I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 127 Please line up to apologize to Su Jingming and Ouyang Yongshu!

April 28, afternoon.

In the vertical arch hall.

Jia Chang presented two memorials to the emperor.

According to one source, the Liuta River has been dredged and is currently blocking the Henglong and Shanghu entrances. There are no dangers during the construction process. It is expected that the water from the river will be diverted into the Liuta River on the evening of the second day of May.

In the memorial, Jia Changchao described the conditions of the river in great detail, demonstrating his river management methods in every detail.

Zhao Zhen was very happy.

If this goes well, he will be much more comfortable sleeping at night in the future.

After reading the second memorial, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but frown.

Jia Changchao said that when Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang were inspecting the river, they spread rumors about the breach and instigated local people to leave before the water from the river flowed into the Liuta River. As a result, many people rushed to other places with their families in these days.

This behavior not only undermined the imperial court's strategy of the river flowing eastward.

It also led to many incidents of robbery and theft when people fled, disrupting local order and making local officials very busy.

He and many local officials jointly requested that Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang be severely punished for their malicious destruction of local civil affairs.

Zhang Maoze had already reported this matter to Zhao Zhen.

Zhang Maoze's theory is that Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang were sure that the Liuta River would burst its banks, so they notified the people on the river bank in advance.

The two were worried that those people who fled the local area would be mistaken for rebellion and chaos, so they specifically informed Zhang Maoze so that he could take responsibility after the Liuta River did not burst its embankment.

"Alas, these two stubborn people have good intentions, but they always cause trouble. If I don't punish them, how can I make the river officials work with peace of mind? That's all. Let's wait until the water is successfully diverted eastward!" Zhao Zhen murmured. Said to himself.

……

It’s nearly dusk on the third day of May.

A sergeant wearing a dark red double-breasted shirt rode a black horse and headed straight into the forbidden area.

Some officials passing by were shocked when they saw it.

This is urgent delivery.

The fastest postman in the Song Dynasty.

Qingqi relay, non-stop day and night, the minimum daily travel is four hundred miles.

Specially responsible for transmitting urgent documents from the court or emergency battle reports from the border.

"Could it be...could it be that Liao...or Xixia is going to war again?" someone speculated.

soon.

The post soldiers delivered the urgent report to the front of Chui Gong Hall, and the chamberlain handed it to Zhao Zhen, who was reviewing the memorial.

At this moment, Zhao Zhen was feeling very anxious.

What he fears the most is seeing a quickie.

This means something big is happening, mostly bad.

Zhao Zhen's hands trembled slightly as he opened the document.

"What?" Zhao Zhen stood up suddenly, his face gloomy.

"Snapped!"

The wolf hair on his right hand was forcibly bent into two parts by Zhao Zhen.

He said to the small yellow door next to him: "Quickly summon the ministers from the two mansions and three departments to see me. Also, summon Uncle Ouyang Yong and Su Jingming in!"

The content of the instrument is very short.

"Last night, the water from the big river entered the Liuta River and burst into flames."

"The floods crossed the embankments, roads were cut off, fields were wiped out, villages and houses on both sides of the bank were destroyed, countless soldiers were drowned in the river, and no less than a thousand people died in the water. The currents were raging and difficult to control..."

After a while.

Chen Zhizhong, Wu Yu, Zhang Fangping, Xia Song, Wang Yaochen and others took the lead in arriving at Chui Gong Hall.

Yushitai and Jianyuan are far away from Chuigong Hall, so Ouyang Xiu and Su Lianghui arrived slower.

When Chen Zhizhong and others saw the contents of the document, they were all dumbfounded.

They did not expect that Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang's predictions would come true.

This is a huge decision-making mistake and a major mistake that will surely go down in history!

All facing up and down.

Except for Su Liang and Ouyang Xiu, almost everyone else was adding fuel to the flames, including the officials sitting above.

They can't even figure it out.

How come there are so many officials who know how to control rivers, but they are not as good as two Taiwanese admonishers who have hardly participated in water control matters.

Xia Song's face turned pale.

At this moment, he still had a memorial to impeach Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang hidden in his arms.

Jia Changchao informed Xia Song that Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang were stubborn and claimed that the river was about to burst its banks when inspecting the river, causing civil unrest among the people on both sides of the river.

Xia Song was glad that he was a step too late, otherwise he might have been in trouble.

But now he is still panicking.

In order to make Jia Changchao return to Zhongshu, he was the No. 1 official in Bianjing who supported the eastward flow of the river.

His mind was racing, thinking of how to get rid of this mistake.

at this time.

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang quickly came to the hall.

Not long ago, the two of them got to know about the rush.

Later, the officials urgently summoned them again, and they already roughly knew what had happened.After Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang read the documents, their expressions became serious.

The thing they least expected to happen happened!

On the throne.

Zhao Zhen let out a long sigh and murmured: "It's my fault, it's my fault! If I ordered people to study the sand table of the big river again, and listen to the suggestions of Ouyang Yongshu and Su Jingming, it wouldn't be like this. It’s my fault, my fault!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhizhong took the lead to stand up.

"In the official family, such a big thing happened on the river. The river officials must have concealed something from the court. I think that Jia Changchao, the judge of Daming Prefecture, and Li Zhongchang, the director of the river canal department, should be dismissed immediately."

With one sentence, Chen Zhizhong placed all the blame on Jia Changchao and Li Zhongchang.

Xia Song followed closely and stood up and said, "What Prime Minister Chen said is very reasonable. I also feel that these two people should be dismissed immediately."

"My minister agrees!"

"My minister agrees!"

Wang Yaochen and Zhang Fangping also stood up and said.

When Su Liang heard this, he couldn't help it.

"Officials, Jia Changchao and Li Zhongchang will naturally not escape serious crimes, but the key at this time is not to punish them, but to quickly maintain the situation in Hebei and save lives first. The river is still overflowing, and the Liuta River is still overflowing. The lives, homes, and fields of the people all need to be protected by us, and it would be terrible if a civil uprising breaks out!"

Su Liang woke up Zhao Zhen with one word.

Zhao Zhen said: "Pass on my decree and order Uncle Ouyang Yong to lead the Daming Mansion to first provide disaster relief and calm the people's hearts, and then investigate the fault in this matter!"

"I obey!" Ouyang Xiu said with cupped hands.

Zhao Zhen looked at Wang Yaochen again and said, "The Third Division immediately appropriated funds and materials, and ordered the prefectures in Hebei and Jingdong that were not affected by the disaster to provide timely help to the scattered refugees."

"I obey!" Wang Yaochen also said with cupped hands.

Immediately, Ouyang Xiu and Wang Yaochen strode out of Chui Gong Hall.

Saving people is like putting out a fire, and you can't be too slow.

At this time.

Xia Song stood up again.

"Officials, this matter is most likely an accident caused by improper execution by the river officials. Discussions about the Yellow River flowing eastward and northward have long been circulated among the people. If this news spreads to the people, I am afraid many people will feel sorry for the imperial court. He was dissatisfied, and even said some fallacies that "the imperial court was trying to protect Bianjing and ignored the lives and deaths of the people on the border." I suggested suppressing the news first or claiming that the casualties were only a few dozen, and then discussing the matter when the river trouble was about to be solved. Let the truth be made public to prevent riots elsewhere."

Upon hearing this, the small flames in Su Liang's stomach rushed out of his eyes.

During the Zhenzong period, courtiers almost always did this when encountering such things.

But doing so, in addition to satisfying the court's so-called face and finding the person who took the blame, will only make the people angrier.

Before Su Liang could stand up, Wu Yu strode out beside him.

"Xia Shuxiang, we have done something wrong. Can't we let the people scold us?"

"How to deceive the people about this matter? The people are not fools. They know whether the court treats them well or badly. Now what we have to do is to compensate the victims and admit our mistakes. Once the people's support is lost, it will be difficult to get it back. Your suggestion, It’s completely a strategy to destroy the Song Dynasty!”

"We have done something wrong, can't we still let the people scold us?"

These words pierced Zhao Zhen's heart.

He couldn't help but sit up straight and said in a deep voice: "I am not afraid of the people scolding me, but I am afraid that the Song Dynasty will lose the support of the people!"

Chen Zhizhong originally wanted to pay homage to Xia Song.

But after hearing what Zhao Zhen said, he quickly retracted the half-stretched foot.

At this time, Su Liang stood up.

"Officials, this matter should not be concealed, and it cannot be concealed. I sincerely request the officials to inform the world immediately and write a criminal edict."

"Guilty edict?"

The princes of the three mansions and three divisions all looked at Su Liang in surprise.

They felt that Su Liang was crazy.

Can sinner edicts be written casually?

the past.

When some natural disasters occur, such as earthquakes, droughts, floods, etc., causing great harm to the people, the rulers will write edicts of guilt.

After all, celestial warnings mean that there is something the king on earth cannot do.

But in this case, writing an imperial edict was just to go through a process and show your attitude. At the same time, you could earn a reputation as a lenient person, which was not harmful to your career as an emperor.

But this breach of the Liuta River was entirely a human decision-making error.

If Zhao Zhen wrote an edict to blame himself, it would mean that the matter was entirely his fault.

This is a discredit on his own imperial career.

"Su Liang, don't talk nonsense. Can you write an imperial edict casually? This matter is not the official's fault at all." Chen Zhizhong scolded.

Su Liang was not afraid at all and looked at Zhao Zhen sitting above.

"Officials, this time, no less than a thousand people died in the flood, and there were probably tens of thousands of victims. Who knows that this was a decision made by the imperial court to resist the Liao Kingdom! After the flood, the people in Hebei and Jingdong must have felt that the imperial court was trying to protect Bianzhou from the flood. The safety of the capital is at stake, and we don’t care about the lives of the people on the border!"

"The Sinner's Edict allows the affected people to see the attitude of the officials and that the Song Dynasty will never abandon any of its people for no reason. This is the best way to regain people's support and the best way to reduce civil unrest. What a great way, we want to let people see the hope of life!"

"Su Liang, you keep saying that you are doing it for the people, but do you know how much negative impact the sinner's edict will have on the official family?" Xia Song asked.

Su Liang shook his head slightly.

"Throughout the dynasties, whether kings were virtuous or foolish was not determined by the writings of historians, but by the words of the common people."

"No gold is pure, and no man is perfect. Saints will make mistakes, officials will make mistakes, and courtiers will all make mistakes. However, if you can correct your mistakes, you can still win the hearts of the people. If you deceive the superiors and conceal the truth, the people will rebel. This is a historical fact. lesson!"

"Officials, I once again implore the officials to write an imperial edict to punish themselves!" Su Liang raised his hand heavily towards Zhao Zhen.

　Thanks to book friends Wei Zhican, 20170214121131957, 20190206180335206, and Xueya Liyu for their rewards, thank you very much!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)