The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Update time: 22--

Renzong Zhao Zhen issued an order to urgently transfer 1 soldiers from the Wuping Army in Xijing (Chang'an) to reinforce the front line of Qinzhou; to transfer [-] troops from Jinzhou, Fenzhou, and Mengzhou to reinforce the front line of Yaozhou with [-] soldiers.

He ordered Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan to adopt the strategy of defending the frontier and building the city step by step to block the trend of Xixia Yuanhao's army going south.

Pang Ji, Han Qi, and Fan Zhongyan led the order to retreat.

As soon as the top priority was over, all the officials in the hall and Zhao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, and the atmosphere in the Daqing Hall became more relaxed.

"My dear dears, the second thing I need to discuss today is that you all need to discuss it together. The third envoy, Yan Aiqing, has submitted a memorial. This year, the southern states are facing a severe drought. The harvest of autumn grain has been completed, and the production has been severely reduced; the war in the west has been delayed for too long. , the grain depots in all the prefectures have gradually run out, and Yan Aiqing raised some concerns in the memorial, and all of you have come forward to come up with ideas and find a way."

Zhao Zhen was a little helpless, the country was so difficult, he was really powerless as an emperor, and he was really powerless to solve these things by himself, and he still needed the ministers to discuss or find a solution.

The servant held Yan Shu's memorial in his hand and read aloud: "The minister Yan Shu said: This year, the grain tax has been severely reduced, because many counties have no harvest due to the severe drought in the main production areas in the south; the minister ordered the state government to report The amount of grain stored in the warehouse, plus the total amount of grain that can be levied this year, is less than 700% of last year's, only [-] million shi; this amount can only be supported until April next year, and the minister is very worried. The lack of food may lead to There are many hidden worries, how can the soldiers in the frontier defend against the enemy without food, the people will starve and freeze to death if they have no food, or it may cause the disaster of robbers, please make a clear decision."

The ministers are silent. Many people know about the severe drought in the south, but they didn’t expect the problem to be so serious now. The whole country’s grain is not enough to receive next year’s autumn grain. If this is true, it will be a big deal. There is no food. How to survive the severe winter?It is conceivable that once spring is over, hungry people are everywhere and bandits are rampant. In order to survive, the common people can do anything.

Zhao Zhen said: "My dear friends, do you have any countermeasures?"

Lu Yijian got up and said: "Your Majesty Qizuo, the old minister expressed doubts about this figure. In the first two years of our Song Dynasty, the food in the Song Dynasty was a year of great abundance. The first year of Kangding and the first year of Kangding were both harvest years, and the inventory should have been replenished by the abundance. Why did the production decrease this year reach the point where there is no harvest? Lord Yan should explain this matter.”

Lu Yijian pointed the finger at Yan Shu, implying that as the third envoy, he failed to make arrangements in advance. Even if the statistics are accurate, he is suspected of negligence.

Yan Shu went out to play and said: "Report to the emperor, what Lu Xiang said is true, the second year of Baoyuan and the first year of Kangding are indeed good years, and the total grain production at the age of two years is 4000 million shi, but the storage is far away." Insufficient, it has been four years since the Northwest War. During this period, more than [-] troops have consumed a huge amount of military food, and the people on the three roads of Hedong Road, Yongxing Army Road, and Qinfeng Road have been displaced, and normal farming has been impossible. Millions of people Basically relying on the imperial government to subsidize the day, the food consumption is more than tens of millions; to be honest, there is a shortage every year, and if the ministers had not carefully calculated and dispatched, people would have starved to death."

Lu Yijian said dissatisfiedly: "My lord, if you don't mention this, I don't want to mention it. Last year, officials from Yuanzhou, Chenzhou, Liuzhou and other places opened warehouses to help the victims should have been dealt with seriously, but you did it in front of the emperor." Let's try our best to protect these state officials, now it's all right, the official warehouses are all empty, so what should we do now?"

Yan Shu said indifferently: "Is it impossible to let the people starve to death or become starving people? Hungry people are the most likely to cause chaos. Once there is a riot, what should we do?"

Lu Yijian stared blankly and said: "Reduced to a mob? What do my Song officers and soldiers do to eat? Are we afraid that a small group of hungry people will cause chaos?"

"My son of benevolence is in the court, how can I allow the people to be displaced? The hungry people are good people, not born to be robbers. Are we still sitting and watching them chaos because of hunger, and then sending troops to wipe them out?" Lu Xiang said. It's very strange, I don't agree with you." <There is no food in the world, so there is chaos, and what is the best way for the third minister to deal with it? "

Yan Shu said: "Major matters need to be discussed by everyone. If the matter is determined by the senses, why do you need to tell the emperor, and why does the emperor need to talk about it in the court?"

Lu Yijian was waiting for a rebuttal, Zhao Zhen coughed, and said: "The two lovers are both worried about state affairs, why should they be so fierce, I have approved the opening of the relief warehouse that day, so don't mention it again. The most urgent thing at the moment is how to deal with the current situation, and to come up with a perfect strategy; there are still a few months to come, and I don't believe that I can be stumped by such a thing."

Seeing that Zhao Zhen had some signs of going crazy, the two dared not speak.

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said: "I'm throwing bricks and stones to attract jade, let me talk about a way first, starting today, I decided to change the three meals in the palace to two meals, and supply them in a fixed amount to prevent extravagant trips. But at least [-]% of the food can be saved to reduce the burden; I hope that I can do the same from the bottom to the bottom, and a grain of grain saved is a grain of grain.”

The ministers were shocked, and they all knelt down in the tunnel and said, "Your Majesty can't."

Lu Yijian kowtowed and said, "If my majestic Song Dynasty even the Holy Majesty has to cut down on food and clothing, wouldn't it be detrimental to the majesty of my Great Song Dynasty if I said it."

Du Yan also said: "That's right, it's absolutely impossible, it makes the courtiers have no face to stand above the court."

There were voices of dissuasion everywhere, Zhao Zhen had no choice but to smile bitterly, but he heard someone say: "I think your Majesty's move is feasible."

The ministers looked at each other in astonishment, and it turned out that the speaker was Ouyang Xiu, the governor of the admonishment court. Ouyang Xiu didn't care about the astonishment of everyone's eyes and continued: "I think that your majesty's move will not only not damage your majesty, but will make the people of the world more convinced; your majesty will set an example How can people in the world be ashamed to waste food again, and this is not very harmful. Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, everyone ate two meals a day. In modern times, people are rich, so they have three meals a day. I have never heard of anyone who eats less. Starving to death after eating; taking extraordinary measures in extraordinary times, His Majesty’s move will definitely lead the world’s officials and people to practice frugality, all things in nature are not to be wasted, this move is in line with the way of heaven, and it is a meritorious deed of Your Majesty.”

The ministers cursed in their hearts: "You flatterer, you are causing everyone to starve together with the emperor. The emperor lives deep in the palace. This move may be just a verbal talk, but if it is really promulgated, who will dare to do it?" Eat more."

Zhao Zhen laughed and said: "It's still Ou Aiqing who understands the reason here, so this matter is settled, and it will be announced to the world later, starting from today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will reduce the supply of food and vegetables by [-]%. , they will be punished with food for one day.”

Everyone looked at each other and smiled wryly. They didn't expect the Song Dynasty to be so miserable, and they had to rely on hungry stomachs to save food to tide over the difficulties.

"Your Majesty is truly a benevolent monarch that has never been seen in the ages, and all the ministers worship him, but I have a request for this matter, and I ask the emperor to learn from it."

Yan Shu blamed himself deeply. What he did was to be in charge of the money, food and taxes of the Song Dynasty, but he did not expect to force the emperor to cut down on food and clothing. Although he did not cause the situation, it was really embarrassing.

"Yan Aiqing speaks up when she has something to say."

"I feel that it should be clearly stated in the imperial edict that exceptions can be made for the sick and the elderly over [-]. First, the elderly don't have much to eat, and second, the elderly are weak. My Great Song ruled the world with benevolence and righteousness, and eliminated the old and the weak. The list of meals can also show His Majesty's compassion for the old and the weak."

"This statement is justified, I originally meant it." Zhao Zhen said in his heart: I am still worried about how to explain to the old queens and concubines.

"I also have a request." Before Yan Shu got up, another person came forward from the end of the hall and knelt down.

"Fan Aiqing, please tell me."

Fan Zhongyan kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, please allow the soldiers of the three armies to eat and drink as usual."

"Yes, yes, this is a matter of course, how to defend the country against enemies if you don't have enough to eat." Zhao Zhen patted his forehead and said.

"I'm going to the frontier to organize the soldiers and civilians to reclaim and plant. Although the northwest is bitterly cold, wheat can be planted in winter and harvested in May of the next year. This may save part of the army's food supply. Although it cannot be completely self-sufficient, the accumulation of small amount will make a lot of money. One more point is one point." Fan Zhongyan continued.

"Nonsense! All the soldiers have gone to farm, how to defend against the enemy?" Du Yan said angrily.

"Private Du, please don't worry, I will definitely not miss important matters, I understand the seriousness." Fan Zhongyan said quietly.

Zhao Zhen sighed and said, "Fan Aiqing decides on her own, the most important thing is to defend against the enemy, and do other things according to her ability."

Fan Zhongyan said: "I know." He kowtowed and stepped back.

Zhao Zhen rubbed his brows and said, "Yan Aiqing, can the gap be filled in this way?"

Yan Shu shook his head and said, "At least [-]% is missing."

Zhao Zhen said: "Do you have any good strategies for the family?"

Some of the ministers said to go to Jiaozhi or Koryo to buy grain, some said to kill all the livestock in the country to prevent the private livestock from consuming food and meat to eat, and some proposed to mobilize the common people to fish and hunt. Strategies were refuted and rejected one by one after they were put forward.

Zhao Zhen's migraine was faintly showing signs of attack, so he said: "It seems that all of you Aiqing can't think of any good solution for a while, so you go back and think about it, and report it if you have a good solution; There is still one thing I want to tell you, but I am a little tired. I will talk about it tomorrow. This matter is about the auspiciousness of Yingtian Mansion. Entrusting a dream to Su Jin, a student of Yingtian Mansion, to announce the words of the oath stele in the Taimiao to the world; I decided to choose a day to go to the Taimiao to pray, so there is no need to mention this matter; but who is Su Jin, someone sent by someone to investigate Talk back and forth."

Everyone was amazed, the Great Ancestor came down from a dream and announced the contents of the Ancestral Temple Oath Stele. Most people don't know the contents, but it was a strange thing. Before everyone could react, the servant had already sang promises loudly, and Zhao Zhen got up and got off the throne Back away.