Chapter 290

Jing Zhaoyin made an emergency response, looking for water everywhere and organizing people to irrigate the farmland. However, it was a drop in the bucket and could not solve the problem of drought at all.

In June, the imperial warden reported that the brightest companion star nearest to the emperor's star was dim and seemed to be covered with a layer of black gas, which was an ominous sign.

It seems that in order to confirm this statement, it was not long before the drought fields ushered in a second disaster - locust plague.

Countless grasshoppers came to cover the sky and the sun, and they landed in the farmland and ate the crops wantonly. It seems that they are very hungry. Neither smoke nor powder can stop the spread of locusts. In just a dozen days, more than half of the farmland outside Beijing was destroyed.

For a time, the prices of rice and vegetables in Beijing skyrocketed one after another, and the people were panicked and rumors were flying all over the place.

Some people say that the emperor's companion star represents the prince. The black air of the companion star indicates that the prince's deadline is coming.

Some people say that the once-in-a-hundred-year drought and locusts are signs that the crown prince is not allowed to go to heaven.

Some people say that only by setting up another prince can we ensure the peace of the country.

More and more people think of the last time that the Qinglian cult supported the crown prince's accession to the throne. They also said that these things against the heaven were actually the rebellion secretly planned by the prince. However, the emperor's strength is booming, so the prince failed.

In the face of natural disasters, the reputation of benevolence, virtue and filial piety accumulated by the crown prince among the people for many years was destroyed.

What is benevolence and filial piety? If people are hungry, can benevolence and filial piety be eaten as food?

Seeing his reputation in the public plummeted, the prince finally couldn't bear it and decided to move on.

In July, the crown prince sent a letter asking the emperor to reform the legal system and put forward a series of reform measures. The most important one is to cut taxes and subsidize the people's livelihood. He also suggested that the royal family should increase revenue and reduce expenditure. And take the lead to set an example, starting from the prince's house, cut all unnecessary spending.

In such serious natural disasters, these measures are indeed measures to benefit the people, but in the eyes of Yu Linglong and Xu Wang, the prince has taken the first step of his downfall.

Perhaps because he thought that the prince's proposal could reduce the loss of drought and locusts, the emperor agreed to the prince's request to temporarily implement these policies for a year, so as to see the effect.

The reform proposed by the crown prince has temporarily restored the hearts of many people. Among the people who have suffered serious losses due to the disaster, many people are grateful to the prince. For a time, the voice of praising the prince's love for the people has been continuous. On the surface, the image of the prince in the minds of the people is much higher.

But in the sound of praise, there was a huge undercurrent in the court.

In August, when the autumn harvest came, due to the serious disaster, many places had no food to hand in. However, due to the prince's new policy measures, only a small amount of grain was collected in other places with harvest, which greatly reduced the income of officials who could take advantage of the autumn harvest.

One of the measures to reduce the expenditure of the imperial court is to reduce the salaries of the officials, which leads to such a phenomenon: the salaries of the officials are less, the oil and water are also gone, the court hall is gradually filled with complaints, and even even deliberately wear patched court clothes to "resist" the prince's reform policy.

Another important measure to reduce expenditure is to greatly reduce the expenditure of the imperial palace. Even the emperor's daily life has shrunk a lot, not to mention other concubines.

Although the empress supported the crown prince, there was still a lot of complaints in the harem. Those noble concubines even spoke bitterly and deliberately, causing a lot of complaints inside and outside the palace.

Yes, the prince wants a good reputation. Why should they pay for it? These women have been living in the Imperial Palace all their lives, and they want to enter the palace to become masters and enjoy the blessings of the world. But the crown prince's frustrations have greatly reduced their enjoyment. Can they be happy?

After half a year, the situation became more and more serious. Although the crown prince won the support of the people, what he lost was the support of the officials and nobles. For a time, the dissatisfaction with the crown prince in the imperial court became more and more serious, almost to the verge of outbreak.

This year, the crown prince was so worried about the reform that he didn't care to frame up King Xu. King Xu and Yu Linglong took advantage of this opportunity to recruit elites, cultivate their forces and wait for the final decisive battle.

Just as everything was going smoothly, an unexpected thing happened.

It's late autumn, and the weather is getting colder. Yu Linglong is reading a book under the window. Hemerocallis comes back and forth and says, "princess, someone is coming from the mountain."

On the mountain?

Yu Linglong knows that the mountain in XuanCao's mouth refers to the barren mountain where she bought slaves. For the past half a year, things on the mountain have been carried out in an orderly manner according to her arrangement. However, at this time, how can people suddenly come to the mountain?

There was a faint uneasiness in her mind, as if something bad was going to happen.

Close the book in the hand, jade Linglong deep voice said: "follow me to the outside flower hall."

In the flower hall stood two people in grey robes, about 30 years old. When they met Yu Linglong, they knelt on one knee and said in unison, "see the princess!"Jade Linglong nodded and said politely, "get up."

These two men were the martial arts teachers sent by King Chu Xu to teach her slave martial arts. One was Gong Cheng, the other was Lei Shi. King Xu told her that the two men were the top figures in the dark guards. They were nearly killed because of their mistakes. It was king Xu who tried his best to protect them, but he could not keep them as secret guards, so he arranged for Yu Linglong.

Knowing that the two men were excellent, Yu Linglong was always very polite to them. Several news from the mountain also showed that the two men selected by King Xu were really good. He not only managed the people on the mountain very well, but also taught them martial arts with great care. There were several children with talent and intelligence, and now their skills are quite outstanding.

Yu Linglong sat at the head of the table and asked, "you two are looking for me, but what can I do for you?"

Gong Cheng and Lei Shi look at each other and suddenly kneel down again: "princess, your subordinates are incompetent. Please punish the princess!"

Hearing the two people's resolute voice, Yu Linglong's heart can't help but slightly jump, said in a deep voice: "what's going on?"

Gong Cheng lowered his head and looked remorseful. He said, "it's linger girl..."

Jade Linglong suddenly stood up and said nervously, "what's wrong with ling'er?"

The two were startled by her reaction and quickly told the whole story.

Ling'er is Yu Linglong's maid. So since she went to the mountain, Gong Cheng and Lei Shi treat her not like other people, but they respect her very much. They almost do what they say. Not long after linger went up the mountain, they saw their skills and were very envious. They took her brother Fuyong out of Shangwu hall and practiced martial arts with them.