() "Oh, how else can we arrange it? We are trapped here. We have two extremely thin porridges in the morning and evening, and the charcoal is just a little bit. That's it. People here have to stay up until it's still early. I don't know what else to do.
How many people will die!"? How many people can be left here!
No, you have to do something! At least let the court do more. If you can save more, save more, otherwise how can you feel at ease!
Thinking of this, Zhong Jinwei immediately stood up and said to Gu Baichuan: "Find someone to take their family to my house and settle them down. Let's go back and meet An Guiyi first."
When the old man heard what Zhong Jinwei said, he stood up with his family. However, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he asked his son for the ingot of silver given by Zhong Jinwei. He weighed it in his hand, and then said
Looking at the refugees around him, he said: "Thanks to the young master, the old man's family now has no worries about food and clothing, and is no longer struggling on the line of life and death. Due to the kindness of the young master, the old man should exchange it for food and clothing, and distribute it to everyone on the young master's behalf. Please give it to everyone here."
Wait, we will definitely be here within a day."
After saying that, he looked around, took his family, and left with Zhong Jinwei.
Zhong Jinwei did not go far. He listened to the old man's words and couldn't help but have mixed feelings in his heart. The sincerity of the ancients puts most future generations to shame!
The family followed Zhong Jinwei and others, and walked away in the envious and respectful eyes of other refugees.
Arriving at the gate of the refugee camp, where the soldiers of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Command were guarding, the soldiers there had already reported it to their leader. At this time, the leader came up to him respectfully. Yes, the people of Dongchang dare not be disrespectful.
Zhong Jinwei asked him: "Why is there so little food and coal?"
The leader also saw that Zhong Jinwei was the leader of this group, so he did not dare to neglect, and replied: "Sir, you guys don't know that so many things have been handed out from above, and they are rationed at regular intervals. At this time, no one dares to deduct anything without conscience.
.”
Zhong Jinwei had already been mentally prepared and knew that he would not be able to get anything out of the question, so he stopped asking and directly asked for his horse back and headed to Donghua Gate.
One of these soldiers, under Gu Baichuan's orders, found a car, picked up the lucky family, and headed for Dingfu Street.
In the car, when the old man's son saw that there was no one else around, he said, "Dad!"
The old man knew what his son was thinking. He looked at him seriously and said, "We have been taken in by the young master. We are a hundred times luckier than the folks who still stay in Wang Gongchang. Silver is the icing on the cake for us, and they
We are all still in the sea of suffering and may die at any time. Only by cultivating a kind heart and accumulating good deeds will there be good rewards, do you understand?"
Seeing that his son still seemed reluctant to part with the ten taels of silver, the old man educated him again: "People are doing it, and God is watching. It is our duty to repay kindness. By doing this, I also conveyed the young master's benevolence and gave alms on his behalf."
, not only will the villagers be grateful to the young master, but our family will also have a good impression on the young master, do you understand?"
The old man's son nodded, understanding his father's painstaking efforts. By doing this, he was able to reap the benefits in one fell swoop. Having an old man in the family is like having a treasure!
"As soon as you're settled in, you'll go buy some food and clothing to send over, remember?"
"Yes, Dad." His son nodded seriously.
Besides, Zhong Jinwei and his party rushed to Donghua Gate on horseback. After leaving the slums, they finally saw life again. Although the restaurants on the side of the street were not bustling with people, the noise of eating and drinking could be heard from time to time, which reminded me of my lunch.
, a poem that was not very appropriate suddenly jumped into my mind: The wine and meat in Zhumen stinks, and the roads are frozen to death.
I couldn't help but sigh secretly, and my mood became even worse, so I stopped talking and just immersed myself in going on my way.
After arriving at Donghua Gate, I discovered that An Guiyi and the others had not come back yet. If they had come back, the family that had just been resettled would have missed it and would not be resettled. The time was not arranged well, so it was a rush.
Of course, if An Guiyi didn't come back, he wouldn't be able to enter the Forbidden City and see Emperor Chongzhen. After thinking about it, he turned around and took his horse to Dongchang to see if Wang Chengen was still there.
As a result, Wang Chengen had already returned to the palace, so he had to go back to Donghua Gate to wait for An Guiyi.
But waiting is not the answer. Zhong Jinwei thought for a while, took out twenty taels of silver and gave it to Gu Baichuan, asking him to go to Dingfu Street to replace An Guiyi. He also gave the money to Archie and asked her to bring the old man's family and
The three girls from before made arrangements, and then Gu Baichuan escorted Archie back.
Gu Baichuan estimated that there would be no danger to Zhong Jinwei at Donghua Gate. Besides, with Wang Peng here, ordinary people couldn't get close to him, so he went there with peace of mind.
Zhong Jinwei took advantage of the time he was waiting for others to think over all the disaster relief methods he knew, selected some methods that should be suitable for the current situation, and remembered them one by one.
Not long after, An Guiyi came back on horseback. It turned out that he and Gu Baichuan met halfway. After conveying Zhong Jinwei's instructions, An Guiyi changed Gu Baichuan's horse and rushed back first. Gu Baichuan drove back to accompany Archi to settle down.
That family went.
An Guiyi immediately led Zhong Jinwei back to the side hall, and Wang Peng, of course, went back to Dongchang to pay the order.
After arriving at the side hall, Zhong Jinwei asked An Guiyi to go find Wang Chengen, saying that I had something urgent and wanted to see the emperor, and asked him to make arrangements.
Soon, Wang Chengen came in person to deliver the edict and asked Zhong Jinwei to come to the Wenhua Palace to see him.
Because Zhong Jinwei didn't have time to order the corresponding earl clothes, he still wore the cloth clothes and went there.
When we arrived at the Wenhua Hall, we found that in addition to Emperor Chongzhen, there were also cabinet and ministerial officials there.
After the ceremony, Zhong Jinwei reported directly to Emperor Chongzhen the situation in the Wanggongchang refugee camp.
Emperor Chongzhen was shocked when he heard this. No one reported the situation to him in detail. He just thought that there were some refugees in the capital to avoid the disaster.
I didn't expect that there were so many refugees, and that human lives were so cheap, with so many people dying every day.
Before Emperor Chongzhen could get angry, Bi Ziyan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, it is really because the court is powerless about this matter. In order to avoid your Majesty's worries, I did not report it in detail to your Majesty."
"Can't do anything? Just a little rice soup and a few charcoal for tens of thousands of people?" Seeing that it was Bi Ziyan, Emperor Chongzhen suppressed his impulse and asked with a frown.
"Your Majesty, the national treasury has been in deficit for many years, and the reserve warehouse used for disaster relief has been empty for many years. The rebels have been raging, and the supplies in the capital cannot be supplemented from various places, and they are becoming scarce, including Fotan. The number of King Qin's army is huge, and the food is not enough to supply King Qin's army.
For this reason, the porridge the refugees receive in the morning and evening is still squeezed out of military rations."
Emperor Chongzhen was speechless after hearing this. He spent money everywhere but had no money everywhere. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. No wonder Bi is so strict now.
"Master Sun?"
"I'm here."
"You have seen that the rebels are raging, the army is gathering, and money and food are wasted, causing the people to suffer. The people cannot enter the capital, but they still starve and freeze. You must eliminate the weak and retain the strong as soon as possible, send back the retired soldiers, and reduce the household burden.
Pressure. Defeat the Jianlu as soon as possible and restore peace to the capital."
"My lord, I obey!" Sun Chengzong bowed and accepted the order with a hint of guilt.
"Some people only know that I am impatient and force you to do this and that all day long, but they don't know about the imperial court and that I can't afford to wait!"
"I don't dare!" everyone said together.
Zhong Jinwei heard what Emperor Chongzhen said and remembered. Some netizens in later generations criticized Emperor Chongzhen for one of his mistakes, that is, during the Battle of Songjin, it was because Emperor Chongzhen kept issuing orders to urge Hong Chengchou that the army was defeated and the Ming army lost the final
A main force.
It is only the second year of Chongzhen's reign, and the decisive battle between Song and Jin was in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen's reign. The finances will only be more difficult than now. If those netizens had traveled through time and heard about Emperor Chongzhen's difficulties, they would not have made such accusations anymore.
"My ministers, is there any good way to help the refugees, my people?" Emperor Chongzhen was silent for a while, and then asked the ministers below.
"Your Majesty, for the current plan, it may be better to dispatch them to a few surrounding areas." The cabinet minister Cheng Ji ordered to go out to report.
"No, Your Majesty, the surrounding areas have been ravaged by the rebels. It is difficult for us to survive the winter, and it is even more difficult to provide relief. These people will die on the road when they go out of the city, and they will also die in the towns they go to." Wen Tiren went out to object.
Cheng Jiming turned around and looked at Wen Tiren: "Then what countermeasures do you have to relieve the Lord's worries?"