Before dawn, the capital was still enveloped in thick ink. Nangong Yan, the Prince of Zhennan, dressed in court robes embroidered with dark dragon patterns, strode towards the palace.
He stood straight, the belt on his waist swaying with his steps, and his steady footsteps echoed in the quiet street.
"Prince Zhennan, please stay!"
Lord Li, the Minister of Rites, came trotting after them from behind. His plump figure was out of breath, and the tassels on his official hat were shaking.
"Your Highness, you are walking too fast. My old arms and legs are almost catching up with you."
Lord Li joked with a smile, his face full of flattering smiles.
Nangong Yan slightly turned sideways, bowed in return, and said calmly, "Lord Li, the morning court is approaching, and I want to go to court early to sort out my thoughts."
Lord Li came closer and said in a low voice, "It is a great honor for the court that His Majesty is here.
However, there have been undercurrents in the court recently, and I don’t know what trouble will come out today. ”
As he spoke, Lord Chen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Lord Zhao, the newly appointed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Works, came over together.
Lord Chen was thin and had a shrewd look in his eyes. He bowed from a distance and said, "Prince of Zhennan, Lord Li, you look very good today!"
Lord Zhao was full of reverence, and said respectfully: "Prince Zhennan, I have long heard of your great name. This is my first time in the court, and I hope that Your Majesty will take good care of me in the future."
Nangong Yan nodded slightly, his expression gentle: "We are all serving the court, so it is only natural for us to help each other. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, Lord Zhao."
Everyone was talking along the way, and soon they arrived at the Golden Palace.
The ministers stood in order, and the hall was quiet and solemn, waiting for the emperor to come.
"Your Majesty, come!"
Following the eunuch's shrill voice, everyone knelt down and saluted.
As soon as the emperor sat down on the dragon throne, a eunuch who was delivering the imperial edict ran up to the palace in a panic, holding up an urgent document, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, Qingzhou is 800 miles away!"
The emperor's face darkened. He took the document, glanced at it quickly, and slammed it on the dragon table. He said angrily, "Qingzhou has been suffering from drought for several months. The crops have been destroyed and the victims have been displaced. What should we do?"
All the civil and military officials in the court were in an uproar, whispering to each other with worried looks on their faces.
Nangong Yan, the Prince of Zhennan, took a step forward, knelt on one knee, and said in a loud voice: "Father, your son's most urgent task is to set up porridge stalls around Qingzhou and open warehouses to release grain, so as to stabilize the victims first and prevent them from fleeing everywhere and causing chaos."
The Minister of Revenue showed his embarrassment and stepped out to say, "Your Majesty, although the national treasury has grain in stock, there is demand in various places. If a large amount of grain is transferred to Qingzhou, the subsequent supply in other places may be insufficient."
The third prince, Nangong Yi, stepped forward and said, "Father, I suggest that we first allocate some food from the counties near Qingzhou for emergency relief.
At that time, an imperial envoy was sent to conduct on-site inspections to supervise the distribution of relief grain and funds and prevent corruption. ”
The fourth prince Nangong Hua immediately said: "Second brother, what the third brother said makes sense, but the food reserves in the nearby counties are limited, and it will take time to transport them.
I think it is feasible to collect donations from wealthy merchants in the capital to replenish supplies.
In addition, water conservancy craftsmen were recruited to go to Qingzhou to plan water conservancy facilities in preparation for long-term drought resistance. ”
Prince Nangong Rui frowned and took a step forward: "Fourth brother, although fundraising can solve the problem temporarily, it is easy to cause dissatisfaction among the people, which is not a long-term solution.
At present, priority should be given to the rational allocation of existing resources, such as suspending some non-emergency court projects to save manpower and material resources for disaster relief. ”
The fifth prince, Nangong Yang, stepped out, looking worried: "Father, I heard about the disaster and I am afraid there will be another epidemic.
Once the plague spreads with the victims, the consequences will be unimaginable.
I suggest sending a team of imperial physicians to prevent the occurrence of epidemics.
After listening to this, the emperor pondered for a moment and looked at Nangong Yan: "Yan'er, who do you think is suitable to be the Imperial Envoy for Disaster Relief?"
Nangong Yan thought for a moment and said, "Prime Minister Wang is highly respected and has rich experience in government. If you take the lead, you will be able to coordinate all parties and provide efficient disaster relief."
Prime Minister Wang hurriedly stepped out and knelt down to receive the order: "Your Majesty, I am willing to share the worries of the court, but disaster relief is complicated and requires the full cooperation of all departments."
The emperor nodded and said, "My dear Lord Wang, please do your job. I will order all the departments to cooperate with you.
Minister of Revenue, immediately count the grain in the treasury;
The Minister of Works selected craftsmen to stand by;
The Minister of Rites issued a disaster relief initiative to all prefectures. ”
All the ministers accepted the order.
The seventh prince, Nangong Ming, showed concern on his face and said, "Father, I am worried about the safety of the victims fleeing the famine. If there is no one to escort them, they may be robbed by bandits."
Nangong Yan, the Prince of Zhennan, continued, "Seventh brother is right. We can send some officers and soldiers to escort them along the way and set up security posts at the resettlement sites to maintain order."
The emperor looked at the Minister of War and asked, "How many troops can the Ministry of War mobilize?"
The Minister of War stepped out, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, you may dispatch two thousand elite soldiers to be deployed."
The emperor nodded in agreement.
The Minister of Works stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the construction of water conservancy facilities requires a large amount of materials and time is tight. I suggest that you first open up the local inventory in Qingzhou, and then allocate the remaining materials from neighboring prefectures and counties."
The emperor approved the request: "We must ensure that the water conservancy facilities are built smoothly for the long-term development of Qingzhou."
In the court, your every word was taken into consideration, and the disaster relief plan was gradually improved through discussion among everyone.
Before he knew it, the sunlight had already passed through the palace door and sprinkled on the golden bricks.
The emperor looked at everyone in the hall with a gratified look on his face, “Today, all the ministers and princes have expressed their opinions, and I am very pleased.
The disaster in Qingzhou is severe, but as long as the monarch and his subjects work together, they will be able to overcome the difficulties.
My dear Lord Wang, I entrust this important task of disaster relief to you. Please ensure that the people of Qingzhou can return to peace as soon as possible. ”
Prime Minister Wang knelt down and accepted the order: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will do my best to repay your grace."
The morning court ended and the ministers left one after another.
Nangong Yan walked at the end, looking at the sky outside the hall and praying silently for the people of Qingzhou.
I know that the court will face great challenges in the future, but as long as we work together, there will be no difficulties that cannot be overcome.
After returning to the palace, Nangong Yan took a rest and immediately summoned his staff to discuss the details of assisting in disaster relief.
Carefully study Qingzhou's geography, population, and other conditions and make a detailed plan.
At the same time, Prime Minister Wang was busy in his residence, convening relevant officials to set up a disaster relief command center to deploy materials and arrange personnel in an orderly manner.
A large amount of relief food and supplies were quickly loaded onto trucks and escorted by officers and soldiers, and headed towards Qingzhou in a mighty procession.
However, when the grain arrived in Qingzhou, Nangong Yan soon received a secret report that some local corrupt officials had colluded with grain merchants in an attempt to embezzle the relief grain.
In the secret room behind the Qingzhou government office, Qingzhou prefect Liu Chang and the local largest grain merchant Sun Fu were planning their corrupt activities.
The prefect Liu Chang had a greedy look on his face. He tapped the table with his fingers and said, "Boss Sun, the relief grain sent by the court this time is a big piece of fat meat. We have to plan carefully."
Sun Fu narrowed his eyes, with a flattering smile on his face, "My lord, please let me go, everything has been arranged.
If we exchange all the new grain for the old grain that has been stored in the warehouse for many years and then falsely report the loss, we can make a lot of money from the price difference. ”
"I'm just worried that the higher-ups will send someone to investigate."
A trace of worry flashed in the eyes of Prefect Liu Chang.
Sun Fu patted his chest and assured: "Sir, have you ever believed in 놊?
I have already bribed several petty officials who are responsible for distributing grain. When I get to know them, they will insist on what we can find out.
Besides, Qingzhou is in chaos now, who can care about these things? ”
The two smiled at each other, as if they had already pocketed the glittering silver.
At a resettlement site for disaster victims in Qingzhou, a long line of people snaked around. The victims were all pale and thin, but their eyes were shining with desire for food.
They came from all directions, with their families and in tattered clothes.
The children were so hungry that they kept crying. The adults could only comfort them helplessly, their voices filled with fatigue.
Finally it was the turn of an old man with gray hair to make porridge. He took the bowl with trembling hands, and his cloudy eyes were instantly filled with anger.
"What kind of porridge is this!"
The old man threw the bowl to the ground suddenly, and the porridge spilled all over the floor. The sand and stones mixed in it were particularly dazzling in the sun.
"Is this the rice that the Emperor is distributing for us to eat?
This is going to starve us to death! ”
The roar was like lighting a powder keg, and the surrounding victims were instantly in an uproar.
"That's right, how can we live like this!
We were almost starving to death, and were looking forward to relief food from the court, but in the end, we were given this to eat! ”
A young and strong man, waving his fists, his face full of anger and anger. p
Beside him, his wife hugged her starving child tightly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Look, this is definitely the emperor's intention. The emperor has always loved his people like his own children. How could he let us eat this kind of thing?
There must be a minister who was corrupt and replaced our good rice with this old rice mixed with sand! ”
A middle-aged man frowned and analyzed loudly.
When the words were spoken, many people around him praised them, and voices of agreement rose in the crowd.
"Yes, it must be those corrupt officials who are behind this!
Our lives, why are they so miserable!
The natural disaster is bad enough, but I didn’t expect that the man-made disaster is even more terrible! ”
An old woman sat on the ground, beating her chest and stamping her feet, crying her lungs out.
Her son had died in the drought, and now she couldn't even get a bite of life-saving food, which made her completely collapsed.
"Grandpa, open your eyes and take a look. What did we ordinary people do wrong to deserve this punishment?"
A young mother knelt on the ground, looking at the sky, tears streaming down her face.
The baby in her arms was so hungry that she didn't even have the strength to cry and could only make weak whimpering sounds.
Everyone was talking, anger, despair, and pain were spreading among the crowd.
Some victims began to rush towards the government. They wanted to ask for an explanation and why the life-saving food had become like this.
The crowd grew larger and larger, the emotions became more and more excited, and the situation was out of control for a while.
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