"Your Majesty, have you heard about the grand spring outing held outside Chang'an City yesterday?"
In the imperial study, Yun Xiyan sat opposite Fu Xiaoguan, picked up the teacup and asked.
Fu Xiaoguan raised his head and said with a smile, "Why? Are you still interested in spring outings?"
"That's right. I heard Sima Tao say that last night. The boy was so excited about it, but it's definitely more novel than the previous spring outings."
Isn’t the so-called spring outing just flying kites, chatting about poetry and writing couplets, etc.?
Taking advantage of the excuse of spring outing, the girls in the boudoir can go out to get some fresh air and enjoy the scenery, and the talented scholars can also take this opportunity to show their talents.
Therefore, every spring outing, there will always be some romantic things happening between talented men and beautiful women. Such things are what they yearn for and hope to encounter at their age.
Fu Xiaoguan was already past that age and had little interest in this.
"What's the novel idea?"
"Throwing the ball! But the rules are different from what we know. It's not about choosing a husband, but the ladies from the three famous buildings in Nevernight Square throw the ball on the stage."
"Whoever caught the hydrangea got free treatment in their building that night. Plus... I heard there's a real chance they'd become their first-time guest. That's why there was almost a stampede at Yueyang Lake last night. Those seemingly righteous scholars went crazy after the hydrangea was thrown!"
"Especially the three top stars from the three famous buildings, they caused a commotion among tens of thousands of people. If Huo Huaijin hadn't sent the garrison to maintain order, someone might have been trampled to death!"
"But even so, there were still casualties. Two people died and more than twenty were injured."
Fu Xiaoguan then raised his head and asked, "Two dead?"
"Well, Sima Tao said that the accident happened when Yingmu Huayu was throwing the embroidered ball in Yinhe Jiutian."
Fu Xiaoguan frowned and thought for a moment. This was indeed an accident. If there were such large-scale gatherings in the future, they would have to report it to the government office and ask the Chang'an prefect to send yamen runners to maintain order.
He didn't take this matter to heart, because spring outing is not a bad thing. It cannot be banned just because of this accident. That would be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
He didn't know that one of the two people who died was Cheng Bieshi. After Ji Yungui learned that Cheng Bieshi had an accident, he left Chang'an and rushed to Guanyun City.
"I asked you to come because Xiwen's letter has returned."
"He went to Yueshan and Liangdao, and is now in Qianshan County, Chongzhou, Yueshan North Road... Do you know who the governor of Yueshan North Road is?"
Yun Xiyan was startled and nodded. "I know, Yan Xibai." He leaned over and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with this Yan Daotai?"
Fu Xiaoguan didn't answer him, but sighed. "Back then, I went from Linjiang to Jinling because I recruited a group of refugees when I was in Xishan. That year, the Yellow River burst its banks, and the people on both sides of the river suffered."
"Officials along the Yellow River, from top to bottom, failed to act. Instead, they sold the relief grain allocated by the imperial court to local grain merchants, profiting enormously from it."
"The Emperor of the Yu Dynasty sent several imperial envoys to inspect the disaster relief efforts in various regions, and Yan Xibai's envoys were the ones assigned to the two Yellow River regions."
"This man left a very good impression on me because he went deep into the disaster area, disregarding his own safety, and thoroughly understood the situation in the hardest-hit areas. He was almost murdered by local officials because of this."
"After the founding of Daxia, he was one of the first Daotai I appointed because of the trust I showed him back then."
Yun Xiyan didn't know about this past, and only understood it after listening to Fu Xiaoguan's talk. But at the same time, he also heard the meaning behind Fu Xiaoguan's words -
Yan Xibai, I'm afraid I have let down the emperor!
"Do you know who the governor of Chongzhou is?"
"Zong Shiji!"
"Yes, Zong Shiji!"
"That year, Xue Dingshan rebelled, and I traveled to the southwest. On the Jinniu Ancient Road, I met Zong Shiji. I still remember his father, Zong Qian, who was the magistrate of Baocheng County at the time."
"In Yu Chunqiu's tent, I had Zong Shiji answer the questions from that year... the same one you referenced from the Enke exam of the tenth year of the Xuanli reign. He answered very well, and I liked him very much. So after suppressing Xue Dingshan's rebellion, I brought him back to Jinling."
"His wife is Wei Wubing's sister, Wei Hanxiang. I didn't go to their wedding, but Wubing said they had a son and a daughter. He was the governor appointed by me! He's talented, and he doesn't seem like someone who would be corrupt..."
Fu Xiaoguan smiled bitterly and shook his head, "So, people can change."
Yun Xiyan was shocked. He knew Zong Shiji and they had even eaten hotpot together in Jinling.
He was indeed a talented and ambitious young man, but why did he change?
The emperor mentioned these two people in front of me. They were both people he once valued very much, but in the end they both betrayed him... So what did he mean by saying these words?
"Don't think too much about it, I just have some emotions. I haven't touched them yet, but I have already sent people from the Censorate to investigate secretly."
"Calling you here is another matter. Qianshan County is very poor, unimaginably poor!"
"The entire county governs six towns and twenty-four villages, with a total population of over 220,000, of which 160,000 are impoverished!"
"That is to say, apart from the residents of the county town, all rural residents are impoverished. It's already March, and Xiwen has visited many rural households. They don't even have seeds to sow, let alone oxen for farming."
"The Ministry of Revenue must allocate a special fund to buy oxen and seeds for them. But this money can't be used to go down the Yueshan Road. As Xiwen said, that place is already rotten! Even if more silver is allocated, after layers of plucking, in the end almost no silver will fall into the hands of the people."
"So I want to ask you, what is the most appropriate way to deal with this matter?"
Wu Tianci, who was sitting aside, listened carefully. Only then did he realize what his father had done and that his father had chosen the wrong person. So this should be what his father meant when he said that no one is perfect, right?
In this prosperous country, there are still such poor people. It turns out that my father mentioned rural revitalization for this reason.
"The Ministry of Revenue will send a specialist to handle the matter on the spot!"
"But doing so will certainly alert local officials, so the Censorate must act quickly."
"I think there's no need to bring the silver down there. The Ministry of Revenue can directly purchase the oxen, seeds, and farming tools and deliver them to the towns. You can pick them up according to the town roster. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
This is a matter of rights and interests.
Qin Mowen and Ning Yuchun’s letters haven’t come back yet, and the situation in the place they went to is probably not optimistic either.
The Ministry of Revenue does not have so many people to send to various poor areas, so local governments are ultimately needed to complete this task.
However, the Ministry of Revenue must personally handle the matter in Qianshan County, and all the officials investigated in Yueshan Road...
"Let's do as you wish."
"I'm really too kind."
"Then I'll use this incident to show all the officials whether my sword is still sharp!"
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