Although Zhao Huaian was angry, he could not make any changes at all because of other people's words here. He thought of King Xiang, who was also the direct descendant of Emperor Renzong and the same mother as Emperor Xuanzong.
The vassal king Zhu Zhanzhen was different from other vassal kings. He stayed beside the throne all his life. He had several opportunities, but he always stayed true to himself.
When Emperor Renzong just passed away, Zhu Zhanji was in charge of supervising the country in Nanjing. At that time, the King of Han in Wuding City deployed swordsmen in various fortresses to kill Zhu Zhanji on the way, and the Empress Dowager Zhang In order to stabilize the situation, Xia Yuanji was asked to assist, and Zhu Zhanzhen was overseeing the country in Beijing. Finally, Zhu Zhanji used the Great Movement to move to Beijing and inherit the throne. He was also kind to his younger brother and placed him in the more prosperous Changsha.
When Emperor Xuanzong died, Zhu Zhanyi was only thirty years old and in his prime. Then there was a turmoil in the golden book. Officials wanted Zhu Zhanyi to inherit the throne, but the Empress Dowager at the time insisted on protecting his legitimate son. The primogeniture system allowed Zhu Qizhen to ascend the throne. In the early years of Zhengtong, Empress Dowager Zhang moved his biological son from Changsha to Xiangyang in order to defeat him.
In the 14th year of Zhengtong, after the civil war, there were still people who wanted to let Zhu Zhanyi succeed the throne. Zhu Zhanyi was so frightened that he hurriedly submitted a memorial to clear up the relationship. After Zhu Jianshen succeeded to the throne, he was also the first to submit a memorial. The vassal king.
"It is a blessing to establish the emperor's eldest son, Crown Prince Zhu Jianshen, as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He asked King Zhu Qiyu to supervise the country and recruit brave and wise men to rescue the Supreme Emperor."
Zhu Zhanyang's reputation in Xiangyang has always been good. This time when Xiangyang was hit by a disaster, Zhu Zhanyang has been using his own food to open a porridge shed to provide disaster relief, but he did not use the name of Prince Xiang's Palace for fear of being accused of buying people's hearts.
The reason why Zhao Huaijian came to him was because the refugee crisis in Xiangyang had reached an eruption this year, and all the checkpoints were heavily guarded. It was difficult for officials and people from various prefectures to figure out the boundaries of Xiangyang Prefecture. Except for King Xiang, the prefect Outside, no one has a way to report the news to the outside world.
He wrote an official document of more than 5,000 words at home, and wanted to send it to the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate through the Xiangwang Channel to tell the whole story about the situation here.
When he arrived at the gate of the palace and expressed his intention to come, he was told that King Xiang was unwell and could not see guests. At that moment, Zhao Huaijian had no choice but to leave and walked on the street, looking at the people on both sides of the street, feeling extremely painful in his heart.
I have read so many books by sages and determined to do something for the people, but now I see the people suffering from hunger, but there is nothing I can do.
He walked aimlessly.
"Master Zhao..."
Zhao Huaian turned his head and glanced at the person who came. It was the palace guard who had just rejected him.
"Sir, please follow me. The prince is waiting for you."
After hearing the visitor's words, Zhao Huaian immediately turned around, nodded, and followed the person to the city's Chinese Language and Culture Workshop.
The number of refugees here is slightly smaller, and it is where the Mansion School and the Confucian Temple are located.
Zhao Huaian followed this man into a restaurant. In a remote corner downstairs, a middle-aged man with a kind face and a slightly fat face was sitting.
Zhao Huaian looked surprised when he saw this middle-aged man.
King Xiang.
He walked forward quickly, but Zhu Zhanzhen waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to salute.
Because there are still a few rich kids drinking in the store.
Zhao Huaian nodded in instructions.
"Please take a seat."
"Thank you, King..." At this point, Zhao Huaian paused slightly, presumably because he said the wrong thing.
Zhu Zhanyi had a smile on his face: "No need to be formal, when I walk out of the palace, I am not the prince of the Ming Dynasty, but the elder of this young man like you."
"Yes." Zhao Huaian said and sat down.
Although he had met Zhu Zhanyi, at that time Zhu Zhanyi was wearing a python robe and gold belt and was extremely majestic, but now King Xiang is like a kind uncle who is harmless to humans and animals. This gap makes Zhao Huaian lose his confidence. .
"Tell me, what do you want from me?"
"Take a look." Zhao Huaian took out his written official document from his arms and handed it to Zhu Zhanyi with both hands.
Zhu Zhanzhen took the official document and read it carefully, but his expression did not change at all.
"What do you want me to do for you?"
"Now, even if I write a letter to my family, I can't leave Xiangyang Mansion. Only the magistrate has the ability to report this matter to you. I think that if you are the prince, you can send it to the capital of Yingtian Mansion. Just go to the Procuratorate, if it can be sent to the capital, that would be even better." Zhao Huaian said in a low voice.
After Zhu Zhanzhen heard this, he said calmly: "You are harming a local vassal king by letting him do such a thing. However, I will not stand idly by, but have you ever thought about it, even if this letter arrives, you will not notice it." The court was then transferred by the Metropolitan Procuratorate to the capital, and then the capital was delayed for a few days to figure out how to deal with it. It would be at least the twelfth year of Chenghua. After such a long time, the people's problems were still not solved. .”
After hearing Zhu Zhanzhen's words, Zhao Huaian's expression changed. He knew that what King Xiang said was right, but he could not think of any other way except this.
Looking at Zhao Huaian's thoughtful face, Zhu Zhanzhen continued: "In our place, whenever there is a natural or man-made disaster, the people immediately become refugees. In addition, we are nearby the Qinling Mountains in the north, Daba Mountain in the south, and Xiong'er Mountain in the east. Among them are Wudang Mountain and Jingshan Mountain, which span the three provinces of Shaanxi, Henan and Huguang. The terrain is complex and difficult for the government to control."
"When people go into the mountains, they can avoid food taxes and avoid labor. If the situation is good, no one wants to be a refugee. But if they don't even have enough to eat, homesickness no longer matters. Since the fifth year of Chenghua, Yu Qian, Li Xian and others began to appease the refugees and resettled them in Nanyang. More than 100,000 refugees were re-registered in the yellow list at one time, most of them came from We, the people of Xiangyang and Jingzhou, have not solved the root problem, not because they are incompetent, but because they have never been to this place."
"It is the biggest sin to let the people become refugees. Therefore, the prefect's yamen and the Huguang Chief Envoy are under strict supervision. Let me give you an idea. It is a serious crime for the people to attack the yamen privately. But if there are officials leading the people We all rushed together, but this official is the only one who is guilty of a serious crime. The common people have no crimes. Are you willing to lead people to rush into the prefect's office and force your prefect to open the treasury immediately and release food to save people? If you are willing, I will help you send this letter to the capital and give it to Yu Qian, so that the people can survive this cold winter safely, and the court can think of countermeasures at the beginning of the new year."
"Lead the people to force the prefect's Yamen to open the government to provide disaster relief. You will definitely be convicted of a serious crime afterwards. Do you dare..."
After Zhu Zhanzhen finished speaking, he just looked at Zhao Huaian, waiting for his answer.
After a pause, Zhao Huaian said: "For the sake of the people, I, Zhao Huaian, was sent to prison to bear the responsibility for his crimes."
After Zhu Zhanzhen heard this, he chuckled softly: "I heard two Taoist priests say something like this. One asked: Scholar Hanchuang has been studying hard for ten years. Why? The other replied: "Please get it." I wanted to serve the imperial court with my fame, but the first Taoist priest smiled bitterly and shook his head and said: I am a high-ranking official, well-paid, and have a beautiful wife and concubine. At first, I thought what the first Taoist priest said was right. But when I saw you, I felt that what the two Taoist priests said was wrong. Absolutely."
When Zhao Huaian was about to speak, two old women rushed into the restaurant with two little girls. They knelt down when they came up and said: "Good-hearted gentlemen, the girls are so hungry that they can't stand it anymore. How can any kind-hearted person I can give you a bowl of rice.”
At this time, a kid from a rich family sighed heavily, then looked at his friend next to him and said: "I am a kind-hearted person who has been soft-hearted and kind since I was a child. I can't bear to see these things. Waiter, get these people out quickly. I It’s uncomfortable to watch.”
Whether it was the store owner, Zhao Huaian, or even Prince Xiang, they were all stunned when they heard what this rich kid said. There was such a shameless person.
When the waiter heard this, he could only go to the old woman's side and try to drive them out.
And Zhao Huaian stood up at this time: "Waiter, make them two bowls of noodles, and I'll pay the bill."
As soon as Zhao Huaian finished these words, the people who had been hiding at the door of the store rushed in...
Both the shopkeeper and the waiter in the store hurried to the door, trying to stop these old, weak, women and children kneeling on the ground.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Huaian looked a little helpless. He didn't have so much money.
"Have you seen it? If you lead the people to attack the government office tomorrow, the situation may be beyond your control. Do you still dare?" Zhu Zhanyi said at this time.
"dare."
"Okay, let's go. I'll handle the matters here for you." King Xiang said, and called the shopkeeper. The guard behind him took out two gold nuggets and placed them on the table.
"Make everything you have and give it to these people to eat."
The shopkeeper looked at the two big gold nuggets and felt happy in his heart. He did not want to stop them and allowed hundreds of people on the street to enter the restaurant.
But the rich kid who had just softened his heart really couldn't bear to see the miserable situation in the world, so he paid the money and left.
Zhao Huaian left Xiangyang City with a heavy heart and rushed back to Yicheng overnight to organize things for tomorrow.
Xiangyang is subordinate to six counties and prefectures, Yicheng, Nanzhang, Zaoyang, Gucheng, Guanghua and Junzhou, and Zhao Huaian is the county magistrate of Yicheng.
Biquge
