Top Scholar

Chapter 585 The Empire's Winter
A cold front in the eleventh month froze Beijing solid, just like the large water vat in the courtyard.

Su Lu still maintains the habit of getting up early when he was studying and never stays in bed.

As dawn broke, the remaining snow outside the window reflected a faint light; it was the coldest time of day, yet the room was warm and cozy. Guanqi and Ruhua took turns keeping watch at night, keeping the stove burning brightly so that he could easily crawl out of bed without even having to think about it.

Huang E also got up and put on her robe, gently helping him dress. She then picked up a rhinoceros horn comb and carefully combed his long hair from top to bottom, then gathered it up and tied it into a neat bun. Finally, she took a hairnet and neatly covered the bun, securing the edges tightly. In an instant, a disheveled boy was transformed into a gentle and refined gentleman.

At this time, Guanqi also prepared warm water for washing his face, and even warmed the tooth powder and toothbrush in advance, for fear of making the young master feel cold.

Ru Hua, who was on duty for the first half of the night, also got up early to prepare breakfast for the young master and young mistress.

It was freezing cold, and the main room was also chilly. Since the whole family got up at different times, they stopped eating breakfast together and instead cooked in their own courtyards.

The maids who accompanied wealthy families were naturally skilled in needlework and cooking, and Ru Hua was no exception. Today, she made sweet fermented rice balls for the young couple. The glutinous rice balls, skillfully rolled by her hands, were all uniform and round, coated with sweet fermented rice like nectar, sprinkled with a small pinch of dried osmanthus flowers, and topped with a soft-boiled egg.

With a gentle poke, the golden egg yolk slowly flows out, coating the glutinous rice ball as it enters the mouth. The taste... Northerners really can't enjoy this blessing.

With a few steamed snacks and a few plates of refreshing pickled vegetables, this was the couple's breakfast.

While scooping up the hot dumplings and blowing on them, Su Lu picked up a briefing from his desk... It was sent by the Investigation Bureau of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In reality, it was a daily summary of political affairs from the Office of Transmission, plus some information secretly gathered by the Imperial Workshops, making it more comprehensive than what the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet had seen.

There was nothing he could do; after all, he had a capable godson. Qian Ning would have someone write down the intelligence he collected each day into a report overnight and send it to the top scholar's residence before dawn so that his godfather could read it while eating breakfast.

Every time Su Lu saw this briefing, he was moved by Qian Ning's filial piety. But today he only felt heavy-hearted; the disaster in various provinces had become so severe that it affected people's appetites.

Northern Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Liaodong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and the Jianghuai and Huguang regions all suffered severe drought and crop failure, some even resulting in total crop loss… This marks the third consecutive year of nationwide drought. Local governments are utterly powerless to provide relief, and the people have sold everything they could. Widespread famine has left many homeless, and the various tragic scenes are too unbearable to describe.

At this point, they could only rely on the imperial court. Eunuch Liu exerted all his strength and ordered Bi Heng, the Vice Minister of Works in Nanjing, to immediately take 400,000 taels of silver from the outer treasury to Huguang and Henan to oversee the relief of famine victims in the area.

He also issued an edict allocating 200,000 taels of silver from the outer treasury and 300,000 shi of grain from the granaries of various garrisons in Nanjing, ordering Hong Zhong, the Minister of Justice in Nanjing, to go to the Jianghuai region with local officials to provide relief to the starving people...

The 4.5 million taels of silver allocated by the emperor to the outer court did indeed play a significant role. However, it should not be exaggerated, because after three consecutive years of severe drought, the most pressing need was actually for grain... The court had the money, but couldn't buy enough rice for disaster relief anywhere in the world!
With the official reserves exhausted, Eunuch Liu had no choice but to use the border reserves... He had heard that every year, a portion of the grain and fodder sent to the nine border regions was stored away in preparation for a major war.

Even without the Mongols attacking, the country is about to descend into chaos. Eunuch Liu can't worry about that now, so he orders the censors to investigate the nine border regions to see how much grain can be transferred to the interior.

The results are shocking—an investigation of the granaries in Liaodong, Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong revealed that since the fifteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, the reserve grain has been misappropriated for a long time, resulting in severe losses. Even the rations for the soldiers of the Nine Garrisons are almost insufficient, and they are still transferring grain from within the borders? The border troops could easily rebel!

Eunuch Liu was furious and ordered an investigation, resulting in the arrest of a large number of people, but this did not solve the problem at all...

Su Lu rubbed his temples and decided to browse the news in the capital region, where the local news was even more explosive.

First, Eunuch Liu ordered the demolition of all non-imperial temples in the capital and forced monks and nuns under the age of forty to return to secular life and get married.

Even worse, Liu Jin ordered the Shuntian Prefecture to expel people from other places from the capital, forced widows to remarry, and even ordered the cremation of unburied bodies, causing widespread panic. Thousands of migrant workers gathered outside Fuchengmen, plotting to smash up Liu Jin's house.

As a result, the imperial guards discovered the plot and arrested several ringleaders, thus nipping the riot in the bud.

Huang E served Su Lu a cup of hot tea, glanced at the words on the report, and couldn't help but say speechlessly, "Isn't this Eunuch Liu meddling a bit too much? Even widows' remarriages and cremations/burials have to be decided by him?"

“Eunuch Liu’s intentions are good; a widow’s remarriage is a virtuous policy. Recently, many refugees in the capital have been dying of cold and hunger every day, and cremation is even more necessary… But he is too simplistic and crude, so he always does more harm than good,” Su Lu said softly.

After eating the last dumpling and rinsing his mouth with his teacup, Su Lu was about to leave for work.

Ru Hua quickly brought him a warm cotton robe, warm boots, sleeves, and earmuffs, and helped him wrap himself up tightly.

Huang E then took out a hooded fox fur cloak, carefully draped it over his shoulders, gently adjusted the collar, and softly instructed him: "Be careful of the slippery road. No matter how busy you are with official business, remember to go home early."

"Mm." Su Lu nodded, reached out and pinched Huang E's smooth cheek, then left the courtyard.

The older brother next door had just left. His wife, who was already showing signs of pregnancy, was still clinging to Su Man's sleeve, insisting that he kiss her before she would let him go. Helpless, Su Man, seeing that no one was around, quickly pecked his wife on the cheek.

Zhu Yin happily let him out. Su Man walked to the middle courtyard and saw Su Lu standing at the door with a mischievous grin, clearly caught red-handed.

“I always keep the door closed,” Su Luchu said with a smile. “…” Su Man’s face turned red, and his image as a moralist completely collapsed. He gave a wry smile and said in a low voice, “Sigh, I thought that with her pregnant, I could finally have a few days of peace and quiet, but it turns out she’s even more clingy.”

After leaving the three-courtyard house, the eldest brother couldn't help but sigh, "How do those women with three or four wives manage? I only have one, and I'm already struggling to cope."

"..." Su Lu didn't know how to comfort him for a moment.

Su Man realized she had misspoke. How could she talk about her sister-in-law to her brother-in-law? She quickly coughed and said, "My mouth is frozen, forget I said anything."

Su Lu nodded and patted his older brother on the shoulder sympathetically. "Keep it up, Chun-ge!"

Before leaving, the two brothers went to the main courtyard to pay their respects and bid farewell to their aunt and Su Youcai, a custom known as 'respecting one's elders in the morning and informing them before leaving.'

The Su family is now a role model for scholars all over the world, and this rule must be consciously observed.

But her aunt didn't give her a friendly look and scolded, "How many times have I told you? Stop with this nonsense! What's the point of you two standing here? You're just wasting all the warmth of our time!"

Su Youcai's side was a completely different story. In his words, besides the emperor and Hanlin scholars, who else in the world could enjoy the daily greetings of the top three scholars?
Recently, Brother Youcai has been hanging out with Tang Bohu and a few others. He has always loved composing poems and is known as "Little Dongpo of Erlangtan". Unfortunately, poetry is considered a minor art, and he finds it difficult to find kindred spirits.

Now I've met a group of like-minded peers; I've finally found my tribe. They call me the fifth of the Four Talented Men of Wuzhong…

Xu Zhenqing also used his position to arrange for Su Youcai to study at the Imperial Academy. Su Youcai was temporarily unable to return to Sichuan and had nothing to do in the capital, so he simply followed Tang Bohu to the Imperial Academy every day for classes. In their spare time, they drank and recited poetry together, which was a kind of happiness he had never experienced before.

"Dad, aren't you going to school?" Su Lu asked, seeing that Su Youcai was still lying in bed.

"Our Imperial College is on holiday starting today," Su Youcai said, blinking.

"Okay..." Su Lu was speechless for a moment. The son goes to work and the father goes to school. What's going on?

~~
After leaving the house, Su Lu did not go to the Leopard House immediately, but instead ordered the carriage to head west.

"Where are you going?" Su Man asked.

"I've heard that disaster victims are freezing to death in the capital every day. I want to see it for myself," Su Lu said in a low voice.

Once the carriage had left the main road, one could see that both sides of the street were densely packed with sheds made of tattered mats and thatch.

One family after another, huddled together, disheveled and emaciated disaster victims, huddled in these shacks that resembled chicken coops and dog sheds.

Some were even wrapped in tattered straw mats, shivering and crouching in sheltered spots, while others remained motionless, probably already frozen to death in the cold night...

The carriage wandered through the streets and alleys of Beijing, a scene that never ceased, as if it were constantly going in circles, which made Su Lu and Su Man feel extremely sad.

Most of these disaster victims spoke with a Hebei accent, but there were also many refugees from Shandong, Henan, and even Liaodong. They were all victims of this rare drought. The fields in their hometowns were cracked and barkless, and the tree bark and grass roots had been eaten. With no other choice, they had to leave their homes and beg their way to the capital to find a way to survive.

They wore tattered, patched-up coats with exposed cotton wadding, some even without coats, wrapped only in several layers of ragged hemp cloth. A thick straw rope barely held their emaciated bodies together, and they weakly stopped the carriage, their voices hoarse with pleading, carrying shattered bowls in their hands.

"Grandpa, please give me some food, please save the child..."

"Get out of the way, get out of the way! Are you blind? Don't you recognize us?!" The Imperial Guards protecting the carriage used their scabbards to drive away the disaster victims surrounding the carriage.

"Alright." Su Lu calmly called out to the guards, "Take out all the money and food you have and distribute them to the disaster victims. I'll pay you back when we get back."

"Yes, sir." Dozens of Imperial Guards hurriedly emptied their pockets of copper coins and silver, along with their uneaten breakfast, and distributed them to the disaster victims as instructed...

Seeing the disaster victims kneeling on the ground, expressing their gratitude profusely, Su Man felt very uncomfortable. She whispered to Su Lu, "This scene is much more distressing than the numbers on the memorials."

"Yes." Su Lu nodded. His heart was much harder than his elder brother's. He said in a deep voice, "I understand the situation. Go back."

P.S.: There are still 800 words left in the next chapter.

(End of this chapter)