Chapter 564 Help Them Again

But the biggest trouble now is that winter has also arrived in Kuncheng. People’s houses have been destroyed, and many properties and food are gone. If they encounter another cold winter, many people will probably freeze to death or starve to death.

"The food for disaster relief has been allocated, and cotton clothes, cotton, charcoal and other things have also been prepared. The climate there is better than in the capital, not as cold, but the people still need to survive this winter."

In this era, the main population was still small farmers, and many families were self-sufficient. Now they had no food at home, which was a great pressure on the court. The Chu State had already spent a lot of money from the treasury this year, and it was almost all gone.

"I'll let the Ministry of Industry and Su Yulun follow up on this matter."

Su Ying raised her eyebrows and glanced at Xiao Jin lightly. Everyone knows that the Minister of Works was a disciple of Duke Jingguo, and many of the left and right vice ministers under him were descendants of Duke Jingguo's family.

What Duke Jingguo is doing now is what Su Yulun did back then. Xiao Jin is now bringing the two groups together. Isn't this giving them a chance to compete with each other?

But it’s a good thing this way. With competitors watching them, they dare not make mistakes.

Seeing that the weather was getting colder, Su Ying asked the Ministry of Household Affairs to find a relatively flat hillside for her.

The Minister of Revenue dared not be negligent at all. In less than three days, he had selected a bunch of hillsides for Su Ying.

After Su Ying conducted field investigations, she selected two places.

"My lady, what is your plan for finding these slopes?"

Su Ying stepped on the muddy ground on the hillside and rubbed some mud in her hands.

"It's very useful."

The Minister of Revenue didn't know what the "great use" Su Ying was talking about, but he didn't dare to ask or say it.

A few days later, people passing by these hillsides would find that there were many more people digging holes with hoes and shovels.

These people were found by Su Ying from the parents of students in the Girls' Academy. Those girls' families were poor, so Su Ying gave them a hand and paid them to come and work, so that they could at least spend the winter without going hungry.

"My lady, what are you doing digging holes and cutting down trees?"

"Burning charcoal." Su Ying said, looking in the direction of the hillside.

Mother Zhao had mentioned before that the cotton production in Chu State was low this year. If there was a cold weather this year, many poor people would freeze to death or starve to death.

At that time, she wanted to burn some charcoal and sell it to poor people at the cheapest price, and indirectly teach them the skill of charcoal burning so that they could at least have something to eat in the future.

"Your Highness really cares about the people."

"I'm bored in the harem anyway, so it's good to go out and walk around."

The forests outside Beijing were very dense. Su Ying had them cut down trees in scattered areas so as not to completely cut down entire hills. In the spring of next year, she would let the people plant more saplings so that future generations could continue to enjoy the gifts of nature.

Su Ying looked at the people working hard on the hillside, and suddenly recalled the scene in the northern wilderness. At that time, everyone was full of hope for the future.

In fact, she prefers life in Tiankui City. It is simple and clear, without too much intrigue. After all, the people there have tried their best to survive, so why would they have so many other things to worry about?

Chu Yun would send her a letter every month to report on the situation in Tiankui City. Even though it was a formal report, Su Ying felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy.

"Your Majesty, it's noon. Let's go have lunch first." Zhou Qing walked over carrying a lunch box.

These days, Su Ying comes here every day and eats and drinks with the people at noon, without any special treatment.

"What's good for lunch today?"

Zhou chuckled and said, "Uncle He was worried that you wouldn't have a good meal, so he got up early in the morning and prepared a big pig. He also cooked pickled cabbage and pork for everyone. I could smell the fragrance from far away."

The supervising official on the hillside also rang the bell for lunch. When the bell rang, everyone ran down the mountain excitedly.

They couldn't help but be excited. Some of them had never eaten meat in decades of their lives. Now, they came here to work and not only did they get paid, but they also got meat in their lunch packages. This was something they couldn't even dream of!

The Ministry of Works built several simple wooden houses at the foot of the mountain to provide meals for the people.

Su Ying walked into the wooden house and sat at a table in the corner. Zhou Qing opened the lunch box and took out all the food inside.

"Hurry up and eat it while it's hot, Madam. Uncle He said he would prepare your favorite hot pot for you when we go back tonight."

Eating a hot pot of meat in this weather is like being in heaven.

As soon as Su Ying picked up the bowl, many working people came over with their meals and sat down on other chairs.

Seeing Su Ying sitting on a chair in the corner, no one dared to go up and disturb her.

They knew that this was the Queen Mother, and they also knew that it was all thanks to the Queen Mother that they could eat meat and get paid.

What Su Ying did also made the people truly feel that the queen really cared about them, the grassroots people.

After all, the State of Chu had been founded for many years, but there had never been a queen who was willing to sit among the people and eat and pick up dishes like the current queen.

Su Ying's behavior not only does not make the common people feel that she does not have the rules of a noble lady, but instead makes people feel that she is very close to the people.

After everyone had eaten, they sat in the house to rest for a while and then went back to work.

Su Ying and her friends were the only ones left in the dining room.

In fact, Su Ying had thought about improving the military strength of Chu before, but this matter was too big. Forcing things to happen was not necessarily a good thing. Since it was an era of cold weapons, let it adapt to the self-development of the entire era. Some things would definitely be there when they were supposed to be.

Even Xiao Jin couldn't fully guarantee that he wouldn't send troops to other countries after possessing weapons of massive destruction, let alone others?

Nowadays, the people can have enough food and clothing, live and work in peace and contentment, which is the greatest blessing for this country.

In just a few days, the wood and earth pit for charcoal burning were ready.

There were more skilled charcoal-making craftsmen in the capital, and Su Ying found a group of craftsmen to teach the people the principles and processes of charcoal making.

"My queen, now that the charcoal is burned, won't those original craftsmen have no business?" Zhou Qing had been with Su Ying for a long time, so he spoke more boldly.

"I have already understood this. Even though it is just a small piece of charcoal, there are many more tricks involved than we imagined. There are many types of charcoal. These craftsmen teach the most basic ones. There is not much market for the worst charcoal. For people who make high-quality charcoal like Shaoyinsi charcoal, teaching them the basic skills will not have much impact."

Zhou Qing suddenly realized, thinking that the queen had thought it through thoroughly.

(End of this chapter)