Three Kingdoms New Emperor

Chapter 390
Liu Xie carefully pulled out the log under Zhong Yao's pillow and replaced it with a comfortable cotton pillow.Unexpectedly, even though his movements were very gentle, they still alarmed Zhong Yao, causing him to suddenly open his bloodshot eyes.

"Your Majesty, who are you?..." After seeing the person in front of him clearly, Zhong Yao hurriedly wanted to stand up and salute, but Liu Xie pressed him down forcefully: "Don't say anything, let's rest."

Seeing that Zhong Yao's originally gentle face had almost turned into a skeleton, Liu Xie said that it was impossible not to be moved.There was a severe drought in Guanzhong, and the task of helping the victims fell obsessively on this able minister of the emperor.In the face of such important matters concerning the society, Zhong Yao went all out, working silently for ten hours a day, and only staring for a while when he really couldn't hold on.

And the piece of log under his head was specially changed by Zhong Yao in order to prevent himself from falling asleep too much, so that as long as he turned over, he would wake up with a start.

"I have already dealt with the matter of serving Yushi Houwen." Seeing Zhong Yao struggling to get up, Liu Xie said this again.Unexpectedly, when Zhong Yao heard Liu Xie's words, his face became even more startled, and he suddenly got up and asked, "Your Majesty, you can't kill him!"

Liu Xie couldn't help but have a sore nose again, but he still pretended to be relaxed and said: "Who said I killed that Hou Wen?"

The matter of Hou Wen has indeed happened in this year's severe drought in history.Moreover, it was almost the only political achievement of the Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.

In this year's history, there was a severe drought in the Sanfu, the fields were not harvested, and Li Jue and Guo Si went against the grain. People ate each other and accumulated bones. A dendrobium of millet was sold for 50 yuan, and a dendrobium of soybeans and wheat was also worth 20 yuan.Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty ordered all the grain in Taicang to be exported, and ordered the imperial servant Hou Wendu to lead his soldiers to cook porridge for the hungry people.However, the number of people who died of starvation did not decrease after a few days. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty suspected that the gifts and tributes were not enough, so he ordered people to measure and make rice in front of the throne. It turned out that there was too much water and too little food to satisfy their hunger, which proved that Hou Wen was cheating.

Originally, Liu Xie thought that this would never happen. After all, Li Jue and Guo Si were dead, and the severe drought in Guanzhong was far from being so tragic.Unexpectedly, just because he was personally driving Hanoi again, this Hou Wen was still in charge of supervising and leading the soldiers to provide relief, and he did exactly the same thing as in history, and was participated in by Shang Shutai.

"I don't know how Your Majesty will deal with Hou Wen?" Zhong Yao, who was so sleepy, was worried about the court and refused to close his eyes any more. He still couldn't forget to ask Liu Xie.

Liu Xie showed a wry smile helplessly, because Zhong Yao's guess was right. When he learned about this, his first reaction was to push Hou Wen out and chop him up.After all, the people in Guanzhong were so hungry that they couldn’t get enough to eat, but Hou Wen was still mad at the victims of the disaster. It was really not enough to kill a hundred times.

What's more, this time Liu Xie is determined to reform the administration of officials, and just needs to kill one or two unlucky people to establish his prestige.Combined with these two reasons, Hou Wen is really in a hurry to die.

But in the end, Liu Xie still chose the method of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty: to blame Hou Wen fifty times.

The turning point of this matter happened in Li Yan's report.According to the decision Liu Xie made at the time, Hou Wen was beheaded and his property confiscated for disaster relief.But when Li Yan led Wuguanlang to search Hou Wen's home, he found that Hou Wen's house was completely empty, and even his wife was weaving cloth to distribute to the victims.Li Yan immediately realized that something was wrong, rushed into Weiyang Palace quickly, and informed Liu Xie of the matter.

Liu Xie immediately ordered Hou Wen to be rescued from the butcher's knife at Caishikou, and asked him why he didn't do his best to help. Unexpectedly, Hou Wen's answer was: "Your Majesty, the people of Sanfu have become more and more arrogant since your Majesty ascended the throne. Ren, if it is a happy event in a prosperous age, but in a famine year, if the people can get food without working, they will naturally provoke troubles... And every time the humble minister takes less grain from Taicang, he is even more worried about the drought and the grain of Taicang. It's all gone, and there's no way you're greedy for a grain of food from the Mo court."

Liu Xie was ashamed and speechless at the time, although it sounds unbelievable that people can't eat enough to avoid more vicious turmoil.But Liu Xie has to admit that there is a truth in the world called 'Sheng Mi En.Dou Michou'.

If a person can't make it through, his neighbor will take care of him and give him a liter of rice, so that he can survive, which is regarded as a kind of kindness.But when he gave a bucket of rice, the neighbor's life became better, but he thought, he could give me ten buckets of rice, but he only gave me one bucket of rice as a kindness, so he is a villain, and he feels resentment instead.

Gratitude should not be given lightly, otherwise the people will not know how to be grateful, especially the people of the three assistants as Hou Wen said.Liu Xie has brought them too many surprises these years, and the people in Guanzhong have also become arrogant.It is hard to say what they would do if they could get enough food without working hard every day.

"Your Majesty's move is very appropriate. The food delivered from Taicang shows that he has a heart for the people, and the absence of Hou Wen's felony shows that His Majesty is sympathetic to the ministers. The [-]-year-old staff will let the world know that His Majesty's rewards and punishments are clear. It's really special to kill three birds with one stone. It's rare." Zhong Yao couldn't help being relieved to hear that this eccentric Majesty didn't make a big mistake this time.

"As for the relief, I'm still too hasty." Liu Xie blushed a little, but he still pretended to be calm and said: "I thought that in a year of severe drought, as long as the people have food to eat and a place to sleep, nothing will happen. Yes. The matter of Hou Yushi has sounded the alarm for me. Starting today, the Han Dynasty will no longer provide free relief to the victims of the disaster, and you will be responsible for arranging work-for-work relief with Dong Cheng and Pang Xi."

"Your Majesty, it is absolutely not advisable to change the order from day to day. What's more, the relief has been going on for more than a month. Once the people are dissatisfied, it may lead to turmoil..." Zhong Yao is a prudent and meticulous person, and he immediately saw the disadvantages of Liu Xie's move.

"Don't worry, I will issue an edict at the same time, in the name of the Taicang Valley, to relieve your pressure." Liu Xie rubbed his neck, and said while thinking: "You can also order the official prostitutes in Chang'an to serve you every day. Charity performances for the people to comfort the hearts of the people... The new students of Taixue can't be idle, they are asked to visit the people every day, understand the dissatisfaction of the people, and report the lack of work of the officials, as a kind of supervision. Of course, the most important One thing is that I have returned, and someone can transfer the military power..."

Zhong Yao struggled to turn his dull brain, weighed the pros and cons, and finally nodded in agreement with Liu Xie's point of view: he knew that in the long run, the people in Guanzhong had to survive the labor pains like this.Otherwise, in the long run, whenever there is a famine, the court will have to give relief, and the people will not want to save themselves, and it will be harmful instead of beneficial.

On the surface, it seems cruel that the court did this. The people usually rely on taxes to support the court, but in times of famine, the court should provide relief to the people.But in fact, if the relationship between the court and the people only stops here, such a court must be a court with very little political ability.

Governing a large country is like cooking a small dish. Not only do you need to master the heat, but you also need to have ingredients and methods. This is a highly technical task, far from being as simple as it seems intuitively.

"With such a multi-pronged approach, can Zhong Aiqing fall asleep peacefully?" Liu Xie finished thinking about this, and then pushed Zhong Yao back to the bed, signaling that Zhong Yao didn't have to be busy with these things immediately: "Aiqing is my humerus." Minister, in the future the Han Dynasty will need ministers like Aiqing who dare to do things and are able to do things. Yuan Chang must not neglect one thing and lose another, and his body will be exhausted."

"It's my honor to be able to encourage His Majesty and do some practical things for the people of the world." Zhong Yao couldn't help showing a trace of gratitude on his face, but after blinking his tired eyes, there was a slightly naughty smile on his face, and then Said a sentence: "Your Majesty came to look for the humble minister today, maybe it's not just about giving relief?"

Liu Xie's brows twitched suddenly, he couldn't figure out why Zhong Yao had spotted him because he had concealed it so perfectly.

Seeing Liu Xie's reaction, Zhong Yao immediately understood, and said in a straight line: "Your Majesty must have come here this time to pick up scholars, right?"

Liu Xie couldn't help being stunned, Zhong Yao guessed right again.But under conditioned reflex, Liu Xie couldn't help asking: "Why did Zhong Aiqing know that I have other things to do here this time?..."

"Your Majesty has only come to the Shangshutai a few times since he came to power. If it wasn't for such a big event..."

What Zhong Yao said later, Liu Xie didn't hear very clearly.Because at this moment, he blushed like a fire: What Zhong Yao said was the truth, he is really not a good and diligent king.

And right next door to this room, Lu Su, Yang Xiu, Li Yan, Yang Fu, Jiang Jiong, Sima Lang and others were already waiting.When Liu Xie came this time, he originally wanted to invite Zhong Yao to be a counselor, but after seeing Zhong Yao's hard work, he immediately dismissed this idea.

Compared with the severe drought in Guanzhong, recruiting scholars is a major concern for Liu Xie.After all, the drought will eventually pass, it's just a temporary thing.And getting a scholar is a matter of a hundred years, and it is a soft indicator for the Han Dynasty to compete with princes from all over the world. He dare not be negligent, and can only be sure that there is nothing wrong with walking on thin ice.

There is no doubt that Zhong Yao and Xun You are the most suitable for negotiating with Liu in the court.However, like Zhong Yao, Xun You was also busy with the reform of the military system.Fortunately, Xun You's busyness brought him a badge that even Liu Xie admired.However, the reform of the recruitment of scholars still left Liu Xie at a loss and desperation, wishing to set those idiots on fire and burn them.

"Your Majesty, regarding the selection of scholars, do you really think that those well-educated scholars in the court don't understand His Majesty's painstaking efforts at all?" Zhong Yao sighed sadly, his expression was very tangled, and there was also a hint of anger full of disappointment .

Liu Xie didn't know the crux of the reform of the selection of scholars, but he could only sigh.Then, out of nowhere, he thought: this matter, even if the old fox Jia Xu is here, I'm afraid he will be frowning, right?
(End of this chapter)