In a blink of an eye, more than a month had passed since the grand court meeting in Chang'an in the third year of Daxia.
In November, snow had already begun to fall in Guanyun City, and the leaves in Chang'an City had just begun to turn yellow.
The winter here is much warmer than that in Guanyun City and Jinling City. The officials who came from Guanyun City found it amazing that the charcoal they prepared was useless. They thought this place was pretty good.
Fu Xiaoguan was sitting in the imperial study, eating a bowl of bird's nest brought by Chunxiu.
His eyes fell on the desk, where were important memorials sent in after being screened by the cabinet.
Overall, the handover of power between the old and new sides went smoothly. Yan Xiwen, Ning Yuchun, and Qin Mowen made great progress in the past month. This was partly due to the experience they had accumulated in local politics, and partly due to the generous guidance of Zhuo Yixing and others.
Zhuo Yixing, Nangong Yiyu and Meng Changping had no selfish motives for the transfer of power. They truly shouldered the responsibilities of staff and wanted to help Yan Xiwen and the other two adapt to their new roles as quickly as possible.
But there are still some discordant voices below. Those officials who were dismissed feel disappointed. This is not a big deal and it will naturally get better after some time.
"Chunxiu,"
"Um?"
As the former personal maid of Fu Xiaoguan, Chunxiu was naturally happy to have become the current Concubine Xiu. She had no other ideals or wishes, and all she wanted was the safety and well-being of her husband.
So among the ten ladies, Chunxiu was the only one who believed in Buddhism. When Fu Xiaoguan was not in the palace, she often went to Hanling Temple outside Guanyun City to worship Buddha and burn incense, or asked Master Huineng to chant scriptures and pray for her husband and the other sisters.
Now that she has arrived in Chang'an, there are no temples here. Fortunately, her husband is in the palace, otherwise Chunxiu would probably find life difficult.
"Tell Zhao Hou to take some people to clean up the Yiyang Palace."
Chunxiu was startled. "Are you moving to the Yiyang Palace?"
Fu Xiaoguan raised his head and smiled, "It's not us who are staying here, but Elder Yan from Jinling, and Elder Qin Bingzhong, and also Dong Shulan's parents."
"The nursing home is so big, let them all live there. It will be convenient for us to visit them, and we can take care of their daily needs."
Chunxiu nodded happily. She knew all these people, and she was especially familiar with Qin Bingzhong.
They were all from Jinling, so Chunxiu felt closer to them.
"Do you miss Xishan?" Fu Xiaoguan asked after putting down the bird's nest bowl.
"Sometimes... when you're not in the palace, I think of it. Thinking back to that time always seems unreal. I still remember the first day of May in the eighth year of the Xuanli calendar. I guess you've forgotten it. It was the day you woke up after being injured by Concubine Lan's men."
Chunxiu looked at Fu Xiaoguan and thought for a moment before saying, "When you woke up that day, I always felt that you had become so unfamiliar, but you were still the same you. That feeling was very strange, but since then you really have become a different person."
"So who do you think is better, the former young master or the current husband?"
Chunxiu lowered her head shyly. "Of course it's my current husband. My current husband is the great emperor praised by all the people! As for the young master before... I shouldn't say this, but at that time, even I felt that you were really... "
"Some asshole?"
Chunxiu didn't dare to say anything, but this was indeed what she was thinking at that time.
Fu Xiaoguan grabbed Chunxiu's hand and said, "People always change, aren't you the same? From that yellow-haired girl, you have become the sensible Concubine Xiu, and you even gave birth to two lovely children for me."
"Tell me, what is your wish? I will help you realize it while your husband is still the emperor."
Chunxiu shook her head, but then seemed to think of something, and nodded again, "I, I think there should be a temple in Chang'an City. It doesn't need to be big, even if it can enshrine a Buddha statue."
Fu Xiaoguan took a deep breath. What kind of wish was this?
This is a trivial matter!
Chunxiu is so sensible!
"Okay, tomorrow I'll ask the Ministry of Works to choose a location closer to the Imperial Palace, and we'll build a royal temple!"
"Don't waste people's money and time, the Bodhisattva won't like that."
"I know, don't worry."
"Okay then, I'm going back. You should take it easy too. Don't tire yourself out."
Chunxiu withdrew her hand, held the bird's nest cup, smiled at Fu Xiaoguan, and left happily.
Fu Xiaoguan stood up and stretched his body, then said to Liu Jin, who was waiting beside him, "Go and call Qin Chengye, the Minister of Works."
Liu Jin responded and retreated. Fu Xiaoguan walked out of the imperial study and stood in the garden outside.
There are many chrysanthemums planted in the garden, and it looks like a large golden field.
Looking at the autumn chrysanthemums in the garden, he thought of Queen Shang.
In the back garden of the Jinling Imperial Palace, Empress Shang also planted many chrysanthemums.
She grows more varieties of chrysanthemums, with different colors and different postures.
The chrysanthemums in the imperial study garden are all golden yellow.
He suddenly remembered a poem. It had been a long time since he had copied a poem. He turned back to the imperial study and picked up his pen to write on paper:
Wait till September 8th in autumn,
When my flowers bloom, all other flowers die.
The fragrance of the sky permeates Chang'an,
The whole city is covered with golden armor.
This is "Ode to Chrysanthemums after Failure" written by the famous Huang Chao after he failed the imperial examination in Chang'an. It is no wonder that he could become the leader of a peasant uprising as he could write about chrysanthemums in such a domineering manner.
At that time, there was a severe drought in Guandong and the farmland had no harvest, but the officials forced the people to pay rent and taxes and perform labor service. With no other choice, Huang Chao raised his arms and called for action, and the people responded one after another.
Whether it is the history of that world or the history of this world, the demise of every dynasty began when the people were left with no other options.
Therefore, the weight of a country lies in its people!
Is Daxia really doing well now?
Among the memorials submitted from the cabinet was a report from Ganling County, Chongzhou, Yueshanbei Road, which was issued by the Censorate.
Chongzhou is mountainous and has eight counties under its jurisdiction, six of which are located deep in the mountains where transportation is extremely inconvenient and there is still no access to roads.
Ganling County is one of these six counties.
This summer, Ganling County suffered a severe drought, and the terraced fields that had been cultivated on the mountains and fields were completely barren.
Yan Xibai, the then governor of Yueshan North Province, reported the matter to Fan Tianning, the governor of Jang Geum City. Fan Tianning requisitioned hundreds of thousands of dan of grain to provide relief to the six counties that were most severely affected.
Logically, such a large amount of grain should be enough for the people in these six counties to survive the famine. However, during the inspection by the Censorate in late summer this year, it was discovered that this was not the case.
The grain was sent out from the Governor's Office, but was exploited at every level. When it reached the counties, it was still enough. However, many people starved to death in two of the counties.
Ganling County is one of them, and the other county is called Qianshan County.
The local government colluded with grain merchants and sold the disaster relief grain to them at a low price instead of distributing it to the victims!
This scene is very similar to the disaster relief corruption case in the Yu Dynasty.
This is human nature. When you become an official, all you want is to get rich.
Therefore, there are still so many remote areas in Daxia today, and the Censorate has limited staff, making it impossible to monitor every county and prefecture. So how many places have experienced this situation?
Fu Xiaoguan frowned and fell into deep thought, and the chrysanthemums in his sight seemed to become bleak.
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