Chapter 76 76

Yun Ruo disguised herself as a woman and left Yannan Village quietly that day, avoiding the landslides and mountain dangers along the way, and heading straight to Yanling.

In the past few years, because of practicing with Si Hongcang, he has often done special training in the mountains with Si Hongcang and his sister Yun Tian. Even if they are not familiar with the terrain of Yanling, they are more familiar than those officers who came to arrest Si Hongcang.

His analysis was that Ji Ruyan and the others came from the capital, so even if they had a general understanding of this deep mountain terrain before they came, they would not be too detailed. Therefore, they will not go in other directions on their return journey. Otherwise, if they get lost, let alone take Sister Si Hong out, it is a question whether they can go out on their own. Therefore, he speculates that they will definitely come out of Yanling Mountain, and even if they take a detour, they will not go far.

Coupled with the heavy rain in the past few days, Yun Ruo believed that they would not be able to go very far.

Therefore, he rushed to Yanling.

Yun Ruo guessed half of it, and the other half was because of the heavy rain in the past few days, which had greatly disrupted the path planned by Deputy General Lu and the others before or was almost damaged.

As a result, Deputy General Lu had to abandon the mountain road, enter Yannan Village and leave, and turn to the official road.

When Yun Ruo arrived at Yanling, Lieutenant General Lu really hadn’t left, and a large tent was on the empty flat roof. There were many soldiers guarding nearby, so he retreated.

It’s just… how come I didn’t see Ji Ruyan? Besides, they look like they are waiting for someone?

Are you waiting for your wife and master? However, hasn’t Ji Ruyan been away for several days with his wife and master?

He couldn’t see clearly from a distance, so he pretended to be a mountain villager collecting herbs and slowly approached…

Yun Ruo often wanders around the mountain road leading to Yanling except on days of heavy rain. When he saw people, he hid, not only from the officers and soldiers, but also from the people of Yannan Village. He hid himself in the dark and waited.

After several days of rain, it finally cleared up. The blue sky is as blue as wash, but the whole mountain is like a sea of ​​​​land, a mess, and the eyes are full of people that are shocking. . . .

Deputy General Lu just received a message from Ji Ruyan. It was said that although Si Hongcang had thrown himself into the net, but due to the heavy rain in Yanhui County, Si Hongcang threatened them with death to enter the county for disaster relief. Even so, she had to take people back to the county town with Si Hongcang to help the disaster relief.

At this time, because the entire Yanling mountain road was almost completely destroyed and the path was unfamiliar, Deputy General Lu did not dare to venture in. Decided to lead the army to withdraw from Yanling and change to the official road.

So she ordered Ji Ruyan to take Si Hongcang to wait for them at the official post three hundred miles outside Yanzhou City.

Yun Ruo turned around for two days and two nights, becoming more alert and more careful to hide in high places to spy on.

He saw everything down the **** clearly.

When a woman walked out of the tent in armor and military uniform, there was a man’s house beside her, and the man…

Is it Wang Rong? !

Although surprised, Yun Ruo did not act rashly. In his heart, he just wanted to accompany his wife and master Si Hongcang in secret. He only thought that as long as he followed Lieutenant General Lu and the others, he would definitely meet his wife and master.

Therefore, when Vice-General Lu let someone pull out the camp, he kept following him secretly.

Si Hongcang here ——

After Ji Ruyan received the message from Lieutenant General Lu, he took Si Hongcang to the official post outside the city to wait for Lieutenant General Lu and others to come and meet.

Ji Ruyan originally wanted to tie up Si Hongcang. But she has been deeply loved by the people for her protection from danger and disaster prevention these days. If she was really chained and shackled at this time, it would probably cause disgust or obstruction from the people, which would be bad.

In addition, Si Hongcang had no intention of running away, so Ji Ruyan gave up the idea of ​​tying her. Thinking that the large number of them walking on the official road is always too conspicuous and inappropriate, they let the soldiers dress up as civilians and divide them into several groups or break up into small groups to secretly **** them forward.

At present, the water crisis has been solved, but all the roads that can get out of the county are also covered with barren. Either it was covered up by landslides, or it collapsed and destroyed, making it impossible to pass through!

Since the flood in Yanhui County has been eliminated, the whole county’s grains that should have been harvested were originally waiting for the autumn harvest and winter, but after this heavy rain, the floods caused almost all the farmland in Yanzhou to be submerged. , no more than a grain of rice!

At this time, not only did the dilemma of the return of people break out, but also brought groups of homeless refugees.

The people inside and outside the city of Yanhui County are at least 70,000 or 80,000 people. However, there are only 300 to 400 stone of rice grains left in the official warehouse in the county government. Now, with this group of refugees, rice grains have become even more rare.

Food is a major problem for people’s livelihood! No food means no way to live!

Then, after the fifth day, there was an incident of rushing to buy rice grains. As a result, the price of rice grains soared, and the price was very high. The starting price of a bucket of rice is five taels of silver.

Three taels of silver can live for half a year and a year in ordinary people.

However, does the county magistrate really want to open a warehouse for food relief? That’s something you don’t even think about! Unless her conscience finds out.

In fact, during this turbulent period of fighting floods and disasters, she had secretly used the five-ghost method to transport the rice grains in several official granaries, and secretly moved the rice grains until only 300 stone meters remained. Shi Mi still couldn’t finish the move because of the lack of time!

Of course, she will still use the food that cannot be removed to help the victims, so as to gain a reputation.

It can be seen that she has done this kind of thing before. Otherwise, how can you be so skilled?

At this time, after receiving the message from Vice General Lu, Ji Ruyan took Si Hongcang and his party to the official post outside the city to wait for Vice General Lu and others to come and meet.

Ji Ruyan originally wanted to tie up Si Hongcang. But she has been so loved by the people for protecting the people from disasters these days. If she was really shackled and shackled at this time, it would cause disgust or obstruction from the people, which would be bad.

In addition, Si Hongcang had no intention of running away, so Ji Ruyan gave up the idea of ​​tying her. Thinking that it is always inappropriate for them to walk on official roads in large numbers, they asked the soldiers to dress up as civilians and divide them into groups or break up secret escorts to advance.

There are several porridge shacks along the road three hundred miles outside Yanhui County, and now at noon, the refugees all come out to wait for food. Along the way, everyone was talking about it.

“As soon as the dam burst, I fled! Eight villages have already been flooded…”

A loud voice caught Si Hongcang’s attention. She looked up and saw a few women in the courtyard sitting in poor clothes, and they were talking at length.

Si Hongcang stepped forward and wanted to hear what they had to say.

The bustling porridge shed was full of refugees, but with Si Hongcang’s beautiful appearance, walking in the middle caught everyone’s attention.

Someone asked, “Didn’t the former magistrate Liu hand over the repair of the dam to magistrate Lu to continue to execute it? How could it collapse?”

About this matter, Si Hongcang probably knew seven or eight points in his heart.

It’s not that what should be built was not built, and what should be guarded against was not guarded, otherwise how could such a big disaster come! This county magistrate is really damn!

“Continue the construction?” Another woman mocked. “My village is near the dam. I have seen with my own eyes. Those people just went to see it, but they claimed to have built it. Of course, the old dam has collapsed. The embankment will not be able to stop this flood!”

Si Hongcang just wanted to ask something, but someone hurriedly said, “It’s dinner! Go grab it, it’ll be gone if it’s too late!”

Si Hongcang was crowded into the porridge shed. Si Hongcang has grown up so big, except for the year when he passed through, eating the bowl of multi-grain porridge presented by the aunt of the Gao family, and the half-cooked rice she cooked by herself, she has never seen such thin and watery porridge. .

One person served the porridge, while the other person scribbled and drew on the book, memorizing things.

“What’s your name, where do you live, and how many acres of land do you have?”

“Little man willow catkins lives in Liujia Village, 500 li in Yanhui County, with 5 acres of land.”

“Is the title deed available? Take it out and see?”

“In… my lord, this is…?”

“Don’t talk so much, this is registration. Tomorrow morning, I will report in the lobby and go to the back mountain to cultivate the land. You live in Room 5 of the Third Courtyard.” The other party said impatiently, “Next.”

Si Hongcang looked over, and the woman named Liu Xu was holding a large bowl of soup, dozens of rice grains, mixed with some wild vegetables.

She frowned, but the other party was very happy and devoured it.

Si Hongcang looked at this white porridge with a few dirty leaves floating, and was very suspicious, would it really not cause diarrhea after eating it like this?

At this time, I saw a middle-aged man of nearly forty years old with a miserable face, holding a bowl in one hand and a young girl in the other to serve the porridge.

“Laoshen Liu’s family has young grandchildren, his daughter and son-in-law died early, and his wife and owner were swept away by the flood. So far, there is no news…” The old man choked up and wept, “There is no land deed at home, and the old wife and owner sells small groceries. Shop, now all the water is swept away.”

“Room No. 10 in the Sixth Courtyard, the next one.”

What he was holding in his hand was a bowl of white soup with a few miscellaneous leaves on it.

“My granddaughter is young and is at the stage of growing up, can you please invite adults…” Liu shi knelt down and begged pitifully.

“What are you talking about, do you know that there is not much food in the government office! Now the price of food is even more expensive! It’s already 12 taels of silver! Do you know what the price is! Your wife and owner may not be able to earn it for a year. Twelve taels! Now, you are penniless, you have eaten and lived for nothing! Why don’t you hurry up!”

The official pushed Mr. Liu hard, Mr. Liu slumped, and the bowl in his hand fell to the ground and shattered!

“Ah… porridge… porridge…” Liu Shi panicked and wanted to pick up the few grains of rice left in the porridge, but the more nervous he was, the easier it was to make mistakes. His hand was severely scratched. The blood is dyed in the white soup…

He and his granddaughter have not eaten for two days, and now the only food he has eaten has been knocked over by himself…

“Grandpa… Grandpa…” The little girl stood beside Liu Shi, looked at Liu Shi’s bleeding hands, and burst into tears.

“It’s so noisy! Unlucky!” The official spat and scolded, “Cry elsewhere! Don’t stop here!”

“Next!” The official was stunned for his boss Hong Cang’s cold eyes, “Ah! You are not…”

This official seems to know Si Hongcang. After all, she became a big celebrity after the successful rescue and disaster relief in Yanhui County!

Si Hongcang threw some pieces of silver on the table with a “pop”, and said coldly, “Refill two bowls for their grandparents and grandchildren, and give me more rice!”

The official picked up the silver and weighed it for a while, then he quickly put on a smile and said, “Yes yes yes … I will listen to the instructions of the young lady …”

Afterwards, she said flatteringly, “What else do you want, miss, just mention it?”

“I, want to see your magistrate!” Si Hongcang wanted to ignore it. But if this goes on, wouldn’t it be more difficult for these disaster-stricken people to survive?

“This…” The official was embarrassed, and he said hesitantly…

At this time, Ji Ruyan grabbed Si Hongcang. Said, “It’s none of your business. Let’s go.”

Si Hongcang’s eyes froze, but Ji Ruyan didn’t see a single glance at all, and he said coldly, “Si Hongcang has something important to report, I beg the official messenger to pass it on!”

With a “pop”, she put some silver pieces on the table.

“Yes, I’ll pass it on!” The official grinned and took the silver into his arms, and said to Si Hongcang, “Miss Si Hong, wait a moment.”

In fact, in the face of the current situation, Ji Ruyan is also a bit blind. I thought to myself, the matter of taking Si Hongcang to the meeting with Lieutenant General Lu has already been delayed, and it is not too late. Also, she also wanted to see what method Si Hongcang would use to change Lu County magistrate’s actions.

She is quite aware of the official way of Lu Xianling, and who is the backer behind her.

“Uncle, I have ointment here, I’ll give it to you.” Si Hongcang took out a white jade porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to Liu Shi.

Seeing such a transparent porcelain bottle, Mrs. Liu shook her head in panic, “Thank you, Miss, but my hands are very dirty, I’m afraid I will stain Miss’s medicine. This little injury is fine…”

Si Hongcang dipped a little ointment and smeared it on Liu Shi’s hand firmly, “You are eating poorly now, your body’s resistance is poor, and your wound healing ability is also poor. Don’t underestimate this kind of small injury, if it causes infection, you will have to endure hardship. head!”

“Thank you for the medicine, Miss.” Liu Shi thanked him very gratefully.

“It’s just a trivial matter, it’s not worth mentioning.”

At this moment, Si Hongcang’s stomach sounded out of time. Only then did she realize that it was already noon, and she didn’t even eat breakfast.

“This aunt, here it is.”

Si Hongcang looked at the bowl in front of him, Bai Huahua had already drank half of the porridge water, but the rice grains seemed to be the same.

She raised her head and saw the girl’s round eyes staring at her, then looked at the bowl in her hand, swallowed, and pushed it out, “This auntie, Xiao Yang didn’t eat the porridge, she just drank it. A little soup…”

Although Liu Yuanyang pushed the porridge water in front of Si Hongcang, her eyes revealed reluctance. Seeing such a scene, Si Hongcang felt a little emotional about Liu Yuanyang’s actions, but more of pity and reluctance.

“No, Xiao Yang can drink it by himself. Xiao Yang is a child now. He needs to eat more to grow his body.”

Looking at her appearance, she was only five or six years old, drinking porridge greedily, not crying or making trouble. Her grandmother died, her home was destroyed, and her grandfather took her penniless.

Si Hongcang secretly stuffed a few pieces of broken silver into Liu Yuanyang’s small pocket.

“Now that the porridge has been distributed, hurry up tomorrow!”

“Ah, it’s gone!”

“I’ve been hungry for two days!”

“I’ve been hungry for three days!”

Si Hongcang heard the prestige and looked at the noisy place, the queue was still so long, and there was no end in sight.

In just a few days, has the number of refugees increased to several thousand?

After waiting for a stick of incense, the official just now came in a hurry, “Miss Si Hong, the magistrate has a request.”

The county magistrate Lu was in the courtyard, which was beyond Si Hongcang’s expectations. She straightened her clothes and pushed in the door.

“Si Hongcang, meet the magistrate.”

“Miss Si Hong, hurry up and free the gift.”

When Si Hongcang looked up, he saw a young woman in luxurious clothes sitting on the right side of the room, but looking at him with burning eyes.

The woman got up and asked her, “Are you Si Hongcang?”

“It’s down here.” Si Hongcang nodded.

“Sure enough, the elegance and splendor…”

Si Hongcang frowned, ignoring her, and looking directly at the magistrate Lu on the high seat.

She had asked the village chief to inform the county magistrate in advance to prevent the flood. However, it was her repeated delays and negligence that led to this catastrophe.

Si Hongcang didn’t understand. In that case, why didn’t the eldest princess re-promote a magistrate of Yanhui County to manage Yanhui County alone…

“Come on, Qian Youlian, it’s from the Qian family’s grain business…” She eagerly wanted to befriend Si Hongcang, so she stepped forward and reported her birth family…

Along the way, Si Hongcang had heard a lot of practices and rumors about the Qianjia grain store. So when Qian Youlian reported her net worth. Si Hongcang didn’t like her very much. Now that she appeared in front of this county magistrate, why didn’t she think about it?

Isn’t it just collusion between officials and businessmen!

Si Hongcang deliberately ignored her and said directly to the county magistrate Lu, “Sir, just now the Caomin heard that the floods inundated eight surrounding villages and tens of thousands of acres of fertile fields. The people were not only homeless, but also homeless. I’m sorry, now I’m not fully clothed and I don’t have enough food. From what the people see, I hope you can help the people of the county to get through this difficult time, please pay attention to it.”

“This official has already sent someone to open the granary for relief.”

Seeing the magistrate Lu said this, Si Hongcang shook his head, of course she knew that magistrate Lu had already opened a warehouse for relief. But it was just what I saw in the porridge shed, the porridge juice that was as clear as water, and I felt angry. It’s only been a few days. Could it be that the official warehouse is so seriously short of food?

In addition, this flood not only submerged tens of thousands of hectares of fertile fields in the entire Yanhui County, but also made this autumn harvest this year without a grain of rice…

He said again, “Sir, today Si Hong came to find that the refugees were eating very little rice, and after the big pot was divided, there were still many people behind who did not get food, but the people who were divided were divided into three, six, nine, and so on. It’s really inappropriate. Caomin hopes that the adults will order people to cook more porridge so that everyone can share it equally.”

“Ms. Sihong.” The county magistrate Lu’s expression became serious, “The food and grass stored in this county is limited. I don’t know how long the famine will spread. This official believes that if a large amount of porridge is cooked at this time, there may be a large number of people who want to eat. starved to death!”

County magistrate Lu then said with a sigh of relief, “Besides, the price of this grain has been raised to 12 to 1 jin. Miss Si Hong, this officer is really powerless at this price. In the past few days, this officer has spent a lot of money. Disaster relief, now, the yamen is empty, what can you say about this official?”

“My lord knows that 12.1 jin is a sky-high price, which is more than a hundred times higher than in the past! Why not suppress the high price so that the common people can afford grain? I heard that the Qian family has stockpiled a lot of grain. Your lord If you are willing to contribute to the people, why not buy it back for disaster relief!” Si Hongcang raised his eyebrows and glanced at the woman who was watching the play.

Qian Youlian, who had been watching, suddenly frowned and interjected, “Miss Si Hong’s words are bad. Who told you that the Qian family has too much grain? Now the Qian family is only half a small warehouse, only a few hundred stone of rice grain. It’s not that they want to raise the price. Originally, for ten taels of silver, the Li family in the north gate wanted to buy dozens of stones, and the Chen family in the south gate also wanted to buy dozens of stones to survive the disaster. The Qian family said that there are hundreds of people. You have to keep the food too. Naturally, those with the highest price will get it. In the end, the Wang family gave out 12,100 pounds. They were willing to raise the price. No wonder my Qian family…”

It wasn’t her fault that Qian Youlian took a bite. Si Hongcang couldn’t help itching his teeth. “Since your Qian family clearly has food, it’s fine if you refuse to rescue the disaster. You still want to take the opportunity to make money out of this country. Are you embarrassed?”

Qian Youlian said aggrieved, “What Miss Si Hong said, the Qian family is naturally willing to provide disaster relief, and has already concentrated the food in Yanhui County.”

What is willing to do disaster relief, obviously wants to sell at a higher price!

“Ms. Sihong, the Qian family has indeed contributed to the disaster in Yanhui County. I need to discuss with Miss Qian in detail. If there is nothing wrong with Miss Sihong…”

The county magistrate Lu made such a clear decision to drive people away, but Si Hongcang only knew that he was interested and retired.

“What the lord just meant was to let me give out some rice and grain for free disaster relief? Isn’t this cutting off your own fortune!” Qian Youlian put down the teacup and said sullenly, “In every disaster situation, the Qian family buys it at a high price on the surface. Mi, in fact, behind the scenes it was adults who helped fuel the flames and got a piece of it.”

“It’s just that she was there and talked about the scene so that she could leave early. Could it be that you want her to stay here and listen to our conversation?” County magistrate Lu squinted at her.

“My lord, this white face is really good. I will sing the black face. I don’t know how I should be resented.” Qian Youlian asked with a smile, “Don’t you want to be an honest county magistrate? Why don’t you report it to the court for disaster relief? Your lord wants rice, and when the court finds out, won’t it be delivered for free? Doesn’t your lord always use this idea to make money secretly and to gain a good reputation on the surface?”

“This flood came too quickly.” County magistrate Lu frowned, “Three months ago, the emperor had already allocated the money for repairing the Rong dam to the former magistrate Liu, and she had also handed over the money to the former magistrate Liu before she took office. This official is used for rebuilding the dam. Now that it has not been two months, if this official reports the disaster situation again, and if the emperor investigates the flow of disaster funds, I am afraid that this official’s black gauze cap will not be guaranteed. We can only hide it and solve the flood as soon as possible.”

“How is the emperor going to investigate? This time on the southern tour, her old man was seriously ill, and she was dying. Now she can’t even get up and drive back to the palace! Thinking about it, she may have lost her strength. Not to mention, you still have A big princess, the iron and iron backer, isn’t she? Besides, the former magistrate of Yanhui County—Liu Minzhen, she really handed over the money for rebuilding the dam to your magistrate Lu. In your hand? Huh?”

Qian Youlian raised her eyebrows and smiled lightly.

Then he said, “If you prolong the time, you can slaughter a wealth of businessmen and wealthy families. Don’t some families always sing against you? When they are dying of starvation, you can see how they humbly beg you. Those who are not pleasing to the eye are also… natural disasters… there are always people who unfortunately go missing.”

The phoenix eyes smiled lightly, and slender fingers gestured fiercely in front of the neck.

At this time, Qian Youlian’s remarks made Lu County magistrate’s eyes light up.

After Si Hongcang left the yard, he was in a gloomy mood.

What Si Hongcang did in the face of the county magistrate was not something that Si Hongcang could say. Don’t say that she doesn’t understand the twists and turns, even if she knows a thing or two, because she is not even white now, she may be the remnant of a “rebel” princess of the previous emperor.

However, although she couldn’t help with political affairs, she still mentioned to Ji Ruyan, “This county magistrate not only did not warn the public to prevent disaster risks in advance, but also failed to complete the work of repairing dams. This disaster was out of control.

What is even more shameful is that she also intends to seek such ill-gotten gains. Since your mother is the governor of Yanzhou, she is also the superior of the magistrate of Lu County, Zhili. Now, if the magistrate of Lu County has done everything, if the imperial censor finds out in the future, your mother should not be able to escape the punishment, right? ”

Ji Ruyan froze when she heard the words, of course she knew what Si Hongcang meant.

What Si Hongcang meant was that she wanted to use the hands of her mother, Governor Ji, to punish this magistrate of Lu, so that the people could be harmed!

Once the table is listed, the court will definitely send someone to verify it. This matter, sooner or later, the paper can’t wrap the fire. It’s just that the magistrate Lu is the eldest empress’s crew, and I’m afraid it won’t be easy to move her at this moment.

Ji Ruyan looked at Si Hongcang with a complicated expression, and finally, he whispered to her truthfully, “Don’t talk about my mother, even the four princesses who are in charge of supervising the country with the first princess can’t do anything about her. Besides, Today, the saint is on this southern tour, but unfortunately he is seriously ill, and when his life is dying, he probably doesn’t care about it. Unless…the first princess loses power, no one can touch her.”

Now a few princesses, carrying the saint on their backs, move frequently in private, I just don’t know which princess will become the next new emperor on the phoenix throne. Of course, Ji Ruyan would not tell Si Hongcang about this.

“…” That means… Can you just watch a bad guy get rich and gain power like this? ! Si Hongcang pouted. What more can she say? She’s not a politician, so there’s nothing she can do about it.

She is incompetent in politics, but at least she can pass on the correct knowledge of drinking water to the people. Before leaving, Si Hongcang taught the people a simple way to filter muddy water into clear water. So that the people would not get sick from drinking unclean water.

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