In the room, the two of them saw Gong Chang and Zhi Wei Li walking in, and an ominous thought arose in their hearts.
When the other party said that the young man in front of him was the purple-clothed captain of Dongchang and the imperial envoy appointed by the imperial court for disaster relief, his knees weakened and he knelt on the ground.
He just lowered his head and didn't know what to say.
There was a drought in Gongchang, and the victims were displaced. With such a table of food and wine placed here, the two of them knew that they had nothing to explain, and they were just waiting for punishment.
"Get up." Xiao Chen said coldly.
Thinking that they heard wrongly, the two of them couldn't help but raise their heads.
After kicking the door open, the imperial envoy must have been furious. Why did he let the two of them get up again without any punishment?
"grown ups?"
"Get up." Xiao Chen yelled.
The two of them were so frightened that they trembled and hurriedly stood up. They crossed their hands on their lower abdomens and lowered their heads, not daring to raise their heads.
"From now on, you will stay on the front line of disaster relief and cook porridge for the victims every day. We will wait for the disaster situation to ease before we talk about other things." Xiao Chen said in a deep voice.
"Yes." The two of them nodded hurriedly and walked out of the door.
Xiao Chen raised his head and looked at Wei Li beside him: "Master Wei, it will take a few days for the disaster relief food funds from the court to arrive. During this period, let the people from the government go to the disaster relief site. You must cook the porridge.
enough."
"Yes." Wei Li hugged his fists: "I only follow your orders."
Seeing that only two of the yamen servants of General Wei Li's government office were left on duty, and everyone else was arranged to go to the city gate, Xiao Chen stopped Wei Li.
"Master Wei, there is something I want to ask you."
"Sir, please tell me if you have anything to say." Wei Li said hurriedly.
"How many guards are there in Gongchang Mansion?"
"Are you asking about the gatekeeper?"
Xiao Chen nodded.
"Our Gongchang Mansion is stationed with Gongchang Guards, so the guard force under the government's management is only a hundred people, led by a member of the 100 households." Wei Li said respectfully.
"Are the guards equipped with gunpowder?"
"Gunpowder?" Wei Li looked solemn.
The imperial court's management of gunpowder was very strict. Those who were not border guards did not have the right to use gunpowder.
"Yeah." Xiao Chen nodded.
"This gunpowder is only equipped in the Gongchang Guards. The Gongchang Mansion Guards do not have gunpowder." Wei Li replied.
"Is Gong Changwei stationed in the city or outside the city?" Xiao Chen asked again.
"Gong Changwei is stationed outside the city, but Gong Changwei's commander is in the city."
"Oh, can it be set up like this?" Xiao Chen couldn't help but laugh, "Master Wei, can you send me to the Gongchang Wei Command and Envoy Department?"
"Okay, I'll take you here right now." After saying that, Wei Li respectfully walked towards the door.
Walking along the street in front of the government office for about a mile, a large courtyard blocked the way for the two of them.
At the gate, four soldiers with swords on their waists stood, looking at the two of them warily.
When the two of them got closer, the soldier seemed to recognize Wei Li. He hurriedly stepped forward and clasped his fists: "Master Wei, are you looking for the commander?"
"Yes, is Commander Zhang here?" Wei Li asked with a smile.
"Yes, yes. Since the famine occurred in our Gongchang Mansion, the commander has not left. He has been worried about the disaster in Shouyang Town and arranged for manpower to transport military rations to Shouyang Town." The soldier said.
"Just be here. I'll go in and talk to the commander about something."
"My lord, please." The soldier stepped back respectfully and opened the door completely.
Inside the hall, two braziers were burning brightly, illuminating the hall like daylight.
Zhang Xing, the commander of Gong Changwei, stood beside the large wooden table in the hall with a burnt charcoal in his hand.
On the wooden table is a topographic map of Gongchang Prefecture. Zhang Xing drew a circle on Shouyang Town in the northwest and Shuangquan Town further north with the charcoal in his hand.
The door of the hall is open, and you can see Zhang Xing's figure looking at the map and thinking about it from a distance.
Wei Li raised his hand and knocked lightly on the open door a few times.
Zhang Xing said without looking back: "Come in."
Xiao Chen and Xiao Chen stepped across the threshold and walked towards the hall.
"How is the situation over there? Has the death toll continued to increase?" Zhang Xing asked while tapping the map with one hand.
"What situation is Commander Zhang asking about?" Xiao Chen answered.
"Nonsense, of course it's the situation in Shouyang Town." Zhang Xing seemed to be very angry, yelled loudly, and turned around.
Seeing Xiao Chen, he couldn't help but be startled, and hurriedly stepped back: "Who are you? What are you going to do when you break into the Gong Changwei Command and Envoy Department?"
Behind Xiao Chen, Wei Li, the deputy governor of Gongchang Mansion, hurriedly stepped forward and clasped his hands in fists: "Commander Zhang."
Zhang Xing was stunned again: "Wei Tongzhi, why are you here? Who is this person?"
"The imperial envoy sent by the emperor to Gongchang Mansion for disaster relief is Mr. Xiao Chenxiao, the purple-clothed captain of Dongchang." Wei Li introduced hurriedly.
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy? Do you have any tokens?" Zhang Xing's guard did not relax at all.
Wei Li's face turned cold: "Commander Zhang, can I, Wei Li, still lie to you?"
"Gongchang suffered from a drought that had never happened in a century, and the victims were displaced. Coupled with the rampant disease, the victims suffered numerous casualties. I, Gong Changwei, are at a critical moment of disaster relief, and I have been looking forward to the imperial envoy for disaster relief day and night. But the process of identifying the true identity,
Gong Changwei cannot ignore the matter just because it is urgent." Zhang Xing said with a serious face.
Seeing the other party say this, Xiao Chen not only was not angry, but also showed a hint of appreciative smile.
He raised his right hand, slowly reached into his arms, and took out the imperial edict.
He handed it over to Zhang Xing: "This is the emperor's imperial edict. Your Majesty, the commander, please read it."
After glancing at Xiao Chen, Zhang Xing placed the charcoal in his hand on the table, knelt on the ground, took the imperial edict respectfully with both hands, and slowly opened it.
As soon as the bright cinnabar on the imperial edict caught Zhang Xing's eyes, there were tears in his eyes.
By the time I finished reading the imperial edict, tears were already streaming down my face.
Holding the imperial edict in both hands, he said slowly: "The victims of Gongchang were looking forward to the stars and the moon, and finally the disaster relief mission from the imperial court came. On behalf of the thousands of people in Gongchang who were struggling with hunger and disease, I thanked the emperor.
, thank you, the Imperial Envoy."
As he said this, he actually held the imperial edict in his hands and fell to the ground.
Looking at Zhang Xing's appearance, Xiao Chen understood that he must have suffered a lot of grievances during the disaster relief. He also understood that the disaster in Gongchang was probably much more serious than what he saw at the city gate.
Xiao Chen stepped forward and held Zhang Xing's shoulders with both hands: "Get up. Gongchang Mansion is the Gongchang Mansion of the imperial court. The people of Li and Gongchang Mansion are the common people of the imperial court. Although I came a little late, but
The imperial court will never ignore the victims of the Gongchang Mansion."
Zhang Xing nodded, raised his arm, wiped the tears on his face with his sleeve, and stood up slowly.
Xiao Chen pointed to the chair next to him: "I came to Gongchang Mansion and met Wei Tongzhi at the site of providing porridge for disaster relief. Now I came to Gongchang Wei Commander's Office and saw Commander Zhang who was using military rations to provide disaster relief. He said
To be honest, I am very happy. It is a blessing for Gongchang to have officials like you in Gongchang and a blessing for the victims. I don’t know much about the actual disaster situation in Gongchang. Please sit down and tell me the truth about Gongchang.
Condition."
Xiao Chen is now an imperial envoy from the imperial court.
If Xiao Chen doesn't sit down, how can the two of them dare to sit down?
"Your Majesty, please." The two of them said politely.
Xiao Chen looked at it and couldn't distinguish between those who were superior and those who were not, so he sat on the nearest chair.
Seeing Xiao Chen take a seat, the two of them also sat on their seats carefully.
Looking at Gong Changwei Commander Zhang Xing, Xiao Chen said: "Commander Zhang, when we came in just now, you asked how the situation was over there and whether the death toll had increased. Are you referring to Shouyang Town?"
Zhang Xing nodded: "Back to your lord, the official is talking about Shouyang Town."
"What's the situation over there now?"
Zhang Xing hesitated for a moment and turned his attention to Gong Chang, the magistrate Wei Li next to him.
"Now that things have happened, there is nothing to hide. Commander Zhang, please tell the truth." Wei Li shook his head and sighed.
Zhang Xing raised his head and looked at Xiao Chen with a serious face: "Shouyang Town originally had more than 20,000 residents. During this drought, first there was hunger and no food to eat, and then diseases began to prevail. Now I'm afraid there are only a few left.
Less than ten thousand people."
"A drought took away half of the people's lives. The remaining half of the people are still in danger. Is this the case?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Yes." Zhang Xing nodded, "Xiaoguan has transported Gong Changwei's military rations to Shouyang Town, and the food problem has been solved. What is currently uncontrollable is a diarrhea disease."
"Since it is the disease that cannot be controlled, tomorrow morning, we will gather all the doctors in Gongchang Mansion and we will go to Shouyang Town."
Xiao Chen was holding back a surge of anger in his heart.
However, in the current disaster situation, disaster relief is the first priority, and people's lives are the first priority.
