The prince is more stable

Chapter 97 Order is restored
Zhao Xu saved his life, and the emperor of the Song Dynasty remained the emperor.

Then, the official of the Song Dynasty will have to deal with this natural disaster.

The world is in chaos, the Central Plains is in chaos, but the court cannot be in chaos.

The fishing boat headed southwest, its destination being Weishi County. Chen Shou and Zhang Xiaoyi took turns rowing the boat. Zhao Xu and Zhao Xiaoqian were also busy sitting in the cabin. Zhao Xiaoqian curiously asked Zhao Xu why he drifted to the southeast of Bianjing City.

Zhao Xu looked dejected and sighed.

It's not complicated. After Zhao Xu left the city, only a few fishing boats followed him. The water level was rising sharply at that time, and there were undercurrents surging underwater.

In addition, it was still dark at the time, and Zhao Xu and his group were unknowingly carried away by the underwater undercurrent. By the time they realized it, Zhao Xu had lost contact with the ship behind him, and only Zheng Chunhe and several other eunuchs were left by his side.

He finally found a loess mound to rest temporarily, but it almost cost him his life.

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed. This was not easy to comfort. Not laughing out loud was already the greatest respect for the Song Dynasty emperor.

Who would dare to believe that the emperor of the Song Dynasty, who commands the whole world, would be like a clear-headed college student who couldn't even tell the direction after leaving the palace?

If this happened on the battlefield, Zhao Xu could command thousands of troops to turn around and attack his own city.

The fishing boat headed back, and Zhao Xiaoqian met Feng, Di Ying and others halfway. The two boats sailed side by side and continued to move southwest.

It was not until noon that Zhao Xiaoqian and his entourage finally met up with Wei Jie and other subordinates.

Seeing that the emperor was found safe and sound, Wei Jie and other members of the Imperial City Department and the Imperial Guards were so excited that they shouted "Long live the emperor". Then Wei Jie sent people to recall the Imperial Guards who were looking for the emperor in the nearby area.

The further southwest the team went, the larger it became.

The team's food and water problems were gradually solved.

There were many granaries in the city of Bianjing. When the flood hit, the servants and laborers guarding the granaries urgently grabbed a batch of grain and piled it up on the high ground. The imperial guards who then left the city took the grain away.

The food for Zhao Xu and his group was transported from the two official warehouses in Bian Jing, Yongfeng Warehouse and Shuncheng Warehouse. These two official warehouses were located inside the Tongjin Gate of Dongcheng, not far from where Zhao Xu was currently.

The food problem was solved and everyone felt relieved. It had been more than half a day since the flood hit the capital, and those who should have escaped had also escaped. Zhao Xu issued an order to leave most of the imperial guards guarding the city to patrol the city and maintain public order.

The guards of the imperial palace and the imperial guards in front of the palace joined Zhao Xu, and about 10,000 people gathered in Weishi County and waited for orders.

Another day passed, and all the civil and military officials and dignitaries who had escaped from Bianjing City also rushed to Weishi County.

On the third day, the peak of the Yellow River flood had passed and the water level in Bianjing City had dropped a little, but the entire city was still submerged in water. From that day on, Bianjing's military patrols patrolled the city by boat, Kaifeng Prefecture resettled the victims, and set up soup kitchens on the city walls to provide disaster relief.

At the same time, nearly 30,000 imperial troops set up camp in an open area outside Weishi County that had not yet been flooded. Zhao Xu, Zhao Xiaoqian, and all civil and military officials temporarily lived in the camp.

One decree after another was issued from the camp, including transferring officials from the Ministry of Works to control the flood, mobilizing civilians to repair dikes, collecting relief grain from the south through the canal, and having officials from the Ministry of Revenue return to Bianliang to count the casualties and property losses, and issue notices to reassure the people, as well as strictly prohibiting merchants from taking advantage of the situation to loot and raise prices, and other measures.

After the initial three days of chaos, order was quickly restored after the disaster and the Song Dynasty court continued to function.

…………

It is undoubtedly encouraging that Guan was found after losing contact.

This was a treasure that had been lost and found again. The Imperial Guards and the Imperial City Bureau did not dare to leave Zhao Xu even a step away. Even when Zhao Xu was squatting on the toilet, there were crowds of people staring at him.

I don’t know how upset Zhao Xu was when he was squatting in the toilet.

As for Zhao Xu getting lost outside the city and nearly drowning, many people were present at the time, but no one dared to mention it, as it would ultimately undermine the emperor's glorious image. Of course, no one knew that Zhao Xiaoqian had saved Zhao Xu.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that after Zhao Xu returned, his attitude towards Zhao Xiaoqian became increasingly intimate. Every time he saw Zhao Xiaoqian, his expression was different. It was an undisguised trust that came from the heart.

A more specific manifestation was that when the court began to resume operations, Zhao Xu always let Zhao Xiaoqian attend as an observer whenever he summoned his ministers to discuss matters.

This action caused dissatisfaction among many court officials. After all, Zhao Xiaoqian's official position was the Imperial City Affairs Bureau. With a mere seventh-rank official title, he had no qualifications to discuss state affairs, let alone listen.

However, Zhao Xu turned a deaf ear to the impeachment and protests of the court officials, and still insisted on letting Zhao Xiaoqian sit in every day, which made Zhao Xiaoqian feel torn. He really had no interest in listening to state affairs. Wouldn't it be better to use this time to chat with Di Ying and flirt with her?
Now Zhao Xu wants to promote him, and the court officials want to impeach him, so Zhao Xiaoqian is in a difficult position.

So Zhao Xiaoqian decisively decided to slack off. When the emperor and his ministers discussed state affairs, he either made excuses not to go or stood next to Zhao Xu and yawned.

Zhao Xu was angry at Zhao Xiaoqian's shameless behavior but could do nothing about it, so he had to wave his hand and tell him to get out.

After leaving the tent, Zhao Xiaoqian felt as free as a bird, and his steps were much happier.

Zhao Hao and Zhao Xiaoqian had already met up, and his tent was also in the main camp.

Later, Zhao Xiaoqian returned with Feng, and Zhao Hao and Feng, a couple who had been divorced for many years, finally met.

Unfortunately, the former couple's meeting was not pleasant. Both of them had cold faces or turned a blind eye to each other. There was no bloody plot of lingering feelings and resentment at all.

When a middle-aged couple divorces, it is like cutting off the emotional ties with a wise sword, breaking them off completely. When they meet again, they are just tired of each other, which is more disgusting than swallowing a fly alive.

Zhao Xiaoqian stood in front of the two of them, unable to open his mouth to ease the atmosphere. Seeing the couple's cold and stiff relationship, as a son, Zhao Xiaoqian decided to bury his parents, one in the South Pole and the other in the North Pole, after they passed away. This would be his greatest filial piety.

In fact, Zhao Xiaoqian did the same.

Zhao Hao's tent was in the middle of the camp, facing north, so Zhao Xiaoqian arranged his mother Feng's tent to the south of the camp, with the two tents three miles apart.

The couple couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and wanted to kill each other. They would have to break through three lines of defense of the imperial guards in the camp, three!
When his son achieved this, Zhao Xiaoqian felt that future generations should erect a monument for him as a benchmark model of the 25th filial piety, for future generations to pay tribute to him and praise him without limit.

After arranging Feng's food and accommodation, Zhao Xiaoqian found several maids from the palace to serve her personally, and then Zhao Xiaoqian entered Zhao Hao's tent.

Zhao Hao's tent was quite tidy, not because he liked cleanliness, but mainly because he had more than a dozen concubines with him who served him personally.

Seeing Zhao Xiaoqian enter the tent, several concubines in the tent stepped back and saluted, not daring to look up.

The Crown Prince of Chu has always been invincible in the palace, and his status is equal to that of the King of Chu. Now the Crown Prince is even more famous in Bian Jing. He has extraordinary abilities and holds an official position favored by the emperor. Zhao Hao's concubines are more and more in awe of Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded and greeted them. Zhao Hao in the tent smiled and was about to speak, but Zhao Xiaoqian ignored him and walked straight to a pile of large and small boxes in the corner.

Zhao Hao's expression suddenly changed.

Boxes of all sizes are filled with silver and jewelry. All the valuable things in the Prince Chu's Palace are here. What on earth does this kid want to do if he comes here for the money?

The fat Zhao Hao was extremely agile at this time. He rushed forward with one step and lay on the box.

"These are my father's lifeblood, what are you going to do?" Zhao Hao asked anxiously.

"Father, don't make a fuss! The money is useful to me." Zhao Xiaoqian's tone was impatient, like a prodigal son who lost the bet and was eager to make up for it.

(End of this chapter)