As soon as the boiled porridge was brought out, and before it was placed on the shelf, the queue became chaotic, and everyone squeezed forward, holding wooden sticks in their hands -- this was the proof of receiving the porridge. The officers and men who maintained order brandished sticks and beat them indiscriminately, and the queue did not recover, but only added a group of ghosts and wolves.

Han Ruzi reined in his mount and stopped on the side of the road, looking at the chaotic scene outside the city gate.

Shang County is not big, not far from the capital, hurry up, most half a day to arrive, is the only way to go east to Hangu Pass, and many places, Shang County also has a large number of disaster victims, displaced people, once a day soup porridge, for many people is a life-threatening meal.

Dozens of entourages stopped behind the tired marquis, and Du Chuanyun said angrily: "What a group of government minions, I'll teach them a lesson." ”

Du Motian stretched out his horsewhip to stop his grandson, "Don't make trouble, you hit the official and ran away, what should these people do?" Will you come to soup kitchens every day from now on? ”

Du Chuanyun was speechless, but he couldn't see the old and weak women and children being bullied, so he had to say to the front: "Tired Hou, let's go, what are you doing here?" ”

"Hmm." Han Ruzi didn't move.

The people outside the city gate had already seen this team of people and horses, and knew that they were powerful people from the capital, but they didn't recognize their identities, so the head of the tolerance was more cautious, and quietly ordered his subordinates to rein in, walked by themselves, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency is from the capital?" What's your business? ”

Han Ruzi pointed to the team leading the porridge, "How many victims are here?" How much rice do you need per day? ”

The head of the tolerance was stunned, unable to understand the details of the other party, and did not dare to offend, so he said blankly: "Disaster victims...... More than 500 people, need rice...... I don't know, I have to ask the county lord about this. Dare to ask what adults call it? I'll give you a briefing. ”

"Not necessarily." Han Ruzi slapped the horse into the city.

He came at the behest of the request.

Soon after Guo Cong's visit, Han Ruzi received a letter from the general Han Xing inviting him to meet in Shang County. Previously, Yang Feng had written several letters to the general in the name of the tired marquis, and this was the first time he had received a reply, which was a good sign.

Like Cui Taifu, Han Xing also played a small trick to meet the tired Hou outside of Gyeonggi, not counting returning to Beijing, the time he chose was also very delicate, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, and it was also the day when the champion Hou married his bride. Champion Hou was anxious to repair his relationship with Cui Taifu and advanced the date of marriage.

The streets of the county seat are lit up on both sides, but there are not many pedestrians, so Han Ruzi came to the county government and sent someone to report.

The person who came out to greet the tired marquis was neither Han Xing nor the county magistrate of Shang County, but a county guard.

To the east of Shang County to Hangu Pass, all belong to Hongnong County, the county shou Zhuo Ruhe is a concubine, and his wife is the daughter of Emperor Wu, Emperor Huan and the sister of Princess Hengyang.

Zhuo Ruhe is about forty years old, with a white face and a slight beard, born in a scholarly family, Han Ruzi has heard of this person's name, and must have met in the Tai'an Palace, but he has no impression.

Zhuo Jun Shou was polite and personally welcomed the tired marquis into the back hall of the yamen, and the county magistrate was not qualified to show up, and he didn't want to participate in this kind of thing, so he worked as usual in the front lobby.

The two are not familiar with each other, so there are naturally more polite words, after drinking a cup of tea, and the servant refills the water, Han Ruzi said: "Zhuo Yuma came with the general?" ”

Zhuo Ruhe said with a smile: "This official inspects the disaster situation in various counties, and the general is on the way, and he will arrive soon." ”

Han Ruzi couldn't figure out Zhuo Ruhe's intentions, so he chatted: "I saw soup soup outside the city gate, there are more than 500 victims, not too many." ”

"Alas, this is only a small part, some go into the mountains for thieves, some go to other counties, some stay in the countryside, in the early winter there are the most chaotic people, there are seven or eight thousand people, moving around, begging for food, if you can't ask for it, you will rob, fortunately, the counties are properly guarded, and there is no big chaos."

"What natural disasters have happened to this county?"

"In terms of natural disasters, last year's rain was less than usual, but it was not particularly serious, but after autumn, there was rain, which ruined some harvests."

"In that case, why is there not enough food?"

Zhuo Ruhe smiled, seemed reluctant to answer, picked up the teacup and took a sip, and said, "Although natural disasters are weak, man-made disasters are continuous. ”

"What are the man-made disasters?" Han Ruzi is no longer chatting, and plans to ask for clarification.

"The year before last, the king of Qi was in turmoil, the imperial army was in turmoil, the world was in turmoil, Hongnong County was located in a key position, the army came and went, and the grain and grass were transported from here, and the place had to receive it, and it consumed a lot. Last year, the army went north to fight the Huns, and the whole country collected autumn grain to supply the frontier, and there was an earthquake in the middle, the people were exhausted, and the price of grain skyrocketed. ”

Han Ruzi still didn't understand, "There were wars almost every year during Emperor Wu's time, and I didn't hear that it had such a great impact on the people. ”

"Before Emperor Wu, only Emperor Lie was good at martial arts, the scale was not large, Cheng, An, and the three emperors all took recuperation as the top priority, and there were decades of savings available for use, Emperor Wu reigned for more than 40 years, and prepared for ten years before fighting with the Huns. Now that there is a sudden war, the preparation in advance is insufficient, and all localities have to increase their endowment. ”

"As far as I know, there is enough grain and grass in the warehouse, and there is also grain in the official warehouses of all counties and counties, so why don't you open a warehouse for disaster relief?"

Zhuo Ruhe smiled again, did not answer directly, but said: "Tired of the military affairs of the Governor Shenxiong, he also worried about grain and grass, right?" ”

"The lack of food and grass is even greater than the threat of the Huns."

"When the tired marquis collects grain and grass from the counties, do you want to be satisfied immediately, and the more you send, the better?"

"Of course."

"This is also the idea of the imperial court, under a paper order, which county prepares well and quickly, and the county guard and county order make meritorious service, and the preparation is late, or the amount is insufficient, it is a felony. Therefore, once it is expected that there will be a levy, all localities must prepare in advance to deal with unforeseen needs. ”

Han Ruzi finally understood, "First the King of Qi rebelled, and then the Huns invaded the border, everyone thought that this would be a war that lasted for several years, so they had to stock up on more grain to deal with the future collection of the imperial court." ”

"Exactly."

"The government forcibly requisitioned grain, so that the mob in various places made rebellion, and the imperial court sent troops to quell the chaos, and it was a war that did not know when it would end, so all localities had to hoard grain, and they did not dare to distribute grain in the warehouse, for fear that there would be no grain available next year and the year after."

Zhuo Ruhe nodded, "There is another point, the court is unstable, the chaos has been completed, the officials and the people have a heart of self-defense, everyone wants to reserve a little food for themselves, in this way, the price of food is more expensive, Da Chu seems to have food, and it seems that there is no food." ”

"The warehouse full of grain and grass is enough to supply the frontier army, why is the imperial court unwilling to use it, and has to let me levy it from the vicinity of Shenxiong Pass?"

Mancang is 300 miles away from Shenxiong Pass and does not belong to the scope of the governor of General Zhenbei, but Han Ruzi still asked for grain many times, but Mancang is only willing to supply a small amount of grain and grass every month according to the custom, which is not even as good as a small surrounding county.

"Mancang is the warehouse of the emperor, not the warehouse of the Great Chu, not the warehouse of the Chu army, not the warehouse of the people, only ...... When the Son of Heaven also feels hungry, he will use it. ”

"Without the people, there would be no Chu army, without the Chu army, there would be no Great Chu, and without Great Chu - where did the Son of Heaven come from?"

Zhuo Ruhe got up and bowed to the tired marquis, "The tired marquis is wise." ”

A servant came in, and Zhuo Ruhe said, "The general has arrived, please wait, I'll go to greet you." ”

Han Ruzi sat alone in the hall, still not understanding what Zhuo Ruhe wanted to say, at this time, he felt that he especially needed Yang Feng.

Yang Feng stayed in the Tired Marquis Mansion and did not follow.

Not long after, Han Xing came in, alone, without an entourage, and Zhuo Ruhe did not follow.

Han Xing is the elder of the clan, Han Ruzi got up to greet him, Han Xing said with a smile: "I didn't expect that Mayi City would be reunited in a small county ya, alas, for a whole year, my only correct decision was to let General Zhenbei go to guard the broken iron city and change someone, but I am afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

"If it weren't for the support of the general, I and thousands of Chu troops would have already buried their bones in the iron city."

Han Xing's appointment of General Zhenbei as the governor of the military affairs of Shattered Iron City, Shenxiong Pass and the surrounding ten counties was very important, without it, it would be even more difficult for Han Ruzi to serve the people.

Han Xing smiled and nodded, sat down on the chair, motioned for Han Ruzi to sit down as well, and then took out an official letter from his sleeve, put it on the table, and pushed it to Han Ruzi, "General Zhenbei should need this." ”

This is a dispatch order, ordering General Zhenbei to return to Beijing to report the military situation in the frontier to the military department and the metropolitan governor's office. The general Han Xing himself cannot return to Beijing for no reason, but he can send the generals under his command back to the capital.

Han Ruzi got up and thanked him, he really needed this paper order, otherwise, his identity in the capital would be a trouble after all, all because the palace refused to approve the chapter, so he was temporarily fine.

But this is not the real reason why Han Ruzi came here to meet the general, "The general has received the letter I wrote, right?" ”

Those letters were written by Yang Feng, Han Ruzi had read them, and they were also stamped with his own seal.

Han Xing nodded, "I'm really old, I can still encounter this kind of thing, the sons are vying for the throne - who came up with the idea?" ”

"It is said that it was some hopefuls who persuaded the Queen Mother."

"Alas, the world is unpredictable, just more than ten years ago, who dared to show a little concern for the throne, even if it was in private, even if it was just to ask the emperor if he was okay, it was possible to anger Emperor Wu and end up ruined, now it's good, the emperor is still in the palace, and the saying of 'fighting for the throne' can be spread everywhere in a grand manner, and no one thinks it's a big crime."

"Great Chu needs another 'Martial Emperor'."

Han Xing leaned over, "It's not Da Chu, it's the Han family, the heroine's dictatorship, the decline of the clan, it's only been a few years." After we die, what face will we have to see Taizu? ”

Han Xing has always been silent and silent in the court, and is known for his quiet inaction, but he actually said such a thing, Han Ruzi was very surprised, "The general opposes the princes competing for the throne?" ”

"It's okay to compete for the throne, but it can't be decided by a group of charlatans, the Queen Mother is really crazy."

"The Great General means ......"

Han Xing smiled, "The clan needs to be united, the champion Hou forgot his surname and relied on the minister, but there is still a tired marquis, and there is ...... Others, the Han clan is flourishing, even if only a small number of children work together, they can keep the Great Chu River. ”

Han Ruzi vaguely guessed something, this was not what he and Yang Feng expected.

Han Xing slapped his palms twice, and another person walked in from outside.

The King of the East China Sea smiled at Han Ruzi and said, "Brother, will you forgive me?" (To be continued.) )