After being stopped by the Di girl who called herself Ye Na to present a horse, Wei Chief Ying and Shen Zangfeng were unable to take Shen Shuyan out of the city to play that day. It's not that they were entangled by this Di girl, but without saying a few words, the sweaty Diecui Pass guard actually galloped over to find her. Without even having time to salute, he handed over the eight hundred miles to hurry up. The documents were reviewed with Shen Zangfeng.
Shen Zangfeng knew that the matter was not small and should not be opened in public, so he got off the horse and boarded the car to take a look.
At this sight, Shen Zangfeng's face instantly turned pale!
Because of the limited space in the carriage, Wei Changying was covering Shen Shuyan's eyes to prevent her from peeking at the contents of the document, lest her niece, who could never forget anything at a glance, saw the secret, but she was young and rashly leaked it and missed the serious business. Son. After coaxing Shen Shuyan to close her eyes, she turned around and saw that her husband looked wrong. Seeing that he didn't mean to avoid her, she turned her head and glanced upward... At this sight, she was also shocked, and she raised her sleeves to cover her mouth in time. To avoid a exclamation of surprise.
Until Shen Zangfeng ordered people to collect the red horse "Chi Yan" that Ye Na rode over, and ordered the carriage and horses to go back to the other courtyard, Wei Changying hugged Shen Shuyan tightly, somewhat in a dream: Although it was early Knowing that the world is not peaceful now, Shen Zangfeng also made it clear in private that Wei Zuo was in decline... But as a noble girl, she married into a well-matched family and was raised in brocade bushes all her life. This sign of the country's subjugation appeared, and she couldn't help but be frightened. .
—Yanzhou civil uprising!
Before the late emperor, because Emperor Xizong was indolent and addicted to beauty, in order to accommodate the tens of thousands of beauties in the harem at that time, he made several large-scale construction projects to build palaces and dig forest ponds. Officials at all levels who were ordered to pay tribute to build palaces, forests and ponds and money and silk seized the opportunity to line their own pockets. Even ordinary wealthy households were plundered several times and fell into poverty and disease... The world of the Wei Dynasty gradually became a little chaotic.
Later, during the reign of the late Emperor Yizong, there were several years of political clarity, which somewhat restored the situation.
That's because Yizong was young when he succeeded to the throne, and his mother, the Queen Mother Gongmin, came from a poor family and had a deep understanding of the sufferings of the common people. During the years when she was listening behind the curtain on behalf of her youngest son, she issued many edicts to appease the common people. However, although Empress Dowager Gongmin sympathized with the people of Li, because she only had one son, Yizong, she doted on this only son.
Yizong followed in his father's footsteps since he was twelve or thirteen years old. He liked to have fun but disliked government affairs. After some persuasion from Empress Dowager Gongmin, Yizong reasoned that Yu was not in good health. The Empress Dowager felt distressed and let him go. When Yizong grew up, he devoted himself to playing and having fun, and had no intention of taking care of the world.
At the beginning, Empress Dowager Gongmin took charge of him, but the Empress Dowager was not of high birth. Although she was honed in the palace and became shrewd, how could she compare with the nobles with profound background in terms of governance methods? In addition, the Queen Mother promoted and promoted many common people at that time, and also included many concubines from low backgrounds in the harem, which aroused the vigilance of the nobles. After a secret fight, the Queen Mother finally retreated to the harem because she did not get Yizong's support at the critical moment, and let the nobles supervise the country on her behalf.
In order to consolidate the power in their hands, the nobles used various methods to coax Yizong to have fun. How can the emperor have fun like ordinary people? Nothing is free of money! Originally, Xizong had already exhausted the treasury, but when it came to Yizong, it was even worse. Even many of the border troops could not pay their salaries and had to be dismissed. Although the nobles were wealthy, they could not move their warehouses for the enjoyment of the Holy One.
Then we can only think about taxation.
Taxes have been imposed one after another, and now there are dens of bandits, big and small, all over the world, including Caojiapu in Xiliang. They are all forced to have no choice but to start business without capital.
At that time, Emperor Yizong was having fun with many beauties in the harem and was forgetting himself. The nobles tacitly understood this and bribed the palace people not to let them know. Many days later, Queen Mother Gongmin knew about it and hurried over to remind her son, but... How could Emperor Yizong, who was bent on enjoying himself, have the intention to get to the bottom of it
He randomly called a minister to the harem and asked: "I heard that you have repeatedly increased taxes, and now the people in the world are in dire straits?"
That minister was also a member of the noble clan, and he knew that since the Queen Mother was here, he had finally wrested the power of supervising the country from the Queen Mother, and he must not let the Queen Mother Gongmin make a comeback. Immediately he replied without hesitation: "This is impossible. Although I dare not compare myself to many virtuous ministers since ancient times, I have always followed the example of the predecessors. I admire the sages every day and are willing to devote myself to the saints and die for them." Then! How could you do something to shake up the country? Who did your Majesty hear that taxes are heavy now?"
Yizong was not stupid enough to betray his mother, and said: "I just heard it accidentally, you don't need to care who it is. Tell me why someone would say that?"
The minister said: "If you want me to speak, please forgive me. I think this is not surprising. Because since the Shang Dynasty built a deer platform and doted on Daji and died in the Shang Dynasty, mortal masters only have to propose to build gorgeous palaces, forest ponds or There are always some people who will firmly oppose Gao Lou, or the Na'vi people, thinking that this will show that their virtue is comparable to that of Bigan and others. In fact, many courtiers and wealthy families often build and replace the forest pavilions in their homes. Yes, but few people will say that this is because the master is extremely noble, so he is jealous!"
Speaking of this, the minister sighed, "Speaking of which, most of the palaces and pavilions that the Holy One lives and enjoys today were left by the late emperor. And the palaces that the late emperor only left behind when he met Taizu and Taizong have been ruined. This After a lot of extensive construction, it attracted countless people's objections! Even though your Majesty lives here, there are still some people who can't stand it... The purpose of telling you that the taxes are heavy and the people are living in poverty is not to hope that your Majesty will enjoy it less. Do you want to give money to appease the people? But as far as I know, the weather has been good year after year, the harvest is abundant, and the taxes are very easy for the people to pay. "
Yizong loved enjoyment and hated poverty. The minister's words spoke to his heart - if he followed the words of Queen Mother Gongmin, wouldn't he, the master, have to reduce his own treatment? Yizong was unwilling from the bottom of his heart! So after the ministers left, he invited his mother, the Queen Mother Gongmin, to come to him. He politely rejected her suggestion that he should come to the court in person and observe the world clearly, saying: "All the ministers in the previous dynasty were capable and loyal people. I have been worrying about my son for many years, now it’s time to take a break and stop listening to rumors from the palace people and blaming Zhongliang wrongly.”
Such a confused son! Queen Mother Gongmin almost fainted from anger!
With Yizong like this, Queen Mother Gongmin knew that her son had no hope, so just like Queen Gu before, she put her hope in her grandson. Today's Holy Emperor is not the eldest among the princes of Yizong. The reason why he can inherit the throne is because his biological mother, Deng, does not have a very high status in the palace, and her background is not as good as that of Yizong's empress and the noble and virtuous four concubines.
Empress Dowager Gongmin, who lost to the gentry during the seizure of power because Yizong did not have only one son like Xi Zong, became the queen mother even though she was born poor. She had to choose a prince born from a gentry's daughter as the crown prince, but she also chose a biological mother. The Deng family was relatively the worst born and favored, and she personally raised the current emperor.
Under the influence of Empress Dowager Gongmin, before he ascended the throne and in the first few years after he ascended the throne, the Holy Emperor was ambitious in purging the empire and revitalizing the Wei Dynasty. However, the Queen Mother who managed to transform from Deng Concubine to Queen Mother Deng didn’t think so!
During the reign of Emperor Xizong, there were tens of thousands of people in the palace, and thousands of concubines with titles and positions. Many of them had never seen Emperor Xizong in their lives, or they only served him once and were left out in the cold until death. Although the harem during Yizong's reign was not as overcrowded as Nai's father, there were still hundreds of official concubines. Empress Dowager Deng's family background, status, and favors were nothing. She just gave birth to a prince, was a daughter of a noble family, and lived a life in the palace.
Once Yizong passed away, her mother Yin Gui became the Queen Mother, but she held her breath and wanted to enjoy a life where no one was suppressing her and she didn't need to be cautious!
The Queen Mother Deng was not very interested in controlling the government. The key was that the Queen Mother did not have the ability to listen to politics behind the curtain. But the Queen Mother is very interested in Ga En's natal family.
The world is so big. There are six clans and major families in the sea, and they all know each other's sphere of influence tacitly. If Empress Dowager Deng wanted to promote the Deng family, she would have to test, compromise and make agreements with various aristocratic families... The key is that the Empress Dowager's natal family is also a noble family, and the emperor wanted to imitate her grandmother, Empress Dowager Gongmin, to vigorously promote common people and recruit the daughters of common people to suppress them. The power of the gentry could not stand up to Empress Dowager Deng!
When the emperor reached the wedding age, Empress Dowager Deng immediately made her niece a noble concubine. If it were not for the consideration of the Deng family and the desire to gain the approval of the Deng family's development and growth, the first queen of this dynasty would definitely be Empress Deng instead. Queen Liu!
... All in all, counting the current emperors, the Wei Dynasty has not been a wise king for three consecutive generations. Forget Mingjun, there is a huge difference between you and Mingjun!
Since Xizong, the Holy One is considered the best. At least he didn't build palaces extensively, build forests or pools, or recruit people arbitrarily... The three generations of monarchs can be said to be mediocre, and the foundation of the Wei Dynasty has long been rotten.
But where is Yanzhou
It borders Beirong to the north, Donghu to the east, and Hanhai to the west. The food and grass in the three places all come from Yanzhou.
The location of the main headquarters of the important supplies of the past dynasties has been garrisoned by 200,000 elite soldiers all year round!
How can a popular uprising happen in a place like this? How could there be a civil unrest? How can people become independent again? ?
Because the land of Youyan has produced chivalrous and brave men since ancient times, the warriors of this dynasty, except for the Liu Jiajun of the East Hu and the Shen Jiajun of Xiliang, who have been at war for many years, it is recognized that the most powerful and elite soldiers are the soldiers recruited here. Since there are many military households in Yanzhou, it is inevitable for the villagers to take care of some of them. It is considered one of the places with relatively light taxation in the Wei Dynasty.
Ordinarily, this civil uprising should not have happened in Yanzhou!
Even though Yanzhou was looted and the people's resentment boiled over, there are now 200,000 elite soldiers here, and they dare to do anything under the nose of the 200,000-strong army. Isn't this asking for death? Even if the common people are hungry and angry, and commit this confusion, how can the people become better? Wouldn’t it be extinguished as soon as it happened
Rioters and the army are two different things after all, not to mention that the ones stationed in Yanzhou are elite soldiers!
Wei Changying couldn't figure it out. The Wei Dynasty was infested with bandits, and there had never been a civil uprising on a scale large enough for the imperial capital to rush to send news 800 miles away. How... was considered the most unlikely, at least the last, by Qianli. Yanzhou, which only has problems, is the first one to have problems
It's a pity that the document didn't specify it in detail. Seeing Shen Zangfeng's face turning pale and frowning in deep thought, Wei Changying bit his lip and swallowed what he wanted to ask carefully. (To be continued)