readx;

April 21 of the fifth year of Xining, Mangzhong Festival!

Emperor Zhao Ji personally prayed for rain from the sky to alleviate the current severe drought in the Great Song Dynasty. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 For this reason, Zhao Ji was very pious, fasted for three days, and completed all the rituals under the scorching sun for more than an hour.

It's a pity that Zhao Ji's sincerity doesn't seem to move the heavens, and it still hasn't rained until the Dragon Boat Festival. In this situation, the summer planting was missed again, and the autumn harvest and poor harvest were already doomed.

Since the beginning of the year, grain prices in Bianjing and other major northern cities have begun to rise. Since May, food prices have begun to multiple, and in addition to concerns about reduced supply and food shortages, more businesses are hoarding.

It is the nature of businessmen to be mercenary, but they find that they do not have much grain in their hands, and some time ago it seems that someone inadvertently bought a lot of grain from them.

When the merchants sighed, they were helpless, who could have predicted such a drought? Soon, an even worse situation appeared, a group of grain stores led by the Meng Commercial Bank actually sold grain at a fair price, and the quantity was sufficient, and the price of grain in Bianjing immediately began to fall.

The merchants finally compromised with the abundant supply of Meng's grain store, and if they were ordinary merchants, they might be picked up and provoked, or even retaliated. But behind Meng's grain store is Weiyuan Houfu, who dares to break ground on Tai Sui's head?

Grain prices in Bianjing are starting to fall back to normal levels, and it is inevitable that they will be slightly higher than before, but at least within the range that the people can afford.

The common people are grateful to Meng's grain store and Weiyuan Hou Lin Zhao, and there are endless words of beauty in Bianjing City. Emperor Zhao Ji also praised this, and when the price of grain in Bianjing remained high, Lin Zhao took the initiative to propose that he had inventory and was willing to sell it at a low price to regulate the market.

For such a caring courtier, Zhao Ji was naturally very satisfied. When he wanted to reward it, Lin Zhao had already gone to Ying Tianfu. Lately he has been busy dredging canals.

It is naturally a good thing for a courtier to use his life, but Zhao Ji is still very uncomfortable in his heart. It's still not raining, is God really so faceless? Do you really want to embarrass yourself?

After the drought intensified, the rumors became more and more numerous, in the era of believing in the induction of heaven and man. Drought is no longer just a matter of natural disasters.

Some say it's a vision from heaven. There must be greater calamities. Sure enough, as the drought intensified, so did the locust plague. The situation of thousands of miles of red land in many places in the north.

Finally, some people began to accuse that this was a failure of the imperial court, and some people even directly said that this was a manifestation of the emperor's unscrupulousness, so God sent a disaster to punish him.

This set was very popular in ancient society, and Zhao Ji was immediately stressed and sweaty after hearing it. Want to be held accountable? It's simply not possible, and the rumors are growing. Which one does he pursue? At this time, a little carelessness will cause more serious consequences.

Zhao Ji was really a little panicked this time, and the first crisis since he took the throne appeared. Emperors throughout the ages have been worried about drought, and it is easy to change the people in the year of the great drought, according to this rhythm, the Great Song Dynasty has already had such signs. If it doesn't rain. Some emperors have no choice but to even issue an edict to sin themselves or something, Zhao Ji has no master of the six gods for a while, and he doesn't know what to do!

Soon, some officials began to write to express it. Everything is Wang Anshi's fault, it is all because Wang Anshi changed the law and acted perversely, causing the anger of the heavens and the resentment of the people, and the heavens will send disasters.

After the first person said this, there was an uproar in the court. The officials of the old party took immediate action, and isn't this an excellent reason to crack down on the change of law and the new party?

Although this is what Zhao Ji meant, no one blamed the emperor, and all of them became Wang Anshi's crimes.

Some folk gentry also wrote that after the implementation of the law, they became more and more poor and their lives could not be sustained. For a time, the Great Song Dynasty under the shroud of drought set off a wave of counter-changes to hit Wang Anshi.

The scale was so large that Zhao Ji began to be a little unable to sit still.

Of course, there are factors fueled by the old party, or there are factors led by someone, but now after all, this time it is the anger of the public. And then there's the drought, and it's worse than expected.

Then some people began to write to the emperor, asking the emperor to remove Wang Anshi as prime minister to thank the world!

Over the years, in order to change the law, Zhao Ji has been under pressure to support Wang Anshi, even at this moment of crisis, he still did not act rashly.

Strike? Are you kidding!

At least at this moment, Zhao Ji still insisted!

Wang Anshi himself is calm, he does not think that he is the culprit of the drought, he still thinks that he is upright, and changing the law is a move to benefit the country and the people. It's completely a state of being upright and not afraid of shadows.,It can be said to be calm.。

But his son Wang Yan couldn't sit still, and his father's position was not guaranteed, which was a big deal. He must not be as calm and simple as Wang Anshi!

This matter is not a question of whether Dad is wrong at all, but the pressure resistance of the emperor's side, as well as the celestial phenomena and the people's will. If the voice of the court and the people against the change continues to rise, the emperor will not be able to withstand the pressure, and the final result will only be to sacrifice his father.

For the emperor, compared with the dereliction of duty of the prime minister, the emperor will definitely choose the latter without hesitation. In fact, it is true in history that once there is a solar eclipse or a disaster, the emperor will generally respond by changing the era name and changing the prime minister.

The prime minister is often the scapegoat of the emperor, which is also the reason why there are more treacherous ministers and less faint kings in history! How can the Son of Heaven make mistakes so easily? Mistakes, those are all the Prime Minister's.

Wang Yan knew very well that everything was on Zhao Ji. The emperor is his father's greatest support, and as long as he persists, his position can be secured.

It's just that Zhao Ji can hold on?

Wang Yan's heart was full of worries, Rao is that he is usually resourceful, but he is helpless at the moment. After all, there is public opinion on one side and the emperor on the other, and he has no possibility of interfering at all.

Seeing this, Lu Huiqing comforted: "Yuan Ze don't worry, the official family will not give up changing the law, and will naturally maintain Ling Zun." He said so, but in his heart he had other ideas.

Zhao Ji will not give up changing the law, this is for sure, but will he definitely defend Wang Anshi? Lu Huiqing smiled coldly in her heart, for herself, this matter may be an opportunity.

Wang Yan mistakenly thought that this senior brother and his family were a community of interests, so he did not have the slightest defense and suspicion. His mind was all focused on the palace.

When he heard that two noble women had entered the Funing Palace, Wang Yan suddenly felt bad......