Yang Fan knitted his brows tightly and didn't even have the time to savor the soft and fragrant feeling of Wan-er sitting on his lap. Naturally, he didn't notice Wan-er's slightly knitted brows.
He muttered for a moment and shook his head. "I originally thought that we would be able to defeat the Hidden Sect in a single move by using the rations. Therefore, we have been attacking with all our strength and didn't have any defensive strategies. It won't work now. I have to go back and ponder on how to deal with their counterattack. "
"Wait for a moment, Langjun!"
Wan-er stood up and paced back and forth in the room. She knitted her brows and seemed to be in deep thoughts.
The Emperor might not visit the Three Yang Palace often, but the furnishings were all there. The house that Wan-er chose was called the 'Orchid Fragrance Pavilion.' The front window had bamboo, and the back window had flowing water. Orchids were planted beside the flowing water. Even though the windows were closed, a delicate fragrance still seeped in and filled the room with fragrance. The bamboo shadows were dancing outside the window, creating a beautiful scene.
Such a gentle and fragrant environment and such a charming and beautiful woman complemented each other perfectly. Yang Fan didn't have the mood to appreciate it. Seeing that she was in deep thoughts, he didn't want to disturb her thoughts. After waiting for a long time, Wan-er still remained silent. Yang Fan couldn't help but ask, "Wan-er, what exactly happened?"
Wan-er shook her head lightly and said, "This servant suddenly thought of something. It seems to be related to Yan Province, but I can't confirm if I remembered it wrongly …"
Wan-er suddenly said to Yang Fan, "Langjun, please wait here. Wan-er will be back soon!"
Finishing her statement, Wan-er didn't wait for Yang Fan's reply and left in a hurry. Yang Fan didn't know what Wan-er was going to do. When he saw her leaving in a hurry, he got up from the bed and slowly walked to the hall in front to sit down and ponder quietly.
Using the rations as a breakthrough point to deal a fatal blow to the Hidden Sect. From the looks of it, only Yang Fan was busy. Yang Fan had used the official forces to submit a memorial. He first made a feint to attract the Hidden Sect's attention to the Grand Plains Storehouse, drawing out the resources that the Hidden Sect possessed to replenish the Grand Plains Storehouse's deficit. He then immediately made a move on the Dan Province and the Feng Province.
In this process, other than a trusted aide sent by Yang Fan, there were only two imperial censors from the imperial court. Other than giving Yang Fan ideas, the entire Xian Sect didn't do anything else. Actually, that was not the case. How did Yang Fan accurately locate his targets at Taiyuan Warehouse, Danzhou Warehouse, and Fuzhou Warehouse?
To determine where they would attack, Xian Zong had used large amounts of manpower and resources.
The Battle of Chang 'an happened two years ago. Back then, other than the many grain merchants with the backing of the Obvious and Hidden Sects, there were also many ordinary grain merchants who heard the news and saw the profits. This served as a great cover for the grain merchants with the backing of the Hidden Sects.
Now, they were investigating them one by one according to the few remaining clues. If it were the imperial court, even if they sent all the officials of the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Censorate to investigate publicly, they would not be able to find out everything in a short time.
The Xian Sect had to eliminate the ordinary grain merchants from the intermittent clues and find the people with the backing of the Hidden Sects. Then, they had to analyze if the grain they used that day was their own grain or if they borrowed it. If they borrowed it, then they must have colluded with the local warehouse officials. Next, they had to investigate if the deficit had been made up for …
All of these steps weren't easy to accomplish. Especially during the investigation, they had to pay attention to concealment and not let the Hidden Sects find out what they were investigating. The effort needed was even greater, and if it wasn't the Xian Sect, no one else could do it.
Because they had already put in so much effort, when they decided to start the operation, they would put in all their effort and wanted to accomplish everything in one go. But now, the fake target, Taiyuan Warehouse, was no longer a problem. Imperial Censor Shi, who originally had high hopes for the Dan Province, didn't have any progress.
Now that the autumn harvest had begun, even if there were any problems at the Dan Province, the alerted Hidden Sects would use this year's autumn harvest to purchase the surplus grain from the farmers to make up for the deficit. As the main target, Feng Province, was no longer a problem. All Yang Fan could do was to quickly return to defend and prevent the Hidden Sects from counterattacking …
As Yang Fan pondered with a heavy heart, Shanghai Wan 'er hurried to the Guardian Room.
Originally, the Emperor didn't need to bring documents and past memorials to the Li Palace. But this time, he left Luoyang because of the threat of the flood. No one knew if the flood could drown the palace. Therefore, all the important documents were transported out. Just these things alone took up to ten carts.
In less than fifteen minutes after Wan 'er arrived at the Guardian Room, a large group of literate palace maids and eunuchs came. The palace doors were already opened, and in the Guardian Room, there were mountains of secret books and documents from the palace, including all the memorials for the past ten years.
Wan 'er ordered in a deep voice, "Everyone, start searching immediately. As long as it's a memorial from Yanzhou, pick it out!"
These palace maids and eunuchs didn't know what Shangguan Daizhao wanted to do. Some of them, because their positions were too low, usually only stood far away and saluted when they saw this Minister of Internal Affairs. They didn't even hear her say a word. Now that Shangguan Daizhao personally ordered them to do something, all of them were in fear and trepidation and worked extremely hard.
For a moment, in the spacious hall of the Guardian Room, countless palace maids and eunuchs were busy. A close maid brought over a ten-thousand-character knot and a brocade stool. Wan 'er sat down leisurely. Someone brought over a cup of almond cheese that was as white as milk. Wan' er took it in her hands and sipped on it, quietly waiting for news.
During the Tang Dynasty, there were seasonal drinks for all four seasons. For example, in spring, there was fragrant drink and peach blossom drink. In summer, there was black plum drink and sugar drink. In autumn, there was lotus house drink and fragrant grass drink. In winter, there was wolfberry drink and ginseng drink. In the palace, there were also ice chips and sesame drink and other high-grade drinks. Wan 'er loved the apricot drink made from almonds. Her close maids knew what she liked and naturally fawned over her.
"To be made, this servant found a copy here!"
A palace maid found a memorial to the imperial court from the Yanzhou Prefecture and happily handed it to Wan 'er.
Wan 'er quickly took it and flipped through it.
This was submitted to the imperial court in the first year of Proving Holiness by the Yanzhou Prefecture. However, by the time the imperial court received the memorial, the year had already been changed to the first year of Ten Thousand Years of Heavenly Book. Wu Zetian, who liked to change year names, had changed her year name twice in this year. Because of this, the time on the cover of the memorial was changed. It was a bit conspicuous and was noticed by the lucky palace maid.
This was the year when Xue Huaiyi burned down Ming Tang and Heaven. Wu Zetian ordered them to rebuild Ming Tang and cast the nine cauldrons. The Yanzhou Prefecture received the news and submitted a memorial to the imperial court. In reality, it was to show off its merits to the Emperor. Shanghai Wan 'er saw that it had nothing to do with what she wanted, so she casually put it aside.
After a while, another eunuch found a memorial to the Yanzhou Prefecture and hurriedly presented it to Wan 'er as if he was presenting a treasure. Wan' er opened it and read it. Her eyebrows raised in delight. She gracefully stood up and said, "You all continue to search. Put the Yanzhou Prefecture's memorials together and wait for me to read them!"
Finishing her statement, Wan 'er held onto the memorial and left quickly. She headed straight for her residence.
Yang Fan sat in the front hall and pondered repeatedly. His mind gradually outlined some concrete steps to prevent the Hidden Sect from retaliating. When he came back to his senses, he realized that Wan 'er had been gone for a long time and hadn't returned.
Yang Fan saw that the sun was setting, and it was nearing dusk. He wanted to leave first and get Ren Wei to pass on the information. The earlier he made preparations, the lesser the losses, right? Just as he stood up, Wan 'er hurriedly walked in. Her footsteps were hurried, but her shoulders didn't sway, and her sleeves didn't sway. She was like the floating clouds and flowing water.
"Erlang, look at this!"
Wan 'er smiled like a flower as she handed the memorial to Yang Fan. How could a memorial be read by just anyone? However, there were only the two of them now, and Yang Fan didn't have any reservations. Although he was curious, he didn't ask and immediately flipped open the memorial to read it carefully. 'Requesting Yanzhou to Exempt Money and Provide Relief.' When he saw the title, Yang Fan was startled. He looked at the date and saw that it was the first year of the San calendar, which was two years ago.
Yang Fan continued to read. This was a memorial from the Yanzhou Provincial Governor, Xie Yubin, to the imperial court. The memorial said: "The jurisdiction of Yanzhou is different from the interior. There are frequent wars at the borders, and it has harmed Yanzhou. There are endless natural disasters and years of drought. As a result, the land is bitterly cold and barren. People have to sell their children, and the people have no way to make a living. "
The memorial also said: "This official has been in office for seven years. I have tried all means to mediate, enrich the household, and pacify the borders. However, I am only barely able to provide food and clothing for the people. I am truly ashamed of the imperial court's great expectations of the Emperor. This year, there has been a great drought, and it hasn't rained for months. There is no hope for farming, and there are no products to be produced. There are no merchants, and I am afraid that the people will have no way to make a living again. "
In the Tang Dynasty, the transfer of provincial governors was not frequent, and the transfer of provincial governors in the northern regions was even less frequent. It was common for a provincial governor to be in office for eight to ten years. Because the local area was poor, and there were frequent foreign invasions, if the local governor was transferred too frequently, he would be transferred before he could familiarize himself with the area. It would be difficult for him to manage the area well. Therefore, it was not unusual for the Yanzhou Provincial Governor to be in office for seven years.
Looking at this memorial, it was voluminous and full of pleas for the people. Provincial Governor Xie was doing his utmost to plead for the imperial court to exempt money and grain from Yanzhou, and to provide relief to the victims of the disaster. Because of his own incompetence in managing the area, he frequently requested relief from the imperial court, causing him to be anxious and uneasy. The image of an honest and upright official who loved and cared for the people appeared vividly on the paper.
Below the memorial, there were also the Emperor's comments. As soon as Yang Fan saw the handwriting, he knew that it was written by Wan 'er on behalf of the Emperor. Yang Fan patted the memorial and said: "This is a memorial to the Yanzhou prefecture. Because of the years of famine, the people are poor. The imperial court is requesting for the imperial court to exempt money and grain and to provide relief. Why do you want me to look at this …"
Before he could finish his sentence, Yang Fan suddenly froze in place. He opened his mouth and was tongue-tied, unable to say anything. After being frozen for a long time, Yang Fan hurriedly lowered his head and looked at the memorial again. He stared at it with wide eyes for a long time. There was no mistake. It was indeed a memorial from the Yanzhou prefecture. The inscription and seal were undoubtedly from the Yanzhou prefecture.
Yang Fan suddenly raised his head and looked at Wan 'er. Wan' er gently nodded her head and said: "At first, I was worried that I would remember wrongly. Now that I have found this memorial, there is no doubt about it! Below, there is also the official reply that I wrote on behalf of the Emperor. Yanzhou is exempted from money and grain for a year, and 80,000 dan of grain is given as relief! "
Yang Fan murmured: "Yanzhou has been suffering from drought for years. The people are short of food and clothing, and they often need the imperial court to provide relief. But in the blink of an eye, they were actually able to gather 100,000 dan of grain to make up for Yanzhou's deficit?"
Wan 'er's eyes sparkled. "This time, Langjun, I'm afraid that you will dig out a giant rat that is even bigger than a hamster."
Yang Fan said: "Not just that. I'm afraid that if we investigate this seriously, the entire bureaucracy in the northwest will collapse!"
Wan 'er sweetly said: "Langjun went to the southern border. Countless heads fell, and hundreds of officials lost their jobs. This time, will the northwest suffer because of Langjun again?"
Yang Fan said: "Actually, there is something I haven't told you."
Wan 'er's pair of beautiful eyes slightly widened. She asked: "What is it?"
Yang Fan said: "When I was young, I followed my teacher out to sea. At night, I saw a large star in the sky. It was more than two feet long. The starry sky was a rare sight. My teacher wanted to name me Xingchi because of it."
Wan 'er thought about it. She also knew about this strange event. How could she not remember that Wu Zetian changed her era name because of it? Wan 'er couldn't help but say: "What do you mean? Are you the reincarnation of a jinx?"
Yang Fan said seriously: "Looking at it now, I'm afraid so!"
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