Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 483: Chaos in the Central Plains, chaos in southern Beijing

Chaos in the Central Plains, chaos in southern Beijing!
In the land south of Beijing, at the southern end of the hinterland of the imperial court, civil unrest broke out, the city was occupied, and the people were displaced.

In less than a month, the city of Linyue was besieged, and both Dingzhou and Zhaozhou were captured by the Taiping Rebellion. All the wealthy households and officials in the city were slaughtered.

Linzhou in the east has also been captured by the White Lotus Sect, and all of them were killed. Weizhou and Chenzhou were captured by the former prince's old tribe, who put on the coat of the Taiping Sect and had no scruples, and the cities were looted.

If you go to these places now, you will find that all ten houses are empty, and the people are deserted.

And the court knew nothing about it!
Hall of Mental Cultivation,
In the imperial study,

After hearing the answers from the two people in the hall,
Emperor Wu Zhou Shihong first thought about whether it was the ministers of the cabinet who intercepted the matter, or whether the ministers of various ministries knew it and concealed the matter, or it was both. If it was true, then what was their purpose.

Therefore, there are many clues to this matter. If the investigation is time-consuming and labor-intensive, I am afraid that even if these people are found, it will still be a headless case, but it is more or less the same, and those few people cannot escape suspicion.

Looking at the silent Marquis Luo Yun, Wu Emperor Zhou Shihong also cursed in his heart, "You little naughty boy, you can hide so well. Although he mentioned this matter, it is a matter of the Ministry of Finance after all. If there is such a big mess, he will not come forward again." , it doesn’t make sense.

"Reply to Your Majesty, I, Shen Zhongxin, am willing to take responsibility. Please give me pen and ink to write down the details. I will search the property of the officials in Jingcang to fill the deficit of the Ministry of Household. I will detain all personnel pending trial. I am willing to bear the consequences. ,"

Shen Zhongxin's face straightened and he had a look of determination, and then he knelt down and bowed down. He had the courage to be the first in the world. Even Zhang Jinyu admired his character, his iron bones and his great loyalty. Such officials are rare to see.

Zhou Shihong also looked slightly moved, as if he had something to say, but he trembled, sighed, and finally did not say anything. He dipped his imperial pen in ink, took a blank booklet, and said,

"Dai Quan, take it to him and let him write."

"This, Your Majesty, is."

Dai Quan hesitated a little. This matter involved a lot. Confiscating the homes of imperial officials in the capital was a major matter. If they were punished before being interrogated, those officials would definitely seize the opportunity.

I wanted to persuade him again, but when I saw that everyone in the palace was silent, I had to give up and walked to the imperial case, took the imperial pen and the unwritten note, and took it over and placed it in front of Shen Zhongxin.

Shen Zhongxin naturally took it respectfully, knelt on the ground without getting up, then rolled up his sleeves, opened the fold, spread it out on the ground, picked up a pen, and wrote the entire fold in one go, he was indeed a literati, this article What is written and what is dead can be said to be alive.

Although I couldn't see it, I didn't know what it was written about, but when I saw Dai Quan's face changing again and again as he stood there, I knew that what he wrote must be shocking.

After finishing writing, Dai Quan collected the imperial pen and the paper and put it on the imperial case. Emperor Wu picked up the paper and read it. Shen Zhongxin directly started the memorial in the name of the Ministry of Revenue. Officials in the Ministry of Revenue were corrupt, perverted the law, engaged in malpractice for personal gain, and colluded with government and businessmen. As a result, there was a fire in the Jingcang, and its main officials, Cui Dehai, the supervisor appointed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Tian Fangzheng, the inspection treasurer Zhou Ji and others could not escape the blame. The others were all guilty of the same crime. Let the people of the world and the people of the capital have an explanation. Shen Zhongxin asked His Majesty to beat him up and ransack the homes of the guilty officials first, using their property to make up for the loss in Jingcang. This move is not only a warning to everyone, but also an atonement for those of us who read sage books.
Emperor Wu read the memorial and nodded frequently. If it is well written, a scholar should behave like a scholar and work hard for the world and the court. He directly took a red pen to mark the red, wrote a word "K", and then said,

"Since Shen Aiqing understands the righteousness so well, I agree. You will take the lead in this matter, and Marquis Luo Yun will assist you. You must act quickly and do things quickly."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will not dare to delay."

Shen Zhongxin responded, kowtowed to the ground again, and then stood up with a determined look on his face, which made Zhang Jinyu curious about what he wrote. It felt like Shen Zhongxin was suddenly hit with blood, and everyone was rushing to go, Wu When the emperor saw that Marquis Luo Yun didn't answer, he asked aloud,

"Marquis Luo Yun, do you understand? What are you thinking about there?"

"Well, back to your majesty, I understand. I didn't think about anything. I was just thinking about it. On the way to the palace, I found that there was something I didn't say. The people in the capital began to grab food. I don't know the specific reason, but I'm afraid. Someone is causing trouble inside, please Your Majesty to find out about this matter."

Zhang Jinyu came back to her senses, quickly replied, and told what she saw and heard on the road. Someone must be behind the food grabbing incident. Rumors spread everywhere, and the people blindly followed the trend to grab food.

Hearing that something like this happened in the capital, Emperor Wu couldn't help but feel angry. He couldn't believe that it was those people who were behind the scenes.

Emperor Wu looked at Dai Quan aside with cold eyes and asked in a deep voice,
"Dai Quan, is this something?"

"Back to Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. Before going to court, I received a tip that the major rice shops in the capital seemed to have agreed to open their doors and increase prices at the same time. They also limited the supply, which caused panic among the people. There’s a rush to buy them.”

Dai Quan held the Buddha's dust, bent slightly, and stood under the court to tell the story.

Emperor Wu Zhou Shihong was very upset when he heard that this happened. He was not worried about it. Before one thing was dealt with, another thing happened. He wanted to take advantage of everything and touch all the money. It was simply stupid. It seems that I still need to remind them.
"I know about this. Since the price of grain in the capital has increased so much, it means that there is a lot of rice in the grain stores. Dai Quan, I'll look at a few of them. If you don't have a good eye, ask the Imperial City Secretary to check the rice stores. Since there is a lot of food, let’s collect it and you can take care of this matter.”

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will remember it."

Dai Quan hurriedly responded, complaining in his heart. He would not let go of even this small amount of money, and even spread the news to the palace. He was afraid that those who had no backers would be in trouble, and they would have to carefully screen them before returning.

Zhang Jinyu stood in the hall, her legs and feet were a little weak. She had been tired for a day, and she was still standing here. Even the most capable person was tired. Looking at Minister Shen next to him, he was still in high spirits. This was a beating. How much chicken blood.

Seeing that nothing happened, Zhang Jinyu moved aside and gave Shen Zhongxin a look. When Shen Zhongxin saw the expression of the Marquis, he immediately understood, nodded, and left together. Emperor Wu also asked Dai Quan to see him off. Two.

The three of them left the Yangxin Hall together. When they arrived outside the hall, Dai Quan stopped in front, turned around and said,

"Master Marquis, Mr. Shen, the Zajia family won't send you two away anymore. As for other things, the Zajia family won't say much. Just be careful in everything."

Shen Zhongxin bowed his hands and replied sincerely,
"I would like to express my condolences to the Prime Minister for your concern. We will certainly do so."

Zhang Jinyu also nodded slightly and said with a smile,

"Don't worry, Interior Minister. I will definitely complete what your Majesty has told me. However, Interior Minister, I am afraid that things in the city will be troubled again. Behind the scenes of those grain merchants, there is no way that they don't know about the affairs of the capital. They know that there are tigers in the mountains and prefer to go to Tiger Mountains. You always know that there are tigers in the mountains. Be careful too.”

"Haha, thank you Lord Marquis for your kindness. The Zajia family would also like to know who is causing trouble in the capital and can do this under the eyes of the Imperial City Secretary. The Zajia family has not met him for a long time, hahaha!"

Dai Quan laughed and didn't care at all. If there really was someone who was short-sighted, the Zajia would relax his muscles and bones. The three of them said something to each other and then dispersed.

Rongguo Mansion,
Rongqing Hall,
Jia Mu happily sat on the kang, looking at Aunt Xue in front of her, who was still pretty, and sighed,

"Auntie, you have a good mind. You came all the way and still think about these things. If you don't say anything else, ordinary people move in a hurry and just pick up the important things and don't take care of other things. It can be seen that the aunt wants to It’s alive.”

"Hey, look at what the old lady said, even if I don't take anything, I can't forget about you and my sister, old lady. I came in a hurry, didn't prepare anything, and I feel a little ashamed."

Aunt Xue's kind words also made everyone in the room curious about what kind of flower was so rare.

The second wife was not polite and made the decision directly. She accepted the matter and said,

"Okay, since it's your Aunt Xue's kindness, just take it and show it to the girls, and finally, give it to Girl Feng,"

Although Wang Xifeng was curious, when she heard the second wife's words, she curled her lips and replied deliberately, "
"Look, look, this person has taken a wrong turn. Why does he meet me every time? I also want to choose first."

Seeing Wang Xifeng's coy look, Mother Jia beamed, "Look, we are all sisters-in-law. Why don't you stay close to your sister first? Besides, you have nothing and you are still staring at this."

For a moment, there was laughter again in the house, and then Mrs. Zhou's wife took the box and went to the backyard to collect the money. It turned out that she had nothing to do on weekdays. Sanchun and her sister-in-law Li Wan often came here to have a gathering. Outside, there were Several little girls were sitting in silence in Baoxia, listening to calls.

Yingchun's maid Siqi and Tanchun's maid Waitishu were opening the curtain and coming out, both holding tea clocks and tea trays. Mrs. Zhou's wife knew that her sisters were sitting together, so she entered the inner room and saw only Yingchun and Tanchun. Chun and Chun were playing Go under the window. Miss Xichun was chatting with her elder sister-in-law Li Wan, and from time to time she pinched a few pieces of cloud cake and ate it. It turned out that the cloud cake was what Lin Daiyu asked Zijuan to give to Sanchun. She was really greedy. Xichun, sitting there, kept talking.

The wife of the Zhou family saw that her master was there and said,
"I've met all the masters, and I've met the eldest grandma."

Looking at the person coming, Li Wan raised his head and glanced. Wasn't it the mother-in-law's dowry? and asked,
"Ah, it turns out to be Sister Zhou, but is there something wrong?"

Mrs. Zhou's wife then presented the flowers and said,
"Back to grandma, these flowers were brought by my concubine. She said they were given to three young ladies and each of them would look better on them."

"Okay, let's take it then,"

Li Wan didn't really like those colorful things, and he didn't care if he had them. Lady Zhou didn't say anything.
Although Miharu was curious, she didn't take it to heart and just ordered the maids to take it away.

When Mrs. Zhou saw that she had finished taking the flowers, she stopped talking and left the house. She originally wanted to go back and give them to the second mistress. The master was here, so there was no need to disturb her. It would be better to take a few more steps and take the flowers directly to the second mistress. The room was safe, so he moved as he thought about it.

After leaving the courtyard, go through the corridor, pass under the back window, cross the west flower wall, then turn to the northeast, exit the west corner gate and enter Sister Feng's courtyard.

Walk to the main room,

I saw the little girl Feng'er leaning against the door, sitting at the entrance of the hall, dozing off. When she heard the noise, she opened her eyes. Seeing the Zhou family's wife coming, she quickly waved her hand to tell her to go into the house.

"It turns out that Aunt Zhou is here, but she came to see grandma. Grandma went to the old lady's house."

Madam Zhou naturally knows where grandma has gone. She came from there just now.
"I know grandma is there. She just came over there. Why are you sitting here?"

Just as he was asking, he heard a burst of laughter over there, but Jia Lian's voice was heard.

Then, when the door of the room rang, Jia Lian asked Feng'er to scoop some water in. As soon as he turned around, he saw Mrs. Zhou's wife and asked,
"Hey, sister-in-law of the Zhou family, what are you doing here?"

Lady Zhou quickly bowed to Jia Lian and replied,
"I've met Mr. Lian. These are flowers sent by my concubine. Grandma asked me to put them in the house."

After finishing speaking, I took the box to him and talked about sending flowers.

Jia Lian was a little curious. After hearing this, he reached out to take it, opened the box, and saw that the flowers inside were lifelike and really beautiful.

"It got into my eyes. I'm keeping this thing. If you're fine, go back."

"Yes, Second Master."

Mrs. Zhou's wife quickly agreed and went back. After seeing the people leaving, Jia Lian actually took out two flowers in her hand. She called Caiming first, and after a while, ordered her to send them to the mansion over there to Mrs. You of Ningguo Mansion. Send it over and explain the situation to Brother Zhen.

Mrs. Zhou's wife came out of the opera garden and looked at the last two flowers left in her hand, which were wrapped in brocade. It turned out that just now, she also had the intention of currying favor. She gave the box and flowers to the second mistress first, and everyone else did the same. I wanted to take it alone, so I had prepared it in advance and wrapped it up, leaving only Miss Lin who didn’t give it away.

They turned a corner and were about to go west, but before they had gone very far, they met Jia Baoyu in the courtyard, strolling with Xi Ren and She Yue, followed by a few girls from the courtyard. Mrs. Zhou's wife saw her, If you dare to disturb him, you have to find another way and go around.

But as luck would have it, Jia Baoyu was upset at this time and had been "studying hard" for many days, so he went out to stroll around the garden to relax and see what interesting things were going on in the house. He originally thought that he would go there after walking around for a while. Take a look at the school. I heard that Brother Xue Pan from Aunt Xue's family is very generous and highly praised by the people in the school. It would be good to get to know him.

Who would have thought that walking around in the garden would seem boring, and Jia Baoyu had long been depressed. What made him even more angry was that the maids around him were following closely. Even Xi Ren and She Yue were inseparable, one on the left and the other on the right.
"Look at you two, I just came out to relax, why are you following me?"

The tone was quite impatient. Xiren followed behind with a food box in his hand. Sheyue didn't take anything, but he took two sweat towels and brocade cloth in his hand and replied,

"Oh, Mr. Bao Er, isn't it hurtful to say this? Our sisters are worried about you, afraid that you will be tired and thirsty. Look at the things in your hands. They are all prepared for you, Bao Er. Do you also understand the hearts of us servants?"

"Yes, Mr. Bao, although the weather has warmed up, the wind is still a bit chilly before the time comes. Just take a walk outside to warm yourself up. It's better to go back to the house and have a rest. I will give it to Mr. Bao again." Some snacks, a pot of tea, and having fun in the house."

Xiren was naturally concerned about Baoyu, and was afraid that something would happen to Baoyu. Jia Baoyu wanted to scold him, but when he saw Yingying and Yanyan beside him, he couldn't open his mouth. He ducked his feet and walked forward. After passing the pavilion, he Seeing Mrs. Zhou's leaving figure, she shouted,
"Wait a minute, people in front, what are you going to do?"

Mrs. Zhou's wife stopped and hurriedly tried to get away, but she was called out anyway, so she turned around and replied,

"I've seen Mr. Bao, why did you come to the yard when you had time?"

Jia Baoyu ignored it, walked over and asked doubtfully,

"Where are you going in a hurry?"

"Back to Second Master Bao, this servant is here to bring flowers to Miss Lin."

When Baoyu heard that he was sending flowers to Lin Daiyu, his eyes suddenly lit up and he couldn't help but ask first:

"What kind of flower? Come and show it to me!"

As soon as he stretched out his hand, he snatched the brocade cloth from Madam Zhou's hand and opened it. It turned out to be two palace-made artificial flowers with new and ingenious gauze. They were beautifully made and had a fragrant fragrance. They were really fresh. stuff.

Jia Baoyu carefully put it away, wrapped it in brocade cloth, and asked:

"Is this all the flowers, or do the other girls have them?"

Mrs. Zhou’s wife replied:

"Second Master Hui Bao, all the girls in the house have them. These two belong to Miss Lin. They are far away, so they were sent last."

"Okay, this matter doesn't have anything to do with you. I'll send you these flowers. By the way, Aunt Xue sent you this. How is Sister Xue doing?"

Although Jia Baoyu was thinking of Lin Daiyu, he was also vaguely thinking of Xue Baochai. They only met once and did not sit down and have a detailed chat. He always felt regretful and empty in his heart.

　Thank you all book friends for your continued support! ...The author would like to thank you all again!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)