Looking at the mountains and rivers

In the ninth year of Yong'an, there was a severe drought in the south, thousands of miles of bare land, and the people were in dire straits.It was already September when the document on the drought situation was presented to the capital.

"Why did the Yellow River flood just subside two years ago, but this year there was a drought again?" The emperor frowned and threw the memorial, then looked at the officials in the palace, "What do you think about the drought in Yuezhou this time?"

"My Majesty, this drought is more serious than waterlogging, and you need to be extremely cautious." An old minister said, "I still remember that when Xiaozong was in power, there was a severe drought in the pass, and Xiaozong led all the officials to the Eastern Capital to escape the drought. And inside the pass, there are starvation everywhere, ten rooms and nine empty rooms, the emperor must still remember the tragedy."

Emperor Yong'an had experienced this when he was a child, and thinking of it now, he still felt palpitations and couldn't help nodding his head slightly.

However, Gao Lu, a servant under the door, came out and said: "Yuezhou has always had few droughts. How can it be compared with the severe drought in the Jiazi year? In my opinion, the tax here can be reduced or exempted according to the old practice of floods, so as to reassure the people."

Before the emperor could speak, another courtier said in the hall: "Although there is little drought in Yuezhou, this year's severe drought is not trivial. I passed by Yuezhou in spring, and there was a sign of drought in this place at that time. They all withered on the ground. But now, Yuezhou is as red as blood, and all the seeds are dead. The hungry people almost ate all the wild grasses. After that, I am afraid that it will be the point where people cannibalize each other. "

These words were a little startling. The person who spoke was Wen Zhi, the official censor. The emperor knew that he had been ordered to visit the people in the south at the beginning of the year. What he said was very credible. Open a warehouse to provide food. Now that the treasury is full of granaries, it is impossible to support a small Yuezhou." Then he raised his eyes and said, "King Yong, what do you think?"

Yang Lin was startled, and hurriedly apologized with a smile: "What the emperor said is absolutely true."

Seeing that he only said this sentence, the emperor gritted his teeth a little annoyed: "Now that you are in charge of the household department, don't you have any ideas about how to arrange the relief money and food?"

"This..." Yang Lin stayed for a moment in embarrassment, "I think that we should send people to Yuezhou to check for relief first, and then we can arrange money and food."

"His Royal Highness," Li Yushan, who was standing among the ministers, couldn't help saying, "People in Yuezhou are starving to death every day. If we wait for the relief to be dispatched before dispatching the relief, it will take several more months. I'm afraid And half of the people died in vain."

Yang Lin was refuted face-to-face by a courtier with a low official position. He seemed unhappy, and muttered: "If you don't check the relief, how can you release relief indiscriminately? Since Yuezhou has been affected by the disaster for more than half a year, why should you care about a few months?"

Li Yushan took another step forward: "This summer and autumn have been droughts, and there is no harvest. This famine is likely to intensify, and may last until next year, or even longer. If the people are suffering, there will be chaos. If there is another White Lotus Sect Isn't the evil party here trying to bring disaster to Dazhao?"

The evil party and the like have always been the most taboo of the emperor. His face was gloomy, and he tapped the armrest of the dragon chair anxiously: "Why do you have to argue for half a day about the matter of checking relief? How did you release the relief when the Yellow River was flooded?"

The officials of the household department hurried forward and said: "Reporting to the emperor, His Highness Mu Wang was the director at that time, and all the money and food were dispatched. The refugees were resettled within half a month after the relief check, and there was hardly a moment's delay."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the ministers couldn't help looking at the vacant chair in the hall.Since the spring, King Mu has been complaining of illness and never went to court again.Afterwards, whenever major matters in the court could not be decided, it was inevitable that someone would mention King Mu, as if King Mu was not around, and the court lost its backbone.Emperor Yong'an was very annoyed by this, but there was nothing he could do, so he waved his hands displeasedly: "Since this is the case, let's act like this. King Yong, is there any surplus food in Yuezhou?"

Yang Lin was dumbfounded again, but couldn't answer. The warehouse doctor behind him simply stood up and said, "Reporting to the emperor, the south has been plagued by drought and floods for the past two years, and most of the warehouses near Yuezhou are empty. Recently, they will be dispatched from the Jinzhou Treasury. .”

"Jinzhou...is it too far away?" the emperor asked with a frown.

"Your Majesty, the most troublesome thing right now is not the long distance to Jinzhou, but the difficulty in dispatching food relief!" The person who spoke was Yu Kangsheng, the head of the Ministry of Industry. He had a low official position, and he shouldn't speak rashly in the court, but at this moment his face turned red , seemed rather anxious, "I used to go by water to distribute grain, and it was only half a month's journey even a thousand miles away, but now there is a severe drought, and the water level of the canal is too low, and the big boats for water transportation have long been unable to go."

"If the waterway is blocked, then go by land, so what's the difficulty?"

"It takes a lot of time to travel by land, but the rations on the way to transport the peasants are huge. Originally, the Jinzhou granary could supply the hungry people with food for half a year, so there is only food for three months."

As soon as these words came out, there was a sudden silence in the hall.Emperor Yong'an obviously didn't expect such a problem, he opened his mouth, but he couldn't find anyone among the courtiers who could ask him, so he finally had to cough heavily.

"If not, we can only take a middle way. Take the Suihe River to transport grain, go around to the north of Yuezhou, and then let the people escort the grain and grass. In this way, half of the water route and half of the land route, although some detours, can always save more than [-]% of the rice. grain."

"The Suihe River is in the north, and Yuezhou is in the south. I don't know how long it will take to make such a detour. I'm afraid it will be winter when the relief food is delivered to Yuezhou." His homeland was affected by the disaster, and he seemed extremely anxious, "Your Majesty, to the west of Yuezhou is the fiefdom of several vassal kings. Why don't you borrow some food from them first to relieve the victims."

To the west of Yuezhou is the fiefdom of King Xihe and King Linchuan. These two vassals always mocked themselves as outcast sons of the royal family who were sent to Nanman, and they never wanted to interfere in the affairs of Dazhao.Emperor Yong'an really didn't want to deal with those two people, so he waved his hands impatiently and said, "Let me think about this matter." He stood up, without looking at the officials in the palace, "retire."

After entering the apse, the servant immediately stepped forward to remove the heavy crown for the emperor.Yang Jie's face was gloomy, and he was silent for a long time, before he asked Ma Liangshun who was beside him, "What's the matter with what I asked you to do?"

Ma Liangshun hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down: "The servant just went to Mu Wangfu the day before yesterday."

"How to say?"

Ma Liangshun grimaced: "Prince Mu didn't see the servant, he said he was still sick. I heard from Steward Fang of Prince Mu's residence that His Highness's illness will not recover for a while, so he really can't come to court."

Emperor Yong'an was furious immediately: "I don't know how to flatter you!" As soon as the servant at the side came forward to serve Shencha, he was grabbed by the emperor and thrown to the ground, "I made him a governor of Jingzhou, but he still refused. Could it be Expecting me to beg him is just dreaming!"

Ma Liangshun cringed and knelt on the ground, hesitatingly said: "Speaking of which, His Royal Highness Mu Wang doesn't seem to be angry with the emperor." He searched his brains, but couldn't find a suitable word, "I always feel that His Highness It seems that they don't care about these official positions in the court at all."

"What he values ​​is not an official position, so what is it?" the emperor asked with a frown.

"This...slave can't answer." Ma Liangshun apologized with a bitter face, and asked tentatively, "I heard that there was a natural disaster in the south. The emperor thinks it is because of it. Let’s go to Prince Mu’s Mansion again and see what His Highness thinks?”

The emperor snorted coldly: "There is a severe drought in Yuezhou, and all civil and military officials are helpless, so what idea can he have?"

Ma Liangshun wanted to speak, but he heard the voice outside the door: "Report to the emperor, Gao Lu, the servant of the door, is asking to see you."

Gao Lu obviously came prepared, and after entering the hall, he knelt down and said, "Just now, I have something that I can't say in court, but now I have to remind the emperor."

"What's the matter?"

"Please, Your Majesty, send your troops to Yuezhou quickly." Gao Lu said in an unquestionable tone, "Although Li Yushan has no appearance in front of the palace just now, there is a saying that is true. The people in Yuezhou are tough, and they will Pretending to be a ghost, I am afraid that once there is a famine, those refugees will gather and create chaos, and we need to send troops to suppress it as soon as possible!"

The emperor's expression turned serious, and he looked at Gao Lu: "This... the food is not distributed in time, but the troops are sent first, so that the people can see it. Isn't it going to lose the hearts of the people?"

"The purpose of sending troops is to quell the chaotic party. If someone really rebels and is wiped out by the officers and soldiers, who can we blame?" Gao Lu lowered his voice when he said this, "Besides, why does the emperor care about the hearts of the dead?"

On the ninth day of September, Chongyang.

At sunset, Ma Liangshun changed into a servant's court uniform, and boarded the imperial chariot.The roofs of the carriages in the palace are all bright yellow, and the two young guards who are in charge of the Jinwu are driving in front of them. They are all wearing gold embroidered armor and have extraordinary bearing.The carriage galloped along the main road, and the common people on both sides of the road did not dare to look up, but Ma Liangshun in the carriage was frowning, thinking about where he was going, and sighed silently.

The carriage stopped in front of the gate of Prince Mu's Mansion, and the servants guarding the gate saw at a glance that this was the imperial envoy's visit, and hurriedly opened the main gate to welcome them.Coming out of the palace was an old acquaintance, Fang Ming, the chief steward of the palace.

As soon as Fang Ming saw him, he smiled and said, "Boss Ma, I think you came here under the emperor's order again today?"

Ma Liangshun was helped out of the car by him, and he forced a smile: "Because it is the Double Ninth Festival, the emperor specially bestowed a gift, and ordered me to stop by to see His Highness's body."

These days, the Chief Horse in the palace frequently came to the Palace, Fang Ming knew exactly why he came, so he could only laugh dryly at this moment: "My prince is still the same, he is not in good health, I am afraid that he will not be able to see the Chief. "

Although he had expected such a result, Ma Liangshun still couldn't hold back, his disappointment was beyond words, he hesitated again and again, and asked: "I wonder if your highness has heard about the severe drought in Yuezhou?"

"This severe drought has caused people to panic, and my prince has also heard rumors in the mansion." Fang Ming paused, and then said, "I heard that the emperor has issued an order to exempt Yuezhou from taxes for two years, and to distribute food relief. The drought will ease soon."

Ma Liangshun sighed: "There are still many difficulties in the matter of releasing the relief. If His Highness is in the court, why is this so?" He took out a roll of documents from his sleeve and handed it over, "This is the roll of disasters in Yuezhou Shu, please hand over the steward Fang to His Highness for review."

Fang Ming was taken aback for a moment, and smiled politely: "My prince doesn't read these documents now, so why should Mr. Ma make things difficult for us servants?"

Seeing that he insisted on refusing, Ma Liangshun had no choice but to turn around and get on the carriage.

The two executive Jinwu quickly drove away, and one of them asked in a daze, "Mr. Ma, we came out under the emperor's order, and we should have a good time. Why do you look dejected?"

The companion next to him patted him hard: "I haven't seen King Mu this time, and it will be difficult for Manager Ma to return to his life when he goes back. Naturally, he is troubled. What are you asking?"

They were talking, but they saw a blue-gray horse galloping towards them. The rider of the horse was Wei Changxuan. In front of him was another man in a brocade cloak, most of his head and face were covered, and he was driving. Zhi Jinwu glanced hurriedly, but only saw the man's snow-white forehead.

Seeing the horse heading straight towards the Mu Palace, his companion turned around in surprise: "Hey, isn't that General Wei?"

"Yes, it's General Wei."

"But who is the other person right away?"

Zhi Jinwu scratched his head: "I didn't see it clearly, but," he laughed a little wickedly, "that person seems to be fairer and more tender than Lady Yunrong, the oiran."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and they were about to joke, but Ma Liangshun in the car stretched out his hand and tapped each of them on the top of their heads: "Blind your eyes, that's His Royal Highness King Mu!"

"Isn't His Royal Highness Mu Wang sick?" Zhi Jinwu covered his head and muttered, "How can I still come out for a horse race, and only return to the mansion at this time."

"That's the direction of Xishan. It's about the Double Ninth Festival, so I went up with General Wei." The companion nodded resolutely.

Ma Liangshun shook his head thoughtfully: "It seems that His Highness really doesn't want to care about the affairs of the court." He sighed, opened the curtain of the car and said, "Anyway, you will be scolded when you go back, don't be too busy Let’s drive, let’s go shopping along the street.”

The two executive kings were both young people who liked to be lively, so they naturally had no objection, so they simply let go of the reins and walked along the main road towards Yilan Lake.

"Boss Ma, why are you so interested in inviting King Mu back to court this time?" One of them asked with a smile, "Could it be possible that you will get some extra reward for inviting him back?"

"You heartless things, you don't understand even if I tell you." Ma Liangshun scolded, looking at the water of Yilan Lake in the distance, he shook his head silently, "I remember the severe drought in the year of Jiazi, and I didn't know how to starve to death. I was sold to the palace by my parents at that time, worth only a bucket of rice, and that bucket of rice did not allow them to survive the severe drought."

The smile on Zhi Jinwu's face froze, and no one spoke.

Ma Liangshun didn't care about the two of them, he just looked up at the sky by himself: "This year, there is a severe drought in Yuezhou. I don't know how many people will die. I don't know if they will starve to death, or they will be killed by officers and soldiers as rioters."

Hearing this sentence, the two Zhijinwu changed color slightly, and just about to ask carefully, they heard the sound of horseshoes on the road behind them again, this time it was not a horse, but dozens of elite left guards galloped away, The young man in the front carried a large flag on his shoulders, which clearly marked the Prince Mu's Mansion.

"What is this?" The young Zhi Jinwu couldn't figure out the situation, he just stared blankly at the backs of the group of people galloping forward, while Ma Liangshun beside him showed a look of surprise, he tremblingly supported Zhi Jinwu's shoulder Looking forward, "This... this is a warrant issued by King Mu."

This was the only warrant issued during the ninth year of Yong'an when King Mu was sick, and the place where this warrant was sent was the south where the current severe drought was.