Qinyang Prefecture has 120,000 households and a population of 480,000. It has initially selected 23,800 children under the age of ten and 1,263 elderly people above the age of sixty.
When Xu Youzhen saw this number, he was a little shocked and sad. He knew in his heart that the three years of disasters from the 13th year of Zhengtong to the first year of Chenghua made the people miserable, and most of the elderly died during this period.
Some of them committed suicide, some asked to go into the mountains, and some were forced to carry them into the mountains...
But no matter what, there may be fewer elderly people over the age of seventy, but the number of elderly people who are only sixty years old is definitely more than this.
Ma Bozhi stood aside, looking a little tired.
"This booklet was obtained after checking it twice. The accuracy rate should be above 90%. Chief Shen has mobilized supplies from all over the province and has met the requirements. We can start normally tomorrow."
Xu Youzhen put the book away and put it on the table. She bowed her hands to Ma Bozhi and said, "Thank you, Magistrate Ma and all the officials."
Ma Bozhi was a little surprised. How could this important minister beside His Majesty know so much about etiquette? Could it be that the rumors were wrong? He hurriedly returned the courtesy.
"This is a matter of responsibility. I don't dare to talk about hard work lightly."
…………
The prefect's Yamen set up six offices to handle this matter.
The queue was very long. From early in the morning to evening, eligible people queued up here to receive it. However, the speed was very slow, and less than one-fifth could be completed on the first day.
Although they could not receive it in one day, the people actually saw the things and money.
Most of them were excited.
The people who received the things pushed their cars and rushed home in a hurry.
But the people in remote areas who have not received the things cannot go home, because it takes them half a day to walk. They can only push the cart and sit by the city wall with the prepared quilts. From time to time, they need to Get up and move around for a while.
The supervisory censor told Xu Youzhen that because the distribution speed was too slow, most people did not go home and stayed under the city wall to keep out the wind and cold.
It's winter now, and although it's not as cold as Liaodong, it's still unbearable to stay outside for one night.
At that moment, Xu Youzhen went directly to the Deputy General Military Mansion of Qinyang Prefecture and asked him to take out all the tents in the camp and set them up outside the city for the common people to borrow for a few days.
Originally, the deputy commander-in-chief was not under the control of Xu Youzhen, so he could completely ignore Xu Youzhen. However, Xu Youzhen also wanted to do good things. In addition, he was a high-ranking official in the capital. I heard that he had a good relationship with Cheng Guogong, so he was very happy to handle things now. It's quick.
Of course, the deputy commander-in-chief didn't know that Duke Cheng Guo, whom he respected, and Xu Youzhen were mortal enemies...
Five to six hundred soldiers used carriages to transport tents, firewood and other supplies out of the city, and Xu Youzhen personally led the team.
At first, the people huddled together outside the city were a little scared when they saw so many soldiers.
Which common people are not afraid of being a soldier?
As for the arrival of this group of soldiers, everyone thought they disliked them for affecting the image of Qinyang Mansion.
The senior officials in the capital saw that it was not good to spread the news to the capital, so they came to drive them away.
Tiezhu asked: "Chief of Grain, we are all holding the farm guys. If he drives us away, shall we kill them?"
"You idiot, you can just work in the accounting office, but you can work as a fucking soldier. I look at you. You're such a fool. They specialize in killing people. What are you going to do?"
The grain manager was wrapped in a shabby quilt. He almost jumped up when he heard Tie Zhu's words. But don't forget, when he was in the village, he was the one who said that if anyone was in trouble, he would kill the farmer with his hands. Still listen to the imperial edict. ŴŴŴ.BIQUGE.biz
If he doesn't do it right, he will be accused of plotting rebellion, and he will be unlucky for eight lifetimes.
Da Wa just looked at the soldiers and clenched his fists tightly. As long as he could take away the things mentioned when he came to the city, his great-grandfather would be able to live with peace of mind.
Because Grandpa simply didn’t believe that the government would spend so much money on old men like them who had difficulty moving and couldn’t do anything.
If these soldiers came to chase them away, he would really be robbing them...
"Da Wa, don't be stupid. If he asks us to leave, we will leave." The grain manager immediately saw Da Wa's thoughts.
This kid had a bad temper, he was very straight, and he was also very courageous. When he was chopping firewood in the mountains, in order to protect his little brother, he killed two wild wolves with a hatchet...
"Big boy, let's all listen to the grain manager. Don't cause him any trouble. Be obedient."
All the people under the city wall were very scared. Could it be that the government issued too many things today and they regretted it?
But what happened next exceeded their imagination.
The soldiers actually started to light a fire in the open space, and then began to set up tents.
Xu Youzhen, dressed in fashionable clothes, stepped forward.
Zhao Cong and other Jinyi guards were afraid that Xu Youzhen would be treated as a bad guy and beaten up by the common people, so they all surrounded Xu Youzhen and surrounded him at the back.
"Folks, we can't collect them all today. We will collect them tomorrow. Don't panic or be in a hurry."
"I asked the Commander-in-Chief to prepare two hundred tents for everyone. Let's let the older people, women, and children live in them."
"The young and strong will make do with each other by the fire. Also, everyone can go to various government offices in the city. I let them open the door, and you can also stay for one night. This period has been hard for everyone. .”
Are they afraid of hardship or cold? No, they are afraid that tomorrow will be different from today...
But Xu Youzhen's words dispelled the last worries in the hearts of the people.
"Master Qingtian, you have brought us a way to survive." As he said this, a woman knelt down.
"Yes, yes, what is the master's name? We want to build a temple for him."
The crowd fell to their knees.
The grain manager took a look and said, "Mom, I'm really right. That "fat white boy" is really a high official. Da Wa, Tiezhu, and the fellow villagers, let's go and kowtow to the Heavenly Official."
As he spoke, he stood up, with the worn quilt still wrapped around him.
After walking a few steps, I found that the eldest child was sitting there without getting up.
"Why don't you get up?"
"I kowtowed to him too much today, so I won't go."
"No, you kowtow today because you kowtow today, and you have to kowtow now. We can't be conscienceless." Tiezhu scolded.
After watching his father speak, the big boy moved his body and stood up.
Then he saw that his father and the grain chiefs were walking faster, and he was unwilling to follow them. He walked straight to a few soldiers who were lighting a fire.
"Brother, can you show me the knife on your waist?"
"Little kid, this knife is not for casual viewing. You might hurt yourself. Come on, this fire is burning. You can warm yourself up here."
"Hey, brother, I also want to be a soldier like you."
After hearing Da Wa's words, several soldiers laughed loudly: "It's true that we are eating the emperor's food, but we also have to go to the battlefield and work hard for the emperor. This bowl of rice is not good. Also, When I look at you, you don’t look like a soldier, you look like a farmer.”
"Even though I am a farmer, I still want to be like you." The eldest son said very little and had a cold temper, but he kept asking questions at this time.
"Hahaha, unless you are very skilled in martial arts and are superb in archery, horse riding, and archery, you can find a general to show off your skills before you can become a soldier. Otherwise, you won't be able to become a soldier." After the soldier finished speaking, Bending down, he picked up a lit firewood and walked towards another pile of firewood.
As he was walking, he suddenly turned his head and said: "If you are really good at martial arts, archery, horse riding, and shooting, go to the north of the city and find a man named Zhao Daniu. That's my brother. Ask him to tell me, and I will introduce us to you. General, by the way, my name is Zhao Erniu."
Da Wa was fascinated by what she heard, then lowered her head and whispered: "I know you are very skilled in martial arts, but what does archery and horse riding mean?"
When the grain manager led Tiezhu and his group to get closer, tears immediately burst into his eyes: "My great master Qingtian..."
"Chief of Grain, you are really crying." Tie Zhu on the side exclaimed after seeing it.
"They gave us so many things to save our lives. Why don't we cry?"
"But Mr. Liang, you're not dead either. It sounds to me like you're crying for your father."
After hearing Tie Zhu's words, the grain manager's face was messy, as if he had that smell, wasn't he just repaying kindness with hatred...
He immediately put away his tears and knelt down with a serious face.
If Xu Youzhen saw the grain manager's emotional control, he would definitely learn from his teacher, because he is much better than him.
More and more people were kneeling down. Xu Youzhen was also startled and jumped up quickly and said: "No one is allowed to kneel, no one is allowed to kneel."
But his voice was drowned out by the voices of the people, and no matter how high he jumped, he couldn't attract anyone's attention.
Just when Xu Youzhen was helpless, another group of cooks came out of the city gate, carrying iron pots and rice on their backs.
Start setting up a pot and boiling water.
It was this movement that made the people calm down for a while.
The leader of the team was Ma Bozhi, the prefect of Qinyang Prefecture. He walked to Xu Youzhen and said, "Folks, the collection is a little slow because it is our first time to do it and there are many shortcomings. Wang Haihan, today Our Qinyang Mansion cooked some rice porridge for everyone. After drinking the rice porridge, everyone felt warm..."
Xu Youzhen looked at Ma Bozhi next to her and was moved, because she didn't care about too many things, but Ma Bozhi was busy from beginning to end, and now he arranges with everyone so late, what an official... …
But I never thought about this thing that benefits the people...
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