In the Yanqing Palace.
The crown prince looked at the imperial edict given to him by the emperor.
This is a memorial presented by the Prefect of Jingzhou.
Last year the Yangtze River flooded, Jingzhou was in the middle reaches and suffered particularly severely. The peasants had no harvest, dead bodies were everywhere, and the people demanded that the granaries be opened to distribute grain.
But the former governor of Jingzhou was too brutal and used suppression, which led to some civilians rising up and killing the former governor of Jingzhou. They opened the imperial granary, but then feared that the imperial court would hold them accountable, so they occupied the mountains and became mountain bandits. Under the banner of "robbing the rich to help the poor", they frequently robbed passing merchants and wealthy gentry.
Because these people would distribute some silver to the local poor after looting, they were even supported by a part of the people, which made the new prefect of Jingzhou very headache. Sending troops to suppress was not feasible, nor was it possible to ignore them.
The crown prince's initial idea was naturally to have the imperial court send troops to besiege him, but after thinking deeply about it, he felt that this wasn't a good solution either.
These people were not bandits from the beginning, but good citizens who were forced to become bandits. They did not rob the poor, only the rich, and even cleverly distributed a portion of the stolen silver to the poor.
Ordinary people won't think deeply about what bad consequences their actions will bring, they only remember who gives them money is a good person.
If we carry out a brutal suppression, not only will we lose the hearts and minds of the people, but it may also lead to more ignorant people joining the bandits.
If they are willing to surrender, whether those people will accept the imperial court's offer of amnesty is a question; if they are willing, whether the imperial court can accept the conditions for surrender that they put forward is another question.
If they accept their surrender conditions unconditionally, the imperial court will also lose its prestige, and the people will think that as long as they resist and coerce the imperial court a little, they can get everything.
The prince has been having trouble sleeping and eating for the past two days, constantly researching historical materials or previous similar cases of imperial court practices, but found that either they were not suitable for the current situation or the methods used were inappropriate.
The crown prince furrowed his brow and stared at the letter, feeling at a loss for what to do.
After a while, he called the housekeeper over and said: "You go to the Hanlin Academy and invite Zhao Jian to come over. Just say that I benefited greatly from his lecture on the scriptures last time, and ask him to come again to give me another lecture."
Zhao Jian is Zhao Lin.
The old man nodded and left.
In the Qính政殿, after hearing that the Crown Prince had sent someone to invite Zhao Lin, the Emperor nodded and smiled slightly, saying to Eunuch Wan: "Although I am somewhat foolish, I know how to listen to my ministers' words and can distinguish between good and evil, so I am still teachable."
Wan Gonggong smiled and said: "The prince is like the emperor, intelligent and studious, how can he be foolish? That's just humility and caution."
The emperor smiled and said: "You're good at flattering."
Wan Gonggong smiled and said: "Your Majesty is wise."
The emperor glared at him, causing Eunuch Wan to burst out laughing.
The emperor looked at a strategy document presented by Zhao Lin on the desk, which was exactly the solution to the Jingzhou banditry.
The emperor said to Eunuch Wan: "Zhao Lin is a man with some ability. Lin Ying will choose a good son-in-law."
Old Man Wan continued: "Yes, Lord Lin will also teach his daughter. Otherwise, how could he have taught the Empress to be such a dignified and virtuous person?"
The emperor thought of Lin Daiyu and smiled, asking: "Is Yuanyuan sending Ruyi out of the palace today?"
Wan Gonggong said: "Yes." He smiled again and said: "The Empress Dowager is so angry that she wants to move the entire Changkun Palace out, and give it to County Master Yunyu."
The emperor stood up and said: "Let's go and see where they are going."
Inside Changkun Palace.
Lin Yan pointed to the rewards prepared in front of him for the Lin family, one by one, and said to Lin Xuan: "Remember, this is for Grandma, this is for Big Aunt, this is for Second Aunt, this is for Mother, these are for several aunts, and this is for the unborn little brother... Little brother's will be kept by Yu'er instead of him, wait until he comes out, you give it to him..."
Lin Xuan waved her hand impatiently and said, "I know, sister has already said it several times, I remember." As she spoke, she pointed to something and repeated what Lin Xiao had just said.
Lin Xiao smiled and nodded her nose.
The eldest princess also had her wet nurse bring her over to see her off.
Rouyu has been in the palace for two days and has gotten along well with the eldest princess. The palace only has the eldest princess as a girl, sometimes the princesses from the royal families of other kingdoms come to visit, but she can't play with them together. There is only Rouyu, who doesn't feel shy around her, won't let her win just because she's a princess or be overly polite to her, and has many things to play with, making it very fun to be with her.
The young jade was about to leave the palace, and she couldn't bear it very much.
She gave Yu Yu a small seal she had carved herself and asked her: "When will you come into the palace again?"
"You'll have to wait for a while, because I'm going to the northwest with my father and mother."
The eldest princess lowered her head in regret.
Yu Yu then reached out and patted the big princess's shoulder, saying: "However, when I come back, I'll bring you a little Hu horse, small boots, and a small bow. Can you shoot arrows?"
The princess shook her head and said, "No."
"Young Jade said: 'I don't know how either, but my father said he would teach me later.'"
The eldest princess said: "Then I'll also ask Father Emperor to find someone to teach me. When you come back, we'll have a competition."
Yu Yu Dao was pleased and then led a large group of people out of the palace.
The emperor came in at this time, looking at the palace maid standing behind her with things on both sides, and smiled: "It seems that what Wan Gonggong said is not wrong, your sister is moving out of Changkun Palace to let you take it away."
Lin Xiao smiled and glanced at him, saying: "If you don't move out, what reason do you have to ask the Emperor for a reward?"
The Emperor smiled and said: "From your tone, it seems like I owe you something."
Young Jade curtsied and said with a smile: "Imperial sister's husband, I'm going back home after leaving the palace. Don't miss me too much."
The emperor patted her head and smiled: "Give my regards to your grandmother."
Young Jade nodded vigorously: "I'll tell Grandma that you're thinking of her."
Then he bid farewell to the emperor again and left the palace with a group of palace maids in high spirits.
Arriving at the Wu Guo Gong Fu, she got off the carriage and stood at the entrance to greet her. Lin Chengming smiled and teased her, saying: "Yo yo, our Yun Yu County Master is back."
Lin Xuan glared at him for a moment, then ran laughing and threw herself into Li's arms, saying: "Grandma, I've missed you so much."
Li smiled and picked her up, saying: "Grandma's little heart, Grandma misses you too."
Lin Chengming smiled and said, "I think you're so happy in the palace that you've forgotten about your hometown. You don't miss your grandmother at all. Why not just send you to the palace to be the emperor's daughter?"
Yu Yu stomped her foot in dissatisfaction and pointed at him while pouting to Li Shi: "Grandma, look at Fifth Brother."
Li smiled and said: "We won't bother with him, Grandma's favorite grandson, no one will give in to him."
