Sometimes the palace is sunny

The Chinese New Year is coming, and every place in the imperial city has to be scrubbed clean. The eunuchs and maids in cotton jackets are shuttling non-stop along the alleyways of the various palaces.

Layers of white snow did not intend to melt at all, covering the golden glazed tiles, adding some chilling and quiet beauty to the splendid palace city.

The female officials wearing official hats with hairpin flowers passed by in twos and threes, becoming a rare and vivid scene in the imperial city.

In the Hall of Martial Heroes, several ministers stood aside, lowered their heads, and said nothing.

"It snowed heavily in Liaodong on the 27th, cattle and sheep froze to death, and people starved to death, but your household department said that there are no cotton clothes, cotton cloth, money and food that can be allocated nearby, good, good..."

The emperor sat on a high throne and put a few notebooks aside.

He is laughing.

The courtiers became more and more trembling.

Since mid-November, a heavy snowfall has fallen from Liaodong to Zhengzhou in one breath. In the city of Yanjing, because His Majesty issued a strict order to order the Wucheng soldiers and Masi and Shuntian Mansion to strictly investigate the collapsed houses, and specially sent people to guard the granaries and nursing homes , so that almost no one in Beijing was displaced due to house collapse.

Other places other than Yanjing did not have such good luck. There were disasters in Baoding, Hejian, Zhending and other places near Gyeonggi. Hundreds of houses collapsed in Huaiqing, Henan, and Liaodong in the north. It was snowing heavily.

In the 200 years since the reign of the Yong Dynasty, there have been established rules and regulations on how to provide disaster relief, but they are: relief to victims of disasters, relief of taxes and labor, and donations from rich households, among which relief to victims of disasters is the most direct and effective method.

The matter is stuck at this step - Liaodong is dominated by military towns, and there are more than 20 small guard cities under the command of Dingliao and Guangning. When we arrived at Yongping Mansion, it was snowing heavily, destroying houses and knocking down the houses. The wind was blowing heavy snow, and the people who walked on the road in cotton-padded clothes were at risk of freezing to death.

However, in Yongping Mansion, which is the closest to Liaodong in Northern Zhili, the Guangning Guard's distress letter was delayed until the Liaodong Commander Si Yingruo's booklet was handed over to the imperial court, and each warehouse in Yongping Mansion was in a row. Not a single thread was dispatched to Guangningwei.

"Yingruo, this note has been on the road for eleven days. Eleven days ago, more than 40 people in Guangning Guard had froze to death and starved to death. I don't know how many corpses were covered in snow and could not be found. Everyone Aiqing, tell me, when we held imperial examinations and selected officials in the Yong Dynasty, what did we pass the exams for, and what did we choose, that we could watch the common people die?"

Li Congyuan, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, quickly knelt down and pleaded guilty.

Shen Shiqing looked past him at the others.

Among the three elders, Liu Kangyong, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, has already written a letter to beg for the bones. It is said that the emperor should first keep him, and let him "repeatedly" beg for the bones before agreeing, so as to show that the emperor and his ministers will get each other.

But Shen Shiqing didn't feel that she had anything to "get" with him. Liu Kangyong submitted the letter, and she allowed him to resign and return to his hometown.

She was afraid that if she refused a little, the "naturally rude" Minister of Rites would feel that she still had a chance to stay in the court.

"Your Majesty, I think that Wei Xuan, the prefect of Yongping Prefecture, and others are not good enough to provide food and assistance, so they should be punished as crimes."

The person who spoke was Chang Shengning, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice.

Ever since Liu Kangyong passed away, Chang Shengning seemed to have taken his place. Not only would he be called to the Qianqing Palace to give lectures to His Majesty, but he would also be given meals often. He was even more favored than Li Congyuan, who had always been trusted by His Majesty. And nothing less.

Shen Shiqing looked at the officials of various ministries who were wearing ear warmers and splendid official robes.

"What about you? You all think that Wei Xuan should be punished?"

Dali Temple Minister Guo Yu looked around, thought for a moment, and said:
"Your Majesty, Zhou Fengyuan, the former magistrate of Yongping Prefecture, was taken down because he owed 5000 taels of silver to the Taipu Temple, and Liang Qu, the co-prefect, was resigned because of unfair judgments when he was the county magistrate. It has been less than [-] days since Wei Xuan took office in Yongping Prefecture. Moreover, the new co-prefect has not yet been selected, I think he has only been in office for a short time, and I am afraid that the handover of the treasury has not been figured out, if he is convicted because of this, it is really, really hard to convince all the officials."

Chang Shengning stroked his almost white beard, and smiled faintly: "The state owns the state law, and since Wei Xuan takes office, he has the responsibility to take charge of one party. If he can't deal with Guangning Guard's request for help within ten days, it will take a few days." One month? Two months? We are officials to serve the court and earn a living for the common people. Since the court has to give us some time, will the salary during the grace period also be returned to the court? "

Guo Yu frowned upon hearing this, and retorted:
"Chang Shangshu, you also know that like the Yongping Mansion, the magistrates and co-prefects have been successively won... This year is the only one. Since it is a rare event, it must be dealt with according to the circumstances."

Chang Shengning shook his head when he heard the words, and even smiled: "Ha, I was thinking just now why Guo Daqing suddenly spoke for the prefect of Yongping, so it turns out that you are not speaking for the prefect of Wei, you are speaking for Zhou Fengyuan, Liang Qu and the others spoke. What you said clearly meant that if His Majesty hadn't insisted on investigating the Taipu Temple and clearing up the old files, there would be no such delay in rushing to help."

Guo Yu quickly knelt down and defended himself to the throne:

"Your Majesty, I think that the investigation of the Taipu Temple has already exhausted the three courts. At this time, it is very involved. In the last month alone, hundreds of officials of the fourth rank and above were dismissed from their posts. As for the investigation of the old files, it is even more serious. It's messy and messy, I don't know how many officials will be involved, I'm afraid that the deployment of personnel will not be enough at that time, so this kind of natural disasters and man-made disasters will happen again."

Shen Shiqing didn't speak immediately, she put down the brush in her hand, and leaned back on the dragon chair.

What Chang Shengning said was correct, Guo Yu just took the opportunity to ask her to stop the investigation of the officials.

Obviously, thousands of miles away, there are people who are hungry and cold.

At this time, in the huge Hall of Martial Arts, what she heard was the sound of playing with abacus beads

It's really—

"In the depths of the white snow, the people have nothing to live for. Above the high temples, the officials have their own plans. It turns out that in the eyes of my Dali Temple Minister, the best way to prevent the people from freezing to death or starving to death is to Let the people who are corrupt and amass money, and those who carelessly ignore human life, continue to sit in the Yamen of Dayong, enjoy the salary of Dayong, and shepherd the people of Dayong."

Her voice is very soft and her tone is very peaceful.

Guo Yu's head hit the ground heavily.

"Your Majesty, I have absolutely no such intention."

Shen Shiqing stood up, with a smile on her face: "The majestic Dali Siqing, I don't want to purge the government and the public for me, and punish the incompetent and corrupt people, but I put all my thoughts on persuading me to be with Guang Tongchen."

At this time, Li Congyuan, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, said slowly:

"Your Majesty, what Guo Daqing said is true. There have been huge changes in the winter court, and the local officials are also changing like a horse. If the incoming officials want to deal with political affairs, they really have to adapt to the local situation. Chang Shangshu's words are certainly reasonable, but the parents are the parents. , it’s not that if we tell them what they should do in the court, they will be able to do things well.”

Glancing at Guo Yu, Li Congyuan saluted His Majesty.

"I think the most urgent thing is to let the Ministry of Households send cotton-padded clothes, quilts and grain to Guangningwei. As for other things, it's better to discuss later."

Shen Shiqing's eyes were heavy, and she slowly looked over the bodies of several ministers. After a while, she said:
"I have ordered the disaster relief before I called you here. Li Shangshu, do you also think that I acted too hastily and turned the natural disaster in Guangningwei into a man-made disaster?"

Li Congyuan bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Zhou Fengyuan, the former prefect of Yongping, borrowed tens of thousands of taels of silver from the Taipu Temple in three years, but he can only recover 5000 taels so far. I think even if he is still in Yongping at this time, I'm afraid I can't do a good job of helping Guangningwei. As for the former Tongzhi Liang Qu of Yongping Mansion, he is not a good minister who can help the people. It's just that Wei Xuan was Shuozhou Tongzhi before he came to Yongping Mansion. The magistrate of Shanyin County, when His Majesty made the Northern Expedition, he raised military rations and promoted farming, so he can be regarded as a capable minister, and he has not made any mistakes before."

Hearing that Li Congyuan also interceded for Wei Xuan, Guo Yu lowered his head and let out a silent sigh.

Shen Shiqing didn't speak.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside the hall door, and a female official's voice came:

"Report to Your Majesty, Liaodong is in a hurry."

"Bring it in."

Gao Wanxin, who had been standing by the side all the time, walked over quickly and took the zhezi.

After opening the booklet for a few glances, Shen Shiqing smiled.

"Li Shangshu, you are right, this Wei Xuan is indeed a capable minister."

After finishing speaking, she took the booklet and walked slowly in front of the ministers.

"Zhou Fengyuan has been running Yongping Mansion for seven years, and all the treasuries are full of his cronies. After receiving the letter of help from Guangningwei, Wei Xuan and his family forced to open the treasury, but found that it was mostly rotten cotton and old clothes. For food, he raised [-] stones of millet, [-] cotton clothes, and [-] cotton quilts from wealthy households in Yongping, and sent them to Guangningwei nine days ago."

Li Congyuan took the memorial with both hands, looked at it twice, and sighed in his heart.

This brochure was sent by Si Yingruo, the commander of the Liaodong capital. In the brochure, he praised Wei Xuan, the governor of Yongping, for his decisiveness in handling affairs. However, he mentioned this because the road was not smooth, and Wei Xuan borrowed troops from Liaodong to guard the cotton grain for disaster relief. .

Yingruo wrote so many ins and outs in order to say hello to the court for the transfer of troops.

At this time, Shen Shiqing who was standing beside Li Congyuan smiled and said:
"It can be seen that it is the greed of the human heart that really turns a natural disaster into a man-made disaster."

When she said this, her eyes swept over Guo Yu.

The hem of the dragon robe moved slightly, and she quickly walked back to the throne.

"Guo Yu, Minister of Dali Temple."

"The minister is here."

"Since you think I'm too hasty, why don't you think of a way to get the best of both worlds, so that I can catch all the rats in the court without delaying political affairs."

Guo Yu hurriedly kowtowed:

"Your Majesty, my minister..."

"Stay at home until you figure it out."

Shen Shiqing sat back on the throne.

"Order Guo Yu, Minister of Dali Temple, to stay behind closed doors and think about the strategy of governing the country. As for the government affairs in his hands, he will be handed over to Du Feiqin, Shaoqing of Dali Temple."

With a smile on her face, the young sovereign said:
"I know what you are thinking, and I promise you to think slowly."

Outside the main hall, the dark clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, and it seemed that the heavy snow was finally about to stop.

"The snow has stopped."

In the government office of Yongping Mansion, Wei Xuan, the prefect, let out a sigh of relief, with a relaxed smile on his 50-year-old face.

"Master Ming, I heard that there is a family in Yongping Mansion that cooks very good fish. I will treat you to fish tomorrow, thank you for saving me."

The man sitting in the inner hall was wearing a moon white cotton robe, with his hands in his sleeves, and said with a smile:
"Wei Zhifu is resolute and courageous, so he can deter Xiao Xiao. I'm just a passerby who talks and talks. How can I be kind?"

He also looked out at the sky and said:
"Since the snow has stopped, I should go back to Beijing."

Wei Xuan turned around and looked at the man—Ming Ruoshui, who was ordered to investigate the warehouses of the Taipu Temple in Zhili.

The past few days were unforgettable for Wei Xuan. If this person hadn't been advising him all the time, he might have fallen into the hands of a group of petty officials in Yongping Mansion.

"Master Ming, I have a letter from Beijing."

Wei Xuan finally made up his mind and took out a letter from his arms.

"This letter tells me not to rush to help Guangningwei."

Ming Ruoshui opened the envelope and took a look, his eyes fixed on the final signature.

"This is……"

"That's right, Lord Ming, the one who gave me this letter is my mentor—Liu Kangyong, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites."

After finishing speaking, Wei Xuan couldn't help laughing miserably.

The wind and snow stopped, but it was winter at this time, who knew how long the wind and snow would last?

Who knows who will be buried in the next snowstorm?

Siri Zhao: Build a snowman.

I didn’t think this way about the case in this chapter before, but due to changes in the setting and environment, I replaced the entire case, redesigned and rewritten it, which resulted in no update yesterday, and everyone has been waiting for a long time.