"If a husband talks to you, the matter of the emperor and the three princes" [Chen Liaoweng's story]
Weiyang Palace, Qingliang Palace.
After a loud announcement, the emperor stood up and watched his ministers off according to etiquette. After watching Dong Cheng leave, he did not sit down in a hurry, but looked at the locust tree outside the palace leisurely: "Mr.
How sincere are your words?"
Xun You also stood by the side. Hearing the words, he turned around, cupped his hands and said, "Sincerely, there is no difference."
This was originally a tacit understanding between the emperor and Huang Wan, each getting what they needed. Dong Cheng kept saying that he would have a hand in it. The emperor didn't say anything, but he got twice the result with half the effort. However, according to Xun You,
It is said that Dong Cheng’s intentions are not pure.
"I have worked so hard for Wu Shuo, but I don't believe it." The emperor breathed a sigh of relief and fiddled with his sleeves with his slender fingers: "Not to mention Wu Shuo's character, just his personality, just what he did.
Nothing like this has ever happened." As he spoke, he chuckled and shook off his sleeves to cover his hands: "You want to cover it up, do you think he can hide it from me?"
"Of course there is no wiser person than Your Majesty." Xun You replied in a low voice, with a hint of meaning: "Dong Gong has been a lot more generous in recent years. I remember that at the time, his relationship with Huang Gong, Ma Gong and others was not very harmonious. Maybe, Dong Gong himself
I have no intention of hiding anything from His Majesty."
The hall was quiet for a while, and the birds that had drunk enough rain were chirping crisply in the courtyard, which seemed particularly long across the towering palace.
"The position of Shangshu Ling cannot be left idle for too long." The standing emperor finally responded. He stretched out his sleeves and sat back on the couch. He seemed not to have noticed Xun You's words: "Since he has the intention and there is no other suitable candidate now, just bother
When Xunjun went to deliver the imperial edict, he asked his servant Wu Shuo to take over as the minister, which can be regarded as a follow-up to the throne."
"I promise." Xun You's expression did not change, and he lowered his head in response. His slightly closed eyebrows quietly lost half of their sharpness as he lowered his head.
After agreeing to the promise, Xun You did not leave in a hurry, but still stood where he was, seeming to listen respectfully.
"Hongnong Prefect Gao Yu has a memorial." The emperor suddenly said, and waved his hand to Xun You, instructing him to sit back on the couch: "It is said that those locusts that have not been caught are flying over Hangu Pass in groups, and there are several locusts in the territory.
There are no survivors. He has sent a quick message to inform the former general, reminding Henan, Hanoi, Yuzhou and other places to take precautions in advance. Presumably, after some time, they will all have reports of the disaster, but there is no information about the extermination of locusts.
As a rule, the remaining locust swarms should not cause much trouble to the former general and others."
One of the biggest characteristics of locusts is their high mobility. They can eat up all the crops in one place in just a few days, and then fly dozens of miles away overnight. People who hunt them are often tired of running around, and it is difficult to catch them all.
.This time Guanzhong was united, and locust hunters came in person to guide the people in the locust extermination work. Except for those who were killed, many locusts mostly flew eastward. They also flew from the Liangzhou area.
If the imperial court's execution and related policies in Guanzhong could be strictly followed, these "remnant soldiers" who had fled would not be a concern.
"The people of Guanzhong deeply feel your majesty's benevolence and kindness for the people, so they are willing to catch and eat locusts as ordered." Xun You, however, did not have an optimistic attitude. He shook his head and sighed softly: "And Hanoi, Henan
, Yuzhou and other places are in dilapidated condition, and people's hearts are scattered. The officials there are so cunning, how can the people dare to imitate the people in Guanzhong and enthusiastically exterminate the locusts? What's more, this drought not only occurs in Guanzhong, but also in Yanzhou, Henan and other Central Plains places.
, Bora... The prefectures and counties in Kanto that have finally settled down are going to suffer again."
"Xu Qiu, Liu Ai and others are honest and upright, have political voices, and will not aggravate the situation. Most of the Henan area is composed of civilian and military villages. This time the drought locusts, the Guanzhong farmland did not suffer much damage, all thanks to
The villagers work together, and the villagers in Henan must also do the same." The emperor said softly, and suddenly smiled, with a hint of schadenfreude in his tone: "Henan and Yuzhou are not the heart of the imperial court at the moment, and they are not a temporary priority... but
If the locust swarm goes east, it will definitely enter the Yanzhou area, and I don’t know if it can cross the river..."
Xun You's eyelids twitched, and he suddenly seemed to connect with something.
The censor, Cheng Huandian, dared to blame himself. Regardless of his personal face, he fully supported the emperor in severely punishing Hou Wen and others, and asked the emperor to re-instate the former censor Dong Fen who exposed Hou Wen's illegal affairs. Dong Fen initially provoked and impeached Jia because of his upright temperament.
Xu was dismissed by the emperor and retired to Hongnong Township. This time he reappeared in the public eye and was appointed as the Censor of the Censor. His popularity in the Censor's Office was almost as strong as that of Zhongcheng Huandian, which attracted people's attention.
With the support and cooperation of all parties, Hou Wen, Luo Boyan and others were executed one after another. Most of them were executed in public in Dongxi City, their property was confiscated, and their descendants and clans were scattered and exiled to farmland in Wudu, Longxi, Anding and other counties. Luo Boyan was convicted because of his meritorious service.
He was exempted from the death penalty. After Wu Shuo officially took over as Shangshu Ling, he was eager to establish a foothold in Shangshu and perform a deed. He paid special attention to this case and not only sentenced a series of Jingzhao powerful people, but also even
The powerful people who rushed to Jingzhao from Feng Yi to sell grain and grass were also implicated.
Wu Shuo was very good at inviting buyers. He didn't wait for the emperor to mention it, but he took the initiative to ask the criminals to confiscate the criminal's property and divide it into four categories: money, property, grain and land, and allocate it to Shuiheng Duwei, Shaofu, and Taicang.
, Diannong and other departments.
His allocation was completely in compliance with the regulations. Others knew that he did it intentionally, but they could not find any mistakes at all. Zhou Zhong, the captain of Shuiheng, could use the old money collected by the powerful to mint new money, speed up the implementation of the new money, and make cloth and silk
Hoarding serves as an alternative currency; Zhang Chang, the young governor, can sort the property and treasures into categories and send them to the palace; Taicang orders Wang Jiang and Junshu orders to Mi Zhu, and Pingzhun orders Jia Xu and others to distribute the grains and grains that have been managed by the powerful for more than ten years.
Relief is guaranteed; and the fifth patrol of the Farming Order can plan these fields as farmland.
Every participating department can gain benefits, and it ensures that almost all forces are favored. It can be said that everything is put to good use and everyone is satisfied. Those who were originally more advantageous and more virtuous than him were squeezed out by means of him.
Competitors such as Chen Ji and Pei Mao, who had become ministers and had some criticisms, mostly stopped at this time and no longer had any dissatisfaction.
Even the emperor looked at Wu Shuo in a different light.
"This time there are merchants who take advantage of the calamity year to hoard and exploit the common people. Although the court imposes strict laws and severe punishments, if there is no set of rules and regulations, the merchants will pursue profits instead of righteousness, which will cause trouble again in the future." On this day, the emperor held a Chengming meeting.
At the meeting of the ministers in the palace, after almost speaking his mind, he looked around and called the names: "Shang Shuling has been worrying about this matter for the past few days. Can you give me some advice?"
Wu Shuo shook his sleeves, left the table, went to the atrium to worship, and said calmly: "Mencius once said, 'If you don't follow the rules, you can't make a square circle.' After Luo Boyan and others were punished, the other merchants were disturbed and did not dare to open the market with confidence.
They are afraid that the price of their grain will be too high, which is not in line with the government's wishes, and will make the same mistakes as Luo Boyan and others. Now that Luo Boyan and other wealthy merchants are being questioned, the livelihood of the common people in the East and West markets is related, and the court should formulate new regulations to prevent the slightest change and stabilize people's hearts."
Everyone did not answer his words for a while, knowing that he had something to say.