It was a drought and the city of Gongchang was in a state of depression.
After walking for more than half a mile, I didn't see a restaurant or restaurant suitable for a stop.
"Master Hou, there is a drought in Gongchang. The victims outside the city have no food to eat, and the taverns in the city that do business have no food to buy. You see, they are all closed." Xiao Chen pointed around with an embarrassed look.
"It's true, this drought has had a huge impact on the people. Thanks to the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court to save the people from the fire and water, otherwise, I can't imagine what Gongchang City would have turned into."
Dingxihou also let out a long sigh.
"How about we go to the government office and ask the kitchen to prepare some dishes for the Marquis to prepare?" Xiao Chen suggested.
"Okay." Ding Xihou nodded.
Now, what he wants to know most is the news about his youngest son Wang Kuan. When he arrives at the government office, he doesn't need to ask himself, the other party should also tell him.
Several people turned a corner and walked towards the government office again.
The courtyard of the government office was filled with grain sacks, large and small, blocking the entire courtyard.
There are grains brought back by the Marquis of Dingxi from Wang Kuan, as well as disaster relief grains from the imperial court.
At the gate, four Gong Changwei soldiers looked around cautiously.
A patrol team of more than ten people was weaving back and forth under the wall outside the government office.
After walking through the gate and walking through several piles of grain, everyone finally arrived at the door of the government office hall.
Dozens of bags of food were also piled up in the hall, making the whole hall look messy.
At the very end of the hall, there is an Eight Immortals table with pens, ink, paper and inkstones. Wei Li, the governor of the government, is lying on the table, writing something carefully stroke by stroke.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, Wei Li looked up.
Seeing Xiao Chen and Ding Xihou next to him, he hurriedly put down the langhao pen in his hand and stood up.
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, Lord Marquis. Your Majesty has cleared out the entire food account. Please take a look at it." After saying that, he picked up a thick booklet on the table and handed it to the two of them.
"These grains should have been accounted for when they were delivered. How could Wei Tongzhi be in such trouble?" Ding Xihou said with a smile.
Wei Li felt embarrassed and turned his attention to Xiao Chen.
"Master Hou, it's like this." Xiao Chen cleared his throat, "Wei Tongzhi cleaned up the accounts of Gongchang Mansion's previous grain reserves."
Hearing the words "reserve grain", Ding Xihou's heart skipped a beat.
Is there any food reserves in Gongchang Mansion? Otherwise, Kuan'er wouldn't rush home to borrow food from him.
At this moment, they are sorting out the accounts of grain reserves. Is this evidence of Kuan'er's crime?
Ding Xihou knew very well what kind of virtue his son was.
But even if you beat him to death, it is the Marquis's own business. If an outsider touches a hair on his head, you will feel uncomfortable, let alone collect evidence of his crime.
However, since the other party did not break his face, it means that he still gave himself some face.
In this case, the best policy is to communicate with them properly and resolve the matter amicably.
"There is little rain in Gongchang, and the land is barren. After the court's taxes are paid every year, there should not be much grain reserves left. The Marquis Mansion has some land awarded by Taizu, and the grain output is still good. I also come from a poor background, and I don't want to see the people displaced. This reserve
Let the Hou Mansion help bear the food supply."
Ding Xihou said with a faint smile.
Xiao Chen suddenly beamed with joy: "The Marquis is really a good Marquis of the imperial court. I will rely on the Marquis for the grain storage in Gongchang Mansion from now on."
"Easy to say, easy to say." Although he said it calmly, Ding Xihou's heart welled up with bitterness.
Why is this imperial envoy still a follower? Can't you tell, am I just saying polite words?
Even if I bear the responsibility, I will bear Kuan'er's part of the loss. What happens next has nothing to do with me.
"Master Hou is such a cheerful person, sit down quickly, sit down quickly." Xiao Chen said, and began to greet Wei Li, "Master Wei, please put away your pen, ink, paper and inkstone first. Master Hou has been tired from traveling all the way, and he hasn't sat down to catch his breath yet."
What about your tone?"
"Yes." Wei Li responded.
He turned around and hurriedly moved everything away from the table one by one, leaving only the thick account book on the table.
Bending down and wiping the chair with his sleeve, Xiao Chen said to Ding Xihou with a smile on his face: "Disaster relief is imminent, and the hall is full of food. Don't mind, Lord Marquis, sit down, sit down and talk."
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, please." After saying politely, Ding Xihou took a step forward and sat on the chair.
When he arrived, Ding Xihou was still very worried about how to deal with this selfless captain in purple.
But seeing how he wiped his chair with his sleeve just now, a stone suddenly fell to the ground in his heart.
Whether it was because he provided food to the Gongchang Mansion, he was grateful. Or, it was because he was afraid of himself, the marquis personally named by Taizu. No matter what the reason was, as long as he was willing to be inferior to him, this would
Things will be much easier to handle.
"Master Wei, please bring me a pot of hot water, and give instructions to the kitchen to cook some dishes for the Marquis." Xiao Chen ordered Wei Li "diligently" again.
"Okay." Wei Li turned and left.
Xiao Chen and Ding Xihou were the only two people left in the hall.
Perhaps because he was too "nervous" to face Ding Xihou, or perhaps because the two of them were really strangers and had no common topics, Xiao Chen "smoothly" picked up the account book placed on the table.
"Sigh." He let out a long sigh, "It's not easy to be an official. Some people have been officials for more than ten years, but they still stay in the same place, serving as magistrates in remote places. How can they reach the level of a magistrate?
, I don’t know how much suffering I have gone through. With the salary from the court, the harvest is guaranteed during droughts and floods, and it is so good to feed the family with delicious food and food, and have no worries about food and clothing. Why do you have to reach out and squander all the government’s food reserves? Human greed,
Are they all bottomless?"
Marquis Dingxi's face darkened: "The imperial envoy is talking about the prefect of Gongchang?"
You idiot, don’t you know that Wang Kuan, the prefect of Gongchang, is the youngest son of my Dingxi Marquis?
Or, after getting rid of everyone, are you going to show me your cards and take the opportunity to make a fortune?
No matter how much I give you, it is of my own free will and no one can control it.
If you take the initiative to show your cards and want to take advantage of the situation, no matter how much you eat, I will make you spit it out with profit, and I will send you to the emperor for justice.
"Yes." Xiao Chen rubbed his nose, "Master Hou, you don't know how thin the victims outside the city were when I came to Gongchang Mansion. They were all skinny and bones, with sunken eyes.
He was lying on the ground and didn't even have the strength to stand up. The disaster relief porridge at the city gate, even if there are one or two rice grains floating in a bowl of porridge, it is good luck."
"When I saw this kind of porridge that was confusing the stomachs of the victims, I immediately got angry. I went to Wei Tongzhi who was giving porridge to the victims and scolded him. Wei Tongzhi knew that he was wrong and did not dare to refute. But the scolding continued.
The stomachs of the victims can't continue to be fooled like this. I asked Wei Tongzhi and found out that Gongchang Mansion had already run out of rice and cooking just three days after they started releasing food for disaster relief."
"How can this be done? I was so angry that I smashed the big wooden basin that was used to serve porridge to pieces. At the level of Gongchang Mansion, the food reserves were not even available for three days? This is because Gong Changwei used his own military rations
We have shared part of the disaster relief work in other places, but if Gong Changwei doesn’t share the responsibility, he probably won’t be able to survive even one day.”
The more Xiao Chen talked, the angrier he became. He held the account book in his left hand and clenched it tightly with his right hand, making a "crack, squeak, squeak" sound even from the joints.
Opposite Dingxihou, his face was already livid.
Accusing his son in front of him is not like a naked slap in the face.
Although I have not asked about state affairs for many years, it does not mean that I do not have the ability to ask about state affairs.
"Then how did the Imperial Envoy, the prefect of Gongchang, deal with this?" Dingxihou asked coldly.
As if he didn't see the right expression, Xiao Chen let out a long sigh: "For the shortage of food reserves, it would be enough for him to be beheaded a hundred times. And the resulting large number of deaths of the victims, if it is really necessary
According to the laws of the imperial court, the nine tribes must be exterminated."
As if he felt that the Nine Clans were a bit small, Xiao Chen hurriedly shook his head: "Too many victims died, and the Nine Clans were not enough. I guess the Emperor will implicate the Ten and Eleven Clans."
Marquis Dingxi's eyes narrowed slightly: "The Imperial Envoy really wants to implicate his nine, ten, and eleven clans?"
"Of course." Xiao Chen nodded: "Let's not talk about the distance, let's just talk about a few villages outside Gongchang City. Under the new soil, there are corpses of disaster victims, all of them old people and children. As for Shouyang Town in the northwest,
In Shuangquan Town, more than half of the victims died. The combined population of these people and the 100 clans of the prefect Wang Kuan are not enough to survive."
