The Prodigal Son’s Happy Life - Chapter 434

[Chapter 434: Spend tea time studying]

Emperor Chu heard this, he nodded, as if he had expected it, and did not have any big reaction.

Regarding Liu Qing, he didn’t mention it at all. He just said lightly: “That’s good.”

After saying that, he looked at another civil servant whom Fang Xiu didn’t know and said, “This is the one I just told you. Yes, Xin Anbo, the policy paper I showed you before was written by him during the provincial examination.

He is an all-rounder. He not only knows how to govern the country, but also knows how to do business.”

The first two The first sentence may indeed be a compliment, but the following sentence is a bit ridiculing.

When the civil servant heard this, he looked at Fang Xiu, looking a little surprised.

In his impression, people who can write such policies should at least have rich experience. Unexpectedly, such a young person is

a bit too much.

“Your Majesty, you are ridiculous. I am just taking the time for others to drink tea.” Use it for studying. “

Use other people’s tea time for studying?

When Emperor Chu and the other two civil servants heard this, they were slightly startled, and then the expressions on their faces became a little strange.

Especially Emperor Chu.

He knew what kind of person Fang Xiu was.

If someone else had said this, it would have been somewhat credible, but if he had said it, it would have been like nonsense.

“Ahem!”

Emperor Chu coughed twice, looked at Fang Xiu, and said, “This is Zhou Nan, the governor of the North Central Plains Road. I asked you to come here mainly to discuss the famine in the Three Central Plains Roads.

I know, Although you have never been to the Central Plains, you are quite familiar with the situation in the Central Plains. Therefore, if you have any ideas, you can put them forward.”

Fang Xiu was surprised when he heard this. .

Unexpectedly, the guy in front of me was a military governor.

The Jiedushi was not the Jiedushi of the previous Tang Dynasty, where An Lushan sat.

Compared with the Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty, the power of the Jiedushi of the Chu State was much smaller. The most important thing was that they had no military power.

He is only responsible for the administration of one place.

Just like the prefect and county magistrate of the state capital.

Because the Gyeonggi area is quite special, there is no military envoy.

Therefore, this Zhou Nan was the first Jiedu envoy that Fang Xiu saw.

“I obey the decree!”

Fang Xiu cupped his hands and said.

Emperor Chu nodded, looked at Zhou Nan, and asked: “I have seen memorials submitted from various places, and the descriptions of the disaster in the Central Plains are different.

Some say it is not serious, and it only needs Jiangnan East Road to support some grain reserves, and it can be saved It is also said that it is a time of life and death

.

In the Three Roads of the Central Plains, all ten houses are either deserted or become bandits, or they have left their homes and become refugees.

Let me ask you, please answer truthfully, what is the situation in the Three Roads of the Central Plains? “

When Zhou Nan heard this, the expression on his face became a little heavy. He stood up and walked to the middle.

Stand upright and bow deeply.

Then, he said in a deep voice: “I dare not deceive Your Majesty. I don’t know much about the situation on the Central Plains West Road and the Central Plains South Road.

However, the Central Plains East Road has indeed reached a moment of life and death.

Even if the imperial court allocates relief food, It’s just a drop in the bucket and it doesn’t help.

On the way to Beijing, what I saw and heard was not only empty houses, but also some villages have become empty villages. Except for some wild dogs on the roadside, there is no living thing. “

The Emperor of Chu heard. After saying this, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked at Zhou Nan, who had a heavy face, and said in a deep voice: “I didn’t ask the state governments to open warehouses to release grain, and I also asked the imperial court to send relief grain. In addition, I also have disaster relief funds. Silver.”

Having said this, he looked at Tang Zhengtong, the Minister of Household Affairs on the other side.

He was mainly responsible for this disaster relief.

Upon seeing this, Tang Zhengtong stood up in a hurry and said with a little fear: “Your Majesty, all the food and money spent by the Ministry of Household for disaster relief are recorded in the book. There is absolutely no deduction. I dare to use my own head as a guarantee!”

Chu When Huang heard this, he looked at Zhou Nan again.

At this moment, Zhou Nan looked troubled, as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Chu had a look of anger on his face. He stood up, walked in front of him, looked at him, and said coldly: “Do you know why I summoned you back to the capital?”

Zhou Nan hesitated and answered. He said: “Because your Majesty cares about the people and wants to know about the disaster in the Central Plains.”

“There are three military governors in the three provinces of the Central Plains, as well as the prefects and county magistrates in each state. Why didn’t I announce it, but only you!?”

Emperor Chu took a few steps in front of him and his voice became a little high-pitched.

When Zhou Nan heard this, he gritted his teeth and said, “Because I and Your Majesty are childhood friends, Your Majesty trusts me.”

When Emperor Chu heard what he said, the anger on his face softened slightly.

However, just for a moment, he became even more angry.

“I thought you didn’t know!”

He looked at Zhou Nan, who had his head lowered in front of him, and said angrily: “Lift your head and look at me!

I want to ask you, do you still remember that three years ago, when I sent you to the Central Plains East Road, you How did you tell me?” When

Zhou Nan heard this, a look of guilt appeared on his face, and he replied: “Being an official should bring benefits to others.”

After hearing this, Emperor Chu glanced at him and said coldly: “Do you remember? , Since you remember, why don’t you dare to tell me the truth?”

After hearing this, Zhou Nan’s expression changed, he gritted his teeth, raised his eyes, and looked at Emperor Chu.

“Your Majesty, there is not much food stored in the granaries of each state. Even if the granaries are opened to release grain, they will not be able to release much food.

If it is just like this, even such a small amount of food will rarely reach the hands of ordinary people. .

Most of the food went to the cellars of the local gentry.

They kept it, even if there were people dying of hunger outside, they just waited for the price of food to get higher and higher day by day. As

for money,

the court allocated a lot of money, but now the problem in the Central Plains is not a lack of money, but that

no one in the area is willing to sell food .

From top to bottom, neither the Jiedushi nor the local gentry and merchants were willing to sell grain to the people.

It was a disaster year, and grain was worth more than money. The gentry and merchants knew this truth better than anyone else.

They don’t care about the people dying of hunger or the suffering of the people. As long as they can make money, they are willing to do anything. Businessmen value profits over justice. This is an eternal truth,

even if the ministers understand it with emotion and act with reason, they will do anything. There is no way to change their reasoning!”

After hearing this, Emperor Chu’s expression became extremely cold.

It looks a little better than the previous anger, but only those who are familiar with him know that

this expression shows that Emperor Chu’s anger at this moment has reached the extreme!

(End of chapter)