I had thought that this young man didn't understand anything, but I didn't expect that he just took a look at the barn and asked about his life in one sentence.
For officials, these grains and rice are not valuable at all, and they are in large quantities. They can go out from the official barns and store them in private granaries. They are not easy to be discovered and can be provided without spending money.
Living as a family.
This is a harmless matter. There are similar situations in various places, and the imperial court will not ask anything about it.
So over time, officials developed the habit of carrying grain from the official barn.
It's just that the situation in Yuzhou is special. The prefect of Yuzhou is a good old man. He believes that taking advantage of himself is worse than taking advantage of everyone together, so most of the officials in Yuzhou City have taken advantage of it.
Unexpectedly, there were so many officials who were greedy for cheap. If a hundred or so grains of grain were taken away from a house, the vacancy in the barn seemed to be huge.
Normally, there were no official visits, and even if officials from the Sixth Ministry came, they would not investigate the grain inventory in detail, so no one paid attention to it.
Moreover, these officials are also greedy. They look down on old rice and only take the better new rice.
Xia Shang came to take a look and saw at a glance that there was too much old rice and too little new rice, so there must be something wrong.
When Xia Shang asked, no one thought that this young man could make a surprise attack. All the officials present were stunned and sweating, but no one could stand up and say a word.
Xia Shang said calmly: "I think it would be too risky to squeeze out some of the food we have for now and use it for disaster relief."
Upon hearing this, the officials felt that Mr. Xiao Xia did not seem to want to delve into the food issue, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. The prefect quickly answered: "Yes, yes, yes... Your Excellency, you are still aware of the situation. There is not much food in the barn."
, supplying the people of this state is already stretched thin. If a large number of people are to be spared to relieve the victims, then our local people in Yuzhou will starve in the future. However, since your Excellency has said that, all the people of Dahua
, we officials all have to take care of it, so we will still try our best to select a group of them, and even if we tighten our belts in the future, we will still be able to overcome the current difficulties."
"Draw a batch from here?" Xia Shang asked, "I'm afraid it will be difficult. Before I entered the city, I found that the fields in the surrounding villages and towns had been destroyed by the victims. This year's grain supply in Yuzhou
The harvest is worrying. After this winter, there may be another famine next spring. This food is not enough to begin with, so the food here cannot be moved."
"Ah? If the food in this barn cannot be moved, then we...how can we help the victims?"
"It's not difficult..." Xia Shang said with a smile, "This is not the only place in Yuzhou City that has food reserves. I see that all the experts have rosy faces and are refreshed. I think they are living a good life, so naturally they are not
Those who will refuse rations. As the saying goes, soldiers and civilians belong to the same family. Now that the people are in trouble, you officials will naturally have to make a statement. Mr. Prefect, are you right?"
The prefect felt a cold sweat on his head, thinking that by going around this circle, he was asking us to donate food.
"Yes, yes, your Excellency is absolutely right. We Yuzhou officials have always loved the people like their own children. In this critical moment, we naturally have no shirk in our duties. I will immediately bring food from home to help the victims."
Xia Shang nodded with satisfaction, then glanced at the others: "What about you?"
Other officials were also enthusiastic: "I am also willing..."
"Your Majesty the Prefect understands the truth, but this matter is not a trivial matter. I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve results if there is less food. I wonder how much food the Prefect is willing to spare?"
"Hiss..." The prefect's heart tightened, and he quickly wiped his sweat, thinking that this young man is not easy to fool, and he has been aggressive and refused to give everyone a way to survive.
The magistrate thought about it, because he didn't know how to answer to satisfy Master Xiaoxia. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "I don't know how much food I have left at home. How about I give you an amount after I count the number of meters?"
"Why is it so troublesome? Sir, all you have to do is make a promise. Promise to keep the food for your family and servants for the next year, and donate the rest to relieve the victims."
"Ah?" The prefect asked in surprise, "Only leave enough food for the next year? Everything?"
"Yes, all of them." Xia Shang nodded solemnly, and then relaxed his tone, "If you don't want to, it's okay. After all, donations are voluntary. The lower official also reported the truth to the Ming court. In the Yuzhou barn
What I saw…”
"No, no, no, no... Sir, we are willing to keep only the food rations for the next year. All the rest of the food will be donated to the victims outside the city."
"Is it true? I didn't force you
.”
"No, no, it's all voluntary for the subordinates."
"That's good." Xia Shang said with a smile, "Since the prefect has taken the lead in agreeing, I will thank you all on behalf of the victims outside the city. However, as the so-called words are unfounded, I still ask people to come to you.
Let’s go up to the house and see how much food there is. Let’s make a record first.”
"Sir...this...isn't this necessary?"
"Why not? I think it is necessary."
Xia Shangjiao called the dozen soldiers who were accompanying him and ordered them to separate and record the grain storage conditions in the houses of all officials here.
At this point, all the officials were ashen-faced, knowing that there was no way they could escape this time.
In my heart, I hated this pretty boy even more. I thought that no one would dare to offend an official like this. He was simply driving everyone to death.
However, they could only feel resentment in their hearts, and could not show any dissatisfaction on their faces.
After handling the current affairs, the prefect informed Xia Shang whether he could go to Xiaojingyuan to rest?
Xia Shang had other plans.
Because the time here is tight, there is not so much free time to mess around.
Since I have seen so many victims and I am capable of handling some things, I must do my best to find more ways for the victims outside to survive.
"Now gather all the big merchants in Yuzhou City."
The prefect was stunned: "What is the purpose of this, sir?"
"You officials have contributed. Naturally, the rich people in the city cannot do nothing. They have to contribute."
"Ahem..." The prefect coughed twice, "Um...I'm afraid it will be difficult to handle this matter. After all, the court cannot force a big family to help the victims. Even those who give porridge outside are mostly just pretending.
, If they really take out too much, I'm afraid..."
"Naturally, the imperial court will not ask for their property in vain. As word spreads, all the properties donated by each family will be recorded, and the top ten families will receive large rewards from the court. The young children of each family will have one or more places.
Get the opportunity to gain fame without taking scientific examinations. The top three families with the most contributions can directly select people to serve in the Hanlin Academy. The first family will receive a gold plaque from the emperor with the inscription 'The most good person in China'."