"When a king is approaching the end of his twelfth lunar month, it is not enough to express danger. He pretends to go to bed and wait for dawn, and eats on the last day of the day. How can he be afraid of disaster?" [Baopuzi·Jiebao]
Since the beginning of the year, there has been no rain in Guanzhong for several months, and drought has become a problem. There has also been a swarm of locusts in Liangzhou, and Sanfu and other places in Gyeonggi have been wreaked havoc. Even though the imperial court has been opening warehouses to provide relief and consuming countless amounts of food and grass every day, there are still lamentations everywhere.
The emperor knew that disaster relief was not a temporary success, so he had been taking matters into his own hands for half a year, guarding against arrogance and impetuosity, and trying his best to maintain a stable situation. However, an incident that had been widely circulated recently made the emperor's mood become extremely bad.
Because this year not only drought locusts occurred, but there was also a solar eclipse at the end of June. Although the sunlight was only dim that time, the people inevitably panicked. This panic was deliberately channeled and suppressed until another day.
It was only when news reached Chang'an that two earthquakes occurred in the southeast that really aroused everyone's uneasiness.
Natural calamity, the sin lies in the holy bow.
The people at the lowest level only care about the basic needs of food and clothing. Since the emperor is benevolent and cares for the people, there is nothing wrong with his morality, but he can't stop people from thinking about the worst. As the news of the earthquake spread, some emperors in Chang'an gradually lost their moral integrity and were unworthy of it.
He is the master of human beings, so he causes God to blame him.
As soon as the news came out, the public opinion could not be suppressed immediately. There was a lot of discussion among the common people in Chang'an, and there were also many underprivileged people, and cunning merchants were adding fuel to the flames. Jing Zhao Yin Hu Miao, Chang'an Ling Wang Ling was very anxious, and several memorials were played in a day, even in Huayin and other places.
There were bandits who killed people, set fire to them, robbed more than a dozen villages, and threatened thousands of people, which made people's hearts become increasingly unstable.
Of course, no definite reply was received after these memorials were sent to the Weiyang Palace. They just urged Hu Miao and others to find out the source and appease the people. Because compared with the memorials written by Hu Miao and others, the emperor's desk was full of excuses for disasters and unusual events.
It is even more troublesome to make grand speeches and ask the emperor to reflect on himself, release prisoners, and grant amnesty to the world.
'...Locusts are caused by greed and harshness.'
""Jing Fang Zhan" says: If a ruler fails to benefit those below him, drought will occur. If not saved, locusts will infest the valley... Please offer sacrifices to the gods of mountains and rivers and those who can make clouds and rain...'
‘…The country is experiencing a severe drought, and unjust prisoners have been imprisoned. I wish Your Majesty to express your love of loyalty and forgiveness, guard the unjustly imprisoned, record the prisoners, rectify the unjust prisoners, and order them to be imprisoned to atone for their crimes.’
"Emperor Xiaoling passed away at a young age, and I succeeded to the throne at a young age. Since Jianzuo, I have been busy with my work, thinking about restoring the prosperous age and benefiting the people. Therefore, I have thinned out the taxes, lightened the corvee, and eliminated the irritants. I want to make the people cultivate their careers.
I dare to be lazy for one day. Today, Sanfu, Hongnong and other counties are suffering from drought. The crops are not harvested every year, and the people are hungry. I am very afraid. I have repeatedly issued edicts to provide relief and opened large warehouses. I have counted the previous generations, but no one has been as dedicated as me.
." After the emperor finished speaking lightly, he reached out and touched the pile of slips and memorials on the table. Suddenly he stretched out his hand and pushed it down with a crash: "There is a disaster in the sky, why should I be blamed!"
The emperor was also aggrieved. He obviously did not do any stupid things, but instead devoted himself to the mess of the Han Dynasty. It just happened to be a period of frequent disasters, so he had to bear such a big blame innocently. Why? If he hadn't happened to be sitting in the emperor's seat
Who is willing to work hard as a paper framer in your position?
"Your Majesty, calm down." From Taiwei Dong Cheng to Sikong Zhao Wen, all the ministers in the Chengming Palace kowtowed and said in a trembling voice: "We are all ministers..."
"It's none of your business!" The emperor stopped them coldly before they finished speaking. He was tired of hearing the same apology every time. The emperor slowly stood up from the couch and walked to the atrium step by step.
As he walked, he gently kicked the scattered letters on the ground with his toes: "I am still too lenient, causing others to neglect their business and just stare at some misfortunes and slander the imperial court all day long! In the future, such memorials will not be allowed to be submitted to the emperor.
!”
Dong Cheng immediately responded: "Wei Wei! What your Majesty said is true. Since you took charge of the government, you have rested in Guanzhong, opened up Yongliang, and regained the land. All these achievements are visible to the world! If you do this, you will be punished by God.
, I really don’t know why.”
Ma Rixi looked at Dong Cheng coldly, feeling unhappy, and seemed to want to argue with him. Suddenly, he heard a cold snort from the emperor, and he quickly leaned down.
With a cold face, the emperor seemed to be strolling among a pile of memorials. Suddenly, as if he had found something, he personally bent down, picked up a memorial from the ground, and threw it to Zhao Wen: "This memorial is written by
It makes sense, you can read it."
Zhao Wen did not dare to be negligent, so he quickly reached out and picked up the memorial. After a brief glance, he straightened up and read: "... I heard that it is the right thing to be rewarded with disasters for doing evil; disasters come for doing good, and fortune comes."
Also. His Majesty has been on the throne for a long time, and he regards the people as his sons. The unfortunate disasters are due to luck, not the loss of virtue. In the past, when Chengtang encountered drought, he reduced his control and lost food, and then the rain fell; when the ancestors suffered from drought, they were scattered.
Accumulation, but years of prosperity..."
The memorial was written by the doctor Laimin, and combined the disasters into coincidences, which not only freed the emperor from trouble, but also saved the three princes from unnecessary disasters.
"This is true knowledge and insight." The emperor turned around with satisfaction. The emperor knew clearly who was standing behind Lai Min. After so many days of silence, they finally made some movement and planned to come up from the depths. Since it was the other party
The emperor naturally accepted the step that was sent up on his own initiative: "I remember when I came to Shu, I told Pei Jun and others to surrender to Yizhou and make great achievements. Now I only serve as a doctor in Guang Luxun, which is not enough. Now I am promoted to
Huangmen Shilang, serving on the left and right."
This unusual appointment made Ma Rixi frown greatly. It was no secret that Lai Min was related to Huang Wan. What worried him was that Huang Wan, who was finally ousted from power last year due to disaster, seemed to have another
There are signs of a resurgence, and the emperor’s actions indirectly prove this!
Ma Rixi was hesitant for a moment. From a public perspective, he said that he did not want to see the emperor's prestige plummet due to this incident, which would cause the court to lose the corresponding authority to control Guandong. However, from a selfish perspective, Ma Rixi said
He also eagerly hoped to take this opportunity to force the emperor to compromise. As long as there was a slight setback and the emperor restrained his temper, he would no longer be radical in implementing the New Deal and would not listen to the objections of his subordinates. Now that he had Lai Min's advice, Ma Rixi felt that
Another worry immediately arose, that is, whether to stop Huang Wan again.
Blocking Huang Wan's comeback satisfies his selfish motives but goes against his public conscience, which makes Ma Rixi hesitate.
Yang Qi's thoughts on the side were simpler than Ma Rixi's, and he had more opportunities: "Lai Min Shuzhu Zhengke can advertise Guanzhong to calm the minds of the scholars. However, despite this good advice, the people in Guanzhong have become panicked due to the disaster.
, since Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, it is your duty to appease people’s hearts.”
The emperor walked back to the couch, shook his wide sleeves, sat down slowly, and said: "Mr. Yang is right. Now the most important thing is the people's hearts. The people's hearts are tied to the drought locusts, so the drought locusts are the top priority at the moment. Hunting locusts
In recent days, we have been dispatched to various places, and local relief efforts have continued. All the imperial court has to do is pray for rain."
This is something that the emperor has taken the initiative to mention in the past half month, "praying for rain". Ma Rixi, Yang Qi and others couldn't help but prick up their ears and listen: "Last month, the imperial court issued an order to all drought-stricken counties to send households
Cao Cao cleaned the Sheji and prayed to the river gods, famous mountains, Daze and other places with gods, but it was a pity that there was no success. On that day, he ordered Tai often to pray to heaven and earth, ancestral temples, Sheji and other places, and used the government officials as rain messengers to participate in praying for rain.
If this fails, then the ministers and officials will perform the hurrah to pray for rain."