The Child Emperor

As soon as the cooked porridge was brought out, before it was placed on the shelf, the queue was chaotic, and everyone squeezed forward, holding wooden sticks in their hands—this was the proof of receiving the porridge. The officers and soldiers who maintained the order waved sticks and beat them indiscriminately.

Han Ruzi restrained his mount and stopped by the side of the road, watching the chaotic scene outside the city gate.

Shangxian is not too big, and it is not far from the capital. If you drive fast, you can get there in half a day. It is the only way to go east to Hangu Pass. Like many places, Shangxian also has a large number of disaster victims and refugees, and they cook porridge once a day. , a life-threatening meal for many.

Dozens of entourages stopped behind Marquis Juan, and Du Chuanyun said angrily, "It's a bunch of government minions, I'll teach them a lesson."

Du Motian stretched out his whip to stop his grandson, "Don't make trouble, you beat an official and ran away. What will happen to these people? From now on, you will come to cook porridge every day?"

Du Chuanyun was speechless, but he couldn't see the old and weak women and children being bullied, so he had to say to the front: "Marquis Tien, let's go, why are you stopping here?"

"Yeah." Han Ruzi didn't move.

The public servants outside the city gate had already seen this group of people and knew that they were powerful and powerful people from the capital, but they did not recognize their identity. Are you from the capital? What business do you have?"

Han Ruzi pointed to the porridge team, "How many victims are there? How much rice do you need every day?"

The commander was stunned for a moment. He couldn't understand the details of the other party. He didn't dare to offend him. I'll let you know."

"No need." Han Ruzi beat his horse and entered the city.

He came by appointment.

Shortly after Guo Cong came to visit, Han Ruzi received a letter, and General Han Xing invited him to meet in Shang County. Previously, Yang Feng had written several letters to the general in the name of Marquis Juan. This was the first time he had received a reply, which was a good sign.

Like Mrs. Cui, Han Xing also played a small trick to meet Juan Hou outside of Gyeonggi, not counting returning to Beijing. The time he chose was also very subtle. The champion Hou is eager to repair the relationship with Taifu Cui and brings forward the date of marriage.

The streets of the county town were decorated with lanterns, but there were not many pedestrians. Han Ruzi came to the county office and sent someone to report.

The person who came out to greet Hou Juan was neither Han Xing nor the magistrate of Shang County, but a county governor.

From the east of Shang County to Hangu Pass, all belong to Hongnong County. The county governor Zhuo Ruhe is the concubine, and his wife is the daughter of Emperor Wu, the sister of Emperor Huan, and the aunt of Han Ruzi.

Zhuo Ruhe was about forty years old, with a white face and a slight beard, and he was born in a scholarly family.

Zhuo Junshou was courteous and personally welcomed Juan Hou into the back hall of the yamen. The magistrate of this county was not qualified to show up, and he did not want to participate in such a thing, so he worked as usual in the front hall.

The two were not familiar with each other, and naturally there were many polite words. After drinking a cup of tea and the servant refilling the water, Han Ruzi said, "Did Zhuo's concubine come with the general?"

Zhuo Ruhe smiled and said, "This official inspected the disaster situation in various counties. The general is on his way and will be there soon."

Han Ruzi couldn't figure out Zhuo Ruhe's intention, so he chatted: "I saw porridge outside the city gate. There are more than 500 victims, so it's not too many."

"Oh, this is only a small part. Some go to the mountains to steal, some go to other counties, and some stay in the countryside. In early winter, the most chaotic people, there are seven or eight thousand people, moving around, seeking food, and robbing if they can't. Fortunately, the counties were properly guarded and there was no major trouble."

"What kind of natural disaster has this county encountered?"

"Speaking of natural disasters, the rain last year was less than in previous years, but it was not particularly serious. After the fall, there was rain, which ruined some harvests."

"In that case, why is there insufficient food?"

Zhuo Ruhe smiled, and seemed reluctant to answer. He picked up the teacup and took a sip, and said, "Although natural disasters are weak, man-made disasters continue."

"What kind of man-made disasters are there?" Han Ruzi was no longer chatting, and planned to ask clearly.

"The previous year when the King of Qi was in chaos, the imperial army marched eastward, and the world was in turmoil. Hongnong County was located at a critical point. The army's traffic and food and forage transportation all passed from here, and the local area had to receive it, which cost a lot. Last year, the army went north to fight against the Huns, and the whole country collected autumn grain. To supply the frontier, there was an earthquake in the middle, the people were exhausted, and the price of food soared."

Han Ruzi still didn't understand, "There were wars almost every year during Emperor Wu's time, but I never heard of such a big impact on the people."

"Before Emperor Wu, only Emperor Lie was good at martial arts, and the scale was not large. The three emperors Cheng, An, and He were all focused on recuperating and recuperating, and had decades of reserves available for use. Emperor Wu had been in power for more than forty years, and he had been preparing for war for ten years. The battle with the Huns was like this, and Da Chu’s family was almost exhausted. Now, when there is a sudden war, the preparations in advance are insufficient, and the localities have to increase their taxes.”

"As far as I know, the full warehouse is full of grain and grass, and the county and county officials also have grain. Why don't you open warehouses for disaster relief?"

Zhuo Ruhe smiled again, and did not answer directly, but said, "The Governor of the Marquis of Tire, Shenxiongguan, has also been worried about food and grass, right?"

"The lack of food and grass is a bigger threat than the Huns."

"When Marquis Tien collects grain and grass from the counties, do you want to be satisfied immediately, and the more you send, the better?"

"certainly."

"This is also the idea of ​​the imperial court. Under a paper order, which county prepares well and quickly, and the county governor or county magistrate makes meritorious deeds, if the preparation is late, or the amount is insufficient, it is a serious crime. Therefore, once it is expected that there will be a levy, All localities must prepare in advance to deal with emergencies.”

Han Ruzi finally understood, "First the King Qi rebelled, and then the Huns invaded the border. Everyone thought this would be a war that would last for several years, so we had to stock up a lot of food to deal with the court's future expropriation."

"exactly."

"The government forcibly requisitioned grain, and even the mob in various places broke into chaos, and the imperial court sent troops to quell the chaos, and it was a war that did not know when it would end. Therefore, all localities had to stockpile grain, and they dared not distribute the grain in the warehouse. There will be no food available for the next year.”

Zhuo Ruhe nodded, "One more thing, the imperial court is unstable, chaos has already formed, officials and people are all self-defense, and everyone wants to reserve a little food for themselves. As a result, the price of food is more expensive, and Da Chu seems to have food. , and seems to be out of food."

"The full warehouse of grain and grass is enough to supply the frontier army, why is the court not willing to use it, so I have to send it from around Shenxiongguan?"

Mancang was 300 miles away from Shenxiong Pass and was not within the scope of General Zhenbei's governor. However, Han Ruzi still requested grain many times, but Mancang was only willing to supply a small amount of grain every month as usual, which was not even comparable to that of a small surrounding county.

"Mancang is the warehouse of the emperor, not the warehouse of the Great Chu, not the warehouse of the Chu army, nor the warehouse of the common people. Only...the emperor will use it when he is also hungry."

"Without the common people, there would be no Chu army, without the Chu army, there would be no Great Chu, without Great Chu—where would the emperor come from?"

Zhuo Ruhe stood up and bowed to Marquis Juan, "Marquis Tien is wise."

A servant came in, and Zhuo Ruhe said: "The general is here, please wait a moment, I will greet you."

Han Ruzi sat alone in the hall, still didn't understand what Zhuo Ruhe wanted to say. At this time, he felt that he needed Yang Feng in particular.

Yang Feng stayed in the Marquis Mansion and did not follow.

Not long after, Han Xing came in, alone, with no entourage, and Zhuo Ruhe did not follow.

Han Xing is the elder of the clan, Han Ruzi stood up to greet him, Han Xing smiled and said, "I never imagined that Mayi City would meet again in a small county government after parting, sigh, for a whole year, the only correct decision I made was to let General Zhenbei guard the broken iron. Cheng, change someone, I'm afraid the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Without the support of the general, I and the thousands of Chu troops would have been buried in the Iron City."

Han Xing made the appointment of the general governor of Zhenbei, Broken Tiecheng, Shenxiongguan and the surrounding ten counties of military affairs very important. Without it, it would be more difficult for Han Ruzi to convince the public.

Han Xing nodded with a smile, sat on the chair, motioned for Han Ruzi to sit down too, then took out an official letter from his sleeve, put it on the table, and pushed it to Han Ruzi, "General Zhenbei should need this."

This is a dispatch order, ordering General Zhenbei to return to Beijing to report the military situation in the frontier to the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office. General Han Xing could not return to Beijing for no reason, but he could send his generals back to the capital.

Han Ruzi stood up and thanked him. He really needed this order, otherwise, his status in the capital would be troublesome after all. It was because the palace refused to approve the memorial, so he was fine for the time being.

But this is not the real reason why Han Ruzi came here to meet the general. "The letter I wrote, did the general receive it?"

Those letters were written by Yang Feng, Han Ruzi had read them, and they were stamped with his own seal.

Han Xing nodded, "I'm really old, and I can still encounter this kind of thing, the sons are fighting for the throne - who came up with the idea?"

"It is said that some hopefuls persuaded the Queen Mother."

"Oh, things are unpredictable, just a dozen years ago, who would dare to show a little bit of concern for the throne, even in private, even if he just asked the emperor if he was okay, he might anger Emperor Wu and end up in ruins. , Now it's better, the emperor is still in the palace, and no one thinks that this is a big sin."

"Da Chu needs another 'Wu Emperor'."

Han Xing leaned over and said, "It's not the Great Chu, it's the Han family, the female lord has the sole power, and the clan has declined. It's only been a few years. After we die, how will we go to see Taizu?"

Han Xing has always been silent in the court. He is known for his quietness and inaction. Han Ruzi was very surprised when he said such a thing. "The general is against the princes competing for the throne?"

"It's okay to fight for the throne, but it can't be decided by a group of warlocks. The queen mother is really crazy."

"The general's meaning is..."

Han Xing smiled, "The clan needs to be united, the champion Hou forgot his surname and relied entirely on his ministers, but there are Hou Juan, and... others, the Han family is flourishing, even if only a small number of children work together. , can also protect the Great Chu country."

Han Ruzi vaguely guessed something, this was not what he and Yang Feng expected.

Han Xing clapped his palm twice, and another person came in from outside.

The King of the East Sea smiled at Han Ruzi, "Brother, will you forgive me?"