Knowing that when the army rushes for reinforcements, the three armies will merge and cooperate with each other, Nanfengzhou will be able to return to the Great Flame in less than a month!
"Your Majesty, this is a blessing from God. General Li is guarding the Yangcheng Pass. This is like the second military crossing. No matter how strong the Beimang army is, they can't easily go south." Lu Qingfeng quickly praised.
"Well, this is indeed good news. Yes, Li Changfeng is indeed a handsome man. I will write it down later and reward him when he returns to the court!" Zhao Kuangyu showed a satisfied smile.
"Your Majesty, this is a letter from Ma Guanxing. There are some contents on it. I hope Your Majesty will read it in person." Qu Zhongyi bowed and then raised the letter high.
"Okay, bring the letter up, I want to take a good look at it!"
As the eunuch presented the letter, Emperor Zhao Kuangyu's expression became richer. This was the first time he saw a member of the Ma family praising someone so highly.
"Yes, yes!" Zhao Kuangyu nodded frequently: "This boy from the Ma family is also very brave. This time he is willing to stick to Yangcheng and find opportunities for Li Changfeng to attack Beimang. This boy should also be rewarded!"
When all the ministers saw the satisfied look on the emperor's face, they immediately became active, because this was the most appropriate time to flatter him.
But Gu Yongnian, who was standing in the queue, was in a bit of trouble because Gu Xingchen sent him news that Zheyang County was very strange. If he didn't find a way to control Zheyang County, Beimang's army might not be able to reach the capital...
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
Just when the ministers were flattering the emperor's wisdom, Chen Peng stood up from the queue.
In an instant, all the ministers immediately returned to their seats, and the Civil and Military Hall became quiet.
"Chen Aiqing, what's the matter with you?"
There was a hint of displeasure in Zhao Kuangyu's voice, because he didn't have any good impressions of Chen Peng. Although he might be annoyed by him, he couldn't remove him from his position. After all, the court needed people who did this kind of work.
For Zhao Kuangyu, he thought he was a good emperor. He had officials who flattered him, officials who were impeached, and a lot of work. Therefore, he felt that he knew how to control the government better than his father.
"Your Majesty, the floods of the Yellow River are coming soon. I would like to ask your Majesty to open warehouses to provide disaster relief, so as not to starve people everywhere..." Chen Peng knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"Mr. Chen, the river flood hasn't broken out yet. Isn't it too early to prepare for disaster relief?" One of the four officials stood up from the queue and criticized.
"That's right, the river floods will last for at least ten more days. Why are you, the Water Conservancy Department, joining in the fun..."
Chen Peng listened unmoved. He just wanted to hear His Majesty's opinion at the moment. After all, the last time he petitioned for flood prevention, there was no result, and now he just wants to prepare for disaster relief in advance.
The officials around Chen Peng saw it but could not persuade him. They also stood back. After all, the emperor was in a good mood now. If Chen Peng angered the emperor, they would also suffer disaster.
"Chen Aiqing, Fan Aiqing's words make sense. Isn't it too early to prepare now?" Emperor Zhao Kuangyu pondered: "If you open a warehouse now to prepare for disaster relief, what are you going to do with the food when the rainy season comes? "
Zhao Kuangyu was not too confused. He actually wanted to prepare for disaster relief in advance, but the food prepared in advance in previous years had become moldy and smelly before it was delivered to the disaster area...
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have discussed with my subordinates that this time we will send food to the counties in advance. When the flood comes, we can provide emergency response. By then, too many victims will not starve to death." Chen Peng knelt on the ground. Advise.
Just when the emperor was thinking about Chen Peng's method, Gu Yongnian suddenly stood up: "Your Majesty, Chen Peng's method is absolutely unacceptable!"
"Why?" Zhao Kuangyu asked.
"Our government distributes relief food every year. This food should be enough for the victims. If the government allocates more food, I'm afraid someone will be greedy, so this matter must not be encouraged!" Gu Yongnian answered with a bow. .
"Master Gu, you are a noble official, but you haven't seen what's below..." Chen Peng stood up and bowed to the ground and said, "Although our government provides relief grain every year, do you know how much the grain will cost after it is distributed? Really? Each household received less than a bushel of grain!"
Gu Yongnian pretended to be dignified and said: "That's nonsense. The Ministry of Household Affairs allocates 20% of the tax revenue for relief grain every year. This is recorded!"
Emperor Zhao Kuangyu nodded slightly after hearing this. He knew about this. After all, he had to sign and agree every year before relief food could be distributed.
Chen Peng lamented: "Yes, the imperial court allocates a batch of relief grain every year, but did you know that every time this grain passes through, it will be exploited by Shangguan?"
As soon as these words came out, it was like poking a hornet's nest, and all the ministers started whispering.
Gu Yongnian pretended to be shocked, but he was happy in his heart. This was the effect he wanted, because as long as there was corruption and exploitation, his people would be able to penetrate Zheyang County!
"Chen Peng, you are so bold!" Qu Zhongyi stood up at this time and accused: "Don't you know what it is to falsely accuse an official?"
"Replying to the Prime Minister, everything I said to you is true. If you lie to me, I am willing to suffer the consequences of having my culture broken!" Chen Peng bowed.
"When a literati becomes an official, they are asked by the literati to ask their minds. Tell me how they concealed it from the saints!" Qu Zhongyi glared at Chen Peng.
Emperor Zhao Kuangyu was also very curious. It stands to reason that civil servants cannot be officials who want things allocated by the imperial court, because these civil servants need to have their performance evaluated every year. If there is something allocated by the imperial court, the performance appraisal will become a blank piece of paper. …
"Prime Minister, I didn't say it was a civil official's decision, but a military attache's right!" Chen Peng said.
The Wenwu Hall was in an uproar, and everyone immediately understood what Chen Peng meant...
"Chen Aiqing, do you have any evidence?" Emperor Zhao Kuangyu asked with an angry voice on his face.
"We only have a small part of the evidence. I hope your Majesty will investigate clearly!" Chen Peng took out an ordinary memorial from his sleeves, knelt on the ground and reported it to the emperor.
"Bring it up, I want to see who has eaten the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard!"
Zhao Kuangyu was very angry. Although he liked money, he never touched the people's property, because the people were his foundation. If this matter was not dealt with, the dragon's energy would be unstable. When public dissatisfaction broke out, he would be completely finished!
When the eunuch presented the memorial, Zhao Kuangyu just glanced at it and roared angrily: "Come here, take Li Niu, the canon historian of Hedao County, Luzhou, and Zhang Si, the canon historian of Yuchang County, quickly capture them for me. Let the Ministry of Punishment interrogate it in person!"
"Yes!" The two civil arrest officials immediately responded and walked out of the civil and military hall and walked away.
Just as the two arresting officials left, Gu Yongnian immediately knelt in the middle of the hall...
This scene not only stunned all the officials, but even the emperor Zhao Kuangyu was stunned on the dragon throne.
"Gu Aiqing, why is this happening?" Emperor Zhao Kuangyu asked.
"Your Majesty, I have received the food from you and am indebted to your Majesty's favor. I would like to ask your Majesty to draw up a decree to clean up the corruption of the military officers. I am willing to do this to clean up the military officials!"
Hearing Gu Yongnian's words, all the ministers were shocked. No one expected that Mr. Gu would actually be willing to personally investigate all the local officials. This was a huge blow... It opened their eyes!
Qu Zhongyi frowned. He couldn't guess why Gu Yongnian did this. Did he really want to appease the people's grievances?
"Gu Aiqing, where do you plan to start?" Emperor Zhao Kuangyu was not surprised. In his eyes, Gu Yongnian was a loyal minister who would help him calm down any public grievances.
"Wei Chen plans to investigate from three places." Gu Yongnian bowed: "Yuzhou, Luzhou, Nanfeng Prefecture, since Mr. Chen Peng wants to help the victims, he must start from the Yellow River Basin, so Wei Chen plans to dispatch first Lu Tongyuan, Sha Jingtong, and Fan Sihai entered Lushan County, Zheyang County, and Beihe County respectively..."
"But these three are all generals, how are they going to investigate?" Emperor Zhao Kuangyu wondered.
"Just because they are warriors, I intend to use force to control the military. Moreover, these three counties are not only the focus of successive floods, but also important towns that block the Beimang army. If I can help your majesty eliminate the corrupt officials in exchange for fame, then it will be Directly recruit rural soldiers locally for city defense."
