Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 258
Zhao Pu's mansion is not what it used to be, and it is very different from when Zhao Kuangyin visited in the snowy night.After Zhao Kuangyin entered the gate, he saw a lofty building, exquisite pavilions, sparse flowers and trees, winding paths and carved railings, all in a luxurious and magnificent atmosphere.Zhao Kuangyin strolled leisurely, turned around two attics, and walked through a ritual gate before entering Zhao Pu's room.

Zhao Puzheng was wearing a long gown, holding a folding fan, half lying on a bamboo chair, holding a book in his left hand, but he was frowning and meditating, very engrossed.Zhao Pu was actually thinking about the increase in bandits in Sichuan and Shu and the displacement of the people that he mentioned in the morning.He had a faint feeling that there was some kind of conspiracy behind this incident, otherwise how could it be such a coincidence, as soon as troops were sent to attack the Southern Han Dynasty, there was chaos in Sichuan and Shu.

He suddenly heard footsteps, looked up, was startled, hurriedly stood up, took a few steps forward, knelt down and said: "I don't know if Long live is here, and my minister Zhao Pu is far away. I hope your majesty will forgive me." !"

Zhao Kuangyin smiled and asked him to flatten his body, and said: "I was just strolling around, but I came here by accident. Those who don't know are not to blame. What is your fault?"

Zhao Pu invited the emperor to sit in the room, and then prepared to tell the emperor his conjectures and doubts just now.

Zhao Kuangyin waved his hand to stop him, and was about to step into the house, but saw ten porcelain jars containing seafood under the eaves of the west wing.

Zhao Kuangyin wondered why these seafood were still outside the house in such a hot day, so he strolled over and asked casually, "Where did you get this?"

The questioner has no intention, but the listener has the heart.Zhao Pu's heart skipped a beat, his face changed, he cried out that he was not good, and the panic on his face disappeared in a flash. After a little hesitation, he still told the truth: "Reporting to Your Majesty, this is sent by the King of Wuyue, Qian Aogang. Haven't had time to open it yet."

Zhao Kuangyin glanced at Zhao Pu meaningfully, then said with a smile: "Since the king of Wuyue sent it from a long distance, it must be high-quality seafood, how about opening it for me to have a look?"

You have no jokes, the emperor opened his mouth, Zhao Pu was unwilling and dared not disobey, so he had to ask someone to open the lid of the porcelain jar.

It was only at this moment that Zhao Kuangyin realized that Zhao Pu's face was extremely panic-stricken, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his legs were trembling slightly as if afraid of the cold.He couldn't help but sighed in disappointment. He had also heard about Zhao Pu's greed, but he always believed that no one is perfect, and gold is never enough. As a prime minister, as long as he is capable, it is better to have some shortcomings than to be too perfect.But judging by Zhao Pu's appearance, I'm afraid he is greedy a lot!

When the jar was opened, Zhao Kuangyin probed it, and felt a "click" in his heart, and his eyes were wide open.Where is there any seafood, the ten small jars are filled with yellow and dazzling melon seed gold.

Zhao Pu was terrified, sweating profusely, knelt down on the ground with a plop, lowered his head, and kept explaining in his mouth: "I really don't know that the melon seed gold is in it, I just think it is ordinary seafood. If I knew earlier It is a bribe from the King of Wuyue, and the minister will tell His Majesty to refuse it."

If Zhao Pu had been calm and calm just now, Zhao Kuangyin might still have believed his words, but now combined with Zhao Pu's guilty conscience just now, no matter how he explained it, Zhao Kuangyin felt that it was trying to cover up the truth, and the more he described it, the darker it was.

Zhao Kuangyin only felt a cold air suddenly hit his whole body, piercing into his heart, and a shadow also climbed on the tip of his eyebrows.At the same time, I was extremely angry.Recently, he was worried about the military expenses of the Han army, and even condescended to force Ye Chen to take out a batch of money from the profits of the Huaxia Weifu.However, Zhao Pu's family can easily contain ten jars, which is enough for an army of [-] to fight a battle.

But Zhao Pu is different after all, he has made great contributions to the founding of the country from the dragon, and he has a friendship with the founding monarch and his ministers. Zhao Kuangyin didn't want his beloved minister to make a fool of himself in front of him. He took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and quickly controlled his emotions , Pretending to be very indifferent and said: "Why should Aiqing be so panicked? It's just that the king of Wuyue thinks that you, a scholar, are in charge of the country, so he gave you some small gifts to help you say something nice, but it's harmless. However, recently the military expenditure is tight, there is a famine in Sichuan and Sichuan, and the supply of food and grass for the Han army on the Chengdu Mansion Road is insufficient. Luo Gongming is having a headache for this, and Ai Qing knows about it. Use the military expenses to buy food and grass for the army!" After saying that, he walked to Zhao Pu's living room by himself.

Zhao Pu heaved a sigh of relief in his heart, and after quickly thanking him, he got up and followed Zhao Kuangyin into the living room.

Zhao Pu ordered someone to offer tea, and the two sipped it slowly.At this time, Zhao Kuangyin no longer had the heart to discuss tax rectification and other matters with him, and because of the shock just now, Zhao Pu also forgot for a while the inference about the conspiracy behind the chaos in Sichuan and Shu.

Zhao Kuangyin took a few sips of tea to ease the atmosphere, but he still couldn't help saying solemnly: "As an official of the imperial court, you must not be greedy for money, and you must be as cautious as the beginning, and stay late."

Zhao Pu quickly stood up and said respectfully: "What your majesty said is that I have already realized my mistake, and I will never commit such a greedy thing again in the future."

Zhao Kuangyin's expression softened slightly, and he said: "Tang Taizong once told his ministers a story, saying that there was a businessman in the Western Regions. Because of his greed for money, he only knew how to love money and didn't know how to love himself, so he cut open his stomach to hide jewelry. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty warned the ministers in this way: "Pearls are things outside the body. If you are greedy for money, you will harm yourself. If you are greedy for the master, you will lose your country. If you are greedy for your ministers, you will die. A sage loves money and loses his aspirations, and a fool loves money. It happened. I was greedy for selfishness, and I took property indiscriminately. In the end, I must have lost my wealth and life..."

Zhao Pu repeatedly said yes and blamed himself endlessly.

Zhao Kuangyin saw that the atmosphere between the two was slightly awkward, so he stopped talking about it, and started to talk about some trivial things casually, and then he left and returned to his official position.

After Zhao Kuangyin left, Zhao Pu had a little rabbit in his heart, jumping wildly, up and down.He didn't even eat dinner, so he hurriedly sent someone to put the gold into the box, and sent someone to the Sansi Yamen, saying that it was the military expenses that His Majesty ordered Wu Yue Kingdom to send.

But after doing these things, Zhao Pu was still feeling uneasy. He drove everyone out of his room, and slept on the bed with all his clothes on at night. He felt terrified and his heart trembled.Just about to fall asleep in a daze, suddenly it felt as if both feet stepped on the ground, and the whole body fell into the abyss. I woke up with a start, already dripping with cold sweat.

As for today's temper, I'm afraid no one is more familiar with it than Zhao Pu.

Zhao Kuangyin was as hot as a ball of fire and as cold as a piece of ice; his heart was as soft as a handful of cotton wool and as hard as a rock.For officials, scribes, and the old, the weak, the sick, and the poor, he took great care of him, loved and sympathized, never punished him with excessive crimes, let alone killed someone innocently, he was a generous and benevolent elder.

However, Zhao Kuangyin hated those corrupt officials and those who took bribes the most. Once found out, he would never be merciless. He would kill those who deserved to be killed, and those who should be punished would never forgive him.

Zhao Pu still clearly remembers that in the third year of Jianlong, Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict specifically against the crime of stealing stolen goods, saying: "The king prohibits people from doing wrong, and should not be preceded by laws and regulations; in order to control affairs, one must be sympathetic."If the world is chaotic, it should be corrected fiercely; if people know shame, they should be lenient.Thieves are not giant beetles at first, they are not enough for treachery, and their crimes are severely punished.This law is more important than the law, and bribery is less important than human life, so that it can be leniently banned, and it is consistent with the old chapter.From now on, those who steal more than [-] guan will be executed, and the money will be [-] guan, and those who are dissatisfied will be punished.

He was executed after stealing five hundred crowns, which shows Zhao Kuangyin's deep abhorrence of corruption and perverting the law and his hard-hearted determination to punish corruption and eliminate adultery.

Over the years, the stories of many court officials being ruthlessly executed for taking bribes flashed through Zhao Pu's mind like an excerpt.

In the second year of Jianlong, Li Yao, the magistrate of Shanghe County, was beaten to death because of corruption, and Li Jizhao, the enshrined official, was beheaded and abandoned in the market for stealing and selling official ships.

In the third year of Jianlong, Yuanwailang Li Yue, Chen Yan, and Dianzhi Cheng Dejun were beheaded together because of corruption and bribery; the river officer Wang Xun and other four were sent to the court for profiting from the military rations mixed with chaff. city.

In the second year of Qiande, Zong Zhengqing, Zhao Li, was executed for corruption and bribery, and then demoted to the people.

In the first year of Kaibao, General Shi Yanzuo was beheaded and abandoned the market for stealing from the prison.

One by one, one by one, since the founding of the country, more than a hundred officials, big and small, and meritorious ministers have been killed because of corruption and perverting the law. No matter who intervenes, Zhao Kuangyin will not tolerate it.

Thinking of these things, Zhao Pu was terrified, as if he had suddenly fallen into an ice cave, and he felt chills all over his body.

He recalled Zhao Kuangyin's excited expression when he quoted Tang Taizong's high theory this afternoon.It can be seen that his determination to punish corruption and reform official governance is unswerving.

Why did he bump into those ten cans of melon seed gold?Could it be that he really became the merchant from the Western Regions who cut his belly open to hide pearls, and died for gold and silver?How will Zhao Kuangyin deal with himself?To kill or chase?But in any case, his favor in front of the emperor will definitely decline from now on.Zhao Pu punched himself on the head with his fist in remorse. For the first time, the prime minister, who is full of knowledge and wisdom, felt extremely regretful in his heart.

"No, it's time to fight with Zhao Guangyi, and we must not lose the emperor's favor. Or the matter of Sichuan and Sichuan can be redeemed."

"There is chaos in Sichuan and Sichuan, and there must be people behind it. Maybe when our army goes to war with the Southern Han, there will be people in Sichuan and Sichuan. This matter will be reported to His Majesty tomorrow, and arrangements will be made early. This matter is related to The safety and security of our country in the Great Song Dynasty, I have predicted in advance, the court and His Majesty have made preparations, so as to minimize the harm of this matter, and more or less can restore some of the goodwill in the heart of the emperor."

Zhao Pu thought about the countermeasures all night, and finally realized that he had to show his talents and let the emperor feel his importance to the court and him. As time went on, the negative impact of this afternoon's incident would slow down. Dissipate slowly.

It has been half a month since the army left Kaifeng, and Ye Chen has already traveled more than half of the distance with the army, and in two or three days, they will reach the front line of Yuanzhou facing the Southern Han Dynasty.

These days, his method of giving orders by semaphore has been completely familiar and used to by the troops.In addition, generals and flag bearers at all levels are already familiar with the meaning and movement of each semaphore.Ye Chen was also very pleased with this.

(End of this chapter)