However, it has been several days since the Mozhang disaster occurred, but there is no news at all about relief money and food.
A few months ago, all grains in granaries across the country were shipped to Jianglai for disaster relief. This resulted in the earthquake-hit Rongyang Prefecture and several surrounding prefectures and counties having no grain at all.
Except for the wealthy families who still have some food stored up, the other common people have no food at all and are already starving.
The smarter and hard-working people went to the nearby river to look for fish, shrimp and other food to eat. Only the lazy people who just wanted to eat from their mouths were still waiting for the relief food.
Of course, fish and shrimp are not endless.
In the past few days, the people who had no food had eaten almost all the fish and shrimp in the entire river. Moreover, the river was not big, so there was only so much food to eat, and it was rare to find a single piece of living food in the entire river.
After eating what was available in the river, we started heading towards the bark and grass roots.
Some people who couldn't hold on anymore began to make a fuss in front of the Rongyang government office. However, this government office was affected by the earthquake. Except for the door, which was still intact, all the houses inside collapsed.
"Food! Give us food!"
"Give us food!"
"It's been how many days, and the relief food is here!"
Arrogant words were shouted in the government office.
At this time, a man wearing a purple official robe walked out of the damaged yamen. He had a serious face, a thin figure, a black gauze hat on his head, and dark hair. From the look of it, he should be of a similar age. Not very old, probably in his thirties.
Crossing the still intact threshold and looking at the rioting people, he raised his voice and shouted: "Who is yelling at the yamen gate?"
As soon as he shouted, the people who were making trouble just now were suddenly speechless, and everyone looked at him in pairs.
Looking at this posture, the person speaking should be the magistrate of Rongyang Prefecture.
"If you can make trouble, you can't go looking for food outside the city." The prefect yelled.
Upon hearing this, all these people who were so arrogant just now walked away like children who made mistakes.
"Prefect Mo."
There was a call, and a man wearing a purple official robe hurriedly walked over. He was slightly fat and had some white hair and a black gauze hat on his head.
This person is the co-president of Rongyang Mansion, his surname is Wang, and he is well-known.
And the person just now was Mo Kaiping, the prefect of Rongyang Prefecture.
"Prefect Mo, if the relief food is no longer available, the people will not be able to rebel?" Wang Tongzhi was worried.
After hearing this, and then looking at the people far away, Magistrate Mo said: "What are you afraid of? What can they do if I am here? How many days has it been today?"
"Back to the magistrate, today is also the eleventh day." Wang Tongzhi replied.
"On the eleventh day, can anyone survive these eleven days?" Magistrate Mo muttered to himself. Seeing that Tongzhi didn't say a word, the magistrate continued to mutter to himself: "If the relief food does not come, what will happen to me, Rong Yang?" The mansion must not become an empty city in the future."
"Prefect Mo, why don't you write a letter to urge me?"
Listening to Wang Tongzhi's words, Magistrate Mo nodded and said, "Okay. I'll go right away." After saying that, he walked in.
In Rongyang Mansion, with such strict officials, the people naturally did not dare to make mistakes, but He County, located in Rongyang Mansion, was not so good.
He County got its name from being located next to a long small river. In the early years, in order to facilitate the people in the city, the magistrate once led the people out of the city to a small river some distance away from He County. In the magistrate At the call of the emperor, a ditch was dug from the river into the city.
That river flows out from the cracks in the mountains. The water flow is very small. If it hits the flood season, the flow will be larger. But if it hits the dry season, the water flow will be so small that you can put a baby's foot in the ditch. This will cut off the water supply in the city.
In addition to this ditch, the previous magistrate also called on the people to build a large pool. This large pool is located in the city. The water in the pool is divided into several streams and extends to each area, which greatly facilitates the people.
Now, affected by the earthquake, landslides in He County have caused a long ditch to be flooded with soil and stones.
The water in the stream was blocked by this huge mountain. As a result, the water in the city's pools did not increase, but became less and less. Especially in the next few days, the water in the pools began to become a little turbid without realizing it. stand up.
On the day of the earthquake, the houses in He County were also destroyed and immediately turned into ruins. The county government office collapsed in the earthquake together. Not to mention the houses in the government office, even the doors were cracked.
At this time, a group of people holding hoes, sickles, and axes gathered in front of the broken government office and started yelling.
"Give us relief food!"
"It's only been a few days, where has this disaster relief food gone?"
"Did you swallow me up?"
"That's it, give us disaster relief food!"
Hearing the words, Sun Junze, the magistrate of He County, stepped over the ruins.
Yes, you heard it right, it's Sun Junze, the eldest son of Sun Zhicai, the former Sun Mansion in the capital.
Now, he has become a small magistrate in He County. He is not fat but much thinner than before.
Since becoming the county magistrate, Sun Junze has become more aware of how unfair this world is.
Take the period when I was the magistrate of He County as an example. Although I was very serious about improving people's livelihood, I was misunderstood and reviled by the people.
Over the years, Junze's face has darkened a lot, and he seems to have forgotten to marry a wife.
He is now twenty-nine years old, and will be thirty years old this year.
"Fellow folks, listen to what I have to say." Looking at the civilians holding weapons in their hands, Sun Junze felt a little panicked. After all, this was the first time he had seen such a big situation: "Everyone, the relief food has not arrived yet. Folks, please go back for the time being to see if there is anything you can eat. I will notify you when the relief food arrives, okay?"
Listening to Sun Zhixian's words, he didn't see any improvement.
"Why should we believe you? If you hadn't moved all the food away a few months ago, would everyone be hungry today?" One hundred people roared.
Listening to what these people said, Sun Junze, as the magistrate of He County, didn't know how to explain it. After all, he had also received instructions from above.
Seeing Sun Junze being made difficult by the common people, the woman put down the things in her hands, walked to the side of Sun Junze, the county magistrate, and shouted: "You don't believe it, I do! There is no way to provide relief food, what will we give you? Take a closer look , Sun Zhixian has lost a lot of weight over the years. If there was food in the yamen, would he still be hungry today?"
The person who spoke was Li Ziqiao, the cook at the county government office. She was now in her twenties and had been cooking for the county government office for three or four years. It seemed that Li Ziqiao had only become the county magistrate after Sun Junze became the county magistrate. It belongs to the cook who works in this yamen.
She has a bright yellow face and pretty facial features. She will be even more beautiful if she dresses up properly.
During the years that Li Ziqiao worked as a cook in the fire room, the county magistrate Sun Junze and other officials of the county government had become accustomed to Li Ziqiao's food, as if they never got tired of it.
As soon as Li Ziqiao said this, the people who knew her and didn't know her fell silent. They looked at the thin and somewhat dark-faced magistrate Sun Junze. Seeing that it was exactly what the girl said, they had no choice but to shake their heads and leave.
Seeing how useful Cook Li was, Sun Junze, the magistrate of He County, looked at Cook Li Ziqiao with a smile on his face: "Thank you."
After receiving Sun Junze's praise, Li Ziqiao smiled brightly: "It's me who should thank you. If you hadn't taken me in and made me the cook in the fire house, I don't know if I would be begging on the street now. Woolen cloth."
After listening to what Li Ziqiao said, and seeing her beautiful smile again, for some reason, he started laughing too.
Fortunately, Li Ziqiao came forward, otherwise Sun Junze would not know what would happen to him because of his stupid mouth.
At this time, Rongyang Mansion and the surrounding prefectures and counties affected by the earthquake were waiting for the arrival of disaster relief food from the court.
As for the imperial court, relief food is still being prepared at this time.
With the implementation of the sea ban, the money and food used to support General Xia Shaoyuan in eradicating Japanese pirates has been partially stopped, but Gui Yuanwei, the Minister of War, has been unable to get the money and food for a long time.
According to this theory, the money and food from the Ministry of Household Affairs has been given to the Ministry of War. Now that part of the money and food used for the anti-Japanese war has been cancelled, it should be spent by the Ministry of Household Affairs, but the Ministry of Household Affairs says it is in the hands of the Ministry of War.
But the Ministry of War refused to admit this, saying that the money and food had never been received since the last time it was allocated to the Anti-Japanese Shang.
Also, it stands to reason that the Ministry of Household Affairs should record which ministry the money and food spent was given to, and just take out the record book, but the Ministry of Works claimed that it was not recorded in the book due to the negligence of the recording officials.
This resulted in the failure to come up with money and food after several days.
"Invite the Minister of Hubu and the Minister of War to come over."
"good."
After a while, the two ministers walked into the Prime Minister's house. Looking at the eyes of Left Prime Minister Su Yunqi, the two ministers did not seem to have any fear on their faces.
"It's been a few days, what's going on with you two? If we don't raise this relief food, how can we still provide disaster relief? Take a look, here are some memorials handed over by local officials."
"Prime Minister Zuo, the money and food from our Ministry of Revenue was indeed spent that day, but it was not recorded in the books. Prime Minister Zuo should ask Shangshu Gui about this." Cen Wenxing, Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue, said.
Upon hearing this, Gui Yuanwei, the Minister of the Ministry of War, became a little anxious: "My Ministry of War has not received any money or food. Cen Shangshu, how many years older than me are you? You can't be so confused, right? How can you allocate money and food to someone without a record?" I'm in the military department."
"I am not confused. This is indeed not recorded in the books. It is all due to the negligence of the officials responsible for recording in our household department. It is not recorded in the books. Shangshu Gui, the money and food have indeed been spent. Don't try to deny it so that you can keep the money and food for yourself." The Minister of War said.
"Cen Shangshu, please don't accuse me unjustly. I know best whether you have received this money or food."
Seeing the two people talking non-stop, Left Prime Minister Su Yunqi couldn't listen anymore.
"okay."
