Several fat men, carrying long iron spoons in their hands, kept beating on the gongs on the side.

The gong made a loud sound.

Around the men, there was a circle of earthen stoves with large cauldrons on top of them. The huge grass shed is bright on all sides, and the smoke and fire gas drill through from under the grass shed and emerge from the roof of the grass shed.

Sheds like this can be faintly seen standing at intervals along the entire long stretch of water.

The movement under the shed is getting bigger and denser.

Zhu Yunxi and the others, who had been standing in the shed for a long distance, saw that the people who were still cleaning up the silt and debris in the river had slowly put down their work after hearing the sound and gathered towards the location of the shed.

It's just a blink of an eye, Zhu Yunxi and the others, who originally wanted to take a look under the shed, were already crowded with people in front of them, and the crowd surrounded the entire shed tightly, which can be described as impermeable and watery.

A large iron pot with its mouth set on an earthen stove was lifted, and a cloud of white water vapor wafted from the pot.

The aroma of rice fills the entire river in an instant.

In the rich aroma of rice, there is also a faint smell of meat.

Around the shed, the first people to take over the rice and meat were already bursting with exclamations and joy.

In this way, the people who have not yet received the food in the future are even more eager and hungry.

Gao Guang looked at this scene with a rare smile on his face.

He bowed sideways to Zhu Yunxi, who was at the front of the line, and bowed his hand and whispered, "Your Highness, I want to come here to follow the will of the imperial court in Kaifeng Prefecture, and to pay for relief with work, and to levy the people to work."

As he spoke, his nose twitched twice, sniffing the aroma of rice wafting in the air.

He added, "There's a lot of meat, it's delicious, and there's plenty of salt."

The accompanying officials also had satisfied smiles on their faces.

The imperial court set a policy of cash-for-work, and the specific implementation of the six prefectures was carried out by these people.

Here in Zhongmu County, there are also several accompanying officials, who have settled in early in the morning.

Just when everyone wanted to let the guards around the brocade guards clear a way, so that the imperial grandson could look more closely.

Pei Benzhi, the county magistrate of Chenliu County, who was walking on the other side of the imperial grandson, snorted coldly with an unkind face.

His voice was not concealed in the slightest, and when everyone was proud and happy that the imperial court policy could appear in front of them, it was like a basin of cold water.

Gao Guang's face changed slightly, and his eyes looked at Pei Benzhi, who was gloomy on the other side, with a puzzled look.

"What is Pei County's opinion?"

Gao Guang waved his hand and made a gesture of asking for advice towards Pei Benzhi.

Zhu Gaochi sighed lightly on the side, looked at Zhu Yunxi who turned his head with a strange face, and opened his mouth silently.

Zhu Yunxi smiled and said softly, "Since you have something to say, then just say it, you can never help talking here."

[Stable operation for many years, comparable to the old version of the book-chasing artifact, old bookworms are using.]

Gao Guang exclaimed, "How is that possible!"

Pei Benzhi snorted coldly, "How is it impossible?"

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly stagnated, and everyone was quiet and did not say a word, only Pei Benzhi and Gao Guang were each breathing heavily because of dissatisfaction.

Zhu Yunxi's eyes were looking ahead, and he suddenly waved his hand.

The Jinyi guards on the left and right of the team immediately stepped forward with knives and stopped several Zhongmu County errand officers and Minfu leaders who were about to rush over to supervise the work on the river here.

Gao Guang still thinks that the will of the imperial court, even if it is discounted, will be used on the people to some extent.

He said in a deep voice: "Pei Xianling, have you forgotten that this time we came with His Royal Highness, and there were also people from Jinyiwei who accompanied me, and after I entered Xuzhou Mansion, Jinyiwei's people were divided into two lines: light and dark. There is occasional deception, but it is not as Pei Xianling said."

Pei Benzhi sneered: "Jinyiwei's secret agent? Did Director Gao forget what happened to him in Kaifeng Mansion before?"

As soon as Pei Benzhi's words came out, not only was he higher than the light, but even among the accompanying officials, there were a few people whose faces suddenly became ugly.

A few days ago, Gao Guang and others were dressed up strongly, and secretly went to Kaifeng Mansion from Lanyang County, with the intention of quietly entering the city, and then secretly inquiring about the situation in Kaifeng Mansion.

It's just that the result, everyone knows.

Gao Guang and they had not yet entered Kaifeng Mansion City, and their identities were exposed by the Kaifeng Mansion Judge Fang Guxin and others at that time.

In the end, Gao Guang and others were stared at the Kaifeng Mansion, and they never had the opportunity to investigate the situation in Kaifeng Mansion until last night, when the emperor's grandson entered the city, the high-rise buildings in Kaifeng Mansion caught fire, and the officials of the two divisions of Henan Province and the Yamen of the Kaifeng Prefecture were all arrested.

Pei Benzhi's words undoubtedly slapped Gao Guang and the others in the face.

Gao Guang snorted twice with a cold face, but for the time being, he didn't open his mouth to refute.

Pei Benzhi's tone was not good: "Since you entered the realm of Henan Dao, your every move has long been under the watchful eyes of those people. These people have been running Henan Province for decades, how can they be able to inquire about the details by a few Jinyi Wei spies?"

"When the people of the court come, they will know the news in advance, and then they will come up with the disguise of today. The people of Jinyi Wei will only see that the local government is carrying out the requirements of the imperial court for work, giving porridge and rice to the people, so as not to make the people hungry."

….

"Just as soon as the people of the imperial court left, these official warehouses and the grain transferred by the imperial court were written off in the account books and put into the pockets of officials and local gentry."

"On weekdays, if you can see the food on this construction site, then there is a business coming, if there is a fast child in the porridge, then these people are afraid that the people will fall down with hunger and no one will do anything, so they will be more kind and not let the people fall down from hunger."

Write off the account, the left hand goes out and the right hand goes in.

In Pei Benzhi's words, the officials up and down Henan Road were almost completely criticized by him.

Gao Guang sighed for a long time, and finally stubbornly retorted: "It is the government and the local gentry who deceive the court and exploit them from top to bottom, are these people willing?

If this official is not mistaken, since the imperial court issued the decree to help the six governments, he has repeatedly revealed his identity and traveled to various places to spread the grace of the imperial court and lead the people to report the evil deeds of the government."

The officials under him quarreled, but Zhu Yunxi turned a deaf ear, and looked curiously at the people who had noticed the appearance of his people.

The people with meat and rice in their hands, regardless of the muddy water all over their bodies, held the bowl and the kuaizi, squatted in the dry place on the river, gulped the food, raised their heads from time to time while chewing, and looked at this side curiously.

The officials of the government and the stewards on the river who were stopped by the Jinyi guards did not dare to make the slightest change in the face of the knife in the hands of the emperor, so they could only stand outside with their hands and feet shrunk by An An.

Pei Benzhi faced a rhetorical question that was higher than the light, and couldn't help but let out a series of questions

The sneer, as if hearing a big joke.

"Tell the emperor from the imperial court?"

Pei Benzhi asked self-deprecatingly, and then his face sank: "Unless they don't want to continue living in this land, unless they can move their families out of Henan Province!"

Gao Guang and the others were stunned, and they didn't wait for them to ask.

Pei Benzhi had already spoken faintly: "Don't you really know that those people are in charge of local affairs? A village is a surname, a hundred families are a family, how many people have lived here for generations, everyone has relatives and hometowns, and the words of the old people of the village are more effective than the emperor's dictation!"

There is no excuse for any refutation of the above light.

is Fang Cai, and it was because of the dissatisfaction in his heart that he had a dispute with Pei Benzhi.

Originating from the countryside people, who is higher than the light, how can he not understand the existence of clans in the countryside.

Imperial power does not go to the countryside.

It's not a simple sentence, nor is it something that can be solved with a simple article.

Gao Guang was a little deflated, and turned around a little angrily, wanting to find the emperor's grandson and ask for a thorough investigation of Zhongmu County, and then a thorough investigation of the entire disaster-stricken prefecture and county in Henan Province.

Gao Guang reluctantly found that the imperial grandson was no longer in place.

Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Gaochi, under the escort of Zhu Shangbing and Tian Mai, had already walked to the people who were eating.

Zhu Yunxi squatted down with his robe, and an old man holding a rice bowl in front of him cautiously lowered his head and moved two steps back.

….

He and Chubby glanced at the bowl in the old man's hand, the white rice and pickles were steamed together, and the fat on the fat soaked the whole bowl of rice thoroughly.

The fragrance is very good, and the appetite is also very good.

Zhu Yunxi's eyes flickered, and he asked in a low voice, "Old man, how long have you been working here?"

The old man lowered his head, still stuffed rice in his mouth, hesitated for a moment and then said sullenly, "Since the disaster, we have been doing things here."

Zhu Gaochi took over and asked, "Is this a meal every day?"

The old man immediately nodded and said, "Yes! The old men of the county government have been here several times, and as long as the food here is almost finished, new food will be delivered, and we can't go hungry."

The errand and stewards who had been stopped by the brocade guards over there finally squeezed over.

"The little one is His Royal Highness."

"Your Highness, Hail Jin'an."

Zhu Yunxi glanced at the old man who had already begun to pick up the rest of the food in the bowl, his brows furrowed slightly, his arms rested on his knees, turned sideways, and looked up at the few errands and stewards who had squeezed in front of him.

"How do you know who Lone is?"

Several people were obviously stunned for a moment, and then they whispered, "The little ones dare to boldly guess the identity of His Highness only when they look at the knives of the officials."

Zhu Yunxi snorted, "You guys are sharp-eyed and shrewd."

Several people bent over and laughed, nodding their heads incessantly.

Zhu Yunxi slowly stood up, paying attention to the fact that as long as his eyes went, those people would bow their heads one after another.

His face was a little ambiguous, and he didn't care about the servants and stewards who had crowded over, and led the people to the bottom of the shed.

A man who looked like he should be a government official of Zhongmu County was blocked out by Zhu Shangbing, but he said with a smile on his face: "Your Highness, our construction site is mainly responsible for dredging, and these rivers and the Yanming Lake in front of them will be dredged and reconnected to the Yellow River, so as to prevent the fields from running out of water when they need water for a while."

"These sheds have two meals a day, morning and lunch, and no fire at night, but they also distribute some rice to the villagers, so that they can take home and cook a pot of porridge to drink."

Zhu Yunxi snorted twice, and had already walked into the shed.

Several cooks with long spoons in their hands and their heads held high were already cowering and huddled aside at this time.

Zhu Yunxi looked down

This circle of earthen stoves.

Then he turned to the servants and stewards, "What is the daily ration per person?" How long will it take? Did the houses suffer this time, and are they also being repaired?"

Hearing the emperor's grandson's inquiry, the servants and stewards were nervous and whispered to respond.

Zhu Gaochi saw Zhu Yunxi pull the attention of several people over.

He lowered his eyelids, silently moved his steps to the earthen stove, and stretched out his hand to wipe it on the earthen stove.

Then he turned his hand and lit up in front of him.

The fingers are the soil powder smeared from the earthen stove, which is very dry, and the fingers are not half greasy.

The answer is completely obvious.

These cooktops are only used frequently so that they do not allow grease stains to appear on the cooktops. And today must be the way these people knew their own and others' itinerary in advance, so they made a way to deal with it.

….

Zhu Gaochi's brows couldn't help frowning, and he raised his head and silently looked at Zhu Yunxi, who was surrounded by servants and stewards, but was already looking at himself.

He shook his head silently.

Zhu Yunxi's Tongkong shrank slightly, and sure enough, it was still as he expected. And Pei Benzhi also didn't say anything wrong, the nature of these people is like that, how could they ever change?

He coughed lightly, and looked at the servant and steward in front of him calmly, "Have you ever oppressed and mistreated the people?"

Several people shook their heads one after another.

"Your Highness, the little ones don't dare to treat the villagers harshly."

"It's all the old folks at the door of the house, if the little ones really do something hurtful, the door of the house will be smashed by the old folks in the middle of the night."

"That's something you wouldn't dare."

"Please also ask Your Highness to be clear."

Zhu Yunxi snorted, turned his head to look at the people outside the shed who had their heads bowed, but obviously had their ears pricked up.

He walked out of the shed, stood on a high ground, and shouted at the people, "Gu Nai is the grandson of the Ming Emperor. Lone's imperial grandfather is the current Majesty, and Lone's father is the current prince. Lone came to Henan Road and Kaifeng Mansion to take a good look at how the villagers are doing and what is happening under the disaster for His Majesty and the Prince."

"Folks, as long as you are unhappy in your hearts and someone oppresses you, you will tell Lone, and Lone will make the decision for you."

Zhu Yunxi's voice was very loud, echoing up and down the river.

However, among the people who lowered their heads, none of them raised their heads and spoke.

The officers and stewards kept searching back and forth in the crowd, and when they saw that no one looked up and spoke, the smile on their faces that had been hanging on their faces became even brighter.

Zhu Yunxi's heart gradually became heavy.

He looked at the people in front of him at this moment, and couldn't help but think of the people he saw on the embankment in Lanyang County that day, at the mouth of the Yellow River.

Numbness.

No.

The people here are not just numb, they are afraid.

Afraid of the ubiquitous clan power outside the court, in the countryside.

Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Gaochi glanced at each other, and a trace of disappointment flashed in their eyes.

"I'm lonely, so let's see it here today."

Zhu Yunxi couldn't help but speak faintly.

The servants and stewards immediately stepped forward and said with a pleasant face: "Your Highness, I want to come to Your Highness and all the officials, I haven't had dinner today, and there are many good people in Kaifeng Mansion in the East Lake not far away. Then the little ones waited for His Highness, and went over there to find a family to eat, and stayed and rested."

Zhu Yunxi looked at these people vigorously and did not speak.

Zhu Gaochi said coldly on the side: "Your Highness is not used to disturbing the people, everything you do now is military law, and everything you do is the same as the army."

As soon as Xiaopang finished speaking, Zhu Shangbing, who was behind, had already spoken loudly, beckoning the officers and soldiers to find a place to set up camp.

Seeing that the imperial grandson seemed to have the idea of staying here all the time, the servants and stewards did not dare to say more, but there was another burst of great courtesy

。

It wasn't until Zhu Shangbing was driven away with a knife and an indifferent face that he was done.

The officers and soldiers soon set up a temporary camp in a clearing not far from the river.

….

Around the camp, there are officers and soldiers guarding them, and they dare not approach when they are idle.

There were no outsiders around, and he sighed for a while, and his face was sad.

He looked at the silent people present, and turned his head to look at Pei Benzhi on the side. After thinking about it, Gao Guang bent down towards Pei Benzhi's arch hand.

Pei Benzhi couldn't dodge, and Gao Guang had already opened his mouth.

"Pei County's order, it was the official's speech that was wrong, lost his manners, and without verification, he didn't let go of the nonsense."

Pei Benzhi's face was tense, and he also bowed his hand in return: "The mind of the high master is good, and the lower officials understand it clearly."

Zhu Gaochi forgot how to understand the two of them at a glance, and he looked at Zhu Yunxi, who was sitting on the side with a gloomy face.

"I'm afraid it's hard for these people to speak. Since the local authorities can have such preparations as they have today, it means that they have been prepared for a long time, and if we want to find out on our own, I am afraid it will not be possible. Unless we don't follow the rules and condemn those people directly......

As soon as Zhu Gaochi finished speaking, Gao Guang's eyes immediately widened and he walked in front of Zhu Yunxi.

"Your Highness, what Yan Shizi said is true, and it is difficult to find out the evidence now. But dealing with the local clan gentry can no longer do what His Royal Highness did in Kaifeng City. Officialdom and the people, after all, are still different."

Zhu Yunxi's expression was very ugly.

He understands the truth above the light.

The people in the officialdom are bound by the laws of the court, and life and death are all up to the will. Even if there is no evidence, it should still be taken.

Otherwise, these people, the old man would not be able to clean up the court again and again.

As long as you are in the officialdom, then you have to admit that the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty is unprecedentedly strong at this moment.

But the place is different, these people are clans, gentry, but also the people of the Ming Dynasty.

If we don't understand it clearly, convicting and killing these people will cause panic among the people of the world.

Zhu Gaochi's face was also not good-looking, and he turned his head to look at Gao Guang: "Director Gao, can you do anything about the current situation?"

Gao Guang opened his mouth, but in the end he could only arch his hand.

Zhu Yunxi frowned, and his face became fierce: "Excited! Stir up the wrath in the hearts of the people! Let the people vent all the anger in their hearts!"

Shredded pork and rice noodles