It is already the end of August, and it is still hot and stuffy, especially this year, it is extremely hot.
In the past, in the summer of the palace, the ice would be removed in the middle of July, but this time this year, the heat remains undiminished, as if it was still June.
Last winter, the ice stored by the Wangfu in the Zhuangzi in the suburbs of Beijing had already been used up, so Feng Sheng could only order someone to buy it now. If you are buying them all, the price will be expensive. Fortunately, Feng Sheng is not short of money now, so he doesn't care about it.
It’s just suffering for those ordinary people who can’t afford ice to cool off the heat. Because it’s too hot, the number of heat strokes in Beijing this year has skyrocketed, and a few of them died from the heat. However, most of the people who died from the heat were sick and Or beggars, it didn't attract people's attention, at most they sighed, and by the way, they cursed, "Oh my god, why isn't it raining yet".
The huge iceberg is placed in the three-legged gold-plated ice kettle, which quietly emits cool air, adding a lot of coolness to the room.
On the kang, Feng Sheng was wearing a green thin silk double-breasted summer gown, and a moon-white pleated skirt was casually tied around her waist. It was too hot, so she was wearing thin clothes. A cup of chilled white fungus and lotus seed soup.
Her physique is afraid of cold and heat, and has not changed. However, her body has been recuperated in the past few years, and she is not as easy to get sick as before, so she is bold when using ice.
Taozhi stood by and fanned her, and the two talked to each other from time to time. Just as she was talking, there was a sound of footsteps outside, Feng Sheng heard it, immediately put down the account book in her hand, and looked at the doffing hood.
King Wei lifted the bead curtain and walked in.
He was wearing an official robe, as if he had just returned from outside. The bead curtain came down as he entered, making a crisp crashing sound, against the coolness of the room, it made people feel bored.
Seeing that his collar was wet with sweat, Feng Sheng quickly got off the kang and greeted him. At the same time, he did not forget to wink at Taozhi, Taozhi is also conscious, put down the fan and went out to call for someone.
Not long after, a group of servant girls came in, holding washbasin veils and clothes to be changed in their hands. Putting down the things, the maids retreated, and Tao Zhi also retreated, leaving Feng Sheng to serve the king of Wei to wash and change clothes.
It is said to wash and change clothes, but in fact it is to wipe off sweat and body, and then change clothes.
When the king of Wei changed into a thin silk silk summer shirt and came to sit down on the kang, Dewang led two young eunuchs in, holding a copper basin in his hand, and waited for the king to take off his court boots. I took off my feet and changed into a pair of open cloth shoes.
The servants took all the things away lightly, and served herbal tea. When King Wei was drinking tea, Feng Sheng fanned him beside him, trying to cool him down for a while.
It's not that Feng Sheng is attentive, it's that she knows how hot it is outside now, and when she comes back at noon, the autumn tigers outside are in full bloom, especially when King Wei came back from the palace, the outer court of the Forbidden City doesn't even have a tree, so Walking out of the palace under the sun like this, even those with weak concentration can't stand it.
"You too, why come back at this time, you can avoid the time."
Although King Wei was so hot, his face was still calm and composed. He put down the teacup and said: "There is nothing in the palace. It is about the same distance to go to Ganxi Wusuo and back. I don't plan to go to the Ministry of Households in the afternoon."
Feng Sheng thought about it in his heart and laughed.
Although the journey back to the mansion was a bit far, there was a horse-drawn carriage outside the gate of the palace. King Wei was in the Qianqing Palace. It was indeed the same distance to go to the Qianxi No. 5 Institute and return to the mansion. You always have to walk against the sun, so it is better to come back. But Feng Sheng was a little surprised to hear that he would not go to the household department in the afternoon.
"Is there a lot of things?" She raised her eyebrows and asked.
King Wei frowned and said, "I can't avoid this trip."
It is indeed unavoidable, as early as last month, Feng Sheng and King Wei knew that someone was tripping King Wei.
But even if you understand, you can't refuse.
Since King Wei entered the court in September last year, he has been doing nothing in the household department. It's not that he doesn't want to do things, but that there is really nothing for him to do. Fortunately, at the beginning of every prince's entry into the court, he always sits on the bench like this, and only when he has the opportunity can he show his ambitions.
Of course, this is to say in a good way, but in a bad way, it is to wait for an opportunity, find an opportunity to do something, to prove to the courtiers that he is not free, this is conducive to establishing prestige and attracting the courtiers.
And this "seeking an opportunity" can be just waiting for a rabbit, or looking for something to do when there is nothing to do. Everyone is watching Wei Wang's movements, but no one thought that Wei Wang's luck would be so bad that he would meet a rare man. drought.
So when things started to show up, people in Jingzhong who were waiting to see King Wei's jokes didn't say anything.
As for why it is a rare drought
In fact, the drought in Shanxi began as early as last year. At that time, more than 30 prefectures and counties in the province were hit by drought. The imperial court specially sent imperial envoys to relieve the disaster, and exempted them from taxes for three years. Unfortunately, the situation It has been bad all the time. There have been few rains this year. This year, it is estimated that there will be no harvest. The supervisory censor of Shanxi Road has written several papers. Local officials have also repeatedly asked Beijing for help. This matter has been discussed several times, and the charter has been taken out, and now there is no one to serve as an imperial envoy for disaster relief.
There are also several types of imperial missions for disaster relief. If the disaster is not serious, it is just a formality. This kind of situation is the best, with political achievements and errands done, and returning to Beijing safely with credits, with face in it.
But if there is a serious disaster, it is not just about relief. All in all, it is very complicated. If the court has difficulties and cannot provide relief money, the difficulty of this task can be imagined. Even if it is not handled properly, it will be very difficult. It is easy to stir up civil uprisings, and at that time all the blame will be placed on the disaster relief imperial envoy, who will let him take charge of disaster relief matters.
Therefore, for the prince who wants to show off, disaster relief is a good thing, but it is not a good thing. This time, it is not a good thing for King Wei.
In the past few years, there have been disasters all over the country, and the imperial court has repeatedly provided relief, food distribution and tax exemption. However, last year's drought was not only in Shanxi province, but stretched across Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong and other provinces. The imperial court managed to save some surplus food due to the reform of the salt administration, but now it has been squandered, and the border war is imminent. There is a shortage of silver everywhere, and there is no shortage of silver there. Whoever does this job has to take it empty-handed.
Just at this time, the rumors of suggesting that King Wei should serve as an imperial mission for disaster relief became more and more popular. Now everyone is watching, even if they understand that this task is difficult, King Wei can't hide his head.
After hearing what King Wei said, Feng Sheng frowned and stayed there for a long time.
We all know how difficult this game is. This is the first big hurdle that King Wei has encountered since he entered the dynasty. Such a difficult situation.
But they can only face it head-on.
"It's not difficult to call on big households to donate locally, but I'm afraid that some people will deliberately trip you up." Even Feng Sheng, who rarely walks outside, knows that the situation in Shanxi is complicated, and there are people from various factions. However, if these people join forces to trip up King Wei, King Wei will be in a very bad situation.
No need to say yes, this is obvious, otherwise those people would not have co-authored to push the flames behind and encourage King Wei to come forward. For those people, what are the victims of disasters? Even if they lose a whole province of starving people, it is not as important as completely defeating their opponents.
"Father doesn't care about it. Is this using the people's livelihood as a pawn?"
The more Feng Sheng spoke, the more annoyed he became, but Wei Wang smiled wryly.
It was because he was well aware that he was afraid of being tricked by someone, so instead of going up to the challenge this time, he kept avoiding it. It's a pity that this matter cannot be avoided at all. He hinted to Emperor Jianping that if someone else is an imperial envoy this time, it may be difficult, but it will not be impossible, but if it is replaced by him, it will be more difficult. Joking about his life.
It's a pity that even Emperor Jianping couldn't turn the tide under the "popularity".
"The situation is already like this. Instead of being forced to take over the errand, I should take the initiative to ask for my life."
It is also in Shanxi that there is really no delay. There have been disasters for two years in a row, and this year there is no harvest. The local area has not been able to distribute relief food. event.
"It can only be like this." Since he couldn't escape, he could only seriously think about how to solve this predicament.
The next day, King Wei took the initiative to ask Emperor Jianping for orders.
Emperor Jianping was silent for a long while, with a complex expression on his face, he finally agreed.
After the news came out, not to mention others, both Xianfu Palace and Wei Palace were worried.
But worrying can't be eaten, Wei Wang is busy with leaving Beijing, Wei Wang's mansion is also spinning, several staff are busy coming up with the regulations, Feng Sheng is on the sidelines to fill in the gaps.
She wanted to go with King Wei, and she could help him somewhat, but unfortunately, Brother Xuan is not yet one year old, and Brother Xun also needs her care, so she can only be trapped in Beijing.
Thinking about the situation that King Wei might face after he went to Shanxi, Feng Sheng went to the academy, and selected more than a dozen reassuring people from the "Liaoguan" to act as helpers.
The word "Liao" is the same as "Liao", which means Taishi Liao in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which is also the first official secretariat in history. In fact, the master was originally used as the secretary of the curtain master, like the third cabinet under the cabinet and the general secretary, which have the nature of secretaries, and they only serve the court and the emperor.
Since the opening of the Daliao Museum, people have come here admiringly like crucian carp crossing the river. There are some students of our college who feel that there is no progress in the imperial examination and want to find another way out. Most of them are the masters of the loose gang, who want to coat a layer of gold. , or to a higher level.
Nowadays, who doesn't know that there are quite a few officials in the Liaoguan of Jinjiang Academy. Take a good boil, the day of your early days is just around the corner.
And Feng Sheng and Wei Wang belonged to the nearby buildings, and they usually did some good deeds to win people's hearts. As for the students with outstanding talents in the library, they naturally knew it well. And this is an opportunity for the middle school students in the library. The situation is difficult. Once they make meritorious service, the credit can be imagined. If it can be used by the king of Wei, there will be no worries about the future.
So Feng Sheng ordered people to leak the news in the hall, and wanted to find some people to accompany King Wei to go to Beijing for disaster relief. The news was released under the cover, and the target of the disclosure was naturally the person Feng Sheng was looking for. As expected, after getting the news, many people recommended themselves in private.
Feng Sheng picked again, and after considering all aspects, he chose twelve people.
These people are all about middle-aged, and they have rich experience. There are also a few people who have gone to Shanxi to serve as servants with the master's family. The so-called officials are as slippery as oil. As a master, he has to deal with his parents and officials, and he has to control those petty officials who do business for the master. Helping the king of Wei to do things, I think it will be even more powerful.
It was also Feng Sheng who thought carefully, saying that the king of Wei was ordered to provide relief, but in fact it was impossible for him to go alone, the court would definitely send him helpers.
Not to mention whether these people can be used with confidence, if they are not convenient, it will delay a lot of things. Once he arrived in Shanxi, he was fighting for his life with God, so naturally he couldn't be ignored, so this time Feng Sheng also spent a lot of effort.
But her efforts were not in vain. In fact, after going to Shanxi, these people did a lot of things for the king of Wei.
Time was running short, and when everything was ready, King Wei said goodbye to his wife and children, and hurried out of Beijing with his people.