Give you a spring

The carriage drove smoothly into the city. Although the sun was not high at Sishi, it was already very bright.

Ping Wei completely opened the curtain, poked his head out, and had a panoramic view of the bustling scene around him.

I have heard about the splendor of this capital city before, but many things I heard are not as good as what I saw with my own eyes today—the hawkers on the street, the open shops on the side of the road, the small restaurants randomly opened on the side, the crowds are bustling, one after another The cries of hawking all told him that this place was no longer Yu An's misty Jiangnan town, but the first capital of Daqi and the place where the emperor lived.

Guan Yue, who was leading the way, reined in the horse rope, turned around to the left side of the carriage, turned his head and looked at Ping Wei, "I heard that Your Highness has been living in Yu'an Town before?"

"Yes, Yu'an is in the south, the climate is humid, and there are very few residents in the town. After living for a long time, you can get to know each family. We don't have much after-dinner entertainment on weekdays, and only have some big events during festivals. It's completely different from Linjing. .”

"Then it may take about ten days for His Highness to adapt to the environment here."

"Is it so long?" Ping Wei had been looking at a small stall selling wonton stew on the side of the road before, and after hearing the words, he paused for a while, his eyes fell on him, and he said in an unclear way, "I hope it will take so long for me me."

"Mm," Guan Yue heard his voice-over, and replied in a calm manner.

At this time, the carriage passed a teahouse called Yuzhai—it was the place where Lao Zhao was a storyteller.

Pingwei has practiced martial arts since he was a child, and although the storytelling place is on the second floor, he still has some ear power.

I don't know if it was a coincidence or what, but the story about his second brother Xie Lianzheng who went to the south of Hunan for disaster relief happened to be mentioned above.

"The flood happened in late autumn and October, and the temperature was very low near winter. The two droughts were resolved only a few months ago, and the treasury was empty. There are rumors that the second prince went to southern Hunan at that time, and he brought only 50 taels of silver."

"50 taels is quite a lot, isn't it?" The common people only earn five taels after a month of hard work. Some people compared that much money with their own monthly income and murmured to themselves.

Old Zhao glanced at the man, "It sounds like a lot, but there are 30 people in southern Hunan, and the imperial court has distributed 50 taels of silver. After the hands of many officials, everyone pumped some oil and water. How much is left in the disaster-stricken place? Not to mention that the 30 people will get some."

"In addition to silver, there is food, why not enough?"

"Do you think this is distributed equally?" Old Zhao twitched the corner of his mouth, as if laughing at the man's innocence. "The food goes through the hands of the rich first, and then goes to the ordinary people when they have almost got it. The location in southern Hunan In the northernmost part of Daqi, it takes at least half a month to get there from Linjing. Even if the disaster was reported to the capital as soon as it happened, it would take more than a month to come and go. Those victims lost their houses and crops and were so hungry No, how can such a little rice be enough to appease you? So—” He paused, “Not long after the second prince arrived in southern Hunan, there was a riot.”

"what?"

"Yes, maybe someone deliberately incited it. Anyway, on the fifth day after the Second Prince arrived in Shonan, the house where he lived was burned down."

Someone among the audience exclaimed, "What next? What will the second prince do?"

"The house was burned down for no reason, so naturally they were suppressed by force," Lao Zhao sighed, "In three days, the second prince led the local officers and soldiers to kill more than 100 mobs."

"Such a big event, why does it seem like I've never heard of it?" Someone asked in half doubt and half disbelief.

"Is this something good that deserves to be publicized?" Ping Wei underneath couldn't laugh or cry - Xie Lianzheng is not stupid, if it spreads out, it will lose the public's support, is it okay?

Guan Yue looked at him and asked, "If it were His Highness, what would you do?"

"Huh?" The prince looked at the person above him with inquiring eyes, "I will make the same decision as him."

"Ordinary people, unless they encounter something, they will keep their duty. They are not forced to a dead end, and they will not choose to tear themselves apart with the government. They know that they are not strong enough, and they will be suppressed soon after they start a disturbance, but they still Hitting a stone with a pebble proves that there is no way out, so those who can become a mob are all lunatics who have lost their minds."

"But it's different from what the storyteller said. In my opinion, the riot didn't happen after the second prince arrived. There was already a small-scale riot before he left, but it's not bad. Going to Xiangnan for disaster relief, For Xie Lianzheng, it was an opportunity, and the refugee riot was more like an accident where he could express himself more in front of Emperor Chong.”

"Everything is ready, he just needs to suppress their reasons."

Ping Wei raised his eyelids and glanced at the people above, Guan Yue didn't say anything, so he said, "The mob didn't have the guts to burn down the second prince's residence, at most it was a threat, but I guess my second brother must think so The reason for sending troops is not enough, so I let people..."

Some things need not be said too much, Ping Wei leaned in the car, watching Guan Yue's reaction.

Guan Yue listened to what he said word for word, and asked, "How did Your Highness know about this?"

How could a person who lived in a small border town be so well informed?

"It's just a guess," Ping Wei said vaguely, as if he couldn't see the suspicion in his eyes.

Guan Yue didn't bother anymore.

The two of them couldn't hear the story after that, the carriage didn't stop deliberately, and after turning right into another street, no matter how good their ears were, they couldn't catch the slightest bit.

Guan Yue rode his horse to the front and told the driver the general route, at first he didn't know how to address him, but fortunately Ping Wei poked his head out and said his name was He Zhou, so it wasn't so embarrassing.

"When I was 12 years old, I picked him up once when I went out. It was snowing heavily, and I saw a child curled up in a garbage dump, with few clothes on. He was almost unconscious from the cold. I felt sorry for him. I took him home and raised him."

Ping Wei sat back in the car and told Guan Yue about the process of meeting He Zhou, Guan Yue was a little confused, going out to a snowy place?He always thought that His Highness had stayed in Yu'an for more than [-] years, so it seemed that he had gone out halfway, perhaps more than once?

He glanced at the prince who seemed easy to get along with without any trace, even though he was full of doubts, Guan Yue's face did not show the slightest.During the silence, he saw He Zhou wearing a hat again, and asked curiously, "Your Highness, why does he keep wearing a hat?"

"Ah..." Ping Wei dragged out the ending, and smiled, "Why don't you go and ask yourself?"

Guan Yue didn't dare, just now he went to the front and told He Zhou about the location of the other courtyard, but the other party's attitude was cold and he didn't say anything, his eyes looked over without any emotion, it was very scary.

Seeing that he was silent, Ping Wei asked again, "Do you know that storyteller?"

"His surname is Zhao. He seems to be a scholar who came to Beijing to take the exam. He has been storytelling in Yuzhai Tea House for seven or eight years and has accumulated a lot of listeners. What's wrong?"

"No," Ping Wei said, "What kind of stories does he usually tell?"

Guan Yue usually doesn't have the time to listen to books, but before a colleague from the Ministry of Industry mentioned this storyteller, after thinking about it for a while, he said uncertainly, "It seems that they are all stories from history books? Speaking of which, today he actually Can talk about the affairs of the court, quite..." The voice stopped abruptly, Guan Yue's eyes flashed, and he looked at Pingwei suddenly alertly, "Your Highness?"

"That gentleman is very good at taking time. He never talks about the affairs of the palace. Today, when I first arrived in Linjing, I will tell his audience about the struggle between the two princes for power." Strangely, his tone was still calm, but Guan Yue's face sank, "I'll check his details later."

"Yeah," Ping Wei responded lightly.