"What do you see?"

On the streets of the city of Yingtian.

Zhao Chongyuan and Zhao Ding, father and son, walked on the street together, dressed plainly and with simple appearance.

People who don't know, if you don't look carefully, you think it's just an ordinary father and son.

Not far away, the Hu Neiwei and Wang Lishi followed behind the two from a distance.

The person who was called Hu Neiwei was the most elite Lieutenant of the Tiger Roaring Battalion, and he was selected from the entire army of the Great Cadre and the most elite Central Forbidden Army.

Although he is a captain, if he is placed outside, his ability is not inferior to that of a general.

Listening to Zhao Chongyuan's words, Zhao Ding's eyes flickered slightly.

He didn't understand the meaning of Zhao Chongyuan's words.

After thinking about it for a while, he finally asked with some curiosity: "Father, the sons and daughters don't understand the meaning of the father's words." ”

"Don't understand?"

Zhao Chongyuan groaned lightly, and seemed to look at Zhao Ding in surprise.

Zhao Ding also touched his nose a little embarrassed.

He really didn't think much about Ying Tiancheng's affairs.

"Linyi is located in Jizhou, how far is it from Yingtian?"

"About 700 miles."

Zhao Ding thought for a moment and replied.

"Then since there are more than 700 miles of land, how long will it take for the people to walk here?"

Zhao Chongyuan asked again.

Hearing this, Zhao Ding couldn't speak for a while.

Normal people rely on walking, and walking 60 miles a day is already the limit, let alone refugees who don't have enough food and clothing along the way.

It will take at least half a month to get all the way here from Jizhou.

And if you hurry up.

If you change horses all the way, it will only take two days at most for Jizhou to get here.

"Then why didn't the local government report this matter for so long, but waited until the matter couldn't be suppressed and the displaced people had already entered Yingtian, so they reported it?"

Just as Zhao Ding was thinking, Zhao Chongyuan's voice sounded again.

Hearing this, Zhao Ding's eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked at Zhao Chongyuan suspiciously: "Father, what do you mean?" ”

However, before Zhao Ding could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zhao Chongyuan raising his hand, "I don't mean anything else, and you don't think much about it, I'm just telling you that some things are not as simple as you think."

The local government did not report it, one was afraid that he would be punished for the crime of being unfavorable to the local government, and the other was that someone was obstructing it and deliberately wanted to provoke some things.

Since ancient times, public opinion is a double-edged sword, if you use it well, it will be beneficial to you, but if you use it badly, it may also become a sharp weapon for others to attack you.

Today's matter, if you look at it simply, it is a simple one: local officials can deal with the famine unfavorably, conceal the disaster, resettle the displaced people afterwards, and investigate the culpability of the local officials.

But if you look deeper, it means that some people are dissatisfied with the imperial court and want to use the famine to incite public opinion, causing popular revolts and endangering the imperial court.

Don't think I'm alarmist, but the truth may be far more complicated than you think. ”

Seeing that Zhao Ding seemed to want to speak, Zhao Chongyuan waved his hand and continued: "Your reform of the imperial examination is beneficial to the country and the people, and it has also opened up the mobility between the upper and lower classes, but you have also violated the interests of many people.

These people, although they are submissive to you on the surface, but in fact, they wish you Zhao Ding died early.

And coercing public opinion is the best way.

Believe it or not, if this matter is left unattended for a few more days, and these homeless people are allowed to starve to death on the streets and on the road, it will not be long before there will be rumors among the people that you Zhao Ding is the evil star of the great cadres.

Why didn't you do anything before the reform, but after the reform, there were more things to do?

Some people who can tell right from wrong will not care about these rumors, but what will some people, especially those whose family members have died in this famine? ”

Zhao Chongyuan said with a smile.

Listening to Zhao Chongyuan's words, unconsciously, Zhao Ding's back was already shocked into a cold sweat.

To be honest, he really didn't think about it.

I never thought that a reform of the imperial examination would cause such a big turmoil.

"Since ancient times, there have been many reformers, and there will always be a few in all dynasties, but in the end, there are few who can end up with a good death.

Why is that?

Is it because the king who supported him is incompetent and regrets it?

Or is there too much resistance to reform? Forcing the king to compromise?

If governing the country is really so simple, then why are there so many kings who have died in the country?

Why has no dynasty ever been able to break out of the dynastic cycle?

Those literati, those scholars, always blamed the death of the country on the incompetence of the king, the extravagance of the king, and the king's partiality to the villain.

But they never said that it was they who annexed the land, it was they who hid the population and evaded taxes, but the court could not pay taxes, and the state apparatus could not be activated, so they had to increase their efforts to prey on the people.

In the end, the common people were forced to not survive, so they rebelled!

The same thing, if left unchecked.

Once the civil uprising starts, it won't be long before someone will play the slogan of Qingjun's side to clear you of this "traitor"! ”

Zhao Chongyuan said with a smile word by word.

But Zhao Ding heard it in a cold sweat from the bottom of his heart.

Because he really didn't think about something so deep.

What he wanted was to open up the mobility of the upper and lower classes, give the common people a way out, and give the dynasty a hope for continuation.

Other than that, there is nothing else.

"However, whether these displaced people arrived in Yingtian, at least the imperial court also found out, and did not let things get out of control.

Now, as long as these displaced people are settled, the grain is released, and then people are sent to the localities to find out the source, then the situation can be controlled as much as possible and will not occur to an uncontrollable extent. ”

Zhao Chongyuan continued.

"What do you mean, Father?"

Zhao Ding squinted his eyes and asked cautiously.

"Since this matter is caused by you, it is naturally up to you to go."

Zhao Chongyuan walked in front with his hands behind his back, turned around and said with a smile, but after saying this, he added: "But you don't need to worry, before I met you, I had already sent the Jizhou local army, as well as the surrounding states and counties to transfer grain to Jizhou."

And what you have to do is to take the place of the royal family and go on this trip.

Let those so-called gossips be self-defeating. ”

Zhao Chongyuan commanded.

However, listening to Zhao Chongyuan's words, Zhao Ding's eyes flickered slightly, and he looked at Zhao Chongyuan and asked, "Father, you said that you have sent the Jizhou local army to Linyi to help the local people rebuild their houses, yes or no?" ”

Zhao Chongyuan nodded: "Well, yes." ”

"Then why not just use the local people?"

Zhao Ding asked.

"With the local people?"

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Chongyuan was stunned for a moment.