Zheng Shen was born into a wealthy family in Zheng County. He was proficient in the Book of Changes and Lu poetry. He once appointed filial and honest officials to the court during the reign of Emperor Ai. After Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he returned to his hometown to live in seclusion, focusing on studying and teaching his disciples.

Zheng Shen is usually low-key and does not stand out. If there is any difficult thing in the neighbors of the clan, they all come to him for advice. At this time, he does not refuse and often agree happily. Once Zheng Shen takes action, the matter can be properly resolved, and everyone is convinced. Everyone in Zheng County sighed and said, "The son of Zheng can dominate the world. Is it time to be born in a bad manner? Is it luck?"

When Gengshi rose, the people all thought that there was a master in the world. Confucian scholars gathered in Chang'an, trying to take the opportunity to join the officialdom and find a place in the new court. Zheng Shen's disciples advised him to come out of the mountain, but he said lightly: "Although Gengshi was a descendant of the Han Dynasty, most of his important officials were thieves. Although he was lucky enough to rise to power, he only knew how to plunder and could not govern the country, and his power could not last long. We literati must not be liked by them, so why should we be disliked by others? Even if we were lucky enough to be useful, we would be the ministers and eat their salary. When they were defeated, we would be unwise and abandon them without any righteousness. Isn't it a dilemma?"

He was unmoved, and he closed his door to thank the guests and buried his head at home to study. On the contrary, many of his disciples rushed to Chang'an to look for opportunities.

When the Confucian scholars were not favored by the upstarts in the court, they all returned in disgrace and were discouraged. They couldn't help but think of Zheng Shen's words at that time. If he had heard him, why would he have been disappointed?

The Confucian scholar admired his knowledge and was more willing to get close to him. However, Zheng Shen often refused, his door was closed tighter, he rarely interacted with others on weekdays, and he only buried his head at home and almost never left home.

The Red Eyebrow Army came west, and the troops headed straight to Guanzhong. Everyone was not sure where to go. A disciple came to ask for advice. Zheng Shen sighed, "It's not long before Gengshi! Guanzhong is inevitable! It's rumored that the Qingzhou army was more violent than the Green Forest Army, so the people would suffer! This place is no longer a place to stay for a long time. If you want to avoid chaos, you may have to go to Hexi and Longyou, which may be safe."

The disciple advised him to leave, and Zheng Shen said, "I am old and cannot bear to stay away from my hometown and feed on a foreign land. I am not willing to suffer the pain of the road. You should go, don't think of me as a thought. When the bandits arrive, I have a way to do it."

Zheng Shen ordered his eldest son Zheng Qing to take his family to travel to Hexi, but he refused to leave his hometown. His youngest son Zheng Bai did not want his father to live alone in a dangerous place, and insisted on staying for company. Some disciples were even willing to stay with the teacher.

Zheng Shen, with his nephew and disciples, dug several hidden cellars in the house and buried all the food, but left most of the gold, silver and cloth on the surface. Zheng Bai had to dig two more to collect gold, silver, but was stopped by Zheng Shen.

"If the bandits break into the door and rob and gain nothing, they will inevitably torture everyone, urge money and property, or even kill people and kill people. They must be given something to ensure that their family and houses are safe. Peter and silver, we will protect themselves. And we have food, which is enough to survive the chaos."

When the Red Eyebrow Army occupied Zheng County and abused the people in the city, Zheng Shen asked his nephews and disciples not to resist and let them plunder. Zheng's house was plundered. The Red Eyebrow Army plundered a large amount of gold, silver and cloth, and everyone was happy. As expected, no longer made things difficult for the Zheng family.

When the people in the city were hungry, the Zheng family dug out the grain in the cellar to eat, and never suffered from hunger.

Zheng Shen foresaw everything and even expected that the emperor might summon him, but he did not expect that the little emperor would rely so much on him.

Liu Penzi ordered Zheng Shen to preside over the Shaoxue, teach Yulin soldiers to learn culture, and asked him to take charge of disaster relief matters. This almost gave him all the financial power. Except for leaving thousands of stones of grain for military purposes, the emperor gave all the rest of the food to Zheng Shen for disaster relief. This handover was thorough, and from then on, the emperor never cared about money and food.

Liu Mao asked the young emperor why he trusted this Confucian scholar so much. Liu Penzi said: "I don't trust him, I trust his reputation. Zheng Shen is a famous Confucian scholar. Everyone says that he has noble character and talent as a prime minister, which shows that he is indeed capable and cherishes his feathers. Confucians regard educating the side as a responsibilities, and always keeping benevolence and the people, presiding on disaster relief, teaching and educating people are the things they are most willing to do and cannot refuse. For his ideals and reputation, Zheng Shen will do his best, and according to his ability, he will definitely do it well."

Facts have proved that Zheng Shen did his best and was indeed capable. Every money and grain for disaster relief was passed by him, but it was mixed and not messy, and the material allocation was orderly. This was not only his unity and coordination, but also relied on his talent resources. Zheng Sheng's reputation played a significant role, and Confucian scholars were willing to work under him. When the people of Zheng County heard that Zheng Shen was in charge of disaster relief, the people's hearts were very calm, and Zheng County quickly restored peace.

But he never showed loyalty in front of the little emperor. Zheng Shen was always gentle and elegant, and he never said anything more. He looked respectful and thoughtful, and could not find fault with others, but he always felt the distance.

He seemed to be saying all the time: I have done everything you asked me to do, but we are in a cooperative relationship. I am just a temporary helper. I am not your subject and will not be loyal to you.

These days, Niutou and Mammon have had conflicts over the competition for jobs. The two competed for favor and disliked each other. However, they had a surprisingly consistent view of Zheng Shen: they didn't like him. Although they couldn't find out his faults in person, they just looked awkward because Zheng Shen didn't seem enthusiastic enough to be wise and wise and powerful Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty whom they admired extremely.

How could they know that Zheng Shen once sighed to his son Zheng Bai privately: "At a member of the thief, he will not lose his innocent heart. With his own strength, he will be kind and kind to all surnames. Is his saint? How regretful is he to be in this place where he will die."

Although Zheng Shen thought the emperor was good, he was not optimistic about the Red Eyebrow Army and was unwilling to bind his destiny to the little emperor with a future. He just wanted to do something practical and do his best to his hometown. But looking at the rapid consumption of food, Zheng Shen became more and more worried. Such disaster relief would be a waste of money!

Since the porridge was served, Zheng County seemed to have come back alive. A large number of people were pulled back from the verge of starvation and relied on the porridge to rush to their lives. In the past two days, hungry people from other places have even appeared.

Since the Red Eyebrow Army entered Guanzhong, countless people have destroyed their families, and countless people have become extremely poor and beg for food everywhere to live. If hungry people know that Zheng County has food, they will definitely flock to it. There will be a huge population explosion in Zheng County, and the number of people may exceed 100,000.

To support such a large population, even if it is porridge, the daily consumption cannot be counted. How long can more than 10,000 stones of food last? When the food is exhausted, Zheng County will definitely be hungry and become a hell on earth.

Because Zheng Shen managed the emperor's money and food and organized disaster relief, he was privately called Xiaosiong by some people. But Zheng Shen knew that his name was not true, and he did not have the means and responsibilities to raise food. He had to raise money and food, and he had to rely on the child who had not grown up.

The fifteen-year-old emperor is the backbone of disaster relief and the support of all hungry people.

Zheng Shen's eyes appeared in front of him, and his heart was full of doubts. Is this little emperor who has no real power and is just a decoration really reliable?

Zheng Bai walked in quickly, bowed his hands and said, "Father, today I have to receive 200 stones of grain, consume 120 stones of grain, and the remaining 80 stones, he said that only fifty stones a day is enough."

Zheng Shen said in surprise: "Why are there so few?"

Zheng Bai said: "I heard that His Majesty added ingredients to the porridge, and half of the people who received the porridge ran away, and all those with the food went home."

"Oh?" Zheng Shen was surprised. He pretended to be hungry and wasted porridge and could not control it. He wasted a lot of food every day. He had a headache about this, but there was no good idea. What information did the little emperor add to let these people leave voluntarily?

"Your Majesty actually sent someone to pull a few carts of sand over and add a little to each pot of porridge. I don't know how many people who drink porridge today will destroy their teeth." Zheng Bai shook his head and smiled, "He can think of this trick!"

"Add sand?" Zheng Shen pondered for a moment, stroked his beard and sighed: "Young people are so scary, how can you know that the coming is not the present!"

How could he know that adding sand to the porridge is a plot in an old Qing Dynasty TV series. Heshen, the treacherous minister in the play, used this method to distinguish the hungry people. The little emperor just copied it, but he didn't expect it to work.
Chapter completed!