Lu Xingjian assigned Xiao Bin to manage the Shenwei Battalion within the Twelfth Regiment.
This can be considered a reuse of talent.
However, it would take a lot of effort for unfamiliar border generals and soldiers from the capital to get along.
This incident aroused the vigilance of many nobles in the capital.
The emperor placed too much trust and reliance on the border troops.
Is it because the border troops were more effective than the capital troops in suppressing the bandits?
They were very worried that the emperor might act rashly and transfer them to the nine border regions, while moving the border troops to the capital.
They absolutely cannot go to those miserable places!
Soon, unease spread from the Beijing army, and the nobles discussed the matter incessantly during their usual banquets.
The spies arranged by Gu Dayong quickly collected and presented this information.
Lu Xingjian had a headache.
After three years of suppressing bandits, Dayan Khan in the north seized the opportunity to grow stronger and once again gained the ability to invade the border.
In Liaodong, the Doyan Three Guards and the Jianzhou Jurchens also began to stir.
However, the Ministry of Revenue reported that this year, in order to replenish the more than two million salt permits for border areas, no one had reported permits for areas with long distances and high rice prices.
The main reason is that in recent years, bandits have been rampant in Henan, Shandong, and Hubei, causing many farmlands to be abandoned and rice prices to rise rapidly.
He couldn't help but think of the severe drought that Shandong experienced that year, when grain ships from overseas promptly filled the gap and brought down grain prices.
However, the amount of food shortage this year is simply too great.
I'm afraid even overseas grain ships might not be able to make up for the shortfall.
Left with no other option, the Ministry of Revenue had to convert the salt permits into silver and let the soldiers buy their own grain.
With grain prices so high, the amount of grain that could be bought with silver was greatly reduced.
Lu Xingjian ordered that those who had wiped out thousands of government troops, including Qi Yanming and Liu Qi, at Langshan last year be rewarded.
In this way, the uneasy mood among the Beijing troops was somewhat calmed down.
The border troops also became more financially secure.
...
The soup kitchens around Beijing have never stopped operating.
After the first month of the lunar calendar, more and more families are struggling to make ends meet, and more people are coming to collect porridge.
Madam Yu would visit the soup kitchen every few days, and each time she returned with a furrowed brow.
However, Zhou Wanxiu was crying and sobbing at the door with a stretcher, while a large crowd had gathered at the Yang family's door.
"Young Master Yang, you have ruined Wan Ning's reputation. You have to take responsibility for her!"
Madam Yu was so angry that she trembled all over.
"That's outrageous!"
"Madam Zhou, how could you repay kindness with enmity and slander me like this?!"
Yang Zhen had already returned and was coldly watching the commotion.
"Madam Zhou, please have some self-respect."
"I was merely saving a life; I have no other intentions toward this young lady."
A hint of sarcasm flashed in Zhou Wanxiu's eyes, "There are so many people at the Lantern Festival, why did you only save her?"
"If you didn't have feelings for her, why would you have brought her home?"
"Her reputation is now completely ruined, and you can't avoid taking responsibility!"
Zhou Wanning covered her face and wept.
Her simple white dress made her look pitiful.
Yang Zhen, however, found her affected manner extremely repulsive.
If he hadn't mistaken her for someone else, why would he have taken her back for treatment?
At least Su Wanwan would never resort to such underhanded tactics to get close to him.
That woman was very magnanimous and never cared about such empty fame.
Yang Zhen ignored them and said, "Someone, go to the Imperial Hospital and fetch an imperial physician to examine this young lady."
"Has she been defiled?"
"If not, then Madam Zhou is spreading rumors and slander, and she should wait for a summons from the Shuntian Prefecture."
Zhou Wanning panicked.
Are they going to subject her to a public physical examination on the street?
How can she possibly live with herself?
Zhou Wanning quickly tugged at Zhou Wanxiu's sleeve.
Zhou Wanxiu was also stunned.
She never expected that Yang Zhen, a scholar, would be so reckless.
Aren't scholars supposed to be most concerned about their reputation?
Shouldn't we give them money to buy Zhou Wanning back, and then let the matter drop?
She didn't care whether Zhou Wanning lived or died; she only wanted to recoup the costs she had incurred on her, and ideally, make a profit as well.
Yang Zhen was rumored to have had an affair with Su Wanwan back then.
Zhou Wanning looks so much like Su Wanwan, the Yang family should be so scared that they just want to suppress the matter of Zhou Wanning.
Unexpectedly, Yang Zhen reacted this way.
Mrs. Yu was also surprised.
I never expected Yang Zhen to be so open and honest.
She had witnessed firsthand how dejected Yang Zhen was when he was caught in a media storm.
She personally took Yang Zhen back to his hometown, and only brought him back to the capital after he got married.
Yang Zhen simply kept his eyes down and waited for the imperial physician to arrive.
Having witnessed Su Wanwan's frankness and fearlessness back then, he had long since become indifferent to fame.
A grown man shouldn't be timid and hesitant, and should be treated worse than a delicate woman.
Zhou Wanxiu panicked and quickly covered her stomach. "Oh dear, oh dear, I'm having trouble conceiving! Madam Yu, are you just going to watch us die together with our unborn child?"
Madam Yu dared not invite Zhou Wanxiu into her home again, so she had a tent set up outside the door and asked Zhou Wanxiu to wait for the imperial physician.
Xu Pengju had just arrived in the capital when he heard that his wife, Zhou Wanxiu, was making a scene at the Yang family's doorstep.
He was furious: "You wretch! Ignorant woman, how dare you offend the Grand Secretary's family!"
It's impossible for him to bring Zhou Wanxiu back.
He had no feelings for his wife.
After a few words of encouragement from someone nearby, Xu Pengju rolled his eyes, nodded, and told the person to take the money and do the job.
There was a commotion outside the Yang family's gate, and more and more people were gathering to watch.
Even a ragged beggar came over crying, "Madam Yu, how cruel you are!"
"They're trying to kill us by cooking porridge with moldy rice and adding sand and pebbles!"
"My old man drank moldy rice porridge and is now unconscious and in a coma. You have to take responsibility!"
Madam Yu was so angry that she trembled all over.
It was customary to add sand and pebbles to the porridge, so that those who already had food at home could not take advantage of it, and that the truly poor could have porridge to drink.
As for moldy rice, that's absolutely unheard of!
However, she didn't do these things herself; she delegated them to others to share the burden.
It's not impossible that someone with malicious intent could secretly replace good rice with bad rice.
She composed herself and said, "I'll send someone to investigate this matter and give you an explanation."
The beggar woman seized the opportunity to grab Madam Yu's arm and wouldn't let go, wailing loudly, "The Prime Minister's wife is treating human life like dirt!"
Upon seeing this, the old nanny beside Madam Yu quickly pushed the beggar woman away.
But the beggar woman refused to let go and was quite strong. In the struggle, Madam Yu was pushed down and hit the back of her head on the half-erected tent frame, causing her to bleed profusely.
Yang Zhen immediately panicked: "Quickly, call a doctor!"
The scene immediately descended into chaos.
Seeing this, the old beggar woman quietly slipped out of the crowd and ran away.
...
Lu Xingjian was reviewing memorials when he heard that the wife of Grand Secretary Yang Ting, Madam Yu, had died.
"How is that possible?"
He had met Madam Yu and knew that she and Wanwan got along well; the two had even addressed each other as sisters.
After thinking it over, he decided to tell Su Wanwan the news.
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