Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 450 Letters from Jingnan Zeng Ze
In the study room of the Hou Mansion,
Following Zhang Jinyu's sigh, silence fell.

after a long time,

Only then did the sound come out,
"Yingbyon, immediately think of a way to get a map of Jingnan, and ask the secret guards to make a copy of the list of the main officials in the Jingnan area. Finally, let the brothers have a good rest. I'm afraid there won't be much comfort. day."

Zhang Jinyu sat there and thought for a moment. If something happened on the border south of Beijing, the imperial court would definitely send reinforcements and even imperial ministers to investigate the case. After all, unlike the dangerous borders, the capital camp in the capital and even the generals of the Forbidden Army would probably They are scrambling to get there, and the military merit is in front of them. Besides, it is better than fighting the cavalry outside the pass.

Just thinking about the soldiers in the capital camp, the soldiers in the elite battalion are better. Ordinary soldiers may not be so brave and good at fighting. When they encounter those red-eyed mobs, it is not certain who will hit whom.

I shook my head and thought it was a bit funny. When I arrived in the land of Jingnan, I faced all the unarmed mud-legged people who were half-weighted. If I couldn't even deal with them, I'm afraid I should go back to feed myself.

He patted the table, stood up and stopped thinking about it. Looking at Ning Bian still standing there, he also said with relief,

"Okay, you go back and rest. We'll talk about these things tomorrow. It won't be so urgent. Those old soldiers in the capital know about this and will definitely keep an eye on it. Youdao is a rare military achievement, so it may not be their opportunity, so take your time to prepare. Can."

Ning Bian nodded and understood what the Marquis said. The rebels in Guan are just difficult to fight. But where did so many rebels come from? At most, they were rebels. They were all brought to the door for military merit. Although the Marquis was made a Marquis by the court, his title was He can only be regarded as a Marquis of Guan Nei, although he is actually a Marquis of Lieutenant, but in the end he lacks some reputation.

"Yes, I will understand. Mr. Hou needs to rest early."

Zhang Jinyu patted Ning Bian on the shoulder, opened the door and walked out.

After returning to the yard, he directly walked into Qin Keqing's room. As soon as he entered the house, he was seen by Baozhu, who was watching the night. He secretly gestured to Baozhu and touched the bedside. Baozhu naturally covered his mouth and laughed secretly, opening the door of the inner room. After closing the door, Qin Keqing exclaimed, and then a blushing moan came out.

Baozhu had no choice but to go to the west wing and wait.

in the silent night,
The lights in the Hubu Pavilion were brightly lit, and all the chiefs and doctors were hurrying to calculate the accounts. Shen Zhongxin, the Minister of Hubu, had a solemn look on his face and quietly received a letter. It was secretly sent by Zeng Ze, his classmate and friend from the same hometown. Didn't he go to Linshan County in the south of Jingnan to become the prefect? ​​What does this mean?

I saw the letter in my hand that said, Brother Shen kisses me, urgent. I checked the seal of the letter. It was intact. I opened it immediately and read it with the oil lamp on the table.

I only saw what the letter said,

Ziyu personally opened the door,

Brother Yu should not have spoken, but it is related to the life and death of millions of people in southern Beijing. Last year, there was a severe drought in all the prefectures in southern Beijing, and the fields were harvestless. This year, I thought that during the winter, a heavy snowfall would be a good solution next year. There was a drought, but there was not a single snowflake throughout the winter, and the food in the treasuries of various places was already in short supply, and there was collusion between officials and businessmen to resell the food. The government was unable to provide relief. Merchants everywhere sold food at high prices, and hungry people were everywhere, exchanging their children for food.

Brother Yu repeatedly informed the court, but there was no news at all. He knew that someone in the court must be obstructing it, and the Governor's attitude was strange. When I wrote to you, hungry people had already raised their voices and other forces were involved.

The situation is precarious. Lin Yue Mansion is now besieged. Dingzhou City and Zhaozhou City in the south have been destroyed. Gu Ping, the garrison general in southern Jingnan, has led his troops south. However, Brother Yu is really uneasy and feels as if something bad is about to happen.

But people speak softly, and no one is willing to believe it. I remember that the disaster of the White Lotus Sect was put out by the imperial court with great efforts. This year is in the south of Beijing, and it may become more widespread. Brother Fool has no choice but to take this step and trust you secretly. But Brother Xian still needs Act with caution, the identity of the person who is blocking you must be different, and you are afraid of injuring your worthy brother.

Furthermore, the news in the south of Jingnan is currently confusing, and the details are unknown. The grain in the official warehouse is tightly locked, and the officials are unwilling to open the warehouse to release grain. From my perspective, I am afraid that what is locked in it is not grain, but fake goods. The sand in the south of Beijing was about to be destroyed, and as a local official, he could only live and die together, so Brother Yu didn't want to go back alive.

Dear brother, I remember that the days we spent together at Qinglian Academy during the junior high school entrance examination were the happiest days in my life. If there is an afterlife, I will have a good time with my dear brother over wine.

Zeng Ze, written in the Yamen of the prefect of Linshan County in the south of Beijing, in April of the eighth year of Yuanfeng.

After Shen Zhongxin read this letter, his expression changed drastically, and he had a bad feeling in his heart. The land south of Jingnan was the source of trouble. If there was really a leak in southern Jingnan, there should be news from the Ministry of Household Affairs, but there was no news at all. , and what Brother Zeng said, there was no food in the official warehouse, and he was horrified.

After looking at the busy people in the household department, he immediately shouted,
"Mr. Miao, I would like to ask you, can the granaries in the counties and cities in southern Beijing be verified? Have you confirmed that the grain has been put into the warehouse?"

Miao Gong, a doctor from the Ministry of Finance, came over in a hurry. Seeing what Shi Lang Shen asked, he thought for a moment. The official warehouses in each county and city have now been reported. The book said that the warehouses were full. Could it be that something happened? ,

"Back to Mr. Shen, according to the information handed over by the county, all the official warehouses in the county are full before they are closed. No one is allowed to open the warehouses after they are closed. If they are opened and there is a lack of food, it will be a death penalty according to the Dawu Code. , when we filed the files a few days ago, the official warehouses of various counties and cities were sealed one after another. According to the statistics on the brochure, the official warehouses of the counties and cities in the south of Beijing must be full. "

Hearing Lang Zhongmiao Gongze's answer, Shen Zhongxin became even more worried.

"Mr. Su, bring the folder Jingnan handed over,"

"Yes, Lord Shen."

Manager Su ran all the way to the filing office, rummaged through it, and finally found the book. He quickly took it over and put it on the table.

"Master Shen, this is the document sent from Jingnan, and it was personally verified by people sent by the Ministry of Household Affairs."

Shen Zhongxin opened the folder, and it contained detailed records of the amount of grain in the county's official warehouse and the time it was put into the warehouse, but not the time it was taken out of the warehouse. Although he had doubts in his heart, there was no evidence. Looking at what Brother Zeng said and the report, it was inevitable. It happened at the cabinet. After thinking about it, he said to the two of them,

"You go ahead and put away the papers. From today on, the Hubu Pavilion will be guarded every day and every night. Anyone who comes here must be recorded. See what they did and what they took. You can understand."

"Yes, Lord Shen, I understand."

The two nodded, then took the folder and went back. Shen Zhongxin carefully put the letter away and put it in his arms. He adjusted his official hat and wanted to go to the cabinet. He got up and left the ministry hall. After looking in the right direction, he stepped out. Walked over.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the pavilion, he was stopped by the imperial army.
"Master Shen, stay here. No one can enter the cabinet hall except the cabinet elders."

Shen Zhongxin couldn't believe it. When did such a rule happen?
"I dare to ask Master Jun, but what happened?"

"Back to Master Shen, this is what the cabinet ministers have told me. I don't know the specifics." Seeing that the guarding imperial guards also looked at a loss, Shen Zhongxin knew that he couldn't get anything out of him if he asked again, so he had to say,

"Is Gu Shangshu here?"

"Back to Mr. Shen, Mr. Gu Ge has returned home today."

"understood,"

Shen Zhongxin no longer stayed here, turned around and left. He believed Zeng Ze's words in his heart. He did not return to the ministry hall. He got on the carriage after leaving the palace gate and ordered,
"Quickly, go to the teacher's house."

"Yes, sir, sit tight and drive."

With the squeaking sound of the wheels, the carriage also moved quickly.

Shen Zhongxin, who was sitting in the car, still couldn't believe that the imperial court in the capital didn't know about such a big incident. Even if people in the officialdom colluded to conceal the report, what were the people in the Imperial City Department doing?

As the carriage swayed, it galloped all the way, and soon arrived at the residence of Mr. Gu Ge, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.

"Master Xu, we're here."

"Well, you wait here."

Shen Zhongxin confessed, and then got off the carriage. He looked at the same deep house compound, but for some reason he felt a little desolate. He straightened his official uniform and walked in. When he reached the gate, the porter hurriedly came out to salute.

"This servant has met Lord Shen,"

"Is the teacher at home?"

"Go back to Mr. Shen, the master is in the study."

"Oh, I see."

Shen Zhongxin didn't think much, stepped in and went straight to the study.

And in Gu Zhai's study,

Gu Yichen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, was sitting in his study, sipping tea. There was a pile of memorials on the table. Although they were inconspicuous, the word "Jingnan" was written on the footer. Seeing these memorials, Gu Yichen also frowned, thinking about the officials. Lu Wenshan, the Minister of the Ministry, has been acting strangely for a while, and he has had a headache unconsciously. He even saw the report three days ago, and he never thought that the southern region of Beijing would be in chaos.

However, Lu Shangshu suppressed the matter, saying that it was enough to put down the rebellion, and because Song Zhen, the Minister of Punishment, supported it, and Li Chonghou, the chief minister of the cabinet, had an unclear attitude. He did not agree or support it, so he suppressed the matter without even looking at it. Qing Dao inside, but after seeing what Zeng Zhifu said, Jingnan was afraid that there would be a big chaos, and this matter could not cause trouble, so he kept all the papers sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Just thinking of countermeasures,

There was a knock on the study door, and Gu Shangshu asked,
"Who's out there?"

"Teacher, it's me, Shen Zhongxin."

Gu Yichen was stunned, why is Ziyu here?

"Come in and talk,"

"is teacher."

Shen Zhongxin opened the door and walked in. He subconsciously glanced inside the room. Seeing that there was no one else around, he walked inside and bowed.
"The students have seen the teacher, and the teacher is fine."

"Okay, Ziyu, sit down. I've finished handling the affairs of the ministry today, so why do I have time to come to my house?"

Gu Yichen felt relieved to see Shen Zhongxin behave as before, and asked with concern.

Shen Ziyu was not polite. He moved a chair and put it down in front of the teacher's desk. Then he sat on it. He glanced at the memorials placed on the table. There were actually memorials from Jingnan. He was slightly surprised. How could this happen? What happened? I thought of Brother Zeng’s letter. I couldn’t help it anymore and asked,

"Teacher, the student has something unclear, please ask the teacher to clarify the confusion."

Gu Yichen did not answer, but instead picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea for Ziyu, and pushed it over.

"Don't worry, let's drink tea. I know a little bit about the purpose of your coming here. You may want to ask if these are related to Jingnan?"

Shen Zhongxin's face changed greatly and he asked in surprise,
"How did the teacher know? What does the teacher know about Jingnan?"

Looking at Shen Ziyu who looked excited, Gu Yichen stretched out his hand and pressed it, signaling to calm down.

"What's the hurry? Have a sip of tea to warm yourself up."

(End of this chapter)