Zhu Shiyang's face was gloomy. I heard Lu Wenyuan say again: "The matter is very coincidental, in recent days, there have been a lot of silver taels with the word 'relief' at the bottom of the city in Beijing. Master Fu, I'll leave this paragraph to you. ”

Fu Qian responded and clapped his hands, and two people dressed as domestic slaves rushed in from outside the hall and placed a package that looked heavy in the open space in the center of the hall. Fu Qian said: "These days, the minister deliberately checked and found that the disaster silver that appeared in the market in Beijing was originally from some inns in Beijing. In order to confirm this, the minister instructed the house slaves to secretly exchange the normal silver taels for huàn, which the minister's house slaves exchanged from various inns. ”

As he spoke, he stepped forward to open the package, only to see a pile of silver in it, some of which were still intact silver ingots, some of which had been shattered, and the bottom of each of them was engraved with a shallow word 'relief', which could not be seen clearly if he did not look carefully. The imperial eunuch stepped forward to take a few and presented them to Zhu Shiyang, and the ministers also gathered around to watch. Zhu Shiyang asked, "How did the disaster relief silver I sent to Shanxi flow out of the inn in Beijing?" ”

Fu Qian said: "The emperor's ministers have also had questions, so I asked Lord Zhao to use his power to visit these inns one by one, and found a common denominator. ”

Zhu Shiyang had already aroused his interest, and hurriedly asked, "What do you have in common?" ”

Fu Qian said: "These inns all belong to the same person, that is, Master Fan Zhefu Fan, a cabinet scholar. ”

As soon as these words came out, there was a whisper in the hall, but it was not because of surprise, but because it was suddenly realized, just because it was no secret that Fan Zhefu was doing business in private, and everyone knew about it except for Zhu Shiyang.

Fu Qian signaled to Zhao Yongning, and Zhao Yongning stepped out, took out a stack of square papers from his arms and said: "This is the contract that the minister asked for from various inns, and there are signatures of the innkeeper and Lord Fan on it, which is enough to prove the relationship between Lord Fan and these inns." ”

The imperial eunuch took the contract from Zhao Yongning and presented it to Zhu Shiyang, who frowned and looked through them one by one. Lu Wenyuan said: "Not to mention that Lord Fan ignored the ban of the imperial court and went into business privately. Just by the fact that the disaster silver flowed out of Lord Fan's inn, it can be seen that Lord Fan has an indisputable relationship with the disaster silver. Only then did the minister dare to speculate that this batch of disaster relief silver was jointly embezzled by Chen Jincheng and Fan Zhefu. ”

Chen Jincheng had already softened into a puddle underground, but Fan Zhefu still argued to himself: "Why do you say that these disaster silver flows out of my inn? Maybe you collected it from somewhere else, just to blame me. ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Don't argue, adults. If the emperor is really not at ease, he can send someone to search the inn on the contract, and he will definitely be able to find the disaster silver that has not yet been spent. Also, Master Fan must have recently discovered that there was a mark on the disaster silver, right? The amount of this batch of embezzled disaster silver is not small, and it should be difficult to sell in a short period of time, so the emperor might as well send someone to search Lord Fan's mansion again, maybe there are still left. ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "Then go and search." Fan Zhefu, this time I will convince you to lose. ”

The two search teams immediately set off for a temporary rest. About an hour later, the two search teams returned one after another, and sure enough, they found unspent disaster silver in the inn, and a pile of disaster silver was also found in the silver vault of Fan Zhefu's house, about 700,000 taels.

Zhu Shiyang sneered: "The matter has come to this, what else does Master Fan have to say?" ”

Fan Zhefu was already disheartened, and said dumbfoundedly: "The minister has nothing to say. ”

Zhu Shiyang then said: "Fan Zhefu, a scholar of the Cabinet University, and Chen Jiancheng, the prefect of Taiyuan, embezzled two pieces of disaster relief money and lied about the disaster, which caused the disaster in Shanxi to aggravate and the people suffered deeply. Retreat. ”

The imperial eunuch was just about to shout, but Lu Wenyuan interrupted him first: "Your Majesty, now that Fan Zhefu is in prison, the cabinet is empty, and no one is presiding over the affairs of the court, it is not a long-term plan after all. The case of Yan Yong's edict has been lacking in physical evidence, and the case has not been decided for a long time, so the emperor may wish to temporarily reinstate Yan Yong's official position and order him to preside over the government. ”

Zhu Shiyang thought about it for a while, and finally said, "Quasi-play." ”

Fan Zhefu was overthrown, and everyone in the court and China did not dare to relax, just because the disaster in Shanxi was imminent, and it was really time to unite the efforts of all people to turn the tide. Yan Yong changed out of his prison uniform and went to the cabinet to sort out the recitals that Fan Zhefu had pressed down in order to have a deeper understanding of the disaster.

After Lu Wenyuan retreated from the court, he was summoned into the harem by Zhu Shiyang to discuss the specific disaster relief plan. The two discussed until midnight without a result. Zhu Shiyang was urged by Gui Xi to wash up, changed his bed clothes and then sat on the couch in front of the window worried, Lu Wenyuan sat at the other end of the kang table and calculated how many silver taels could be allocated in the treasury, and after a long time, he finally spoke up: "Your Majesty, due to the general drought in the country this year, only a small half of the taxes paid by the various prefectures have been collected so far, about one million taels, and there is one million taels in the treasury, plus one million taels copied from Fan Zhefu's house, a total of three .75 million taels of silver. But that's all the numbers, and you can't leave them alone. The head of the household said that at least one million taels of silver in the treasury should not be touched for emergency turnover, so that only 2,750,000 taels could be used. ”

Zhu Shiyang propped his chin and frowned and said: "But now not only Shanxi has been affected, but other surrounding provinces have also been affected by the disaster, and the victims are moving around, and it takes a lot of money to resettle them, these two million 750,000 taels look like a lot, and the surrounding prefectures and counties will share one point, I'm afraid there won't be much." ”

Lu Wenyuan was also worried when he heard this. The two sighed for a while, and Zhu Shiyang suddenly called Gui Xi and said in a low voice: "You go and check how much money is left in my private treasury." ”

Although his voice was low, there were only three people in the room, and it was the middle of the night, and the surroundings were extremely quiet, Lu Wenyuan also supported his ears to hear clearly, and hurriedly stared at Zhu Shiyang with hope. Zhu Shiyang coughed awkwardly and turned his face away from him. After a while, Gui Xi turned back and said: "Your Majesty, the slaves and maids have checked it with the guards, and there are jade treasures in it, and there are one hundred and forty-three thousand six hundred and seventy-five taels of silver. ”

He counted with his fingers, which showed that it was not easy to write down such a complex number, but he forgot to lower his voice, so anxious that Zhu Shiyang smacked his eyes. After finishing speaking, he raised his eyes and found the emperor's abnormality, but it was too late, and Lu Wenyuan had already heard it clearly.

Zhu Shiyang saw Lu Wenyuan's eyes shining at him, and knew that he wanted him to set aside this silver for disaster relief. Zhu Shiyang himself also had this intention, so he asked Gui Xi to go to the vault to check the number. immediately laughed dryly: "Forget about those jade treasures, it's troublesome to exchange them for silver." So I set aside 500,000 taels of cash for disaster relief. ”

Gui Xi hurriedly echoed: "The emperor is wise. Zhu Shiyang was just about to be proud, but he heard Lu Wenyuan say: "Your Majesty, if you have more than two points of disaster relief silver, the vitality of the victims will be one more point, and I hope that the emperor will consider the victims and leave a little more vitality for the victims." ”

It's clear that I don't have enough allocation. Zhu Shiyang was a little unhappy in his heart, but after thinking about it, he usually eats, drinks and has fun, and there is a dozen or two hundred thousand taels that cannot be used up, and now it is an extraordinary period, and it should be a little bit of a Ming Jun, so he said: "Then I will allocate another 300,000 taels, and I can't do more." ”

Gui Xi couldn't wait to kneel and shout "Long live the emperor". Who knew that Lu Wenyuan still had a stern face: "Your Majesty, the victims of the disaster in Shanxi will definitely be grateful for your kindness." A pair of eyes were still staring at Zhu Shiyang hopefully, and they actually wanted him to dial more.

How could Zhu Shiyang not see it, but he couldn't find such a courtier in the whole world, and said in surprise: "I only have one hundred and forty thousand taels, you don't want to force me to use them all for disaster relief, right?" ”

When Lu Wenyuan heard this, his face was overjoyed, and he immediately got up and knelt down and said: "The emperor is wise, and the minister is here to thank the emperor for the millions of victims in Shanxi." Long live the emperor, long live, long live. ”

Zhu Shiyang emptied the small vault without knowing it, and his eyes widened for a while. Gui Xi covered her mouth and snickered. After a while, Zhu Shiyang came back to his senses and sighed as if resigned to his fate: "That's it." It's up to you this time. But in this way, don't I have more than 3,000 taels left? He really wants to become the poorest emperor in history. ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "The emperor was poor himself, but he saved the world." This act will definitely become a beautiful talk written by the historian. For the emperor

Just one million taels bought fame and public opinion, aren't you still satisfied? ”

Zhu Shiyang smiled: "You can speak." ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "In this way, there will be 3.79 million taels of disaster relief silver, although it may not be enough, but it can be dealt with for a while." The rest is just a matter of improvisation. ”

Zhu Shiyang nodded yes. At this time, the time had already passed, and the two of them had agreed on the matter, and they went back to their dormitories to sleep peacefully. Lu Wenyuan was arranged in the side hall next to him, and Gui Xi led him to clean up and wash. Zhu Shiyang lay down for a while, obviously physically and mentally exhausted, but he still couldn't sleep, and after a while, Gui Xi also came back and made a bunk underground to keep vigil. Zhu Shiyang lifted the quilt and got out of bed, startling Gui Xi, thinking that he had woken up the emperor, Zhu Shiyang asked him to stay well, put on his coat, and turned to the side hall to see if Lu Wenyuan was asleep.

Lu Wenyuan didn't sleep either, he was sitting on the bed in his bedclothes, looking down and not knowing what he was thinking. Zhu Shiyang walked to the side of the bed and realized that he hurriedly lifted the quilt and was about to get out of bed and bow down, Zhu Shiyang hurriedly stopped him, sat on the edge of the bed and asked, "Lu Qing hasn't slept so late, what are you thinking?" ”

Lu Wenyuan smiled: "Didn't the emperor sleep too?" ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "I can't sleep. But you, have something on your mind, right? I found out when I was discussing with you today, and I always frowned and smiled absent-mindedly. ”

Seeing that the emperor cared so much about him, Lu Wenyuan's heart warmed, and he bowed his head and said, "The minister really has a heart. ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "Oh? Tell me about it. ”

Lu Wenyuan then said: "The minister has a family member named Lu Ping'an, who used to live with the minister in Fan Zhefu's inn. Later, the minister fell out with Fan Zhefu, and was taken hostage by Fan Zhefu and kept under house arrest in the inn. A few days ago, when the emperor's generals rescued Dongchang, he threatened his ministers that if they talked nonsense to the emperor, they would die safely. If it weren't for the appearance of two assassins, which caused the emperor to pay attention to the disaster in Shanxi, the minister would not dare to talk about it to the emperor. Later, as soon as I left the palace, I went back to the inn to take a look, and the shopkeeper there said that Ping An had already run away by himself, and the minister didn't know whether what he said was true or false, and he didn't know where to look for it, so he was worried all the time. ”

Zhu Shiyang sighed: "This Fan Zhefu is really vicious, and he won't let go of even a servant." But don't worry, maybe he'll run away and be back in a few days. After a pause, he said, "Why don't I send someone to help you find it, what does that Lu Ping'an look like?" ”

Lu Wenyuan thought for a while and said, "Hmm...... Big eyes, high nose, pointed face, a little taller than the minister. ”

Zhu Shiyang said with a smile: "Hearing you say this, it seems that you look pretty good." But it's too featureless.,I'm afraid there are a lot of people who meet.,There's nothing more specific? Like clothes or something. ”

Lu Wenyuan groaned: "Clothes...... He wasn't with him when he fled, so he didn't know what he was wearing, but he usually liked to wear a blue shirt. ”

Zhu Shiyang nodded, and just wanted to ask, but when he heard a noise outside, Gui Xi rushed in in a panic, and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Yan of the cabinet is here, saying that there is an urgent matter......

Before he finished speaking, Yan Yong had already stepped in, knelt down in the hall and said: "Your Majesty, it's not good, just now there was a rush from outside the palace to report that the refugees in Henan broke out in an uprising, and several teams have been assembled into one and are coming towards the capital!" ”