Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

The post of night duty in Jixian Academy has always been rotated by three school managers.

This night, it happened to be Lu Ci's turn.

Song Shou was grateful for Lu Ci's thoughtfulness, and never forgot to bring him some food. He didn't stay in his mansion that night, but went to the restaurant and ordered some takeaway food as a reward.

Lu Ci originally only planned to reheat the leftovers of the imperial meal that was delivered yesterday, and to be pleasantly surprised by this, he naturally followed suit.

Just when Song Shou, who came to visit the class to deliver food, picked up a clean desk with Lu Ci talking and laughing, and when they sat down face to face, they suddenly heard a commotion outside.

—— "Prince Rong's Mansion is on fire!"

Because it was night, the blazing fire not far away, which was almost soaring into the sky, became particularly eye-catching, reflecting the surroundings like daytime.

Even more unfortunately, the wind was quite strong at this time, bringing thick smoke billowing, and at the same time making the fire spread rapidly with an unstoppable force.

In addition to Zuo Zangku, Nei Zangku and Chaoyuan Gate, near the residence of King Rong Zhao Yuanyan, there are Chongwen Academy and Secret Pavilion connected to each other!

Seeing the soaring fire approaching step by step, many officials shouted loudly and ran in panic.

Some did not escape in all directions, but stayed where they were without a master; some began to rush to rescue property, but they were too nervous and inefficient; some shouted loudly to warn others.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the fire could spread so fast, obviously because the source of the fire, Prince Rong's mansion, was unable to fight the fire, so they could only watch it burn out.

Song Shou had stayed in the pavilion for so many years, but this was the first time he encountered such an emergency, and he was stunned on the spot.

Lu Ci was stunned very quickly, and cursed angrily, "Fuck".

Before Song Shou could react, he had already got up suddenly, shouted loudly to the officials who were hurriedly walking around in the courtyard, who were at a loss, "What are you panicking about! Follow me quickly!"

When people are in extreme tension and confusion, they will unconsciously listen to the instructions of the loudest voice.

Lu Ci made full use of this, and managed to overwhelm a group of officials who were subconsciously obeying his orders at the moment, regardless of whether they believed in him or not.

"The fire has not yet spread to this point, so don't panic!" He gave orders without hesitation: "Not to mention that there are still ten people on duty in Jixian Yuan, even if there are only four people, there is absolutely time!"

"Soak a towel with water to cover your mouth and nose to avoid inhaling too much smoke."

"A team of two, divided into four groups, the book engravings on the second and third floors are still there, don't worry about them all, just push out the bookshelves on the first floor one by one, and go outside the palace!"

"Ziyuan, don't be stunned," Lu Ci pushed hard on the shoulders of Song Shou who was still staring blankly, and urged, "You and I are in the same group!"

Song Shou collected himself and replied without hesitation: "Okay!"

Surrounded by war and chaos, only Lu Ci's voice was clear and clear, and the instructions were short and powerful, and they were arranged in an orderly manner.

The officials, who were still sweating profusely, were also unknowingly infected, calmed down a lot, and only followed Lu Ci's orders.

And they, who had secretly questioned Lu Ci's approach before, didn't realize until this moment, whether it was the batch of bookshelves that were equipped with rollers and were easy to move that Lu Ci asked someone to replace, or the bookcases that Lu Ci asked people to keep unobstructed. No matter the channel...all of them have come in handy.

If not, they would not have been able to successfully move out all the books on the ground floor of Jixian Academy in such a short amount of time.

When they really went all out and pushed all the bookshelves to the gate of the palace where the fire could not be easily burned anyway, and the diving team kept entering, it was a little unbelievable.

"Well done!" Lu Ci didn't relax so quickly, he just clapped his hands crisply, drawing their distracted attention back: "There is still time left, so don't just stand still, go help the other two halls. Collect the books!"

Although the collection of books in the History Museum and Zhaowen Museum is not as large as that of Jixian Academy, there are still quite a few.

What's more, they neither have a special bookshelf with easy-to-roll rollers; nor do they have a character like Lu Ci who is willing to classify the books in the collection according to whether there are engravings left in the face of everyone's questioning eyes. Move everything to a layer that is easy to move; and no one immediately stepped forward at the moment the chaos started, suppressing the scene with strong orders...

Although the academicians are still dedicated to their duties and shouted loudly, asking the officials to rescue the books, what has been moved up to now is just a drop in the bucket.

When Lu Ci arrived, he saw such a scene.

Although he knew that the situation was not optimistic, Lu Ci calmly joined the queue to save the book without even frowning.

The academicians of the Second Library were also amazed at how the people in the Jixian Academy left the books in their own library and came here to help, but Lu Ci had already taken away the command power unceremoniously.

Lu Ci usually respected them a lot, but at critical moments, he was merciless.

He can clearly distinguish the priorities of the matter: the top priority is to save as many books as possible to minimize the loss.

Since they can't do well and he has confidence, then at this moment, it is definitely not the time to make concessions based on seniority and seniority.

As for the officials who just followed Lu Ci and rescued the batch of books in Jixian Yuan, they were all full of energy and eager to try.

Firstly, they have relevant experience, secondly, they are convinced by Lu Ci as the backbone, and thirdly,... After all, the collection of books in their own library has been saved, and the psychological burden of being blamed is completely gone, so mentally, It was a whole lot better than the people in the other two museums who couldn't hide their panic.

Under the strong suppression by Lu Ci who clearly exceeded his authority, leaving aside the shock of those academicians who were easily deprived of the right to speak, the other people belonging to the three libraries were unprecedentedly united and worked hard to save the books in the library.

Not long after, the raging fire burned through the Chaoyuan Gate and the two major treasuries between Chongwen Yuan and Rongwang Mansion, and rushed towards Chongwen Yuan fiercely, most of the books in the third hall had been rescued, and all the personnel were rescued in time. Evacuated.

The officials of the museum were sweating profusely from the work, and their heads were ashamed from the smoke. At this moment, they were lying in a safe place where the fire could not spread, but they were not in a good mood.

After all, it is the collection of books that they worked hard to save by their side.

Including the academicians of the other two academies who were intervened by Lu Ci's overreach, everyone couldn't help but look at Lu Ci, who was half lying and half sitting on the ground like them, but exuding a chic and beautiful sense of laziness. is complicated.

Lu Ci didn't care what they thought, just sat down as comfortably as he could, thinking with relief, finally the fuck was done.

After ruthlessly engulfing the Chongwen Academy, although the fire was blocked by the water source that led into the palace and did not continue to spread, it continued to burn for nearly six hours even with the efforts of various military academies to put out the fire.

Needless to say, Prince Rong's Mansion, which was completely reduced to ashes, also suffered heavy losses to Zuo Zangku and Nei Zangku.

Hearing the sad news that countless money had been burnt to nothing, Zhao Heng's vision went dark, and he almost bumped into the hot incense burner.

Even if he was supported in time by the frightened servants, he was still gasping for breath, feeling like a knife was twisting his heart.

The entire two warehouses are full of countless savings left by Taizu and Taizong's two dynasties!

When he usually uses it, he is not very willing to use it, but now it is better to let a fire that appeared out of thin air burn most of it...

Zhao Heng's heart ached, his face was black and blue, and the servant who came to report the disaster was so frightened that he almost fainted.

Under everyone's terrified gaze, Zhao Heng was silent for a long time before he said weakly: "Prince Xuan, come into the palace."

After leaving these words, he stroked his aching chest and fell back on the dragon chair, unwilling to say anything.

The fire came suddenly and fiercely.

The loss of property certainly made him sad, but what made him unable to bear thinking was that he built the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace last year, so how could there be such a fire that had not been seen in decades...?

The monarch's face changed from cloudy to cloudy, and Lin Neichen, who had always been the emperor's favorite and occasionally joked, didn't dare to say a word. The servants heard the emperor's order, and it was as if they had received a life-saving straw. They hurriedly sent a few people out to invite Wang Xianggong to come.

And Wang Dan didn't need to be summoned at all. As soon as he heard the news of the fire in Rongwang Palace, he immediately changed into an official uniform, and was impatienced and imprisoned in the palace.

The emperor was angry, and the blood flowed.

Now that the losses are so heavy, even if the officials are more benevolent, they must be very grumpy.

In addition, there are many villains around him, if he listens to the instigation of villains, he will inevitably become murderous.

Once this happens, those who manage the internal treasury will bear the brunt of it—they will be charged with ineffective rescue and all will be killed.

Wang Dan was absolutely unwilling to sit back and watch this happen.

As soon as he entered the palace, he saw the emperor's gloomy face, and his heart skipped a beat.

The official raised his eyelids and saw that it was Wang Dan who came, and then he said sadly: "Prince Wang. The two treasuries were accumulated by our ancestors, and I dare not use them casually. Who knows that they will be exhausted in one day, what a pity!"

Wang Dan's heart was like a mirror, and while comforting, he took the initiative to take the blame: "Your Majesty is rich in the world, but not enough to worry about. What you worry about is nothing more than improper rewards and punishments by government orders. I am preparing for the chancellor. If this is a natural disaster, I should be dismissed."

According to the theory of induction between heaven and man, such a big fire is a warning to heaven. If Zaifu does not take the first responsibility, it will be the emperor's turn to issue an edict.

Wang Dan has always regarded maintaining the face of the official family as his top priority, so he threw himself out without hesitation, and was ready to be demoted because of this.

The official still sighed.

Seeing that his complexion did not improve, Wang Dan couldn't help being anxious, but on his face he only said solemnly: "During the fire, I heard that all the treasury officials were on duty, and they all tried their best to rescue the money and silk and defend the property in the treasury. The military academy also They all forge ahead and have no fear in front of the raging fire, isn't this the iron proof that His Majesty's sage is so wise that he is deeply supported by his followers?"

After some persuasion by Wang Dan, who has always been calm, the face of the officials gradually softened, and the provincial officials who counted the losses caused by the fire were put in, endured the pain, and listened to his report.

To the surprise of the officials, after a specific inventory, the officials found that among the two treasuries, because the guards of the treasury rescued them in a timely manner, Qian Bo was not injured too much.

However, more than half of the large rewards and military supplies that were difficult to transport were lost.

One is tired and the other is tired. Even if they learn that most of the money is still there, the officials' face will not get better.

But it was better than expected before.

The official sighed, and then asked what he and Zaifu Wang Dan vaguely evaded: "...Chongwen Academy is also affected, how many books are there?"

Gold and silver are okay, not afraid of fire or refining.

It is a pity that the military supplies are gone, but it is not impossible to accumulate them again.

Only the tens of thousands of ancient books hidden in the Chongwen Academy were collected by the emperors of the three dynasties from the people. Not to mention the huge amount of energy and money spent, most of them have not been preserved.

Now that it is being burned, it depends on the dozens of people working in the Chongwen Academy, most of whom are weak literati...

It would be nice to save one out of ten.

While the officials and Wang Dan were waiting for another bad news with great headaches, they saw that the provincial official's face softened greatly, and said: "Led by Lu Ci, the school manager of Jixian, the third library rescued the books in time, and there are no books in the collection. All those who survived the engraving were rescued, and due to the timely evacuation, no one was injured or injured."

It's not that the people in the library are really so noble and don't give credit to Lu Ci, but it's purely because there are too many people who witnessed the scene where Lu Ci led the crowd to rescue the books. silenced.

At best, wait until after the incident to see how the imperial court treats Lu Ci before considering whether to impeach him for violating his powers and duties, and disrespecting those whose rank is higher than him.

Surviving a desperate situation, before the official came back to his senses, Wang Dan suddenly raised his head, his sharp eyes swept over the man, and in desperation, it was the official who blurted out: "Is this true?!"

The author has something to say: Notes:

This fire actually happened in Xia Siyue, but because it was just researched, I didn't know when it was written, so... you know QAQ.

In the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1015), on Renshen Day in the fourth month of summer, a fire broke out in the mansion of King Rong Zhao Yuanyan. The fire was too powerful to be extinguished. It burned for [-] hours and spread to Zuo Zangku and Nei Zangku. , as well as Chaoyuan Gate, Chongwen Academy, and Secret Pavilion.Countless wealth and cultural relics were reduced to ashes.

When Wang Dan heard the news, he hurried into the palace.

Zhenzong said to Zaifu: "Taizu and Taizong have accumulated in the two dynasties, and I dare not use them casually. Unexpectedly, it will be exhausted in one dynasty. What a pity!"

Wang Dan comforted him and said: "Your Majesty is rich in the world, but there is not enough money to worry about. What you worry about is that the rewards and punishments of the government are not appropriate. I have prepared a prime minister, and natural disasters are like this. I should be dismissed."

What Wang Dan was more worried about was that the courtiers would kill those who managed the treasury and encourage the emperor to kill.So I specially emphasized: "I heard that in this fire, the officials in charge of the treasury were cleaning up and saving money and silk, and all the military academies were also striving forward. Everyone showed a hundredfold courage. It's not easy!"

Zhenzong said: "The only thing I worry about is the army reserves. The money and silk will not hurt much. As for the big gifts, it can be gradually increased. If the army reserves are insufficient, the people will have to be exhausted. This is what I am very worried about."

Obviously, in this fire, due to the timely rescue by the warehouse guards, the loss of money and silk was not too great; but the large ceremonial materials and military supplies, all kinds of cloth, tents, oil umbrellas, clothing, flags, etc., suffered serious losses.

According to the tradition of induction between heaven and man, this is a warning from heaven, and Zaifu is the first to bear the responsibility.Wang Dan took the responsibility on himself, so he began to "treat the crime" on the table, waiting for Zhenzong to deal with it.

However, Zhenzong believed that the responsibility lay with the emperor, not with the prime minister, so he reviewed his actions in recent years, issued a "crime edict", and asked the court to speak out about his gains and losses, in order to improve the work of the empire.

Monarchs and ministers scrambling to take responsibility, this kind of political landscape is rare.

("700 Years of the Great Song Empire 7-Zhenzong Zhao Hengxia")