The imperial court no longer directly helps the people, but gives them a way to become rich.
Let them exchange labor for their own necessities, this is simply amazing!
"good!"
After a long time, Li Shimin breathed out gently and said in a deep voice.
"This method..."
"Help me thank His Highness the King of Chu for providing work in exchange for helping us open up new ideas."
"Without further ado, old gentleman, we won't disturb you too much. Once this matter is resolved, we can have a drink with the old gentleman!"
Li Shimin said solemnly.
The old man smiled and nodded.
"Okay, but don't worry yet. Your Majesty, and everyone, please sit down for a moment."
"Come here, bring the snow, sand and salt and let His Majesty and the others take them away."
The old man stopped the four people and shouted outside.
Hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly took back his legs that were about to move out.
I almost forgot about this.
Snow sand salt!
Last time they told the old man that if there was still money in the other courtyard, they would bring some to them. Unexpectedly, they actually did! !
"this……."
"I almost forgot about it, so thank you very much, Mr. Trouble, Mr. I still think about it all the time."
Li Shimin said gratefully.
Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui looked at each other and bowed their hands to the old man to express their gratitude.
"Does King Chu have a lot of this snow, sand and salt?"
Li Shimin asked casually.
The old man shook his head and replied: "This old man really doesn't know. I usually don't care about His Highness's affairs."
"Furthermore, His Highness has quite a lot of property. The old Taoist will only take care of what His Highness has entrusted to him. Other than that, the old Taoist will generally not interfere."
"The snow, sand, salt, and sugar are all handled by the other courtyard. If your Majesty has any ideas, you can go over there and ask."
The old man answered.
Li Shimin nodded and said nothing more.
Soon, several people came up carrying eight big bags.
"This is a bag of salt and a bag of sugar. Your Majesty, there are three more people, one for each person, please."
The old man smiled.
But Li Shimin was stunned on the spot.
Changsun Wuji and the three of them were also a little dumbfounded.
If not for anything else, just because this bag, damn it, is a hundred kilograms of big sack! !
It looked so cheap. If it weren't for the snow, sand and salt inside, they would have thought it was something worthless.
"this……."
Li Shimin took a deep breath, twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, quickly hugged the old man's fists, and said: "Okay! Okay! Okay!"
"Thank you very much, old sir. Without further ado, I will go and get started."
"By the way, old sir, if His Highness King Chu comes back, please tell me as soon as possible."
Li Shimin said.
He really had great doubts in his heart.
If there was no snow disaster, he would have led his troops directly to find the King of Chu.
He always felt that King Chu must have a lot of this snow, sand and salt!
But how many exactly there are is impossible to guess.
Only seeing is believing.
Unfortunately, I'm not available now.
After that, Li Shimin hurriedly walked out with everyone, as well as snow, sand, salt and sugar.
When they walked out of the Chu Palace.
The sky, which was clear before, suddenly became dim again.
The wind is blowing.
Li Shimin suddenly looked up.
Stretched out his hand.
Snow!
It started falling again.
"No, let's go!!"
Li Shimin shouted and rushed towards the imperial city.
Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui were also shocked.
No one thought that the snow last night was not over yet, and now it started again.
The heavy snow has not receded yet, and the people have not yet reacted to the snow disaster. If it happens again, most of the entire Tang Dynasty will be paralyzed.
The matter of heating is urgent!
We can't tolerate them taking their time! !
….………….…….
Chang'an City.
Just next to Mingde Gate, there is a Chenghuang Temple.
This City God's Temple is not big.
It must have been built for more than a hundred years, and few people come to offer incense on weekdays. After all, there are many temples and Taoist temples in Chang'an City, and no one comes here.
Therefore, this place has become a base camp for some beggars or orphans.
Although Chang'an was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, there were many orphans and beggars.
The small City God's Temple was packed with more than twenty people.
In this way, it is still warm in this cold weather.
But, the wind blows!
The simple windows and closed doors on all sides let in the wind. Immediately, the heat accumulated due to the large number of people disappeared in an instant.
These people's faces are a little green and their lips are a little white.
"It's going to snow again outside."
"Grandma, I haven't had time to pick up this year's firewood, and I don't have thick clothes. What should I do?"
"If this continues, we will really...really freeze to death here."
Among the crowd, an older child spoke.
Everyone holds themselves tightly.
Curled up.
I want to turn myself into a circle.
It seems that it can be warmer this way.
The youngest children huddled together to keep warm.
"Brother Yang... I think we are all going to... starve to death before we freeze to death."
"Hehehe..."
In the crowd, a thin child shivered with a smile.
hunger.
cold.
surround them.
Like the god of death, hovering above their heads.
No one spoke.
The slightly older children looked anxiously at the thick snow outside, the wind that was getting stronger and the snow that was starting to fall again. They had no choice but to pinch themselves again. clothes.
But these clothes are already in short supply.
For such a temperature, it's like wearing nothing at all.
"Gudong..."
He swallowed hard.
"Just die!!"
He closed his eyes.
At this time, even if they go out, no one can give them anything to eat.
Because every household must prepare for themselves.
This year was originally a year of disaster.
The people themselves had little food to store.
In the Chenghuang Temple, no one spoke.
call…….
Only the wind outside roared more and more.
The snowflakes sweeping across the sky seemed to be even more fierce this time than yesterday!
….………….….
Tai Chi Palace.
When Li Shimin came back with Zhang Sun Wuji and the others, the place was already full of people.
Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin...
Everyone looked anxious, pacing back and forth, at a loss, and their expressions exploded.
Queen Changsun kept looking outside.
"Everyone, hurry up, His Majesty will be back soon."
"Your Majesty, Changsun Pushe, Wei Zhongshu and Prime Minister Du, the three of them went to the Prince of Chu's Mansion. Please be patient. I believe your Majesty will definitely have a solution."
Queen Changsun comforted everyone in a deep voice.
At this moment, Queen Changsun's eyes suddenly lit up.
She ran outside quickly.
"Your Majesty, you are back!!"
she exclaimed.
Suddenly.
Cheng Yaojin, Li Jing, Qin Qiong and others also turned their heads and looked outside Tai Chi Palace.
I saw Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji walking out in the snow.
"His Majesty!"
Immediately, Qin Qiong exclaimed and walked out quickly.
"Your Majesty, now that the heavy snow has started again, your Majesty, please quickly order disaster relief."
"Otherwise... the people will really freeze to death and starve to death."
"By then, it's really... it's too late."
Qin Qiong shouted hurriedly.
Li Shimin looked at them, took a deep breath, and walked into Tai Chi Palace.
Queen Changsun quickly patted the snow on her body.
"I know this."
"The top priority is to get the people warm as soon as possible."
Li Shimin shouted lowly.
"Your Majesty, not to mention the common people, even some rich people don't have charcoal in their homes, and now the heavy snow has begun to close the roads again, we can't allocate charcoal at all."
"Furthermore, Your Majesty, it can be said that the people are not prepared at all for winter. There is a huge gap. Your Majesty, we don't have that much money, so we have to buy charcoal."
"The situation in Chang'an County and Wannian County is not good. If there is no solution now, I believe that by tomorrow, people will be frozen to death."
Qin Qiong said hurriedly.
Li Shimin glanced at him.
"Don't worry, I... already have a way."
"Otherwise, what do you think I went to Prince Chu's Mansion to do? Play?"
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Chu is back?" Li Jing suddenly asked after hearing this.
Li Shimin shook his head and replied: "No, but do you still remember the briquettes you saw in the King of Chu's Courtyard last time?"
"This time, whether the people of Chang'an can overcome this hurdle depends on the briquettes."
As soon as these words came out, the eyes of Li Jing, Qin Qiong, and Cheng Yaojin suddenly lit up, and they also looked astonished.
Briquettes!
damn it!
This is really a timely help! !
"King Chu... Gudong... OK, Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
"I wonder if the King of Chu still has this briquette?"
Li Jing asked again.
Yuchi Jingde was beside him, looking a little confused.
Briquettes?
What's this?
I have never heard of it myself.
However, I saw that several people knew about this thing, and their faces showed excitement, and the worries in their hearts seemed to be reduced a lot.
He couldn't help but feel that he was no longer as panicked and confident as before.
"This time, don't just think about what's available."
Li Shimin took a deep breath and his eyes became much more serious.
In the past, whenever they had any problems, they would just pick up the ready-made food from Prince Chu's Mansion.
But this time, the heavy snow covered a wide area. In addition to Chang'an, there were also large areas outside. It could be said that the north of Chang'an was covered by it.
What the King of Chu had ready-made was not enough to alleviate the entire disaster area.
We can only rely on….relief for work! !
Li Shimin was pondering these four words along the way.
The more I thought about it, the more I was shocked by King Chu's wisdom.
Absolutely amazing!
Really amazing!
Let the people devote themselves to this snow disaster. When the time comes, what will there be to worry about?
With a way to stay warm, there is hope for survival.
Li Shimin took a deep breath, looked around, and said: "Relief with work!!"
"Auxiliary machine, explain to them, and then start preparations. Don't waste a moment."
Li Shimin shouted lowly.
Cash-for-work? !
As soon as these words came out, Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin and others were all a little confused and looked at Changsun Wuji repeatedly.
Changsun Wuji quickly stood up and explained carefully.
Inside the Tai Chi Palace, it was extremely quiet.
Outside the main hall, the cold wind howled and heavy snow filled the sky.
When Changsun Wuji finished speaking, the hearts of everyone present started jumping crazily.
incredible!
Incredible!
Exquisite!
Not from the perspective of human nature, but from the perspective of reality, working for relief, these four words can be said to make their hearts clear! !
“The coal required for briquettes can be found everywhere.”
"Now, let's go, you guys."
"This method must be spread throughout the north! Some people will make briquettes, and some people will prepare rice porridge for disaster relief!"
"Go!"
Li Shimin looked at Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng and the others, and ordered in a deep voice.
"Yes! Your Majesty!"
Almost in unison, everyone bowed and clasped their fists, expressed their determination, and then hurriedly left.
This time, it was not like before, where he was panicked and helpless.
But there is a tiger in my heart and my blood is boiling.
Li Shimin looked at their backs and gently sat aside.
Empress Changsun quickly poured tea and handed it to Li Shimin with both hands.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry this time."
"You and I have seen the power of honeycomb briquettes. The best charcoal is even more powerful. The common people should be fine."
"Furthermore, if we use work-for-relief measures to mobilize the cohesion of the people, what kind of disaster will we not be able to survive?"
Queen Changsun comforted her.
Li Shimin nodded lightly.
He glanced at Queen Changsun and smiled.
"Huh... Maid Guanyin. In this life, the thing I regret least is marrying you."
"Otherwise, where should we go to find a prince as good as Kuan'er?"
Queen Changsun was stunned.
His face immediately turned red.
Slightly shy.
"Hahaha!!"
Li Shimin laughed heartily.
Li Shimin's witticism made the atmosphere in Tai Chi Palace less tense and tense than before.
Empress Changsun gently helped Li Shimin rub his temples.
"With a house, there is hope."
"Yes, as long as we have a way, no matter how difficult things are, we can finally get through them."
"This world is covered by heavy snow. I wonder where this brat King Chu is and whether he can come back? Then I will really thank him."
"Haha... If it weren't for Kuan'er, I might have been plowing under Lishan Mountain with you during this period of time."
Li Shimin said with a smile.
Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng and others have already gone to work.
Then the next thing can be considered as a clue.
This snowstorm may bring some troubles to the court, but after all, they are not helpless and waiting to die.
Queen Changsun nodded.
She sighed softly and looked outside.
The wind and snow outside the main hall had become extremely strong.
The snowflakes, like feathers, really fell down. After a while, the traces of their previous walks had been covered up, and they became like jade again.
(End of chapter)
