The first county magistrate in history

Chapter 268 7 Days Limited

Su Xiaoman was shocked. "They know how much rice a head of barley can produce once it's ripe, and how much hunger it can alleviate. But Guanxi is hoarding grain and driving up prices. Is this the outcome they want, so the imperial court can provide disaster relief every year?"

Qin Zheng nodded: "Isn't it obvious?"

As he said this, he glanced at Xia Bitu, who was lying in their car again. He had a blank expression on his face and was pretending to be stupid.

Feeling Qin Zheng's gaze, Xia Bitu's face was instantly filled with shock. "What a cruel tactic! Although I expected them to manipulate grain prices and make the people suffer, I didn't expect it to be this hard! In this case, aren't the people's years of hard work in vain?"

Qin Zheng was too lazy to expose Xia Bitu's hypocrisy and said nothing.

Wu Xiaoyou said helplessly, "So, Guanxi suffers from famine every year, and the imperial court needs disaster relief every year. Not only do they hoard food, they also pocket the profits. This is a deception. They are not only hoarding food for the profit, but also taking the imperial relief grain for free."

Xia Bitu's face turned pale: "I, Xia Bitu, am not a good person, but I will never use the innocent lives of the people for personal gain!"

Qin Zheng was speechless and couldn't help but say, "Old fox, don't tell me you don't know the situation in Guanxi."

Su Xiaoman looked at Xia Bitu in surprise: "You are really good at pretending!"

Xia Bitu's old face turned red, he sighed and said, "Do you think the empress doesn't know?" Qin Zheng didn't say anything else.

Su Xiaoman was puzzled: "The Empress knows? Why is she still like this?"

Xia Bitu looked helpless: "Girl, this is Guanxi, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away!"

Su Xiaoman understood and was speechless.

Wu Xiaoyou was murderous: "So, King Liang Heng of the Western Territory deserves to die!"

Su Xiaoman also said angrily: "The local officials in Guanxi also deserve to die."

Suddenly he looked at Qin Zheng and said, "Sir, if you don't kill a few corrupt officials, I, Su Xiaoman, promise to make piglets for you every day!"

Qin Zheng shuddered...

After walking for a while, a village appeared in front of us.

The village is in a dilapidated state, and the mud and thatched houses have rotted and are crumbling over the years.

The villagers in the village were all women, old people and children. One of them was pale and thin, with a dull expression.

When the villagers saw a group of officials coming, they were so frightened that they turned pale and fled into their houses, closing the doors and windows.

Suddenly, someone saw the troops' flags and shouted, "It's the imperial envoy! The imperial envoy from the court has arrived!"

The villagers who had escaped came out again.

"We are saved!"

"My Lord, help!"

The villagers suddenly cheered and fell to their knees.

Su Xiaoman asked anxiously, "Sir, how much food should we give them?"

Qin Zheng: "Give them seven days' worth of food."

Xia Bitu and everyone else were stunned.

Xia Bitu wondered, "Just seven days?"

Others also don't understand.

Qin Zheng nodded: "Just seven days. Tell them to hide well. To the outside world, we can only say that we gave them a full meal!"

"Why?" Wu Xiaoyou was a little confused.

Qin Zheng: "If not, they will die faster!"

Wu Xiaoyou was thoughtful.

Su Xiaoman was really confused.

"Sir, why is this?" Su Xiaoman also asked.

Before Qin Zheng could say anything, Xia Bitu seemed to have figured out the key point and said, "With this little grain we have, how many villages like this can we support? And how many disaster victims can we help? If the countryside is like this, the city isn't much better. Our grain is just a drop in the bucket. It's only a temporary solution. If we want to solve the problem..."

Xia Bitu glanced at Qin Zheng and said, "If we want to cure the root cause, we have to treat it at its source! If we distribute this food along the way, the victims in other disaster areas will get the news and flock here, and Qinghe will be in chaos. If the bandits knew that the villagers had food, do you think the people in this village could survive?"

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "We can't rule out the possibility that the soldiers are disguised as bandits. This is the kind of situation Guanxi wants the people to suffer, and they want the imperial envoy to witness it firsthand. Only then will the court devote all its efforts to disaster relief. Only then can they benefit from it. How can we allow others to disrupt this situation? We can't leave people guarding every village, right? We don't have that many people!"

Su Xiaoman was anxious. Although she understood, she said, "Then just watch them starve to death?"

Xia Bitu glanced at Qin Zheng, whose face was as gloomy as water, and said, "We don't have enough food. What can we do? If the food crisis is not resolved for a day, more people will die. We can't save them all. Therefore, we can't delay our journey, nor can we change or postpone our plans. We can only temporarily help the victims we meet along the way. With this food, they can at least hold out for a few more days."

Su Xiaoman was anxious: "How long will it take?"

"Seven days as a limit?" Qin Zheng said domineeringly.

Xia Bitu's eyes narrowed and he thought, how is this possible?

Qin Zheng suddenly sighed: "But I can't save those who are suffering from hunger and disease."

Even if he mobilized the medical team from Hongtong County, so many victims would still be like a drop in the ocean.

Besides, would Guanxi allow him to do this?

At least not before the food problem is solved.

Everyone looked solemn.

Qin Zheng ordered the special forces to distribute food to the villagers and told them to hide it well and tell others what to do.

Wu Xiaoyou also specifically asked why there were no young men in the village.

The answer is that they all went to Qinghe Prefecture to make a living.

Along the way, Qin Zheng and others who passed by were in the same state.

Everyone felt heavy-hearted.

The team moves forward.

Along the way, you can see the bones of people who have starved to death on the roadside and in the wasteland.

The group was silent, each of them filled with anger and murderous intent.

Even Xia Bittu's face was as gloomy as water, and his eyes were cold.

Qinghezhou City is not as grand as Fenghua City, but its city walls are strong.

Outside the city, there were crowds of people, almost surrounding the city.

But the city gates were closed and no one was allowed to enter.

"so many people?"

In the distance, Wu Xiaoyou was shocked by the number of people he saw.

Su Xiaoman was surprised: "Among them, there are indeed mostly young and middle-aged people. I guess they are all here to make a living. But with so many people coming to the city to make a living, how can they grab a job?

Wu Xiaoyou said: "The city gates are closed, which explains everything."

"Qin Zheng, what should we do now?" Xia Bitu asked.

The fact that so many people gathered here is enough to show the severity of the disaster.

He really didn't have any good solutions.

Qin Zheng glanced at the tightly closed city gate and said, "Let's set up soup kitchens and grain stations outside the city and distribute grain for free."

Everyone was shocked.

Xia Bitu was shocked and said, "How can this little food we have be enough? And it's free?"

Wu Xiaoyou also thought it was impossible: "We have some banknotes, but we can't buy much food. The price of food is too high."

Qin Zheng smiled faintly: "We have plenty of food!"

Then he looked back.

Everyone didn't know why.

I looked back and was stunned.