Chapter 126: The First Disaster Relief (10)
In March, after several heavy rains, Shandong people no longer worried about the drought this year. However, selling children reached its peak. April was the most cruel month, as it was the transition period between harvest and harvest.
Huo Chong rode his horse through the county town and saw skinny children with grass tags on their heads standing stupidly on both sides of the road, next to their skinny parents. Even though the platform for planting blessings has expanded to its current situation, there are still many families selling their children.
"Master, take these two children away." A woman threw herself in front of Huo Chong's horse. Huo Chong looked down at the woman and reined in the horse. After looking at the woman again, Huo Chong simply got off the horse.
Squatting down, Huo Chong said, "Big sister... you are sick."
The woman's skin showed a strange color, which should be caused by the disease of the internal organs. After hearing Huo Chong's question, the woman struggled to get up, "Master, I won't live for a few more days. I only ask you to take these two children away. I... I don't want money."
Huo Chong looked at the two children. As far as the disaster victims were concerned, the two children were already clean and tidy. Huo Chong didn't find them annoying. The two children's eyes were very bright. Although they were also shy and uneasy about the new environment they had never seen before, their eyes did not panic.
Looking at this woman again, her clothes and conversation were not bad. At least she knew what she was saying, what she was doing, and what results she expected. Considering her current illness, Huo Chong couldn't respect this woman.
"My dear sister, you are not confused even in such a situation. These two children must be extraordinary. If you need any help, I can help you."
The woman was stunned when she heard what Huo Chong said. However, after a moment, she showed a painful expression, which should be the onset of the disease. Seeing the woman's cold sweat dripping down her head and looking like she was about to die, Huo Chong said to his subordinates who followed him: "Take these three people to our branch."
When the others saw Huo Chong actually helping these three people, they immediately came up to sell their children. Huo Chong ignored them. He was in a precarious situation to some extent. If he sold the people, he might harm them.
Pushing the others aside, Huo Chong mounted his horse and continued on his way.
The purpose of this visit was not to buy people, but to pay a visit to Taoist priest Chang Dao. When Taoist priest saw Huo Chong, he looked him up and down and asked, "Mr. Huo looks very worried."
"Yes. There are some things that I can never let go of." Huo Chong answered frankly.
General Nian Gengyao was fighting in the northwest and ordered a large amount of solid alcohol from Huo Chong. This money relieved Huo Chong's urgent need and allowed the Zhongfu platform to continue to operate well.
But Huo Chong did not think that such good days would continue. It was only a matter of time before Yongzheng took action against him. Even if he could not explain the reason, Huo Chong was still very confident.
At the moment, Huo Chong was just hoping that Yongzheng would focus all his attention on the war in the northwest, and then take action against Huo Chong after Nian Gengyao was executed by Yongzheng.
Entering the Taoist temple with Master Changxin, Huo Chong asked directly: "Master, the autumn harvest will be in three or four months. I have prepared food and money, but I wonder if you have any instructions."
"Mr. Huo is too polite. How dare I, a person who lives in seclusion, deliberately recruit believers? If I do that, I will be bullying Mr. Huo's kindness."
Huo Chong was very grateful for what Master Changxin said. He came to visit at this time just to clarify this issue. If Master Changxin was a greedy person, he might use Huo Chong's platform to recruit believers for himself. Huo Chong's strength has really been used up, and he will not accept any additional requests.
The two sides discussed the people who had joined the platform. Master Changxin was reasonable, so Huo Chong was relieved. After the discussion, Master Changxin mentioned Huo Chong's own affairs, "Mr. Huo, I think you are too worried. This is actually not helpful."
"I will answer the Taoist priest with Buddhist words. If you can't let go, you can't let go. Pretending to be able to let go is useless. I am not the kind of person who has great spiritual practice."
"Mr. Huo has already practiced quite a bit, so I won't bother you any more . I wonder when you think the opportunity will come?"
"Maybe one year, maybe two years. Within two years." Huo Chong responded. Nian Gengyao's death would trigger something, something very interesting. No matter how Yongzheng himself thought that Nian Gengyao deserved to die, other officials who were not on the same page with Yongzheng would only become more alienated from Yongzheng after seeing Nian Gengyao being killed.
No matter how capable Huo Chong was, he could not fight against the entire Qing Dynasty alone. When his own strength was confirmed, he could only expect the enemy to split internally.
While Huo Chong was plotting against Yongzheng, Yongzheng was also thinking about what Longkodo said when he met Yongzheng alone. He could not entrust Nian Gengyao with absolute power.
Longkodo was the son of Tong Guowei and the younger brother of Tong Jia. Soon after Yongzheng was born, he was raised by Tong Jia, who had no children. Although they were not blood relatives, Yongzheng still considered Longkodo to be his uncle.
Moreover, this uncle also made a lot of efforts in Yongzheng's enthronement. When Kangxi died, he asked Longkodo, the then governor of the Nine Gates, and some important civil officials to draft the will. If Longkodo had made any moves in it, Yongzheng would not have been able to ascend the throne so easily.
With such a relationship, Yongzheng could not ignore Longkodo's advice. Moreover, there was nothing wrong with the suggestion of not letting Nian Gengyao monopolize the power of the northwest. From the perspective of political tactics, the emperor could only maintain his position if he held great power.
Yongzheng had already made a similar judgment to Longkodo. When he saw his beloved thirteenth brother, he couldn't help but tell Yunxiang about this idea. Yunxiang thought for a moment and answered readily: "Since the military affairs have been entrusted to Nian Gengyao, we should let him do his best to achieve rapid results."
Yongzheng was stunned. This was his original idea, to grant Nian Gengyao the power to make decisions, so that he could pacify Qinghai as soon as possible. Playing those kinds of tricks that looked sophisticated was neither Yongzheng's forte nor his favorite.
"It's just..." Yongzheng didn't know what excuse to give, and couldn't say any more after saying two words.
"If the emperor doesn't believe Nian Gengyao, or is dissatisfied with him in some way, why not just issue an edict to explain it. In fact, with Nian Gengyao's intelligence, how could he not know what the emperor said? Since Nian Gengyao already knows, and he also knows that the emperor knows, it would be superfluous for the emperor to do that now."
"Haha." Yongzheng couldn't help laughing, causing the eunuchs around him to raise their heads and look at Yongzheng.
This emperor was a famous cold-faced emperor when he was Prince Yong. I didn't expect that he could laugh so happily.
Yongzheng was really happy. Listening to his thirteenth brother's words, he was really refreshing. These words were completely in line with Yongzheng's thoughts, straightforward and without any affectation.
Picking up the pen, Yongzheng began to write the imperial edict.
