Chapter 332 Flood
Liu Zhengqing was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Your Majesty's words are very reasonable. I have learned your lesson."
He had no way to refute Zhao Xing's point of view. He couldn't say that scholars and officials shouldn't reflect on themselves and punish themselves.
"But we are not here to discuss this with Your Majesty today. The suggestions made by the scholars may be inappropriate, and Your Majesty should be humble and not bother with them. The scholars have studied hard for many years, and as the imperial examination is approaching, Your Majesty has taken away their fame and put them in prison. Doing so will not only ruin them, but will also dishearten the scholars of the world." Liu Zhengqing said.
"You are wrong, Censor Liu."
Zhao Xing shook his head and said, "The court is open to all opinions. The court has set up the Dengwen Drum Office. There are Dengwen drums in many places in Bianjing City. Scholars are not without channels to make suggestions. If they want to make suggestions, they should beat the Dengwen drum and go through the Dengwen Drum Office. How can they go through such an extreme method?"
"These scholars, after passing the imperial examination, were to become officials in the imperial court, but they ignored etiquette and rules, obstructed the execution, and blocked the palace gate. The imperial guards at the palace gate had tried to drive them away, but they threatened to see me. If there are assassins among them, and I go out of the palace to see them and get assassinated, will you take responsibility for this?"
"This..." Liu Zhengqing was speechless when he heard it.
They were not afraid that Zhao Xing would not listen to them because they would reason with Zhao Xing.
But Zhao Xing reasoned with them, and his reasoning made a lot of sense, leaving them at a loss as to what to do.
In order to encourage people to express their opinions more freely, Emperor Taizu ordered people to set up drums to report news at important roads in the city of Bianjing.
It was stipulated that any suggestions concerning court affairs, military secrets, public and private interests, or requests for rewards, appeals for grievances, contributions of extraordinary skills, etc., if they could not be reported to the emperor according to the usual practice, could be reported to the emperor by beating the drum.
The Dengwen Drum Court was a department that specifically accepted complaints from people who beat drums, conducted a simple investigation and verification, and then submitted them to the emperor.
Not to mention these scholars, even if those officials wanted to complain to Emperor Zhao Xing in person, they would need to go through Dengwen Drum Court if they were not qualified to attend the morning court.
This is the normal way.
Moreover, Zhao Xing also brought up the idea of assassinating the emperor, which made it even more difficult for them to refute.
"Your Majesty, those scholars did make mistakes, but the law does not hold everyone responsible, nor should everyone be deprived of their honors and fame," said Liu Zhengqing.
"Yes." The others echoed, "Your Majesty is a holy king. How can you be so mean to these people? We beg Your Majesty to restore their honor."
"Absurd!" Zhao Xing said calmly, "I have only heard that princes who break the law are punished the same as common people, and I have never heard of the law not punishing the masses. The number of rebels is even greater, is it possible that they cannot be held accountable? These scholars know the law but break it, which is a heavier crime. Taking away their fame is the least of their crimes. You are all appointed officials of the court, but you say such shallow words. If you spread them out, aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the world?"
"Your Majesty, we were not thoughtful enough on this matter, but it was inappropriate for Your Majesty to reward the family of the criminal official as a reward to the court officials. The criminal official has already received the punishment he deserved, so why does Your Majesty have to humiliate his family like this?" Liu Zhengqing said.
"How have I ever humiliated them? After being trained in the Jiaofang Bureau, they were either used as official prostitutes or rewarded as slaves to meritorious officials. If I rewarded them directly to the officials, they would at least be concubines. They are grateful to me in their hearts and cannot express their gratitude enough." Zhao Xing said lightly.
Zhao Xing finally realized that these people were here to cause trouble for him.
"This..." Liu Zhengqing was speechless by Zhao Xing's twisted logic.
"If there is nothing else, please leave. I still have to consider the earthquake disaster." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
"Your Majesty, please leave!"
Liu Zhengqing and his companions were helpless and could only bow and leave.
They are not afraid of the emperor being unreasonable. Anyway, they are not afraid of death and dare to confront him.
They are not afraid of the emperor's reasoning, because the emperor cannot defeat them.
But when they met someone like Zhao Xing who was able to convince them with reason, they were helpless.
Zhao Xing shook his head. He originally wanted to take advantage of the situation to save Zhu Shiquan's life, but now that such a commotion had happened, it would be difficult to do so in the short term.
But there is no need to rush. We can investigate Zhu Shiquan's matter slowly and some things can be delayed.
It would be good for him to suffer more in prison. Just as he was about to deal with government affairs, a eunuch came in and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Grand Chancellor wants to see you!"
Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard this. How come Han Zhang came back so soon after he left?
"Let him in!" Zhao Xing waved his hand.
"Yes!"
The eunuch retreated, and soon Han Zhang walked in with an anxious look on his face.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
"What happened, sir?" Zhao Xing asked urgently.
He rarely saw anxiety on Han Zhang's face, and he had a bad feeling in his heart.
"Your Majesty! Jiangzhou, Jizhou and other four states have sent urgent reports saying that heavy rains have fallen in the four states for several days and there is a risk of floods." Han Zhang said.
"what?"
Zhao Xing stood up immediately after hearing this, and asked with a grim expression, "What is the situation in the four states now?"
"The water levels of rivers in the four states have risen severely and many villages have been submerged. The four states are rescuing the flooded people. However, when the urgent report was delivered, the heavy rain still continued. It is still unknown what the situation is now." Han Zhang said.
"Asshole, why didn't you report it earlier?" Zhao Xing said angrily.
"Your Majesty, this matter is not the fault of the officials of several states. It was really because the rain fell too quickly and it only lasted for three days. And the important thing now is to arrange disaster relief matters." Han Zhang said.
"What you said is true, my Lord." Zhao Xing calmed down a little and ordered Sanshui to send someone to summon all the ministers to discuss the matter.
"My Lord, the people in the four states are now suffering from the disaster. The most urgent task is to allocate ships and soldiers to rescue the trapped people. The second is the issue of food. How much food is left in the granaries across the Song Dynasty?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Because the Great Wall is being built in the north, food consumption is huge. I don't know the exact number, but according to the emergency report, no less than one million people in the four states are affected. The food in these people's homes is probably flooded, and they need relief from the court. If the heavy rain continues, the number of people affected will increase. More food is needed, and the court's grain reserves are definitely not enough. We need to spend money to buy food." Han Zhang said.
"Then arrange people to purchase grain from various places as soon as possible." Zhao Xing said.
Han Zhang smiled bitterly and said, "But there is not enough money in the treasury, and if the news spreads, the price of food will definitely rise!"
"I will kill anyone who dares to raise the price!" Zhao Xing said coldly, "The court has raised the status of merchants and allowed their descendants to participate in the imperial examinations. If someone dares to make money during the national crisis, don't blame me for being cruel."
"If Your Majesty does this, what will we do if those grain merchants hold on to the grain and refuse to sell it? And even if the price is not raised, the court will not have enough money to buy grain," said Han Zhang.
Zhao Xing pondered for a while and said, "Send someone to buy it first. I have a way to deal with the money."
He had not originally planned to use the method of printing more banknotes right now.
The financial problem of the Song Dynasty today is a huge pit that no amount of money can fill.
He planned to use this method when he needed to launch military operations against Western Xia or Liao in the future and ran out of military funds.
Now it seems that we can't wait that long.
"Yes!" Han Zhang replied.
(End of this chapter)