Chapter 255: Facing the Challenge Head on (Asking for Monthly Votes)

"Second Master..."

Fang Ke stepped into Yuelai Inn.

Yang Ge, who was standing behind Zhao Miao in the hall and watching her play mahjong, saw him and waved from a distance: "You're back."

Fang Ke smiled and nodded: "Just arrived."

Yang Ge: "Sit down and rest for a while. I'll make you a cup of tea."

Fang Ke smiled "hehe" and sat down on the bench at the door, but he still said: "How can this be so embarrassing..."

Yang Ge made a sound, turned around and walked into the patio, and soon came out with a bowl of tea.

"Thank you, Master!"

Fang Ke took the tea bowl he handed over with both hands.

Yang Ge: "How's it going? Your Master Shen didn't push back, did he?"

Fang Ke quickly replied: "How can you! How could Mr. Shen not take the things you told him seriously? On the day Mr. Chen entered the capital, Mr. Shen took him to the palace to be a saint. On the same day, the officials made an exception and promoted Mr. Chen to Luoyang Mansion. Tongpan, Feng Nong Changbo, specializes in sweet potato breeding. "

"Uncle Nongchang?"

Yang Ge nodded with satisfaction and said: "Yes, that iron cock finally did something human."

Fang Ke drank tea tactically and did not dare to answer the phone.

Yang Ge glanced at him: "It's getting late. If there's nothing to do at the Yamen, don't go back. I'll make something delicious tonight as a tooth sacrifice."

Fang Ke smiled and said: "That's a good feeling..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a look of worry flashed across his face.

Yang Ge: "What's wrong?"

Fang Ke thought for a while, looked around and then lowered his voice and said, "Sir, something big may have happened in the capital..."

"Um?"

Yang Ge grabbed a stool and said, "What happened?"

Fang Ke hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "I don't know, I just felt that something was wrong with Mr. Shen's appearance after he came back from the palace... He looked like he was ready to eat people at that time. I have been with him for so many years, and I have never I have never seen him like that. Even when he went south to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to supervise salt affairs and was robbed and killed on the way, he could still laugh. "

Yang Ge thought about it and realized that he had never seen him like that before. He asked curiously: "You didn't ask him?"

Fang Ke: "How dare I? With the way he looked at that time, I feel like I might not be able to survive if I say another word!"

Yang Ge: "Is it so serious?"

Fang Ke shook his head worriedly: "My intuition tells me that something big may have happened in the capital...a big, big thing!"

Yang Ge was confused and didn't know what to say. He could only pat him on the shoulder and said: "Stop thinking nonsense. If the sky falls, there will be tall people who can hold it up. If the tall people can't hold it up, there will be me. Hold on!"

Fang Ke thought for a while and nodded with a little peace of mind: "That's true..."

Yang Ge: "Whatever you want to eat tonight, I'll arrange it."

Fang Ke: "Hot pot!"

Yang Ge: "Can you please stop staring at my hot pot base? This year's peppers have just been planted, and I'm still pointing at my hot pot base until the autumn harvest."

Fang Ke: "You asked me to order."

Yang Ge: "Change it."

Fang Ke glanced at him and said cautiously: "Then... should I go to Northern Xinjiang instead?"

Yang Ge stared: "It's itchy, right?"

Fang Ke shrank his neck and muttered in a low voice: "You said it yourself, as long as I marry my mother-in-law and have a baby, you will let me go to Northern Xinjiang. Your words don't count..."

Yang Ge angrily stretched out a finger and knocked his head like a ripe watermelon: "Your mother-in-law is going to give birth in two or three months, why are you running away now? What’s going on? The Great Wall is waiting for you to lay the tiles?”

Fang Ke was knocked so hard that he couldn't even open his eyes and didn't dare to say a word.

Yang Ge looked at him and got angry: "Go back to the yamen and eat your big pot of rice, don't let me be an eyesore!"

Fang Ke said weakly: "I won't go back!"

…

By early May, the imperial court promulgated three major policies without warning.

First, a large number of elite soldiers and generals were dispatched from the capital commanders of the 13 provinces across the country to Beijing, and a separate Beijing camp was established in addition to the 26 guards of the Forbidden Army.

Second, we eliminated redundant officials both internally and externally, released palace maids and imprisoned officials on a large scale, abolished redundant officials and officials in three local departments, and set up twenty-six governors to patrol the country and appease the military and the people.

Third, check household registrations, reduce taxes, and eliminate half of the world's land tax, and encourage refugees and escapees from all over the country to return to their hometowns, exempt them from the taxes they owe, and exempt them from the same taxes and labor for two years after registering in their locality.

The three major policies were suddenly promulgated to the world without any preparation, and aroused very intense discussions among the people as soon as they appeared.

Some people believe that this is a policy of enriching the country and strengthening the people. They praise the emperor for his consideration of people's sentiments and his ability to govern the country. They compare Emperor Xiping to Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty and call him benevolent government and benevolent king.

Some people thought that this was a government that rejoiced in great achievements, and denounced the emperor for wantonly squandering national funds and treating his ministers as pigs and dogs. They compared Emperor Xiping to Emperor Tiande of Zhou and Tang Dynasty, saying that he was a cowardly king and a cowardly government.

When the public debate was arousing, a large number of Qingliu people in the court jointly submitted a letter, asking the emperor to abandon the establishment of the Beijing camp in addition to the imperial army in the name of "militancy."

Letters from local officials from various provinces requesting Emperor Xiping to "sympathize with subordinate officials and protect poor people" also flew to Ziwei Palace like snowflakes.

In contrast to the boiling "popular sentiment" among middle- and lower-level officials across the country, all the nobles in the court remained silent and sat quietly on the Diaoyutai, as if there was no such thing.

However, Emperor Xiping retreated from the harem and went on strike one after another. All memorials related to the Three Governments were left unpublished, and he was determined to implement the Three Governments to the end...

Although Luting is located at the gateway of Luoyang, it is independent of Luoyang's politics, military and economy.

When the people of Luting discussed the three major policies, they were happy to see them come to fruition, just like the indifferent sigh of "It's so chaotic" when the martial artists in Luting discussed the struggles in the martial arts world in the south last year.

Yang Ge was in the middle of it, but he didn't notice the turbulence. He just thought it was another big move of Wang Jiangling's new policy. He asked Fang Ke about it briefly, and then turned his head and forgot about it.

In mid-May, Yang Ge secretly went to Guangmingding before the Mingjiao Fire Transmission Conference, met with Yang Tiansheng, Li Jincheng, Xiang Wudi and other close friends, drank a lot of wine, talked about their recent situations, and rushed back to Luting to continue to mess up before the Fire Transmission Conference began.

By the end of May, the continuous heavy rains caused the water level of the canal to rise by three feet, and the rainwater silted up half of Luting City.

Zhao Hong led people to rescue and drain water in the rain. After half a day of busy work, he returned to Yuelai Inn and stared at the drawings all night.

…

“Good morning, second brother.”

Zhao Miao, who was sleepy, sat behind the counter and greeted Yang Ge, who rushed in listlessly.

“Good morning…”

Yang Ge put away his oil-paper umbrella and looked at Zhao Hong, who was staring at the blueprint in a daze with an oil lamp in the corner of the front hall. He was still wearing the clothes that were wrinkled by the rain yesterday. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were red. He exuded a strong sense of decadence.

“He sat there all night?”

Zhao Miao yawned: “I don’t know. Anyway, he sat there before I went to bed last night, and he was still sitting there when I got up this morning.”

Yang Ge exhaled a long breath of turbid air and said to himself, ‘There is still hope’.

He handed the oil-paper umbrella to Zhao Miao and walked towards Zhao Hong: “Haven’t you found the problem yet?”

Hearing his voice, Zhao Hong looked up at him, showing an ugly expression that was hard to tell whether he was crying or laughing, and said in a hoarse voice: “Shopkeeper…”

Yang Ge sat beside him and took a look at the blueprint on the table…To be honest, he couldn’t understand it either.

"Still can't find the problem?"

He asked again.

Zhao Hong lowered his eyes and remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, he burst into tears and said with some grievance: "I did it wrong, all wrong..."

Yang Ge asked casually: "Is it your fault?"

Zhao Hong sobbed: "Zheng said that the north of Luting City should be higher than the south, and the drainage canal should be mainly north-south and supplemented by east-west. However, I only focused on bringing the canal water into the city to connect the east and west. Once the water accumulated, it blocked the drainage canal..."

"Why are you crying?"

Yang Ge gently tapped the drawings on the table and smiled: "Didn't you find the problem?"

"It's too late."

Zhao Hong covered his face with his head down: "The drainage canals dug previously must be backfilled, and the terrain must be re-surveyed and re-drawn Engineering drawings, three months of hard work by everyone wasted, 5,732 taels of wages were wasted, and the construction period could not be caught up... all in vain because of me."

"I know."

Yang Ge knocked on the table again, and the smile on his mouth gradually disappeared: "But haven't you found the problem?"

Zhao Hong suddenly slammed the table and shouted out of control: "I said it was all in vain and it was too late. Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

Zhao Miao behind the counter was frightened by him, fearing that he would be beaten again, and hurried over: "Don't make a fuss, don't make a fuss, talk it over... Second brother, are you hungry? I'll go make you a bowl of noodles!"

Yang Ge waved his hand without looking back, signaling her not to worry.

He raised his head and looked directly at the blushing young man in front of him.

This was the first time Zhao Hong yelled at him.

It was also the first time that he liked this kid...

"I understand."

Yang Ge nodded and said calmly and forcefully: "But haven't you found the problem?"

Zhao Hong was so angry that he grabbed the blueprint on the table and wanted to tear it into pieces...

"Just give up like this?"

Yang Ge said lightly: "Just because of the waste of manpower and material resources, just because it's too late...you are going to give up?"

Zhao Hong paused in tearing the blueprint and looked at Yang Ge blankly.

Yang Ge looked straight into his eyes and said slowly: "If this is a battle, then you Zhao Hong is the commander-in-chief, and your craftsmen and workers are your generals and soldiers. Now because of your wrong decision, you have suffered a defeat, many soldiers died in the battle, and a lot of money and food were wasted. Your soldiers are still waiting for you, the commander-in-chief, to go back and take charge of the overall situation, but you want to be a deserter?"

Zhao Hong said angrily: "How can this be the same?"

Yang Ge laughed sarcastically: "You can't even handle this little thing, how can you handle a big war?"

The anger on Zhao Hong's face slowly disappeared.

Yang Ge lowered his eyelids: "Sit down."

Zhao Hong sat back on the bench and spread out the drawings in his hand.

Yang Ge: "Let me ask you again, have you found the problem?"

Zhao Hong: "I found it."

Yang Ge: "Is it really too late?"

Zhao Hong: "Too late."

Yang Ge: "Think about it again."

Zhao Hong glanced at him and said uncertainly: "Too late... right?"

Yang Ge: "How many workers did you recruit before?"

Zhao Hong: "Five hundred people."

Yang Ge: "Then why don't you recruit a thousand people later?"

Zhao Hong: "You said you wanted to cut costs!"

Yang Ge: "How many hours did you work every day before?"

Zhao Hong: "More than four."

Yang Ge: "Then why don't you work eight hours later?"

Zhao Hong: "You said you can't disturb the normal life of the people in Luting!"

Yang Ge: "Is it really too late?"

Zhao Hong: "It's too late!"

Yang Ge: "Louder, I can't hear you!"

Zhao Hong blushed and responded hoarsely: "It's too late!"

Yang Ge looked at him in confusion: "Then, why are you still sitting here?"

Zhao Hong's face turned redder: "I, I... I'm hungry!"

Yang Ge: "Didn't you already suffer defeat? What else can you eat?"

Zhao Hong said with an embarrassed "hehe" smile: "If you lose the battle, you have to eat, and you have to eat!"

After hearing this, Zhao Miao, who was behind Yang Ge, turned around and walked quickly towards the backyard: "I'm just going to make a fire. I'll be fine soon, I'll be fine soon..."

Zhao Hong raised his head and waved at her back with a playful smile: "Thank you, sister."

Yang Ge exhaled slowly and his face relaxed slightly: "Let me ask you, is this difficult?"

Zhao Hong nodded honestly and said: "Difficult!"

He used to sit in the warm Mingtang, listening to his mentors lecture on classics, discuss history, and analyze government affairs. He just felt that everything in the world had its traces, but it was nothing.

Now that I have started to do practical things myself, I know that it is difficult to do things, even harder to do good things, and it is even more difficult to do a good thing...

Just such a small matter of building a drainage canal requires feeding, drinking, and eating for hundreds of families. You also have to consider time, weather, and cost, deal with all kinds of weird and unexpected accidents, and hear all kinds of things every day. There were so many reasonable and unreasonable voices... He felt that he had spent all his strength in his life, but he was still exhausted and exhausted.

Yang Ge then asked: "Then do you think it is difficult to be a good emperor?"

Zhao Hong thought for a while and became silent.

Yang Ge was silent for a moment, and then continued: "I actually don't know how difficult it is to be a good emperor, but based on my knowledge, it should be the most difficult thing in the world."

"And what is more difficult than being a good emperor is being a good emperor for a lifetime..."

"If you don't have the determination to face difficulties and persevere, you should give up your thoughts of being an emperor as soon as possible, and be an idle prince with peace of mind. Like me, you can play mahjong and drink tea every day, and spend your time peacefully. For the rest of my life, this may not be a good choice.”

"If you still want to be a good emperor, then you must have the determination and courage to be a good emperor, and fight with heaven, earth, and people!"

"If you win the fight, you will be an emperor for the rest of your life, with fine clothes and fine food, and a name that will go down in history. Maybe thousands of years from now, someone will compare you with Emperor Qin and Han Wu, and ask who of you is wiser."

"If you don't win the fight, your head may be a stepping stone for others to ascend to the throne. Thousands of years later, someone will still point at your name and curse: 'That bastard has brought shame to the old Zhao family!'"

Zhao Hong listened to his narration, empathized and shuddered: "If I can be a good emperor for the rest of my life, can you help me, the shopkeeper?"

Yang Ge said calmly: "If you can be a good emperor for the rest of your life, it doesn't matter if I help you."

"If you can't, then you have to pray every night and pray that when you wake up the next day, you don't see me standing in front of your bed."

Zhao Hong imagined that scene and suddenly shuddered again, thinking: 'That's too scary! ’