The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 34: Emperor Yuanzhen is furious

Rongguo Mansion, in Mrs. Wang’s room.

Aunt Xue and Mrs. Wang were talking.

Mrs. Wang twisted the Buddhist beads in her hand and said in a clear voice, "How come I heard that Bao-ya-tou left the house today? It's snowing heavily."

When Aunt Xue heard this, her heart sank. As expected, someone would tell her sister about every big and small matter in the mansion.

"This girl is naughty today, but it's nothing." Aunt Xue explained to Mrs. Wang with a smile, "It's the daughter of the Jinling governor. She came to the capital with us last month. She doesn't know anyone here, and she doesn't like the heavy snow in the north, so she invited Baochai to go enjoy the snow with her, so that the children can find a companion to relieve their boredom."

Mrs. Wang didn't suspect anything after hearing this, but she was unhappy in her heart. She said, "Even so, Bao is a girl after all. If she goes out of the house and plays around like this, it will damage her reputation if others see her. Sister, you have to persuade her more, so as not to be disliked by her husband's family in the future."

Mrs. Wang said this, but she sighed in her heart.

She had originally disliked that girl Lin and felt that she was not a good match for her own Baoyu.

It just so happened that Baochai and Xiangyun came this time, so there were two more options.

In her heart, her priority was naturally her niece, but today's incident made her feel uneasy. How could she allow her future daughter-in-law to be criticized?

And that girl Yun is not a docile person, and is not a good match for Baoyu.

Mrs. Wang thought about it and felt that the maids in the mansion were too much of a worry for her and they were definitely the perfect match for her Baoyu.

Aunt Xue nodded repeatedly, but she had other ideas in her mind.

She was also a person who could see through things, so how could she not know what Mrs. Wang was thinking?

But when I saw Baoyu a few days ago, he didn't look like a man who could establish himself on his own, but more like a child who had not grown up.

In addition to her observations over the past few days, Aunt Xue discovered that the Jia family is no longer as good as before. If Baochai and Baoyu were to marry, would it really protect the Xue family?
It has to be said that these two sisters also spoiled their sons, but Aunt Xue had a longer-term vision than Mrs. Wang.

In the next few days, there was heavy snow in Shenjing City, which lasted for several days in a row.

Shen Yuan was standing under the eaves of the courtyard, looking at the heavy snow falling all over the sky. His eyes fixed and a hint of worry appeared between his brows.

"What a nice view!"

A crisp exclamation interrupted Shen Yuan's thoughts.

He turned his head to look at the sound, and saw that Jiang Qiuer and Jiang Fan had come to the porch and stood beside him.

That was Qiu'er's sigh just now. The girl was born and raised in the south of the Yangtze River. Although she occasionally saw snow in winter, she had never seen snow this heavy. It was natural for her to sigh at this moment.

Seeing his sister's expression, Jiang Fan smiled and said, "I heard that this kind of snow falls several times a year in the capital. You will see it more often in the future, so it won't be strange anymore."

Then he added, "It will be fun to walk in the snow and look for plum blossoms when the snow stops. What a delight! What do you think, Brother Shen?"

Shen Yuan was silent for a while, then said in a clear voice:

“Yes, this kind of snow should be a source of joy to the rich and powerful.

But if it continues for three to five days, it will be a disaster for the poor people."

Jiang Fan was stunned, and said, "Brother Shen is saying."

"Brother Jiang, do you still remember the scene we saw when we first entered Shenjing more than a month ago?" Upon hearing this, Jiang Fan's mind flashed back to the scene he saw when he entered the city that day.

Simple straw huts can be seen everywhere in the suburbs outside the city, crowded with refugees fleeing famine from all over the place. They gather here and barely survive on the daily rice porridge relief provided by the government.

Shen Yuan murmured, "They have no pillows or mats to sleep on, and only thin clothes to wear when going out. How long can those refugees survive in such a snowstorm?"

The Imperial Palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Fengtian Hall.

Sitting on the throne, Emperor Yuanzhen, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, looked at the memorial in his hand with a solemn expression.

The gray-haired minister in charge of the court, the Grand Secretary of the Huagai Palace, and the Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Yang Yanzhi, continued to report: "Your Majesty, according to preliminary investigations, the heavy snow in the past few days has caused more than 200 houses to collapse inside and outside the city of Shenjing, affecting tens of thousands of people, and civilians have been injured and killed one after another."

Emperor Yuanzhen's face turned pale. He quickly closed the memorial and slammed it on the armrest of the throne. He stared at the ministers in the palace and said coldly, "It has only snowed for two days. How can the situation be so serious? This is not the first year of heavy snow. Why didn't the various ministries prepare in advance? Do you want me to go down and do the work for you?"

"I am frightened!"

All officials bowed their heads and dared not speak again.

They thought that today's morning court session was just an ordinary one, but they didn't expect the sudden snowstorm to be so serious, causing the emperor to be furious.

"I come to court every day not to listen to your fears, but to find solutions!"

Emperor Yuanzhen snorted coldly, his anger growing stronger, and he shouted in a deep voice: "Where is the governor of Shuntian Prefecture?"

"I'm here!" Shuntian Prefecture Governor Lu Jiang stepped out and said in a trembling voice.

"You didn't dare to intervene in the murder in Qi State Mansion some time ago, and you can't intervene in the disaster relief and people's livelihood in recent days? In this case, you should quit your job as the prefect."

When Lu Jiang heard this, his heart went cold, his legs trembled, and he knelt down and kowtowed: "I have failed your majesty's grace!"

Emperor Yuanzhen did not look at Lu Jiang again, but cast his gaze towards the Prime Minister Yang Yanzhi, and said: "The Cabinet will take charge of the affairs of Shuntian Prefecture for now, and we will select another one after the snowstorm is over.

Regarding the snowstorm, Yang Ge Lao must quickly coordinate with the various ministries and raise food and cold-weather supplies as quickly as possible to minimize casualties among the people. "

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

As the head of all officials, Yang Yanzhi had no choice but to take responsibility for the snow disaster. The emperor only dealt with Lu Jiang and did not reprimand him. He also hoped that he could make up for his mistakes and make good repairs in the next disaster relief response.

But this matter is indeed a bit difficult to handle. Yang Yanzhi thought about it and said truthfully: "Your Majesty, Shenjing is also short of clothes and food at the moment. We need to purchase grain from Jiangnan and transport it. It may take more than ten days."

Emperor Yuanzhen frowned and said sternly: "It's still snowing now, how can the people wait so long? The capital is short of food, why don't you buy it in advance?"

Yang Yanzhi's old face showed fatigue, and he said helplessly: "This year, many places have suffered disasters, Guanzhong has suffered a severe drought, Shandong has suffered floods; in addition, there are Japanese invasions in the southeast, looting by the northern barbarians, and the border defense expenses are very huge, so that the treasury is empty. I wanted to grit my teeth and get through this winter.

I never thought that recently, refugees from all over the country who had fled famine have flooded into the suburbs of Beijing. The government provided them with porridge relief, which made the already limited food reserves in the capital even more scarce, and it snowed so heavily."

Having said that, officials in the court all had a certain degree of luck in their hearts, thinking that they could get through it by gritting their teeth. However, many people did not think about how many poor people would be killed by this mentality.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuanzhen fell silent. How could the Great Zhou Dynasty fall into such a predicament now? Natural disasters continued, border troubles never ceased, and court officials were just sitting in their positions doing nothing.

"In the name of the Ministry of Revenue, we can first borrow materials from Shanxi, Henan and other places nearby, and then make up the money next year."

After a pause, Emperor Yuanzhen's tone became more severe, and he said: "We must do everything possible to reduce casualties! These are all the people of my Great Zhou."

(End of this chapter)