Chapter 93 Snow
The letter to Zhang Taiyue was sent out that day; but just as he sent his men away, the post station immediately sent someone to deliver an unexpected message. The person claimed to be sent by Yan Donglou, the young minister of Yan, who traveled 800 miles day and night, with his thighs worn out from the bumpy ride, just to send a message to the prince of Mu Guogong:
"It hasn't snowed in the capital for more than two months."
If you were still a newbie when you first traveled through time, you would still know nothing about government affairs. Now that the prince had been beaten up, his flesh was already elastic. When he heard this sentence, his heart sank:
"really?"
"I dare not lie." The confidant of the Yan family reported prostrate, "Since October, not a drop of rain or snow has fallen!"
The prince's breathing paused for a moment. There was no need for any further embellishment, as he immediately heard the chilling murderous intent behind these short sentences - something big was about to happen!
Da'an is now a genuine agricultural empire. The livelihood of the entire country depends entirely on the will of God, and the living standards fluctuate violently. When the weather is good, everyone is happy, even the lowly laborers can enjoy drinking and eating meat; but once the weather is slightly wrong, large-scale famine is like a sword at the throat, enough to make ministers from top to bottom feel fear.
Don’t forget, the great encore in history was defeated by a set of small combos from the Ice Age!
Of course, it hasn't reached that point now, but it would be terrible enough if it didn't snow in the capital for two months. Farmers in the north plant two crops of wheat, hoping that the snow in winter will moisten the seeds and give a good harvest next year. If the rain and snow do not come in time, wheat seedlings will wither and yields will be reduced on a large scale, and the next spring famine will be very difficult to endure.
There are starving people everywhere under the emperor's feet. Who can bear this political responsibility?
After the prince listened carefully to this fatal message, his face immediately changed from green to blue, red, white to green, and his expression was quite strange. He was silent for a moment, then spoke in a low voice:
"What is Jingzhong doing now?"
The confidant of the Yan family who delivered the letter had obviously received instructions long ago. He told everything he knew. He lay on the ground and thought for a while before reporting back immediately:
"Before I left the capital, His Majesty was preparing for a fasting and offering sacrifices, meditating in seclusion, praying to the heavens for snow."
This reply was ordinary, but the prince widened his eyes slightly:
...Oh wow, things might be getting serious.
Friends who often work with perverted leaders should understand that all the old Dengs who are supposed to hang street lamps in the world are cut from the same mold; the so-called competition for credit, I will die and you will go, the non-stick pan will not slip and will not be lost, and they will never have the slightest sense of responsibility. As the best of the best among the old masters, Feixuan Zhenjun Wanshou Emperor is very skilled in the art of shifting the blame and putting the blame on others, and he will not be easily involved in gossip.
Although he has practiced intensively for many years and no longer cares about the common people but asks ghosts and gods, but the True Lord has been able to sit firmly on the throne for so many years, he must understand the real probability of the so-called praying to heaven for snow; praying for snow is the emperor's divine power, what will happen if he fails to pray for snow? How could the emperor be involved in such an embarrassing and delicate matter?
But now, the old Taoist priest actually broke the convention of decades and faced the problem head-on. Apart from the tiny probability that smoke was coming out of the Zhu family's ancestral tomb, there was only one possibility - during the two-month drought, the shield that could protect Master Feixuan from wind and rain had been exhausted, and there was no one left to take the blame.
Upon inquiry, it turned out to be true. Less than half a month after the beginning of winter, the Imperial Observatory discovered something wrong and could only ask for punishment on the charge of wrong prediction and dereliction of duty, and barely got away with the matter. However, when it still didn't snow after a month, the matter was no longer something that could be fooled by a mere leave of absence from the Imperial Observatory. So the Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Yan Fenyi, had to bring important officials from the six ministries to the Western Garden to kneel down and apologize, saying that they had hesitated and harmed the country, and had incurred heaven's punishment for doing nothing, and requested severe punishment. The emperor, however, specially granted leniency and only demoted each of them by two levels.
At this point, the scene has become extremely ugly. After all, everyone knows who the white gloves of the important cabinet ministers are. If the white gloves hesitate and harm the country, then what does the person wearing the gloves matter? The court had made such a huge concession.
——But even after doing this, it still didn’t snow!
Facts have proved that it is useless to stomp your feet and act like a giant baby in front of nature. God will not tolerate Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou. If there is no snow in the sky, there will be no crops on the ground. If there is no crops on the ground, the whole court will tremble. And the political responsibility will be pressed down layer by layer, and it will definitely be traced to the last person.
"Before I left the capital, Prince Yu had led all the guardians in the palace to kneel down and plead guilty in front of the palace gate." The confidant who was ordered to report the news honestly reported the major events in the capital: "He said that he was incompetent in governing the country and behaved inappropriately, which caused the emperor and father to worry, and asked Your Majesty to punish him severely. But Your Majesty did not agree, and just asked him to contemplate quietly behind closed doors."
Of course I can’t agree! This is not some kind of love between father and son, but a pure struggle for the interests of imperial power; after being ordered to regent, Prince Yu is already the de facto crown prince, although his position is unstable in name only, the crown prince is still the monarch after all, and the relationship between father and son cannot be severed in any way; if the crown prince is pushed out to take the blame this time, who will be able to protect the true monarch from wind and rain next time?
——My son has also brought disaster to the country, right?
So the True Lord had no choice but to take action. Human hearts are like water and people's movements are like smoke. Anticipation is the most subtle and terrifying thing in the world. The millions of people in the capital will not sit idly by and wait for the terror of wheat seedlings withering and food running out to come. Once it is confirmed that famine is inevitable, the next step will be for the people to fear death even though they are not afraid of it. In order to stop the situation from getting worse, Zhenjun had to crawl out and give an explanation to the people in the capital; whether it was worshiping heaven or fasting, or even performing shaman dances every day at the Temple of Heaven, in essence, it was all about consuming the emperor's prestige and stabilizing people's hearts, hoping that things would turn around before his health bar was depleted. But if you don't have time to wait until your connecting flight...
We can only hope that the royal family still remembers the traditional craftsmanship of their ancestors; and hope that Lao Deng can kneel down when begging for food.
If the skin is gone, where will the hair be attached? Even Master Feixuan was forced to take the blame, so the crisis faced by the ministers who depended on the imperial power was of course even more serious. Mu Qiyuan was still unaware of what was happening in Shangyu, but the atmosphere in the capital had probably become extremely tense. There is the emperor above and hundreds of officials below, and outside, there are millions of people who are in constant fear and may cause chaos at any time. The important ministers of the cabinet feel like a thorn in their throats and the pressure they are under can be imagined.
The prince was silent for a long time, then slowly spoke: "What is the cabinet going to do?"
"If it doesn't snow in the spring and the wheat harvest is wiped out, the capital will be short of at least 300,000 to 500,000 dan of grain." The messenger said, "The canal is frozen now, so grain can't be transported from the south. The cabinet has already drawn up a plan. If it is really necessary, we can only transfer grain from several northern provinces..."
"And then force the entire North to revolt?" Mu Qi asked softly, "Who can take on such a responsibility?"
Food is the most difficult thing in the world to obtain. To steal food is to steal life. After the economic center moved south, natural resources in the north were scarce for a long time, so it was necessary to mobilize a large number of troops and spend huge amounts of money to engage in water transport. The capital is now starving for food and rice. Do the northern provinces have excess stocks? The cost of transporting grain by land is staggering. The cost of transporting one dan of grain is more than five dan. The capital is short of 500,000 dan of grain, so the grain collected from various places must be at least 3 million dan. If these numbers are added up, how can the cost not be met?
The cabinet raised taxes so much that civil unrest broke out. Can Lord Yan bear the blame?
Facing the prince's sharp eyes, the messenger knelt down cautiously: "This is a last resort. The ministers don't want to take this step. So, my master asked me to pass a message to the prince: The prince once said that there is a lot of grain in Nanyang, which can be supplied to the Central Plains. I wonder if we can buy a batch now..."
What does "my master" mean? Is it the old master or the young master?
The prince stared at the other party expressionlessly until the messenger's forehead was covered with sweat and his face turned pale, and he just lowered his head in embarrassment - it was obvious that under the pressure, Lord Yan no longer cared about the dignity of the Prime Minister; even if he lowered himself to use his own son's channel to secretly communicate with him, he had to bow his head to the hateful Xing Jin junior; God had mercy on him, a few months ago the prince mentioned the plan to purchase grain and rice in Southeast Asia at the cabinet meeting, and at that time Lord Yan was still sarcastic and whining, and joined forces with many old people to secretly hinder it, but now the times are different and the situation has reversed. The respected old minister actually has to swallow the humiliation and come to ask for help from this arrogant and impetuous junior!
Even the servants in the prime minister's residence could feel such a shame, they hung their heads in silence, staring at the ground and waiting for their fate.
"I'm very happy that Lord Yan is willing to bring a message to me, but I don't like it very much because you are so secretive about it." The prince was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Of course, I can't refuse to give the Lord a favor. Since it has come to this, I will find a way."
The messenger heaved a sigh of relief, but his heart immediately dropped - although this sentence was very impolite, at least he agreed to help; the capital city seemed stable on the surface, but privately the situation was already extremely anxious; Lord Yan was also forced to bow to the evil dog thief. It would be good at all costs if he could find a way to get some food back.
The messenger spoke impatiently: "If the prince has bought the grain, please go directly to Tianjin Port to collect it. The elder has already arranged all the checkpoints, there will be no obstacles."
The last time I bought some wood and some sundries, I went through so many ups and downs that it was almost impossible to remember them all. I only managed to get through it thanks to the face of the Duke's Mansion. Now that the matter has come to a head, it seems that the efficiency of the court has finally improved.
The prince glanced at the messenger:
"How much do you think the maritime merchants in Nanyang have in stock? Don't they need to raise hundreds of thousands of dan of grain? If we go to Nanyang to buy grain, it's definitely too late now."
The messenger's back was covered in cold sweat again: "Then the prince——"
"I have my own way." The prince said calmly: "However, since the elder sent you to deliver the message, you should be mentally prepared to face the problem, right?"
What is the psychological preparation?
The messenger's eyes immediately widened!
As a high-ranking servant who was an absolute confidant of the Yan family and was qualified to listen in on the discussions between the elder and his own son, the messenger certainly knew the behavior of the Prince of Duke Mu. If this kind of person were to freely carry out his crazy, chaotic and bizarre plans without any restraint, more than one or two people would be killed; and since Lord Yan was involved, the price he would have to pay would definitely be very heavy. The so-called "psychological preparation" is definitely not an empty phrase; without some psychological quality, you can't bear the stimulation.
——But what can we do about it?
If Lord Yan had any idea, people wouldn't have gotten involved in such mess. But now, now... being dragged into this trouble by the Prince of Duke Mu is certainly miserable, and one might even lose all face; but if the grain collection in the north really sparked a large-scale civil uprising, the Yan family would not even have the chance to cry out!
Top politicians always know how to make choices. The messenger gritted his teeth and took out a small seal from his bosom. This was the personal seal of Young Lord Yan. With such a seal, it was equivalent to the Yan family having invested their chips and they would never be able to wash away their ties in the future.
"Everything is up to the prince!"
The prince finally smiled, leaned over and helped him up, his expression suddenly softened:
"Don't be so reserved." He said with a pleasant face, "Don't worry, considering our previous friendship, I will definitely do my best. Send a message back immediately, asking the Lord to relax."
So gentle, so warm, so considerate, but the confidant who was helped up suddenly shuddered and dared not speak again.
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