"Why is Lee Sang-kook standing here?"

A voice came from behind him, and Li Xun turned to look, but it was Tao Kan, who had had several encounters and had left a deep impression on him.

"Brother Jing Cheng just went to Jinyang not long ago, why did he come back at this time?"

Tao Kan word Jingcheng, born in Hedong wealthy family, his family is quite wealthy, is a very famous local rich man, but not an official family, his grandfather Tao Shen has been a few years of thorn history, but to his father's generation, it is cut off the official career, most of them are businessmen to do business.

Tao Kan was smart in his childhood, Qi Wei in appearance, valued and loved by his grandfather Tao Shen, he had been with him until he was eight years old, personally raised and educated, under the influence of his ears, Tao Kan was greatly influenced by his grandfather, and in his early years, his heart was deeply planted with the ambition of governing the country and leveling the world.

Tao Kan entered the official career at the age of twenty-six through the imperial examination, first as an official in the imperial history platform, and was appreciated by Zhao Zhi for his outspoken advice and flexible appointment, so he let the local order be, and then through Sima, Don't Frame, Thorn History, Chizhou Transit Envoy, Hongzhou Observation Envoy, served in the local area for more than ten years, steady and steady, step by step, and finally was transferred back to Fengjing to serve, Zhao Zhi was originally ready to reuse him, but unfortunately a coup d'état changed many people and things, but for Tao Kan, Zhao Xun also heard of it, and he still admired his father's knowledge, Since he can get into the eyes of his father, then this person must not be bad, so soon after Zhao Xun succeeded to the throne, he promoted Tao Kan and let him go to Jinyang Mansion to be the governor of the palace.

It has been less than two months since Tao Kan went to Jinyang to take up his post, and now is not the time to return to Beijing to report on his work.

Tao Kan said: "Hedong and Henan are about to become a pot of porridge, I can't come back!" ”

"It is reported that the recent heavy rain in Hedong has caused frequent floods, and there has been an earthquake in Henan, and many prefectures and counties have been affected.

The riots in Henan have just subsided not long ago, and finally calmed down for a while, but a major earthquake broke out, and the officials below reported to the political affairs hall, saying that there were seven or eight states, more than 20 counties were affected, and more than 30,000 people died in this earthquake, and Heyuan County, the center of the earthquake, was almost razed to the ground, and Hedong, it rained heavily for nearly a month, and the floods began to flood, and the natural disasters that broke out in these two places caused hundreds of people to be displaced and become refugees, and officials from many states and counties reported to the imperial court to explain the situation. and request disaster relief.

The political hall has been discussed for several rounds, and the emperor Zhao Xun also has many inquiries and suggestions, but the matter has dragged on for more than half a month, and there has been no discussion to come up with a reason, Li Xun as a prime minister, has also spoken, he twice made a proposal in front of Zhao Xun, he should immediately order the affected states and counties, Ma to open a warehouse to release grain, relief victims, alleviate the disaster situation, and then the imperial court will raise food and materials in a unified manner, and finally carry out large-scale disaster relief, Zhao Xun has nodded in agreement, but this resolution to the political affairs hall, but it has not been passed.

He Zhongkai, the head of the household department, thought that Fengjing's materials had just been alleviated, that there was not much surplus grain, and that many officials' arrears had not yet been made up, so he rashly transferred a huge amount of grain and materials, and he was afraid that the price of Fengjing's grain and other daily necessities would immediately rise sharply, causing people to feel uneasy, and it was not appropriate to act rashly, so he rejected Li Xun's suggestion.

Tao Kan nodded: "That's exactly what happened." ”

Li Xun asked softly: "Is the disaster in Hedong and Henan really as serious as reported by officials in various places?" ”

"It's not just serious!"

Tao Kan said with a wry smile: "I heard about the situation in Henan, I haven't seen it with my own eyes, so I don't care about it for the time being, as far as Hedong is concerned, several prefectures and counties have been flooded, hundreds of people have been homeless and become refugees, as far as the refugees outside my Jinyang Mansion are concerned, the number has exceeded 200,000, and there are more and more refugees from all over Hedong, Jinyang Mansion is about to be unable to support, I have reported to the imperial court five times in a row, requesting immediate supply of food and materials, and treating the victims, but there has been no news, no way, I can only rush back to Fengjing, Greet the emperor in person, hoping that the emperor can save the people of Hedong with a benevolent heart. ”

"Is the situation as serious as you say? I have read the documents of Jinyang Mansion, but there are not a few victims who died, don't exaggerate, the emperor hates others the most when his term expires for him. ”

Li Xun was a little unconvinced, the newspaper on the Henan side said that the situation was very serious, and it also explained in detail that many people had died, so the disaster in Henan was probably very serious, and the newspaper on the Hedong side, although the situation was also very serious, but the number of refugee deaths reported in the document was not much, which made the ministers of the political hall feel that the disaster in Hedong may not be so serious, and it was the local officials who deliberately wrote down the disaster situation in the newspaper book.

Tao Kan shook his head and sighed: "The reason why so many people did not die in Hedong is because as early as half a month ago, I had ordered the four prefectures and fourteen counties of Jinyang Prefecture to open warehouses and release grain to relieve the people. ”

Li Xun looked at Tao Kan silently, the court has not yet issued a Zhao, it is his own decision to open a warehouse and release grain, this is not a trivial matter, once the emperor blames it, Tao Kan is likely to not be able to eat and walk around, and he will be punished for a major crime, no wonder the report document says that the disaster is so serious, but the actual number of victims is not much, it turns out that this is the case.

Li Xun at this time for Tao Kan's actions, moved some admiration, not really for the people, I'm afraid I won't risk losing his head to do this, many people say that Tao Kan is alert, eloquent, flexible, not a trustworthy person, can not have deep friendships, Li Xun thinks, Tao Kan is at least a good official, there is a conscience in his heart, and he still thinks about the life and death of the people, and then think about the ministers in the political hall, Li Zhong and Yang Daolin are in an awkward situation at this time, most of them are silent, as for the others, How many really care about the lives of the people? What they think about the most in their hearts, and what they really care about is probably only their own interests.

"The emperor is in a very bad mood now, you'd better come back in two days"

Out of kindness, Li Xun informed Tao Kan of the situation inside.

Sure enough, after Tao Kan listened to Li Xun's story, his face suddenly became difficult to look at, he also knew something about the military expenses of Jinyang Mansion, but the people and things involved were too important and complicated, and those who knew the truth were all taboo and abnormal, and they did not dare to say it clearly.