Zongwu: Give you a chance and get a 10,000 times critical hit return!

In the court hall.

All officials discuss matters.

Fang La's uprising had lasted for three months and all the government troops were defeated. Such military information had only just arrived, shocking all the officials.

Because it means.

The court's control over the South was not as strong as they thought.

Northern officials rose up and attacked the southern court officials.

The court meeting was noisy, like a vegetable market.

Zhao Xu sat upright at the head of the table, his face slightly pale, and he was trying hard to be alert.

Zhao Xu's health was not good.

There were frequent wars in the north this year, which depleted the country's energy. The war with Tubo was not over yet, and Western Xia suddenly launched an invasion.

It can be said that he put all his efforts into it.

In addition, not long ago, he had just experienced the pain of losing his daughter and the change of deposing the queen.

However, Princess Fuqing, the daughter of Queen Meng, was seriously ill and no medicine could cure her. Meng's sister brought Taoist healing talismans and water into the palace to treat her.

Since the matter of talisman water had always been a taboo in the palace, Meng was horrified and ordered that the talisman water be hidden, and then the whole story be explained when Zhao Xu arrived.

Originally, Zhao Xu thought it was human nature and did not blame him.

Unexpectedly, after the princess passed away, Meng's adoptive mother, Lady Yan, and others prayed for Meng and the princess, which gave rise to gossip.

Liu Jieyushi, who was favored by Zhao Xu, took this opportunity to link the two events together and spread rumors in front of Zhao Xu, saying that Queen Meng was cursing the emperor.

After hearing about it, Zhao Xu also began to doubt and ordered Liang Congzheng and Su Gui to investigate the case.

At the instruction of Prime Minister Zhang Dun and Concubine Liu, they arrested dozens of the queen's maids and eunuchs and tortured them to extract confessions.

"They were beaten and robbed, their limbs were broken, and some even had their tongues cut off."

The eunuchs and palace maids were unwilling to slander Queen Meng, so they were all beaten to a pulp, and many of them had their tongues cut off and their limbs amputated.

In the end, Liang Congzheng and others had to forge a confession to make Zhezong believe that Queen Meng had ulterior motives.

Under torture, Meng's crimes were fabricated.

That is to say, Queen Meng was deposed.

She was placed in the Yaohua Palace, where deposed concubines became nuns, and was given titles such as "Huayang Sect Leader", "Jade Purity and Wonderful Tranquility Immortal Master", and her Buddhist name was "Chongzhen".

Because the new and old parties were fighting fiercely in the court.

Meng was established by Empress Dowager Gao and Empress Dowager Xiang, who supported the old party.

Shortly after Empress Dowager Gao passed away, Zhao Xu took power and tried his best to get rid of the shadow of his grandmother and support the New Party instead.

He promoted Zhang Dun of the New Party to be prime minister. Zhang Dun also supported Concubine Liu, who was favored by Emperor Zhezong, and plotted to depose Empress Meng, which led to this unjust imprisonment.

Afterwards, Concubine Liu was made queen.

Before this, Empress Liu gave birth to a son.

The witchcraft case left Zhao Xu exhausted.

Now there was another rebellion in the south, which gave him even more headaches.

Being an emperor is not as good as outsiders think.

Especially the emperor of the Song Dynasty.

At this moment, Zhao Xu actually envied Zhao Wuxian. He was in the world, free, with a beautiful woman in his arms. How wonderful it was!

When the court officials had almost finished arguing, Zhao Xu said coldly, "Do you have any good ideas to quell the rebellion?"

All the ministers looked at each other.

The northern court officials had only one conclusion, which was to mobilize the northern imperial guards and march south to quell the rebellion.

Other than that.

The garrison troops and local militiamen from all over the Song Dynasty were not enough to fight, and instead they sent heads, supplies and weapons to the rebels.

At this time, Fu Zongshu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "Sir, doesn't Prince Jing's Mansion have 10,000 soldiers?"

"Since it's a rebellion in the south, why not let Prince Jing's Mansion contribute and send troops."

"That's right! I heard that Fang La's bandits revolted, and many of their supporters were boatmen and boatmen from the former shipping guild!"

Other southern officials also spoke out.

"Since Prince Jing's Mansion was established in Suzhou, there have been constant reports of the Mansion being denounced in various parts of Jiangnan."

"Prince Jing is greedy and lustful!"

"He relied on his status and position to compete with the people for profit. He has many concubines at home, and everything he uses is the people's hard-earned money!"

"This rebellion was caused by Prince Jing's Mansion, so it should be resolved by Prince Jing's Mansion. Otherwise..."

A group of officials made suggestions.

The northern officials looked at each other. Although they had no connection with Zhao Wuxian, at a time like this, they would definitely send someone out to take the blame.

Furthermore.

Zhao Wuxian is so rich and has soldiers, so there's nothing wrong with asking him to contribute money and effort, right?

If Zhao Wuxian is willing to send troops, then the supply of food, fodder, and military pay can be delayed to fill the financial gap in the court.

There have been constant wars this year, and the 10 million taels of silver that Zhao Wuxian sent after the beginning of the year have been spent.

The officials from the south and the north, who had just been spitting garbage at each other, suddenly united and suggested that the task of quelling the rebellion be handed over to Prince Jing's Mansion.

How could Zhao Xu not see the intentions of the court officials, but he could do nothing about it.

When Zhao Wuxian met him in the first half of the year, Zhao Xu was still in high spirits.

now.

He has become somewhat discouraged.

"According to your advice, I will order Prince Jing to suppress the rebellion!"

Chapter 418: Stockpiling goods at high prices, big merchants dominating the market, and commercial wars in the Song Dynasty!

Gusu!

It was still dark and the fog had not yet dissipated.

Lu Ergou had already arrived at the city gate, carrying the slaughtered pork.

He was from Lujiazhuang. Last year, Zhao Wuxian bought two pigs from his house, and his luck started to improve since then.

Within a year, he had become a well-known pig farmer in Lujiazhuang.

In fact.

He has handed over the pig-raising business to his family and his new wife Cuihua, while he himself has become a pig butcher.

For a "little man" like him, Zhao Wuxian's casual act of buying a pig turned out to be the moment that changed his fate.

Just because Zhao Wuxian had eaten his pork, his pork could be exclusively supplied to Zuixianlou and Yuelai Inn, so he never had to worry about buyers.

Lu Ergou was accompanied by his cousin, who would come over to help out when things were busy.

"Brother Ergou, there are more and more disaster victims and refugees!"

Lu Ergou tilted his head to take a look.

It is dusk.

The "disaster relief street" outside the city gate was already filled with people with hungry faces, both men and women, with their families.

Disaster Relief Street is not a street, but a place where people have been providing porridge for more than a year since Duke Jingguo was conferred the title of Duke of Gusu.

Because Prince Jing's Mansion often recruited workers here, there were so many people coming and going that the place formed a street.

but.

The porridge provided by Prince Jing’s Mansion doesn’t taste very good.

The rice used is brown rice, and is mixed with tree bark and grass leaves, which does not look very clean.

The baked pancakes, steamed buns and the like are also hard enough to hurt your teeth.

It has to be soaked in hot soup before it can be swallowed.

Only the truly poor people who can't survive will eat it.

The "beggars" in the city looked down on this.

Prince Jing’s Mansion is so petty.

Look at the wealthy families like the Gu family and the Wang family. Whenever they distribute porridge, is it not white steamed buns, soft and crispy baked buns, and white porridge?

Not to mention beggars, even ordinary people in the city would go and rob.

The only thing that could be called delicious in the porridge stall at Prince Jing’s Mansion was the bowl of hot soup.

The soup is made with pork bones.

The meat was so skinned that not even the dog could look at it, not a single trace of meat was left.

But the lard floating in the air was real, and it was sprinkled with salt.

It can be used to soak pancakes and steamed buns, and it is simply the most delicious thing in the world for those who are so hungry that their eyes are turning green.

Those people who cannot afford salt like to ask for a bowl of hot soup.

Don't be surprised.

In ancient times, salt and iron were strategic materials that were controlled by the government. If you wanted to sell salt, you had to have a salt permit from the government.

If not, it would be considered smuggling salt, which is a serious crime.

It can be seen that drinking a bowl of soup with salt at this time is as joyful as drinking fat house water.

Whenever Lu Ergou entered or left the city, he would ask for a bowl of soup.