The entire Wangjiazhuangzi family braved the severe cold and went out, huddled in a corner not far from Wang Gouer's house, and looked over here from a distance.
Grandma Wang followed Daiyu's instructions and unloaded some coarse grains from the carriage, which seemed to weigh more than ten kilograms for a little kid.
Not much, but enough to make those kids jump up and down with joy.
Food, in this cold winter, is something that many people can hardly get to survive even if they run around and beg in the capital every day.
More than ten kilograms of whole grains, cooked thin, are enough for a family to survive for a while.
"The room is cramped, I feel sorry for you."
Grandma Liu, her daughter Liu Shi, and their two children went to greet Jia Cong and Daiyu in the house. This was the first time for Daiyu to feel up close what a hut was.
If Grandma Liu's family hadn't cleaned up very well and the maids had taken out the usual items such as cushions and tea sets that had been prepared long ago, she would have felt like she couldn't sit still in the house.
This does not conflict with her sympathy and kindness towards the weak. When she handed the delicate snacks on the plate to Grandma Liu's granddaughter, the little girl timidly took them and did not take the first bite. Instead, she held the snacks on tiptoe He stood up and wanted to hand it to grandma's mouth...
"Kong Rong gave me pears, and the little girl gave me snacks. Grandma Liu, you have a filial granddaughter."
Daiyu asked Zijuan to share the snacks with Wang Gouer's son and daughter, and motioned for Grandma Liu and Mr. Liu to sit down and talk.
After Jia Cong whispered a few words in Daiyu's ear, he left the house and went to the village chief.
The two had their own division of labor. While taking a rest, Daiyu inquired about the situation in the village with Grandma Liu and Mr. Liu. In particular, Wang Xifeng had previously asked Daiyu to try and see if she could find out some information about her father, Wang Qingtang, from the mouths of Grandma Liu and her daughter.
Jia Cong, on the other hand, walked in the village to see what kind of life the poor people under the emperor's feet were living.
Compared with the prosperity of the capital, the small village at the foot of the Western Mountain is very poor.
The depression of winter is vividly displayed in the village. Today, the nobles gave rice. Before noon, every household began to boil water and cook. The children have all returned home. It is estimated that they will gather around the stove and wait for a full meal. Let’s eat.
Looking around, in front of Jia Cong's eyes, there are no chickens and dogs recorded in the book. People can't fill their stomachs, so where are the chickens and dogs?
The old village head respectfully accompanied the noble man around the village and spoke with him carefully.
Jia Cong's questions may seem scattered, but they actually cover farming, food and clothing, birth, old age, sickness and death in the village.
The last official in Wangjiazhuang was Wang Gouer's grandfather. He once served as a minor official in Beijing. Later, Wang Gouer's grandfather connected with Wang Xifeng's grandfather and recognized him as Uncle Wang's nephew.
Jia Cong suddenly realized: "I thought it was Wang Gouer's father and Wang Jialian's clan, but it turned out to be his grandfather."
"How could Wang Cheng have such ability? After his father passed away, he almost lost all the family business. It was the dog's daughter-in-law who married into the family, and the dog had hope, and he managed it well for a few years. Alas, say It was bad luck when we came here. Seeing that we have survived the drought this year and all the food has been received at home, the wadi unexpectedly burst its banks."
The youngest son of the old village chief knows a few words and has been an apprentice at a drugstore in the town for nearly fifteen years. Now he can sit and diagnose pulse, so he can be considered promising.
Although his family didn't have much food, it was only enough for his family to survive. Nine out of ten people in this village are my relatives. They want to help, but they can't. This made the old man feel as if he was weighed down by a stone. He would not even leave the house on weekdays.
Those hungry, sallow-looking children all want to call him grandpa or grandpa...
"My lord, when will the food from the imperial court be distributed? In a few days, people will really starve to death."
This sentence almost exhausted the courage that the old man finally mustered up, and he looked at Jia Cong worriedly but hopefully.
He was not lying, including those families who used their only thin fields to borrow food from the village chiefs, they would probably run out of food in a few days.
This is the result of struggling to survive on gruel. Because of hard work, the dolls don’t have the energy to run around and play these days.
.
Jia Cong looked at the withered and depressed village. The smoke from everywhere could not dispel the desolation. He said with half comfort and half certainty: "Soon, it will be distributed soon. Your Majesty has ordered the crown prince to come to Fangshan, and the food will be sent to Fangshan." It will be sent out soon."
"real?"
The old village chief couldn't believe it, because he had heard these two words from the village chief several times. It has been a month and a half since the end of autumn until now, and not a single grain of food for disaster relief has been seen.
Jia Cong lifted up the fox fur cloak he was wearing and showed the dragon's golden order hanging on his waist.
"Have you ever heard of Rongguo Mansion? My father, Marquis Jia En, conferred the title of Marquis of Rongguo..."
"It turns out it's Master Yumao. I'm ignorant and have neglected you. Please forgive me!"
The old village chief was about to kneel down and kowtow in joy, but Jia Cong held him in his arms.
"If I kneel down, won't it cost me my life?"
In these seventy years, I will not kneel down when I see you.
How could Jia Cong ask the old man Gu Xi to kneel down for him? Moreover, this old man had a very good character, so he would have to ask him to help him with some things.
After walking around, Jia Cong quickly understood the situation in Wangjiazhuang.
Compared with the neighboring Tianjia Village, Wangjiazhuang not only has fewer villagers, but also has no famous clan members.
Every year, they suffer a lot from fighting for water and serving the country. Now, because of a man-made flood, most of the villagers are about to lose their land, and the entire Zhuangzi has fallen into panic and depression.
Jia Cong was well prepared and was able to conceal his inner feelings, but Daiyu was far behind.
When she heard that a family in Zhuangzi had gone through great hardships to give birth to a daughter a few days ago, but had to throw it away because there was no food, she was briefly angry, followed by a long silence.
Daiyu could no longer easily judge whether it was right or wrong.
In the final analysis, it was all the fault of a poor man.
If there had not been that man-made flood this autumn, perhaps that baby would still be sleeping soundly in his mother's arms today.
Daiyu didn't use much at lunch. What she learned from Grandma Liu and her daughter today completely shattered the world described for her in the book.
The pots and pans were all brought by the servants from the house, and the food was not much different from usual. But Daiyu was holding a delicate porcelain bowl, but she could not swallow the polished rice in the bowl.
In the end, I casually dealt with a few mouthfuls and asked people to send the food outside to Grandma Liu's family.
Before leaving, Daiyu asked someone to fetch a piece of silver and forced it into Grandma Liu's hand.
Then she said to Wang Gou'er, who was standing respectfully aside: "Having an old man in the family is like having a treasure. Your mother-in-law is a sensible person, so honor her well. Your mother-in-law deserves the most credit for your family being able to get through this. Ban." My son is a smart child, let’s send him to study.”
Crunchy~
It started to snow, so Jia Cong had to change his itinerary and return to Wangpingkou Town.
Until she returned to the previous inn, Daiyu was still thinking about what Grandma Liu had told her.
She thought of the dolls that came to Wang Gouer's house and kowtowed to her.
The hungry, emaciated, and shivering children knelt at the door one by one and kowtowed to her. Daiyu almost sent people back to Beijing to collect food so that they could get through this difficult winter.
But she knew that this was not what she should or could do. Disaster relief was ultimately a matter for the court.
"Brother Cong, when will His Majesty the Crown Prince distribute the food for disaster relief? If it's any later, I'm afraid the whole country will starve to death."
Jia Cong placed the hot food on the table in front of Dai Yu with a serious expression: "Eat, you didn't eat well at lunch. I'll tell you more about it after you finish the meal."
Daiyu was forcefully fed a bowl of rice by Jia Cong and drank a small bowl of ginseng soup. Then he wrapped her in a quilt and softly talked about his plan with Prince Liu Hong.
If he just wanted to check for those little miscellaneous fish, he would only need to take people to catch them.
"Fourth brother's intention is to use this matter to sort out the land and population of Gyeonggi Province County, and
Investigate tax evasion, occupy private land, buy and sell by force, and hide people. The number of refugees is increasing year by year, which is not a good thing. If he is deceived again, he might cause big trouble again. "
Jia Cong took the pen and ink and began to write quickly at his desk: "However, the food for disaster relief cannot be delayed any longer. Today I also found out that the situation in Wangjiazhuang is worse than we imagined. Mr. Wang said that except for a few scholars nearby, , Zhuangzi who promoted people, almost all of them were succeeded by Wang Qingtang..."
Daiyu felt disgusted when she heard the name Wang Qingtang. She held back the swear words and said disdainfully: "Yes, Wang Qingtang's methods are too cruel. The people in Wangjiazhuang are still relatives of the Wang family. He actually Even the family's farmland was not spared. Three to five buckets of rice wine were exchanged for one acre of land, which is really shocking."
It snowed heavily all night. After dawn, Daiyu lay in front of the inn window. She frowned at the snowflakes in the sky and said, "In the past, I always looked forward to admiring plum blossoms in the snow, but now when I see these snowflakes falling, I always think of Wangjiazhuang." Those little kids in single clothes.”
Xueyan put the red fox fur cloak on Daiyu's body, and said while tying it: "Girl gave me a lot of food yesterday, so I can survive these days. When the time comes, His Highness the Prince will release food for disaster relief, this winter will finally be able to survive." Got through it."
"Last night when I fell asleep, I dreamed of that child..."
Um?
Daiyu wrapped her cloak tightly around herself and couldn't help but shudder.
"I dreamed about the child who was abandoned by her parents. It would be great if she was born in my family."
This heavy snow almost covered the entire Shuntian Prefecture, and the capital was covered with silver overnight.
The glazed tiles of the Forbidden City had all turned white. Liu Heng got up very early and went to the Qinzheng Palace. He summoned the cabinet ministers on duty and held a small court meeting with the chief officials of the six ministries and five temples.
Wen Tongxuan had money, and with one stroke of his heroic pen, he allocated enough money and food to be transported to the prefectures and counties in Gyeonggi to prepare for snow disaster relief.
Everything seemed to be in order and the court was not short of money. Liu Heng felt that there would definitely be no big problems this winter.
Unfortunately, now that the imperial court has money, more and more people are eyeing the money.
Xia Shouzhong walked over quickly holding a wooden box.
"Your Majesty, a secret message from Fangshan County."
"Hong'er should have arrived. Let me see how my son is doing on his errands."
Huh?
Liu Heng looked at the two letters in the box. The handwriting was different.
"County Master Wen'an? That little girl from the Lin family..."
He put Jia Cong's letter aside and first read the letter written in small regular script with hairpin flowers.
"My daughter has heard that when the Holy King comes to court, all the people will be safe. However, the emperor is stationed in the forbidden palace, and everything he sees and hears is reported to him by his ministers. The prosperity or prosperity is not determined by the words of the courtiers, but by the food and clothing of the people. The daughter of the minister boldly speaks, and the courtiers say it In the prosperous times, only the prosperity of the capital city existed. In the land of the capital, at the feet of the emperor, there were also people who had no food or clothing. Their babies were helpless, the old and weak were helpless, they were living in hunger, and they were suffering from the cold weather."
"What I heard is depressing. There was a family at the foot of the Western Mountain. The woman gave birth to a girl. She had no choice but to abandon her baby in the Western Mountain because there was no food in the house. ... I don't know if the baby ever cried out in cold and evil ways. , have their parents ever regretted in their dreams? There are so many tragic incidents like this, and 70% of the people in the towns at the foot of the Western Mountains are short of food, and they may not be able to survive for more than a few days. I only hope that Your Majesty will show God's grace and provide food relief to calm the people's hearts."
Daiyu's letter contained almost everything she had heard and experienced in Wangjiazhuang, including seeing the children in the village starving and freezing and dividing the food they had used for several days, and almost all the things she heard from Grandma Liu. into the letter.
Liu Heng saw it clearly, and at the same time he also knew that these things were definitely true. And this is not a tragedy, it's just that the girl of the Lin family was born into wealth, so it was a little hard to accept this when she first saw it.
At least in the prefectures and counties of Gyeonggi Province, no matter how miserable the situation is, there is always a way to survive as the imperial government provides disaster relief.
That day when Emperor Gao was far away, the whole town of Zhuangzi might starve to death and freeze to death.
Alas, prosperous times?
"Even a little girl knows that this prosperous age is just a prosperous age in the prosperous place of the capital, a prosperous age for noble scholar-bureaucrats like them, but my courtiers will still
They shamelessly brag about their achievements again and again. "
Liu Heng put away Daiyu's letter, picked up Jia Cong's letter, opened it and read it.
Compared to Daiyu's immature words, Jia Cong is much more sophisticated.
The letter contained information on the land, population and disaster-stricken conditions of the villages near Wangpingkou. While asking for disaster relief, it also mentioned one thing.
"Daban, go to the Ministry of Household Affairs and ask Wen Lao Pixiu to check the changes in land taxation in Shuntian Mansion over the years. If you really follow this guy's idea and divide the land into acres, it might be a good way to ease land annexation."
It had been snowing for three days at a time, and the snow in Wangpingkou had made it difficult for the carriage to move forward. Jia Cong and his party had to temporarily stop in the town.
However, Prince Liu Hong's reply was quickly delivered to Jia Cong, who had already arrived in Fangshan County.
The food for disaster relief is all in the grain depot of Fangshan County, but due to delays by county officials and now roads are blocked by heavy snow, disaster relief has been delayed in taking action.
Jia Cong quickly drew diagrams of how to make skis and sleds, and sent his soldiers to the county seat quickly.
This back and forth was delayed for another three days. When Xue Pan came to Wangpingkou with Liu Hong's handwriting and his troops, the disaster relief food was able to be sent out from the county to the affected areas.
?Monthly ticket??Recommended ticket?
