It snowed heavily for a whole day and night. The snow piled up to above the knees. It seemed as if this snow had returned all the snow for the entire winter. It was difficult to even open the door from indoors.
On a snowy day like this, not to mention canceling the morning court session, it’s impossible to go to the government office on time.
Zhou Shuren was used to getting up early. When he got up, the servants outside the door were cleaning the snow. He went out for a walk and came back to see that his wife was also up.
"Why did you get up so early today?"
Zhulan had already changed her clothes. "I woke up when I heard the sound of snow shoveling. Is it snowing heavily outside?"
Zhou Shuren, "Well, the places that were not cleaned yesterday, I saw that the thickness was above the knees."
Zhulan stood on tiptoe and looked through the glass window with the light of the lantern to see the snow. "I don't know if it's just in the capital or if it's a large area."
Zhou Shuren washed his hands, "It should be a large area."
After the couple washed up, it was still dark. The sky became a little brighter when breakfast was served. Looking at the sky carefully, they found that it was still covered with dark clouds and it seemed that there would be heavy snow.
After breakfast, Boss Zhou and his friends came to the main courtyard. Boss Zhou was responsible for clearing snow in the entire house and also for a section of road in front of the mansion gate. Ever since the road was built in the capital, the road in front of the mansion gate had been managed by each household, which increased the efficiency of snow clearing in winter.
Today, except for some important government offices that need to be visited, other departments are closed today.
Chang Yi said, "Dad, I'll take you to the Ministry of Revenue in a while."
Zhou Shuren waved his hand, "No need."
The guards in the palace just told him that he would be entering the palace soon. His guess was correct. This heavy snow covered a large area.
Chang Zhi held a hand warmer in his arms. "If it doesn't snow in winter, I'm worried. Now it's snowing, it's a disaster. What a damn weather."
Zhou Shuren remained silent. He had a good memory. During the Little Ice Age in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, natural disasters occurred frequently, the climate in the north and south was abnormal, and the temperature dropped significantly. Unfortunately, he did not learn about the Little Ice Age. He just had an impression of it but did not remember the specific time.
"Dad, Dad."
Zhou Shuren came back to his senses, "What did you just say? I was distracted."
Chang Zhi said, "I told you to wear more shoes and clothes. It's windy outside."
Zhou Shuren smiled and nodded, "Yeah."
It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t remember. We just need to vigorously support agriculture and produce more grain.
Zhou Shuren entered the palace not too early, and some people had already arrived.
The emperor noticed the snow on Zhou Shuren's cloak, "It's snowing again."
Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yeah, it's quite a lot."
Emperor, "It seems that the snowstorm cannot be stopped. There is no problem in the capital city now. The main thing is that disaster relief must be in place for several states covered by heavy snow nearby."
Fortunately, the road has been repaired, making it much easier to clear the snow and transport supplies.
The emperor issued orders one by one, and Zhou Shuren was responsible for paying the money. The weather has been good in the past two years, and there has been no war, so the granaries have relatively surplus grain, and the granaries in various states have enough grain for disaster relief.
In the past, some people dared to tamper with the grain in the granary, such as passing bad grain off as good grain, adding sand and gravel to the grain, or simply storing grain that could not be stored.
Before the emperor abdicated, Zhou Shuren vaguely mentioned to him that the granary was the bottom line, and whoever touched it would die, and this standard could not be crossed.
The emperor at that time heard this and did not take action at first, but later he took action and killed several chickens, finally making everyone realize that food should not be touched.
At that time, the retired emperor even changed the law to punish three generations of a clan without any leniency.
As a result of a series of actions, the granaries were filled with surplus grain, and the court had the confidence to deal with disasters.
There was a strong snowstorm outside, so the ministers received orders to leave the palace, and Zhou Shuren was left behind by the emperor.
The emperor said, "I want the Crown Prince to go to the disaster area. Lord Zhou, I hope you can lead the team."
Many of the ideas regarding disaster relief were proposed by Zhou Shuren. Zhou Shuren made an indelible contribution to the court's gradually improving disaster relief system.
Zhou Shuren had other ideas that he and his father had intuition about, but he didn't mention them.
So he hoped that Zhou Shuren would take the prince around to let him understand the severity of the disaster, and he also hoped that Zhou Shuren would teach the prince more.
Zhou Shuren's beard twitched. The Ministry of Revenue took out the silver and some officials in the Ministry just kept an eye on it. He, the Shangshu, was left with nothing to do. He wanted to rest for a few more days at home, but the emperor did not let him rest.
The emperor continued, "The prince is different from me. When I was a child, the country had just been established, and my father and I were always on edge. The prince is happier than I am, so he is not as mature as I was when I was a child. I cannot let the court be in turmoil in order to train the prince, and the future country does not need an ambitious crown prince. What the country needs is an emperor who can govern the country well, so teach him more, let him put the people in his heart, and let him grow up to shoulder the burden of the country."
Zhou Shuren was moved. Whether he was the retired emperor or an ambitious emperor, it was undeniable that both of them were good emperors to the people. "Yes."
The smile on the emperor's lips widened. Why did he keep holding on to Zhou Shuren? Because both his father and he knew that Zhou Shuren had a lot of ideas in his head. Zhou Shuren's abilities might not be the best, but no one could surpass Zhou Shuren in ideas.
It was snowing heavily when Zhou Shuren left the palace. Someone was holding an umbrella beside him. When he left the palace, the streets had been cleared for the carriage to pass.
Zhou Shuren first went back to the Ministry of Revenue to arrange things, and then called Qiu Yan and Lord Liu to look after the Ministry of Revenue together. He would be out of Beijing for some time this time.
In the afternoon, Zhulan was surprised, "Why did you come back suddenly?"
Zhou Shuren took off his hat, and the remaining snow on the hat fell onto his neck, causing him to shrink from the cold. "I will leave Beijing with the prince tomorrow. It will take at least ten days. Please help me pack my luggage."
Zhu Lan frowned, "The prince left the capital?"
"Well, the emperor asked me to take the prince to study."
Zhulan's brows were still furrowed. "It's too painful to go out in such a cold weather."
"The Emperor is willing to let the Crown Prince suffer."
Zhulan said nothing, "I'll bring you some clothes. Please take care of yourself when you go out."
She understood the emperor's intentions, but she just felt sorry for her husband.
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "If the prince succeeds to the throne and there is a benevolent emperor, it will be good for the country, the people, and our family."
Zhulan sighed, "I'll go pack your luggage now."
"Um."
Changzhong heard his father coming back and ran back from the study in the front yard, "Dad, you came back so early today."
"Are you studying hard at home?"
Changzhong does use his intelligence to play some tricks, but after living with Mingrui for a while, he became very serious about studying. "My son is really serious."
Zhou Shuren held his son's hand and could already feel the calluses on his fingertips, which were left from practicing calligraphy since childhood. He felt emotional and thought that if it were in modern times, he would definitely not ask the same of his son.
But in ancient times, Changzhi was his youngest son, and he had a halo since he was young. To enjoy the top resources brought by it, he had to put in a lot of effort to learn, "Isn't it tiring?"
Changzhong shook his head, "Not tired."
Zhou Shuren stroked his son's hair and said, "I agree with what you told me."