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The civil unrest in Shuofang County was enough to be recorded in the history of Daliang. Daliang's declining national destiny is like an avalanche, out of control.

In the summer of the seventh year of Taikang, the weather was dry and rainless. More than 20 counties have been hit by drought. If you mark it on the Daliang map, most of the north has sporadic red spots. Civil unrest occurred one after another, like a spark igniting a prairie fire, intensifying.

The imperial court was also actively responding, sending troops to quell the chaos and actively allocating food for disaster relief. Many states and counties in the north, even those less affected by the drought, are barely self-sufficient at best and cannot produce excess grain at all, so they have to transfer grain from Hunan, Hunan and Guangxi.

The common people rushed to buy grain, and the big households were also worried, so they bought grain and stored it. Food prices soon tripled. It was also difficult for the imperial court to collect grain. Some of the officials sent out to collect grain were doing so impartially, some took advantage of the opportunity to be corrupt, and some secretly colluded with grain merchants to make a lot of money from it.

When he learned that only 30% of the grain requisitioned was expected, which was far from enough to relieve the drought in the north, Emperor Taikang, who was known for his gentle and good temper, became furious and pointed at the Ministry of Household officials responsible for grain requisition and cursed.

Minister Qian of the Ministry of Finance knelt on the ground with a mournful face and was scolded.

Prime Minister Wang stepped forward with a calm face, cupped his hands and said, "Shilang Qian is having trouble doing his job. Please choose another capable minister to collect grain."

The face of An Guogong on the side was also very ugly. This Minister Qian was personally recommended by him. He can also be regarded as one of the backbone figures in the Queen Mother's party. He went to collect grain from the two lakes and failed in his errand, and now it has reached the point where he is about to take off his hat. This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Queen Mother's party.

Emperor Taikang's face was livid: "Who does Prime Minister Wang intend to recommend?"

Prime Minister Wang opened his mouth without thinking: "I recommend Dr. Tan from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Mr. Tan has been working as an errand in the Ministry of Household Affairs for more than ten years. He is calm and steady, and he is experienced in handling errands."

"The emperor is requested to issue an order immediately, asking the Ministry of Household Affairs to send grain to the drought-stricken counties in the north first. 30% of the grain is also life-saving food and cannot be delayed. In addition, the emperor is asked to send Tan Langzhong to collect grain. A two-pronged approach can quell the chaos in the north as soon as possible. ”

Duke An Guo couldn't hold himself back and stood up to plead for Minister Qian: "Servant Qian failed in his errand and should be dealt with severely. However, there is currently a severe drought in more than 20 counties and counties in the north, and a large number of officials are needed to provide relief. I beg the emperor to let you Mr. Qian will make up for his mistake and go to the disaster relief first. It won’t be too late to deal with it after the drought subsides and the north becomes stable.”

Emperor Taikang was still angry and snorted: "Okay, today I will agree to it for the sake of Zheng Shangshu. If Qian Shilang makes another mistake while on errands, I will take off his head and the black gauze hat together. And Zheng The minister will also be severely punished!"

The waiter Qian, who was sprayed with gray hair and bruised face, knelt down in tears and thanked him, and retreated tremblingly.

Prime Minister Wang also withdrew from the court. When he passed by Minister Qian, he snorted and glanced at him.

Qian Shilang's body trembled slightly and he did not dare to raise his eyes to look at Wang Cheng.

Duke An Guo came over quickly and whispered to Minister Qian: "Come with me in the carriage."

When the two of them got into the carriage together, Minister Qian couldn't hold it any longer. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and complained in a low voice: "My lord, it's not that I don't care about the food collection. Most of the officials from the two lakes are the prime ministers." The party members went to collect food, but they all resisted. "

"There are also those big grain merchants who are afraid of the prime minister's majesty. If the prime minister doesn't nod, they won't hand over the grain. The lower official paid for it with silver, but he only bought 30% of the grain."

"Prime Minister Wang is really hateful and annoying. The food for disaster relief is related to the life and death of tens of thousands of people. For his own selfish desires, he doesn't care about the lives of the people at all!"

As Minister Qian spoke, tears came down.

An Guogong looked gloomy: "It's now, what's the use of talking about it. There has been a drought in the north for two years. I don't know how many people have died of starvation. There are more and more refugees and bandits. If this continues, half of the country will be in chaos. . The emperor is completely anxious now. Whoever can stabilize the situation will have the upper hand. Prime Minister Wang has seen this clearly, and his attack is ruthless and accurate. At this time, should I go? The emperor said in front of him that Prime Minister Wang secretly sent people to prevent you from collecting food! "

As he spoke, he let out a long sigh: "You can't keep your position as the Minister of Household Affairs. Forget it, let's put our merits first, get through this, and then plan for the future."

Qian Shilang took the grain to provide disaster relief. On this side, Tan Langzhong hurriedly went to collect grain. Strangely enough, Minister Qian worked so hard that he couldn't collect food. After Master Tan went there, the food collection went very smoothly. Within a month, large quantities of grain were shipped to the north.

Emperor Taikang praised Tan Langzhong lavishly in the court and promoted Tan Langzhong to the position of Minister of Household Affairs. The unlucky Minister Qian, while providing relief and food to appease the people, also wrote a letter to congratulate Doctor Tan on his promotion.

This is so tragic that I won’t go into details.

The saddest thing is that Qian Shilang received the grain with his front leg, but something went wrong with his back leg during transportation. This batch of grain was actually robbed by a group of bandits.

Qian Shilang committed suicide by hanging from a beam that night.

This incident caused an uproar in the court.

An Guogong angrily accused Prime Minister Wang of secretly causing trouble and murdering important officials in the court. Prime Minister Wang sneered and retorted that the Queen Mother's party, in order to fight for power and gain, recommended mediocre officials, affecting people's livelihood and endangering the court.

Empress Dowager Zheng broke into the Jinluan Palace and angrily scolded Prime Minister Wang. Prime Minister Wang refused to admit it and responded sharply, saying that Empress Dowager Zheng was interfering in the affairs of the harem.

Emperor Taikang was furious and fainted on the dragon chair.

……

When the news reached Nanyang County, everyone in Nanyang County was harvesting sweet potatoes.

This is the first year of corn and sweet potato promotion. Corn and sweet potatoes were planted in all fourteen counties in Nanyang, regardless of whether they suffered from drought or not.

There was a bumper corn harvest a month ago, and the grain hoards of every household in Nanyang were filled with corn. Even if there is not enough food at home, the county government has several Taiping granaries filled with food, which also gives the people a sense of security and stability.

The harvest of sweet potatoes is better than that of corn.

Even the people of Pheasant County who are devout believers in Buddhism have to add a word of thanks to the princess when praying in front of the Buddha statue in Baiyun Temple.

Jiang Shaohua's reputation and prestige had almost reached its peak in Nanyang County.

Chen Changshi said: "This year, Nanyang County's corn and sweet potatoes have been promoted and the harvest has been bumper. It's time for the princess to write a memorial and send it to the court."

Jiang Shaohua nodded: "Okay, I'll write it now."

Twelve-year-old Jiang Shaohua has grown a lot taller and has a larger appetite than before. Her figure is still slender and graceful, and the food that went into her belly has turned into strength and is hidden in her slender body.

This memorial letter has been brewing in Jiang Shaohua's heart for a long time. At this time, he picked up the pen and dropped the ink, and the tip of the pen was like a dragon swimming on the paper. After just a cup of tea, the memorial was written.

Jiang Shaohua smiled at Chen Zhuo and said, "Chen Changshi, let's see how well this memorial is written." (End of Chapter)