Chapter 172 Coming in droves! (Coming! Second update!)

Since March, the spring rain that was supposed to come has not come, and everyone in the court is worried.

If the spring rain does not come, the five kinds of rain will come and farmers will lose their jobs.

Without rain, nothing could be grown, which was a devastating blow to an agricultural society like the Song Dynasty.

So Zhao Zhen was looking forward to rain every day, and even sent Zeng Gongliang to pray for rain. However, after praying for rain for half a month, there was still no rain.

Zeng Gongliang failed, so Zhao Zhen took action on his own and issued an imperial edict: "Since winter and spring, the drought has not stopped, five kinds of droughts have occurred, and farmers have lost their jobs.

However, when disaster comes, I should not act in vain, and I should not be sensitive and ignorant to inflict the wrath of God. The blame is mine. What should the people be wrong about? Rather than inflicting disaster on others, it is better to deflect disaster on me.

From now on, I have avoided the main hall and reduced my daily meals. Chinese and foreign ministers have pointed out the current affairs of the world. In fact, the seal is written on the three ministers. They are working together to serve as a warning, and they are said to be frightening.]

For a time, there was a lot of public discussion.

Tong Boding informed Zhang Heng: "There are rumors in the market that there will be a severe drought this year. The severe drought is due to the anger of God, and the reason for the anger is that there is a treacherous minister in the court."

Zhang Heng's face was solemn: "The traitorous prime minister refers to Mr. Jia?"

Tong Boding nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Heng thought for a while and said: "Who spread the news? Can it be found out?"

Tong Boding hesitated for a moment and whispered: "I'm afraid it has something to do with Xia Song."

Zhang Heng immediately understood that there was a rumor in the court that Xia Song was going to return to the court and would probably take the position of prime minister. Unexpectedly, this guy was directly eyeing the position of prime minister.

However, judging from Xia Song's qualifications, he is more than enough to become the prime minister. In the early years, Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan were under his leadership in the northwest. In the process of guarding the northwest, Xia Song was indeed the first to succeed. If it weren't for

The war in the northwest was ruined, and Xia Song had long been in charge of the center.

But time also dictates fate. It was precisely because of the war in the northwest that Zhao Zhen was in urgent need of reforms, so Fan Zhongyan came to power. In order to reduce the resistance to Fan Zhongyan's reforms, he also appointed Yan Shu, the Taiping prime minister, as prime minister.

Later, Yan Shu came back and was originally appointed as Privy Councilor. However, he was impeached by Shi Jie. Not only did he lose his position as Privy Councilor, he was also sent back to guard the northwest.

Therefore, it is understandable that Xia Song later attacked the Qingli New Deal and could retaliate against Shi Jie. Now he wants to use a trick to drive Jia Changchao away. With his seniority, he may be able to directly worship Zhongshu's disciple Ping Zhangshi when he returns.

.

Zhang Heng frowned.

There is nothing we can do about the natural disaster, but those who are interested directly point the finger at Jia Changchao, which means they have ulterior motives.

Of course Zhang Heng is not willing to let Jia Changchao step down. Jia Changchao is his mentor. With Jia Changchao here, everything goes smoothly for Zhang Heng. If Jia Chaochang steps down and Xia Song comes up, the situation will be difficult.

It's just that natural disasters have been used to attack ministers since ancient times. In many dynasties, there is a saying that heaven and humans are involved. Once the celestial phenomenon is involved, you can't even cry out for grievances. If you don't see it, even Zhao Zhen will be guilty in the face of such natural disasters.

Ji Zhao, let alone the Prime Minister?

Zhang Heng was thinking hard about a good strategy, and Tong Boding said cautiously: "Sanlang, there is one more thing..."

Zhang Heng said oh, his mind was still on Jia Changchao's matter, but he heard Tong Boding say: "...There are rumors in the market that the central bank has no money..."

"Ha, what's going on..." Zhang Heng came back to his senses, "...Huh?"

Tong Boding said: "Some people are spreading rumors in the market that the imperial court has misappropriated too much money from the central bank to support the northwest, so that now the central bank has no money, and they are urging the people to take the money out of the central bank."

Zhang Heng immediately paid attention: "When did this rumor appear?"

Tong Boding said: "Because it had already spread widely when we knew about it, we couldn't find the source. The source of the spread was obviously very cautious. I asked people to check it, but we didn't get the exact information."

Zhang Heng suddenly began to think deeply, there was indeed a dispute in the northwest.

At the beginning of the year, there was a border dispute between the Song and Xia Dynasties. This land belonged to the Baoan Army. Both sides believed that the area on the west bank of the Quye River in Linzhou was their own territory.

Yang Shousu, a representative of Xixia, believed that the area on the west bank of the Quye River in Linzhou "is my territory if my horse's feet are on it", and insisted on not clearly delineating the national boundary between the two sides.

Zhao Zhen appointed Zhang Jixun, the magistrate of Linzhou, to survey this area. After conducting the investigation, Zhang Jixun wrote to the court, believing that the Xixia gradually occupied the area on the west bank of the Quye River.

The Xixia people farmed, herded, or built castles in this area. If the imperial court made the area west of the Quye River a forbidden area, it would be difficult to protect Linzhou.

Zhang Jixun also suggested that the boundaries agreed upon by both parties during the Dazhong Xiangfu reign of Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty should prevail.

So Zhao Zhen sent Linsai Fort to imprison Ma Ning and the palace minister Kang Jun to Youzhou to negotiate with the Xixia Youzhou Military Supervision Department.

Yuan Hao ordered the Military Supervision Department of Youzhou to guard Cao Mian, Guan Gou and Cao Qing of the city, and told Kang Jun and others that if the Song Dynasty was willing to open Yinxing and the city, the boundaries of the area west of the Quye River could be dealt with according to the requirements of the Song Dynasty.

The talks between the two parties were quite difficult, so the situation in the northwest became tense again, but the so-called imperial court misappropriating the central bank's money, so that the central bank was short of money, was unnecessary.

Zhang Heng said: "This matter is related to the northwest affairs. It is said with nose and eyes. It is probably premeditated and not an ordinary rumor. If we continue to investigate, we must find the person behind the scenes!"

Tong Boding hurried away.

Suddenly, two major events happened one after another, making Zhang Heng feel like he was caught in a conspiracy.

However, Zhang Heng did not lose his composure. After hearing the news, he calmed down and sat quietly in the study for a long time before Shi Shiran came out. Zeng Youwei came up to him and said with a worried expression: "Sanlang?"

Zhang Heng smiled slightly and said: "It's nothing serious, I want to go out immediately."

Zeng Youwei immediately went to arrange the carriages and horses. After a while, she hurried over and said: "Sanlang, the carriages and horses are ready. There are some small gifts in the carriage. You can take them with you to visit the Lord."

Zhang Heng was very pleased and said: "Zhang Heng is lucky to have Youwei as his wife."

Zeng Youwei smiled shyly: "Youwei is lucky to have Sanlang as her husband."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Zhang Heng went out and rushed to Jia Changchao's mansion.

Jia Chang was ill at home. He originally told his disciples that he would not see any outsiders, but when he saw it was Zhang Heng, he felt a little embarrassed: "Sanlang, I said that I won't see any outsiders. Why don't you invite them back..."

Zhang Heng smiled and said: "Teacher, you won't even see me, can't you? Go and tell the teacher yourself."

After hearing this, the disciple hurriedly went in to report the matter, and hurried back after a while: "The master is waiting for you in the study."

Zhang Heng did not need anyone to guide him. He went in by himself, reached the study and knocked on the door.

Jia Changchao's tired voice came from inside: "Stop knocking and come in."

Zhang Heng smiled slightly, straightened his clothes, and pushed the door open.

Jia Changchao still looked like a scholar. Although he was in his own home, he was still neatly dressed and had the air of a great scholar.

Zhang Heng looked carefully at Jia Changchao's face, and Jia Changchao snorted: "What are you looking at?"

Zhang Heng made a fuss and said: "Teacher, you are pretending to be ill. It turns out that a great scholar like you doesn't like going to work, so you still pretend to be ill and ask for leave. Tsk tsk, it's really shocking."

Jia Chang rolled his eyes at Zhang Heng and said, "What are you doing today?"

Zhang Heng told the story about someone spreading rumors in the market, and Jia Changchao sighed: "This is natural. If there is such a natural disaster, the prime minister must bear the responsibility. I have already written my resignation and plan to leave my colleague Zhang."

Zhang Heng was suddenly very surprised: "Teacher, why is this? What does natural disaster have to do with you? Not only did you make no mistakes in your tenure, but you also made outstanding achievements. It can be said that the achievements of the recent prime ministers have surpassed them since you took office. You have been the most outstanding prime minister for twenty years, but because of this natural disaster, you have to ask yourself to be appointed foreign minister?"

Jia Changchao blushed a little when he was praised by Zhang Heng: "You are exaggerating a bit. I am not as good a teacher as you say..."

Having said this, he suddenly said: "...You came here today just to tell me about this rumor?"

Zhang Heng laughed, and Jia Changchao finally came to his senses.

Jia Changchao also laughed: "I forgot that you are so cunning. If a night owl comes in, there must be something going on. Tell me, what do you have to say?"

Zhang Heng said: "What I mean is, teacher, don't resign. If there is a problem, solve the problem. Teacher, if you resign, your face looks good, but what about the people in the world?"

Jia Changchao wanted to say that it was customary for a prime minister to resign in the event of a natural disaster. It would be shameful not to resign, but Zhang Heng blocked his words first.

Jia Changchao smiled bitterly and said: "I can be shameless, but other colleagues may not be willing to let me lick their faces and continue to stay in phase."

Zhang Heng laughed and said: "Teacher, please talk to your majesty and ask for your resignation. If your majesty refuses your request, then you can take over the disaster relief work. There is nothing more important than disaster relief, teacher." You can say that you will resign after the disaster relief is completed."

Jia Changchao said with some hesitation: "It won't rain today, so it will be difficult to provide relief from this disaster. This is not a disaster that affects one place and all the way. It is the same throughout the Song Dynasty. How can we provide relief from this disaster?"

He wanted to resign, of course, not only because of the natural disaster, but also because he saw that the situation was not good and wanted to take advantage of the situation to escape, so as not to be infamy for the rest of his life.

As he said, if it doesn't rain that day, the entire Song Dynasty will be in crisis. How to provide relief?

Zhang Heng smiled and said: "The students do have some ideas..."

Zhang Heng explained the matter carefully to Jia Changchao, but in the end he still felt a little regretful: "...these are just rescue measures, in the end God has to give him face."

The more Jia Changchao listened, the more excited he became: "It is already very thorough. No one in the past could come up with such a perfect relief method as yours. According to your method, some situations can be saved. At least the number of refugees will be greatly reduced, and there will not be too many people." Many people starve to death, this is already a supreme merit!"
Chapter completed!