After He Maocai and others left the Governor's Mansion, they spread the news through various channels that someone in the government secretly embezzled the relief grain that should belong to Sannong.
Next, the development of the matter did not go beyond Zheng Michang's expectation. The farmers were all very angry about this and gathered at the gate of the Governor's Mansion, demanding that the government severely punish this person.
At this moment, Zheng Michang was pacing the room with his hands behind his back, murmuring: "What's going on? Why haven't those farmers come yet?"
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. After getting Zheng Mi Chang's permission, a guard walked in and reported the situation outside to Zheng Mi Chang.
"My lord, a lot of mulberry farmers suddenly gathered outside. They didn't know where they learned that someone in the government was embezzling the relief food that should belong to them."
"At this moment, they are making loud noises outside, intending to get the government to investigate the matter strictly, attracting many people to stop and watch, and the impact is very bad!"
"Look, do you need to teach them a lesson? Sir, such a bad trend must not last long!"
Before the guard could finish speaking, Zheng Mi Chang glanced at him with an extremely cold look.
After the guard noticed Zheng Mi Chang's eyes, he realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly shut his mouth, not daring to speak any more.
I saw Zheng Michang retracting his gaze and telling the guard: "Take me over, I will definitely give them an explanation!"
"Yes, sir, please follow me."
When the guard saw this, he looked like he was being pardoned and quickly led the way.
…
Under the leadership of the guards, Zheng Michang arrived outside the Governor's Mansion.
At this moment, the Sannons were stopped at a distance by the guards of the Governor's Mansion just like before.
Seeing Zheng Mi Chang coming out of the Governor's Mansion, the farmers, regardless of the guards' obstruction, approached Zheng Mi Chang's direction and shouted loudly, trying to attract Zheng Mi Chang's attention.
"Sir, please make the decision for us!"
"We sang farmers are living on that little relief food. Now, there are still people in the government who are wantonly greedy!"
After hearing this, a look of surprise appeared on Zheng Mi Chang's face.
Immediately, he waved his hand and signaled the guards to release Sannon.
Seeing that there was no obstacle, the mulberry farmers rushed forward one after another, rushing to tell Zheng Michang their grievances.
Seeing this situation, Zheng Michang could only say in a deep voice: "Come one by one, what do you mean by what you just said?"
After the words fell, a young man wearing coarse linen clothes squeezed out from the crowd and spoke.
"Sir, it's like this. Now there are rumors in the city that someone in the government has embezzled the relief food that should belong to us!"
"The last time the government distributed relief food, the relief food we received was far different from what we had promised!"
After listening to the young man's narration, Zheng Michang immediately put on an expression of indignation. After looking around, he looked back and immediately made a promise to all the farmers at the scene.
"Someone actually dares to embezzle relief food. This is clearly provoking the authority of the government and slandering the image of the government!"
"Don't worry, everyone. Now that I know about this matter, I will definitely get to the bottom of it!"
"At that time, I will give you justice and remove this black sheep from the government!"
Zheng Michang's words soon resonated with many farmers present.
"Well said, what a good official!"
"Master Qingtian, please bear with me and pay my respects!"
After that, the guards of the Governor's Mansion, according to the list provided by Zheng Michang, controlled all the officials who had embezzled Sannong's relief food, and seized a large sum of money from each of their homes. the property of.
Ma Ningyuan immediately announced the matter by posting notices and publicizing on the street.
The people all applauded this, and the farmers involved also took this opportunity to vent their grievances accumulated for so long on these officials.
However, when some people proposed that the government should redistribute the relief grains that these officials had embezzled to the people, they were rejected with various reasons.
But this part of the voice was only a minority after all. Therefore, under the deliberate cover-up by the government, they quickly disappeared and were never seen again.
…
Just when Zheng Michang was secretly happy that he had temporarily overcome the immediate crisis and thought that he would spend a peaceful life in the future, a letter written by Yan Song personally to Hu Zongxian broke the calm.
The person who was sent to deliver the letter handed the letter to the guard of the Governor's Palace and asked him to forward it to Hu Zongxian on his behalf, and then left on his own.
At this moment, Zheng Michang looked at the four characters "Ru Zhen personally expresses this" written by Yan Song himself on the envelope, with a look of anxiety on his face.
"This is a letter written by Mr. Yan Ge personally to the Governor, but the Governor is not in the mansion at the moment. What should I do now?"
"To be on the safe side, let's wait until the Governor comes back before giving this letter to him!"
With this thought in mind, Zheng Mi Chang prepared to put the letter away, but on the way, Zheng Mi Chang's hand stopped again by some strange mistake, and then he muttered to himself silently.
"No, no, if there are any important instructions in this letter, I'm afraid it will be too late when the Governor comes back. Zheng Michang, do you want to be killed?"
In this way, Zheng Michang fell into endless entanglements, constantly picking up the envelopes from the table and putting them down again.
After a long time, the expression on Zheng Mi Chang's face gradually became firmer. He gritted his teeth, looked at the letter on the table, and then said in a deep voice.
"No matter what, even if Mr. Ge and the others want to punish me for this matter, I will admit it!"
As he finished speaking, Zheng Michang carefully opened the envelope. After repeatedly encouraging himself, he read the contents above. The contents of the letter were as follows.
"How is my beloved disciple's health lately? In addition to the daily greetings, this letter written by the teacher today also contains an extremely important thing that needs you to do. I hope you can come forward in person to tell Cao Shunhe, the governor of Jiangxi..."
After Zheng Michang finished browsing the contents of the letter, he carefully put the letter away and immediately fell into deep thought.
"Previously, the Governor personally led the army to Jiangxi to suppress the rebellion. In the process, there is no doubt that Cao Shunhe, the governor of Jiangxi, owed the Governor a huge favor."
"Presumably it was out of this consideration that Mr. Yan Ge and the others asked the Governor to personally come forward and write a letter to Jiangxi Governor Cao Shunhe, asking him to transfer grain from Jiangxi."
"The method is a good one, and it is also very feasible. However, the Governor is not in the house at the moment. Who should write the letter to Jiangxi Governor Cao Shunhe? It is impossible for me to do it for you. Bar!"
Suddenly, without any warning, an idea popped up in Zheng Michang's mind: "How about I write this letter? When the Governor comes back, I will write everything down." Tell him all the reasons?"
But soon, this extremely bold idea was personally rejected by Zheng Michang: "No, absolutely not, Zheng Michang, do you want to die? This is a proper death penalty!"
In this way, Zheng Michang was struggling with this issue for several days.
The relief grains previously distributed to the farmers were almost exhausted. As before, the farmers gathered at the gate of the Governor's Mansion and complained.
In desperation, Zheng Michang had to order people to distribute relief grains to those mulberry farmers again, and the matter calmed down temporarily.
Zheng Michang knew that it was not an option to continue like this. There was not much relief grain stored in the warehouse in the spring. Now, it has been distributed twice, and the remaining grain can no longer sustain it for too long!
After much thought, Zheng Michang finally decided to take a chance. He planned to write a letter to Jiangxi Governor Cao Shunhe in the name of Hu Zongxian, asking him to mobilize grain from Jiangxi.
Just as Zheng Michang stood back, laid out his pen and paper, and was about to write a letter, he suddenly heard a guard outside reporting that Hu Zongxian was back.
After Zheng Michang learned the news, he had no time to pack up the pen and paper on his desk and hurried to greet him.
At this moment, at the gate of the Governor's Mansion, Hu Zongxian had just gotten off his horse when he saw Zheng Michang coming towards him with a hurried expression.
"Mr. Governor, you are finally back!"
Seeing this situation, Hu Zongxian couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and immediately asked.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Hu Zongxian saw the hesitation on Zheng Michang's face, immediately waved his hand, stepped back, and asked.
"You can say it now!"
Zheng Michang nodded, and immediately informed Hu Zongxian of everything that had happened in Zhejiang in recent days without any reservation and in detail.
Hu Zongxian was quite surprised after listening to Zheng Michang's narration. What he didn't expect was that so many things happened during the time he left Zhejiang.
Immediately, Hu Zongxian came back to his senses and gave instructions to Zheng Michang.
"Take me there, I want to see with my own eyes the letter the teacher wrote to me!"
"Yes, Lord Governor!"
Under the leadership of Zheng Michang, Hu Zongxian came to the study and took the letter from Zheng Michang's hand.
Hu Zongxian just glanced at the words on the envelope and said.
"Well, yes, this is exactly the teacher's handwriting!"
After that, Hu Zongxian opened the envelope and read the contents.
The further he looked down, the tighter Hu Zongxian's brows furrowed. What he didn't expect was that Yan Song would actually ask him to write a letter to Cao Shunhe, asking him to mobilize food from Jiangxi.
"It is a big sin to regulate food without permission from the court!
"If the court investigates him, Cao Shunhe, even if he is the governor of Jiangxi, will inevitably be impeached!"
After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he put aside the envelope in his hand, turned his gaze to Zheng Michang, and immediately gave instructions.
"You go out first and let me think about it again."
"Yes, Lord Governor."
After Hu Zongxian's words fell, Zheng Michang immediately responded and said without stopping, he turned and left the study, closing the door of the study with him.
After Zheng Michang left, Hu Zongxian was the only one left in the room.
At this moment, Hu Zongxian looked at the letter he had put aside and sighed helplessly: "Alas!"
Hu Zongxian knew very well that if he really came forward to write a letter to Jiangxi Governor Cao Shunhe, Cao Shunhe would definitely transfer grain from Jiangxi to Zhejiang!
But in this way, it is inevitable that Qingliu will be offended, and Cao Shunhe does not have many connections in the court, so he will definitely be impeached crazily. Maybe, his Jiangxi governor will be regarded as a criminal after this incident. It's over!
On the one hand, it was the success or failure of converting rice into mulberry, and on the other hand, it was the career of his good friend. Hu Zongxian, like Zheng Michang before him, fell into endless entanglements.
After a long time, Hu Zongxian gritted his teeth and muttered to himself silently, as if he had made up his mind.
"Forget it, let me come forward in person and write a letter to Cao Shunhe!"
"When the time comes, write a letter to the teacher and ask them to protect Cao Shunhe. If the court investigates it, I, Hu Zongxian, will bear all the responsibilities!"
Thinking of this, the confusion in Hu Zongxian's eyes disappeared, and he spread out his pen and paper and began to write a letter.
"Brother Fengqing, right now, in Zhejiang, the grain in the hands of mulberry farmers has been purchased by unknown people at high prices, resulting in food shortages. If this continues, the conversion of rice to mulberry promoted by the court will be unsustainable. I Hu Zongxian is here, asking for your help in a personal name, I, Hu Zongxian, will be very grateful!"
After the last word fell, Hu Zongxian put the brush in his hand back to its original position. After browsing the contents of the letter, he sighed helplessly.
Soon, the ink on the paper was dry. Hu Zongxian put it in an envelope, then called his confidant and gave instructions in a deep voice.
"You must hand this letter to Cao Shunhe, the governor of Jiangxi, do you understand?"
"Yes, Lord Governor!"
I saw the confidant carefully putting the envelope into his arms, without stopping at all, and immediately embarked on the road to Jiangxi.
…
Jizhou, inside the Governor's Mansion.
At this moment, Yang Xuan, the governor of Jiliao, fell into deep thought as he looked at the letter in his hand that was personally sent by the cabinet.
The content of the letter is very simple. It is to ask Yang Xuan to prepare in advance, and when the time is right, he will lead his army to help Zhasak Tuhan and quell the rebellion in the tribe!
After Yang Xuan finished browsing the contents of the letter, he shook his head and couldn't help but sigh.
"What is this? Not long ago, everyone was fighting to the death. They regarded each other as a mortal enemy and wanted to get rid of them quickly. However, even within a month, I, the general, wanted to lead his army to help Zasak Tuhan and pacify the tribes. Rebellion in ?”
After that, Yang Xuan suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his heart, and immediately called his subordinates and gave instructions.
"Go and invite Master Shangshu to me immediately, and tell us that we have something important to discuss!"
"Yes, Lord Governor!"
(End of chapter)
