Cowardly Stepmother Dressed As the Hero

On the other side, refused to Rong Inner City.

Not long after the messenger from Cannes sat down, Cao Mi, who had changed into his attire as a visitor, came out with Dong Li.

The messenger hurriedly bowed to Cao Mi and said respectfully, "Princess."

Cao Mi asked him to get up and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong over there in Kangcheng?"

"Ah, that's not the case." The messenger replied with a relaxed expression, "It's not about Cannes."

He took out a letter from his arms: "This matter is a long story, the princess will know it after seeing it."

Cao Mi nodded, opened the letter and read it quickly, then sneered: "Just five hundred stone grains? And it wasn't delivered until last month?"

She put the envelope upside down on the coffee table: "If Liaozhou really counted on the rescue of the imperial court, I'm afraid I don't know how many people will die now."

It turned out that what the letter said was the court's relief for the drought in northwestern Liaozhou.

Last year, after Qi You noticed the drought in Liaozhou, he sent a letter to the imperial court, requesting the imperial court to reduce or exempt taxes from the disaster-stricken areas in northwestern Liaozhou, and to send food relief.

But in fact, King Bei'an, who already knew the efficiency of the court, did not dare to really count on the actions of the court. After sending the letter of distress, Qi You organized the rescue by himself and mobilized resources from the southeast of Liaozhou, which was not seriously affected by the disaster. , sent to the northwest.

Because in recent years, the entire Liaozhou bureaucracy has long been docile and obedient by his iron-blooded means, and because of Cao Mi's warning, Liaozhou has been prepared for a long time, and the loss is not big.

After Qi You mobilized manpower and food, the disaster situation in the northwest quickly stabilized.

In this way, although the rain is still decreasing year by year, there is actually no turmoil in Liaozhou. Coupled with the sweet potatoes that have been sent by Cao Mi, even the number of refugees has not increased this year.

Seeing that everything was resolved, the relief from the imperial court was long overdue, and Cao Mi was not angry.

"According to the above statement...it's actually three thousand stones." Seeing Cao Mi's disbelief, the messenger explained two more sentences: "But the East and West Palace has already verified that the mixed stone sand and inedible things have been removed. Mildew rice... Indeed, I only managed to scrape together five hundred stones."

What the messenger didn't say is that this is still the case now that all Liaozhou officials have been rectified, and there is one less round of exploitation.

To change to the past, the imperial court sent three thousand shi of food to the victims, and the remaining two hundred shi would be almost the same.

After Cao Mi was angry, he calmed down.

"Well, I see." She nodded and asked the messenger again, "Shouldn't this kind of thing be sent to the officials in the northwest? How did it come to me?"

The messenger told the truth: "Because the princess and the Rongguang Villa in the name of the princess made great efforts in helping the northwest area before.

"After reading the news, the housekeeper asked the villain to come over and ask the princess's meaning, and see if this batch of food...is sent directly to the villa as compensation, or..."

As soon as he said this, Cao Mi understood: "No need, five hundred stone of grain... is not worth much."

She thought for a while and responded, "Well, let the housekeeper arrange for you to send things to the northwest area.

"Although the disaster has been brought under control, it is still not over. This batch of food was delivered, so that the local people can see the support and no longer need to worry about the shortage of food."

Hearing the words, the messenger sighed: "Princess is kind!"

He no longer delays: "The little man will go back and tell the housekeeper."

Cao Mi nodded: "Well, you can go by yourself. Be careful on the road."

The messenger bowed, then turned back and walked out.

It was just a trivial matter. Cao Mi handed the letter to Dong Li and put it away, so he no longer took it to heart.

She turned to ask: "I don't know what's going on with Rui'er. The little girl is very squeamish, facing her big brother, she is probably going to cry again."

Dong Li followed behind her and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Princess.

"The eldest son doesn't seem to like the little lady, but in fact, he is most concerned about the little lady's condition. Every time you and the second and third sons get together to tease the little lady, although the eldest son does not participate, he often asks the servant girl. Case.

"Look at the slave maid, the eldest son also loves the little lady very much."

"Is that so?" Cao Mi looked at her amusingly.

Immediately, she said to herself a little complicatedly: "Well...Is Rui'er raised to be sulky? It's strange, obviously Qi An and Qi Ran are very skinny..."

Dong Li didn't hear her words, only said: "Let's go and see it now, the eldest son must take good care of the little lady."

Cao Mi smiled and nodded: "Well, let's go quietly and see what they are doing!"

——

Compared with the dispensableness of Liaozhou, other areas of Shengchao have already had a lot of trouble because of the food relief.

Mengpu Village is located in Jinzhou, less than a hundred miles away from the most prosperous capital in the world. But the life of the people in the village is very different from that of the people living in Beijing.

In the drought last year, the crops in the fields did not grow well. The villagers did not say that there was no harvest, and the harvest was several percent less than in previous years.

After the autumn, the taxes are paid again, and everyone starts to tighten their belts to live.

Of course, this situation is not the only one in their village - the drought has affected a huge range, and almost all ordinary people are faced with a situation similar to theirs.

The news of requests for disaster relief and tax reduction spread layer by layer, and the people all waited for the government to allocate food.

When they survived the autumn and winter seasons with the only remaining food, and entered the spring and summer when the green and yellow were not connected, they finally waited for the long-awaited food relief from the imperial court.

As soon as the village chief of Mengpu Village heard the news, he hurriedly called a few young men in the village to go with him to bring food.

When the villagers heard that the food was coming, they couldn't contain their joy at all. No matter whether they were men, women or children, as long as they could walk, they all fell far behind them and came to the entrance of the village together.

But when the village chief came to the gate of the village to see, he was immediately dumbfounded.

"This... official, master, the little old man's eyes are dim, and he didn't understand what you just said." He stretched out his hand and pointed tremblingly at the ox cart in front of him, "You just said, how much food did you come this time?"

The official in the official uniform glanced at him, dipped his fingers with spittle, and turned the booklet in his hand to the previous page: "Old man, listen carefully. Here..."

He patted the ox cart next to him: "Two hundred shi of grain is the grain allocated by the imperial court for your Mengpu Village."

The drought this time was not particularly serious. According to the calculation that two stones of grain can save one person, these two hundred stones were enough to help Mengpu Village, which has only a hundred people.

But the premise is that the things sent are really two hundred stone.

"How much do you think this is?" Before the village chief of Mengpu Village could speak, a young man who followed him had already started a fire.

He stepped forward in two steps and patted the broken sack on the ox cart: "I don't need to weigh it to know, let alone two hundred, I'm afraid there are not even eighty stones here!"

Maybe it was because he was angry and his hand strength was out of control. The young man slapped the sack directly and broke a hole.

In an instant, the wheat in the sack burst out from the crack and scattered on the ground.

The village chief of Mengpu Village grabbed a handful from the cart and said sadly, "This... this is moldy grain that has been in storage for a few years! This, how can this be eaten?"

"Others can eat it, why can't you?" the official said impatiently: "Danshan and Anhong in the front have been taken smoothly, so why can't you Meng Pu?"

As he talked, he got angry again: "I love to take it, if I don't take it, I will transport it back to the dog!"

"Master, please wait a moment." The village chief of Mengpu Village quickly grabbed his sleeve and explained, "No, Master, please listen to the little old man."

He sighed: "Our village is really bad this year.

"Last month, the village was really out of food. The little old man made his own decision and took out all the food that was originally planted for emergency. Now the whole village is waiting for this batch of food to be rescued.

"Yes, but you don't have to give so little, this..."

He handed the blackened wheat in his hand to the official: "Look, this is all blackened old rice, but we can't grow any grain, sir, look at it, if we need more grain , or, change a few bags of new grains so that we can grow seeds!"

"I'm in charge of the sky and the earth, and I don't care if you, Meng Pu, don't have good seeds to go down to the earth?" The official pushed the old village chief away.

He patted the corner of his clothes with disgust when he was caught by the old village chief just now, for fear of being contaminated with any unclean things, and said, "Quick, unload the things, sir, I'm still rushing to the next village."

The old village chief couldn't collapse anymore. He ignored the support of the young man behind him and knelt down: "Master, I beg you, give me a little more, give me a little more!"

Seeing this, several young men from Meng Pu stood in place, bewildered, and seemed to have lost their ability to move.

The officials were impatient.

He kicked the old village chief with his toes: "Old man, let me tell you the truth, no amount is possible.

"You idiots don't know that when the drought broke out last year, an entire prefecture in Liaozhou, the hardest-hit state, requested 6,000 stone for food relief. Officials from all over the state did not complain.

"The disaster in Jinzhou is definitely not as serious as that in Liaozhou, and your village has lied about the disaster situation before, and it costs three hundred stone to open the mouth, which has already caused the adults to be blamed by the superior.

"Now that my lord disregards the past and is willing to let me deliver the things, you can have fun!

"Don't think too little. How many people don't die in this world? If you are really interested, you should go earlier to save your rations."

After saying this, he turned his chin to the young people behind the village chief: "Come on, if you delay any longer, I will take the people away."

The village chief of Mengpu Village seemed to have been hit hard, and he had collapsed to the ground and did not speak.

Several young people looked at each other in dismay, and it took all their strength to suppress the anger in their hearts.

The ox that pulled the moldy food barked a few times, as if it was arousing the soul. In the spring when the breeze was still a little cool, beads of sweat had already appeared on the foreheads of several young people.

The official turned his back and walked towards his mount, scribbling and drawing on the booklet.

The young man who jumped out to question the lack of food at the beginning suddenly had a rush of blood, and he quickly picked up a stone next to him and smashed it **** the back of his head.

Blood splattered all over his face.

Later historical records recorded the Meng Pu Rebellion that started at the end of the prosperous dynasty and almost broke into the imperial city. They only said that in the hot and dry afternoon at the beginning, all the 18 officials who delivered food died, but they did not mention how many ordinary people died. Piece.

The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel who irrigates the nutrient solution: 5 bottles of Zinc sharp;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!