I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 359 Times have changed (4k)

Xunzi's "Treatise on Heaven" says: Heaven's behavior is constant, and it will not exist for Yao, nor will it perish for Jie. If it is governed, it will be good; if it is chaotic, it will be bad.

The first snowfall came as expected, but because the amount of snowfall exceeded the previous snowfall, the Han Dynasty had to make more responses.

Tuoba Jiefen, who was almost ruined by Jia Xu, was sent to Cao Cao in the hope that he could be of some value and continue to indulge the Xianbei people in infighting.

But that's all. Xianbei, which had experienced the snow disaster, was already at the end of its war effort. As long as it prevented them from uniting again, it was not worth investing too many troops.

On the contrary, it is more important to appease the people in the north affected by the snowstorm.

Bingzhou, the eastern part of Liangzhou, and parts of Zuofengyi and Hedong counties, which Sili belongs to, were all affected by the disaster.

The treasury is said to be integrated, but in practice it is impossible for each county to send all the money and grain to Luoyang, so large granaries such as Chencang are built to store nearby, including the grain that was used privately by the late Chen Guojun Luo Jun , all belong to the treasury.

Fortunately, the weather has been good in the past two years, and granaries in various places are still in good supply.

In this context, Honglu Qing Han Rong was ordered to go north on the Emperor's Day.

Han Rong has always been well-educated, but even so, he was so angry that he couldn't help but laugh - the granary caught fire when the food was about to be used, and the weather was dry? Accident? Warning from God? Do you really think he is a rotten scholar who doesn't know the world?
What happened in the five states of Kanto this year didn't wake them up?

But at the scene, Fang Mao's crying stopped abruptly. He didn't expect that the famous scholar would say this. Do you need to be dignified?

However, not long after Han Rong left Henan Yin and arrived in Hanoi County, which was not affected by the disaster, a piece of news came to his ears - the county granary in Shangdang County caught fire, and nearly 60,000 dan of grain were burned.

As for Gongsun Zan's credibility... Han Rong cannot be convinced that the governor of Bingzhou, whose state is in Taiyuan County, has more control over the Shangdang than Fang Mao, who has been the local prefect for nearly six years!

Then, he became, on a factual level, assisting the governor in handling the granary fire case.

Liu Bian was considering the candidates for the new prefect of Shangdang.

In Bingzhou, especially after Dong Zhuo left, whoever dared to ignore Gongsun Zan's existence would pay the price.

After Gongsun Zan took office, in order to show his martial virtue, he dealt a heavy blow to the thieves under Bingzhou. At that time, there was a group of bandits in Shangdang County who gathered over a thousand people. Gongsun Zan only marched for three days, and he became a line in Gongsun's merit book.

But now, are you still playing this trick with him?
Times have changed!

Liu Bian issued a special edict for this purpose, requiring Han Rong to investigate strictly.

Gongsun Zan did not come alone, but with cavalry. After Gongsun Zan arrived, he immediately invited Fang Mao to meet at the post house to discuss how to deal with the fire in the granary.

The so-called granary fire can't fool anyone. If everyone is willing to live with the light, it will naturally be an accident. But it was obvious that Gongsun Zan was unwilling.

Moreover, in Gongsun Zan's view, if such a big thing happens, once the court investigates it, someone who can take the blame will inevitably come out to take the blame. So, Fang Mao, why can't it be you?

……

When the news reached Luoyang, Liu Bian was equally furious.

At this time, Xu Qiu, the prefect of Runan, has been worshiped as Zhijinwu and is on his way to Beijing. The prefect of Runan will be succeeded by Tian Feng. The hometowns of Wang Yun and Sima Fang, the imperial censors, were located in the north and south of Shangdang, which was not suitable, and Liu Bian wanted to place them in the five states of Guandong.

Shangdang County is Han Rong's first stop.

"Cry! Cry day and night, can you cry back the food? Can you cry the traitor to death?"

It's just that we didn't check it. It's not as big as Luo Jun's, so we just let it go. Otherwise, if we checked it, we might not even be able to maintain the disaster relief work that was sustainable at the time.

However, Han Rong was not innocent. There was a fire in the granary, and the prefect Fang Mao was the biggest suspect. The lowest crime was incompetence and negligence. Although Gongsun Zan's treatment was a little excessive, it was actually not impossible.

Yes, Gongsun Zan did not dare to really attack him, but he did dare to restrict his scope of action, monitor his external contacts, and at the same time arrest any official with an official position no higher than a hundred stones on suspicion of a granary fire.

Fang Mao obviously cried early.

In addition, Gongsun Zan was strong in the military and had no achievements in officialdom. Moreover, Han Rong was relatively conservative after all and did not get involved for stability reasons. Therefore, after this case, the Shangdang needed a cadre who could withstand the pressure. Official.

Gongsun Zan did not hide his suspicion of Fang Mao at all.

Fang Mao might actually be able to cry the traitor to death.

When Han Rong accelerated his pace and arrived at Changzi County, the governor of Shangdang County, Gongsun Zan, the governor of Bingzhou who was based in Jinyang, Taiyuan County, had already arrived first and started the investigation first.

In fact, it’s not impossible.

Yes, Cheng Yu, it’s you!

Gongsun Zan is not an ordinary governor. As a border governor, he has more military power and leadership than the governors in the interior. In the stories of the Han family, there are many governors of You and Liang three states who took the initiative to organize armies to fight.

The one who received the news earlier than Han Rong was Gongsun Zan, the governor of Bingzhou.

In the past, when the Seven Commanderies were in flood, Yuan Shaokan solved Luo Jun's case. Luo Jun's misappropriation of food and grass was somewhat traceable, but was it true that no one was secretly embezzling food and grass at that time?

Suddenly, a figure flashed in Liu Bian's mind. He was about to come back to report on his work.

The edict arrived almost at the same time as Han Rong.

It was an innocent disaster, why should he be implicated!

In Changzi County, after Han Rong received the edict, he saw Fang Mao, the Shangdang prefect who came to see him together with Gongsun Zan, the governor of Bingzhou, crying towards him and complaining about Gongsun Zan's atrocities.

The most important thing is that Gongsun Zan has suffered the hardship of confronting his superiors. He has already sent someone to report what he has done together with the progress of his investigation to Han Rong, and will update it in real time so that Han Rong can keep abreast of the latest developments.

Luoyang, the residence of Baijun.

Liu Bian felt that this method was very good. Sending virtuous central officials could not only show the determination of the court to the local areas, but also supervise local officials. Competent emperor envoys could also bridge local differences.

Only now did Fang Mao, the governor of Shangdang, finally understand what the price was.

Half a month later, Liu Bian received a memorial from Han Rong. The evidence of Fang Mao's corruption was conclusive, and a group of people who collaborated with him were on their way to Luoyang.

During Gongsun Zan's investigation, it was revealed that Fang Mao was not innocent, and he might even have eaten a lot of it, and it was not just the 60,000 shi of grain that disappeared in vain.

Cheng Yu looked at this familiar place. The last time he came was when he left at the beginning of the year.

Now, as soon as he returned to Beijing, the emperor had to hand over an important task, and Cheng Yu couldn't be said to be unhappy. Touching the silver-stamped green ribbon in his arms, which he had only recently obtained, it took him a while to suppress the raised corners of his mouth.

With this good news, I naturally wanted to share it with Lao Shou Di.

Cheng Yu got off the carriage and walked towards the Dongjun mansion to calm down.

When the officials in the county saw Cheng Yu's arrival, they had learned a lesson a long time ago and did not look down on him at all because Cheng Yu did not have a seal around his waist. Cheng Yu didn't care either. This was something that caught his eye. There is only one person in Lao Shou's residence.

Sure enough, when the guardian saw Cheng Yu's arrival and met his old friend, he immediately ordered people to prepare wine and food.

During the meal, when there was no one around, Cheng Yu said to the old Shoudi: "Today I meet with Your Majesty. I will record all the local ills and chaos that I know about in a memorial and present it to Your Majesty. This includes the embezzlement of public land in various places. , Household registration fraud and other matters.”

The guard was shocked when he heard this, and asked quickly: "Your Majesty, when you first heard about this, were you angry? Is it related to the fact that you have to pay two thousand stones?" Cheng Yu said with a smile: "My lord has always understood people's hearts, but today the two Asked, it’s all wrong.”

"The emperor is not angry. He seems to have known it for a long time. As for me being two thousand stones, it has already been decided."

Upon hearing this, the Shou Di picked up his wine glass, praised it several times and said, "The Holy Emperor is above me, I am so proud. May the Han family be prosperous!"

Cheng Yu immediately picked up his wine glass and responded.

Before leaving, Cheng Yu suddenly said: "When Yu goes to join the party, he will do his best in his life to eliminate evil and stabilize the country. I have a noble character. I don't know if I would like to go to the party with Yu and show off my talents." ?”

Lao Shoudi looked at the wrinkles on the back of his hands and sighed: "If I were not an old and decrepit body, I really want to go with you!"

He picked up the wine glass again and said, "Here you go, may you live up to your youth!"

When Cheng Yu saw this, he stopped trying to persuade him.

……

After experiencing the snow disaster at the end of the year, God seems to have calmed down. By the end of the year, although there is ice and snow, there will be no disaster.

The fourth year of Guangxi's reign (193) seemed to have an unfavorable start to the year.

At the court meeting on the first day of the first lunar month, after a ceremonial process, Liu Bian did not drop a bombshell like appointing Huangfu Song as the cavalry general like last year. Instead, he smoothly announced that he would continue to appoint Huangfu Song to the ministers. They have a holiday until the seventh day of the lunar month.

However, after the meeting, just after noon, there was no wind or rain, but the sky suddenly turned dark.

Taishi, who was personally on duty at the Lingtai that day, ordered Liu Hong to observe the celestial phenomena, determine the divisions, and finally recorded: Jiayin Shuo, the sun has an eclipse, and it is in the fourth degree in the camp.

Such a special day as the first day of the new year encounters such a special change in the celestial phenomena, which seems to cast a layer of haze over the whole year.

Although Liu Bian actually no longer maintained the political tradition that the three princes were responsible for natural and man-made disasters during the reign of Empress Dowager Deng, as soon as this incident came out, except for the Taiwei Huangfusong who had not yet returned, Situ Cui Lie and Sikong Fanling ignored their holidays and continued to work. Submit a letter to resign.

Before getting a reply from Liu Bian, the two simply stopped leaving!

Liu Bian also knew the special nature of this solar eclipse, and the last solar eclipse occurred was the year Emperor Xian died. No wonder the two of them were so cautious.

He quickly summoned Taishi Ling Liu Hong into the palace and inquired in detail, trying to find a reasonable solution.

Then, Liu Hong began to introduce to Liu Bian the knowledge of celestial phenomena summarized by the ancients.

Many of them went in one ear and out the other, but there was only one thing he remembered clearly -

The world is huge, and the universe is even bigger. In order to better confirm where the warning from heaven should be, people divided the twenty-eight constellations, and they all have corresponding positions on the earth.

This solar eclipse is located in the camp of the twenty-eight constellations.

The camp should be in Bingzhou.

At this time, Liu Bian knew what was going on.

In the process of Liu Bian's rectification of officialdom, the three remote and cool states have always been special. If you are not careful, it will be much easier for the three states to cause chaos than the states and counties in the interior. Coupled with the presence of barbarians, the destructive power will be much greater.

However, the performance of the Shangdang Governor reminded Liu Bian that relying solely on intimidation without showing real signs may not achieve the effect he wanted. Some people will not be afraid unless a knife is put to their necks.

Liu Bian confidently summoned Cui Lie and Fan Ling, and bluntly said that he would send envoys to investigate the Bingzhou officials in a while!
The two instantly understood Liu Bian's thoughts and cooperated very well. They took advantage of the situation and passed the blame to the corrupt officials who were still lurking in Bingzhou.
But the problem seems to go beyond the eclipse.

At first, no one cared about the disaster...

Well, Taishi Ling Liu Hong had already noticed when the first spring rain did not arrive on time.

In the north, where winter wheat is planted on a large scale, the first spring rain in early spring is needed to help the wheat end its hibernation and enter the greening period.

This is a stage that is as important as the right amount of rain during the grain-filling period of wheat and cannot be missed.

However, it is beyond human power to do this.

At the suggestion of Taichang Cai Yong, Liu Bian began to pray for rain for the first time in his life.

The actual effect of praying for rain is not specified, but at least it can act as a placebo to soothe people's hearts.

But forget it, just a few days after Liu Bian prayed for rain, the first late spring rain actually came.

Although it will affect some production, it will eventually come.

Although the next few spring rains did not rain much, they did not make the land dry.

During this period, Taiwei Huangfusong also led his army back to Luoyang.

Everything is moving in the right direction and the climate seems to be as normal as it has been over the past two years.

March, Zhonggong.

Liu Bian was pacing back and forth anxiously in front of a palace.

Not only was he there, but Empress Dowager Dong and Empress Dowager He were also there.

Although Empress Dowager He was not as exaggerated as Liu Bian's performance, her usual graceful and noble demeanor was difficult to maintain.

On the contrary, Empress Dowager Dong, who had always performed poorly at critical moments, calmed down this time because she had seen such scenes many times.

However, she did not persuade Liu Bian to calm down. At this time, persuasion was useless. She had confirmed this with her son twenty years ago.

Liu Bian listened to Cai Yan's voice faintly coming from inside. Even though he had tried his best to make all the preparations, childbirth was a hell gate in ancient times, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.

As time passed, Liu Bian became more and more anxious. The longer the time, the greater the risk.

Just when he couldn't hear Cai Yan's voice and almost couldn't hold back and wanted to rush in, he suddenly heard a cry coming from the room.

"How is Zhaoji?" Liu Bian asked loudly.

Immediately, a palace maid rushed out to report: "Both mother and child are safe. Your Majesty, the noble lady has given birth to a prince."

Liu Bian was about to go in for a visit, but he was boldly stopped by the palace maid: "The blood in the palace will offend Your Majesty..."

Liu Bian didn't care about this, but he was immediately stopped by Queen Mother He - "You have been out for so long, and your body is very cold. Don't get over the cold."

"I don't get close, I just watch from a distance..."

Queen Mother He saw that Liu Bian was no longer so reckless, so she stopped trying to persuade him.

Later, after the coldness had gone from his body, Liu Bian looked at the wrinkled little man in front of him, and two words suddenly appeared in his mind - so ugly.

(End of this chapter)