Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

"Even if nothing else, even an old guy like me who receives a pension knows that the drought in the west and the flood in the east have caused unrest in the entire dynasty. You court officials who receive salaries not only don't try to find a way to provide disaster relief, but you are also stirring up trouble. Okay, then I will take the lead in donating money to the national treasury."

As he spoke, the Seventh Uncle ignored the surprised expressions of the officials, and directly took out a thick stack of papers from his arms and handed it to the eunuch to present to the emperor.

Silver bills? ... Not really. How can a silver bill be that big? Besides, everyone in the capital knows that the Seventh Prince's pockets are cleaner than his face. He doesn't have any money in his pocket.

However, before the officials could rack their brains to figure out the reason, the emperor became furious, slammed the table, and directly ordered the Dali Temple to imprison the chief minister, the chief censor, and the director of the Imperial Observatory. He immediately conducted a thorough investigation of the three men for evidence of collusion with the remnants of the previous dynasty, embezzlement of national treasury funds, forming cliques for personal gain and oppressing the people. Once verified, their properties were confiscated and they were exiled.

As soon as these words were spoken, there was silence at the scene, and everyone looked at the Prime Minister, the Imperial Censor, and the Director of the Imperial Observatory. What was going on?

The Prime Minister, the Chief Censor, and the Director of the Imperial Observatory were all confused; they didn't know.

……

The intervention of the Seventh Prince's uncle has stirred up a stagnant pool of water in the imperial city. Pulling out the radish will bring out the mud. Let's not talk about how many officials will be brought down by this incident.

In the Governor's Mansion, the highest command center including the Governor, Governor-General, and Generals were sitting together.

"Governor, the spies from Jin and Tiansheng have sent back news that there is no unusual movement in the border defenses of the two countries. It seems that it is not only our Dayuan that has suffered from this natural disaster.

Otherwise, if only our Dayuan was in trouble, the two countries would have been ready to take action long ago."

Han Yong, one of the five generals, glanced around after everyone sat down and found that Qian Hui and Shen Zhigao were not among them. He then took the initiative to report the information brought back by the spies to the governor.

Dayuan faces the sea on one side and borders the Kingdom of Jin and the two kingdoms of Tiansheng on the other side, forming a three-way confrontation.

There have been some attempts among the three countries over the years, but none of them have suffered much damage. There is no such thing as one side suddenly increasing its national strength and crushing the other two countries.

But the current situation is different. Dayuan has suddenly encountered a disaster, and there are many internal and external troubles. If a war is launched at this critical moment, it will be defeated in an instant with enemies from both sides.

Therefore, on the border, the governor, the governor-general and the five generals have been strengthening defenses to prevent the two countries from suddenly launching an attack.

At this time, in the Governor's Mansion, the Governor, the Governor-General and the three generals gathered to discuss the deployment of defenses.

Generally speaking, without the imperial court's summons, the five generals were not allowed to leave their stations without permission. Each general was stationed in one area, and sometimes they would not get together for several years.

The reason why they gathered secretly in the Governor's Mansion today was because they received a secret letter from the "Seventh Master" of the Imperial City. The Governor sent a pigeon to ask his three trusted generals to gather here.

As for the other two of the five generals, it was not that they excluded them, but all of the five people present had followed "Seventh Master" to conquer the world in the past. They were considered to be the confidants cultivated by "Seventh Master" who were absolutely loyal to him.

The other two generals, Qian Hui, was a defender who had been promoted in recent years; and Shen Zhigao, was a descendant of a prominent family in the imperial city, had no outstanding military achievements, and rose to power entirely through nepotism with the favorite concubine in the harem.

All five of them had fought hard on the battlefield, fought bravely among thousands of soldiers, and made outstanding military achievements, which earned them the recognition of their superiors and helped them to rise to the top. This was a natural opposition to the two people who came later and relied on their military achievements and the control of the noble families.

If the two of them were really allowed to sit down and discuss matters together, I'm afraid that rumors unfavorable to "Seventh Master" would spread all over the imperial city the next day.

"Well, no matter what, remember to be alert and don't let your guard down." The Governor frowned. "I called everyone here because the Seventh Master was brought to the court by the Emperor. I'm afraid there will be some troubles next. I called everyone here to remind everyone to be careful of the hidden spies and villains around you who might jump out to cause trouble at this critical moment."

"The Governor is right. A while ago, rumors circulated in the nine counties and seventy-two towns in Yongzhou, accusing the current emperor of being immoral and bringing disaster upon himself.

In addition, many counties and towns gathered a large number of refugees, who used the excuse of stealing food to break into residents' homes and loot property. Even the county government was greatly affected.

If you say that there are no people who are taking advantage of this natural disaster to stir up trouble, I am afraid no one will believe it. And the people hiding in the dark are constantly making small moves, and their intentions are very big. Everyone must be careful, control your subordinates well, and don't let others take advantage of you."

The governor was afraid that several generals were so focused on resisting foreign aggression that they ignored the costs of the civil war.

The loyalty of the three generals to "Seventh Master" is evident to all, but they are all military commanders who have fought on the battlefield and they really don't care much about internal affairs. It is not a waste of time to specially summon people to remind them, but it is to attract the attention of the three generals.

When the governor reminded them so strongly, the three generals' eyes flickered and they all looked guilty.

The governor and the governor looked at each other and understood what was going on.

These people are stationed in the army all year round, so they have no problem leading soldiers and beating them, but asking them to take charge of people's livelihood affairs is undoubtedly like asking an authentic farmer to pick up an embroidery needle and embroider.

Doesn't this cost them their lives?

In the early years, the governor allowed them to recruit their own staff, and the territories also had corresponding civil officials to govern.

However, the civil and military officials are separated. If there are rumors that disturb people's hearts during civil unrest, the civil officials will only think that it is the problem of the unruly people themselves, which leads to the unruly people rebelling during the disaster, instead of looking for the cause from the disaster itself.

Even if the responsibility is finally investigated, the civil officials can make you think that the dead are alive. Then they will push all the responsibilities to the local officials for their poor governance. The civil officials will be held accountable and removed, and the military officials will suppress the unruly people.

"Seventh Master" understood too well the personalities of these foolish generals who had fought with him to conquer the world, and fearing that they would suffer losses due to carelessness, he wrote a special letter to remind them.

There were serious natural disasters and plagues, which caused widespread famine and countless casualties among the people. The high-ranking officials and wealthy families in the court only huddled together for their own interests and did not consider the lives of the people at all.

If the common people really become bandits or even revolt in order to have enough food, it will be necessary to use military officers to suppress the rebellion. If the army that should have been fighting in battles is used by the civil officials with ulterior motives and becomes a weapon against the common people, in the end, even if the rebellion is suppressed successfully, the military officers will probably not end up well, but will be blamed for playing with the enemy, nurturing the bandits, being brave and bloodthirsty, and harming the common people.

In the final analysis, "Seventh Master" will do his utmost to fight for them in the court, and in time of war, the territories will adopt the strategic policy of "military generals commanding on the battlefield instead of civilian officials", but before that, all generals must remain vigilant and not be deceived by others.

At the same time, those military advisors who have followed them for decades should prepare themselves well, lest the "Seventh Master" eliminates their worries, while they themselves are unprepared and mess up the territory under their jurisdiction.