Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 223 Secret Collusion

In the Nongdong mansion, Shen Ruiguang sat on the chief seat. Although his expression was pretending to be calm, the slightly trembling hands when he stroked his beard still showed that he was not calm at this moment.

A middle-aged man dressed like a merchant in the hall saluted Shen Ruiguang slightly, and said in a low voice:
"As long as Mr. Shen nods, ten thousand taels of gold will be offered immediately!"

Yunguo's annual fiscal revenue is only several million taels of silver.Ten thousand taels of gold is obviously a big deal.

Shen Ruiguang opened his lips slightly, unable to speak for a long time.

It can be seen from his expression that he really wants to sternly refuse.

However, the other party gave too much!

Before that, Shen Ruiguang was the governor of Xiushan County.At the beginning, the government of Yun Kingdom was in turmoil, and the frontier army seemed to be in turmoil.When the Li army attacked again, he was the one who fortified the walls and cleared the country, guarding the county town, and finally waited until Xiao Chengyu came on his own, and defended Xiushan County.

For such a contribution, there will be a reward from the court.

Today's Shen Ruiguang has been promoted to a doctor of the Taizhong with a rank of two thousand stones, and after the recovery of the northern border, he also served as the governor of the northern counties.

The governor, although according to the current rank of Yunguo, is only an official of six hundred shi.However, the governor was ordered by Chazhou to be in charge of monitoring the officials in the county, and he had great power.

So in fact, Shen Ruiguang is already the head of the civil servants of the counties in the northern border of Yunguo.

Shen Ruiguang was not born in a noble and wealthy family, ten thousand taels of gold, with his current salary, even if he was an official until his death, he would definitely not be able to save a tenth of this gold and silver.

At this time, Shen Ruiguang suddenly trembled all over, gritted his teeth and said:
"How dare you! Dongchang fanzi's eyeliner is all over the country, even me..."

Having said that, Shen Ruiguang paused, quickly recovered, lowered his voice, and said:

"Even around me, there is Dongchang's eyeliner. Let's do it first, and His Majesty in the capital will know!"

Seeing Shen Ruiguang's worry and fear, the middle-aged man dressed as a merchant was already prepared, he smiled and continued:
"Among the counties in the northern border, all the government offices have just been rebuilt, and they are about to face the plague that swept across the northern border. It is extremely hard to go up and down without rest. The master is willing to give out another [-] vehicles of gold to reward the officials and servants. Check out the top and bottom... the officials inside and outside the office are mostly people who work as errands!"

5 taels of gold, according to the folk exchange ratio, is equivalent to more than 50 taels of silver.With so much money, it is definitely more than enough to manage the key officials and servants!

Even if there are rare, clean and honest officials, as long as Shen Ruiguang, who is in charge of supervision and has the authority to impeach officials, covers up, it will have no effect at all.

The middle-aged merchant paused and continued:
"And as long as the northern counties can stop the spread of the plague this time, how many people won't starve to death. Will the adults of the court pay attention to those refugees from the Xia Kingdom?"

As soon as these words came out, Shen Ruiguang fell silent immediately.

After all, they were just refugees from the Xia Kingdom, and they were still the chief culprit who brought the plague.To be able to save his life from being starved to death, he would already be grateful for the kindness of His Majesty, Dayun Chaotang.

As a human being, you can't be too greedy, right?
The many promises made Shen Ruiguang's heart beat after all.

With a hoarse voice, he asked:
"How many people can you really guarantee that you won't starve to death?"

"That's natural! You can see the master's ability!"

"...I won't participate in it, I just pretend I haven't seen it. The rest is up to your master's ability!"

The middle-aged merchant smiled triumphantly, bowed and bowed, and said:
"Thank you, Lord Shen!"

In fact, when Shen Ruiguang didn't refuse him to send out the tempting car, BMW, and beauty's mansion in the past few days, he knew that the matter was half over.
-
In Changning County, above the closed city gate, the soldiers on duty covered their faces with cloths, each with their heads downcast, their eyes full of gloom.

It has been almost two months since the gates of the city were closed.

During these two months, monk Daoyan was ordered to take charge of the affairs of the city.It acted decisively, governed with thunder and fierce methods, and thousands of Yun Kingdom frontier soldiers assisted in suppressing it, so the order in the city was still orderly.

But now, a small border county has a population of nearly one million.The daily consumption of food and grass is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Jianchang Mansion, including the entire northern counties, is actually very aware of the seriousness of the matter, and has tried its best to raise several waves of food and grass supplies to send over.

But as I said before, the government offices of the counties in the northern border have just resumed operation, and the northern border has just been hit by war, and the materials they have tried their best to raise are just a drop in the bucket for nearly a million refugees.

In the beginning, it was only the supply of food and grass for refugees, and later, even the supply of soldiers and soldiers was cut by more than half.

Under such a situation, there is still a giant plague beast locked in the city that can kill everyone.No matter how powerful Dao Yan's methods are, it is difficult to stop the depression and despair from spreading in the hearts of officials, soldiers, and common people in the city at this time.

A soldier's face was pale, feeling the hunger in his belly, he sat down at the base of the wall, leaned his head on the wall, and said in a daze:
"The imperial doctors from the official medicine bureau in the capital have been here for almost a month. I don't know if they have found a way to cure the plague. In our army, there are also a hundred or so brothers who have been recruited. I don't know if there is any. Rescue..."

Immediately, someone sighed helplessly and said:
"If it can be cured, it is impossible to hide it."

"I heard that the imperial doctor is the one who treats His Majesty's illnesses. He is the most powerful doctor in the world. But there is nothing they can do..."

Another soldier couldn't help but swear:
"Damn, no matter how good the medical skills are, how can there be no medicine to save people? Every time there is less and less food, grass and herbs in Fucheng. If this continues, even if the imperial doctors have a way, there is no medicine that can save people. Ah! Those who are high-ranking officials hide in the back and do their best, why did we..."

As soon as he was about to say the words of resentment, he heard someone say weakly:
"Okay, don't talk about it! Save your energy, I don't know when the next meal will start!"

The soldier who was uttering resentful words saw that the atmosphere of his colleagues around him was even more depressed, and he knew that he was talking too much, so he immediately shut his mouth.

At this time, everyone was silent again.

After a long time, the soldier who spoke first just now said in a low voice:

"There are a few brothers in the next-door battalion. They wanted to escape last night, but they were discovered by the captain and executed."

The soldier beside him sighed softly, sat down beside him with some difficulty, and replied:
"The military order is strict, and they want to flee... there is no way."

Military law is never merciful, let alone such a move that shakes the morale of the army.If Colonel Shi did not use military law to deter him, but took into account the feelings of his robes and allowed him to leave, then the soldiers wanted to escape, and the situation would only get worse.

It's just that despite the situation, all the soldiers couldn't bear to sympathize when they mentioned this matter.

In the besieged city, guard this group of refugees who don't know if they will break out.Food and grass were exhausted, but the counties in the north hadn't sent a large amount of supplies for a long time.Under such circumstances, no one can see hope.It is natural for some soldiers to want to escape.

Hearing the death of their colleagues, all the soldiers felt sympathy, sat down on the ground in despair, or spoke meaningless words, or stared at the sky stupidly, not knowing what they were thinking.

This is human nature and understandable.In fact, being able to withstand the tremendous pressure of facing the plague and stick to it until now is enough to show that these elite troops stationed on the border of Yunguo.

But at this moment, a few soldiers standing on the city wall suddenly raised their heads and stared blankly into the distance.

On the official road in the distance, a caravan slowly approaching with no end in sight.

The soldiers were a little surprised, rubbed their eyes, and then looked at each other.

After confirming that he was not mistaken, one of them pulled the colleague sitting beside him with a trembling voice, and said excitedly:

"Du, Dubo, you, you, come and see, what is that?"

Du Bo, who was shouted, shook off the hands of his soldiers impatiently, frowned and said:

"You guys are starving, what the hell are you looking at..."

Halfway through the conversation, Du Bo saw that several soldiers under his command looked very excited, and his heart broke, he stood up abruptly and looked into the distance.

But I saw a huge convoy, carrying a lot of supplies, slowly coming towards the county seat of Changning County.

Under the current situation, there is still such a large-scale convoy coming to Changning County, so there is obviously no need to say more about the identity of the other party.

The relief supplies dispatched by the court finally arrived!
The despondent look on Du Bo's face completely dissipated.Instead, there was excitement and excitement.

He slapped the city wall, laughed loudly, and said:

"Hahahaha, it's the food and supplies from the court! It must be the food and supplies from the court!"

Hearing this, the soldiers on the city wall hurriedly supported each other to stand up, looked at the oncoming convoy, and looked at each other, all of them couldn't help laughing out loud.

One by one, the soldiers laughed wildly, as if they wanted to pour out all the confusion, depression, helplessness and despair they had experienced during this period.

Du Bo stopped smiling, the excitement on his face remained undiminished, he slapped the soldier beside him on the head, and said with a smile:

"Hurry up and report to Colonel Shi and Master Daoyan!"

"Yes!"

In the county yamen, Dao Yan, who heard the news of the delivery of supplies from the imperial court, looked around the excited and excited officials in the county yamen, and finally let go of the worries deeply buried in his heart, and heaved a long sigh of relief.

The situation was so critical before, Dao Yan had to spend his mind on handling government affairs and maintaining the stability of the city.At the same time, it is necessary to boost the morale of officials and soldiers, so that the government agencies in the city can barely operate.

Under such heavy pressure, the slightest carelessness is an irreversible consequence.Dao Yan's pressure is the greatest.

Fortunately, everything is over!
The arrival of the relief from the imperial court not only replenished the lack of supplies in the city, but also boosted the morale of the city.

Dao Yan stood up, facing the officials in front of him, he ordered:
"The materials sent by the imperial court should not be piled up directly in the warehouse. First, let the convoy go around the various squares in the city!"

A group of officials excitedly bowed their hands.

Due to the shortage of food and grass, the daily distribution of food for the refugees resettled in the various squares and cities became increasingly scarce.Many refugees have long been dissatisfied, and there are many rumors in the city, and it has reached the time when killing people can't be contained.

Dao Yan's actions at this time are naturally for the sake of reassuring the refugees.After all, there are nearly a million refugees in this city. If they are encouraged by others, even if they are weak, they cannot be suppressed by thousands of soldiers.

A moment later, Lieutenant Shi, who was wearing armor, led a man dressed as a merchant into the county government office.

After seeing the black-robed monk above the head of the county yamen, the merchant's face clearly flashed with astonishment.

In a county government office in a city, a monk sits on the main seat. Even in Yunguo, where the status of monks is quite high, it is a very surprising thing.

Seeing this, Colonel Shi quickly explained:
"Magistrate Jiang is old and fell ill before. During this period, thanks to Master Daoyan presiding over the affairs, the affairs in the city are orderly."

After finishing speaking, he quickly turned to Dao Yan and said:

"Officials from the capital and Fucheng are counting and handing over various materials. This shopkeeper Ge is a big businessman who helps the court coordinate the delivery of goods. This time, he came here to personally comfort the county government officials."

Dao Yan heard the words, took a look at the shopkeeper Ge, squeezed out a smile, folded his hands together, and proclaimed the Buddha's name, saying:
"Amitabha, poor monk Daoyan, I have met shopkeeper Ge!"

Shopkeeper Ge smiled, waved his hands again and again, and said:

"Don't dare! Master Daoyan stepped forward in times of crisis, maintained the order of the city, and kept our northern border safe. This kind of great merit can be called a virtuous and eminent monk!"

He paused, then looked at the officials in the county office, and said:
"Also, my lords, in the face of the plague, you are still able to abide by your duties. This alone makes me and other merchants admire you! This time, I also brought our boss's heart to comfort you. The wine and meat, all It has been transported, and I just invite you adults and generals to come to the banquet later!"

Previously, the supplies in the city had not been considered rich.These officials can barely guarantee that they will not be hungry, and there is no need to think about the rest.

Now, when they first heard that the supplies from the imperial court had arrived, and someone had prepared a banquet of wine and meat, the officials present were filled with joy and looked at Daoyan expectantly.

During this period of time, Dao Yan presided over the government affairs in the city. With his fierce and superb methods, he has obviously convinced all the officials.Although he does not have an official position at this time, the officials have automatically regarded him as the backbone based on the prestige established during this period of time.

Apparently, Dao Yan would not sweep away the elegance of the officials at this time, so he nodded immediately and said:
"In that case, I would like to thank shopkeeper Ge and your owner!"

Shopkeeper Ge had a panoramic view of everything just now, his eyes turned slightly, and the light flashed away, and he cupped his hands with a smile and said:
"It should be, it should be!"

It seems that the prestige of this monk named Daoyan is not low!
In this way, he should be dealt with first before he can use his methods.

　September 2, sunny

　　Today I found a book that was on the shelves at the same time, and it turned out to be more than 100 million words, more than double mine.

　　On the days of full-time vacation, for me who has no self-control and likes to fish, it is better to work part-time.

　　Yunzhuo, Yunzhuo, you can't go down like this anymore.

　　Tomorrow, tomorrow I will try every day...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)