Taiping Inn

Soon after the beginning of winter, the Imperial Capital welcomed the first snow of the year.

This snow was heavy.

The drifting snowflakes fell silently on the ground of the streets and alleys, on the blue-black roof tiles, on the withered branches, and on the walls one after another, making the entire Imperial Capital covered with a layer of white, like a widow wearing mourning clothes, a vast expanse of white.

The snow on the post road outside the Imperial Capital had been cleared, and the entire post road looked a little black against the white snow, leading directly to the wharf of the Grand Canal. Every year, there are 20,000 canal boats from the court and government that dock here and set sail. At the end of the year, the heavy snow arrived early, and the flow of people and vehicles coming to the wharf to pick up the goods was even more noisy. However, this wharf is not the end of the Grand Canal. There is another section of the canal connected to the moat of the Imperial Capital. After passing the gate, you can directly enter the Taiji Lake in the city, but this is a treatment only for royal tribute.

The so-called Grand Canal was built by the State of Wu near Jinling Prefecture to divert water from the Yangtze River before Emperor Zulong unified the country. It was called the Han Canal in history. After that, successive dynasties continued to develop and extend northward and southward on this basis. Especially after the two large-scale expansions and renovations of the Jin Dynasty, by the time of this dynasty, it basically connected Jiangnan and the Imperial Capital, and was called the Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal crosses four states, eleven prefectures, and twenty-three counties, and is about 3,600 miles long. Jiangnan produces two-thirds of the world's grain, and it relies entirely on this river to transport grain to the Imperial Capital, so this river can be called the lifeline of the entire dynasty.

In the fifth year of Tianbao, there was no snow in the capital for a whole winter. Many officials of the Imperial Observatory were questioned. In the second year, famine really occurred in Qizhou. The victims left their homes and became displaced. The Qingyang Sect took the opportunity to start an uprising, and forced the refugees to attack cities and plunder land in Qizhou. Although the Qingyang Sect used the guise of "uprising" and "not paying taxes", the people who could barely survive in the places they went to could no longer survive, and were forced into the refugee army. Therefore, the number of refugees increased, just like locusts during a locust plague. Wherever they passed, no grass grew. Whenever the Qingyang Sect attacked the city, their elite troops did not move, but used swords and guns to force the refugees to come forward to consume the arrows and rolling logs of the soldiers defending the city. The imperial court officials and soldiers were in a dilemma whether to kill them or not. Afterwards, they would accuse the imperial court of slaughtering the people, which made the governor of Qizhou very anxious.

In the sixth year of Tianbao, it was the opposite. It snowed just after the beginning of winter. It is said that auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. It seems that next year will be a good omen. Therefore, this snow became a great auspicious sign. Not only did the officials of the Imperial Observatory breathe a sigh of relief, but the chief officials of the cabinet, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War also smiled.

Only one government office could not smile, that is, the grain transport government office. Not only could it not smile, but it was also a little panicked. The population of the imperial capital was one million, and all relied on this Grand Canal for supply. The last few batches of grain and silver transported to the imperial capital that year, as well as various tributes for the expenses of the palace, had to be transported before the winter solstice. Otherwise, the river would be frozen and the great mission would be delayed.

Therefore, the river entering Zhili in the past few days was full of boats, which caused the phenomenon of blocking the river.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and it filled the sky and the river.

If the distance between the boats is a little far, you can't see the situation on the other side clearly. There are many boats on the canal at this time, so it is inevitable to bump into each other. But most of the boats that are still rushing to sail are officials working for the government. They are used to oppressing the people. Once they bump into each other, they will not give up easily.

As the saying goes, officials must have the prestige of officials. The prestige is used to show off. Not showing off is like wearing brocade clothes at night, which is boring. Some people have not become officials but are just minor officials, but they have already cultivated a great official prestige. They look at the world with empty eyes, travel the eight poles, and spit out contempt with their noses. They can't tolerate small anger, but they must often vent their wrath.

At this time, people on two boats collided with each other while competing for the road. Two leaders stood on their boats and shouted and cursed loudly.

"You are blind, we are the grain ship of the Canal Transport Office! You delayed our grain transportation and left the capital without food. Can you afford to offend me?"

"You are the blind one! Don't use these to scare me. This is the ship of the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau. It is loaded with official silver that will be sent to the Ministry of Revenue this year, and then it will be used to pay the year-end arrears to all the officials in Beijing. How dare a governor's canal transport office compete with our weaving bureau?"

"The weaving bureau is so great? Our governor's godfather is Yang Gonggong of the Imperial Household Department. Even if your weaving bureau "If you are the Supervisor of the Imperial Household, you should also call our Governor-General Senior Brother. Why do you think that the Weaving Bureau looks down on our Canal Transport Office?"

"Who is talking to you about Senior Brother? Our Supervisor's godfather is Eunuch Liu of the Imperial Household Department, who is not the same as you."

"Eunuch Yang is the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department!"

"Eunuch Liu is also the Governor-General!"

Just when the two boats were deadlocked, another large ship came from behind. Because the heavy snow blocked their eyes, the ship actually sounded a rumbling drum in order to clear the way.

The official ships that were fighting stopped fighting and looked in the direction of the drum sound.

Although separated by the wind and snow, a huge black shadow could be vaguely seen. It was actually a huge three-story building ship.

When it got a little closer, you could see a huge lantern hanging on the ship, with the three big characters "Qingluan Guard" clearly written on it.

Getting closer, you can see the black "Qingluan Guard" flags on the ship fluttering in the wind and making rustling sounds in the snow.

This is the return of the Qingluan Guard who was ordered to leave the capital. Whether it is the ship of the Canal Transport Office or the ship of the Weaving Bureau, they all stopped shouting and scolding, and hurriedly ordered the boatmen on their boats to evade the sides of the river.

The Qingluan Guard’s big ship occupied the river in the middle of the canal in the heavy snow and moved forward majestically, with a cloak breaking through the snow.

A tall figure walked out of the ship’s tower, stood on the deck, and stretched out his palm as big as a palm leaf fan to catch the snow falling from the sky - this person is Zhao Wuqi, the governor and co-governor of the Qingluan Guard.

A large piece of snow fell into Zhao Wuqi's palm. He looked at the snow and whispered: "The snowflakes are as big as hands, and there are black holes at the wellhead. The yellow dog is white, and the white dog is swollen."

A Qingluan Guard attendant came to Zhao Wuqi's side and reported softly: "Sir, the Silijian has sent someone to urge us to rush to the Silijian today."

Zhao Wuqi nodded: "I know."

The attendant dared not say much and slowly withdrew.

Zhao Wuqi was in a very gloomy mood.

There were two major events when he left the capital this time. The top priority was naturally the matter of Tianlezong, but it was messed up. Fortunately, this matter was handled by Lu Dudu, one of the three right governors, and he "saved the emperor" at the last minute, so he could not be blamed. But another thing was directly related to him, that is, the case of official silver in Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. Those useless people in the weaving bureau were caught by the female head of the six gates. He chased them all the way to Beimang County and was about to take her down, but she ran away in the end.

Now the Silijian questioned him, how should he answer?

Zhao Wuqi stood on the bow and looked far away. With his eyesight, the majestic Imperial Capital was already faintly visible in the wind and snow. It was really close.

At this time in the Imperial Capital, in the duty room of the Silijian in the opposite direction of the cabinet, a brass brazier was burning red, reflecting the warmth of several red lanterns hanging from the beams.

Today, Liu Yi, the chief pen of the Silijian, was on duty.

He was a thin man, except that he didn't have three long beards, just like a wandering Taoist.

Liu Yi came to the threshold of the duty room and lifted the heavy cotton curtain, but did not step over the high threshold. Looking out, there was a fierce snowstorm outside the palace, and the north wind mixed with snow particles hit his face, as if the two capitals and nineteen states of the Great Wei were now shrouded in the vast snow.

"Has there been any news from Jiangnan?" Liu Yi suddenly asked.

The eunuch on duty standing behind Liu Yi replied softly: "Replying to the ancestor, Jiangnan sends a message every three days. A message was just sent the day before yesterday, and the next message will have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest."

Liu Yi's mood was a little gloomy, just like the weather in front of him, and he said solemnly: "Go and ask the people in the Qingluan Guard Governor's Office later, what's going on in Jiangnan."

The eunuch on duty replied respectfully: "Yes."

Liu Yi sighed deeply.

If something went wrong with the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau and Qin Xiang, would those Qingliu take the opportunity to criticize the Queen Mother for being a hen crowing at dawn?

Thinking of this, Liu Yi's already gloomy mood became even more gloomy.