Chapter 356 Zhang Xian asks for help
Song Mo was very tired, so he dismissed the two ministers who were accompanying him.
Zhang Xian and Zuo Anmin respectfully took their leave.
In front of the palace gate, Zhang Xian flicked his sleeves, glanced at Zuo Anmin, and said lightly, "People, sometimes you have to be kinder. Master Zuo, what do you think?"
Zuo Anmin's face darkened.
Zhang Xian ignored his sullen face and continued to taunt him, "What do you want? You're harming others and not benefiting yourself, digging a hole to bury yourself in."
"Stop talking nonsense. What are we going to do about the Nanyang issue?" Zuo Anmin was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood. If he had known, he would not have been so mean. Now, Zhang Xian was the official in charge after all, and he only got a deputy?
"Let's do it the same way. At worst, we can just eat the leftovers together." After Zhang Xian was angry, he walked away.
The two returned home and tacitly did not tell anyone that they were going to Nanyang to deal with the disaster.
Zhang Xian comforted his wife with a few words, asked her to pack some necessary things, and then got up and went to the study.
Disaster relief is truly a thankless task. If the treasury were well-off, it would be fine, but unfortunately, it is not, making disaster relief even more difficult.
He sat in the chair and pondered for a moment, then decided to write a letter to Lord Lu.
This was the first time he had written to Lord Lu in several months.
Ever since Lord Lu left Chang'an, he left him a farewell letter and then unilaterally cut off contact with him.
He also honestly followed Lord Lu's instructions and never sent a letter to Liaodong County, but he kept in touch with his disciple He Ziqi in Liucheng, Liaoxi County through letters.
Zhang Xian was delighted to hear He Ziqi say that Lord Lu was thriving in Liaodong County and had governed the entire county very well.
He went to Nanyang to help with the disaster relief, but he was not confident. He felt that asking for help was not shameful, and he sincerely hoped to get help from the father and daughter of the Lu family.
Zhang Xian knew that if he and Zuo Anmin were left to do it, they could get by with some mediocre results, but what about the common people?
As soon as the news of the Nanyang earth dragon turning over reached Chang'an, the ministers were all startled. The earth dragon turning over was not a good sign, and the emperor must be in a bad mood.
During the next period of time, they must be careful in what they say and do, so as not to offend the emperor. While these ministers secretly admonished themselves, they also disciplined their families and asked them to behave themselves in the near future.
Chang'an was particularly deserted on this day.
The adults in Chang'an City did not go out today. They all locked themselves in their homes to think about countermeasures.
The four ministers of state, in particular, quickly summoned their retainers to discuss countermeasures to prevent being questioned by the emperor at the court tomorrow. Some of the slower-thinking ministers even spent the entire night discussing.
The next day, many ministers forced themselves to cheer up and attend the court despite the silt removal in front of them.
During the morning court session, after discussing several matters, the incident of the Nanyang Earth Dragon's rebellion was inevitably mentioned.
Song Mo sat on the dragon throne at the top, looked at the civil and military officials in the hall, and said in a deep voice, "I believe all the officials know that the Nanyang earth dragon has turned over."
Here it comes, the meat of the play is coming! The ministers were startled, and they all looked at their noses and hearts.
Song Mo continued, "As soon as the incident happened, two ministers requested permission to go to Nanyang to remedy the disaster, and I agreed."
"Hmm? Two fools asking for orders?" The ministers suspected they had misheard.
"Next, Lord Zhang Xian will go to Nanyang to oversee disaster relief efforts. Lord Zuo Anmin will also go to Nanyang to assist Lord Zhang in his disaster relief efforts."
Zhang Xian and Zuo Anmin, whose names were called by the emperor, stepped out at the same time and said, "Your humble servants obey your orders!"
Ah, it’s these two unlucky guys?
Suddenly, all the civil and military officials in the court looked at the two of them differently. These two are good people.
Some people looked at them with admiration. They had misunderstood them before, thinking they only knew how to flatter and deceive the emperor. Now it seemed that these two favorites were capable and would really take action when something happened.
Song Mo looked at the reactions of the ministers below through the jade leaves of the imperial crown, silently muttering in his heart: The mind of an emperor, the art of balance...
"My two beloved ministers, please stand up."
Zhang Xian and Zuo Anmin said in unison, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After they calmed down, Song Mo continued, "My two beloved ministers have now set an example. You are both pillars of Dali. I am in Chang'an, waiting for your good news."
"I have ordered Lord Wu, the Minister of Finance, to prepare the disaster relief supplies. If there is anything missing, please contact him."
After the emperor said these two sentences, the eunuch beside him shouted to adjourn the court.
After the emperor retired from court, Zhang Xian took Zuo Anmin to find Wu Chunyu.
Wu Chunyu handed the list of supplies to Zhang Xian.
When Zhang Xian saw it, his heart sank. It was too little. The food he brought for disaster relief was too little!
Zhang Xian handed the list of supplies to Zuo Anmin with a serious face, "Take a look!"
The two words sounded quite harsh, "You bastard, look at the trouble you've caused!"
When he saw Zuo Anmin, Zhang Xian felt that his heart and lungs were burning with anger.
After reading it, Zuo Anmin frowned and said, "Lord Wu, isn't the food for disaster relief a little insufficient?" He had been to the south to provide disaster relief and knew that the disaster area had a huge demand for supplies.
Zhang Xianxin said, "Is it just a little less? It's obviously too little!"
Wu Chunyu cried poor, "Master Zhang, Master Zuo, our treasury is not rich either. You two are very capable. If you run out of food in Nanyang, please think of a way. Please, please, don't make things difficult for me."
Seeing him like this, Zhang Xian and Zuo Anmin were speechless.
What else could they do? In the end, they had no choice but to accept it.
Wu Chunyu was the emperor's man. Back when the emperor was still the fourth prince, Wu Chunyu had been a member of his staff. Later, thanks to his loyalty, he secured his position as Minister of Finance. This list of supplies might have been intended by him.
Zhang Xian sneered, "Old thief, do you regret it?"
Zuo Anmin snorted, he really regretted it!
Southland
After more than a month of governance and the spending of countless amounts of money and grain, the management of the disaster victims has begun to show results.
Xie Zhan closed the notebook and sighed inwardly: the scholars in the South are really useful. There are also many promising talents emerging among the refugees...
But he first thought of the more than 200 scholars who drove north in groups on the day the city gate was opened, and then he thought of the 20,000 or 30,000 people taken away by Qin Sheng, and he felt depressed.
The refugees who went north probably won't come back. I wonder how many of the two hundred or so scholars will return, and how many of them will stay in the south.
He had sent people to investigate and found that the two hundred or so scholars who went north were a relatively outstanding group. Thinking of this, Xie Zhan felt very regretful.
"Master, the letter you asked us to hand over to the Gu family has been accepted by the Gu family."
"Oh?" Xie Zhan was not surprised. This was the third time he had invited Gu Huaisheng, and the other party finally agreed to meet him.
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