After being interrupted by Empress Zhou, Hu Guang stopped thinking about his worries for the time being. However, when he woke up early the next morning, he immediately summoned the relevant ministers to have a meeting.

In Wenhua Hall, Hu Guanggao sat on the imperial throne. Below was a group of ministers wearing red robes, including the cabinet assistants, the six ministers and the eunuchs of the Silijian, the pen of the Silijian, were placed on both sides. This was a high-level formal meeting.

Hu Guang saw that it was almost done, and then said with a serious face: "It's just the first day of the Lunar New Year, and I've summoned you all. There is something that makes me unable to sleep or eat. All of you have good ideas, so please report it all."

If it were the past, the first day of the Lunar New Year was a day of rest, and the New Year's Eve was always around the New Year, so we should still be sleeping at this time. However, this year the emperor has issued an order until the New Year, and he raised the seriousness of the matter discussed as soon as he opened his mouth, forcing the ministers below to cheer up and respond.

But they were also a little surprised that Jianlu had retreated. What else could have risen to the point where the emperor could not sleep or eat?

So, Wen Tiren, the chief minister of all officials, stepped out and bowed to ask for instructions: "It makes the king and father unable to sleep and eat, and it is also a crime for me. I also ask Your Majesty to tell you. I will do my best!"

"I will do my best!" All the other ministers followed.

Hu Guang nodded and said seriously: "The capital is in serious shortage of food, so you should know. Yesterday, I received a secret report from Jinyi Guard that the provinces around the capital were also seriously short of food. The reason was that around October last year, someone was buying grain on a large scale. Now the whereabouts of the food are unknown, and this will seriously affect the capital and the court to rescue disasters. If you have good plans, please report it all!"

When the ministers below heard this, they were a little disagreeable. After all, the issue of food has been discussed before and there have been conclusions.

But when they heard that they learned that the surrounding provinces were also seriously short of food, they immediately realized the seriousness of the matter.

Wen Tiren's face also became serious. After Hu Guang finished speaking, he immediately replied: "Your Majesty, this matter is not a small matter. I think that the matter of transporting food one after another must be taken seriously. The Censorate can send the censor to various provinces to supervise this matter!"

This matter is so serious that it will affect everyone present, so no one is out of the matter anymore and speaks one after another. The new assistant Zhang Zhifa immediately followed: "I am willing to go to Hu Guang's area to supervise the food and grass matter!"

The cabinet ministers went there in person, and the court took this matter very seriously.

Another auxiliary minister, Xue Guoguan, was even more radical and immediately shouted: "Your Majesty, the grain merchant is so abominable. Taking advantage of the rampant army, he bought grain and hoarded houses. I think it should be investigated and punished!"

After a pause, he put forward a more astonishing view: "I think that the food control strategy in the capital can be implemented in the world, so that those unprofitable businessmen will not have such a thing again!"

In later generations, in the era of food shortage, there was indeed a time when the country implemented the grain rationing system. However, at that time, the state's control over the local area reached an unprecedented level, so there was a basis for implementation.

Now in the Ming Dynasty, the tentacles of the government were only at the county level. It would be impossible to achieve the food control of the entire Ming Empire. Hu Guang knew this, and if Emperor Chongzhen had the original intention, he would not know it.

Therefore, when he was about to reject it after hearing this, he saw the auxiliary minister Zhou Yanru and the Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan take the lead and both came out to oppose it.

Among them, Zhou Yanru even confronted Xue Guoguan and said, "How can you get what you want to do Xue Dazui? You dare to make such a ridiculous statement. Do you want to make the world a mess?"

"Absurd, how can the world be in chaos?" Xue Guoguan immediately retorted loudly, "You go out for a walk and see the food control in the capital. Isn't that great?"

Speaking of this, he suddenly raised his voice and continued to argue in front of the imperial court: "Do you know that since the Tianqi period, the food in Shaanxi has become increasingly scarce. How many people have starved to death? The thieves are everywhere because they don't become thieves, so they can only starve to death! Now, whether it is Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, or Shanxi, there are still droughts, and it is very likely that the disaster in Shaanxi will reappear. How can you? "

The seriousness of the matter was indeed beyond Zhou Yanru's perception, but he was a little disbelief and immediately sneered: "Serious words!"

When Xue Guoguan was furious when he heard this, he wanted to step forward and punch, but fortunately there was a minister of the Ministry of Revenue standing between them. Bi Ziyan blocked it, and several other ministers came to persuade him, and the imperial guards were a little confused for a moment.

Hu Guang was not angry when he watched them from arguing to taking action. He was afraid that the ministers below would all speak silently like clay Buddhas.

The chief assistant Wen Tiren scolded first: "What are you two doing? Are you reading the books of sages in vain? This is the imperial court, and the matter is discussed. Who will try it out again?"

Zhou Yanru was dissatisfied and immediately replied: "It's Xue Dazui who wants to do it!"

"You thief, you don't understand the sufferings of the people, you will only talk nonsense in the court, you should fight!" Xue Guoguan took the initiative and immediately refuted.

It seemed that Wen Tiren's prestige was not enough to intimidate them, so Hu Guang had to speak and shout loudly: "Enough!"

As soon as he spoke, no one dared to say anything else, and they bowed to listen to the holy wishes.

Hu Guang waited for a while before slowly saying: "The implementation of food control nationwide is not feasible, but as Xue Qing said, the drought in the northwest will be prolonged and will last for many years. This matter must not be underestimated."

After stopping, he looked at Zhou Yanru and continued, "I think the current food problem must be taken seriously enough, so as to send important officials from the court to Huguang for supervision as Zhang Qing said."

Speaking of this, he named Zhou Yanru and Taoism: "Zhou Qing, you are from the south and are familiar with the situation there. I need you to set off immediately and go to Huguang to supervise the food matter. Remember, first, you must let the local area collect grain as soon as possible; second, you cannot hurt the local area, and you must not have a shortage of food in the local area to starve to death, which leads to civil unrest. How can you tell me the limit?"

"I obey the order!" Zhou Yanru was named, so he had no choice but to receive the order.

Hu Guang turned his head to look at the quiet Silijian, and said to Cao Huachun, the eunuch of Bingbi and the admiral of the East Factory, "The Jinyiwei is not in sufficient staff, and the East Factory also sent someone to investigate to see who dared to ignore the lives of the people and hoard food to make huge profits!"

"I obey the order!" Cao Huachun agreed immediately.

After Hu Guang ordered these things, he remembered something and turned to the chief assistant Wen Tiren and said, "No matter how the grain transfer in the south and the north is transferred, it will eventually be replenished from one place in the Ming Dynasty to another place. In the next twenty years, there will definitely be insufficient food. Therefore, I asked the Honglu Temple to send people to spread the things in the South China Sea to let them pay tribute to food. We must pay more attention to this matter. Wen Qing, the cabinet will follow up and participate in this matter. We must let the countries in the South China Sea try to pay more tribute to the country to alleviate the worry of food shortage in the Ming Dynasty!"

There is still some afternoon, so I'll go for dinner first.
Chapter completed!