All Hail Cousin Brother

At the end of the sentence, the man couldn't help but squatted on the ground and cried.

"Why don't you open the city gate..."

"If they don't open the city, what will we do?!"

"Does the court really not care about us?"

"..."

There was a commotion all around, but the man's words finally broke the only hope of the refugees in despair.

Chaos, complete chaos.

A tall and strong man rushed over desperately and snatched the little girl who was protected by the woman in her arms.

The woman screamed and cried like crazy: "Child, my child, stop, please, don't..." The woman wanted to take her child back, but was pushed to the ground mercilessly by the tall man. .

Outside the city, there were dense crowds of people. This barbaric scene stimulated the hungry and cold refugees. Some people went to help the women snatch the children, and some went to snatch the children from the hands of tall and strong men.

There was a mixture of screams and curses.

First someone stepped on her hand, and then more and more people stepped on her body. It was as if no one heard the woman's screams and cries.

At this moment, a sharp and piercing gong sounded from the city gate.

The refugees stopped rioting, and the woman lying on the ground who had escaped death shouted numbly: "Ya'er, my little Ya'er, child..."

The refugees looked at the towering city wall blankly, with hope intertwined in their eyes. They rushed to the bottom of the city gate like crazy, beating and pushing against the city gate.

Standing on the city wall, Yu Shande looked down at the dense crowds of refugees, and suddenly he understood why the wealthy families were stinking of wine and meat, and the roads were freezing to death!

Feeling desolate in his heart, he clenched the paper in his hand: "...Last year, there was a flood in Zhejiang. Japanese pirates colluded with pirates and invaded the southeastern coast of our country, resulting in a serious reduction in food production in the south, and even a century-old drought in the north. The imperial court tried its best to provide relief. , still unable to cope."

Is this really the case?

Is it not that the excessive spending of the imperial court and the rampant corruption of the government have led to a deficit in the national treasury. In order to make up for the deficit, taxes have been increased. In good years, the people cannot have enough food and clothing, let alone a natural disaster?

The imperial court failed to provide disaster relief, so tens of millions of people in the west and north were affected by the disaster, and millions of victims starved to death. In many areas, people died of hunger on the road, and their bones were everywhere.

This is a natural disaster as well as a man-made disaster.

But the article he is reading out now is to whitewash the situation, put all the blame on natural disasters and pirates, and try his best to beautify the imperial court.

Ridiculous, so ridiculous!

Yu Shande's face was blank: "... Of course, there is no end to the road. Princess Shaoyi tried to plant a kind of sweet potato that was introduced into the country from overseas. The court confirmed that the sweet potato is resistant to dryness, ridge resistance, high yield, and filling. The belly is suitable for northern soil.”

The refugees gradually became quiet, and their dirty faces were full of hope.

They escaped from famine all the way, visited many places, and were helped by people. Some people ate the sweet potatoes grown by Princess Shaoyi and said that sweet potatoes can survive. Many people also heard that Princess Shaoyi was a living Bodhisattva.

The refugees did not trust the court.

They believed in Princess Shaoyi.

"King Wu Mu, who was guarding Liaodong, set up a refugee camp in the northern border and wanted to promote sweet potato cultivation in the Liaodong area, which was less severely affected in the northern border, to alleviate the famine in the northern border and even the whole country. Princess Shaoyi learned about this, He even went to Liaodong to assist King Wu Mu in growing sweet potatoes."

In the eyes of the world, Princess Shaoyi represented the imperial court and the Yin family. The imperial court promoted Princess Shaoyi's benevolence and virtue in order to calm the people's hearts.

really!

The numb refugees had expressions of emotion on their faces.

But then, it was replaced by deeper despair and numbness. No matter how good the sweet potato is, it can't keep them from starving and keep them alive now!

"The Liaodong area is vast and sparsely populated. If you want to promote sweet potato cultivation, you will need a large number of manpower. The imperial court decided to relocate some of the refugees to the northern border."

There were refugees at the moment who admired King Wu Mu Yingming. They couldn't help but hold on to a glimmer of hope and asked: "Dare I ask this little brother, who are you?"

Yu Shande said: "I am the minister of the Hanlin Academy, and I am also the clan brother of Princess Shaoyi."

He was taught by the Yu family since he was a child and studied agriculture, industry and commerce. What he learned was applied in governing the world and serving the people.

Sometimes he thought, if three years ago, like Song Mingzhao, he could muster up the courage to be sent to a small county and become a seventh-grade sesame official, would he be able to protect the people of a place and benefit a place?

It's better than the past three years, which were wasted in the Hanlin Academy. The people I came into contact with and made friends with were all mediocre people and unworthy of company.

After the imperial court's announcement came down, he immediately rode out of the house and headed straight out of the city.

The servants in the house shouted to chase him, but he turned a deaf ear.

At the end of the day, a refugee asked in confusion: "What kind of official is the Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy? How big is this official? Does what he says count?"

Some people also answered: "It is an official position of the sixth rank. It seems that the official position is not big, but it is a close minister of the emperor. He is responsible for drafting the emperor's words and deeds, national history, being in charge of economic affairs, etc. Those who hold this position are highly valued by the emperor and will most likely be able to join the cabinet in the future. , be the elder of the pavilion."

"so smart……"

"He is still the clan brother of Princess Shaoyi..."

"Did the emperor send him here?"

"..."

There was a commotion down there.

At this time, someone asked cautiously.

"King Wu Mu is really willing to accept us refugees? Didn't he lie to us?"

"Jingzhao is far away from the northern border, how do we get there?"

"Yes, we are hungry and will starve to death before we reach the northern border. Are you trying to trick us away on purpose..."

"Dog officer, you have no good intentions..."

"It's all a lie, you just want us to die..."

"..."

The refugees who finally calmed down became angry again. Yu Shande quickly explained: "Calm down and listen to me. Calm down..."

The refugees were in chaos for a while, and finally someone stepped forward to stop it.

Yu Shande finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Tomorrow, the government will release grain. Each person will be given three kilograms of grain. The court will send a thousand elite soldiers to escort you to the north. When you reach the border of the north, King Wu Mu's people will come to pick you up..."

Three kilograms of grain, this was settled after the courtiers had been arguing and arguing.

Many people don't want to come up with this food, but if they don't come up with some food and appease the refugees first, how can the refugees go to the north obediently?

Three kilograms of grain, one meal a day, and two taels of grain a meal, are only enough for fifteen days.

Jingli is relatively close to Liaodong, and there is a direct official road to reach it. A large number of refugees do not have enough to eat, cannot walk fast, and the roads are dragging. It can definitely be reached in half a month.

The refugees calmed down when they heard that there was food. Even if it was only three kilograms, at least they would not die of hunger.

The leading refugee asked again: "I heard that King Wu Mu had previously used military funds to provide relief to the victims, and a large number of refugees gathered in the north. Where did the food come from?"