Chapter 454: A Prosperous Year
The Wang family is still immersed in a state of dizziness that is one step at a time. All they see is new things. Every day they are not at ease in their dreams. They want to show off but can't find their goal. The child fell? Tsk tsk, there are many people in the capital, but unfortunately we don’t know each other.”
It is easy for Jing Yao to find out what this family has done. He doesn't need him to spend money, and he doesn't need him to lure him with power. He only needs to go a few times as the eunuch in the palace, with a pair of ears. The Wang family was willing to say anything, even to the point of being unabashed.
Every time Jing Yao came to visit, an uncle would pull his sleeve and say solemnly: "Tell Your Majesty, if there is something to talk about, although we have no other skills, we are loyal. For the sedan chair, only we are willing to carry the sedan chair. We must tell Your Majesty, if you don’t say it, I will say it myself when I drink with Your Majesty, that your face will not look good at that time.”
Jing Yao promised with a smile. When reporting the situation to the emperor, he shared a few similar trivial matters with the Wang family, but did not elaborate.
Jing Yao noticed one thing, the men of the Wang family are rude and simple, they have a lot of faults, but they have no scheming. They mainly communicate with others to show off. There are indeed many officials who come to compliment, but they are only superficial friendships and no in-depth exchanges. Most of the women in the Wang family are relatively honest. Apart from arguing a few times over the distribution of the family property, there is no other conflict, except for one exception.
The woman's surname was Wang, but strictly speaking, she did not belong to the Wang family.
Her name is Wang Cuilian, and her family is adjacent to the Wang family in the village. She is close to her family. Several members of her family were also brought into the capital to live with the Wang family. The reason is that the only childhood memory of Empress Dowager Cining has her shadow. .
When she was a child, she called the Empress Dowager Cining "Miss Sister" and often played together. After decades, she still felt that she was obliged to continue to follow the Empress Dowager.
Jing Yao found out that Wang Cuilian was often invited to visit the female relatives of dignitaries and dignitaries, and to teach female red - what she called "needlework".
Jing Yao didn't know what the female relatives said when they were threading the needle, and Jing Yao didn't plan to check it out. He only knew one thing, female red was not so attractive to the powerful family, and the female relatives were not very enthusiastic towards Wang Cuilian. normal.
His investigation had come to an end, Jing Yao understood that if he continued to investigate, he might be the one who would get into trouble.
Han Ruzi also felt that enough, the line from the powerful daughter to Wang Cuilian to the Empress Dowager Cining was very clear, and there was no need to trace the details.
There are already ministers who have heard the news and hired officials for the Wang family. The reasons are still the same: the young and the young and the young, the old and the old and the old, the emperor is close to his family, which helps to cultivate a heart of kindness and ultimately benefit the world.
Han Ruzi admired the ability of these people to use the scriptures for their use, but hated their flattery.
He negotiated with the prime minister, and named the three uncles as generals of Suwei. He said they were generals, but they were actually false titles. They had no yamen or official seal, but they had grades and tolerances. They could take high-spec sedan chairs or carriages when they went out. prestige.
Empress Dowager Ci Ning was quite satisfied and didn't say anything more.
The investigation of the Prime Minister Zhuo Ruhe was simpler. As long as the memorials here were not sealed, Zhao Ruosu had read them all, and was impressed. After thinking about it, he said, "The Prime Minister has recently adjusted more than 30 officials, most of which are promotions. As for the background of these people, Wei Chen knows very little, it is better to ask the prime minister directly."
Han Ruzi really wanted to ask Zhuo Ruhe, but before that, he asked the East Sea King first.
The King of the East Sea has been following the movements of the imperial court. He knows the intricate relationship between the powerful families best, and watches the ups and downs of each family, but if the emperor asked, he would not say a word.
"The prime minister himself is a descendant of an aristocratic family. His ancestors had many high-ranking officials. Otherwise, he would not have become a concubine." King Donghai smiled, not wanting to appear to know everything, so he asked to go back and investigate, and he said to the emperor in Lingyun Pavilion on the third day. : "As far as I know, it's nothing special: several of Feng Ju's disciples have been promoted, but they are all within a reasonable range. The prime minister must be trying to appease his former opponents. Others are relatively simple, or Chai, Lou, Cui , Hua four, the Hua family has declined, and the other three are still strong, and the prime minister should give benefits."
"You said before that the prime minister will give priority to the promotion of the late emperor's close ministers."
The King of Donghai smiled and said: "If you want to benefit yourself, you must first give others a little benefit. This way, you won't receive too much opposition when it comes to yourself. The way of an official is probably like this, and the prime minister is very disciplined."
Han Ruzi also laughed, because he used this trick himself, and used it often. Thinking of this, he felt a lot more relieved.
The King of the East Sea added: "I have to say one more thing to Your Majesty, the so-called background is like what others say, disciples, old divisions, marriages, the same surname, fellow township, and the same list of scholars, etc., can be counted as background, and many officials are related to the four masters. , It's hard to say who belongs to whose family, there was an accident in the Hua family, and no 'Hua family' jumped out to speak for them."
The rules of the imperial court are so many that the people in them are used to it, but Han Ruzi, who has been alone since he was a child, finds it new, "Four great masters? Interesting, I have never heard of it before."
Donghai King widened his eyes in surprise, and immediately smiled: "It's no wonder that Your Majesty has the world in his heart, so he doesn't pay much attention to these things, and it's hard for others to say. , but if you want me to say, this is just a folk rumor, many of them are used to make up the number, and they have been declining for many years."
Han Ruzi originally wanted to ask in detail who the eighteen households were, but then he gave up. As an emperor, there is no need to know too many details.
In the end, Han Ruzi did not talk to the Prime Minister Zhuo Ruhe, but since then, he no longer approved the "reading" of the memoirs, and resumed the habit of reading carefully.
In the following period of time, Zhuo Ruhe's adjustment of officials came to an end, and he began to formally assist the emperor to govern the world.
The first problem is migrants.
Most of the refugees were resettled last year and had a harvest that fall, but they only had enough to live on, with very little savings, and still needed government relief.
The problem is that there is not much surplus grain in the government treasury.
This time, there is really no food. Zhuo Ruhe has carefully investigated. After years of disasters, more than half of the grain depots in the world's counties and countries are in emergency.
"Only the four major military warehouses have enough food, and the minister thinks that they can be called." Qu Zixi's first suggestion to open the military warehouses, Zhuo Ruhe now has the same idea, "Since the spring and summer of this year, the weather has been good, and it will be very difficult after the autumn. There may be a bumper harvest, just wait a few months, the grain of the barn will be restored, and it will be full in two or three years.”
Han Ruzi was hesitant. The grain of the barn was very important. Once it was empty, the emperor seemed to have no weapons in his hands.
The battle in the East China Sea was small and had little impact on the Chu army. The Huns outside the Great Wall were a big problem. Chai Yue led an army of 100,000 troops to garrison in Mayi City.
The Huns have been relatively stable recently, but it is reported that since the beginning of the spring, a large number of Huns have moved south, not far from the frontier, and there are reports that more and more Huns have fled from the west. The grassland people have always lived in pursuit of water and grass. Now they only dare to come from the east and not from the west. There is nowhere for cattle and sheep to graze, and sooner or later it will be a disaster.
"Let's open one first." Han Ruzi could only do this first.
Zhuo Ruhe chose Aocang. This city has the most grain and has convenient transportation. It is more convenient to transport grain to various places.
Grain relief is only a temporary remedy. Zhuo Ruhe’s fundamental remedy is to reclaim the land. He has used this method in Yunmengze, and the effect is good. Now it will be promoted in various places. The cattle, iron plows, seeds, etc. needed for land reclamation are all It was loaned by the government to the poor, free of rent for one to five years, and then gradually repaid.
Zhuo Ruhe predicts that it will take ten years before the land reclamation will be completed and the world will be enriched, comparable to the heyday of Emperor Wu.
Calculated, the cost of land reclamation is extremely huge, far more than supporting an army of two to three hundred thousand people.
Qu Zixi, the minister of households, fully supported the plan, but Jiang Juying, the minister of war, put forward an objection, "It takes one bucket of grain to raise an army, and at least three buckets of grain to use. With an army of 300,000, since the Taizu, the Great Chu has kept grain. It has never been less than three years, and at most more than ten years, usually five years. Since the riots, the grain storage has been decreasing, and it has been less than three years. If it is not replenished in time, we can only use this year’s grain to support this year’s soldiers. , If something goes wrong and there is no food for the soldiers, how to fight?"
"The army has no food for three years, and I'm afraid that 'in case something happens' and the people have no food for a day, but 'something is bound to happen', which is more important? Which is more urgent or slow?" .
The people are the foundation and the weapons are the weapons. The emperor could not give up either. Han Ruzi asked the prime minister to do the calculations again, and let the Shaofu also participate in it to see if the royal family could help.
Qiao Wanfu has been promoted to Secretary of the Shaofu, and he knows the wealth of the royal family well.
The emperor is very rich, but in the whole world, it is still a drop in the bucket.
In June of this year, an accident in the midsummer season solved a major problem for the court.
News came from outside the Great Wall that Da Dan was dead.
Dadan was old and died without a problem. Han Ruzi felt a little lost. He always wanted to avenge Jincheng, but the enemy went ahead of him.
The frontier has been tense for a period of time. According to the convention, when a large chan died, the Xiongnu often had civil strife, and sometimes the chaos would spread to the Chu region.
This time it was an exception. Half a month later, news came from outside the Great Wall that a new large order had been created, and an envoy was dispatched, willing to befriend the Great Chu.
The new Dadan was nothing, but the new Dayu clan was from Chu.
Cui Zhao, the daughter of the Cui family, married into the Xiongnu as the Princess of Pingjin, and it was her husband who inherited the position of Da Chanyu.
The Huns wrote a letter in the name of Princess Pingjin to show their love to the Great Chu.
Although the Huns were not credible, the pressure on the Chu army was indeed much less. Han Ruzi decided to take a risk and open three barracks to help the world, leaving only one full barn.
This is one of the many successes in Da Chu this year. Soon after, Concubine Tong Qing'e was in labor, and another concubine in the palace was pregnant.
Among the good news after another, there is also a bad news.
Chao Jing, who was sent to Yunmengze by the emperor, returned to Beijing and brought back not a living person, but a cold corpse.
Yang Feng died of illness on his way back to Beijing.