It was Zheng Rong's great regret that he was not able to pay a private visit incognito when he first arrived in Beijing. It was Zheng Rong's regret to review the scenery of the capital. But the words of his colleague Zhong Likuang last night made Zheng Rong not dare to take risks. However, after all, he had promised to the old prime minister, so how could he break his promise? Therefore, Zheng Rong not only wore a white dragon fish uniform to conceal the public's eyes, but also arranged many guards to protect him openly and covertly. I found Prime Minister Yang's Mansion before.
Yang Mansion is an ancient house located deep in an alley. It was originally just a small courtyard house and was the legacy of Yang Yuanzhi's ancestors. In the imperial examination in the fifth year of Emperor Xianzong's reign, Yang Yuanzhi came out on top and was selected as the number one scholar by Emperor Xianzong Zhao. As a veteran, Yang Yuanzhi relied more on him. He followed Xianzong's example many times and used inner money to buy a house and give it to Yang Yuanzhi. In this way, during the forty years since Prime Minister Yang entered the court and served as a highly respected official for thirty years, the original quadrangle of the Yang family's ancestral residence, which was more than ten feet square, had long been expanded into a large manor with the same shape as the royal palace. However, Yang Yuanzhi used all the houses and fields awarded by previous emperors to support his fellow clan members, and he still lived in the old house, which was a good talk for a while.
Therefore, although the Yang Mansion occupies a large area, the entrance is no different from other people's houses in Beijing. The door is closed in broad daylight. It seems that it means to stay out of the matter. Zheng Rong certainly understands this. Then go to enjoy the cool shade under the weeping willows on both sides of the gate.
In less than half a cup of tea, the door of the Yang Mansion opened a crack, and a capable servant stuck his head out and said softly but forcefully: "Excuse me, please invite the prince into the house."
Zheng Rong was puzzled for a moment, how could Elder Yang, who was very strict about etiquette, greet him in such a rude way? Then he thought about it, after all, guests do as they please, and the host is a veteran of three dynasties, a prime minister of two dynasties, and he has also been his own Teacher, it was really unreasonable to ask him to come out to greet him, so he straightened his clothes, adjusted his mood, and slipped into the Prime Minister's Mansion through the crack in the door. At this young age, Emperor Xianzong saw that Yang Yuanzhi was a promising young man and was very fond of her. He ordered the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Household Affairs to jointly purchase a courtyard and give it to Yang Yuanzhi. Yang Yuanzhi paid homage but did not accept it. One said: The ancestral inheritance is not willing to leave; the other said: The silver in the household treasury is the wealth of all people, although the ninety-five honors cannot be given to each other privately. Xianzong was even more happy after hearing this. He took out the private money from the palace, bought a house near the Yang family's old house, and awarded it to the new champion. From then on, Yang Yuanzhi worked hard, had outstanding political achievements, and was favored by the emperor. By the time Xianzong died in the tenth year, he was already the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, entrusting all ministers. And the confrontation between Shenzong Emperor Jing and the current emperor
Unexpectedly, as soon as Zheng Rong entered the courtyard, he looked up and saw a thin old man standing in front of him with a cane. Without careful identification, he knew that it was Yang Yuanzhi, the prime minister of the dynasty.
Yang Yuanzhi leaned forward, with a smile on his face, and said loudly: "When the prince comes to visit, the little old man's humble house is really full of glory. However, it is a taboo for officials to make friends with foreign vassals, so today we should treat each other as masters and disciples. I wonder what the prince wants?"
Of course Zheng Rong understood Yang Yuanzhi's intention and immediately responded: "Of course, it is a rare opportunity for students to return to Beijing from Youyan, and this time they are here to visit the teacher."
Yang Yuanzhi was appointed as a young master by the late emperor more than thirty years ago. He has been the teacher of the current emperor and three princes, the most important of whom is Zheng Rong. Today, seeing that King Youyan, who is now guarding one side, still retains the aura of the past. He couldn't help but feel very happy and said: "Back then, I taught the emperor and the three princes poetry and prose. They often went boating on the lake, singing to the wind and moonlight. It was very charming. I wonder if the prince is still as interested today?"
Zheng Rong frowned. Yang Yuanzhi was a strict teacher back then. He hated the four princes for their nonsense and said they wanted to play in the water. He didn't have time to hit them with a ruler, so how could he propose to go boating on the lake and recite poems? But then I thought about it, Yang Yuan is mature and prudent, and I am afraid that there is some truth to this unreasonable statement, so he smiled and agreed: "How dare students not listen to what the teacher said?"
"Haha, it's just that I'm old and frail, so I need to help you with this."
There is indeed a lake in the Yang Mansion, but it is only more than ten feet long and wide. It is more appropriate to call it a pond than a lake. Zheng Rong had been competing for more than ten years, but his rowing skills were really poor. He rowed randomly with two oars for a long time before he rowed the boat to the center of the lake. He was already sweating.
Yang Yuanzhi placed his crutch across the wooden boat, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, handed it to Zheng Rong, and said with a wry smile: "There are many talkative people in the old man's house, so I was afraid of disturbing the prince's interest, so I worked hard for the prince to push the boat to the center of the lake. I’m really ashamed of myself.”
Zheng Rong subconsciously looked at his surroundings. He saw exquisite gardens and winding paths by the lake, but there were always people of all kinds walking through them. It was indeed not a place to talk; but the boat was in the middle of the lake, so people on the shore could only Seeing its appearance, but not hearing its words, it has a sense of tranquility amidst the chaos. Therefore, Zheng Rong shook his head in embarrassment and said: "The two princes are already incompatible, and the barriers between the royal relatives and the civil and military officials are also tight. It is really difficult for the old prime minister to have to endure the crisis!"
"Haha!" Yang Yuanzhi was alone in the atmosphere of competing for each other. She was really lonely. Now seeing her former students understanding her so well, she felt indescribable joy in her heart. "How dare I not die after receiving the favor of the emperor in this life? But You You King Yan was entrusted by the late emperor to guard the northern border and shield the Turks. Now he is in an unexpected place, so he must escape as soon as possible. "
"Students are children of the royal family. When the country is prosperous and the people are safe, they should step forward. However, the current political situation is complicated and complicated, and the whole body is affected by one move. There is really nothing that students can do, they can only stick to their duties." Zheng Rong said, I couldn't help but lament.
Yang Yuanzhi also agreed: "Nowadays, the party struggle between the Zhongshu Province and the Six Ministries is extremely fierce. From the two Zhongshu Lings, Cao and Zhang, to the unpopular Yuan Wailang of the Six Ministries, they have all formed buddies and are busy looking for trouble with their opponents all day long. If you try to undermine the other party, the decree will not be passed, and those that can barely be passed will often take a month or two. This is all the fault of an old man who cannot restrain hundreds of officials! "
Zheng Rong did not expect that the political situation in the DPRK was already in such a state, so he quickly asked: "Does the Emperor not care?"
"Alas -" Yang Yuanzhi sighed, "I would rather the emperor doesn't care. To be disrespectful, now that the emperor is deceived by eunuchs and pursues immortality all day long, how can he still be in the mood to deal with state affairs? The emperor has not been in court for several years. Zhongshu Sheng Most of the memorials submitted were left unpublished; occasionally there were important military and state affairs that were approved by the emperor, but... the handwriting of the emperor and the princes were all taught by the old man one stroke at a time. How could he not see that... it would be okay if it was a ghostwriter? , if it is just a false edict, then... Oh, how can I let this old man see Emperor Xianzong Zhao and Emperor Shenzong Jing who are under Jiuquan... "
Yang Yuanzhi was talking incoherently and almost burst into tears. Zheng Rong saw this and quickly comforted him: "It's also the student's fault. The students have been dealing with barbarians all year round, but they didn't know that the government was already like this. If they had known about it earlier, they would have been killed to remonstrate with them. How can we allow villains to cause trouble?"
Yang Yuanzhi had no handkerchief, so she had to wipe her tears with her sleeves and said, "Speaking of which, there is something I want to ask the prince to come forward for."
"Sir, if you have anything to say, please feel free to say it. The students will definitely make it happen."
Yang Yuanzhi nodded, wiped his tears again, and said: "There is a severe drought in Henan. Not even a drop of rain has fallen since the spring equinox. Now autumn is coming. According to the excerpt in the Henan Governor's Newspaper, I am afraid that there will be no harvest. It is very likely to cause irritation." There was a civil uprising. The old man also reported to the emperor a few days ago, but nothing happened. If the decree of the Zhongshu Province was implemented, the officials would have another fight, and it is unknown when the relief money and food were delivered to the people.
"But what?"
"But at least the court doesn't have to worry about corruption and bribery, because the officials are afraid of being attacked out of nowhere, so how can there be any evidence of corruption? Haha..." Yang Yuanzhi smiled bitterly, "Therefore, please return to You by land. Yan, took charge of the relief work when passing through Henan."
"This... it is already unusual for students to lead Youyan's military and political affairs, and now they want to interfere in local government affairs in Henan. I'm afraid it's not appropriate?" Zheng Rong hesitated.
"Sigh - but there is really no one available at the moment. Please consider the wealth and lives of the 2.2 million people in Henan and do it reluctantly!" Yang Yuanzhi said sincerely.
Zheng Rong lowered his head and weighed it, then nodded cautiously and said, "Since the old prime minister has said this, how can the student dare to refuse? The student will go up to the table and ask the Holy One to entrust him with the task of providing disaster relief."
"No!" Yang Yuanzhi's eyes suddenly shone with brilliance, "This matter should be reported by an old minister. The Emperor has absolutely no objection."
Yang Yuanzhi was the number one scholar in the previous dynasty. In less than a stick of incense, he wrote a memorial table perfectly and beautifully, and handed it over immediately.
After Zheng Rong returned home, before he had finished his lunch, a eunuch came over to convey the order. He not only entrusted the relief work to Henan, but also ordered all the military and political officials in Henan to be controlled by King Youyan. He also gave Shangfang a sword and granted him the power to make arbitrary decisions on an opportunistic basis. Sheng, even though the emperor's brother was a vassal king, it was unheard of since the Han Dynasty. Zhongli Kuang was deeply convinced of the order to provide relief to Henan. According to his opinion, although a big tree might attract wind, he could immediately leave the capital according to the order, he could intimidate the small group with the emperor's order, and he could control the larger group far away. The so-called rights of three benefits and one disadvantage are really promising, so I didn’t say anything weird in front of Zheng Rong.
Zheng Rong originally wanted to leave the capital, a place of right and wrong, as soon as possible, but now that he had received the imperial edict, it was even more justified. He immediately ordered his sergeants to tidy up and prepare for departure.
In addition, Yang Yuanzhi's preparations were also unusually fast. This is not entirely without reason. First of all, it is the matter assigned by the emperor himself. If you continue to drag your feet, you will accidentally commit the serious crime of resisting the order. Secondly, there is the old prime minister in the middle to direct and divide each errand into details, so there will be no trouble of constraining each other. Thirdly, Ye Yuanlu, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Lu Jia, the Minister of Industry, were both members of the Zheng Chang family. According to the news from the palace, King Youyan supported the succession of the eldest son of the emperor. Of course, the Household and the Second Ministry of Industry had no reason to obstruct it. Fu Kui, the old minister of the Ministry of War, was originally Zheng Rong's superior when he led the army, and later became a peer general, and finally became a subordinate. His relationship with Zheng Rong was unusual, so he naturally responded to his requests. Even the few departments under the control of the second son of the emperor were trying to please King Youyan, taking this opportunity to make a final effort to win over, and cooperating with the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works. In this way, there was a scene of unity in the imperial court that had not been seen in a century. By the time Zheng Rong's mansion was ready, Yang Yuanzhi had personally escorted the relief materials and came to Prince Youyan's mansion to hand them over.
Zheng Rong was surprised when he heard reports that Prime Minister Yang had personally come to the house to handle the handover matters. He hurriedly tidied up his clothes and went out. He started greeting from afar: "How dare you trouble the old Prime Minister when you are just handing over ordinary affairs?" Condescending, the students are really frightened.”
Yang Yuanzhi also clasped his fists and bowed, and said very politely: "This matter was personally explained by the Holy Emperor. No matter how stupid I am, I will not delay it!"
The two exchanged pleasantries and let each other enter the palace. Since the matter discussed was not confidential, we sat in the main hall, drank tea, and talked freely. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has estimated that one million taels of silver will be needed to assist the victims. However, the amount of silver that the Ministry of Household Affairs can allocate is only 120,000 to 30,000 taels. Together with the grain prices allocated for free warehouses and liquidation of warehouses in Henan and surrounding states, there are about 77,000 taels of silver needed to provide relief to the victims. One hundred thousand taels, there is still a gap of about three hundred thousand. At present, it can only be filled by waiting for the money and grain delivered by Jiangnan canal transport to arrive in the capital, Luoyang, but it will take at least half a month. Zheng Rong said that he could set off immediately. Youyan Road was at the junction of Henan Road and the army had good harvests year after year. The grain, grass, bacon, etc. were enough to supply 100,000 elite soldiers for ten years. It was very convenient to temporarily allocate them to supply Henan. Yang Yuanzhi certainly knew that Zheng Rong would rather spend some money and food than leave Luoyang as soon as possible, so he immediately agreed, said some empty words of praise, and asked Zheng Rong to count the supplies.
The Han Dynasty followed the disaster relief system of the previous dynasty and established charity warehouses and flat warehouses to provide relief to the victims. Volunteer warehouses in various places are directly managed by the imperial court. Every year, the Ministry of Household Affairs allocates funds to buy new grains and eliminate old grains to keep the warehouses full. In the event of severe disasters such as drought, floods, locusts, etc., the warehouses will be opened to release grains to ensure that the victims can be half hungry and half full until the next day. Seasonal grain harvest. The liquidation of warehouses is managed by the state herdsmen of each state. In good years, when rice is cheap, it will be purchased at a high price. In disaster years, when rice is expensive, it will be sold at low prices to stabilize rice prices. In disaster years, there must be insufficient food in the warehouses for disaster relief, and there must be instructions from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Only then can we provide free relief to prevent official corruption. The two warehousing systems complemented and restrained each other. It was an excellent system. However, the previous dynasty's administration was extremely corrupt, and officials from the DPRK and China conspired with the feudal officials to commit corruption. As a result, the two warehousing systems were in name only but not real. It was not until droughts and floods continued for many years that they were unable to provide relief, triggering civil uprisings in several states. Emperor Taizu Gao took the opportunity to revolt, and the world immediately responded. Only then did the Han Dynasty become what it is today.
For this reason, Taizu attached great importance to the two warehouses. There was a case in which local officials colluded with officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs to embezzle grain purchases from the Ministry of Household Affairs, resulting in a deficit in the warehouse. Taizu personally tried the case and presided over the cleanup of the national warehouses. After some sorting and sorting out the verdict, it was More than a hundred officials were killed, beheaded, abandoned, and executed, and countless others were sent to the army, exiled, and dismissed from their posts. Only then can the world's disaster relief warehouses be restored. Therefore, since Taizu, whenever the emperor wants to purge officials in the court, he must start from Yicang, and to rectify local officials, he must start from Liangcang. This ensures that the Han Dynasty can always provide timely relief for every disaster in the past two hundred years, and there has never been a large-scale people. Change. It's just that the late emperor and the current emperor were extremely tolerant of officials and had not counted the two warehouses of Yiping for thirty years. The operation of the two warehouses was already compromised.
As the head of a hundred officials, Yang Yuanzhi knew this very well. Therefore, in addition to planning to put the two warehouses under the control of Youyan King Zheng Rong, he also specially allocated more than 100,000 taels of cash from the Ministry of Household Affairs so that when the warehouses were insufficient, they could provide relief. Wealthy households buy grain to provide disaster relief. However, after all, this involves the face of officials from foreign dynasties. Even if the emperor occasionally asks about it, he should cover it up a little, and he should be careful to hint when admonishing and rectifying. It cannot be the same as that of foreign vassals.
Zheng Rong could not think of these details for a moment. He only felt that Prime Minister Yang had thought carefully and secretly made up his mind to get this job done.
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PS. In the early days of ancient China, the emperor was usually not pro-government, but entrusted government affairs to the prime minister, which made the imperial power and the prime minister's power confront each other and unify them. Generally speaking, the emperor is less capable but can inherit, while the prime minister is more capable but has a temporary official position. However, the emperor has the power to appoint the prime minister, so the power of the prime minister is gradually swallowed up by the imperial power. This is one of the main trends in the evolution of Chinese history. (To be continued)