After the first lunar month, the first spring rain fell in Linzhou.
The spring rain still did not bring joy, it only made Linzhou become muddy, cold and noisy.
In the past few months, there have been more and more homeless people living in and outside Linzhou. Many people came to Linzhou with their families in order to follow the emperor's team back to Beijing.
For most people, the journey is so long, and the closer they follow the emperor, the safer they will be.
But now many people's life in Linzhou has become unsafe. There are more people, more fights and robberies, more disorder. The poor, beggars and refugees are having a hard time enduring the winter, and there are more and more dead bodies outside the city.
"There are a lot of porridge sheds?" Cui Zheng's face was as heavy as his steps, "What's going on? At this time of the year, we need a lot of porridge."
The official next to him sighed softly: "Because many wealthy households are preparing to leave and start hoarding supplies, they are no longer willing to give out porridge."
Cui Zheng stopped and sneered: "Go and tell them that if they want to leave, why not do more to help the court!"
The official on the other side responded, and whispered: "It's not that we don't try our best. There are some families who are eager to spend all their wealth to help His Majesty return to Beijing. They are just worried that their descendants will not be able to make a living after returning to Beijing..."
Cui Zheng understood what he meant and said: "They have squandered all their wealth for Daxia, will Daxia let their descendants starve to death?"
The official responded with a smile: "They will feel at ease with the Prime Minister's words. Then, I will go and see if there are any free and insignificant seats for them to do something. By helping the court, I can also have a career."
Cui Zheng hummed without saying anything more, and the official understood the situation and stepped back without asking any more questions.
Cui Zheng walked into the room. After some busy work, most of the officials dispersed, leaving only a few close associates.
"Prime Minister, these wealthy families are taking advantage of the opportunity to blackmail you!" a close aide said angrily, "They say they provide the food for the porridge, but don't you know how much profit they make from driving up the price of food? Why do we turn a blind eye?
?It’s not because they feed the people by giving them porridge, but now it’s their credit, and they’re here to threaten us!”
Others in the room agreed.
Cui Zheng knocked on the table: "Of course I know they are threatening, but do we have any other choice now?"
"Your Majesty is going back to the capital. How many people are there in the harem, how many attendants, how many soldiers and horses, how much food, drink, horses, carts, and what are the requirements?"
"Who will come out? Will the court come out? Will Your Majesty come out?"
Is the court rich? Is your Majesty rich?
Nowadays, the world is in chaos, the Wei Dao is torn apart, there is no tax to collect, and the national treasury is far away in the capital. It would be good if the warehouse of the Lu Palace can feed the emperor and his family, not to mention that most of them are sent by the emperor to raise soldiers and horses to care for the people, the emperor and his concubines.
We have two meals a day, how can we have any extra money?
Cui Zheng looked around at everyone.
"Are you going out?"
Everyone's eyes suddenly scattered, and some people smiled bitterly: "We all left our families and careers to come here. We rely on His Majesty's care for food and accommodation. We donated all our wealth, but it's not much."
It is true that they left their family and business behind to come here, but precisely because they gave up their former family business, in the past three or four years in Linzhou, they worked harder to accumulate their family business, doing business, and collecting bribes.
....
But what can be done? Daxia is already in chaos, and the court cannot continue to be in chaos. Cui Zheng turns a blind eye and waits for the world to be peaceful before talking about anything else.
A minor official came in with a few posts and wanted to speak to Cui Zheng, but Cui Zheng frowned and stopped him: "Don't say anything to others!"
The clerk said sarcastically: "This is a passing gift from several families to the prime minister."
There are always many ways to give gifts, and the most popular ones in Linzhou these days are of course those for various needs such as returning to Beijing, traveling, moving, saying goodbye, etc.
As prime minister, of course Cui Zheng also had many people give gifts.
After hearing what the clerk said, Cui Zheng calmly said: "Put it away." When everyone in the room wanted to pretend that they couldn't hear or see, they added: "Send it to the Preparation Department."
As the name suggests, the Preparatory Department is the department that prepares for returning to Beijing. It is jointly held by civil servants and military generals. The emperor also asked the fifth prince to personally supervise it.
Hearing Cui Zheng's words, everyone in the room immediately said countless things, "The Prime Minister is really well-intentioned" and "The Prime Minister is so smart." There was a chaos.
What should be hinted has been hinted, these people will no longer pretend to be blind, and will donate some money to some extent. Cui Zheng waved his hands and was not interested in listening to their compliments, and asked: "How is the news in the capital?"
The officials said seriously, "Prime Minister, the news in the capital is not good."
Cui Zheng stretched out his hand and pressed his head. Ever since Xiang Yun and his group left Linzhou for the capital, no good news came along the way. First, they encountered an assassin, causing Mr. Wu to lose an arm. Xiang Yun's old injury relapsed and he had to
Rest halfway.
But the trip continued anyway, and the two adults arrived in the capital under the escort of soldiers and horses.
He asked: "Why, is there any bad news in the capital?"
An official whispered: "The situation in the capital is not good."
...
...
"Did something happen to Mrs. Chu?"
The emperor rubbed his hands and moved away from the charcoal basin. He didn't know if it was the cold rain that made his face look so bad.
"Master Wu and Master Zheng said this? Is it true or false?"
Cui Zhengdao: "I think it's fake, because the two of them haven't even seen Mrs. Chu's face yet."
The emperor said, a little disappointed, a little uneasy and a little anxious: "Mrs. Chu is lying? Does she not want to come to Linzhou?"
Cui Zheng didn't care about this: "Mrs. Chu will definitely not want to come, at least she won't come easily. It doesn't matter whether she is willing or not."
There is Han Xu who is easy to talk and persuade, and there is a toast, but there is Xiang Yun who is punished by drinking.
"Xiang Yun had the foresight a long time ago, so he did not follow Wu and Zheng directly to the capital." Cui Zheng said, "Think about it, if he also followed him to the capital..."
He was injured again and was immediately imprisoned by Mrs. Chu in the name of recovering from his injuries. Even if Xiang Yun had the Holy Spirit at his disposal, it would not be convenient for him to do things.
The emperor breathed a sigh of relief and sighed: "Mrs. Chu doesn't believe me. Even if she is allowed to come to Linzhou, I will not treat her badly."
Cui Zheng looked through the letter and ignored the emperor's sadness.
"Wu Ya'er is also in the capital." He said, and then sneered, "I ignored all the calls and said that Beiland cannot live without people and cannot be punished, but now he can live in the capital for so long."
The emperor sighed and said: "We are husband and wife, and husband and wife always want to see each other."
Cui Zheng turned a blind eye to the emperor's complaint, neither comforting nor ridiculing him. He frowned and said, "But this just shows that there is indeed a problem in the capital."
The emperor was busy asking what questions.
"It's true that Mrs. Chu doesn't want to come to Linzhou, and it's true that the capital is in chaos." Cui Zhengdao, handing a stack of letters and official documents to the emperor, "The two adults, Zheng and Wu, carefully saw what the government was like in the capital, and what the people were like.
What kind of order is like, what kind of aristocratic families are like, everything you see and hear is written clearly, and in their words, chaos is very dangerous."
The emperor groaned and held the letter without reading it. He was only concerned about one question: "Is it the chaos among the officials and people in the capital, or is it the danger of the rebels?"
Cui Zheng frowned and said: "Your Majesty, disorder is more dangerous than the rebels outside. This capital has been occupied by Ankang Mountain for several years, and I don't know how many remnants have been planted there."
He pointed to the letter.
"Look at what Mr. Wu and Zheng wrote. The palace is constantly haunted, and people are in panic. The hauntings are naturally caused by the remnants of the rebels."
The palace concerned itself. The emperor hurriedly lowered his head to read the letter and sighed even more. What should he do?
"The two masters Wu and Zheng are straightening out the order in the capital." Cui Zheng said, "Of course, the more important thing is to urge Wu Ya'er to lead the army to kill Ankang Mountain. Wu Ya'er and Mrs. Chu's intention is clearly to wait for His Majesty's arrival and use
Our soldiers and horses come to accomplish this, so they don’t have to leave the capital, and the credit will be theirs.”
"Credit is credit, everyone wants credit, but they are unwilling to contribute." The emperor couldn't help but be annoyed: "How long will it take to straighten it out? Are we just going to keep waiting?"
The capital was obviously recovered, but they couldn't go back. Everyone was thinking about themselves, and no one was thinking about him as the emperor!
Cui Zheng said: "Of course not, we can go to the capital at the same time."
The emperor was surprised: "How to get there? Isn't it said that it is not safe?"
Cui Zheng walked to the map and drew a line with his hand.
"We can go ahead. We don't have to go all the way to the capital in one go. We can go first..." He clicked on a location on the map, "Henan Road."
Henan Road is a good place, with guards guarding the southeast and northwest. Although Taiyuan Prefecture in the northwest is now occupied by Ankang Mountain, the adjacent Huainan Road, Jiangnan Road, and Shannan Road all have strong troops.
The emperor looked closely at the map: "The prime minister is saying that we go to Henan Road first? Isn't this unnecessary?"
Now that we have set off, shouldn't we arrive in the capital in one go?
"Originally it was unnecessary, but now isn't the capital unstable? Let's walk slowly. If we land on Henan Road, the journey will be easier, which will also be beneficial to the people who are traveling together." Cui Zheng said, "And we set off.
, Wu Yaer and his wife have no excuse to stay in the capital anymore, Xiang Yun can come forward, and the people of the capital have stabilized, and the two adults Wu and Zheng can do things more smoothly."
The emperor touched his palm and said: "This is a matter of killing three birds with one stone. Why didn't the prime minister tell you before?"
As I said before, he is already in Henan Road now.
"Now that the world is not peaceful, you have to see everything in person." Cui Zheng said, "Even Henan Road cannot be easily visited."
The emperor's palm fell back to his knees, what he said was in vain...
"For the sake of your majesty's safety, please first issue an edict to Han Xu to survey Henan Road for your majesty." Cui Zheng said, "When the Henan Road is safe and Han Xu comes to Linzhou again, your majesty can go to Henan Road and then wait to enter Beijing."
Han Xu, the emperor breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face: "I am still very relieved about Han Xu's work."
Cui Zheng once again reassured the emperor and presented a document: "This plan was proposed by Han Xu. Please take a look at it."
It turns out that was the case. The emperor was even happier. It turned out that it was not Cui Zheng's idea. Let's just say that Cui Zheng not only asked him to take risks, but also asked him to wait.
This Han Xu is more insightful.
The emperor read the official document carefully and looked forward to it: "I am looking forward to meeting Mr. Han Xuhan."
...
...
Braving the cold wind of February, Han Xu drove into a small city. As Zhongli said, there were no guards to check when entering the city, and he only needed to pay the entry fee.
The market in the small town was lively, and there were many guests staying in the inn, eating, drinking, talking and laughing.
This place is really nice.
Han Xu nodded with satisfaction. Under the guidance of the strange boy, he led only one person into the most remote room without any fear.
As soon as I entered the room, the door was pulled shut.
Han Xu's expression remained unchanged, and he reached out to untie his cloak calmly. Someone rushed out from the thorn, Zhongli raised his hand to stop this person.
Han Xu looked at the young general in his mid-twenties with thick eyebrows and big eyes and two dimples. He took off his cloak and took it in his hand: "General Xiao Qi, we meet again. Zhongli, please forgive me for being rude.
"
Nakazato retracted his arm, and the young man did not rush towards him again. He sniffed and with tears streaming down his face, he took a step back and knelt down on one knee.
"Master Han." He raised his hand to wipe away his tears, "Since we said goodbye back then, I have thought about you day and night, and finally I see you again."