Chapter 13: The Exile (5)

As soon as the government decree on the resettlement of displaced people was issued, the number of displaced people in Cangzhou suddenly increased. Due to the measurement of land, a bunch of things could not be completed, and the displaced people could not be properly resettled, so they could only build a simple shed, and the prefecture and county would provide grain and set up a soup kitchen to provide relief.

Less than two days after the distribution of relief food, a clerk came running in a panic, saying that the homeless people had made trouble and smashed the soup kitchen...... Xu Qing thought about it, could it be that the word "relief grain" was wrong?

The Celestial Empire has had a good face since ancient times, even if it is a poor family. If the harvest is bad in a certain year, the family will run out of food, waiting for others to help. However, when the landlord sends the grain, it must be said that it is borrowed, borrowed and returned, and if it is said to be helped, it will immediately turn its face, and the life-saving food will not be needed......

When Xu Qing left the mansion, a team of officers and soldiers had been transferred outside, and he saw Shao Deng, the county commander of Cangxian County, rushing over. After learning about each other's situation, they all said that it was troublesome, and the two hurried away to the resettlement place of the displaced people.

The resettlement site was on the edge of a river beach, and now that the disturbance was over, Xu Qing walked in front, but saw two or three hundred ordinary people being guarded by the officials, and these people wept helplessly under the watchful eyes of the wolf-like officials. There were also fifty or sixty young men, naked and tied up with flowers, kneeling on the river beach.

Although they are young and strong, most of these people's faces are red and swollen, their eye sockets are deep, and Hongguo's bodies are thin and dry. Lord Thorn Shi is here, don't you kneel quickly! ”

The two or three hundred people over there knelt down and kowtowed to Xu Qing, who was wearing a scarlet robe, and then shouted that they were wronged, and the sound of injustice shook the sky. Xu Qing said in a deep voice: "Have you waited for enough shouting?" Xu Qing said a word, and the river beach was silent.

"What's the grievance? Come on! Xu counted a thin man who was tied up with five flowers and had an honest face. When the big man saw that Xu Qing was wearing a scarlet official robe, and the other officials even the county lord were trembling in front of him, he was very frightened in his heart, and he was so trembling that he couldn't speak.

"Is there anyone else who can speak?" Xu Qing said dissatisfied. The people, you look at me, I look at you, then pushed an old man and said: "Lord Thorn Shi, grass people, etc. are all Youzhou screen people, a few days ago there was a bad bandit, there is no room in the house, although the grass people escaped with their lives, but the son and daughter-in-law were taken away, leaving me a bad old man alone, there are fewer crops in the field, and there is not a grain of rice left in the warehouse......"

On the side, Shao Deng saw that this old student's role was coming, and urged impatiently: "If these things don't matter, don't be verbose." ”

The old man wiped away his tears and kowtowed, "Yes, the grass people are verbose. Lord Thorn Shi, this recruits homeless people, and the porridge shop soup is the kindness given by the Thorn History, but what kind of porridge do you think this charity gets? Wheat bran is just that, grass roots and bark I also endure, the stones, sand, glutinous rice and soil are also eaten by people? ”

- Xu Qing frowned slightly, and heard the old man say again: "Lord Thorn Shi, the villain stood in the cold wind for a day, and waited until he was bored, and he received a bowl of porridge, but the rice in the porridge was counted by the old man, and even ten grains...... Not even ten grains of rice. ”

All the men who were tied up shouted in unison: "The grass people and others really have no choice, they can't survive." ”

- Xu Qing said: "Bring the porridge pot!" ”

Two officers and soldiers brought the porridge pot from the porridge factory. At first glance, Xu Qing was quite puzzled when he saw that the officers and soldiers were lifting very heavily, but when he put it in front of him, Xu Qing looked at it again, and there was only a pot of turbid liquid in the vat, and the porridge and rice were nowhere to be found.

On the side, Shao Deng picked up a spoon and stirred it into the porridge pot, but he didn't stir up anything to eat. Xu Qing also got up, took the spoon himself, and fished it out in the bottom of the pot before he fished out a full spoonful of 'real things'. But I saw that the spoon was full of bark and grass roots, and the yellow rice was less than half a spoonful, which was less than sand!

"Where is the porridge factory clerk?" Seven officials with blue noses and swollen faces knelt in front of Xu Qing in a row.

"Which yamen's history are you?" Xu Qing pointed to an old official and asked.

The old official kowtowed and said: "Back to the words of Lord Shi, the villain has served as a small official in the household house of Cangxian County, and it has been eleven years since the Sui Dynasty. ”

The change of the court of the Northern and Southern Dynasties is fast, but a group of civil officials will not change, from the former Sui to the present, Cangxian County has changed hands several times, and the county order has changed a few, but the officials of each room have not changed.

"Eleven years, he is also an old man in the yamen, when he knows what happened to the corruption of the court's disaster relief food, he dares to know the law and break the law?" Xu Qing took out his official authority and drank. The old official sweated and said: "Assassin Lord Shi, the villain is wronged." Although the villain is just a small official, he also knows what conscience is. ”

"This mixing sand and soil into the disaster relief grain is a common practice of the imperial court. If it is really clean white rice, how can it enter the mouths of the hungry people? The villain is really not corrupt, please stab Lord Shi to find out. ”

- Xu Qing suddenly heard it, but what the official said was true, the porridge factory gave porridge for free, if it was all white rice, not to mention the homeless people, even ordinary people would want to come and eat. But how can officials tell which is a hungry and which is not? Without discrimination, the little relief food will be eaten up immediately.

So the officials came up with a way to mix cheap grain and then sand into the grain. The real hungry people don't care if you have sand or not in your porridge, and if you have food to eat, you can just starve to death, so that you can screen out the people who come to eat and drink.

That being said, in the end, the rules have become the rhetoric of low-level officials who justifiably embezzle disaster relief food. Xu Qing nodded and said, "It seems that you are still honest." ”

The old official kowtowed and said: "For the court, the villain does not dare to be sloppy." ”

It was Xu Qing who wanted to forgive him for his poems, but Shao Deng said: "Bring a pair of chopsticks to this county!" ”

When the audience heard the words, their faces changed drastically, and they all said: "The county order Lord spares his life, spare his life!" Shao Deng ignored it, waiting for the official to collect a handful of chopsticks from the people, and then threw them into the porridge pot, but when he saw the chopsticks pop,

It's easy to plunge into the 'porridge' and then float on the 'porridge'.

The officials and others were all pale as dirt. Shao Deng sneered: "I don't care if you mix sand and gravel or not, but this county knows that the porridge factory is based on chopsticks." ”

"Chopsticks float and heads fall to the ground!"

- Shao Deng's words hit everyone's hearts hard, and the officials and others lowered their heads, as if they were dead. Xu Qing was puzzled, when did this Shao Deng become a cool official? These officials are all his subordinates, and he is not afraid of losing the hearts of the people when he does this?

"Everyone, it's all my fault, it's my majesty's laxity, and this will never happen again in the porridge in the future!" Shao Deng turned to Xu Qing again, knelt in front of Xu Qing and said:

"Lord Assassin Shi, the lower officials are not strict, please punish Lord Assassin Shi ......"

"The county magistrate is really a good official~" The people said movingly.

If someone else came, maybe he would be moved by the emotions of the officials and people in front of him, but it seemed to Xu Qing, who was familiar with Shao Deng's personality and watched a lot of news broadcasts, that it was just a naïve show, Xu Qing said in his heart: Shao Deng, do you want to buy the people or do something else? Xu Qing swept among the people, and there were a few people who looked a little abrupt, although their clothes were tattered, they couldn't hide their healthy complexions. It turns out that the old boy Shao Deng is trying to install his own people among the homeless, what is all this for?

"The Shao County Order doesn't have to be like this, Cangxian County will have to rely on the Shao County Order in the future, how can this official cut off his hands and feet for a few dirty officials......" Xu Qing replied, and said to those officials: "You will be disqualified as a member of the official and become a slave!" "In any case, this group of filthy officials is always unforgivable.

After a commotion. Xu Qing said to the people present: "In the future, the porridge will not be inserted with chopsticks, and there will no longer be a grain of sand that is deliberately mixed ......"

"Lord Thorn Shi......" Shao Deng's eyes widened, he couldn't believe that Xu Qing would say such a promise, where did Xu Qing get the food?!

"However, the porridge in the future will not be given for free. Houses were built, walls were built, bridges were built and roads were paved, fields were cleared, and everyone who wanted food had to work for five hours and complete their tasks, and if they didn't work, they didn't finish their work, and they didn't get food......"

"What?! I still have to work to eat your broken porridge! ”

"Who?!"

- Xu Qing's eyes turned sharply, and he stared at the person who spoke, who was one of the people who were not bound, and Xu Qing pointed at him for the officers and soldiers to arrest. When he saw the man kneeling in front of him, he asked, "Who are you?" Are you not convinced by what Ben Thorn said? ”

The man's eyes squinted, and he asked confidently: "Since ancient times, soup porridge has been eaten for nothing, and the rules have changed when you come here?!" ”

"Oh? You didn't dare to say bad rules when you ate sand porridge just now, but now you dare to say that you have to work? Xu Qing said with a scornful smile, and after speaking, he didn't give the man a chance to refute, and drank: "Left and right, take off his clothes, and serve the military stick!" ”

The man's clothes were stripped off, and his body was full of strong flesh and appeared, a little stronger than Xu Qing, and he looked like a little hungry, Xu Qing saw that everyone saw it clearly and said, "Huh? Dare to pretend to be hungry and deceive the official food......"

"Lord Thorn Shi, it's him, who told us to smash the soup kitchen!" A voice came from among those who had not yet loosened their ties. Xu Qing was furious when he heard this, pretending to be a hungry person is lazy, and being inserted by someone is being manipulated, which is still a little more reasonable. But now he is the one who instigates the troubles for fear that the world will not be chaotic, instructs others to make trouble, and lives in peace with himself, and his wolf-like heart is extremely ugly.

Regardless of whether the dog beats the owner or not, Xu Qing drank: "Push away, show the public!" The man's sorrowful and angry scolding stopped instantly, Xu Qinghu turned his eyes to look at these people, and said: "In the future, I will personally check the porridge, and if there are any greedy ink and rioters, they will all be beheaded." Again, work and eat grain, wait until the land is measured, and then divide the fields and households, if you want to eat for free, Cangzhou will not stay, please leave ......"

When Xu Qing said this, he looked at Shao Deng, but saw that he had a calm face, and his heart was full of words, what an old fox!

What made Xu Qing even more admired was that Shao Deng also said with great guilt: "The land of the lower officials is decadent, so it is like this, please assassinate the history and punish ......"

Could it be that this matter has nothing to do with the Shao family?