Hou Men Splendid

Chapter 174 Finale ([-])

There are newcomers in the palace, the empress does not see the emperor several times a month, let alone the other concubines in the palace, the empress empress has brought this virtuous example to the extreme, arranging the bedtime fairly, these newcomers are still young , you can't let people live alone in the palace, the rain and dew are the first choice.

No matter how favored the concubine is, she can't see the emperor frequently. With so many newcomers, there will always be a few who can penetrate into the emperor's heart in the end.

In mid-May, half a month after the draft, the queen has arranged for a dozen beauties to sleep with her, and the second prince's first birthday banquet has also arrived.

After the matter of Cong Rong Zhaoyi, the relationship between the emperor and the queen has not eased, and now it has only become more and more indifferent. The one-year-old child has a thick head and a thick head, and he speaks early.

There are already ministers in the court who want the emperor to set up a prince. When the first year banquet comes, more people will invite the emperor.

With a good heir, it is natural to establish the crown prince. The second prince is a descendant of the empress's concubine, conforming to the general rule. Although the emperor is young, he has not been on the throne for a long time.

It's just that these memorials were piled up thickly in Chengqian Palace, and the emperor ignored them, and the courtiers' memorials were all suppressed, and the atmosphere in the court hall was even more unusual.

It was almost July at this time.

It was a particularly sweltering day, Lin Qingran prepared ice basins early, but once outside, the scorching sun felt like summer had come earlier.

Si Hua came over, holding the iced sour plum soup that was just made in the kitchen, Lin Qingran turned back to the house, "Everything is ready at Qilan Courtyard."

"Miss, don't worry, Si Shu's place is ready." Si Hua brought out the sour plum soup for her, "Mother Li has also visited there, Young Madam has everything she needs."

"It's very boring today, and she just passed the bout of nausea, so she should pay more attention." In March, Chen was diagnosed with a hiccup pulse, and now she has been in the body for more than three months, and she just needs to eat tonic. Don't let this appetite go away, "I told the kitchen to cook it lightly. It's hot, so it's not suitable for a heavy mouth."

Si Hua ran to the kitchen. Lin Qingran drank the cold sour plum soup, opened the window, and a gust of hot air hit her face. In the afternoon, there was no wind at all.

It was not so hot at this time last year, Lin Qingran looked up, the sunlight outside the eaves was very dazzling
Such a hot day lasted for half a month, and in mid-July, there was not a single rain.

In May and June, it is reasonable to say that the spring rains here in Luodu City will last for half a month, but this year it only fell for seven or eight days at the end of May, and the day after tomorrow became hot again in mid-June. People in the capital are saying that there is going to be a drought.

When Lin Qingran felt it clearly in the mansion, the drought outside Luodu City had already begun to spread, and the Feng'an Dynasty suddenly fell into many natural disasters.

The snow disaster three years ago, and the floods in the three southern states last year, now the rain cannot reach the north, and the hot summer arrives early, and there is another drought here.

Compared with floods, people are more difficult to tolerate drought, especially in this hot summer, there has been no rain for several days, and the grain to be harvested in July is dry and unripe by the end of June, let alone the millet to be harvested in September and October , and now they are all dying of drought in the fields, coupled with the lack of water, the vicinity of Luodu City is better, and a few states in the north will soon experience famine.

The imperial court also moved quickly. Floods are easy to drain, but droughts are difficult to cure. Even if there are rivers and canals, there is no rain. Migration, the imperial court supplemented food to ensure that they would not starve to death.

But there is a bigger problem in front of us, the court is short of money.

Last year, General Long returned to the border and took a large sum of money to deal with the floods in the south. Now it is only a year later, the taxes and taxes in various places are not enough to fill up, and there is a drought again, and there is not enough money in the treasury.

In the harem, the empress started to raise funds. On the side of the Shao family, Shao Jinghan received the order and took the silver taels allocated first to go to the north to help the people affected by the disaster move south. He also had to investigate the drought situation so that he could take action.

Chen packed up her husband's things, she was pregnant, Shao Jinghan helped her to sit down, "You rest, someone will clean up."

"I heard from my mother that many people died on the way to the south. I'm afraid it has aroused public anger. If you go this time, don't cause conflicts." Chen is more worried about her husband's comfort. There was a snow disaster just before, and now there is a drought, the people must be in a bad mood.

"Don't worry, once the money and materials are gone, some food and clothing can be solved, and the situation will be much better after moving south to two states." Shao Jinghan is more concerned about the governance of the drought. If it doesn't rain all the time, not only will there be no grain harvest, but The influence of the imperial court is not small.

"Father came back one step earlier than you, you go there and tell your parents." Chen urged him to say goodbye to his parents-in-law, ordered the maid to clean up everything that needed to be cleaned up, and put a medicine box in it. There are a lot of pills to dispel heat, the weather in the north must be worse than that in Luoducheng

The drought hit, and the family members of the officials living in Luodu City didn't feel much. Apart from the unbearable hot weather, it didn't rain until the end of July, and the disasters in various places became more and more serious.

As the victims moved south, the southern states and counties also had limited capacity to bear. When there were too many people, there was not enough food. Coupled with the conflict between the people in the north and the south, the law and order suddenly became chaotic.

The disaster victims in the north kept moving south, and when they arrived at Luodu City, just like the snow disaster that year, people always had some faith in the emperor, and many people settled down in the towns around Luodu City, but the situation around Luodu City was not the same. optimism.

Just at this moment, a minor event happened in the palace, above the court, the matter of the disaster brought the death of the emperor to the fore.

In the harem, Rong Zhaoyi, who was enshrined by the Jin Dynasty for more than a year, has not been pregnant since the miscarriage. It was hot summer, but she wanted to dig fish ponds and build water pavilions in the Chaohua Palace.

Originally, there was a dancing pavilion in the Chaohua Palace, but now it would cost a lot of money to demolish and rebuild it again. The queen naturally did not agree, the drought is so severe, the palace's expenses are already sprawling. How could he agree to spend his money on such a place.

But within a few days, the emperor agreed.

Rong Zhaoyi had the ability to make the emperor nod and agree to the matter, and was happily waiting for someone to build a pool in the Chaohua Palace. When the Chaotang learned about this, they immediately participated in the ceremony.

Officials can't control the affairs of concubines in the harem, but they can always give advice. There are concubines in the palace who are so profligate that the queen can't control them, and the emperor spoils them lawlessly.

Some officials headed by Lord Jin began to stir up the matter of Rong Zhaoyi's mother's family behind him. Rong Zhaoyi's brother-in-law was sent to investigate the drought situation. He hadn't arrived yet. He ate and drank all the way there, and he still had time to pay. The two concubines didn't do any of their official business, but because they were Rong Zhaoyi's natal family, they did a lot of deceitful things. Although they didn't openly steal money, these actions were enough to punish him.

At that time, most of the ministers, Mr. Shao, were slaughtered by General Long, and the rest could not stir up trouble. So now the court is full of righteousness, and they have played the emperor, demanding that Rong Zhaoyi be abolished, and Zhaoyi's brother-in-law, Mr. Xing, should be dismissed. Official positions, drive them out of Luodu City, and go back wherever they came from.

The emperor didn't agree, but he didn't agree, and all the officials knelt outside the Chengqian Palace, and they all went to court together.

Today is different from the past. Four or five years ago when officials did this, the emperor directly dismissed these officials. If you dare to dismiss the court, I will dismiss you. I am not afraid that no one will be an official. But now that hundreds of officials are dismissed, if they are all dismissed, There is really no one to be an official.

It was only at this moment that Xiao Jingyi realized that since General Long came, the internal ministers and other officials were dismissed and killed, and there was no one he could trust. The officials kneeling outside seemed to have no leader. Twisted together to fight against him, he became alone.

Being an emperor can't do whatever he wants, but in his consciousness, being an emperor means being what he says. When the late emperor brought him by his side, it was already the late emperor. At that time, the first emperor in his eyes was what he said in the court.

It's just that Xiao Jingyi didn't see what the late emperor did before he was born, how he built up such a wise prestige step by step, and now no one can tell him why.

After three or four days of stalemate, the ministers kneeling day and night saw the absurd scene, the palace's favorite concubine Rong Zhaoyi came to Chengqian Palace to serve the emperor.

When they left, they sent someone to bring them water to drink. The gesture seemed to say that you should kneel, and I will be fine if I kneel to death.

Several older ministers at the scene fainted from anger. They were already kneeling in the hot weather and their bodies were uncomfortable. After passing out like this, one of them passed away directly.

This incident alarmed the Empress Dowager and several veteran officials who had resigned. They all appeared on crutches. Seeing the absurd things done by the emperor, the Empress Dowager ordered Rong Zhaoyi to be arrested and put in prison. People went to arrest Rong Zhaoyi's brother-in-law, Mr. Xing, and if there was any resistance, they could be executed immediately.

And the emperor, since he is willing to stay in Chengqian Palace, let him stay in Chengqian Palace without coming out, and put him under house arrest
Cong Rong Zhaoyi was arrested and the emperor was imprisoned, all of this was done in an airtight manner.

Things in the palace were rarely leaked, and the people in Luodu City thought that the emperor was sick, and they were tired of worrying about the drought.

The empress dowager and the empress came forward to invite the prince of the north to preside over the overall situation. The migration of the victims to the south and the drought in the north are urgent.

In the palace at this time, in the Chengqian Palace, the queen put the decree that had been drawn up on the table, asking Xiao Jingyi to cover the jade seal.

"Since you have premeditated, why do you need to cover this jade seal?" Xiao Jingyi has been thinking repeatedly these days, all officials kneel outside the Chengqian Palace, and the Empress Dowager decreed that he was imprisoned in the Chengqian Palace. It is considered a failure for the emperor to be rescued by others, and now he is required to issue an edict to confer the crown prince.

"Your Majesty, you are concerned about the country and the people. You are sick from overwork. For the sake of the country, you naturally want to issue this canonized edict. How dare your concubines premeditate." No Rong Zhaoyi was there to add fuel to the flames, wanting this or that, to deceive the emperor, How could the emperor be imprisoned in this place today? The empress opened the edict and placed it in front of him, with a calm expression on her face, without saying a word, "Your majesty, please issue the edict."

(End of this chapter)