Zhao Zhen and Ouyang Xiu chatted happily, as the old saying goes: When you meet a close friend, a thousand cups of wine is too little, and half a sentence is enough if you don't speculate.

He found that Ouyang Xiu was completely different from his uncle Ouyang Ye's rigidity, and his words revealed boldness and enterprising spirit.

"Although the articles written in the Song Dynasty nowadays are colorful, they are too empty and meaningless. They are parallel prose and the style is gorgeous, but they inevitably use big words, clichés, and empty words. These flashy things are actually the main style of the imperial examination. This is a big mistake!"

Ouyang Xiu's words surprised Zhao Zhen. This kid who was born in the system actually started to question the system. He is not so courageous!

Sure enough, as soon as Ouyang Xiu finished speaking, his uncle's hand came up to greet him. A violent shudder made tears well up in his eyes. Cai Qi even smiled and gloated: "You are uttering wild words at a young age, and all the official documents of the Tang Dynasty are full of arrogance."

Among the parallel prose writers, there are countless outstanding ones. Li Shangyin, Duan Chengshi, and Wen Tingyun are all masters of various kinds. How can we underestimate the thirty-six parallel prose styles?"

Ouyang Ye didn't even bother to answer, and squeezed out a sentence: "Sit in the well and look at the sky!" Ouyang Xiu was found guilty by his words.

But Zhao Zhen thinks it makes sense. He has read parallel prose, and there is nothing else except beautiful sentences. Because of adapting to sentence patterns and piling up rhetoric, it often affects the expression of content.

A simple sentence often requires effort to cater to the opposition, and sometimes it is mixed with uncommon and difficult words, which greatly affects the office efficiency of the court. If someone points it out, the opponents will claim that the other party has shallow knowledge and is not good at reading.

Zhao Zhen looked at Ouyang Xiudao with a wry smile: "What my brother said is true, but what he said is wrong. My uncle is an official. If you say that parallel prose is wrong in front of him, of course you are asking for trouble!"

Ouyang Xiu glanced at Ouyang Ye with a wry smile and said, "We obviously had a good chat with Mr. Wu, why do you still listen to us two!"

Zhao Zhen smiled bitterly and shook his head. Ouyang Xiu still didn't understand the painstaking efforts of the two old people. Although they seemed to be getting along with Wu Daguan, they were actually focusing on their conversation with Ouyang Xiu. This was the elder versus the younger generation.

The love and care is also a kind of guidance.

Ouyang Ye seemed to be pointing out Ouyang Xiu's mistakes, but he was actually warning him not to break the tradition and system. Don't challenge the rules of the game jointly established by the emperor and civil servants such as the imperial examination!

With such an uncle, what else is there to be dissatisfied about? Zhao Zhen sometimes really envies Ouyang Xiu next to him.

Thinking about his own palace, he felt a headache. Except for the trouble left by his father, there was no one close to him in the palace. Those concubines who had not given birth to children had all gone to the royal family temple to become a monk. Only those who were left behind

Zhao Zhen's little empress Yang Caiwei, a snake and scorpion, continues to occupy the harem.

My own clan was even more unbearable. Not counting the rebellious eighth uncle Zhao Yuanyan, the rest, except for Zhao Yuanzuo, the close uncle, were all playboys who could not support themselves.

Zhao Zhen and Ouyang Xiu chatted happily, not only about articles, but also about politics. Zhao Zhen whispered to Ouyang Xiu about the things in the court, and told Ouyang Xiu that there was a drought and famine in Ruzhou and Dengzhou.

At that moment, Ouyang Xiu's expression changed drastically.

"Is what my dear brother said true?"

"Absolutely true!"

Ouyang Xiu said with an ugly face: "The official family encountered such a thing just after they succeeded to the throne. What a natural disaster!"

"Is it a natural disaster? I think it is a man-made disaster! All prefectures and counties in the Song Dynasty have official warehouses, which are often opened to prepare for emergencies. If there is a drought, the local government should provide relief as soon as possible, and according to the annual

According to the statistics of the three departments, the official warehouse and the Changping warehouse all release grain at the same price, which can quickly stabilize the grain price, and there will never be a situation where hungry people flee from famine."

The conversation between Zhao Zhen and Ouyang Xiu attracted the attention of the other three people. Cai Qi shook his head and said: "Brother, I take it for granted. If you are not in the local area, who knows what the situation is like. You just heard some rumors. How could the imperial court not go there?"

What about disaster relief? Besides, Changpingcang’s food supply is limited!”

"It's more than limited! There are only a handful of them. A certain family came back from Dengzhou. To be honest with you, I was actually in the grain business before. I had grain shops in Ruzhou and Dengzhou.

But when there was a famine, every grain shop was closed, and everyone raised the price of grain to sell it at a higher price!"

After Wu Daguan finished speaking, Ouyang Xiu asked strangely: "Did uncle do the same thing?"

"A certain family didn't do this. They put out a small amount of grain to sell, and the price hardly changed. But did you know? In a few days, a group of unscrupulous people rushed into my grain store and robbed it! Think about where these unscrupulous people came from.

Where did it come from? Why did you want to rob a certain grain store again?"

Ouyang Xiu thought for a long time and choked out a sentence: "I'm afraid the people are hungry and anxious."

"Haha... my nephew is so naive!" Wu Daguan looked at Ouyang Xiu's young appearance and couldn't bear to tell him about the cruel world. He could only shake his head and sigh, "The world is unpredictable, natural and man-made disasters are unpredictable!"

The Song Dynasty did not use words to punish crimes. This was an era of freedom of speech, so officials in Wu dared to speak so freely.

I don’t know who this was said to, but Zhao Zhen found it very harsh.

Ouyang Ye and Cai Qi looked at each other. They saw helplessness and worry in each other's eyes. Now is the period of the transition of the highest power in the country. Officials are young and have just succeeded to the throne. Things like drought and famine will have some impact.

Official reputation.

"It goes without saying that these unscrupulous people are instigated by other grain stores. You are blocking their way of making money!"

Zhao Zhen's words instantly made Ouyang Xiu's eyes light up, and he nodded repeatedly: "Brother Xian is right, they can't see the kind deeds of officials Wu! Why don't you report it to the official?"

Wu Cai smiled bitterly and said: "How can you report to the official without any evidence? Those official officials are busy trying to find ways to fill the holes in Changpingcang and Guancang!"

"What?!" Wu Cai's words shocked Ouyang Ye and Cai Qi.

"Aren't the Changpingcang and Guancang in Dengzhou and Ruzhou full?" they both exclaimed almost in unison.

Wu Cai smiled bitterly and shook his head: "How can it be full? If the warehouse was full, the victims would not come to Xijing!"

"The victims are coming to Xijing!" This was another piece of news that caught Ouyang Ye and Cai Qi off guard.

Wu Cai asked strangely: "You two don't know this? The victims of the disaster in Dengzhou and Ruzhou came all the way to Xijing because they couldn't get relief from the government. What's more, they even gave up when they heard that the officials were also in Xijing.

Tokyo City, which is far away, is coming straight to Luoyang City!"

Compared with the shock of his uncle and Cai Qi, Ouyang Xiu was much more relaxed: "It's good now, there are officials here, and the victims can be saved! Dear brother, don't you think so? Dear brother?"

Only then did Ouyang Xiu realize that the originally gentle Zhao Zhen had turned as cold as ice in winter, with a gloomy expression on his face without saying a word.

Carefully patted Zhao Zhen's arm and said, "Brother Xian, what's wrong?"

Zhao Zhen squeezed out a sentence through his teeth: "Don't you know? The officials had already issued an order on the way to Gong County, ordering Yingchang Prefecture and Tangzhou, which are closer to the disaster area, to quickly transport grain to you.

Dengzhou provides disaster relief! Such a long time has passed, so where did the victims Wu Daguan saw on the road come from?"

Wu Cai whispered: "Maybe they left a little early and the food hasn't arrived yet?"

"Impossible! If the victims have any hope, they will defend the city and wait for help. They will never go all the way to Xijing. You must know that the consumption on the road is much greater than waiting in place! What's more, officials will never go all the way to Xijing unless it is absolutely necessary.

He will make the people under his rule go to the capital to beg!"

After Zhao Zhen finished speaking, he stood up suddenly and bowed his hands to everyone: "Zhao Zhen still has something urgent to do, so I will stay here soon. We will see you later!"

Peng Qi and a group of guards had been waiting not far from the flower hall for a long time. Seeing Zhao Zhen coming out in anger, he asked: "Shall we go back to the palace?"

"No return!"

"Then what are we doing?"
Chapter completed!