Chapter 130: The sword rises, the head falls, and the ceremony is not alone
Outside the capital, not only are people dying of hunger at this time, but there are not a few people who are suffering from hunger and cold.
But none of these can affect the peaceful singing and dancing in the capital. As the most virtuous city in the world where the capital of Chu is located, there are actually very few things that can interfere with the normal order of Xijing.
Not to mention ridiculous incidents such as price increases in grain stores, even the business in Huimenglou has not been affected in any way.
Zhao Yunqing, the Minister of Household Affairs, got up early this morning because he got a nest of high-quality bird's nests from the Southern Tang Dynasty. Bird's nests are not uncommon and can be afforded by families with a little money.
As a unique and rare product of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the bird's nest produced by it is the best among many varieties of bird's nest. It is not an exaggeration to say that one tael of it is worth thousands of gold.
He asked the chef at home to study how to make this dish for three days, and today it was time for him to get up and enjoy it.
As the person in charge of Da Chu's money bag, Zhao Yunqing has never been short of money, so crying about poverty in front of the emperor can only be regarded as one of his daily tasks.
After decades of being an official, if he still didn't know how to get along with the emperor, he would have returned to his hometown and worked hard in the fields.
"It is said that the bird's nest produced by the white-throated needle-tailed swiftlet is the best in the Southern Tang Dynasty, but the taste now is nothing more than that. It is not as fresh as Fusheng Restaurant's sashimi, and the taste is not as good as Fusheng Restaurant's tofu loach.
To say it is worth thousands of gold is really an understatement."
Zhao Yunqing took a sip from a spoon and put it into his mouth. He closed his eyes and tasted it while describing his feelings. But when he swallowed a sip, he took another spoonful and put it into his mouth and couldn't help but continue.
arrive.
"However, this bird's nest is pretty good for breakfast."
After breakfast, we leisurely boarded the carriage. As the Minister of Household Affairs of the Chu Dynasty and the pistachio of the Emperor Chu Zheng, Zhao Yunqing was naturally qualified to live in Lin'an Street.
Therefore, he did not have to rush to the imperial city early in the morning and in the dark like those officials who were far away in the suburbs of the capital. He could even take a nap in a comfortable carriage carriage that was ordinary on the outside but expensive on the inside.
"Go to court!"
"Long live my emperor, long live me."
I don't know if it was because he got up too early today to taste the precious bird's nest, but Zhao Yunqing still didn't wake up. He yawned slightly while standing in the court, looking a little absent-minded.
"These are the memorials that came from all over the country in January to ask me for disaster relief food. I suppressed them all, just to see what those big Chu worms would do, but I heard the news from the six doors.
It is said that only 20% of those corrupt officials voluntarily spit out their money to buy food for the victims."
Chu Zheng first pointed at the pile of memorials on the table, and then continued after seeing that the ministers below had no actual reaction.
"Nowadays, a large number of victims have starved to death in places outside the capital. Even if Liumen tried their best to relieve the victims under the suggestion of the widow, it was only a drop in the bucket. I can actually look at it coldly, but after all, those victims are also
The people of Dachu, I stand here today just to ask the world on behalf of the people who are about to starve to death: Are you really unable to spare a single grain of food?"
The ministers below finally reacted, whispering to each other in twos and threes without knowing what they were talking about, but Chu Zheng did not stop him. He seemed to have made up his mind to watch the whole thing indifferently.
While the ministers were still looking around, Su Ruyu, the minister of household affairs, walked out of the crowd step by step with a serious face. As his footsteps moved, all the eyes of civil and military officials in the court were focused on him alone.
"Your Majesty Su Ruyu has something to report!"
Holding the wat board in both hands and saluting respectfully, this will be Su Ruyu's first speech in the court.
"Su Aiqing, come and listen."
Chu Zheng, who had always been cold-eyed, finally regained some interest after seeing Su Ruyu come out. He straightened up from his seat and looked at Su Ruyu with interest.
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, before this year's drought, Da Chu had three years of great harvests. The harvests of the ministers in the capital and the manors all over the world, as well as the gentry everywhere, were extremely high.
Not a few, including Wei Chen, don’t believe that all the food from those years will be used up this year.”
This young man, who was still full of energy but somewhat tainted with officialdom, turned around and bowed again. But the person he paid homage to this time was not Chu Zheng.
"I am willing to pay this tribute to all the princes in the court on behalf of the people of the world. I only hope that all of you in the palace can take pity on the people of Da Chu. The Su family, a humble minister, is willing to donate 800,000 loads of grain in the hope that the people of the world can be saved from the dire straits.
"
Otherwise say
It was revealed that Cheng Yijie was the second-ranked old fox in the court after Su Wang. As soon as Su Ruyu finished speaking, the old guy who was pretending to be asleep a second ago immediately opened his eyes.
"The veteran is also willing to donate 700,000 dans of grain to do his humble part for the common people in the world."
In addition to Cheng Yijie, the old fox, Zhao Yunqing, who was originally drowsy and yawning, also woke up. Originally, he should have brought up what Su Ruyu said.
Zhao Yunqing, who broke out in a cold sweat, could no longer care about the plump bird's nest in his mouth and the fragrance on his lips and teeth. He hurriedly stood up from his seat and said in panic.
"I am willing to donate one million dans of grain to save the people!"
At this moment, he no longer cared about whether the figures he revealed might offend Prime Minister Su Wang. The most important thing was to protect his position in the emperor's heart.
After these three people finished speaking, the other ministers also spoke one by one. If you stand up and speak now, you may not be favored by Chu Zheng, but if you don't stand up, you will definitely be hated by Chu Zheng.
"I am willing to donate 200,000 dans of grain..."
"I am willing to donate 100,000 dans of grain..."
"I would like to donate 30,000 dans of grain..."
"..."
The result of this is that the middle of the Jinluan Hall, which used to be deserted, is now filled with people. Even the low-ranking officials standing at the end of the hall shouted out "three thousand, five thousand" with the wave.
.
After dozens of breaths, Chu Zheng raised his eyes and looked around. No one was standing on either side of the hall. They all gathered in the middle. He stood up from the dragon chair and took nine steps to look at the ministers.
"Start collecting food tomorrow and distribute it to the world in three days!"
…
Although Qingyun City, the county seat of Qingyun County in Lingzhou, is not the state city of Lingzhou, it is even more prosperous than the state capital. The reason is for no other reason than Shenglong, one of the four major chambers of commerce in Da Chu.
The headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce is located here.
Unlike the other three chambers of commerce, most of the headquarters of other chambers of commerce are built in the capital. Only the Shenglong Chamber of Commerce is somehow far away from the great city that is the political and economic center of Da Chu.
"Everyone in the world says that Chu has good governance, but why is it that now that tens of thousands of people have starved to death in the eight states, he still remains in the capital and does nothing? It's really ridiculous!"
At this time, in the large garden of the Shenglong Chamber of Commerce headquarters, Dai Maolin, the president of the Shenglong Chamber of Commerce, was obediently following a woman. In addition, he was still half-bent, and it seemed that to him,
It was his sin to stand side by side with the woman in front of him.
"My lord, Chu Zheng is just doing some work to win people's hearts. In the past, when there was peace, he could collude with the so-called important officials in the court to do things to fool the people. But now that the disaster has struck, his incompetence has been completely demonstrated.
Come out!"
While Dai Maolin was talking, he was staring unblinkingly at the woman's buttocks in front of him. At this time, it was unclear whether he was lowering his body to show respect or if he had ulterior motives.
Suddenly, the woman walking in front suddenly turned around. Dai Maolin quickly lowered his eyes and stared at the ground instead.
"But if this is really the case, then tell me, why did the Chu family seize the country from my Demon Sect?"
Dai Maolin, who was staring down at the woman's toes, was speechless for a moment. There was some sweat on his palms due to nervousness.
The person standing in front of him was not an easy person to get along with. Rather than facing Gu Qingcheng, the head of the Demon Sect, he would rather deal with those cunning old foxes in the court.
But who would have thought that the owner behind Shenglong Chamber of Commerce, one of the four major chambers of commerce, would be the Demon Sect! And even if they knew it, whether it could be uprooted is another matter.
Seeing that some cold sweat had appeared on Dai Maolin's forehead, Gu Qingcheng turned around and walked forward.
"Starting from tomorrow, all the shops in our Shenglong Chamber of Commerce will open their tents to provide porridge. Since Chu Zheng cannot manage this country well, then our Demon Sect will naturally bear the responsibility. If the disaster is not eliminated, the porridge tent will not collapse!
"
"This...sect master, according to this way of eating, even 1.5 million loads of grain can't be eaten!"
Gu Qingcheng's progress did not pause, but the understatement she said made Dai Maolin sweat like rain.
"Are you the sect leader or am I the sect leader? If you think you are capable of taking my position, I can abdicate in favor of someone else."
"Toto!"
After finishing speaking, Gu Qingcheng ignored Dai Maolin and shouted a name towards a side room at the end of the garden.
"Disciple Toto, pay your respects to Master!"
door
It opened automatically, and then a young woman with a cold and charming temperament that was almost the same as Gu Qingcheng, but whose appearance was even more beautiful than Gu Qingcheng came out.
Like Gu Qingcheng, he was wearing an eye-catching black dress, and Dai Maolin even lost consciousness for a moment when she appeared.
"Snapped!"
When Dai Maolin was still staring at the woman Tuotuo, Gu Qingcheng slapped him in the face. The latter's cheeks immediately became red and swollen, and a clean slap mark appeared. From this, it can be seen that Gu Qingcheng slapped him in the face.
The power of Qingcheng is huge.
"Don't think that because you are my ancestor's distant nephew, I won't dare to kill you. If you dare to show such eyes in the future, I won't dig out your dog eyes!"
Stroking his face that was in unbearable pain, Dai Maolin stepped aside without saying a word. Although there was indeed an ancestor with a high status in the Demon Sect who was related to him, and this identity was indeed enough to make him famous among many people in the sect.
Show off your power in front of others.
It was precisely because of this that many female disciples in the Demon Sect and even some female elders from the outer sect fell into his trap, and were coaxed and coaxed into bed by him with threats.
But no matter how bold he was, he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Gu Qingcheng. Gu Qingcheng was obviously not included in the list of people he could show off his power to.
And Gu Qingcheng was not as able to kill him without any scruples as she said. The reason why Dai Maolin was able to become the president of the Shenglong Chamber of Commerce, which was the main source of income for the Demon Sect, was not only because of his ancestor,
It's also because he does have some crooked ways.
"Toto, after I leave, you will be in charge of the Shenglong Chamber of Commerce. Before I leave, I will hand over the Magic Cloud Order to you. If Dai Maolin dares to say something to me, if he goes against it, according to the sect's laws, you have the right to kill him first and report later!
"
"Yes, Master."
After saying that, she ignored Dai Maolin who had retreated to the corner and cowered into a ball. She snorted coldly and strode out of the garden. Toto followed behind her master.
However, neither of them noticed the destructive eyes Dai Maolin looked at their master and disciple behind them.
"One day, I will get both of you, master and apprentice, into bed!"
…
In Yuzhou, there is a flat official road, but at this time, the originally spacious official road is not spacious, because there are really too many hungry people who are so hungry that they are walking on the official road with their eyes blank.
However, a fortune teller with a rag in his hand appeared among these hungry people. He waved it in front of everyone, and he said the same thing to everyone.
"Fortune telling! Fortune telling! Look at marriage, predict future, and determine life and death. Five miles east from here, there is a small county town called Liucheng. There are dozens of porridge sheds at its gate, which can save people's lives!"
Although he kept repeating it, almost no one listened to his words and changed direction. Perhaps in the eyes of the hungry people, he was just a charlatan who went crazy with hunger.
But there are also some hungry people who have no hope of continuing to live and decide to risk their own lives to see whether what this crazy Taoist priest says is true or false.
"well!"
Seeing that despite shouting for a long time but not many people listened to him and went to the east, the old Taoist priest showed deep disappointment in his eyes.
"These fools, with such a vague thing as the secret of heaven, really think that I can accurately calculate that there are porridge sheds there? Anyone with a discerning eye knows that those porridge sheds have already been set up!"
Sighing again, he continued.
"Taoism talks about cause and effect, so whether we are telling fortunes or rescuing people, everything we do as a sect must rely on chance. I have already put the chance in your hands, but you still want to let it slip away. This
There is nothing I can do about it!"
But after all these words, the old man Luantian, who had not appeared for a long time, muttered to himself within less than ten breaths of sitting down, then stood up and flashed in front of those people one after another to "tell fortunes" for them.
…
In this way, during the most critical month of the drought in Dachu, many Jianghu sects opened their doors and set up tents to serve porridge. Some super sects such as Wenjian Sect and Xingyue Sect even tried their best to protect the people of the area.
.
Subsequently, the food raised by the ministers in the capital left the capital along with the imperial edict of Chu Zheng and spread all over the world!
The content of Chu Zheng's imperial edict was neither to appease the common people nor to arrest corrupt officials, but to hope that the gentry and wealthy families in all parts of Chu could provide food to the destitute victims at this critical moment.
As soon as the imperial edict came out, no matter what the gentry and the nobles thought, the emperor's face must be given, so there were more and more porridge shacks in Dachu, and the temples and rivers and lakes all exerted their full strength at this time!