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Chapter 241 Prologue ()

New drought-resistant grain was grown in Nanyang County, and everyone was happy.

At this time, the imperial court was troubled by the drought in the north.

At first, only four counties submitted memorials, requesting the court to reduce or reduce taxes. After that, more and more counties submitted memorials. Taxes were greatly affected, falling by 20% compared to last year.

This is a terrible number. The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance was so worried that his hair fell out.

When the Ministry of War came to ask for money, food and military expenses, Ji Shangshu said directly: "Zheng Shangshu, the north of Daliang suffered a drought this year, and the tax collection was less than 60%. The Ministry of Household Affairs also needs to allocate money and food for disaster relief. This year's military expenses must be cut by 30%."

An Guogong suddenly became angry and quarreled with Ji Shangshu, directly in front of Emperor Liang.

Emperor Taikang has recently been worried about the drought in the north and is quite haggard. Listening to the two important ministers arguing and arguing again, my headache became more and more severe: "Okay, stop arguing. We can't save military expenses, we must allocate money."

Ji Shangshu had no choice but to respond: "The emperor opened the golden mouth, and the Ministry of Household Affairs will try their best to raise military expenses. However, in this case, the Ministry of Household Affairs will have no money to provide disaster relief."

Emperor Taikang held his forehead and looked unhappy: "Is this the end?"

Ji Shangshu raised his head and glanced at the emperor: "The emperor can send people to the Ministry of Household Affairs to check the accounts and the treasury. If I exaggerate even half a word, the emperor can chop off my head."

Emperor Taikang remained silent.

Military expenditures must not be saved. The huge Liang Dynasty had a vast territory and a total of more than ten million people. The nomadic peoples outside the customs often invaded the border customs and looked covetously at the Central Plains. Only a strong army can protect the peace of the country.

The money and food consumed by this 400,000-strong army every year is an extremely terrifying figure. In the Liang Dynasty, 50% of the annual taxes were spent on military expenses. The remaining 50% should be used to pay salaries to all officials, provide royal expenses, support all government expenses, and allocate money to repair rivers and provide relief to the people. We are stretched thin every year, and we never have enough.

It is a traditional practice for Ji Shangshu to complain about hardship and cry for poverty. However, this year is really difficult. Once the military spending is allocated, the Ministry of Household Affairs will be emptied. How will you survive the next few days?
The affairs of the imperial court are actually similar to the lives of the people. It must be difficult to live in poverty.

Duke An Guo was not at ease when he wanted to pay for military expenses. He raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the military expenditure cannot be reduced. The border troops guard the borders, the garrison guards the various places, and the Beijing army defends the capital. No army can be short of military pay."

"I know that it is not easy for the household department to be in trouble and it is not easy for the court. However, this military expenditure cannot be saved at all."

Emperor Taikang sighed: "I know all this, so there is no need to say it. Military expenditures are allocated to the Ministry of War. All counties and counties affected by drought this year have also been exempted from taxes."

Duke An Guo said in a serious tone: "Just reducing taxes is not enough. We must also allocate money and food for relief. Otherwise, people will starve to death, and I am afraid there will be civil unrest."

Ji Shangshu finally found an opportunity to fight back, and snorted sarcastically: "Zheng Shangshu cares about the country and the people, and cherishes the people. It is better to save some of the general's expenses and save them to help the victims."

An Guogong was the leader of the Queen Mother's Party in the court and had always supported the allocation of food to relieve the victims. The person who asked for huge military expenses for the army was also An Guogong. As the saying goes, fame and fortune are also important. No wonder Ji Shangshu's words are sarcastic.

An Guogong has received substantial benefits, so naturally he can't be too tough verbally, and he laughs.

Ji Shangshu complained a lot, knowing that it was of no use, so he quickly resigned and returned to the Ministry of Revenue to do some work.

A few days later, military funds were allocated to the Ministry of War in full.

Prime Minister Wang has nothing to object to. Only by having a strong army can we keep the peace of Daliang. The army that defends the capital is a top priority. The border army shoulders the important task of defending the border, and military expenditures are absolutely indispensable. If we really want to make some deductions, all that will be left will be troops stationed in various places.

It is not yet time for the imperial court to uncover the pot, so military expenditures must be guaranteed.

However, the drought in the north is serious, and we must not ignore it. For the next two months, there was still no rain in the north. The water level in the riverbed has dropped significantly, and cracks have appeared in the ground.

There are as many as a dozen counties that have submitted memorials.

If this continues, next year's spring farming will be greatly affected.

Emperor Taikang was so anxious that he had several blisters on the corners of his mouth.

……

In the spring of the seventh year of Daliang, twelve counties in the north suffered from drought. After spring plowing, the seeds did not even show buds. The imperial court reluctantly allocated food relief, but it was a drop in the bucket. The people who were about to starve to death abandoned their homes and businesses in despair and fled.

Most of them have never left their hometown in their entire lives. Now forced to flee by the world, all he can do is run south, toward the capital.

How many people died of starvation and fell down on the road?

Empress Dowager Zheng chanted sutras, worshiped and burned incense in front of the Buddha statue every day, copied sutras herself, made great wishes in front of the Buddha, and fasted until it rained in the north.

After the incident spread, people in the capital praised the Queen Mother for her kindness.

Emperor Taikang also believed in Buddhism and had a vegetarian meal with Empress Dowager Zheng.

The Queen Mother Party gained momentum.

The officials of the Prime Minister's Party were dissatisfied and took frequent actions in private. Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of War, submitted a memorial to accuse Duke An of embezzling military funds. Immediately afterwards, the garrison in Shuofang County mutinied due to lack of military pay. The unlucky garrison general was swarmed by mutinous soldiers and cut into pieces.

This matter reached the imperial court and caused an uproar.

Emperor Taikang was furious and immediately sent troops to Shuofang County to suppress the mutiny.

There were only three thousand soldiers in this mutinous garrison. While the imperial army was still halfway there, the garrison became confused, fled in all directions, and became bandits.

The hungry people of Shuofang County, who were already suffering from drought, were tortured by soldiers and bandits, and were finally forced to a corner. Some were killed, and more were coerced into rebels.

This rebel army quickly expanded from a few thousand people to more than 20,000 people like a snowball. They rushed into large households to steal food, rushed into Wubao and killed everyone, and even rushed into a county town. The county seat was a lower county, and the city wall was very old. Hundreds of soldiers held dozens of logs and hit them hard, causing the city wall to collapse.

After the rebels rushed into the county town, they burned, killed, looted and tortured, and then fled in a hurry again.

The imperial army pursued the rebels, becoming increasingly angry as they pursued them.

The evil in human nature is infinitely magnified in extreme situations. The common people who were coerced into the rebel army took up weapons and killed people and saw blood, and the animal nature in their bodies was awakened. He can no longer be called a human being.

The county town that had been looted was littered with corpses, and the ground was soaked with blood. Those who were lucky enough to survive suffered severe irritation, and their sad cries were heard endlessly.

After fleeing for a month, this group of rebels was finally caught up by the imperial army. After fighting for several days, they were defeated and had two thousand heads chopped off.

The remaining rebels could not be returned to their original places of residence and were directly taken to a nearby mine.

This civil unrest also became the prelude to the troubled times in Daliang.