Fu Shanhe

Chapter 408 Digging each other’s traps
"Thank you for your appreciation, Lord. Unfortunately, I am too old and frail to take on this important task!"

Xu Wenyue refused decisively.

It has been several days since the disaster, and no one can tell how chaotic the situation is in the area now.

It would take at least one or two months for the imperial court to make preparations and ship relief supplies over.

During this period of time, local government organizations can only help themselves.

It’s not that Xu Wenyue looks down on his colleagues, but the quality of the bureaucrats in Dayu is really not reassuring.

Even if some individual officials want to contribute to disaster relief, the resources they can mobilize are very limited.

Compared with natural disasters, the most terrifying thing is man-made disasters.

In an environment where there are many stupid teammates, presiding over disaster relief work is irresponsible for one's own career.

"Lord Xu, you are too modest.

In the court, the cabinet minister has the most extensive experience in local affairs, and has presided over disaster relief and epidemic prevention work many times.

The important task of disaster relief and river control this time belongs to none other than Lord Xu!"

Gu Jiaxi was the first to speak in agreement.

"Venerable Gu is right. Venerable Xu is highly respected and worthy of this important task!"

Lu Ze'an immediately affirmed.

"Your Majesty, I also recommend Lord Xu."

Qiu Ruiyang immediately recommended.

As soon as the three great cabinet ministers expressed their views, all non-Qiliu people in the court responded decisively and praised Xu Wenyue to the sky for a while.

The scene before them hurt the Qingliu faction deeply.

They were using an open strategy. Even though they knew these guys had bad intentions, they couldn't jump out to sabotage them and say that their boss was incompetent and couldn't handle the responsibility.

"Thank you all colleagues for your kindness, I feel unworthy of it.

To be honest with you, I was seriously injured when I was in charge of suppressing the rebellion a few years ago.

My body has long been unusable.

This time when I returned to Beijing, I originally wanted to retire to my hometown and report to Your Majesty.

It was only temporarily delayed because of an unexpected change in the court.

This is my resignation letter, please accept it, Your Majesty!"

At the critical moment, Xu Wenyue immediately took out his resignation letter from his sleeve and handed it to the eunuch to pass on to Emperor Yongning.

It can be seen that he was well prepared.

However, it was not originally prepared for the Yellow River to burst its banks, but a means of self-protection.

Last night there was “winter thunder” and “hail rain”. For such a severe natural disaster, someone must be blamed.

Although he didn't want to take the blame, the Qingliu Group had a lot of hatred and there was a high chance that he would be beaten up. Xu Wenyue was not sure if he could escape unscathed.

The major event of "Yellow River bursting its banks" attracted everyone's attention, but the most worried thing did not happen.

Unfortunately, after avoiding one pit, I unfortunately fell into another big pit.

It’s sad to think about it. He has been doing a lot of hard work in all these years in the cabinet.

He first dealt with the aftermath of the rebellion by the aristocratic families in Lianghuai, and then served as the governor-general of five provinces to preside over the suppression of the rebellion.

He returned home to mourn for the emperor, thinking he could avoid the storm, but he never expected that his successor would be such an idiot and directly bring the situation to a collapse.

In order to stabilize the situation, he was once again entrusted with important tasks and successively served as the Governor-General of Huguang and the Governor-General of Sichuan.

After doing so much work, the final credit for suppressing the rebellion fell into the hands of the nobles.

I can only accept the frustration. My subordinates are all a bunch of big talkers and they are really not capable of suppressing a rebellion.

He finally returned to Beijing and wanted to do something big, but one day another pit appeared in front of him.

With millions of disaster victims appearing all of a sudden, no matter how well the "disaster relief" is done, there will inevitably be trouble.

At this time, the situation in the area might have already become chaotic.

The rebels dug the Yellow River and there was no way they would miss the opportunity to expand their power.

There was chaos below, which was evidence of "ineffective disaster relief."

Even though he is popular now, when problems arise in the future, those who flatter him now will be the first to fire at him.

Xu Wenyue is also a man of blood. Instead of dealing with it in such a frustrating way, he might as well resign and return home.

The current mess is beyond human power to salvage.

However, he noticed that "the army that suppressed the rebellion suffered heavy losses." According to the tradition of reporting good news but not bad news, the losses of the government army must have been serious.

The military strength of the northern provinces had already been severely weakened, and with another wave of attacks like this, the court would have even less power to rely on.

"Why is this so!"

"Lord Xu, the state is in a difficult situation right now, and the court cannot do without you!"

Emperor Yongning said excitedly.

Even though Xu Wenyue had disliked him for a long time, now that natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, it was time to stabilize people's hearts.

As the regent minister, Xu Wenyue is a signboard in himself.

No matter what, he would never let Xu Wenyue leave.

As for disaster relief, even if Xu Wenyue was willing to do it, he was still worried.

"Lord Xu, the court is in need of people and cannot do without you at this time!"

"Yes, Lord Xu.

Now there are constant natural disasters and man-made disasters, and this is when we need you to take charge.

......"

A group of Qingliu Party members hurriedly started persuasion mode.

Regardless of whether Xu Wenyue really wanted to resign or was just pretending, they were all scared.

Without this clean leader, they would be left with no one in the cabinet.

Although there are five cabinet ministers most of the time, three people can still work normally.

Based on past experience, as long as the number of cabinet ministers is odd and they can vote on major issues, the normal operation of the cabinet can be guaranteed.

If there is an even number of cabinet members, one more person will be added to ensure the operation of the institution.

"This……"

Xu Wenyue hesitated.

The emperor and the Qingliu party tried to keep him, but other factions in the court were just watching the fun.

From the look in their eyes, it can be seen that these people want him to leave.

Political struggles are extremely cruel. If some parties get more, other factions will get less power.

Decades ago, the Qingliu Party became the largest faction in the court, putting pressure on all parties.

The outrageous actions of Yin and Zuo caused the Qingliu Party to suffer heavy losses, which gave other factions the opportunity to counterattack.

In recent years, the voice of the Qingliu faction in the court has weakened, and other factions have reaped the benefits.

In fact, the rise of the nobility also snatched a big piece of the pie from the Qingliu Party.

No one is willing to give up the benefits they have obtained.

It became a consensus among everyone to restrict the Qingliu Group from growing bigger.

If Xu Wenyue's status was not special and he was also an assistant minister, so he could not be easily dismissed. Everyone would have already taken advantage of his misfortune.

"Okay, Lord Xu, you can stay in the capital and recover from your illness.

As for the disaster relief envoy, let's choose someone more capable and virtuous!"

Emperor Yongning made the decision immediately.

It didn't matter if he pretended to be sick, as he just didn't want Xu Wenyue to be the prime minister.

Now that he had the excuse of recuperating, he could naturally reduce Xu Wenyue's workload.

A position like the Prime Minister's with a heavy workload naturally requires people with good health to do it.

It was enough for the Yongning Dynasty to have one prime minister who died suddenly. If there was another one, history books would criticize him for being harsh towards old ministers.

"Your Majesty, I recommend Elder Gu!"

"Your Majesty, I recommend Elder Lu!"

"Your Majesty, I recommend Lord Qiu!"

"Your Majesty, I recommend Minister Pang!"

……

In the blink of an eye, all the important officials in the court appeared on the recommendation list. If you look closely, you will find that the recommenders are all the younger brothers of competitors.

It can be seen that everyone knows that it is not easy to be an imperial envoy for disaster relief, and they want to take the opportunity to trick their competitors.

Regardless of whether it is appropriate or not, just launch it first.

Seeing this scene, Xu Wenyue's heart sank.

Compared with a few years ago, the atmosphere in the court has obviously deteriorated a lot.

In order to fight for power and profit, everyone has neglected their business.

Disaster relief and river control are major matters. If they are not handled properly, the entire northern land will be in chaos.

"Lord Xu, which minister do you think would be the most suitable to be the imperial envoy for disaster relief?"

As soon as Emperor Yongning finished speaking, Xu Wenyue secretly groaned.

It's a tough job that everyone knows about, and any normal person would try to avoid it.

No matter who he recommends at this time, he will offend that person to death.

But since the emperor personally asked for his opinion, he had no choice but to express his opinion.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, Elder Gu is capable of taking on this important task!"

After a little thought, Xu Wenyue said with a serious face.

It’s not that he has any problem with Gu Jiaxi, on the contrary, he admires Gu Jiaxi very much.

Recommending Gu Jiaxi at this time is entirely out of public interest.

No matter how difficult the work of disaster relief and river control is, someone has to do it.

Sending a capable official as an imperial envoy could at least do something to recover the losses as much as possible.

If we send someone who talks big, not only will it fail to appease the victims, but it will make the situation worse.

"My dear Gu, I will leave the matter of disaster relief and river control to you!"

Emperor Yongning made the decision decisively.

Reason told him that he could not allow the ministers to continue arguing.

If no solution is found today, there will be no change even if we argue for another ten days or half a month.

The imperial court can delay, but the victims cannot.

Every day the relief operation is delayed, thousands of disaster victims will join the rebels.

"Sir, obey the order!"

Gu Jiaxi agreed reluctantly.

In fact, he also wanted to follow Xu Wenyue's example and pretend to be sick, but he had not prepared his resignation in advance.

What's more, it is only necessary to use the same trick once. If you use it repeatedly, people will soon find the flaw.

He was not an assistant minister appointed by the previous emperor, and did not have such abundant political resources for him to squander.

No matter how reluctant you are, you have to accept the order.

"My dear, please feel free to ask me for anything you need. As long as it is something I can do, I will grant it!"

Emperor Yongning said with satisfaction.

These are his most trusted ministers. If they were all like Xu Wenyue, who retreated when faced with difficulties, how could the world be governed?

“Your Majesty, the number of victims is too large, and it is inevitable that some people will commit crimes.

In addition to disaster relief supplies, I also need military assistance.

I implore Your Majesty to have the Governor-General of Jiangnan and the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang each dispatch troops from the two garrisons to accompany you so that the local order can be stabilized as soon as possible.

To ensure that relief supplies are distributed on time, I implore Your Majesty to send the Imperial Censor and the Imperial Guard to supervise. "

Gu Jiaxi thought for a while and said.

Frankly speaking, he really didn't want to drag the censor and the Embroidered Uniform Guard into this.

But there was no way. This disaster relief effort mobilized a large amount of manpower, financial resources and material resources. The emperor would not feel at ease without someone to supervise.

Instead of the emperor secretly sending people to keep an eye on it, it would be better for him to take the initiative himself so as to gain the initiative.

"I have granted your request, my dear Lord."

"Disaster relief is a matter of great importance. Lord Lai will personally lead a group to assist Lord Gu in his work."

"The Jinyiwei in Henan Province will temporarily be under the command of the Imperial Commissioner."

……

A series of imperial edicts were issued, and Lai Yaohua's head was buzzing.

He is going to join the cabinet. If he goes down to provide disaster relief now, all his previous efforts will be in vain.

Unfortunately, in this situation, it is not his turn to refuse.

As the Left Censor-in-Chief, his job is to supervise all officials.

After a brief moment of distraction, he reacted quickly.

The emperor is deliberately taking revenge!
During his tenure as the Left Censor-in-Chief, the "censors" under him often caused trouble for the emperor.

In the previous case of Lord Wan, the censors also took the lead.

They were also the ones who orchestrated the officials' actions to force the emperor to abdicate.

With the Censorate as their eyes and ears, the things done by the Censorate could not be hidden from the eyes of Emperor Yongning.

Even if Lord Gu had not brought it up, the emperor would have found an opportunity to kick him, the chief censor, out of the court.

……

Nanjing City.

"Governor, something terrible has happened!"

"An urgent report has been sent down that the Yellow River has suddenly burst its banks, flooding many prefectures in the northern part of Nanzhili.

The disaster is still expanding..."

As soon as Dong Zian finished speaking, Marquis Wuyang's first reaction was that it was impossible.

In extremely cold winters, the probability of the Yellow River freezing over is higher than the probability of it bursting its banks.

The several times the Yellow River burst its banks in history basically occurred during the rainy season.

The Yellow River will burst its banks during the dry season, unless someone dug it up artificially.

Even if it is man-made destruction, the amount of water in this season would cause relatively limited damage.

However, thinking of the surging water level of the Yangtze River, he overturned his judgment.

Since the water level in the Yangtze River's lower reaches rose sharply due to sudden heavy rains in the upper reaches, the same can naturally be said of the Yellow River.

"Order all local government offices to immediately prepare for disaster relief.

The Governor's Office will take out one million taels, and your Governor's Office will also take out one million taels for disaster relief.

In addition, notify the provincial governments along the Yangtze River to do a good job in flood prevention and control. We must not let the tragedy of the Yellow River happen again! "

When Dong Zian heard the order from Marquis Wuyang, he instantly felt unwell.

If one million taels of silver were placed in other provinces of Dayu, only a handful of them could be taken out.

But in Nanzhili, it was only one month's fiscal revenue at most.

If he is asked to raise the money, it will not be a problem at all, just increase the tax slightly.

However, Marquis Wuyang's intention was obviously to let them go directly from the governor's office.

The autumn tax had just been collected, and it was the time when the governor's office was the richest.

The tax revenue from their share of the profits was just enough to come up with this one million taels.

However, once this money was spent, the money that officials had for welfare benefits was gone in an instant.

"My Lord, this may not be a good idea!

We should report the disaster relief matter to the court and ask Your Majesty to make the decision."

Dong Zian said with a little hesitation.

The position of Governor of Southern Zhili is a tragedy in itself.

In the past, the six ministries in Nanjing put pressure on him and diluted his power.

Now that the six ministries of Nanjing are gone, a powerful governor has arrived.

All important affairs in the province were decided by Marquis Wuyang, and this unfortunate governor simply became an executor.

"Just do as I wish, and I will explain to the court!"

Marquis Wuyang said unhappily.

(End of this chapter)