A strong wind blew snowflakes in front of him, and Zhao Zhi shivered. The corners of his blood-blue eyes were unconsciously painful, but his heart was painful. There were only a few young men left in the village, and the entry into the city as Zhao Zhi said was insignificant in the heavy snow.

There are 70,000 households in Jiaoyi County, and the rich county town is already like this, but what about the people in remote places. How should the people in the mountains survive this winter, and there is no news from the heavy snow closing the road. The official watched the lord slowly lower his head, but he didn't know what to do under the natural disaster that led the court.

Stepping on the thick snow, Zhao Zhi made up his mind that he was unwilling to wait for news from the imperial court. In this life, being able to be a county official has come to an end, and it is not easy to be promoted at the age of forty. After a few words of explanation with a few men, Zhao Zhi took the servants away. Leaving fragmentary footprints on the empty land, it seems so lonely.

On the way back to the city, I didn't realize how bad the weather was, and suddenly I stopped and bent down to grab a handful of feathers, which turned out to be a stiff sparrow. The little bird has wings and a cypress, holding its hands and palms are cold. Looking at the round of Chiyang, Zhao Zhi's eyes were red, and the lives still couldn't resist the cold wind.

"What time is it?" he asked. ”

The nearest official clasped his hands in his sleeves and replied, "Lord Hui, today is the third day of the second lunar month. ”

Turning his head to look at the tree that was nearly half buried, "It won't be long before the tree should sprout." Zhao Zhi's expression was even more embarrassed.

Officials led by Wenzhou have received orders from the imperial court, and have even sent soldiers to help rebuild the affected areas. A large amount of supplies were transported from the south, but very few reached the hands of the people. As the chief official of disaster relief, King Qi worked hard to get the power in his hands, and this was the only thing that could compete with the crown prince. The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were staring at the north, and the King of Qi knew very well in his heart that this was the last chance given by his father. If it weren't for the fact that the mother concubine was seriously ill, I'm afraid this opportunity would not have been on the head.

King Qi personally led people to the countryside, and never thought that a heavy snow would become like this. The endless snow hated in his heart why he would press this matter in the first place, and what the prince said in the court was not wrong. The heavy snow is not terrible, but it is the most difficult after the beginning of spring in the hard-hit areas of the three states. The thick layer of snow can happen a lot of unexpected things, and in some places there have been homicides. This matter must be pressed as soon as possible, it is really too many years of calm for the beam.

There were countless cold bones on the way from Taiping City to Wenzhou, and the King of Qi, who had been on the battlefield, also felt cold. These are not warriors, and there is no honor in lying in the cold snow. No one will remember that there is another person in the world, and only the years will be marked in the annals of history. Where did a natural disaster occur that year, just a few words to summarize countless people.

Looking up at the blazing sun, the cold swept through the body. Dressed in brocade clothes, mink fur shivered in the cold snow, and after walking for less than half an hour, he already felt pain in his legs. It is not easy for those people who have spent more than a month in the cold wind to survive, and many officials under the command of King Qi before leaving Taiping did not see disasters, but great benefits under natural disasters. The emperor is most interested in the fact that the Nanjing Arsenal has reduced its expenditures, and the allocation of millions of silver in one go is only preliminary.

There are 500,000 people who can be used for disaster relief, which is actually a lot, although the time in the court is not short, and the king of Qi only found out at this time that leading the army is completely different from governing the people. It is only said that the silver taels allocated from the household department will be peeled off the skin, and the king of Qi has been using this as a means of collecting money since the household department Shangshu was put into service.

It wasn't until midnight that I returned to the camp tent outside Wenzhou, a city in Nuoda was depressed, and the prosperous city had lost its original prosperity. King Qi was most surprised that the first meeting of the Wenzhou Assassin was not only not to discuss disaster relief, but the whereabouts of the disaster silver. I didn't expect the officials outside Taiping City to be so greedy, not to mention disaster relief, I'm afraid that the people of Yizhou will not have a way to live.

In one day, the Wenzhou assassin was dismissed from his post and investigated, and a large number of corrupt officials were involved. At the suggestion of the subordinate officials of the King of Qi, he had to suppress the matter, and these officials were still needed to deal with the matter under the natural disaster.

The prince in Taiping City was so distraught that he was unable to take out the treasury silver for disaster relief at three court meetings in a row. I never thought that the dignified beams would now have no power for disaster relief, and the treasury would be full in the account books of the household department. When it came time to use the money, he couldn't come up with it, and it was so restrained that it had only been less than a year since the establishment of the arsenal began.

Zhou Heng ripped the archives that recorded the ten-day year for days, and he didn't know if he didn't look at it. Since the eighteenth year of Qinghe, the household department has used Daliang money a total of seventeen times, one of which is Lin Xie's expedition to Southern Chu. The palace was built twice, the river was modified four times, the water war was launched twice, and the enemy was resisted in the north once. In particular, there are two water wars with Eastern Wu in the account books of King Qi, especially the seven vague records are inseparable from the Hubu Shangshu.

Although there are not many transfers, there are millions of taels, except for a few plank roads that are not big projects, there is one place that I don't think about. aroused Zhou Heng's concern, and he didn't dare to imagine how much treasury silver Hubu Shangshu had used his authority over the years. Especially in the Nanjing Arsenal, the soldiers are not in and out. Although the difference is not the same, it adds up to a lot of money.

Looking at Zhou Heng's big head, the prince rushed to compile the seventeen entries and exits into a book.

Anxiously pushed open the door, and a kind of account room headed by Zhou Heng immediately bowed his head to meet His Royal Highness the Prince. The prince looked at the messy wings, it was not that this group of henchmen was not rigorous. The account books dispatched from the household department are really terrifying, how can they care about neatness.

The prince saw everyone's expressions and said, "Zhou Heng left you to go out first." "The tone is extremely bad.

Seeing everyone retreat, Zhou Heng gently thought about closing the door and took out the account book from his arms. Referring to the prince's hand, he said: "Your Highness, do you know how much silver there is in the court in the eighteenth year of Qinghe. "The expression is extremely serious.

I have never seen the first strategist Zhou Heng look so strict, Zhou Heng has been an official in the court for so many years, but he is one of the people the prince can't live without. Every move of King Qi seems to be able to see through in advance, if it weren't for the emperor's preference for King Qi, the crown prince has been hiding clumsy, how can Zhou Heng have his current status with King Qi.

Gently flipping through a few pages with a solemn expression, the data on it is unimaginable. I can't imagine how much of the one million taels can be used for disaster relief this time, maybe King Qi won't do that. As long as everything has a beginning, it is not a person who can stop it, and it is often difficult to turn things around under operation, especially to make one thing a habit.

Zhou Heng said directly: "The loss of the treasury in three years has been as high as five million taels, which is still a preliminary calculation. Qinghe was not counted eighteen years ago, so it seems that there are so many large accounts with huge expenditures, and if you calculate many places, I am afraid it will not be less than 10 million taels. ”

He casually threw the account book on the desk, with great anger in his eyes. The four-year forbearance has such a deficit, and every expenditure recorded above is not detailed. If it weren't for seeing this account book, I wouldn't have imagined that those people would have such boldness, just saying that the disaster relief money had not yet left Taiping City, and half of it had been reduced. No wonder the prison began, and the Nanjing Arsenal wrote to the imperial court to ask for silver this time. I have always felt that the eight arsenals consume a lot, and it is a matter of my father's heart to build them in one day.

The prince said: "The household department is so bold, and the ministry sings and is greedy. ”

Zhou Heng said: "Your Highness, I'm afraid it's not so simple at this time, just a few people in Taiping City can't swallow so much silver." I am afraid that there are not a few people involved in the corruption case, and this matter needs a beginning. Your Majesty may not be unaware, and he has been conniving and thinking about it, and he doesn't dare to settle this matter easily. ”

As he spoke, he took out a pamphlet from his bosom, on which the names of officials were mostly recorded. There are hundreds of officials, big and small, and their promotions from official positions are vividly in my mind. The most surprising thing for the prince was an inconspicuous name in the middle, Li Shanhai.

Seeing this person's name, the crown prince looked shocked, and the king of Jin did something before the domain. Not only beating Li Shanhai's son-in-law Li Changhe, but as the vassal king and Liu Zhixing, the four of them broke into the mansion of the country. The emperor only punished him slightly, and Li Shanhai was still able to calm down and not return to peace. The crown prince has lingering palpitations about Li Shanhai, and it can be said that he was the only one who was promoted from earl to duke by virtue of military merits in the Qinghe Dynasty. Mastering the 70,000 naval divisions in the southeast is the only naval governor of Daliang, if the water war is inseparable from Li Shanhai.

Over the years, Li Shanhai has been one of the few threats outside the four major clans, and he has been dispatched many times, but he has not been able to return to Beijing because of the general's military orders, or the military affairs are heavy. Over the past few years, he has stuck to the border and returned to Beijing less than a few times to report on his work. The crown prince once doubted whether Li Shanhai had an unusual relationship with the Li family, but Li Shanhai was not born with the Li family from the genealogy. Seeing the names on the roster couldn't help but make the prince think of a terrible thing, the relationship between Li Shanhai and King Qi.

The crown prince was about to speak, but Zhou Heng immediately interrupted: "Your Highness will definitely have questions when he sees Li Shanhai on the roster, and he will investigate during this time." In addition to the water war being paid by the Ministry of War, Li Shanhai did not have anything to do with the King of Qi, and these two times were done by the former Secretary of the Ministry of War, and they were not counted on the head of the King of Qi. ”

Continuing to look at the roster made the prince even more afraid, he couldn't imagine that King Qi had such a huge force in just six years. said: "At this time, it needs to be investigated, especially greed must be banned." Now Daliang is an eventful season, and there is no room for so many moths. This booklet was taken away from the palace, and the rest of the matter was investigated as soon as possible, and everything was prepared before the king of Qi returned to Beijing. It's time to fight back, the palace has been silent for too long, making many people forget that the palace is still the prince of the Great Liang. ”

Zhou Heng said rigorously: "Your Highness must cut off King Qi's right-hand man this time, and the household department can't go down step by step." At the right time, some people can be replaced, but it is not yet that time, and His Highness now lacks an opportunity to turn the situation around. ”

Over the years, Zhou Heng has only stopped many of King Qi's small methods, and the prince saw that Zhou Heng was a great talent, but he had never done anything important. He asked, "Where is the opportunity for you?" ”

Raised his head and replied directly without thinking: "This year's imperial examination, no matter whether the King of Qi can deal with the snow disaster in the north or not, the corrupt officials will definitely have great changes, so there will be many vacant positions, and the scholars who have just entered the court may not be enough to hold important official positions, but these people have a chance, don't look at the small official positions, but the new officials are not good, this is a disadvantage and an advantage, with these people will be more rigorous than the old officials, and I can't see how big the situation is. ”

The prince did not reply or deny it in his heart, but it was Li Shanhai's appearance that made the prince jealous. Just looking at the roster, Zhou Heng said slowly on the side.

In the cold winter, no one cared about the tragic situation of corpses and bones under the heavy snow in the north, and there was already a situation of peasant resistance in various parts of Wenzhou.