Three years later.
When the flowers bloom in spring, a group of children run and play in the flowers, laughing and playing.
The little girl in the silver-red dress is about three or four years old, with two small flower buds dotted with various small pearls and jades connected with silver threads.
She circled the painted pillars of the Peony Pavilion, and the speed of her rotation became faster and faster. The wind blows her sleeves like a butterfly fluttering.
The boy who was picking flowers among the peony bushes seemed to be the oldest among the group of children. Seeing this, he hurriedly said, "Hua Shang, slow down, and be careful of getting dizzy!"
Hua Chang was dizzy, turned around and smiled brightly at him, her pink and jade-carved face was tender and cute, "Brother Yuan Zhang, I'm dizzy."
really.
Yuanzhang shook his head helplessly, holding a budding peony flower in his hand, and walked towards Huashang.
He was dressed in a royal blue dress, with seven-color gemstones hanging around his waist, and gold thread and silk sash underneath. As the silk sash swayed as it moved, it was very delicate and beautiful.
Hua Chang helped him sit down, Yuan Zhang pinned the freshly picked peony on her skirt, she lowered her head and sniffed, "It smells so good!"
The little boys at the side all gathered around, "Aren't you dizzy? Don't spin around like this. Brother won't get dizzy if you spin around with you."
Another boy who also wore seven-color gemstones picked up Huashang who had just sat down, and walked around the pavilion many times. Huashang thought it was funny and giggled, and the boy kept turning his head and sweating.
Yuanzhang frowned, looking like an adult, "Gu, Jiao, Jiao!"
The boy holding Huashang immediately put her down and winked at Yuanzhang, "Don't, don't! If you have something to say, don't call her by name!"
Yuan Zhang pursed his lips, and just when Gu Jiaojiao thought he would not speak again, Yuan Zhang threatened him in a low voice, "If you drop your clothes, I will let everyone in the capital know your name, Do you believe it or not?"
Gu Jiaojiao immediately restrained her hands and feet, not daring to speak.
Seeing this, Hua Chang hurriedly interrupted, "Brother Yuanzhang, don't blame Brother Yuanchi, his arms are strong and he won't fall me."
Gu Jiaojiao glanced at her gratefully, "Hua Chang is the best, as long as you are willing to call me Brother Yuan Chi, they call me Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao every day!"
Ning An and Ning Ping came in from outside the pavilion, "That's the name given by the godmother, don't you like it? Yuan Chi is a nickname, you still don't like being called by your big name!"
Gu Jiaojiao became more and more embarrassed, Ning An hurriedly said: "Ping'er, don't laugh at him. Even the godmother said that it is not good for a boy to be called Jiaojiao when he grows up, so he named him according to the original generation of the Gu family. , why do you keep bullying him with your name?"
"That's it!"
Gu Jiaojiao shrank behind Ning An as if she had found a backer, "Brother Ning An is better!"
"So you're saying I'm not good?"
Ning Ping gritted his teeth and compared his fists to him, and suddenly saw Hua Chang's small body standing in front of Gu Jiaojiao, a smile instantly appeared on his gritted teeth face.
"Hua Chang, we saw a sugar seller on the street today. It's such a big rabbit. Do you like it? If you like it, I'll buy it for you when I enter the palace tomorrow!"
Hua Chang laughed so hard that his dimples were exposed, but Ning An said: "Hua Chang's favorite is monkeys, and the second is rabbits. I'll ask the sugar seller to blow you a macaque tomorrow, how about you?" "
"Okay, okay!"
She clapped her hands, jumping and jumping with joy, and the four little brothers surrounded her and said all kinds of interesting things, which made her laugh non-stop.
The palace servants followed not far away, watching the children's movement, and showing a tacit smile when they saw this.
"The young masters treated our little princess very well!"
"is not that right?"
An older court lady said: "I heard that Mr. Gu loves his daughter the most. When our Majesty was in their house, he was taken care of by his brothers. Who knows that this generation of Gu's family are all sons, and the second wife gave birth Two, the third lady and the fifth lady each gave birth to one, and the sixth lady gave birth to three, none of them are girls!"
The young maids understood immediately after hearing this, "It seems that our little princess is the only girl of the Gu family's generation, no wonder she is loved so much, she is even more cherished than the apple of the eye!"
The older maid smiled proudly, "You only saw how the princess' brothers treated her well, but you haven't seen how her uncle, aunt and grandfather treated her well, that's really... tsk tsk."
Everyone sighed, and then looked at the Peony Pavilion, only to find that it was empty and the children were missing.
"Where are people?!"
"Won't it fall into Yuhu Lake?"
The palace people instantly became tense and looked around in panic.
Behind the rockery, the children who saw this scene retracted their heads, and Hua Chang covered his mouth and laughed.
Ning An was a little worried, "What if they go to sue the godmother? The godmother thinks we are lost, so she must be in a panic."
"Don't be afraid!"
Hua Chang patted her small chest, "I know that Mother has important matters to discuss with the ministers today, I'm afraid the morning court will not end so early. After it is over, I have to go to the Imperial Study Room to continue discussing with the Taishi and Taibao. How can I have time to care about us? "
When everyone heard the words, they didn't take it seriously.
If His Majesty knew that the children were lost, no matter how important the state affairs were, would he care about the whereabouts of the children first
But seeing Hua Chang's high spirits, everyone was reluctant to point it out and let her make trouble.
Hua Chang's big eyes rolled, as if he was worried that he had gone too far, so he said, "Why don't we go to the front hall to listen to the adults discussing some important matters? If you want to find us, don't worry if you see us at the front gone?"
Ning An and Ning Ping are the oldest among the children, and Hua Chang has always been in charge of what really happened—
Who told the brothers to spoil him
"Okay, okay, I want to hear it too!"
Gu Jiaojiao loves to play with Huashang the most. If he advises Huashang all day long, everyone is afraid that he will ruin Huashang.
But Ning Ping is also a mischievous one, and he was very interested in hearing Huashang's idea, "Okay, I also want to hear what the adults are talking about, what is such a difficult and important matter?"
Ning An took a look at Yuanzhang. Apart from himself, Yuanzhang was the only one who was quite stable.
The latter showed a helpless expression, and did not refuse after all, Ning An said: "Okay, then let's go together, but let's talk about it first, we can't let them find out. Ping'er, do you still remember the last time you took Huashang to release the clothes?" The kite caused her to fall, what punishment did she receive when she went back?"
Ning Ping took a deep breath, "Of course I remember, Mother beat me up and fined me not to enter the palace to look for Huashang for half a month. Fortunately, Uncle Lin Xuan stopped me, otherwise my ass would have blossomed !"
Ning An said sternly: "It's good that you know, be careful for a while, don't get Hua Shang punished, do you hear me?"
Yuan Zhang also said to Gu Jiaojiao: "Did you hear Brother Ning An's words? If something happens, I will tell Aunt Six when I go back!"
"Stop talking, let's go quickly, the court will be gone in a while!"
Hua Chang tugged Ning An and Yuan Zhang's sleeves, and pulled them to the forward direction. The two elder brothers, who had serious faces just now, lost their temper after being pulled by her.
After discussing for a while, they decided to sneak in quietly from the apse, but they didn't expect to meet Gu Hanmo right after they passed.
"stop!"
Gu Hanmo inspected so far, and soon found a group of sneaky children, he frowned and called them to stop, the children turned their heads in desperation, only then did he realize that Huashang was among them.
The ice and snow melted on that straight and serious face. Gu Hanmo smiled and squatted down to talk to Hua Chang, "Why are you here?"
Gu Jiaojiao lowered her head, raised her eyes to peek at his expression, why has she never seen Sanbo so gentle at home
He just laughed like this when he was facing the third aunt, and for the rest, even the little Yuen Long who was born to the third aunt was never so gentle.
The children are all afraid of Gu Shubai, only Huashang is not, she said with a smile: "Third uncle, do you know what parents and adults are discussing?"
Gu Hanmo paused, "Why did you think of asking this?"
Hua Chang thought for a while, "I want to care about the country's affairs, and I want to share the worries of my parents. Although I am still young and don't understand the affairs of the state, I want to hear about it."
Gu Hanmo then smiled and patted her head, "Our little Huashang is really good, okay, you go!"
Huashang bounced into the apse, Gu Jiaojiao followed her and wanted to go in, but Gu Hanmo grabbed her by the collar.
Looking back, there was another frosty face.
He said sternly: "The previous dynasty was a place to discuss political affairs, children are not allowed to come here casually, don't you know?"
Of course they do.
Yuan Zhang hurriedly explained: "Uncle San, we know we can't just come here casually. But Hua Chang wanted to come and listen, so we came with her. If we don't accompany her, what if she falls down while running on the road?" ?”
As soon as the words fell, he heard a faint sound coming from the hall, Gu Hanmo looked subconsciously, "Hurry up, go in quickly, what if Huashang really falls down?"
As if they had been pardoned, several people quickly ran towards the hall.
I saw Hua Chang standing on the crack of the door and looking towards the front hall, a large porcelain vase was rolling on the ground, I thought it was the sound that Hua Chang accidentally knocked over the porcelain vase.
Gu Jiaojiao said unconvinced to Yuanzhang: "Yuan Long is only two years old, and he is still the son of the third uncle. Last time he fell down, the third uncle didn't even look at him. No matter what a boy is, he will be beaten and beaten." Only then can you become a weapon, hmph, Third Uncle is too eccentric!"
This eccentricity is different from other eccentricities. Others eccentrically favor their own children, but the Gu family only favors girls.
Yuanzhang glanced at him, "You can be content, last time my grandfather asked us to practice archery in the martial arts field, and my eyes were dazzled. The grandfather saw that Jiaojiao was weak and asked him to rest and drink a bowl of water to continue. Anyway, you sat down and had a cup of tea, but my water was brought to the field by housekeeper Qi."
He drank it while standing in the sun.
Gu Jiaojiao thought for a while, and there was indeed such a thing, and she immediately smiled, "Tell me, could it be that because my name is Jiaojiao, my grandfather always thinks of me as a little granddaughter, so he treats me better?"
Yuan Zhang snorted softly, or he thought why His Majesty gave him this name back then!
"Hush!"
Hua Chang didn't turn her head back, she stuck her head on the door of the hall, listening to the movement from the front hall.
I don't know who the ministers were, they chattered into a group, and the voices came and went, and she could only hear the general idea.
"... The Jingjiang flood is related to the national economy and the people's livelihood. How can we be negligent? Especially this area used to belong to Dongling territory, and now it is unified by Dazhou. It is even more sloppy!"
"My minister seconded the proposal! The people in the lower reaches of the Jingjiang River have a lot of farmland, if it is not managed carefully, it will cause great losses!"
There are also objections—
"Hmph, according to the documents preserved by Dongling in the past, Jingjiang's floods occur almost every year in the late spring and early summer, and you don't need to take care of it to get through it. Why bother?"
"That's right. What's more, looking at the records over the years, the flood in Jingjiang is better than being cured. It's a thankless task!"
"This statement is inappropriate..."
"alright."
Yu Fu's voice came out faintly, and the endless debate among the officials below was suspended, and there was a sudden silence.
She looked at a censor who was blushing and had a thick neck, "Yang Qing's so-called thankless work is worse than being cured. I don't know how to explain it?"
Seeing the question, Yang Yushi hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Return to Your Majesty, please tell me in detail. Although the lower reaches of the Jingjiang River have a large population, floods will inevitably hurt lives, but people are helpless! Because there are many fertile fields here, If dredging is used to control the water, most of the good land will have to be destroyed to dig the river. If the water is blocked to control the water, the fertile land here will have no water to irrigate and it will be extremely dry. Think about it, Your Majesty, no matter whether the court is dredging or blocking, the people will have complaints ?”
That being said, it's really thankless.
Xue Rou came out and said: "Your Majesty, after the news of the flood in Jingjiang was sent back to the capital, I looked through Dongling's account books in the old year and found some things."
"You might as well just say it."
"I found out that the fertile land in the Jingjiang area is not only a living thing for the people of the five local state capitals. It is even a huge tax revenue for the former Dongling. What Yang Yushi said makes sense Yes, this area is a serious matter. If you are not sure of complete governance, it is better not to cure it. If you die, the worst thing is that the embankment will burst and damage some fields and houses during the flood. If it is cured, it may cause worse consequences than it is now. "
Yu Fushang was still thinking, when Zhang Jiuque came out and said: "Your Majesty, I also thought that it would be better to die. I have talked with several court and Chinese officials whose families live in the Jingjiang area. In fact, the local people have long been used to the floods every year. , already have their own set of flood avoidance strategies, and the annual damage is not great. Moreover, it may not be a good thing for these people to take advantage of this thousand-poured fertile land to live comfortably and make their families rich.”
Zhang Jiuque, as the Taibao, even he disapproved of dealing with the Jingjiang flood, so Yufu hesitated for a moment.
When she was in Dongling when she was a child, she had never heard of the Jingjiang flood. In the Dongling dynasty, no matter when the old Emperor Ning was in power or when Ning Chengzhi was in power, they all adopted a laissez-faire policy towards the Jingjiang flood.
But now it has been three years since the Great Zhou ruled, this leftover problem that Dong Ling didn't solve at the beginning, will it continue in the Great Zhou
"What do the regent and grand master think?"
Tian Yunpo was still thinking about it, when his name was called, he subconsciously looked at Gu Shubai, Gu Shubai slightly nodded at him, and stood up first.
"I think that there is no reason for the flood to hurt the people. Now that the treasury is abundant, the country is peaceful and the people are safe and the people have no worries about food and clothing. Is it because the people in Jingjiang have gained a lot from thousands of fertile land that they should suffer from the flood? ? If it was the time of war before, it would be impossible to take care of it, but now, I feel that I have to take care of it."
He said, looking at Zhang Jiuque again, "What the Taibao just said is indeed true, but this king has also investigated the situation in Jingjiang. In the past five years, there have been three floods, and the number of dead and missing people in each time is probably less than a hundred people. Five The total number of people in the state capital is only a hundred, which does not seem to be many. However, I don’t know the Taibao, but the flood three years ago killed more than five hundred people?”
It seems inconspicuous to say that within the range of five state capitals, one flood lost hundreds of people.
But there are more than five hundred people, which is a bit shocking.
Zhang Jiuque thought for a moment, "But that was just one time, the other times were not so many."
Gu Shubai smiled, "Yes, only once. Because that time when the river broke its embankment was in the middle of the night, when people slept most soundly."
Zhang Jiuque opened his mouth slightly when he heard the words, but before he could say anything, he suddenly heard a strange noise from the back hall.
"Don't push me, whoops!"
Everyone looked at the door connecting the front hall and the back hall in surprise, and saw two little dolls, a man and a woman, rolling out of the back hall, their bones were as lumpy as rubber balls.
The two children rolled into the hall, stopped and looked up, only to find that the whole hall was full of adults in court uniforms looking at them curiously.
They got up from the ground in a hurry, before they could pat off the dust on their clothes, they wanted to flee immediately.
I only heard the majestic voice of a woman from above, and I was full of displeasure in addressing her first and last names, "Ji Huashang, Gu Jiaojiao, what are you doing?"
The little boy's scalp tightened—
It's over, it's over, now all the civil and military people in the court know that my name is Gu Jiaojiao...
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Fun quiz: What is Gu Jiaojiao's nickname
Correct answers will reward xx coins, the answer is in this chapter, read carefully~