Even if the grain is harvested, most of it must be turned in, and the amount left in the area is quite limited.
At present, the price of white rice on the market has risen to ten taels of silver per load, and it is also affordable.
There is also a section: if someone sets up a porridge farm in any state or county, the victims will inevitably flood in in large numbers after hearing the news. How many days will the small amount of food be enough to feed them?
If they starve to death locally, local officials will be held responsible...
Who is willing to do this kind of thankless task, which might even lead to losing one’s reputation!
Why don't you go to the court to explain the situation?
I played it, but it was of no use.
Not only is there no one tael of disaster relief funds, there is not even any reduction or exemption in this year’s grain and rice taxes!
Xiao Chen was speechless after hearing this, and a feeling of powerlessness arose spontaneously, holding it in his chest and feeling extremely uncomfortable.
I was stationed in a county town in the evening, and all the local officials, big and small, came to wait on me. The banquet was still extravagant, the supplies provided were still complete, and the secret tribute paid to them was also quite generous.
Xiao Chen had no appetite at all for the table full of delicious food. He just socialized for a while and then left the table on the excuse of being tired on the road.
The officials were quite puzzled. Why did Eunuch Xiao look unhappy? We didn't offend you!
"You didn't go to the banquet, why did you come back so soon?" After returning to the house and lying on the bed, sulking, Chen Jisheng wandered in again.
"No appetite." Xiao Chen said with his eyes closed.
"Are you tired of eating big fish and meat?" Chen Jisheng sneered.
"Master Chen, I want to open a few porridge restaurants here to help these refugees, do you think it's okay?" Xiao Chen has been thinking about this.
"No." Unexpectedly, Chen Jisheng flatly rejected it.
"Why!" Xiao Chen jumped up, "Can't I pay for it myself?"
"Boy, you think things are too simple." Chen Jisheng sighed, "How could the emperor not know that the disaster in Weizhou is serious? He knew clearly but pretended not to know, and didn't even issue a decree for disaster relief! Just because he is in urgent need of money and food now.
We are preparing for war, so we don’t care about these hungry people at all.”
"It would be fine if it was a local relief effort, but you are an imperial envoy of the royal family. If you do this, wouldn't you be going against the emperor?"
Chen Jisheng made his words very clear.
"Then how about I pay and let the local officials help me? Or you can just do it." Xiao Chen retreated and settled for the next best thing.
"No way. First of all, this is still your doing. Secondly, how can the local officials not know the emperor's intentions? Do they dare to openly spend high prices to buy food for relief? Speaking of which, they are still against the emperor. As for me? A prison officer even said
No." Chen Jisheng shook his head.
"Then if you say so, we will just watch these refugees starve! Aren't you an upright official or a critic? Why are you afraid of offending the emperor!" Xiao Chen was very angry.
"Xiao Chen, you can see so much, but how much can't you see? You save the ones in front of you and forget about the rest, right? And if you can save them for a while, can you save them for a lifetime?
?" Chen Jisheng said solemnly.
Xiao Chen was speechless.
"Good doctors always like to say that it is better not to treat the symptoms than to treat the root cause. The same is true for many things in the world. You just clean up the superficial wounds, but if you don't remove the hidden diseases at the root, what's the point?
Use?" Chen Jisheng looked at the problem more deeply.
But it was useless for him to tell Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen was just a eunuch.
"If you want to save those refugees, you can only give them some rewards in the name of the imperial concubine. It can be considered as showing your kindness." Chen Jisheng finally gave Xiao Chen an idea.
"Hehe, as expected, there is an old man in the family. If there is a treasure, this is what I will do! But these are all banknotes, and I don't have that much cash..." Xiao Chen thinks this is a good idea.
"You have to ask the local officials for help, but they..."
Before Chen Jisheng could finish his words, he heard a commotion outside, and then someone came to report that the magistrate and several adults guarding Qianhu wanted to see him for something important!
"What happened?" Seeing seven or eight civil and military officials swarming in, all of them looking nervous, Xiao Chen was somewhat surprised.
"Please take a look, sir!" the guard handed over a piece of paper.
Xiao Chen took it and glanced at it, only to see a few lines of small words scrawled on it.
When I heard that the imperial concubine was coming there, I was very happy and wanted to welcome her in person, but there was a lot of inconvenience.
However, I heard that the imperial concubine was extremely beautiful, comparable to Daji, and my brothers and I felt itchy in our hearts.
So I set up a banquet with delicacies from the mountains and the sea. I want to invite her to come to my Black Tiger Mountain to have a drink with me, but I don’t know if I can do that?
If she is willing to come, I will be happy. If she is not willing, I will also be annoyed. If I can't help it, I will take my brothers to invite her in person, but it will also be a penalty for drinking!
The signature was paid by Gong Heihu, the creditor of Heihu Mountain.
"Who is this Gong Heihu?" Xiao Chen was really shocked and angry after reading this nonsense, and he couldn't even laugh or cry.
Gong Heihu was originally a local powerful man, also commonly known as a gangster.
His subordinates gathered a group of desperadoes from the world of martial arts and formed a black tiger gang. They bullied men and women in the local area, committed murder and arson, and committed all kinds of evil!
Later, he was suppressed by the Han army, so he hid in Black Tiger Mountain and became a mountain king.
Because Black Tiger Mountain stretches for hundreds of miles and is steep and steep, the army could not do anything to him. Later, when the Great Zhou Dynasty rebelled, he immediately responded and was made a guerrilla general.
Later, when the war was settled, he felt that his contribution was not small, and he thought that Zhou would appoint him as a general soldier or something. Unexpectedly, the cunning rabbit died and the lackeys cooked him. Not only did Zhou not appoint him as an official, but he also listed all his past crimes.
Want to kill him.
Gong Heihu was so angry that he ran into the mountains and became the king again.
This time he changed his banner again and contacted and cooperated with some anti-Chou forces. He claimed to be General Black Tiger of the Han Dynasty. It was said that he also had contact with Tianxuan Society...
This time I heard that Concubine Liu was passing by as a prostitute, and suddenly I had the idea to invite Concubine Liu to drink with him, so I sent someone to come at night and shoot an arrow on the top of the city to invite her...
It can be said that he is extremely brave and a desperado!
The guards and others were shocked when they saw the arrow book and did not dare to hide it, so they hurriedly ran to report to Xiao Chen.
"How dare a clown be so arrogant? How dare he lead troops to attack our county?" Xiao Chen also found it unbelievable.
"Replying to Mr. Xiao, the walls of our Fenzhu counties are tall and strong. Gong Heihu doesn't dare to attack rashly. He is afraid that he will intercept the carriage harassing the imperial concubine on the road, so there is no need to be careful." Magistrate Chen Ziang said.
"Gong Heihu also has hundreds of desperadoes under his command. They are all very brave and fierce, but they cannot be underestimated!" guard Lin Yue said.
"I think Mr. Xiao should inform our Weizhou County Governor immediately and ask him to send one or two thousand people to support." The person who spoke was Wei Qiang, who was responsible for escorting Liu Guifei's carriage in Weizhou County.
That thousand households.
That is, the guy who whipped the refugees but was kicked by Xiao Chen.
At this moment, he looked frightened and restless, obviously frightened by Gong Heihu's arrow letter.