Wei Wang and his party were led to the guest place.
Along the road, you can see that the buildings are rigorous and square, without any overreach, and no extra flowers are planted. When he arrived at the residence, he saw that the furniture and utensils in the room were all in place. It was not luxurious, but it would not make people feel rough and neglectful. Everything was just right. King Wei thought that Hu Demao was a smart man.
In fact, he is also a smart person. Isn't a smart person able to sit in the position of governor of a province
After that, without Dewang saying anything, a maid brought hot water and clean and comfortable clothes. When King Wei came out of the bath, a message came from outside the door, saying that the governor had set up a banquet, and the imperial envoy was invited to the banquet.
King Wei went to the banquet without saying anything.
At the banquet, there were still the same people who were sitting in the main hall before, with a few more foils. King Wei only glanced at it and didn't pay much attention.
His indifferent look, even if everyone had heard about Wei Wang's indifferent character before, it made people feel uneasy for a while.
Therefore, a banquet was eaten like a guillotine, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief after King Wei left.
All the irrelevant people withdrew, along with the dancers and singers who Hou had never played at the side door. Originally, the first meeting was a process of exploring and testing each other, but unfortunately, this His Highness is too difficult to deal with, and people can't figure out his details and thoughts at all.
If you don't find out the details, you can't prescribe the right medicine, and you can't proceed to the next step. You can only be hung in midair.
So many people are hanging, what do you call this!
Zhou Hui took off his official hat and threw it on the table, which made him look angry.
Several other people glanced at him without saying a word, and some people drank tea slowly, which made people angry.
"Is there a charter?" Zhou Hui said, and he was going to the chief envoy Qi Bihe. Don't look at him as the chief grain official of the Shanxi Food Superintendent Road, but his official title is not high, but the country's society lies in agriculture, and the chief grain officer is in charge of a province's grain, even Qi Bihe has to give Zhouhui some face.
In fact, these few people are now also grasshoppers tied to a thread. The two consecutive years of drought have caused such a situation. Although it is an irresistible natural disaster, the superiors don't think so.
It's all dereliction of duty, it's all vegetarian food for corpses!
Now if you want to keep your future future, you can only try your best to make up for your mistakes.
But how to make up for it is worth considering. Everyone has an account in their hearts, so they can't be regarded as all-way people.
"The head of the imperial envoy is in charge of relief matters. Naturally, what the imperial envoy says is what we do." He Longcheng said. He is probably the most leisurely person in the room. In fact, he is in charge of the military affairs of a province, and has little to do with local government affairs. It is only during extraordinary times that the functions of the two sides overlap because of the fear of starving people attacking the capital.
Zhao Tianfang looked left and right, but there was no sound.
He is the magistrate of Taiyuan. He seems to be the parent official of a provincial capital. In fact, he is equivalent to sitting in the position of a concubine. To be the master of the house depends on the expressions of the three great mountains, and it is not easy to express personal opinions.
"You said it lightly!" Zhou Hui slapped the table and said, clearly expressing his anger.
He Longcheng raised his eyebrows and looked over with a half smile but not a smile. Zhou Hui's face was stiff and he was sweating profusely. Half of his energy was released immediately and he sat down again.
Hu Demao glanced at Zhou Hui, but did not speak. At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and following the sound of "I'm late", a thin old man in his fifties came in. He was wearing a vermilion official robe, and he knew that his official position was not low.
This person is Zhu Qi, the inspector.
Today, in order to welcome the imperial envoys, several giant Buddhas who are not usually seen are there, but he is not there, saying that he cannot get away because of official duties, but this time has come, and the eyes of several people in the room are twinkling, half smiles. But Zhu Mao didn't seem to see it at all, and after exchanging pleasantries with a few people, he asked Hu Demao what his order was.
In fact, no one knows that this person is notoriously naughty, otherwise they wouldn't all be here today, and he has delayed coming until now.
"I'd better go and ask the imperial envoy for a crime. Don't blame me for being so polite."
Zhu Qi came and went in a hurry, and after he left, Zhou Hui scolded the crafty old man.
He Longcheng stood up and said: "The Dusi still has something to do, and I will stay here soon. If you have something to do, you can send someone to inform you."
No one left him, so he left by himself.
After he left, the other people looked at each other and said goodbye one after another.
On the other side, Dewang has been full of resentment since he came out.
When he got back to his residence, only King Wei, him and Decai were left in the house, so he complained to King Wei: "Your Highness, it doesn't look like there is no food here. If there is really a shortage of food, can it be like today?"
"What nonsense!" Decai scolded in a low voice.
"I'm not talking nonsense. You see, those people are all full of food. Could it be that they are greedy for food and eat it by themselves?"
In fact, this is something that can be seen, but the key point is that there is no way to pick and choose carefully. Dewang suffered on the road in the past few days, so he felt that the banquet was rich. But looking at it calmly, it is actually not very rich, just like since the king of Wei came to this governor's office, everything is just right, neither making people feel neglected nor over the top.
If the king of Wei really got angry because of this incident like Dewang, the other party could use the imperial envoy as an excuse. When the water is clear, there will be no fish. This is the truth that everyone in the officialdom understands. Most of the time, you have to turn a blind eye and close one eye. If everything is too serious, you will only be the one who suffers.
For example, if the king of Wei had an attack this time, the other party can serve porridge next time. On the surface, he pretends to be poor with you, but he still eats and drinks behind his back, which will not affect anything at all.
If there is nothing to do, it's okay to play with the other party like this, but if there is something to do, you can't put the cart before the horse, and you have to see the essence through the appearance.
"They are testing the king."
Dewang, who was full of righteous indignation, hiccupped suddenly and stopped.
Probing
Yes, tentative.
From the moment they met each other, they were testing, testing Wei Wang's thoughts, testing his bottom line and all kinds of things. The superiors seem to be superior to the subordinates, but in fact, they both pay attention to strategy and control the superiors. The superiors are incompetent, and the subordinates can deceive and play at will. Similarly, if the subordinates are incompetent, they will only be discarded as trash.
Obviously Dewang didn't understand, but Decai understood. He looked at King Wei with a serious face and worried.
"Your Highness..."
King Wei stood up and said, "I will rest for an hour, and I will wake up after an hour. During this time, I will not see anyone who comes to see me."
Decai took the order, but Dewang still didn't understand the meaning.
After King Wei entered the inner room, Decai kicked him and said, "Just remember, why are there so many here?"
"Let me ask what's the matter?" Dewang was very annoyed, grinning his teeth and whispering.
Decai smiled and waved to him. Dewang didn't want to go up at first, but after ink staining for a while, he was still unwilling to lean over. Decai whispered something to him, his eyes flickered and he nodded repeatedly.
Sure enough, after Zhu Qiqiu's meeting was rejected, Hu Demao and others got the news, they only joked about his cleverness but were misunderstood by his cleverness.
As soon as the clapper rang at Haishi, the imperial envoy suddenly ordered to summon all the officials.
Following this order, Taiyuan City, which was already under curfew, suddenly became lively, and the sound of horseshoes and footsteps resounded one after another. If any uninformed night patrol soldiers came forward to stop them, they would only usher in a desperate kick. Of course, I still don’t forget one sentence Blind your dog eyes.
In the dark night, there was a fire shining in front of the gate of the governor's yamen, and the corner gate in the southeast was wide open, and official sedan chairs entered one after another.
It was still in the same hall in the afternoon, King Wei was at the top, his face was as calm as water, even if the people who rushed over had any complaints, they didn't dare to say more.
What the hell is going on in the middle of the night.
I'm afraid everyone is thinking so in their hearts.
"Disaster relief is like putting out a fire, there is no need to delay, this king will not talk nonsense with you..."
"Your Highness is exhausted, so you should take care of your health. Even if you have something to do, you can tell the officials to wait to do it. Why bother to summon me in the middle of the night?"
In the end, the voice became smaller and smaller, and the old and spicy Zhou Hui couldn't help but sweat coldly under Wei Wang's cold eyes, because he was frightened.
"Master Zhou seems to have a lot of opinions on this king?" Wei Wang said with narrowed eyes.
"Don't dare, I'm just worried that Your Highness is too tired. If it hurts your body, it's really not easy for you to deal with Your Majesty. Don't you think so, Mr. Hu?" Zhou Hui laughed dryly, and dragged Hu Demao into the water neatly.
Hu Demao was not prepared for this, his old face was stiff, and he didn't know how to answer it.
"This… "
Fortunately, King Wei rescued him.
"Since this king is an imperial envoy and came here to relieve the disaster, he is the same as you and the others. There is no need to act independently. Well, without further ado, please tell me what suggestions you have for the current situation. , you should relieve your worries, instead of staying here and watching the people in this place be devastated."
After that, everyone started a long discussion on this matter.
In fact, what they said were all meaningless words, and I thought it was good to hear one person say it, but after listening to all of them, I knew that they were all scripted.
After all, it is nothing more than lack of money and food, crying poor and pitiful,
But where does the silver come from, and where does the grain come from? There is no specific policy to solve it, which is tantamount to doing useless work. Maybe even after hearing too many words from these people, he would feel that the current disaster situation is actually not that serious. If it weren't for the fact that the King of Wei had traveled along this road, he would have seen more.
"Master Zhou, how much food can the combined power of the province produce?"
"This..." Zhou Hui was obviously very hesitant, but Wei Wang told him that the other party had no intention of letting him prevaricate.
"One hundred thousand stone." He bit the bullet and reported a number.
After finishing the application, I couldn't help feeling anxious, wondering if I had submitted too much, or if I had submitted too little.
Regardless of this, if it is really calculated according to the quantity, it seems that there is a lot of food, but in fact it is just a drop in the bucket for a province.
The hall was silent, except for the occasional crackle of burning candles.
"Master Imperial Envoy, I have something to say." A man in a green official robe suddenly stood up in the outer hall.
"You are?"
"The Xiaguan is Hou Yongbin, the magistrate of Xialiang County, Taiyuan Prefecture. This time, the Xiaguan came here to ask for food. If there is no more food for disaster relief, there will be chaos. The local people have nothing to eat. When people eat weeds and tree bark, the officials feel ashamed and can't bear to look directly at them."
"Hou Yongbin, how can you talk nonsense here!" Zhao Tianfang scolded.
Hou Yongbin was so red-faced by the scolding that he couldn't stand still, but he still stood firm.
He is over forty years old, with a thin body and a faint sallow color on his face. Such an official is really unbearable to be reprimanded. Zhao Tianfang probably has a protective heart, and he winks at him again and again, but he just ignores him. I was angry, so I didn't say much, just sat there and sulked.
At this time, Hu Demao spoke slowly.
"Master Zhao, why do you scold him? He is just worried about the people under his rule. But at the moment, there is a shortage of food everywhere. It is really not just listening to one side to make a decision." After finishing speaking, Hu Demao told King Wei With a wry smile, he said, "I'm not afraid of the imperial envoy's jokes. Recently, lower officials and others have been chased for food every day, but there is only so much food. How to put it away and who to give it to is really a headache."
Zhou Hui also explained: "These grains are the figures calculated by the officials who have roughly counted the grains left in Changping warehouses in various places. Nowadays, there are urgent calls in all places, and people are sent to urge grains every day, but such a small amount of grains cannot be released at all. , must be used wisely.”
In fact, to put it bluntly, I am still afraid of taking responsibility, and I still hope that the food will not be released. It is wrong to give it to whoever it is, and it is wrong to give it to anyone. No matter whose term of office triggers popular uprisings locally, this is the biggest stain on the official resume, and no one wants to take this risk.
"At this time of crisis, your lords are still shirking. You must starve everyone to death, and leave the food there to breed insects?" Hou Yongbin was probably in a hurry, and he didn't save face at all.
Now Zhao Tianfang didn't speak for him anymore, Zhou Hui looked at him fiercely, Hu Demao kept silent, as for the others, they all pretended to be deaf and dumb, and the hall fell silent again for a while.
"Let's not mention the matter of releasing grain for now, and we can discuss it later. Have you summoned the local big households to persuade them to donate? The imperial court is not asking for empty words, and it will be fine when there is a harvest next year." King Wei suddenly said .
Hu Demao and Zhou Hui glanced at each other with distressed expressions on their faces: "I'm afraid the imperial envoy doesn't know that grain shops and grain stores in various places are now closed, and there are rumors among the market that the disaster year will not pass so easily, and next year there will be another year of disaster. So some people don’t dare to put food out even if they have food in their hands. After all, I am an official ordered by the court, so I can’t force them to come to ask for it. And it’s not like these people don’t donate money and food. They donated once last year. What they promised at the time was Pay it back this year, but now it’s not enough for last year, and you have to borrow it again. This matter is really... really bad... "
This topic is really embarrassing to talk about. The majestic imperial court borrowed food from individuals, and it was dishonest to the people by delaying and delaying.
King Wei frowned, thought for a while, and said: "This time when I went to Taiyuan, I saw locusts flooding the countryside and fields along the way. I have a master by my side who has studied it quite a bit. Disaster, do you have any good suggestions for this?"
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.
As the chief officials of the frontier on the shepherd's side, it is naturally impossible for them to go deep into the countryside, and naturally they don't know anything about locusts. On the contrary, Hou Yongbin could still say a few words, but he didn't make any achievements.
Seeing this situation, King Wei's finger moving the Buddhist beads under his sleeve became more and more anxious, but his face was still as motionless as a mountain, making it difficult to see his thoughts.
"Come on, since you can't discuss how to release the grain, and you can't discuss how to get rid of the insects, how about this..."
The next day, there was finally the latest news about the government releasing relief food.
The governor's yamen posted a notice that the release of food was no longer targeted at a certain place, but to exchange insects for food. In short, people who need food go to the countryside to catch insects and exchange food with the government. Ten catties of insects are exchanged for half a catty of grain.
Once the news was released, everyone was surprised.