December, the fifth year of Taiping.

This year, famine occurred in many places in the Song Dynasty. Although the imperial court had made arrangements, there were still some omissions.

A man came to the cabinet yamen. Li Xingde, the governor of Caozhou, came from afar without asking for food from the court for anything else.

He was waiting in the cabinet early in the morning, but one of the seven cabinet ministers was gone. Li Xingde was extremely anxious and could not find them.

At noon, Zhao Puxing hurried into the hall. Li Xingde quickly stood up when he saw it.

"Mr. Zhao..."

Li Xingde wanted to call Zhao Pu, but Zhao Pu seemed to have not heard it. At this time, the name "Old Master" had become popular, and it was the beginning of Guo Hao.

Seeing that Zhao Pu ignored him, Li Xingde hurriedly chased after him. The seven cabinets were busy counting the country's situation for a year and were about to report to Guo Hao before the New Year.

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhao..."

Li Xingde was anxious. The 100,000 people in Caozhou were waiting for him to help him. If he delayed one more day, many people might starve to death, so he could not delay.

As a last resort, Li Xingde grabbed Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu stopped and looked back at Li Xingde.

"Mr. Zhao, you must help. Caozhou is famine, and 100,000 people are waiting for me. When will the court allocate food?"

Hearing this sentence, Zhao Pu's face darkened and he said in a deep voice: "If you want food, go to the Ministry of Revenue. What are you doing when you come to me?"

Li Xingde smiled bitterly when he heard this, and said, "The officials have already found them, but Lord Shi said that Caozhou does not lack food. No matter how the officials explain, he just doesn't believe it!

Lord Zhao, you... did you promise us that you would pay back the borrowed food, but it has been so long since I really couldn't stand it!"

Li Xingde wanted to continue talking, but Zhao Pu suddenly interrupted him and said, "Stop!"

Then he looked around and saw that there was no one around. Zhao Pu's face eased: "Mr. Li, you also know the situation at that time. Your Majesty needed a large amount of food to conquer Liaodong. It was too late to transport it from the south for a while, so he could only raise it from the local area.

The food the court owes you will pay back, but now there are natural disasters everywhere, and it is difficult for the court to deal with it.

As a governor, you can't care about everything. The court gives you so much salary every year, isn't it just for you to solve the problem?

Okay, I have something to do. If you have anything to do, go find Lord Shi. If he doesn’t give it to you, you can find a way yourself!"

After Zhao Pu said that, he turned around and left. Li Xingde was stunned. His mind was blank and he had no food. What should the people of Caozhou do?

The court actually had a warning about natural disasters. Guo Hao had never been worried about food problems due to the introduction and improvement of grain crops.

But everything is always unexpected. Guo Hao needed a large amount of food and grass to conquer Liaodong. He had dispatched some from the local area before, but it was still not enough.

Later, when the Song and Liao countries fought decisively, Guo Hao ordered that food and grass be guaranteed, so the cabinet decided to use the food from the Shandong provinces, and the two princes agreed to this decision.

Not only Caozhou, but also Dengzhou, Laizhou and other prefectures and counties, the grain warehouses were almost hollowed out. I thought it would be filled with bumper harvests next year, but I didn’t expect that Shandong had a severe drought, and some areas had no grain harvests.

Guo Hao was unaware of this matter, and the two princes were sent to the border again. Wang Pu was appointed as a soldier because of the prince's affairs, and no one in the cabinet dared to stand up at this time.

Shi Xizai, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, knew about it, but he didn't dare to give food. The six ministries were under the jurisdiction of the cabinet, and Guo Hao was under the jurisdiction of the cabinet.

What Guo Hao didn't know must be the intentional concealment of the cabinet. At this time, the Ministry of Revenue transfers food will definitely alarm Guo Hao. If Guo Hao gets angry, many people will be involved.

Originally, Zhao Pu and Wang Pu were not all the same people, but Guo Hao agreed to the conquest of Liaodong, so he voted at the beginning, and Chen Xuan was the same.

That night, Zhao Mansion, in the study room.

"Mr. Zhao, Li Xingde has found the capital. If this continues, his Majesty will know sooner or later. I think we should tell His Majesty!"

Zhao Pu frowned and said, "The two princes were demoted because of the dispute over the throne, but it is only temporary. If he leads the army in person, there must be reliable people in the court.

So the two princes will come back sooner or later, at least one will be there. The two princes decided on this matter at the beginning. If we inform Your Majesty at this time, what would Your Majesty think of them?"

Zhao Pu said this and paused for a moment and continued: "We should make less trouble in such a lot of trouble."

Moreover, Your Majesty has reminded us before that it is difficult for all states in Shandong to avoid such a thing. Why is Li Xingde the only one who comes to see him?"

Yes, many places have difficulties, but only Li Xingde came to the capital alone. The cabinet had known his purpose for a long time, so naturally he would not pay attention to him.

Li Xingde wanted to submit a memorial, but when he reached the cabinet, he was stopped. Li Xingde was unable to submit a letter and could not see Guo Hao, so he had to worry.

Although Chen Xuan felt that this was a bit inappropriate, he had been an official for many years and understood the rules of the officialdom, so this matter could be big or small.

If Li Xingde knew how to do things, there was no need to come to the capital. He just needed to borrow food from surrounding prefectures and counties, which might be able to resolve the crisis.

But Li Xingde doesn't know how to do things, and it's all about Zhou Zhi. No one knows him in the Shandong area. He is famous for being honest. It is difficult to gain a foothold in the officialdom, so no one is willing to help him.

Guo Hao could not do everything in his own hands, and the construction of medical colleges and other institutions had already occupied most of his energy.

Zhao Pu is right. Guo Hao really needs help. If his two sons cannot be used, he can only hand them over to the minister.

As soon as Zhao Kuangyin took office, he received a lot of errands. The rest of the cabinet were as busy as ever. No one took it seriously, and the people of a state were not that important.

This is the feudal dynasty. Even if Guo Hao is willing to change, it is not so easy. In this era when news is underdeveloped, it is difficult for people below to hide it and know everything.

The six people in the cabinet reported on their work as usual, and Guo Hao didn't doubt anything. The most terrifying thing was Qiunan and Ang Lee. They learned about the situation in Shandong, but did not tell Guo Hao either.

So the entire Song Dynasty knew that Shandong's famine was a big famine, and Guo Hao didn't know it. He thought that the year had passed like this, but unexpectedly something happened at this time.

On that day, it was snowing heavily in Bianliang. San Dezi walked in, first slapped the snow on his body, then tidied up his clothes, and walked to Guo Hao.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's Tutor, and the Minister of Rites, Lord Zhang Zhaozhang, have passed away."

"What?"

Guo Hao was reading a book around the stove at this time. When he heard the news, he put down the book, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why did Mr. Zhang leave so suddenly? There was no news in advance."

"When I go back to your Majesty, according to my understanding, Lord Zhang suffered a serious illness in spring and almost went there. In the end, Doctor Ding took action, which saved his life.

Since then, Lord Zhang has been in poor health and has written a letter to His Majesty and refused to agree. The old man is grateful to Your Majesty for his gratitude for knowing his favor, so he has persisted until now."

Guo Hao was moved when he heard this. This is to devote himself to his whole life and die. Guo Hao didn't look carefully in the court.

For some older ministers, Guo Hao takes care of them as long as he can, but he thinks it is difficult to choose officials. These old people are treasures.

But time is unforgiving, and what should come will always come. Zhang Zhao is a famous scholar in history and a rare true scholar in this period.

Guo Hao asked him to be the crown prince's tutor, but he didn't have time to teach the crown prince a day. Instead, Zhang Zhao ran around for the court every day.

“What a pity…”

Guo Hao suddenly said this. Sandezi didn't understand why, so he stood aside and didn't dare to ask. He was thinking about Guo Hao's meaning in his heart.

"Forget it, I'll go for the New Year. I'm afraid it's not easy for his family. I'll make arrangements and I'll go and see him off."

"yes."

Sandezi agreed to make arrangements. One day after the day, Guo Hao took all the civil and military officials to pay homage to Zhang Zhao.

When they arrived at the Zhang Mansion, Zhao Kuangyin and other ministers arrived. Guo Hao got out of the car. Zhang Zhao's eldest son Zhang Bingtu brought his family and wore filial clothes to greet Guo Hao.

"I am looking for your Majesty. Your Majesty can come to see my father. I am really..."

Zhang Bingtu said even more, and Guo Hao waved his hand, indicating that he didn't have to be too polite, saying, "It is really rare that Mr. Zhang can study in troubled times but he is dedicated to learning.

At the last moment of his life, he was still working for the court. I am sorry for him and cannot write it up. This character represents my guilt."

After saying that, someone handed over a scroll, and Zhang Bingtu respectfully took it, and saw eight big words on it: Devote all his life and die.
Chapter completed!