Enter the Room

On the one hand, Yuan Yunzhong sent people back to the capital to inquire about the news, and on the other hand, he sent people to discuss borrowing grain with wealthy households in Wanping, Daxing, and Fang counties.

The squires from the three counties were very generous and came to the temporary meeting hall at the foot of Shijing Mountain.

Lord Bai excused himself from feeling unwell and did not participate.

Yuan Yunzhong and Lord Xiang received these squires together.

Everyone exchanged greetings, and just as they were about to sit down in order, there was a burst of noise outside, and someone shouted loudly: "I would rather die than be exiled to Jiubian!"

"Jiubian is a thousand miles away. Rather than die on the way to Jiubian in exile, it is better to have a good meal and die at the foot of Shijing Mountain. After all, it is under the imperial city and has good feng shui. After death, you can be reincarnated in the capital city, where you can have enough food and clothing." warm!"

"We want to eat! We want to live!"

Although Mr. Xiang gave Yuan Yunzhong an idea that day in the veranda, Yuan Yunzhong felt that the situation was serious and did not decide to evacuate all 50,000 people to Jiubian hastily. Why did this news suddenly spread? Not only did he go out, causing a civil uprising, but it happened to be when Yuan Yunzhong was borrowing grain from the gentry of three counties.

Yuan Yunzhong looked slightly cold, while Master Xiang smiled and saluted everyone in the meeting hall, saying: "Excuse me, let me go see what's going on outside?"

"Since you have chosen this time to cause trouble, you will definitely not stop until you see me." Yuan Yunzhong stopped Mr. Xiang and said with a stern expression, "Let's go out and have a look together!"

Lord Xiang frowned.

There are rules for being an official. Things that have not been decided by Shangfeng should not be talked about outside anyway.

He believed that neither he nor the people around him would do such a thing, but the news spread, and everyone in the veranda at the time was suspected.

What he wants to do most now is not to appease the refugees, but to find out the messenger.

But before that, he had to find a way to convince Yuan Yunzhong that he was not the one who caused the trouble.

He followed Yuan Yunzhong out of the meeting hall.

The meeting hall behind him suddenly felt like a pot was exploding, and the buzzing discussion of the squires could be heard.

Every squire in the county near the capital is keeping an eye on the court's movements. Yuan Yun Zhong Liang was not borrowed, which originally made many people suspect that Yuan Yun Zhong's move was not in the emperor's favor. If there is no way to appease these refugees, I am afraid that today's grain will be Hard to borrow.

The captains with swords drawn tightly pressed the ragged refugees to prevent them from breaking into the meeting hall, but the refugees who kept surrounding them made the captains' defense as fragile as a dike that was about to be washed away.

Lord Xiang has never seen such a scene before.

His face turned pale, and regret secretly welled up in his heart.

I feel that refugees are refugees, and in troubled times, with heavy laws, we should support Mr. Bai to eliminate them all.

Yuan Yunzhong asked the guards around him: "Have you found all Zhao Laowu's people?"

The guard said: "Seven people have been found, and there are still five people who have not been found."

It should be those people who are inciting the refugees to cause trouble.

Time is too tight, and going to the Twelve Guards to handle affairs is quite bureaucratic. Today's situation is not unusual.

Yuan Yunzhong was thinking about whether to impeach the Governor-General of the Fifth Army. Some refugees broke through the captain's defense and cried: "Master Qingtian, please save our child. The child has not been touched by water for three days!"

The school captain hurriedly drove him into the crowd. But someone in the crowd began to cry: "Master Qingtian, please show mercy and give us a bowl of porridge!"

"What's going on?!" Yuan Yunzhong's face darkened, anger flashing between his brows.

The magistrate of Wanping County died in the line of duty. In the past few days, he has asked Bo, the head of Wanping County, to act on his behalf, and led the government officials to set up porridge sheds everywhere.

It's definitely not enough to eat, but it can keep you alive.

A captain hesitated and said: "There is not enough food, so sometimes we can only drink rice soup."

Even the rice soup was watered down.

Yuan Yunzhong's eyebrows were raised, like a sword unsheathed, and he loudly said to the commotion of the refugees: "I was sent by the emperor to appease you. The court has been giving porridge, and I don't know what happened. Don't Be anxious and tell them one by one.”

The crowd immediately calmed down.

Yuan Yunzhong said loudly: "Where is Wanping County Lord Bo?"

Immediately an official stood up.

Yuan Yunzhong said to the refugees: "If you have something to do, just talk to the boss, Mr. Bo, and line up one by one. Let's write it down first and deal with it according to priority."

Immediately a group of refugees flocked to Zhubo.

The master was so frightened that his voice trembled: "Do you listen to Master Yuan? Master Yuan said, come one by one."

It is up to the astute captain to maintain order.

The boss hurriedly sent a government official to file the case, and asked the county government clerk to register the refugees' claims.

He ran to Yuan Yunzhong and said with a wry smile: "Sir, it's not that we didn't do anything, it's that we opened those two granaries, and there was no food in the granaries at all."

Yuan Yunzhong was stunned.

Of course he knew that there were various bad habits in the officialdom, but he should have some scruples when he was close to the capital and under the emperor's feet.

The boss was helpless: "Both granaries have a shallow layer of old grain on the surface, and haystacks underneath. But nothing can be seen on the books. The ambassador in charge of the granaries has died in this refugee riot. , even if we want to find someone to ask, we can’t find out the reason.”

When he said this, his old face turned red: "I thought everyone was dead, and you sent people to the capital to adjust food. I can only last for one day at most. I can not only preserve the reputation of my two colleagues, but also fool this matter." past."

What he didn't expect was that when he saw that the food didn't come, he tried to raise some privately and cooked water porridge, and the refugees mutinied.

Yuan Yunzhong couldn't even get angry anymore.

He remembered his grandfather's words that non-Hanlin officials were not allowed to join the cabinet, and these cabinet elders who had been placed in the cabinet were afraid that they could not even recognize Quinoa.

His top priority is to solve the food problem.

He asked the Lord: "Is there still a way to raise food?"

The boss shook his head: "I borrowed everything I could."

Yuan Yunzhong thought for a moment and promised the refugees loudly: "Don't worry, everyone, the food from the imperial court will arrive early tomorrow morning."

The refugees cheered.

Master Xiang was worried: "If I can't get here..."

Yuan Yunzhong interrupted Master Xiang: "I will go to Beijing overnight."

That’s all it can do now!

Yuan Yunzhong said: "Then please ask Mr. Xiang to find out who spread the rumors about the veranda."

Mr. Xiang responded "Okay" repeatedly.

Even if the investigation is unclear, he can't escape his involvement.

Yuan Yunzhong returned to the meeting hall. Master Bai didn't know when he came. He was chatting happily with the squires from three counties. When he saw Yuan Yunzhong come in, he pretended to care about the younger generation and said: "Everything outside is... Is it taken care of?"

He also said to the squires: "Don't look at it, Lord Yuan is young, but he is senior. His cousin Wang Zi and I are in the same class. Wang Zi, you should know, Honglu Temple Minister, the youngest Xiao Jiuqing .”

Everyone praised those squires.

Yuan Yunzhong had no intention of getting entangled with this old fox, and said directly: "I want to go back to Beijing to face the saint, and I will leave this place to you, Lord Bai."

Everyone in the meeting hall was stunned.