books44 Chapter 110: Disaster Grain Stolen
Chapter 110: Disaster Grain Stolen
When I woke up, the sun was already shining brightly.
"Damn, I overslept. Judging from the sun, it's already at least ten in the morning. I'm so sleepy."
The weather is really good. If it continues to rain, it will undoubtedly increase the difficulty of disaster relief.
He ran out in a hurry and saw two guards standing at the door.
Seeing Liu Zhao coming out, he bowed slightly and said, "Your Highness, Lord Du has gone to the office. Would you like to go over there?"
"Of course I'll go!" Liu Zhao said, and ran out.
Two guards followed closely behind.
Not long after I walked out, I saw Ma Zhuang.
"Your Highness!" Ma Zhuang ran over.
Liu Yan must have been worried about his own safety, so he specially transferred Ma Zhuang here.
This is good, Ma Zhuang is still trustworthy.
Unexpectedly, Ma Zhuang whispered, "Your Highness, I have something important to report!"
"Important matter?" Liu Zhao was shocked.
"An assassin tried to kill the emperor last night!"
"What?" Liu Zhao couldn't help but cry out, "Is Father okay?"
"The Emperor is fine!"
Liu Zhao breathed a sigh of relief: "God bless you!"
If Liu Yan died, his position as crown prince would probably be over.
"Has the assassin been caught?"
"He was captured. He was a guard of the last emperor of the previous dynasty, Wei Hao. He was dissatisfied with Da Jing Dai Zhou, so he tried to assassinate him!"
"Damn it!" Liu Zhao cursed.
You are just a guard of the previous emperor. This country is not yours, and you actually come to assassinate the emperor.
You almost killed me.
After Liu Zhao finished speaking, he suddenly had an idea. This assassin was the guard of the last emperor of the previous dynasty. Was it really for this reason that he assassinated Liu Yan?
Could there be someone else behind the plot?
Especially those who covet the throne?
"Your Majesty is worried that someone might harm Your Highness, so he asked me to come and protect Your Highness!"
"Alright! As long as Father is safe, let's go to the office first!"
"Yes!" Ma Long followed Liu Zhao closely, and two guards followed behind.
Only Du Zheng and Liu Ji were in the office, and of course the other county magistrates did not need to be present today.
Just carry out disaster relief according to Du Zheng's arrangements.
Seeing Liu Zhao, Du Zheng stood up and saluted.
"Forget it! Why didn't you call me?" Liu Zhao sat down in his seat and looked at Liu Ji who was doing statistics.
"Your Highness, the money and grain from all the counties have arrived. We are currently organizing the transportation of grain to the various townships for distribution. Soldiers have also been dispatched along the way to escort them to ensure their safe arrival. Your Highness is soundly asleep, so I did not wake you up!"
Du Zheng explained.
"Is there anything else you would like to remind me, Your Highness?"
As the nominal boss, Du Zheng must of course put on an act.
"No need, Lord Du has a thorough plan, I am very relieved!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Du Zheng was not polite.
"Your Highness, since you have nothing to do for now, how about going to the county and taking a look at the distribution situation?"
"Okay! That's exactly what I meant."
It’s so tiring to keep saying “this palace” all the time, so let’s just say “I”!
"Let's go!" Du Zheng said, stood up, called Liu Zhao and walked out.
Yangcheng was the worst hit. After walking for a while, we arrived at the place where disaster relief grain was distributed: the Confucian Temple.
Yangcheng County Magistrate Jia Zhong is organizing the transportation of grain.
In addition to the county seat, there were as many as five townships affected by the disaster in Yangcheng. Almost all the cattle and ox carts found in the county seat were used to transport grain.
Bags of grain were pulled out of the warehouse and put onto the truck.
A middle-aged man who looked like a scholar was counting the items.
"Your Excellency, County Magistrate, Longtian Township has a population of 4,824, of which 4,611 are eligible for disaster relief. Each person will receive 50 catties of disaster relief grain and 100 copper coins, totaling 230,500 catties of grain and 461,110 copper coins. We have all of this ready. We need to deliver 10,000 catties of grain and 40,000 copper coins today. You may depart."
Jia Zhong was a small, thin man who walked over.
He patted the food and copper coins on the cart and said, "Thank you, Li Xiaolian. Go ahead!"
"Thank you, sir!" Li Xiaolian bowed and turned to leave.
Followed by dozens of soldiers, they set off escorting the food trucks.
Everything seems to be in order.
Liu Ji explained beside him: "There are not that many cows in the county. Even if we could find some, some of them might not be able to pull carts. We wouldn't be able to get that many carts together in a short time!"
"It would take several days to transport 10,000 kilograms of grain at a time!"
Liu Zhao said softly.
Just to transport these 10,000 kilograms of grain, about 20 ox carts were used, which was just for one township.
Moreover, some of the cows look very thin, and it is unknown how far they can pull.
"Yes, the village is far away and the mountain roads are rugged. In some places, we can only pull it halfway and then find someone to carry it. It's difficult!"
Liu Ji answered.
"There's no better solution right now! With all this food, as long as it's distributed properly, it can temporarily keep the victims from starving. We can figure out how to handle the rest later!"
Du Zheng added.
"Correct!"
Liu Zhao nodded.
It seems that it is really as people say, to get rich you must first build roads.
In this era, roads are blocked and information is scarce. Perhaps some villages may not even know which dynasty is the current one.
As long as the people are not hungry, they will not cause trouble or even rebel for a while.
The subsequent food was delivered in installments at different times, and the harm caused by the disaster was resolved.
As for how to renovate the river embankment and build roads in the next step, we have to wait until the situation eases.
What's more, infrastructure projects require money, and judging from the court's attitude, the treasury doesn't have much money.
Otherwise, Du Zheng would not have come here empty-handed to trap these county governors.
After looking for a while, they left and returned to the office.
It was lunchtime, and the kitchen prepared some simple dishes, which we ate in the lobby.
"Your Highness, would you like to return to the palace to rest? If anything happens, I will report it to you immediately!"
"Okay!" There was no problem with the distribution of disaster relief money and food, and Liu Zhao really wanted to take some time to ask Ma Zhuang alone about the process of assassinating Liu Yan.
Even if you don't say it out loud, you must have your own plan in your heart.
As soon as he finished speaking, a man rushed in from outside.
"Sir, I have something to report!"
Du Zheng frowned and said in a deep voice, "Speak!"
It looks like something bad is going to happen.
"Sir, just as Hedong County was about to transport grain out of the city today, the people stopped them. They claimed that the grain was life-saving food for the people in the county and that it was not allowed to be transported to the countryside!"
"What? Stop the grain transportation?" Du Zheng was obviously a little surprised.
"how many people?"
"It is estimated that there are about a thousand people, all of them old, weak, sick and disabled!"
"You troublemakers!" No matter how good-tempered Du Zheng was, he slammed the table angrily.
"Got it, just step aside first!"
Just as he finished speaking, another person rushed in. Before Du Zheng could ask, the person gasped and said, "Your Excellency, Gucheng County was transporting grain out of the city when they encountered bandits on the way. The grain was robbed, and most of the soldiers and officials who were escorting the grain were killed in the battle! The rest are nowhere to be found!"
"What?" Du Zheng stood up. "They even dared to steal the grain provided by the imperial court for disaster relief? How many bandits are there?"
The man immediately replied, "According to what the local people said, there are about several thousand people!"
"It's really a rebellion!" Du Zheng widened his eyes, but didn't know how to deal with it for a moment.
After a while, another spy came to report that the situation was roughly the same as the previous report.
Some were unable to leave the city, and some were robbed by bandits.
Liu Zhao frowned. He had planned everything, but he had never expected something like this to happen!
Is this human nature or moral decline?
How should Du Zheng deal with this?