Now there are only four grown sons of the Emperor, and it is common knowledge that Emperor Xuanming’s Imperial Harem does not have many heirs. Currently, Prince Qi is the most prominent, but Prince Qi is backed by the Qi family’s Grand Secretary Qi.@@novelbin@@

He naturally preferred to support another prince, but who knew the Fourth Prince was indeed as indifferent as the rumors said, not understanding of human feelings. He had thought that the prince merely lacked support in the Capital, since after all, the Lin family only had a single powerless official left. Compared to his own power, they were insignificant.

Now it seems, this Fourth Prince is truly of a stubborn nature, and the Emperor might not favor him.

He flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.

Inside the Imperial Study.

Li Chongjin paid his respects to Emperor Xuanming in accordance with proper etiquette, “This son greets Father Emperor.”

Emperor Xuanming looked up, his face still amiable, but his eyes slightly squinted, sizing him up, “Chongjin, rise, come to my side.”

“The grain yield you reported last time, was it 20 million jin?” One jin of rice seed could plant an acre of land. Initially, the court received 300,000 jin of rice seed, and due to insufficient land, they selected and sowed only the best seeds in the state government office’s land across several states, with the aim of quickly cultivating enough seeds.

The results were indeed good, and the harvest was quite bountiful, already enough for everyone in Great Chu to use high-yield grains.

“Yes,” Li Chongjin responded respectfully with a nod.

“Then tell me, can we use these seeds for disaster relief?”

Li Chongjin did not answer right away, but said, “Currently, there are 150,000 disaster-stricken people, who require approximately 250,000 jin of grain daily, which adds up to 7.5 million jin a month, and 15 million jin in two months.”

“This includes the need for medicinal herbs.”

“If we use up the rice seeds, we will not have enough to distribute to the people.”

Emperor Xuanming looked at him, surprised, “Are you unwilling, Chongjin?”

“Mm,” Li Chongjin affirmed.

Emperor Xuanming fell silent, having not seen this son for a long time, he had not expected such an answer. After a moment of astonishment, he looked at him, evaluating.

“Why?”

“This son believes that everything should prioritize the dawn (common people). Direct allocation is not appropriate. A different approach could be taken,” Li Chongjin said as if he had not noticed the change in his expression, very straightforwardly.

Emperor Xuanming’s expression softened, “Oh? What do you mean by a different approach?”

“Exchange high-yield rice seeds for ordinary ones with the nobles, one hundred jin of ordinary rice for one jin of high-yield rice seeds,” he proposed.

Emperor Xuanming suddenly started to smile, but still remarked, “This would be difficult, wouldn’t it? If this were to get out, wouldn’t it harm my relationship with the nobles?”