When there was still some distance from Daming County, Qi King Meng Yeqi said to the people around him: "Let's change our identities together, after all, the situation there is very complicated, and we must take precautions in advance." Sure enough, before their army reached Daimyo, a group of people greeted them, and the person at the head said, "King Qi, everyone is here, I welcome you!" ”

The little servant beside Meng Yeqi, the king of Qi, said: "It turned out to be the political envoy, you have come all the way to welcome us." My master didn't sleep all night yesterday, and he was urgently sent here by the emperor today, so he is sleeping in the sedan chair, and it may not be convenient to see you. Seeing that the political envoy wanted to say something, the little guy approached the political envoy and whispered: "Lord the political envoy, at this time, I still pretend not to understand you to help you talk, don't you say?" ”

The political envoy's heart lit up, and he suddenly realized: "Understood, understood." Come, this way, please. ”

The eight-person sedan chair followed the political envoy into the official compound, but Meng Yeqian walked on the path alone. It was really a small road, and it was muddy, so he could only move slowly one foot deep and one foot shallow. Meng Yeqian looked at the crops at the edge of the field, and found that the crops here were green and good. He sighed, shook his head, and said to himself, "I don't understand, why do some people want to say that they have a drought here, even though they are growing so well." Could it be that this timely rain has worked? ”

After walking a few miles along the edge of the field, Meng Yeqi came across a small village. Just in time for lunch, smoke rose from every house. Qi Wang Meng Yeqi casually walked into a farmhouse, but saw that the family's dog was eating steamed buns. The best white steamed bun was gnawed by the dog like this. Meng Yeqi raised his eyebrows slightly, did not speak, continued to walk forward, and turned into a dilapidated house.

"Where are you going, we're coming to my house?" An old man with gray hair took a puff of dry smoke and asked slowly.

Qi King Meng Yeqian scratched the back of his head, and then said, "Uncle, I am a passer-by, and I am going to Handan." I'm feeling thirsty when I get here, so I want to ask you for a bowl of water. ”

"Okay, you wait." The old man readily agreed, and immediately picked up the gourd scoop and made an appointment with a large scoop of water for Qi Wang Meng Yeyan, and said with a smile: "Give, drink, drink more." ”

Qi King Meng Yeqi nodded, picked up the gourd scoop and poured it violently. After pouring half a scoop of water, he handed the gourd to the old man and said, "Old man, thank you." I'm still a long way to go, so I'll go first. As soon as he finished speaking, his stomach rumbled in disobedience, and he scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed, and wanted to leave quickly.

"I'm hungry, the more than ten miles leading here, but there is no store in front of the village, just right, my steamed buns are just ripe, since I have caught up, stay and eat one." The old man has a very good heart, and he still leaves Meng Yeqi to eat here.

Qi King Meng Yeqi originally wanted to refuse, but suddenly thought that maybe he could know something in this old man's mouth, so he agreed. The hot steamed bun came to his hand, and he only bared his teeth when it was hot, and then broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth, I have to say, it was really sweet. "Uncle, the steamed buns are good, they're so sweet."

"Yes, in recent years, the weather has been good, the wheat has grown well, the harvest is good, and the flour is delicious." Uncle said with a smile, a look of satisfaction.

Qi Wang Meng was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Uncle, I heard that our Daming County is a famine every year, why do you still say that the wind and rain are smooth, and the harvest is good." ”

"Famine? When was that? The old man also raised his head and thought for a while, and then said: "That was more than 20 years ago, and the famine at that time was really terrible, and every family went out to ask for food. At that time, I really ate everything. Tree bark, Guanyin soil, but if it can make people feel full, there is nothing not to eat. ”

Qi Wang Meng Yeqian stared at the uncle for a while, and looked at the uncle: "What's wrong with you kid, why are you staring at me, is there anything interesting on my face?" ”

"Uncle, are you mistaken, did you have a famine the year before last and last year?" Qi King Meng Yeqi asked again, he already vaguely knew what was going on in his heart.

The old man waved his hand, shook his head and said, "You really think I'm an old fool." Let me tell you, the uncle is a little older, but he is not confused. The year before and last year were good, and there was no famine at all. Where did you hear this, this man is also really fond of nonsense, and even cursed us people to cause famine. If the famine is a joke, I tell you, if there is a famine, there will probably be bloodshed among the peasants. People are iron and rice are steel, and they can't eat enough, can farmers have a good mood? ”

"Uncle, you're right, farmers must have enough to eat. Only when you have enough food can you have the mood and strength to work. Qi Wang Meng Yeqi said with a smile, clapped his hands and said, "Come on, thank you, uncle, thank you for your steamed buns, I am very happy to eat." I still have to hurry, so I'll go first. ”

The uncle nodded, and waved his hand to bid farewell to Meng Yeqi. Meng Yeqi continued to wander around the village, and asked a few more people, and they all said that the year was good, the wind and rain were smooth, and the dealer had a bumper harvest. As for the famine and drought, that was twenty years ago. Such a public opinion made the king of Qi, Meng Yeqi, have to suspect that this famous county political envoy has done a lot of good things.

The first thing he thought of was the grain allocated by the imperial court. Since there was no famine here, and the grain was not distributed to the peasants, where did it go? Qi Wang Meng Yeyan thought about it, and the first thing that came to mind was to close the position for a long time. He took advantage of the night to walk around, and took the emptiness of the barn, which was almost enough to starve a rat to death. Qi King Meng Yeqi felt a little surprised, even if the relief food was distributed to the victims, there should be something in the long closing position. The villagers here say they pay taxes every year. Now it is July, and it is the season to harvest the wheat, so how can there not be a grain of grain?

Qi King Meng Yeyan couldn't help but sigh, and said in his heart: "The water in here looks very deep, fortunately I have good water quality, otherwise I wouldn't have drowned." ”

Even so, the king of Qi, Meng Yeqi, did not dare to be careless, and he immediately wrote a letter and asked the officials in the capital to help him check the financial situation of Daming County.

The results are shocking, in the past three years, Daimyo County has asked the imperial court for disaster relief three times, and each time the relief grain has reached 10 billion catties, which is about one million taels of silver at the current market price.

Not only that, but the people of Daimyo Prefecture also repeatedly asked the imperial court for money to build bridges and roads. Their reason is very simple, that is, in order to avoid the major impact of the next drought, they want to change the scene of the water conservancy situation, and the people rely on the weather for food.

But the result was that the money was spent, the ditch was not seen, the people still relied on the sky for food, and they still asked the court for money every year.

Qi King Meng Yeyan thought, the imperial court will also send people down every year to verify the disaster, why didn't those people find anything, could it be that the people of this famous county and the people above joined forces to defraud the court of money? If that's the case, that's too bad.