Chapter 18 The Wind and Clouds

The sunny weather that has lasted for a long time seems to come to an end. It is about to enter the season of July, and the heat is gradually fading away.

The sky is gray and lead-colored, covered with thick dark clouds.

The air is still very hot, and the huge palace is quiet without a sound.

Few people are so hot in the morning. Su Siman just came back from Jiaheng Hall. Walking on the road, there is always a heavy feeling of black clouds crushing the city, and there is a restlessness of death in silence without breaking out in silence. The palace seemed to be very peaceful and quiet, but she was secretly a little uneasy, as if there was a mountain rain coming all over the building.

She doesn't like this kind of weather, and the frenzy before the rainstorm is always difficult. She prayed for it to rain quickly to relieve the unimpeded heat.

In fact, not only did she have such a prayer, but the civil and military officials of the previous dynasty also had the same wish.

The emperor's eyes were writhe, frowned frequently, sat on the shining throne, shook his crown slightly, and was absently listening to the minister's report on the disaster situation in various places. A long time ago, the servant went down to receive the memorial, and Zhuo Chongde took his hands and presented them to the imperial court. The emperor looked at the memorial and unconsciously frowned more tightly.

"Your Majesty, the flood in the south of the Yangtze River has lasted for nearly a month. If the court does not resusp the disaster, I'm afraid something will go wrong. In several places such as Taixing, Yanzhou, Shazhou and Qingzhou, the floods were particularly serious. Mountain floods blocked roads and bridges, and the food outside could not be transported in and could not be helped. The grain storage in the city alone is not enough to support it. Nowadays, prices in the city are soaring, and people are having a hard time. The people's hearts are scattered, riots are growing, bandits are rampant, and the court will no longer provide policies for disaster relief. I'm afraid that the whole south will cause chaos. Taixing is the most serious. Sixty-seven of the large families in the city have been attacked by mobs and robbed food. Those mobs have also surrounded government officials and beaten local officials. Now even daily government affairs cannot be carried out normally. As the saying goes, food is the first necessity of the people. Nowadays, the people sell their sons and daughters. Even if they get money, they can't buy food. If it goes on like this, the situation will become more and more uncontrollable.

"And Qingzhou has completely become a base for bandits and mountain thieves to do wrong. Those bandits don't know where they got such powerful bow and crossbow equipment and rushed in disguised as refugees. They not only attacked and occupied the state government, but also defeated the officers and soldiers. They are still recruiting troops in the city, which seems to encourage the rebels to rebel! Long live, this matter is careless! Long live, please make a final order as soon as possible!"

The civil official standing in the hall is Fan Wenzhong, the imperial historian, one of the three princes. Although he is nearly old and his hair is gray, he is still powerful and his eyes are shight. At this time, the face was solemn and anxious.

"I heard what Fan Aiqing said." The emperor raised his hand and rubbed his temples. Recently, he has always received similar reports. He has listened to them thirty times. They are not tired of what they say, and he is tired of listening to them. I just talked about the drought in the north, and now there is a flood in the south. The territory is too wide, but there is such a bad thing. Even if there is no war, there are always so many places that will make some moths that people are not idle.

"I hope the emperor will make a holy decision!" Fan Wen knelt down.

Seeing this, a few ministers also knelt down one after another: "I hope you live as soon as possible!"

The emperor was made one head or two big and held his forehead and said, "I know, I will discuss it with the queen after the next dynasty." The emperor lost a winch to Zhuo Chongde.

Zhuo Chongde was very conscious, and immediately pulled the tip of the duck mulberry and said, "If you have something to report, you have nothing to do to retreat from the court--"

Before the words fell, Prime Minister Zhang Zhen held a board and knelt down a few steps out: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

The emperor was getting up to leave. Seeing this situation, he had to press down half of his buttocks and said unhappily, "What's the matter with Zhang Aiqing?"

"At present, there are disasters in the north and south, and heavy rain may fall in recent days. The drought in the north can probably ease, which is also a solution to the urgent need. However, I'm afraid that the situation in the south is even less optimistic, and the disaster relief is indeed expected to make a decision early. In addition, I hope that Your Majesty will follow the example of the Ming emperors and personally pray for the people.

"I have already ordered to cut the expenses of the harem, which is not enough?" The emperor spoke with green eyes, which appeared to be very unhappy. Disaster relief, you know how to call for disaster relief. How to do disaster relief without money? In the past few years, there have been endless external troubles, years of wars, and continuous disasters in recent years, the national treasury is not sufficient. The ten boxes of contributions stolen last year have only been recovered, and the people in Dali Temple are all rice buckets! The court has raised you for nothing! Look at you, one by one, with the salary of the court, if you don't do things well at the critical moment, you will only cry! I ordered the Ministry of Households to raise 500,000 taels of disaster relief funds half a month ago, and so far there has been no sign! In my opinion, it's not as good as our emperors and ministers to work together to help the disaster. Speaking of this, the emperor coughed and observed the reaction of the ministers below.

The ministers kowtowed and said, and the emperor spoke, but it was not their turn to intervene - although the emperor is not a person who can make decisions, at least he is also the emperor, and the king and minister are the monarchs and ministers. The etiquette that should be adhered to is still indispensable.

The emperor continued: "Since you are also aware of the importance of disaster relief, it's better for you to help the household department collect some money. As for how much money is paid, it is calculated according to the official rank and the number of people in the Aiqing's mansion. The specific matters will be decided after I have discussed with the queen, and this matter will be handled by the prince, and Prime Minister Zhang will assist.

The prince knelt on the ground and answered respectfully: "My son is obedient."

Zhang Zhen looked embarrassed and kowtowed: "I obey the order."

The ministers kneeling under looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes: when did the emperor become so wise!

"Well, by the way, as for the blessing of the people mentioned by Zhang Aiqing, I will think about it carefully. This matter will be decided after the heavy rain. That's all for today." The emperor got up and sent the ministers respectfully.

"Regress-Chao--" Zhuo Chongde's sharp and thin voice sounded again, brushing the dust, and the general manager's momentum was full of pinching, "Let's get up--"

Today's morning meeting is over.

Seeing the flame-like dazzling figure disappear from the hall, Prime Minister Zhang sighed unconsciously.

When is this? The emperor is still thinking about the camels that have paid tribute to the great food country. If it hadn't been for the Empress's wisdom to assist behind his back, this thousands of miles of rivers and mountains would have been shaken in the wind and rain. Looking at the current situation, the south is in deep water and fire. It is a newly conquered land. If you don't love the people well, you are afraid that there will be endless troubles in the future.

The emperor's attitude has changed so much today, but what's the reason? He thought about it secretly and didn't dare to take it lightly.