Dafeng Night Watchman-Chapter 590 - : Return of the King

The topic of this small court meeting was the "snow disaster". Since the beginning of winter, the temperature has dropped sharply.

Families that had been barely able to survive by tightening their belts were affected by the cold wave and had to spend more money to buy charcoal, cotton clothes and other supplies.

But for poor farmers, the annual income is so little, and they have to plan their food, clothing and other expenses tightly.

Spending money on buying charcoal and cotton clothes means no money to buy rice.

Many poor people did not survive this winter, and countless people were lost in hunger and cold.

The court received memorials from local governments one after another, which used "no one left in ten villages" to describe the terribleness of this disaster.

The Dali Temple Secretary immediately stepped out and bowed:

"Your Majesty, you can ask the Ministry of Revenue to mobilize money and grain for disaster relief. The people are short of food and clothing and cannot survive the winter. They will inevitably become refugees and bring disaster to the states.

"The people who are robbed by the refugees will also become refugees. If the disaster cannot be quelled as soon as possible, it may cause great trouble."

Before Emperor Yongxing spoke, the Minister of Revenue hurriedly stepped out and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty and there is really no extra money and grain for disaster relief. Please think twice."

Every year's disaster relief time is a storm that shakes the official hat for him, the Minister of Revenue.

Sure enough, the Ministry of Revenue Du Jieshizhong quickly stepped out to add fuel to the fire:

"Your Majesty, I want to impeach the Minister of Revenue for abusing his power for personal gain, embezzling and perverting the law, and sucking the marrow of the court with his cronies, resulting in an empty treasury."

The Minister of Revenue knelt down and shouted, "I beg for my bones!"

The corners of Emperor Yongxing's mouth twitched fiercely, and he looked down at the ministers expressionlessly.

Party strife, party strife!

To this day, there are still party strife!

It is you, a group of scholars who only know how to fight among yourselves, who have joined forces with the previous emperor to bring disaster to the people of Dafeng... Emperor Yongxing clenched his hands in his sleeves and smiled gently:

"I said yesterday that the disaster is serious. The court should be united as one to discuss countermeasures. My dear ministers, please calm down."

The Minister of Revenue and others immediately stopped fighting.

Emperor Yongxing nodded with satisfaction and said loudly, "How are the reserves in the charity granaries in various places?"

The Minister of Revenue said, "All the granaries have been opened for disaster relief. However, during the autumn harvest, the court fought with the Wushen Cult and was seriously injured. The grain and grass were requisitioned from various places that day. Therefore, the grain reserves in the charity granaries in various places are insufficient."

Emperor Yongxing thought for a moment and said, "What about the government warehouse?"

After the words fell, the officials in the hall looked at each other, and the Right Censor Liu Hong stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, you can't do that. If you want to stabilize the situation in various places and let the clerks and officials work normally, the government warehouse cannot be moved."

The charity warehouse is used for disaster relief in years of famine.

The government warehouse is used to pay salaries to officials.

If the government warehouse is moved and the court cannot pay salaries, it will be a real chaos in the world.

Emperor Yongxing's face sank: "What good plan does Liu Aiqing have?"

Liu Hong pondered and said, "The northern barbarians still owe the court countless furs, salt, and iron ore. Your Majesty can send envoys to the northern border to ask for them."

Emperor Yongxing's eyes lit up, and the officials below also talked about it, but saw Wang Shoufu walked out of the formation and bowed:

"This can't be done!"

The officials immediately refuted:

"Why not?"

"I think this plan of Mr. Liu is very good."

"Yes, Yaoman has herds of cattle and sheep, and countless furs, which can keep out the cold and solve the urgent needs of the court."

Wang Shoufu waited patiently for the officials to finish speaking, and then continued:

"The oath was drafted on that day by Xu Xinnian, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and supervised by me personally. It is written in black and white that the furs, cattle and sheep given by Yaoman to Dafeng will be in three years.

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"Now that the war has subsided for only two months, Yaoman is also in a state of disrepair and shortage of supplies. At this moment, we must make them fulfill the contract......"

Wang Shoufu did not continue, but the officials understood.

This is forcing Yaoman and Dafeng to turn against each other.

Emperor Yongxing was a little annoyed and asked, "What good plan does the Prime Minister have?"

Wang Shoufu sighed in his heart. Even if he did not turn around, he could feel the burning gazes behind him.

As the Prime Minister, there were some things he could not avoid, so he said in a deep voice:

"Although the national treasury is empty, there are rich merchants in and outside the capital, and even in the Central Plains. Your Majesty can call on the righteous people of the world to

donate."

Here it comes... The hearts of the officials sank.

In fact, there were rumors in the capital many days ago that Your Majesty wanted to call for donations to fill the empty national treasury and cut meat from them.

Emperor Yongxing was waiting for this moment and laughed:

"This method is very good. How do you think the Prime Minister should call for it?"

Prime Minister Wang said: "You should take the lead in donating money. I am willing to donate half of my family wealth to help the victims."

As soon as this was said, the officials in the hall were in an uproar.

Several members of the Wang Party and the former Wei Party responded immediately, saying that they would donate half of their family wealth to fill the national treasury like Prime

Minister Wang.

But more ministers took an opposing attitude.

"Your Majesty, this is not possible."

"We are penniless and barely make ends meet, how can we have wealth?"

"Merchants are after profits, asking them to donate is like cutting flesh, it will definitely

cause an uproar."

"The treasury is empty, it must not be publicized, if the Wushen Cult knows about it, there

may be war disasters. Internally, let the people know that the court is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, then the refugees will become bandits, and there will be endless

disasters."

When the emperor called for donations, Wang Shoufu took the lead in donating half of his wealth, and the officials responded greatly, and stood in the same camp tacitly.

Even if they were like fire and water on weekdays.

Emperor Yongxing raised his hand to calm the ministers' noise.

This is the imperial study, not the Golden Palace, and there are no eunuchs whipping and

scolding.

After the officials were quiet, he looked at the Dali Temple Secretary and said:

"Master Temple Secretary, what do you think?"

The officials present were all core figures of the parties. If they were dealt with, most of the

parties could be dealt with.

The Dali Temple Secretary is now the leader of the Qi Party, the only leader. If he nods, the Qi Party can be taken down, at least most of it.

"Your Majesty!" The Dali Temple Secretary stepped out and said in a sad voice:

"I have been an official for twenty years, working diligently, with clean hands. There is no ice

in the hot summer and no charcoal in the cold winter, but I can only barely make ends meet."

As he said this, he shook his hands, letting his wide sleeves slide down, revealing a pair of hands covered with chilblains.

"I am willing to sacrifice my life for the court, even until I die. But I pity my wife and children, and I don't want them to freeze to death on the street. If your majesty insists on doing so, I

will beg for my bones."

Old fox... Emperor Yongxing felt a pain in his head, and waved his hands quickly:

"Not so, not so..."

If this really happened, he would become a greedy emperor who forced officials to donate

money, causing ministers to resign, and his reputation would be tarnished, and history books

would record it again.

Well, it's not much better than the previous emperor.

Emperor Yongxing believed that such scholars would definitely write like this.

Because they were forced to donate.

Emperor Yongxing asked other ministers again, and encountered different soft nails.

Either crying poor or begging for bones.

The young emperor's face became more and more ugly, and he was in a dilemma, and finally

slammed the table.

"This is not okay, that is not okay, what's the point of keeping you in the court? Within three days, I want a perfect plan. If you can't come up with it, I will get out!"

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

The officials knelt down one after another.

The small court meeting ended early because of Emperor Yongxing's misbehavior and rage.

Wang Shoufu straightened his official hat, put his hands in his sleeves, and walked side by side with Wei Yuan's successor, the Right Censor of the Censorate and the leader of the night watchmen, Liu Hong, on the wide road paved with bluestone slabs.

The Meridian Gate was in front.

In the distance, there were guards standing guard and imperial guards patrolling. Wang

Shoufu's eyes were bored and chasing the imperial guards. After a moment, he retracted his gaze and said slowly:

"Your Majesty has exposed his weakness of loving reputation too obviously. How can he fight against these old foxes?

"Your Majesty is still too young."

"You have the heart to make the country strong, but your level is a little low." Liu Hong did

not hide his disdain.

Wang Shoufu took a breath of cold air, his nose turned red from the cold, and said lightly:

"You can learn these from immature means and lack of scheming. If it were the Fourth Prince,

he would not be much better than him."

Liu Hong said without thinking: "It's a pity that His Majesty Huaiqing is a woman." Wang Shoufu sneered: "The idea of Erlang's memorial to the court to call for donations was

given by His Majesty Huaiqing. Do you think I don't know?"

Liu Hong said frankly: "The Prime Minister has a keen eye." "Instead of asking merchants to donate separately, she asked His Majesty to mobilize the

ministers to donate as an example. She is quite far-sighted."

Wang Shoufu snorted, his face turned cold:

"Tell Huaiqing that if you want to try your own method in the future, don't use my future

son-in-law as a gun. His Majesty is bound to lose face because of this matter, and when the

time comes, he will inevitably vent his anger on Erlang."

Liu Hong did not speak.

The two walked side by side for a while, and then Wang Shoufu calmed down his anger and

said calmly: "The imperial treasury is empty, and the Ministry of Revenue can hardly continue. The reason

why Your Majesty did not touch the money and grain was to guard against the rebels in

Yunzhou."

Liu Hong said in a deep voice:

"But if the disaster is allowed to expand, the number of refugees will increase day by day, causing chaos everywhere, which is also what the rebels are happy to see. Misappropriation of military funds is exactly what the rebels want. If they do not embezzle, the rebels will still be

happy to see it.

"Although I have never dealt with Xu Pingfeng, I know that this person is very clever and makes people's scalps numb."

If the military pay cannot be paid during the war, the army will mutiny.

But regardless of the disaster, if the growth rate of refugees is not curbed, the situation will

become more and more chaotic, and the consequences of a fire in the backyard will be equally terrible.

"Your Highness Huaiqing can't do it either." Liu Hong sighed: "I thought that after the death

of the late emperor, the court would usher in a brand new era, but who knew it was a mess. "

Wang Shoufu looked into the distance, as if touched.

After a while, he said in a deep voice:

"If this plan is feasible, it can indeed solve the urgent problem. But she overlooked a key

point. If you want these old foxes and officials from all walks of life to willingly pay, you need someone who can control the situation.

"Looking at the court, the Supervisor is one, the late emperor is one, Wei Yuan and I together are one, and Xu Qiyan is one.

"The Supervisor is not in charge of the government, the late emperor and Wei Yuan are old

friends, and Xu Qiyan is traveling around the world. I asked Erlang a while ago, but there is no news about him so far. "

Liu Hong was shocked. It turned out that Wang Shoufu had seen through and understood this plan. When no one noticed, he had already secretly inquired and pondered.

Jingxiu Palace.

Emperor Yongxing arrived in a sedan chair and entered Jingxiu Palace surrounded by eunuchs.

He paused in the yard, took a deep breath, pinched his eyebrows, and made his expression less

serious and heavy.

With a slight smile on his lips, he walked through the yard, stepped over the threshold, and

saw his mother and sister who had been waiting for a long time. Concubine Chen, who had ordered the maids to heat up the dishes several times, gently

reprimanded:

"Although your majesty is in the prime of life, you must also pay attention to the dragon body

and don't work too hard."

"Don't worry, mother, there are many elixirs for nourishing the body in Lingbao Temple."

Lin'an waved his little hand, smiling like a flower:

"Brother Emperor, come and have a meal. "

Emperor Yongxing smiled, swept away the depression in the court, and began to eat with the help of the palace maids.

After eating a few bites, he chatted with his mother and sister about family matters. "A few days ago, I heard from Zhier that a little girl came to the Shangshufang, who came

from the residence of Prime Minister Wang. Changkang accidentally provoked the other party and was beaten.

"Zhier avenged his cousin and was also beaten with lumps all over his head." "Zhier" is the third son of Emperor Yongxing, ten years old this year. Changkang is the second son of the sixth brother of Lin'an. When Concubine Chen heard that her grandson was beaten, her expression changed

drastically, and her eyebrows were raised: "How come I didn't know about this?"

"I suppressed it."

"Why?"

Concubine Chen was suspicious and couldn't understand her son's behavior. Emperor Yongxing smiled bitterly: "That's Xu Qian'an's younger sister. Fortunately, she was

sent out of the palace that day and didn't even go to school."

Concubine Chen was silent immediately. Little did they know that the tutor had escaped.

After eating for a while, seeing that Emperor Yongxing was still unhappy, Concubine Chen

said softly:

"Your Majesty, is there any difficulty in the court?" Emperor Yongxing hesitated and sighed helplessly:

"The treasury is out of money, and the war has just ended. The granaries in various places are

insufficient and unable to provide relief to the victims. As a result, refugees are everywhere and turned into bandits.

"My country is in a mess."

He also talked about the setbacks he encountered when calling for donations. Emperor Yongxing pinched his eyebrows and said, "I didn't know how difficult it was until I

sat in this position. Everyone in the court is an enemy."

Although he had been on the throne for a short time, he had already felt many obstacles and

the powerlessness of being unable to control his political orders.

This was something he could not experience personally when he was the prince before.

The atmosphere at the table suddenly became solemn. Emperor Yongxing hurriedly said, "Don't think about these bad things, mother, I will toast

you a glass. "

After drinking, Emperor Yongxing picked some light topics, trying to make Concubine Chen laugh and make the family dinner more relaxed. Lin'an looked at his brother silently, feeling a little sad.

She used to think that the prince was obsessed with inheriting the throne, and many of his

ideas and concepts made her uncomfortable.

But time has changed, and after experiencing so many things, she has matured a lot.

The prince's obsession with the throne is so deep, in addition to his own desire for the throne,

most of the reasons are due to the mother and daughter. The mother was suppressed by the queen and couldn't raise her head, and she was often bullied by Huaiqing Negative, besides, the fourth prince has Wei Yuan's support in the court.

The prince brother just wants to fight for his reputation, so that his mother can hold her head

high in front of the queen, and let her show off in front of Huaiqing.

After lunch, Lin'an went to Dexin Garden under the pretext of taking a walk to digest the food.

As soon as he entered Huaiqing's territory, he saw a handsome and upright young official coming out.

His eyes were like stars, his lips were red and his teeth were white, and his cheek lines were

much tougher, making him look more masculine.

"Your Highness, your humble servant has seen you."

Xu Xinnian stopped and bowed.

"Why is Lord Xu here?"

Lin'an's affectionate and charming peach blossom eyes turned and looked up and down.

Xu Xinnian said, "I came to discuss academic matters with His Highness Huaiqing."

After a pause, he asked, "By the way, has my elder brother sent a letter to Your Highness

recently?"

When Lin'an heard this, she felt very resentful and snorted: "Who is your elder brother? I don't know him, so don't block his way."

The skirt fluttered as she passed by Xu Xinnian.

The dog slave had been away from Beijing for more than a month and had no news. It was

obvious that he didn't take her seriously.

She went straight to the inner courtyard and, led by the palace maid, came to the inner hall

and saw Huaiqing sitting behind the table drinking tea.

"I just met Xu Cijiu outside. What is he doing here?"

Lin'an asked.

Generally speaking, those who can be invited into the mansion by the princess are people with

extraordinary relationships.

Not to mention women, men are basically confidants.

But Lin'an knew that Xu Xinnian was the future son-in-law of the Wang family, and Wang

Shoufu was her emperor brother's man.

"Discussing knowledge."

Huaiqing perfunctorily asked, "What are you doing here again. "

She was not very welcoming to Lin'an. This sister was chirping like a sparrow. If you were not

careful, she would fly over and peck you in the face.

Although the fighting power was still as bad as before, Emperor Yongxing was on the throne after all.

Huaiqing would be a little timid.

Although Lin'an was not convinced of the defeat, he never complained to Emperor Yongxing.

Lin'an came to the table, lifted up the hem of his skirt and sat down, saying:

"Huaiqing, you have a lot of ideas. I would like to ask you a question."

Huaiqing nodded coldly. Lin'an told her about the donation, and frowned slightly: "What can you do to make those old foxes pay out of their own pockets?"

Huaiqing said lightly: "If others want to rob your wealth, will you give it or not?" Lin'an thought for a while and said: "It depends on who it is. If the dog slave asks me for

money, I will give it."

Huaiqing took a sip of tea, "So, it can't be done without close people. Your brother the

emperor asked for money, of course he couldn't get it."

Lin'an thought it made sense, and asked tentatively: "Coercion?" Huaiqing shook his head:

"This is the best way, but also the stupidest way. The stupidity is that it can't be done by your

majesty, otherwise there will be a lot of criticism from the court and the public, and there will

definitely be a huge backlash.

"But some people can do it, and the ministers can't do anything about it."

Lin'an's eyes lit up: "Who?"

Huaiqing was disappointed with his sister's wisdom again. It was really boring to play wit with her.

"What do you think of the supervisor?"

"It's okay..."

"What if it was the first warrior of Dafeng, the King of Zhenbei?"

"Yes, it's okay..."

"Who is the first warrior of Dafeng now?"

Lin'an finally understood, and suddenly realized it, and slapped the table with his little hand:

"You are talking about a dog slave!"

Then his face fell and he said disappointedly: "But he is not in the capital."