Zhang Lang went to and from work step by step every day, and time flew by unknowingly. In the blink of an eye, the weather had turned cold, and the north wind was howling, and the first heavy snow covered the entire capital with a thick blanket.

White cotton coat.

Early in the morning that day, Zhang Lang went to the main hall to attend the court meeting as usual. In fact, in more than half a year, Emperor Yang Guang rarely visited the court at all. Most of the time, the ministers stood in the main hall for a long time.

Eunuch Zhao Yongcai came out and announced that the emperor would not come to court today and told everyone to disperse. According to Zhang Lang's idea, since the emperor is sleeping comfortably in Rouwen Township and will not come to court, why wake up the ministers early in the morning to wait. But this

I can only think about this idea. It is absolutely impossible not to come to report unless you are seriously ill. Even if the emperor himself does not come, he is very sensitive to the absence of his ministers.

Well, maybe even if I lose my official position, I might not even be able to save my life.

Early in the morning, when the genius was bright, Zhang Lang was riding a horse on the street heading to the palace. He looked at both sides of the street and found that there seemed to be many more beggars huddled and shivering on both sides of the street than yesterday. Zhang Lang couldn't help but frown.

He frowned, feeling worried. Since a few months ago, beggars have been pouring into the capital. At the beginning, there were not many and no one noticed it. It seems that starting from two months ago, the number of beggars suddenly increased, and the number of beggars increased.

The scale has continued to increase, and it is now said that six to seven million beggars from all over the country have poured into the capital, but Zhang Lang estimates that this number should be far less than the real number.

According to the information Zhang Lang learned, the reason for this situation was that Yang Guang wanted to build the palace, dig canals, and build the river capital. Yang Guang was eager for quick success. In order to complete these huge projects in a short time, he not only consumed a lot of money, but also spent a lot of money on it.

The national treasury has been drained and even the increased taxes cannot be borne. In terms of manpower, millions of migrant workers have been recruited by the government to do heavy labor.

If this were the case alone, the situation might not be very serious. The most serious problem was that local officials often used Yang Guang's orders as an excuse to enrich their own pockets. Therefore, every time the court sent an additional one tael of silver in taxes, local officials would use this as an excuse to enrich their own pockets.

The people imposed taxes of at least three taels and even five or six taels of silver; as for the requisitioned workers, local officials often withheld money and food from migrant workers in order to line their own pockets with the money and food distributed by the court. The migrant workers did the heaviest work but did not even have enough money to live on.

They couldn't get it, so escape incidents were very frequent, and there were even incidents where thousands of migrant workers in an entire construction section fled collectively.

After the migrant workers fled, they often fled with their families for fear of being punished by the government with consecutive imprisonment. A considerable number of refugees who fled to the capital today fell into this situation; the rest of the refugees were trying to escape the showdowns and taxes that they could no longer afford.

And fled his hometown.

When people fled their hometowns and became refugees, local governments were bound to pass on the local manpower and tax burdens to the people who had not yet fled. The people who had not yet fled could not bear it, and they all embarked on the road of fleeing with their families. It is so vicious.

The cycle is getting worse and worse.

Zhang Lang came to the main hall, said hello to a few familiar people, and walked to his seat to stand. According to Zhang Lang's estimation, the emperor would definitely not come today. Not long after, the old eunuch Zhao

Yong came in from the side door, stood on the jade steps and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty is here!" Zhang Lang was slightly surprised. He looked towards the side door and saw the emperor walking up the jade steps and sitting on the dragon chair. Zhang Lang

Looking at his sloppy steps and gloomy expression, Lang couldn't help but wonder if he had spent so many days hiding in the harem enjoying his father's concubines.

All ministers shout long live.

"If you have something to do, leave the court!" Zhao Yong, an old eunuch, stood beside the emperor and shouted.

Yu Wenshu immediately stepped out of the queue, cupped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

When Yang Guang saw that it was Yu Wenshu, he couldn't help but smile and asked: "Is there anything you want to report to your beloved Yu Wen?"

Yuwen Shu said: "Your Majesty, I have just received a report from my son Yuwen Zhiji that the expansion of Jiangdu City has been basically completed and the palace garden has been completed. You can respectfully invite your Majesty to come!"

When Yang Guang heard this, he was overjoyed and said with admiration: "Ai Qing is indeed worthy of being a great minister. Such a huge project was basically completed in just over half a year, so good!" Then he said to the clerk in the main hall: "Draft the edict immediately.

, Yuwenshu was promoted to the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty, with a first-class official position!" Yuwenshu was overjoyed to thank him. Yang Guang said again: "Female Yuwenzhiji as General Yulinwei, and add the title of Marquis of Nanyang." Yuwenshu quickly replaced his son Yuwenzhi.

After thanking Yang Guang, the clerk had already drafted the imperial edict, walked up the jade steps, and presented it to Yang Guang with both hands. Yang Guang looked at it, picked up the jade seal, stamped it, and handed it to Zhao Yong. Zhao Yong

After receiving the imperial edict, he walked to His Highness and handed it to the Minister of Civil Affairs. According to the procedures, the emperor's appointment and dismissal orders must be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for public announcement and filing before they can be considered official.

After hearing Yuwen's report that Jiangdu City was being completed in a hurry, Yang Guang couldn't wait to take all the beauties from the harem to Jiangdu for fun, so he asked Yuwen: "Yuwen loves you, I really want to go to Jiangdu, but I don't know now

How is the construction of the waterway going?" Yu Wenshu clasped his fists quickly and said, "Reporting to your majesty, although the waterway project has not been completely completed, it is already accessible without any obstruction. I suggest that your majesty order the construction of ten large dragon boats fifty feet long and ten feet wide. In this way,

Your Majesty and the empresses in the harem can take a dragon boat and go straight down to Jiangdu for a happy trip." Yang Guangda was so happy that he was a little impatient at the thought of being able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the south of the Yangtze River with all the beauties in the harem.

However, at this moment, Zhao Zhuocheng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, suddenly came out of the queue, clasped his fists and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, I have a script to start this memorial!"

Yang Guang asked casually: "What's the matter with you?"

Zhao Zhuocheng said: "Your Majesty, the people of the world have already carried a heavy burden in order to build the palace and dig the canal for Your Majesty. It is not uncommon for families to be destroyed and people to die! Your Majesty now wants to build a dragon boat. How can the people afford it? The people of the world are...

The cornerstone of the Great Sui Dynasty, once the people are disloyal, the Great Sui Dynasty will be in danger! Your Majesty, please give me a clear warning!"

Yang Guang was originally in high spirits, but when he heard Zhao Zhuocheng's words, he felt greatly disappointed and said angrily: "Zhao Zhuocheng, how dare you slander my father!"

Zhao Zhuocheng seemed to have given up and said loudly: "How dare I slander your father! What I said is from the bottom of my heart! Your Majesty, remember King Zhou of Shang back then, and remember Empress Chen not long ago! None of them are because of delay.
Chapter completed!