bastard returns

Originally, many courtiers were envious of Pang Song's good plan and won the emperor's reward, but after knowing that Pang Song was suddenly reprimanded by the emperor, these people seemed to have changed their faces overnight, and all of them had a look of looking forward to the show, even I didn't forget to laugh secretly.

Although they didn't understand what happened, Pang Song, who was proud of himself one moment ago, annoyed the emperor so much the next moment, which was enough to make these jealous people gloat.

Of course, after Pang Song was reprimanded, Zhang Wei would definitely not be able to run away. Compared to the emperor's slap, Pang Song slapped Zhang Wei more than a dozen times before he stopped. Zhang Wei turned into a pig's head. And issued a death order, so that Zhang Wei, who had offered those three good strategies, immediately figured out a way to deal with it, otherwise he would come to see him.

Pang Song couldn't help being in a hurry, because of the three smart "strategies" presented by Zhang Wei, a major incident has happened in Fengcheng. The emperor was furious and ordered him to come up with a solution immediately, scaring Pang Song very much. So he came to force Zhang Wei immediately, which scared Zhang Wei very much.

The idea was not what he had in mind, he was just greedy for merit, thinking that Qi Muyun's boy He Dehe would be rewarded by the emperor, so he arbitrarily took the credit for it, and now that something happened, how could he get it out? The solution.Zhang Wei had no choice but to return to his mansion with a pig's head on his head, and immediately sent someone to find Qi Muyun quickly, and he questioned him thoroughly.

He originally made an appointment with Qi Muyun to let Qi Muyun temporarily stay in an inn not far away. Once there was any reward, he would immediately invite people to come, but now when the people he sent found the inn, they immediately found out that they were placed together. , Qi Muyun wasn't there at all.

Now Zhang Wei was dumbfounded, he couldn't find anyone, so this fault, shouldn't he be the only one to bear it?

After three days like this, the emperor saw that Pang Song hadn't come up with any countermeasures, so he was impolite and demoted Pang Song to three levels in a row, as a warning to everyone else.

This time Pang Song can be said to have created a record in Huajing. It seems that since the past three dynasties, he is the first Beijing official who has been demoted three levels in a row. , a senior member of the second rank, was suddenly demoted to a mere fifth rank Zhongshu Chengzhi.

Since Pang Song entered Beijing, he has always been flattered and flattered by others, and the humiliation of being demoted is second. The key is that whenever he thinks of others ridiculing him, Pang Song feels like a knife is twisted in his heart, and he faints with anger after returning home.

However, before he really fainted, he did one last thing. Taking advantage of the fact that his official position had just been demoted and the official seal of the promotion in hand had not yet been handed over, he issued the last order, in order to betray the emperor's order and deceive the emperor. Zhang Wei's official position was deposed, and his home was also confiscated. At this point, he seemed to be still angry, and sent someone to beat Zhang Wei out of the capital.

"Pang Song used to be so domineering, but now he was demoted, and I heard that he was so angry that he was very sick. The ridiculous thing is that when he was in power, whenever he had three illnesses and two pains, there were people who wanted to curry favor with him. I went to visit him at the gate of the mansion, and now he is so ill, but he is neglected and no one cares about him, which is very pitiful." In a spacious carriage, Sikong Xuan talked to Ning Yuan with relish, while comparing The action seemed to be very happy for Pang Song to suffer.

It's no wonder, it's not that Pang Song didn't help Yue Concubine to plot against their mother and son in the past, and Sikong Xuan has long since disliked this evil guy, seeing Pang Song's suffering, there is no reason to be unhappy.

"Even though he was an outsider in the past, he was promoted to a high position as the deputy of the second rank, and he was able to control the promotion of lower officials. There are many small families who want to curry favor with him, but now it is different from the past. Once he was demoted, the second rank If he becomes a fifth rank, there will be a lot of officials of the fifth rank in Huajing, and who will care about him." Ning Yuan said expressionlessly.

After venting his joy, Sikong Xuan looked at Ning Yuan's face, and said with some uncertainty: "But son, you really decided to meet the father in person? It's not that I don't believe you, the father, because of the disaster in Fengcheng these two days, I'm in a bad mood, if you don't have any good ideas in your hands, if you go hastily, not only will you not be able to please, but you may also offend the emperor, and then the gains will outweigh the losses."

Ning Yuan found him suddenly, and said that he wanted to take him into the palace to meet the emperor, and had something related to the disaster to meet the emperor, which really shocked Sikong Xuan, because he knew how bad the emperor was in a bad mood, and the three disaster relief plans When the imperial decree went to Yuezhou, not only did no one sing the praises of the emperor's grace, but the local people shouted and scolded for a while, just because the law did not punish the public. Although the local people disrespected the royal family, the emperor could not arrest them all and beheaded them all. He was always depressed. Quite upset, even Concubine Shu Hui, who was serving by her side, was trembling. She also specially asked Sikong Xuan to stay in her prince's mansion for a while, and not to enter the palace to touch the emperor's bad luck, so as not to suffer. punish.

"It's okay." Ning Yuan smiled and said in relief, "If my method works, maybe the emperor will reward me."

Sikong Xuan pursed his lips and didn't speak, but he made up his mind that if Ning Yuan made the emperor angry later, he would comfort him no matter what.

After entering the palace, the two did not delay, but walked directly to the imperial study.The imperial study room was built in the middle of the palace, behind the Qinzheng Hall, before approaching, a hoarse roar came from inside, accompanied by the sound of throwing things, "It's already gotten to this point, You are still trying to come up with some bad ideas! Send troops to suppress? You are trying to force the local people to rebel!"

The timid voice of the official came out again, as if he had distinguished a few words, but he immediately fell silent when the emperor raised his pitch "roll".

Sikongxuan and Ning Yuan approached, and saw Concubine Shu Hui leading a court lady with a food box waiting at the gate, at this time the door of the imperial study was also opened, several courtiers came out in desperation, and walked towards Concubine Shu Hui After a salute, he left in despair.

Concubine Shu Hui glanced at Sikong Xuan and Ning Yuan, motioned them to wait here, and went in first.

"I was afraid that my father would be too angry, so I asked my mother to come over and help my father to calm down first. I don't think I did the right thing." Sikong Xuan patted his chest twice.

After a while, an eunuch came out, shook his whisk and said, "I will choose His Highness Sixth to meet you."

Sikong Xuan hurriedly walked in with the following eunuch.

Regardless of the previous life or this life, this is the first time Ning Yuan stepped into the emperor's imperial study room. The imperial study room is a circle smaller than the Qinzheng Palace in the previous dynasty, but it is still carved with painted beams and golden light, and the emperor sits at the very front. At the large dragon table and dragon chair, he frowned, propped his cheeks with his hands, and placed a bowl of half-drunk soup in front of him. Concubine Shu Hui stood behind him and helped him press his temples, while winking at the two of them.

Sikong Xuan and Ning Yuan bowed down together, and after asking about safety, the emperor barely raised his eyes, and said in a low voice: "Concubine Hui said Xuan'er, you brought someone who can solve my current troubles into the palace, who is it? ?”

"Dodge it, it's a villain." Ning Yuan immediately replied: "Ning Yuan, a villain, see Your Majesty."

"It's you?" The emperor has met Ning Yuan several times, no matter how noble he is, he still thinks of him for a while, "I remember you, so you are the one who can share my worries?"

"The villain dare not speak lies, but the villain is indeed here for this matter." Ning Yuan kowtowed again.

"Don't you dare to speak lies? How much can you help me when the courtiers can't solve it." The emperor sneered, and slapped the dragon table in front of him. Sikong Xuan's eyes twitched, and he was about to slap Rounding up the field, I heard Ning Yuan say: "The emperor remembers the common people, so no matter whether the villain has a good prescription or not, the emperor will be willing to listen to it. That's why the villain came here. If the villain's method can relieve the depression in the emperor's heart , that is the fortune of the villain, if the emperor thinks that what the villain said is nothing more than tasteless, then the villain will be killed and cut, but it will be up to the emperor to deal with it."

The emperor squinted his eyes, not saying anything else, but facing Tianyan's unflappable temperament, it seemed that the kid in front of him was really not afraid of death.

And Ning Yuan is also right, no matter whether he has a good prescription or not, the emperor must listen to it, because the situation in Fengcheng can be regarded as critical now, not only the people insulted the court, even the once rich side There are also refugees fleeing refugees and mob groups attacking the government. If this continues, there will be great chaos.

But the emperor obviously didn't intend to give Ning Yuan a good face immediately, but still said in a cold voice: "You are so confident, but how much do you know about the current situation in the disaster area?"

"Just looking at the three imperial decrees issued by the emperor before, even though the villain is in the capital, he can more or less figure out the situation in the disaster area. Although the locust plague in the three southeastern states is larger in scale, it is also a seasonal disaster. When the season is over , the disaster can be eliminated invisible, at most this year's grain shortage is nothing more than that, as long as the court provides timely relief and comforts the people properly, it is not a big deal, but the emperor's previous three measures to treat the symptoms but not the root cause of the disaster, although one Time may be able to temporarily curb the breeding and spread of locusts, but it will also bring greater disasters to the local area without knowing it."

Ning Yuan looked up at the emperor, saw that the emperor was also looking at him, and seemed to be very interested in what he was about to say, so he continued: "The first of the three measures for disaster relief, the emperor ordered to introduce a large number of blue sparrows to the local area. Birds use the nature of natural enemies to eliminate locusts, but the emperor has overlooked a very important point. In Yuezhou, and even in the borders of the three southeastern states, there have never been bluebirds. In one place, there was no such species. Introduce species rashly, otherwise it will break the balance and cause unexpected disasters."

"Qingqueniang has excellent reproductive ability, and the growth period is short. Often one female and one male can give birth to dozens of chicks in a very short period of time. Xuzhou, their place of origin, is located in the southernmost part of Dazhou, because Xuzhou There are natural enemies vultures in the state that like to prey on the blue finch, so that the number of this bird does not flood the local area, but Yuezhou is different. There is no vulture that can restrain the blue finch in Yuezhou. With sufficient food, the blue finch They must reproduce in large numbers and expand their own group unscrupulously, and besides eating locusts, they will not refuse food, melons and fruits. Once the number becomes a disaster, it will bring more terrible damage to the local area than the locust plague!"

The emperor didn't speak, but his face was not as stiff as before, and there were signs of relaxation between his brows.

"The second of the three strategies is to sprinkle lime on the fields to kill locust embryos. This strategy can indeed kill the embryos invisible, but I think the officials in central Beijing don't know much about tenants, and they don't know much about farming. There is a lack of understanding of the matter. Spreading lime in the fields to kill locusts is equivalent to killing chickens and taking eggs, making the fields no longer conducive to farming for a period of time. If the imperial court adopts this method, the people will definitely obstruct it to protect the land. If the majesty of the government cannot be resisted, there will be grievances in the bottom of my heart, which will damage the reputation of the emperor, and will also plant the seeds of disaster for the people's upheaval."

"As for the third policy, it is the most absurd policy to judge meritorious service based on the number of locusts killed!" Ning Yuan couldn't help emphasizing his tone, "On the surface, this method encourages the common people to unite as one. Killing locusts, but obviously underestimated the greed of the people. With the edict, the locusts flying all over the sky immediately turned into business money. As long as you kill a few locusts, you can get a reward from the yamen, which is more profitable than hard work. Money is much easier, so, for rewards from the court, no one will do farming, construction, or business, and the crowd will follow the locusts, and the world will be in chaos that day!"

After Ning Yuan had finished speaking, the emperor looked at him with suspicion, because Ning Yuan said everything to the point by relying on speculation alone, without any mistakes, and the emperor also believed that Ning Yuan Impossible to read, before him a pile of memorials stating the situation of the disaster area.

The emperor would be so angry that he demoted Pang Song three times in a row, just as Ning Yuan said, because the three bullshit measures to cure disasters caused chaos in the disaster area, and even in such a short period of time, someone raised Rebelling against the flag, if it wasn't for worrying that Pang Song had won his favor before, it would be possible to dismiss people directly from office.

His imperial decree was issued quickly, and the officials of Fengcheng did follow the imperial decree, but the consequences were much more serious than what Ning Yuan just said.

After the bluebirds set up camp in Fengcheng, where there were no natural enemies, they began to reproduce in large numbers, and soon began to overwhelm the sky. You can see bluebirds almost everywhere. It is true that the locusts have decreased, but they are in groups The blue sparrows have become another disaster. Not only do they feed on locusts, they also like to suck tree sap, not to mention destroying a lot of trees, and even relying on their petite stature, they can sneak into houses and steal food, which is worse than rats. Damn it, it made the local people itch with hatred.

As for the second point, it was also rightly said by Ning Yuan. When the yamen sent people to sprinkle lime on the fields, almost all the tenants ran out to stop them, cursing those officials who were ignorant and incompetent for ruining the fields. Although they find it difficult, they can't do it. The imperial decree is issued by the emperor, and they will do it if they don't do it. Then they even used the garrison to suppress the peasants' resistance, but it also made the tenants complain so much that they almost Fight with officials.

The last one is the third one, which is the same as what Ning Yuan said, and even worse, there is no one in the world who does not love money, knowing that locusts can turn into white money, really aroused the common people There was a frenzied wave of locust extermination, as long as there were people who could stand up in the family, they almost came out, and even the officials were involved, which almost paralyzed the functions of the entire Fengcheng, but this was not the most serious. When the locusts tended to decrease due to a large number of hunting, in order to get more benefits, some people even started to stock the locusts. After letting the emperor know about it, he only felt absurd!

What made the emperor even more unbearable was that after the money was sown, it was soon discovered that some people were enriching their own pockets, resulting in a shortage of rewards. Immediately after the money, he was furious, coupled with the previous grievances over the fields, caused several conflicts between the people and the government, and some people even pulled out the banner of the uprising, and the whole Fengcheng was in chaos.

Just now the emperor was so angry when discussing with several ministers. It was because the ministers asked the emperor to send troops to suppress the chaos to maintain order when they proposed to deal with the chaos in Fengcheng. It's a job with a salary, others are just making trouble now, and they don't want to really rebel, but he believes that as soon as the army passes by, it will be a real rebellion between the government and the people.

He doesn't want to be called a fool!

Seeing Ning Yuan in this matter, the emperor's gloomy face was not only wiped away, but even a little brightened. Since Ning Yuan can express the chaos in the disaster area in one sentence, there is a real possibility of a solution.

Sure enough, before the emperor could ask, Ning Yuan said: "The villain knows that His Majesty is distressed because of the chaos in the disaster area, but there is no need for His Majesty to panic. His Majesty is far-sighted and only tried the three strategies in Fengcheng. Although it was self-defeating It’s a little bit, but it’s not difficult to solve it.”

The emperor pointed at Ning Yuan, "If there is any method available, tell me quickly!"

"Let's take the first point first. People who want to come to Yuezhou to panic are because they don't know the habits of blue birds. They will panic when they see this bird is about to become another disaster. In fact, it doesn't have to be like this. You need to know the reason why blue birds I only live in Xuzhou, and I have never seen this bird in other places in Dazhou, so I can see some clues." Ning Yuan said slowly: "Although blue sparrows are good at breeding and eat a lot of food, but It has a fatal weakness, that is, it is afraid of the cold, and it can freeze to death if the weather is slightly cooler. Because Xuzhou is located in the extreme south, it is warm like spring all year round, so this bird can reproduce, but Yuezhou, which has four distinct seasons Otherwise, seeing the blue sparrows are very popular in Yuezhou right now, but the season has already entered the autumn, once the winter comes, these birds will be completely wiped out, and they will never be a problem again."

After hearing this, the emperor obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked: "The rest..."

"The remaining two points should be adjusted according to local conditions, with equal emphasis on kindness and power. Of course, being angry with the common people can also be considered to appease the hearts of the people. The emperor must first admit his mistakes to the local people and issue an edict. The tricks are also drawn from the emperor's imperial pen."

The emperor's expression changed, "I'm guilty of this? This..."

"The people must resent the emperor because of the destruction of their fields. This resentment is also the source of all the chaos. The sin against oneself will not only not make the emperor feel ashamed, but also greatly appease the hearts of the people, so that the people feel that the emperor can treat the people. Only by admitting mistakes and being such a good emperor who loves the people can he win the hearts of all the people and the world will be stable, and at the same time the resentment of the people will be eliminated, so that he can be more convinced to follow the emperor's arrangement and face this disaster with one heart."

"Forget it, it's not a big deal to have an imperial edict against oneself." The emperor flicked his sleeves.

"At the same time, when the emperor issued an edict of sin against himself, he must not forget to punish those who are really guilty... especially those courtiers who took the opportunity to enrich their own pockets and make money in the country's calamity!" A cold light flashed.

"Your Majesty, Shengming, must know what Fengcheng looks like now. Only by reassuring the people's hearts and getting rid of the sycophants can the people return to their hearts. Once the people return to their hearts, things will be easy to handle." Ning Yuan continued: "As long as the corrupt people spit it out With money in your mouth, you can make up for the rewards owed to the locust exterminations by the imperial court, but the absurd farce of rewarding locust extermination must be terminated immediately, and the people return to their respective positions, so that the chaos in Fengcheng can be brought back to the right track."

"Do you think I don't want to get rid of those traitors?" The emperor raised his eyebrows, "When I found out that someone was corrupt, I immediately ordered to investigate, but there was no clue at all. Everyone arrest it!"

Ning Yuan said: "Since there is corruption, it must not be done by one person, but exploited layer by layer. The officials involved in this are protecting each other. Everyone is in danger. How can the emperor find any clues? If we want to deal with this matter, the emperor should also understand the principle of capturing the king first when catching the thief."

"How do you say?" The emperor became interested.

"A treacherous person is comparable to locusts in the court. The third strategy offered by the huge man to the emperor may not be suitable for dealing with real locusts, but it may be a good plan for dealing with the locusts around the emperor." Ning Yuan smiled: "Then ask the emperor to issue an order. If any lower-level officials report the corruption of higher-level officials with evidence, if the lower-level officials are involved in it, they will make up for their mistakes, be exonerated, and reward gold and silver. If there is no involvement, in addition to the reward, the official will be promoted!"

"What? Some people enrich themselves, and instead of punishing them, I will reward them?" The emperor was taken aback.

"Perhaps the emperor thinks that the villain's words are too whimsical, but only in this way can he break the situation where those people and officials protect each other. Otherwise, even if the emperor wants to eliminate the filthy, it will be difficult to do so without evidence."

"Your Majesty, I feel that this person is right. The so-called people die for money, and birds die for food. Those guys who dare to make money for the country are really hateful. People are in danger, and if they are exposed layer by layer, they may be able to catch the big tiger who has been lurking around for the emperor. After all, the so-called greedy ink is mostly followed by others. Self-seeking for profit, I think this person's phrase 'capture the thief first captures the king' means the same." Concubine Shu Hui spoke at the right time, and at the same time gave Ning Yuan a gentle look, "You say, what I said is right ?”

"Your Majesty is divinely intelligent, that's what a villain means." Ning Yuan cooperated and bowed again.