The oil bottle of the Red Chamber

In the summer of Yongjia's 46th year, it seemed that even God was regretting the death of this heroine of the female high school. This summer was full of rain.It rained continuously for many days, which made some flattering and courtiers in the court sing their praises, and one after another wrote a book linking the death of the empress dowager with such a celestial phenomenon.Even though the sage is incomprehensible in grief, he is also a wise and virtuous king, and he does not comment on the words of these red-mouthed and white-toothed monsters.It was the first time I thought of the flood.It is necessary to issue an order to urge the local officials of the state capitals to repair the river embankments and clean up the river courses, so as not to let the river courses block the embankment breaches and ruin the good livelihood of the people.

With this decree, it is inevitable that courtiers will praise today's benevolent government and love for the people.But the ordinary people who are far away from the temple, throwing food in the soil every day, are more worried than the high-ranking elders.

Originally, there was frequent rain in summer, and it was a common sight for heavy rain to pour down the sky and block out the sun.But it is rare to see the sun without seeing the sun for more than half a month like this year.Seeing the weather like this, the experienced old farmers began to feel bitter in their mouths. They were afraid that the year would be bad and they would encounter floods. At that time, let alone waiting for the tax to be collected, it would be their own food that they used to grow for the year. I'm afraid it's not enough.No matter how difficult it is, the hard life of selling children and daughters in order to survive is not unheard of.

Ordinary people who are familiar with Jiaxuan may not understand the main principles, but they know that sitting on the kang and worrying about the world is of no avail. A few are better than crops that have been soaked and ruined.

Work diligently and plan ahead.

However, many people do not understand such a simple truth.At least the river governors in Henan, Hebei, Anhui and other places don't understand.Until the Yellow River burst and flooded the states along the river, the sad news that hundreds of thousands of victims were displaced reached the capital, and it was sent to the sage's imperial court along with the local censor's impeachment of the officials of the two rivers for colluding with the governor of the river for corrupting ink for 280 million taels of river repair funds. On the case, the sage Longyan was furious, and when he ordered a thorough investigation, these people hurriedly searched for ways and favors.In order to conceal the matter from the past——

"...How to hide it? Now the impeachment of officials from the two rivers for colluding with the governor of the river for embezzlement of ink money is on the holy man's case. The news that the Yellow River burst and hundreds of thousands of disaster victims in the states along the river have been displaced. If this happened in an ordinary season, I am afraid there is still some cover-up, but it happened to catch up with the empress dowager. After the sage sympathized with the people and ordered officials from all over the country to repair the embankment. It can be seen that they not only deceived the sage for money, but also It's even more disrespectful. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only announced in front of His Majesty a few days ago that he intends to guard the Empress Dowager for three years, but now he has plunged into this muddy water. I'm afraid those people have seen it, and some have said .”

In the outer study of the East Palace, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and a group of confidants are all having secret talks in the outer study.The topic of discussion is that a few days ago, Babaili urgently reported that the officials of the two rivers had colluded with the governor of the river to embezzle money for the construction of the river, so that the embankment fell into disrepair after years, and the heavy rain burst the embankment and flooded the people's fields.

Because most of the Liangjiang officials were under the prince's family, Lu Huanzhang, the governor of the river, was also recommended by His Royal Highness the prince.Now that everyone has made such a big omission, and the crown prince, as the prince of the country, has such a relationship with everyone, this meeting is inevitable.The lesser ones were his negligence, and the more serious ones were the Third Prince, who almost didn't point out in front of the saint that he was the chief culprit for embezzlement of money and silver, which caused the dilapidated river embankment to overflow.Even those little princes with inexplicable attitudes also took the opportunity to add insult to injury, and reminded the present prince overtly and secretly of the generous tribute that those disciples of the current prince often offer during the three festivals and two birthdays in order to please the prince—

If this matter is normal in normal times, it becomes more and more obvious that His Highness the Crown Prince is inseparable from the embezzlement of ink wages by officials from Liangjiang.

As the saying goes, three people become tigers, even if the saint has great respect and trust in His Royal Highness, seeing this bad debt, he can't deceive himself that this matter has nothing to do with the prince.

Since the crown prince is the crown prince of the country, Emperor Yongjia never warned and reprimanded him in front of others for the sake of the crown prince's face.However, after the court meeting was over, he still declared the prince into the Palace of Qinzheng and scolded him bloody.If it hadn't been for His Highness the Crown Prince's act of benevolence and filial piety for the Empress Dowager for three years with the rites of ordinary people when the Empress Dowager was driving away, which aroused the feelings of a loving father today, I am afraid that under the fury of Long Yan, The situation of His Royal Highness will be even more embarrassing.

However, even the sage does not want to publicly pursue His Royal Highness for the crime of negligence in this matter (or it is more serious than the crime of negligence).But I also have to admit that His Royal Highness was disgraced by this incident, which not only wiped out the good reputation brought by the previous acts of purity and filial piety for the country and the people, but more dangerously, because of this incident, he almost lost his reputation. holy family.

The latter is what scares the prince the most.That's why after leaving the Palace of Qinzheng, he immediately summoned his confidants to discuss how to deal with this matter.

The person who spoke just now was the prince's accompanying student, Zhao Yin. Because of the saint's attitude, he did not agree with His Highness the prince's mediation and cover-up for this matter.I hate those foreign officials who are dull and greedy, not only can't help the crown prince, share the crown prince's worries, but poke such a big basket to implicate the crown prince.Now they are still trying to get the prince to stand up and deal with this matter for them.Wouldn't it make the prince fall deeper and deeper?

His Royal Highness heard Zhao Yin's words, but his thick eyebrows were furrowed, and he didn't say a word.

Seeing this situation, Shi Rong, the prince's nanny brother, had no choice but to take a step forward, and said in his mouth: "Master Zhao's words are very true. However, the officials of Liangjiang and the Governor of Hedao are all subordinates of the prince. If the prince stands by at this time, let alone the prince will Therefore, to bear the crime of negligence, let the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty think that the prince has no ability to understand people... I am afraid that it will also chill the hearts of the people below."

It should be known that Liangjiang officials are only part of the prince's family.If something happened to this group of people and the prince stood by and watched, what would other people think.After all, everyone is loyal to the prince, and they don't want the prince to be cold-hearted and disregarding the life and death of the people below.

As soon as this remark came out, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, without answering.

His Royal Highness looked at everyone, you looked at me, I looked at you, no one could think of a good way, and felt more and more headache.Stretching out his hand to press the faintly throbbing temple, His Royal Highness glanced at Chen Gui who was standing silently behind everyone, and his heart skipped a beat.Then he opened his mouth to ask Chen Gui for advice.

Chen Gui's official position is humble and his family background is shallow. Although he was favored by the prince before, he was fortunate to be accompanied by the East Palace.But most of them met alone with His Royal Highness, and what they talked about were all anecdotes and unimportant things.It was the first time that he was able to participate in a secret meeting of this size as a counselor, and this was the result of Chen Gui's admonition to His Highness the "double-entry bookkeeping method" and "maintaining honest money".

All the ministers present here also knew that although Chen Gui was not very proficient in writing and learning, he was indeed quite talented in practice.Seeing His Royal Highness asking such questions, they all looked over at the same time.

Chen Gui just silently listened to the discussions of the ministers. He was originally a smooth and thoughtful person, and he was the least willing to offend anyone in his words and deeds.At this time, I learned the cause and effect of the Yellow River's embankment breach, but I felt a little angry in my heart.

The sage said that a gentleman loves money and gets it in a proper way, and there is another old saying that being an official for thousands of miles is only for money.

It's not that being an official cannot be greedy, but that one has to distinguish between the serious and the serious. Chen Gui claims that he can't do such a morally damaging thing like displacing millions of disaster victims for his own selfish desires.It's just that such measures not only mean greed, but also stupidity.

Being an official is not afraid of greed, but of being stupid.Corrupt officials also have capable ministers and officials, so that the people under their rule can enjoy good weather and keep their doors open at night.But stupid officials are going to harm others and themselves.What's even more absurd is that there are such a class of stupid people nowadays who don't even know they are stupid, but want to pretend to be smart and hurt others...

Chen Gui raised his eyes to look at the crown prince and the other ministers, cupped his hands and said, "Dare to ask His Royal Highness, the government and the public know about this matter already publicized. Even if His Royal Highness takes action, can you be sure to cover it up?"

Of course not, otherwise the crown prince and the ministers would not be so embarrassed.

Seeing this, Chen Gui smiled and said: "That's it. Even if the crown prince takes action, he can't turn big things into small things, and small things into nothing. On the contrary, there will be a risk of getting caught in the mud and angering Long Yan. That being the case, Why does His Royal Highness need to act?"

"That is to say, if the prince is indifferent, how can he explain to the courtiers who support the prince? I am afraid that the third prince will even provoke him because of this—"

"I'm afraid the third prince will be happier if His Highness the Crown Prince takes action. At that time, it will not be to provoke the relationship between the Crown Prince and the courtiers. At that time, just find a copy of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the evidence will be conclusive. I don't know What a big reason, I only know what makes the opponent happy, and I will never do it."

Chen Gui interrupted Shi Rong with a smile, cupped his hands and said to the crown prince: "My minister said something preposterous again. The Yellow River flooded and diverted to ruin people's livelihood. It happened in all dynasties, not only our dynasty, nor this year. This is God's will. It cannot be changed by manpower. It is not because some people corrupted ink and silver this year and caused the dike to break in disrepair. If this group of people is arrested and killed, the same thing will never happen again in the future. What's more, this matter is already confirmed, even if it is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has the heart to make up for the omissions, so we should start by helping the victims and restoring people's livelihood, instead of doing futile work."

"...The sage manages the country, the country, and knows the sufferings of the people. This is the virtue of the sage's generosity and benevolence. His Royal Highness is the heir of the country, and he has been taught by the sage. He should uphold integrity. Today, the censor impeached the officials of the two rivers for colluding with the governor of the river for corrupting ink workers. Most of them are followers of His Royal Highness, and Lu Huanzhang, governor of the river, was also recommended by His Royal Highness. In order to avoid suspicion, the Prince should just say three things and let others investigate the matter thoroughly. As for the result of the investigation, it turned out that Liangjiang officials were indeed corrupt. Although the crown prince is not involved in it, there are still some people who try to implicate His Highness the crown prince with this matter, it depends on what the sage thinks."

After hearing Chen Gui's words, everyone became more and more confused.Shi Rong couldn't help asking: "Are you telling His Highness the Crown Prince to do nothing?"

Chen Gui smiled slightly, and continued: "His Royal Highness, to avoid suspicion, it is not good to get involved in it personally. Instead, you can recommend His Highness Sixth Prince to the sage to investigate this matter thoroughly. His Royal Highness Sixth Prince is upright, impartial, and has a high status. He has nothing to do with anyone else. It is most appropriate for him to come forward to help the victims and thoroughly investigate this matter."

It is also the most suitable for accumulating grievances.

Everyone didn't know the temperament of the sixth prince, and after hearing what Chen Gui said, they became more and more anxious.I'm afraid that if the sixth prince, who is a man who is not recognized by his relatives when he is on a business trip, dies, he will not only turn his back on his back, but also lose most of the confidantes His Royal Highness has cultivated with great difficulty.

Shi Rong was anxious and angry, and without waiting for Chen Gui's explanation, he yelled that Chen Gui had bad intentions, must have benefited from the third prince, and deliberately came to tear down His Highness the crown prince.

Chen Gui was not in a hurry, and only said to His Royal Highness, "Your Highness thinks that if the Holy Inquisition decides, who will the Saint choose as the imperial envoy to handle this matter?"

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince calmed down and thought about it, and had to admit that Chen Gui's opinion was right.Even if he didn't open his mouth to recommend the sixth prince, he was afraid that his father would appoint the sixth prince as an imperial envoy to handle the matter under consideration.Since this is the case, it would be better for him to speak before his father. In this way, he can not only show that he is fair and upright, but also show his own understanding of people.only……

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince frowned, still a bit reluctant to part with the people from Liangjiang.

Chen Gui has been with His Highness the Crown Prince for several years, so he naturally knows that His Highness the Crown Prince is a little indecisive and undecided whenever it is critical.He had no choice but to say: "His Royal Highness is the crown prince of the country, and he is ordered by the saint to supervise state affairs and deal with the affairs of the state. If I say something preposterously, His Royal Highness is the crown prince for one day, and all the civil and military affairs of the whole dynasty are under the crown prince's sect. In this case, His Royal Highness Why is it necessary to divide the ministers of a dynasty so clearly. Instead, the ministers think that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is..."

When Chen Gui said this, he glanced at everyone lightly, lowered his voice and said, "A little profit can win over people who please you."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the room was shocked.The prince looked at Chen Gui in horror, as if he had been hit on the head.