Renzong Zhao Zhen issued an order to urgently transfer 10,000 people from the Wuping Army in Xijing (Chang'an) to reinforce the Qinzhou front; Twenty troops of Jinzhou, Fenzhou and Mengzhou were transferred, and 5,000 troops were sent to reinforce the Yaozhou front.

ordered Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan to take the strategy of defending the territory and building the city, step by step, to block the southward movement of the Yuanhao army of Western Xia; He ordered Pang to lead the affairs of Shaanxi's government affairs and logistics, and the military affairs were jointly decided.

Pang Ji, Han Qi, and Fan Zhongyan were ordered to retreat.

As soon as this top priority was over, the ministers in the palace and Zhao Zhen all breathed a sigh of relief, and the atmosphere in the Daqing Hall also became relaxed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the second thing today must be discussed by you, the third secretary made Yan Aiqing on the setback, this year in the southern states of the year of the great drought, the autumn grain has now been harvested, the yield is seriously reduced; The war in the west has dragged on for too long, and the grain depots in the state capitals have gradually been exhausted, Yan Aiqing has raised a few worries, and everyone has come up with ideas and think of solutions. ”

Zhao Zhen is a little helpless, how difficult the country is, he is really powerless as an emperor, and he is really powerless to solve these things, so he still has to discuss with the ministers or have a solution.

The chamberlain held Yan Shu's song fold in his hand and read it aloud: "Chen Yan Shu said: This year's grain tax has been seriously reduced, and many prefectures and counties have not been harvested due to the severe drought in the main producing areas in the south for several months; The ministers ordered the state capitals to report the amount of grain stored in the treasury, and the amount obtained by adding the amount of grain that could be levied in this year was less than 60% of last year, only 97 million stones; This rough calculation can only last until April next year, the minister is very worried, the lack of food may bring many hidden worries, how can the border soldiers have no food to resist the enemy, the people will starve and freeze to death without food, or it can lead to the disaster of theft, please make a clear decision. ”

The ministers are silent, in fact, many people know about the drought in the south, but they didn't expect the problem to be so serious now, and the grain of the whole country is not enough to receive next year's autumn grain on the market. It is conceivable that once spring passes, there will be starvation everywhere, bandits will run rampant, and the people will do anything to survive.

Zhao Zhen said: "Ladies and gentlemen, do you have any corresponding strategies?" ”

Lu Yijian got up and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister expressed doubts about this number, the first two years of my Great Song Dynasty grain were the year of great abundance, although there was a locust disaster in the first year of Baoyuan, but the second year of Baoyuan and the first year of Kangding were all harvest years, and the inventory should have been made up for by abundance. Lord Yan should explain this matter. ”

Lu Yijian pointed the finger at Yan Shu, which meant that he, as the third envoy, failed to make arrangements in advance, even if the data statistics were accurate, he was suspected of dereliction of duty.

Yan Shu came out and said: "Emperor Qi, what Lu Xiang said is true, the second year of Baoyuan and the first year of Kangding are indeed two years old, and the two years old produce a total of 240 million stones, but the storage is far from enough, since the Northwest War has been four years, during this period, more than 100,000 troops have consumed a huge amount of military food, and the people of Hedong Road, Yongxing Military Road, and Qinfeng Road have been displaced, and they have been unable to carry out normal farming, and millions of people basically rely on the imperial court to get by, and the food consumed is more than tens of millions; To be honest, every year is overstretched, if the minister hadn't been careful in scheduling everywhere, I'm afraid that people would have starved to death a long time ago. ”

Lu Yijian said dissatisfiedly: "Lord Yan, if you don't say this, the old man doesn't want to mention it, the officials in Yuanzhou, Chenzhou, Liuzhou and other places opened warehouses to help the victims of the disaster should have been dealt with seriously, but you tried your best to protect these state officials in front of the emperor, now it's okay, the official warehouse is empty, what should you do at this moment?" ”

Yan Shu said lightly: "Is it impossible to let the people starve to death or become starving?" Hungry people are the most likely to cause rebellion, and once they cause violence. What about moving? ”

Lu Yijian was dumbfounded: "Reduced to a mob? What do my Song officers and soldiers do to eat? Are you still afraid that a handful of hungry people will not be able to make a rebellion? ”

"I, the Son of Heaven, am in the court, how can I allow the people to be displaced, the hungry people are good people, and not born thieves, can we still sit back and watch them fall into chaos due to hunger, and then send troops to exterminate them? Lu Xiang's words are very strange, and this official can hardly agree. ”

Lu Yijian said angrily: "But what should I do now? According to what you said, there will be no food in the whole country next spring, and it will not be a great chaos, and what good plan will the three envoys have to deal with it? ”

Yan Shu said: "If this matter is something that the official can decide, why do you need to inform the emperor, and why does the emperor need to talk about this matter in the court?" ”

Lu Yijian wanted to refute, Zhao Zhen coughed, and said: "The two Aiqing, they are both worried about state affairs, why should they be so intense, I have allowed the relief to open a position that day, so don't mention this matter again, the top priority is how to deal with the current situation, and come up with a perfect strategy; There are still months to spare, and I don't believe I can be stumped by such a thing. ”

The two of them saw that Zhao Zhen was a little angry, and they didn't dare to speak.

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said: "I will throw bricks and lead jade, let's talk about a way first, from today onwards, I have decided to change the three meals in the palace to two meals, and supply them in rations, so as to put an end to the extravagant trip, so that the surplus can be at least one percent of the grain down to reduce the burden; I hope that I can do the same from the bottom of the world, and a grain of grain saved is a grain of grain. ”

The ministers were shocked, and they all knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty can't." ”

Lu Yijian kowtowed and said: "If my dignified Great Song Dynasty even has to cut down on food and clothing, wouldn't it be a fall to the majesty of my Great Song Dynasty if I say it." ”

Du Yan also said: "Yes, by all means, what kind of face does this make the courtiers stand on top of the court." ”

Dissuasion, Zhao Zhen smiled helplessly, but listened to a humane: "The minister thinks that His Majesty's move is feasible." ”

The ministers looked at each other in amazement, and it turned out to be Ouyang Xiu, the governor of the Imperial Academy, who didn't care about everyone's stunned gaze and continued: "The ministers thought that Your Majesty's move would not only damage the majesty, but would make the people of the world more convinced; Your Majesty set an example, how can people in the world be embarrassed to waste food, and this move is not very harmful, before the Sui and Tang dynasties, the per capita food was two meals a day, and in recent times, there is a saying of three meals a day, and the minister has not heard of anyone starving to death because of one less meal; In extraordinary times, your majesty will drive the officials and people of the world to practice the way of frugality, and all things are not wasted, this move is in line with the way of heaven, and it is a merit of your majesty. ”

The ministers scolded in their hearts: "You sycophant, you are harming everyone to be hungry with the emperor, the emperor lives in the palace, this move may just be verbal, but if the edict is really issued, who dares to eat more." ”

Zhao Zhen said with a smile: "Or Ou Aiqing understands the reason here, this matter is so decided, and it will be announced to the world later, from today onwards, the supply of food and vegetables by the Internal Affairs Office will be reduced by 30%, and if there is gossip and dissatisfaction in the palace, they will be punished for one day's food." ”

Everyone looked at each other and smiled bitterly, they didn't expect the dignified Song Dynasty to be so miserable, and they had to rely on hunger to save food to tide over the difficulties.

"Your Majesty is really an unprecedented benevolent monarch, and the ministers worship the five bodies, but the ministers have a request for this matter, please ask the emperor to learn clearly."

Yan Shu blamed himself deeply, what he did was to take charge of the tax of money and grain in the Great Song Dynasty, but he didn't expect to force the emperor to cut back on food and clothing, although it was not a situation caused by him, but it was really difficult to get over the face.

"Yan Aiqing will say it if she has something to say."

"The minister thinks that the edict should be written that the sick and weak and the elderly over 50 can be treated exceptionally, first, the old people do not eat much, and secondly, the old people are weak, I rule the world with benevolence and righteousness, and the old and weak can also be excluded from the list of feasts, which can also show Your Majesty's compassion for the old and weak."

"This is reasonable, and I have this intention." Zhao Zhen said in his heart: I'm still worried about how to explain to the old lady and the old lady.

"The minister also has a please." Before Yan Shu could get up, another person knelt forward from the last position in the hall.

"Fan Aiqing, please speak."

Fan Zhongyan kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty asks Your Majesty to allow the officers and men of the three armies to eat and drink as usual." ”

"Yes, yes, this one is a matter of course, how to defend the country against the enemy if you don't have enough." Zhao Zhen patted his forehead and said.

"The minister will go to the border to organize the army and the people to reclaim their own crops, although the northwest is bitter and cold, but wheat can be planted in winter, and it can be harvested in May of the next year, so that part of the military food supply can be saved, although it cannot be completely self-sufficient, but it accumulates a lot, and one more point is one point." Fan Zhongyan continued.

"Nonsense! The soldiers have gone to farm, how to resist the enemy? Du Yan said angrily.

"Du Shumi, please rest assured, the lower officials will not miss a major matter, and the lower officials know the severity." Fan Zhongyan said quietly.

Zhao Zhen sighed and said: "Fan Aiqing thinks on her own, everything is based on the enemy's strategy, and the rest is within your ability." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "The minister knows. "Kowtow and stand back.

Zhao Zhen rubbed his brows and said, "Yan Aiqing, can this make up for the gap?" ”

Yan Shu shook his head and said, "At least two percent is missing." ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Does the Zhongqing family have any good plans? ”

Some of the ministers said that they would go to the country of Jiaozhi or the country of Goryeo to buy grain, some said that they would kill all the livestock of the whole country and prevent private livestock from consuming food and meat to eat, and some proposed to mobilize the people to fish and hunt, all of which were not on the table, and they were refuted and rejected one by one after they were proposed.

Zhao Zhen's migraine faintly looked like an attack, so he said: "It seems that you Aiqing can't think of any good way for a while, so let's go back and think about it, and there is a good way to report it; I still have something to tell you today, but I'm a little tired, let's talk about it tomorrow, this matter is the matter of Ying Tianfu's current auspiciousness, Zhao Zongdan, Tang Jie, and a cadre of Ying Tianfu's subordinate officials all went to the excerpt to report, saying that Taizu dreamed of Su Jin, a student of Ying Tianfu, and made the words of the oath tablet in the Taimiao public to the world; I decided to go to the temple on a certain day to pray, so there is no need to mention this matter; It's just that the reason for this matter is straightforward, and some companies need to send someone to investigate and talk back and forth. ”

Everyone was surprised, the grandfather actually came down in a dream to announce the content of the Taimiao oath monument, most people don't know this content, but it's a strange thing, before everyone reacted, the inner servant had already chanted loudly, Zhao Zhen got up and stepped off the throne and retreated.