Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 602 Even Zhang Buyi Looks Like a Virtuous Minister

"Open the door!!"

"Open the door!!!"

An official stood outside the door, shouting viciously.

As the official knocked, the snow on the gate kept falling and fell on the official. The official was extremely dissatisfied, slapped the snowflakes on his body, blushed, and slapped the door in front of him again, "Open the door quickly! !"

With the roar of officials, the door was slowly opened.

A thin farmer came out. Even though it was winter, he was wearing very thin clothes, his lips were blue and purple, and he was trembling all over. Seeing his appearance, the officials pushed him directly into the courtyard Li, and immediately said to the people behind him: "It's here, there are six people, and two sets will be given away!"

A few soldiers came in with something and handed it directly to the farmer.

The official took out the booklet again, "Listen clearly, Your Majesty is merciful and bestows on the world a great gift. These are two sets of winter clothes specially given to you. You can see clearly what is written here. name!"

"I can't read."

"Then draw a circle!"

The man drew the circle tremblingly, and then pressed his fingerprints. The official grabbed the booklet in his hand a little rudely, "Someone will come to inquire soon. When the time comes, you can say that you received the clothes and give them to me." They look!!"

"I see."

"Walk!!"

The official led the people and was about to leave, the farmer realized that, hugging the thick winter coat in his arms, he rushed to the official, "Please stop, eat something at my house before leaving. We just made dinner."

"No! Remember, I didn't eat at your house!"

As the official said, he ignored this person and walked directly to the next door.

Holding the thick clothes, the farmer walked into the inner room with a smirk.

As soon as the door of the inner room was opened, a gust of wind rushed into the room. The wife who was holding two children trembled suddenly, and the farmer hurriedly closed the door.

"Is there corvée?"

"No, no. These are the winter clothes sent to us by the Holy Son of Heaven. There are two sets of woolen winter clothes!!!"

The man's face turned red, and he didn't know whether it was because of excitement or frostbite. He carefully placed the two sets of clothes in front of his wife. The two children reached out to take them curiously, but the man stopped them. The man and the woman groped. Wearing that winter coat, he looked a little disbelieving.

"Come on, I'll put it on for you"

The man hurriedly changed his wife into winter clothes. The wife smiled brightly, and the two children shouted: "I want it too!!"

The man hung the clothes on the two children, and the two children curled up in the clothes, playing and rolling on the bed.

The man and the woman looked at each other and laughed lightly.

In fact, Zhang Cang prepared for the winter of this year very early, as early as the spring. He turned a large amount of cotton transported from Shendu into winter clothes and stored them all.Therefore, he has several factories specializing in the production of winter clothes, which have been busy from spring to now. After Lu Lu sent cotton, the temple also has the ability to quickly weave. In the Changping warehouses in various places, besides food, there are actually a lot of them. The few winter clothes were all sent to various places by Zhang Cang after the completion of the work in the past. These are all first-hand preparations.

After the snow fell, relief efforts began quickly across the country.

Chao Cuo is still weaving and transporting in a steady stream. The censors from all over the country have taken action and began to supervise the implementation of officials. They supervise very strictly, but Chao Cuo's reputation is indeed very bad, and there are very few people. Officials dare to engage in corruption under the severe crackdown. In the past, corrupting ink might be exempted from nobles, but now corrupting ink must abandon the city, and it may bring the entire county and even the county to abandon the city. The supervision among officials is very tight. Eat and sit.

The same scene appeared in many areas. First of all, it was the evaluation of local officials, starting from the ri level, calculating how many people in their jurisdiction might not be able to survive this cold winter on their own, and then reporting it layer by layer, and finally The county magistrate is responsible for the distribution work in various places. The goal of everyone is very simple. To strive to prevent people from being frozen to death in the area under their jurisdiction within this year is good. Naturally, the officials must fully cooperate. No one knows that His Majesty is the most It's a good mouthful, as long as it can prove that this is a once-in-a-lifetime prosperous age, there will be no shortage of rewards from His Majesty.

Although the attitude of the officials may not be so good, although the winter clothes may not be available for one person, although there may still be corruption and false reports, many people are guaranteed to survive the winter because of the benevolent governance of the temple.

In Yanguo and other regions with extremely harsh climates, winter clothes pass by on the road one after another. Many people who have never seen a snow scene in their life finally have a piece of clothing that allows them to go out in winter.

The smoke rose slowly, and the laughter of the people came from all directions. Some children were wearing winter clothes that obviously did not fit, running around in the snow.

Many memorials also flew to the temple like snowflakes.

The officials were very excited. His Majesty was one step closer to the prosperous age he said, but the officials still felt a little regretful. Why did such a good thing happen to such a thief like Chao Cuo? ?

They really couldn't figure out why Zhang Xiang had to hand over such an important matter to Chao Cuo.

After Chao Cuo took charge of this matter, although the officials were reluctant to admit it, it did add a lot of color to his life.

They don't know how the historians record it. But most of them can imagine that Chao Cuo will appear in the history books as a wise and loving image, and his contribution will become undeniable.

Whenever I think that I am not the one who handles this matter, the ministers feel unspeakable bitterness in their hearts. If Xiang Zhang personally handles it, they will all recognize it, but why is it Chao Cuo?

In the past few days, Chao Cuo has been like a rooster returning from victory. No matter where he is, he always raises his head high and looks domineering.

He was in a pretty good mood, and he didn't even deal with the ministers for several days. He put all his energy on the local area. He found out three county magistrates who withheld their winter clothes without permission, and two of them liked to mention the three clans. Xiaoxiaole, because they confiscated more than 2000 winter clothes, completely angered Chao Cuo, and Chao Cuo went directly to punish his clan. But this proposal was met with fierce opposition from the officials, just because one of the county magistrates was surnamed Lu .They felt that Chao Cuo was too bold, and someone even told the Queen Mother about it.

When the queen mother learned of this, she was furious with Chao Cuo and was very angry.

Kill his clan? ?How is this enough!
The queen mother gave an order to kill the three clans directly.

The other one was sentenced to abandon the market because of the small amount of greedy ink. It is said that when he learned that he was not from the Zhu clan, he kowtowed in the direction of Chang'an excitedly.

When Chao Cuo enforced the law, he valued Lian Zuo the most. He not only dealt with the county magistrate, but also the county level, directly impeaching them for lax discipline.

All the ministers couldn't help feeling that this guy was born in the wrong age. If he was born a hundred years earlier, he might be a powerful prime minister under the command of the First Emperor.

The ministers have less confidence in the matter of defeating Chao Cuo.

Now that this fellow is in full bloom, how should he deal with it? ?

In Houde Hall, Liu Chang stretched out his hand and approached the stove in front of him. Zhang Cang sat in front of him, looking absent-minded.

Liu Chang roasted his hands, and couldn't help asking: "I really don't understand, why are you going to help Chao Cuo? You have always advised me to be wary of Chao Cuo."

"Why did I ever help him?"

"Giving such a great credit. Isn't this called helping??"

"It's not that he's the most suitable."

Zhang Cang said with a smile, as if he didn't have the slightest nostalgia for the great contribution Liu Chang said.

Liu Chang was silent for a moment, "Teacher, this is a meritorious service to the world. You see, Sima Xi's handwriting has started to convulse these days. If you can write down such a stroke, future generations will definitely worship you."

"Long. These are not what I want."

Zhang Cang shook his head, and he said with some nostalgia: "Whether it's making contributions or leaving a name in history, it's not what I want. What I want is very simple. I can bask in the sun every day, and there are so many beauties around me that I can eat meat for three meals." , can drink good wine once every five days, and live happily to 90 years old, which is enough."

Liu Chang grinned, "I know that's how you answered Patriarch back then."

"It used to be the same as it is now. When I first came to Qin, I just wanted to be a part-time official and read some books. In the end, I was arrested. I wanted to go home to have fun, but was arrested by Emperor Gao. .”

"Then why do you bother?"

"For you."

Liu Chang was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Teacher, if you say that again, I should hold you and cry."

"I just want you to stop bothering me. So I work extra hard."

Zhang Cang continued talking, and Liu Chang muttered a few words.

"Chao Cuo is a man. He is a capable minister, but he can't be a minister. Do you know why?"

"It's because he's too radical!"

"Not being radical is not a bad thing. If you were born 20 years earlier, you would know that Xiao Xiang is actually much more radical than him. No matter how radical Chao Cuo is, he dared to risk his beheading and distribute your Shanglin Garden to the common people for farming. ?"

Liu Chang was taken aback for a moment, "I probably wouldn't dare."

"Does Chao Cuo dare to use Qin's policies to govern the Han?"

"Don't dare."

"Does Chao Cuo dare to recommend a 20-year-old unknown boy to be the commander-in-chief of the entire army?"

"Don't dare."

"That's right. The Xiao Xiang you saw was the Xiao Xiang after he became famous. He was already old at that time, and he was not as sharp as before. But the Xiao Xiang I have seen is more radical than Chao Cuo. The ministers were shocked and frightened, but also admired from the bottom of their hearts."

Liu Chang frowned, "Then Chao Cuo can't be a famous person, is it because he is not radical enough?"

"The main problem with him is that he lacks empathy. He doesn't care about the people at all, which is almost the opposite of Xiang Xiang. Xiao Xiang always cares about the people and always puts the people first. He is even willing to offend Emperor Gao for the sake of the people. Can Chaocuo kill his few confidants for the sake of the people? He never cared about the people. All he cared about was himself. He wanted to realize his aspirations, and he wanted to prove that he was not weak if he wanted to be successful. In essence, Yu Ren is much worse than Xiao Xiang."

"I entrust this matter to him this time. I also hope that it will make him change even a little bit."

Zhang Cang said with emotion: "The feeling of being able to do something for the people and then get the gratitude of the people is more comfortable than being famous. No matter how high the title is, it is not as good as the people's sincere love."

Liu Chang looked at Zhang Cang thoughtfully, "Teacher, is your essence of governing the world the same as Xiao Xiang?"

"I am far behind him. If I have the opportunity, I will definitely do something practical for the people. But I don't insist like him."

"Chao Cuo!! What do you want to do?!"

During the court meeting, Zhang Buyi roared angrily.

The officials never imagined that one day, they would actually stand by Zhang Buyi's side and think that Zhang Buyi was a good person. This is really unpredictable.

When Chao Cuo lowered the lower limit of the entire temple group of officials by himself, Zhang Buyi looked a bit like a virtuous official.

This is Chao Cuo's second court meeting. In this meeting, he announced two more impeachment results. Three officials were questioned because they failed to transport cotton to the textile factory in time.

These three officials are all subordinate officials under Zhang Buyi's command.

In these days, facing Chao Cuo's aggressiveness, Zhang Buji chose to be patient. His Majesty wants to use him again, so he can't fight against him no matter what.

But among the three men, Chao Cuo is the only one who grabs Zhang Buyi and doesn't let him go. He dare not provoke the other two. Every time Zhang Buyi comes back from work, his subordinates will be less. Zhang Buyi this time I couldn't bear it at all.

Why the hell are you even arresting your own people? !

Zhang Buyi is not afraid of Chao Cuo, everyone is Sangong, it's okay for you to bully those Jiuqings on weekdays, why dare to catch me? ?
Facing the angry Zhang Buyi, Chao Cuo just said calmly: "Mr. Zhang, your subordinates are too idle and negligent in government affairs. In my opinion, why not replace them all. I have a list here."

Zhang Buyi only felt furious, "What are you, dare to meddle in my official affairs?!"

"You are always domineering, and I don't care about you because of your merits. You don't take me seriously, do you?!"

"Your subordinates are negligent in government affairs, and I just handle it according to the law."

"You act according to the law, and you have to be reasonable! Nowadays, there is heavy snow everywhere, the roads are blocked, and it takes a few days. Isn't this normal? Do you want them to fly over?? You have to learn from the second generation to lose Will the future be cut off?!"

"The law is the law."

"I'm going to kill you idiot today!!"

Zhang Buyi rolled up his sleeves and was about to step forward, but the ministers of the court quickly stepped forward to stop him, but Chao Cuo was not afraid, and said loudly: "It is also a felony to do something during the court meeting!!"

"Zhang Xiang! Don't argue with this traitor!"

"Yeah, don't get so angry, this guy won't be arrogant for a few days!"

When the ministers said this to Zhang Busu, they all felt a little awkward.

But Zhang Buyi was even more awkward when he heard it.

Zhang Buyi let go of his hand angrily, and cursed: "That is to say, the Marquis of Fenyin died long ago, otherwise a crutch would have taught him to be a man!"

All the ministers agreed and nodded.

The court meeting broke up unhappily, but the officials no longer worried this time, and they all surrounded Zhang Buyi. After waiting for so long, they finally waited until there was a Sangong who was willing to join Chao Cuo. Although this Sangong was Zhang Buyi, But they were still very happy. This was the first time that Zhang Buyi looked like a real prime minister. He was surrounded by so many ministers, all of whom were facing each other with smiling faces. This was a treatment that Zhang Buyi had never enjoyed before.

"Zhang Xiang. Chao Cuo is too much. Because the snow blocks the road, he will punish him!"

"Shameless villain. It's really hateful. We are willing to follow you to defeat him!"

Zhang Buyi experienced such a thing for the first time, and he was a little at a loss, "It's very easy to defeat him. But His Majesty is using him again. What can I do?"

"Zhang Xiang. It's very simple. Your Majesty was deceived by him. He mistakenly thought that this person could suppress traitors, but he didn't know that he was the real traitor. If we can get Ji Yushi back to the position of Doctor Yushi, Ji Yushi He is the most suitable candidate for the real talent.”

"Ji Bu, but he's not in Chang'an."

"Ah?? He was also exiled??"

"That's not true. It's just that he left Chang'an very early, and even I don't know where he went. I'm afraid only His Majesty will know."

At this moment, outside a residential house in Zheng County, an old man and a young man knocked on the door lightly.

The owner came out to check, and when he saw a stranger, he was immediately alert.

The old man hurriedly took out his biography, said with a smile: "I am a passing guest, and I want to stay with you for one night."

The man looked at the certificate handed by the old man, compared it carefully, then returned the things to the other party with a smile, changed his attitude just now, welcomed the two in, and ordered his wife to cook for the guests.

The old man hurriedly thanked them, and the two sat down to talk.

"When I was young, I was a ranger and traveled all over the world. Now that I am older and my children have grown up, I want to find a place to live in peace. Dare I ask my husband, is this place suitable for living?"

The old man's accent sounded a little complicated, as if it was mixed from many regions.

The host shook his head and said bitterly, "You'd better not live here."

"Ah, I'm on the road, and I've heard the situation here many times, saying that the house is not closed at night, and the road does not pick up things. It is very suitable for living."

"Well, that's what they said. Our county magistrates don't care about anything for the sake of political achievements. They have 26 days of corvée, but we only have [-] days. You can do more than others. If you don't have subsidies, you might as well People who go to the next door are running away."

The old man said a little angrily: "The hours of corvée are strictly regulated. Isn't he afraid of being questioned?"

The master looked at his knight-errant temper and said with a smile: "Officials and officials protect each other. How can we deal with people like us? Every time the censor comes, people from the county government are also by their side. Who dares to tell the truth? It's good to ask anything."

The old man was displeased, "If I were 20 years younger, I would definitely chop off his head!"

"Hahaha, where have you been?"

The two talked until late at night, and after eating, the old man and his child went to another room to rest.

Ji Xun began to tidy the bed helplessly, "Father, I will go for you. You are so old. How can you still walk? You are not a censor now."

That old man is Ji Bu.

Ji Bu shook his head and said solemnly, "It has nothing to do with my identity. I promised Your Majesty that I would eliminate the officials and govern the big men. I can't break my promise and report the situation here to the temple. We will continue to set off tomorrow."

"When are we going?"

"When the government is clear and there are no thieves inside or outside."

(End of this chapter)