When the "charity banquet" was held in Changxin Palace, Liu Rongzheng took Cao Shou, Wei Qing and others to visit the disaster in Chang'an City.

He didn't know that his initiative to donate 10,000 gold had already won the favor of the Empress Dowager Dou in one fell swoop.

Liu Rong stood on top of the city, only to see a steady stream of victims pouring towards Chang'an City.

Guanzhong has a population of more than one million, and only a few people can live in the city, and most of the people still live in the countryside outside the city.

In rural areas, the disaster is often more severe and receives the least relief.

The imperial court had limited food, so it could only give priority to the relief of the people in the city to avoid unrest.

So, in order to survive, people rushed to Chang'an City.

They know that only here can they get food and a chance to live.

In just a few days, Chang'an was already overcrowded.

Everywhere there were people in ragged clothes and with yellow faces and thin muscles.

The huge Chang'an City has become a city of purgatory.

。。。。。。

Liu Rong looked at the crowd of black oppression, and his mood was very heavy.

He'd never seen anything like it before.

In his previous life, he lived in a modern society with a high degree of material development.

Due to the promotion of high-yield crops, chemical fertilizers, and agricultural machinery, human beings have never been short of food to eat, and famine has become a historical term.

After crossing over, he directly became the prince of the dynasty and the ruling class located at the top of the pyramid.

Extravagant and rich every day, drunk with money, and have seen the suffering of the world.

Now, he was struck by the sudden sight of so many people living on the brink of starvation, dying.

Doesn't it mean that the time of Wenjing was a prosperous age? Isn't it said that the grain in the granary of Chang'an is often so abundant that it is rotten and inedible?

How can there still be so many victims?

Liu Rong was puzzled.

Wei Qing was born at the bottom of society and has a clear understanding of the cruelty of life.

He explained that although there was a lot of food in the imperial court, there was not much food in the hands of the common people.

In a year, it is very good that they can not go hungry for half a year, and the remaining half a year depends on all kinds of wild vegetables and bran.

Looking at Liu Rong's puzzled expression, Wei Qing continued to explain.

Between a family of five, at most, dozens of acres of land are cultivated.

Why so little?

Because it is only a few people who are able to plow the land with oxen. - Cattle are worth a lot of money, and raising cattle is also an expense, and it is destined that only a few people can have cattle at home.

Most families still rely on manpower to farm, and when manpower is poor, this limits the area of cultivation.

The grain yield of one acre of land can have two or three stones, which is already very good.

In a year when the rain is bad, one acre of land will be harvested into one stone of grain.

If it is a leased landlord's land, one stone of grain has to pay half a stone of rent.

In addition, you have to pay taxes to the imperial court.

Although the tax of the imperial court has been reduced year after year, and has now been reduced to thirty taxes, it is still a large burden.

After the cost of taxes and taxes, the people had less food left, so they starved all year round and could not eat enough.

Wei Qing said that when he was a child herding cattle in Pingyang County, he often starved, and it was only after he came to Pingyang Houfu that he was able to eat enough.

。。。。。。

Hearing this, Liu Rong nodded.

He is still too young, and he still overestimates the level of development of the productive forces of this era.

Wenjing is known as a prosperous era, but most people still can't eat enough, this is the reality.

The people had no food in their hands, and when they suddenly encountered a heavy snowfall, they were even hungry from the cold, so they naturally fell into a situation of death.

Liu Rong smiled bitterly and remembered a book he had read in his previous life called The Hungry Prosperous Age.

For thousands of years, even in the prosperous times, the people were hungry, let alone in other periods.

Liu Rong secretly made up his mind that when the disaster passed, he must make some agricultural inventions to improve the level of agricultural development in this era.

Let the people be well fed and warmly clothed, this is Liu Rong's vision in the future.

On this basis, it is then conquered outward.

Of course, that's all for later.

At least you have to become the crown prince before you can start executing.

There's a long way to go.

。。。。。。

"Let's go, let's go around the streets."

Liu Rong said.

Then he led the people down the city wall.

They walked the streets.

Everywhere there were victims, haggard, filthy and foul-smelling, like goblins.

When they see someone passing by, they rush up and beg for food, half begging and half snatching.

Once a person is extremely hungry, he can do it at any time in order to survive.

Even if you are obedient, you will become a robber.

Under the escort of Wei Qing and others, Liu Rong finally passed this section of the block.

Cao Shou scolded loudly.

His clothes were covered with dirty handprints, which had been left by the victims of the disaster.

The other people were in a similar situation, all of them were plundered and caressed by the victims.

Only Liu Rong was protected in the center, so he survived.

Liu Rong shook his head secretly, Chang'an, the dignified imperial capital, has it become a place outside the law?

Tens of thousands of disaster victims gathered, and if they are not done well and are instigated by people with good intentions, it is very likely to cause riots.

What are Dou Ying and Zhang Ou doing!

Actually, I really don't blame the two internal histories.

In the past, the administrative power of Chang'an City was just to deal with daily affairs.

Now, suddenly encountering a disaster, the workload has directly increased by a hundredfold or a thousandfold.

Even if the Inner History Mansion is full of iron men, if you don't eat, drink or sleep, you will definitely be too busy.

Fortunately, the two of them have already rescued Emperor Jing of Han.

Soon the troops of the Hosoyanagi battalion stationed outside the city will enter the city to help with some disaster relief and security work.

Raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use soldiers for a while.

Now there is no war to fight, and it just so happens that they can do something else, which is good.

Idle is idle anyway.

。。。。。。

Suddenly, the crowd began to surge.

The violent flow of people rushed into Liu Rong's team.

Cao Shou and Wei Qing hurriedly protected Liu Rong in the middle and moved closer to the side of the road, looking very nervous.

If Liu Rong has three longs and two shorts, they will die and it will be difficult to atone for their sins.

Cao Shou had already admonished Liu Rong many times, but he didn't want to take this responsibility.

"It's too chaotic on the street, Your Highness should go back to the palace."

"If His Royal Highness doesn't want to go back to the palace, it's better to go to the Xiaohou Mansion to relax."

"Xiaohou has recently accepted a new batch of dancers and learned a few tunes, why don't Your Highness go and play with them."

Cao Shou said ambiguously, like a pimp.

If it was usual, Liu Rongding would go to the Pingyang Marquis Mansion to search for it.

But now, the disaster is serious, how can he still have the heart to enjoy himself.

So, Liu Rong decisively rejected Cao Shou.

"Where are they going, why are they suddenly in chaos?" Liu Rong asked.

The guards around him replied: "It was said that there was a soup soup on Zhangtai Street, and the victims rushed to grab the porridge to drink, and they were afraid that it would be too late." ”

Liu Rong nodded.

Zhangtai Street is a main road in Chang'an City, which is extremely wide and has convenient transportation.

It is very appropriate for the porridge field to be opened here.

Liu Rong often travels to and from Zhangtai Street and is very familiar with this place.

There are many mansions, storefronts, and residences on the street, and it is a lively commercial street.

There are also many entertainment venues here, such as brothels, and Liu Rong has seen several of them when he passed by.

In later generations, there was an idiom called Walking Horse Zhangtai, which said this thing.

Brothels were legal in this day and age, and were more of a place for the middle class to consume.

The fees here are expensive, and ordinary people naturally do not go.

A high-ranking official like Liu Rong, most of whom have slaves and maids at home, naturally will not go.

In short, this is a very magical street in Dahan.

。。。。。。

"Let's go, go to Zhangtai."

Liu Rong commanded, and then headed towards Zhangtai Street.

Cao Shou and the others looked at each other and smiled bitterly, so they could only follow in a hurry.

The other princes are all playing happily in the palace, but Liu Rong is the only one who likes to go to the place where the victims gather to see the excitement.

They really can't understand Liu Rong's special fetish.

After a short time, the group came to Zhangtai Street.

Sure enough, the imperial court requisitioned a row of houses here and opened a porridge field.

More than a dozen columns of black smoke rushed straight into Xiao Han, obviously boiling porridge and rice.

There were dozens of cauldrons at the door of the house, all of which were already cooked rice, steaming hot and steaming.

In the cold wind of winter, like smoke and fog, constantly swinging.

The victims rushed forward in a hurry, and the scene was about to get out of control.

At this time, a pair of officers and soldiers rushed out, raised their whips, and whipped at the crowd.

It's rude, but it works.

Soon, order was restored to the victims, and they were roughly divided into several teams.

Their faces were full of anxiety, and they kept looking forward, for fear that if they were one step slower, they would not have anything to eat.

Although the crowd was still a little commotional, it was generally controllable.

Liu Rong watched from afar and sighed.

People, to this point, are no different from livestock.

They could not understand human speech, only whipping and verbal abuse.

。。。。。。

Just as Liu Rong wanted to leave, an officer and soldier came over with a middle-aged official in his arms.

It's actually Dou Ying.

Liu Rong was very surprised.

There have been a lot of things recently, I heard that Dou Ying is already busy and can't touch the ground? Why did he come here all of a sudden?

Immediately, he came to his senses.

Dou Ying has personally experienced the front line and came to inspect the situation of the porridge field.

Seeing Dou Ying, Liu Rong stopped.

He really had a few words and wanted to talk to Dou Ying.

Dou Ying first inspected the porridge field, and said something repeatedly in his mouth.

The people around him groveled, constantly recording something.

In this way, Dou Ying carefully inspected the front and back, and then left.

This porridge field is the first batch of porridge fields opened by Zuo Neishi.

There are still many porridge farms in preparation and will be opened one after another.

Even though things were very busy, Dou Ying still took the time to come to each porridge field to check it out in person.

You know, bullying in officialdom is all too common.

The water inside is so deep that no one knows what the people below will do.

Only after seeing it for himself in this way can he be reassured.

。。。。。。

Dou Ying finished his inspection and prepared to leave.

His face was ugly, and in just a few days, he seemed to be a few years older.

The dark circles in his eyes showed that he hadn't slept in days.

There are really too many things, and the cutting is still messy, and he doesn't dare to delay for a moment.

Disaster relief is no more than anything else, and the slightest mistake will starve many people to death.

He didn't dare to be careless.

Every time, I lie on the table to take a nap, replenish my energy, and then continue to devote myself to work.

After the division of the internal history into two, the geographical scope of his work was generally reduced, but the workload did not decrease in the slightest.

At the moment, all he was thinking about was food.

Yes, porridge farms have been opened, but the problem of food has not yet been solved.

Although, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty has allocated a part of the grain storage from Taicang to relieve the people.

However, compared to the huge number of victims, this amount of food is only a drop in the bucket.

It can last for four or five days at most.

It is impossible for all the grain in Taicang to be given to Dou Ying, after all, the palace and officials all have to eat the grain here.

Next, where to get food?

Dou Ying had a headache.

During the court discussion, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty handed over the work of borrowing grain from the wealthy merchants to Zhidu.

To say that it is to borrow grain, in essence, is to grab grain.

It's not an easy job.

It can be said that it is dirty and tiring work, and you can't get much benefit, and people will offend a lot.

Among the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, only Zhi was able to do this job.

This person is like the loyal dog of Emperor Han Jing, and Emperor Han Jing will bite whoever he asks.

The number of powerful people offended is innumerable.

For Zhidu, Dou Ying still admires it very much.

He asked himself, he definitely didn't have the ability and courage to dare to be the enemy of the nobles of Chang'an.

He prayed in his heart: "I hope Zhidu can get more food." ”

。。。。。。

Dou Ying sat in the carriage, closed his eyes and recuperated.

Only on the road was he able to take a break.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

"What's going on?" Dou Ying asked.

The stranger replied, "There is a man who claims to be His Highness Rong who has stopped the carriage and wants to see you. ”

Dou Ying looked out, and sure enough, it was Liu Rong.

was stunned for a moment, why did Liu Rong come here.

"Your Highness, Your Highness." Dou Ying hurriedly got out of the car and wanted to salute.

Liu Rong hugged Dou Ying, only to feel that the latter's arms were very light, as if they had no weight.

How many pounds has Dou Ying lost?

"Neishi, hard work." After Liu Rong finished speaking, he pulled Dou Ying into the car.

Seeing this, Dou Ying knew that Liu Rong had some secret things to say to herself.

He hesitated, but got into the car.

The carriages and horses pulled over, and the attendants surrounded them, so that not even a fly could fly in.

Of course, there are no flies at all this season.

"Your Highness Rong, why are you here?" Dou Ying was the first to ask.

He still has a lot of things to do, and he doesn't want to be here for too long.

What's more, he, an important minister in the court, met with a prince in private, and it was not good to spread the word.

If others don't say it, let's just say what Emperor Han Jing will think, he is a well-known cautious eye.

Liu Rong naturally knew what Dou Ying was afraid of.

He has always wanted to pull Dou Ying into his camp, but this person has always been unwilling to express his position.

He had clearly opposed the establishment of King Liang as the prince, all for the sake of the Han Dynasty.

At this moment, he has no intention of intervening in the dispute between the prince and the prince.

Even if Liu Rong had nothing to do to go to Dou Wan to play chess, Dou Ying always deliberately avoided it.

He's always on the lookout.