Chapter 426 Famine

After Murong Jing left, Zhu Lan and the other person brought Hu Ping'an to Yuxiang Pavilion, and Wang Defa immediately arranged the best table of food.

Hu Ping'an looked at the table full of food without saying a word or picking up his chopsticks.

The food at the Ghost Market was simple, and Zhu Lan thought that he had not eaten such sumptuous dishes for a long time. He was about to persuade him to start eating, but he did not expect Hu Ping'an to suddenly slap the table and stand up, his face flushed.

"It's all because of you corrupt officials who take bribes and pervert the law, and eat lavishly every day.

These are all provided by us ordinary people to support you! You blood-sucking termites!

I, Hu Ping An, have a strong character and will not eat your food!"

"How can you be so ungrateful..." Zhu Qingyan said angrily.

Seeing his dramatic reaction, Zhu Lan felt a little embarrassed and had to ask Wang Defa to bring up some light porridge and side dishes.

“We chose this place just for safety reasons.

Since Brother Hu minds, then this way, these porridge and side dishes will only cost a dozen cents in total.

We won't invite you, and you don't have to invite us, just pay your share, okay?"

Hu Ping'an snorted coldly, took out a few copper coins from his arms and slapped them on the table, then began to eat voraciously.

Zhu Lan shook his head helplessly. He never expected that he had such a stubborn temper.

"Brother Hu, can you tell me what happened in your family now?"

Hu Ping'an wiped his mouth with his sleeve and was silent for a while before saying:

"I came from Qingzhou. The disaster there was severe and my whole family starved to death.

The government was afraid that the hungry people would escape and ruin their reputation, so they closed the city gates and prevented people from leaving.

Fortunately, I was a good swimmer and I found an opportunity to dive out along the river, and then I drifted all the way to the capital.

I wanted to seek an explanation for everyone, but when I came to the capital, I realized how big it is. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know where to file a complaint with the authorities.

Soon, I had almost spent all my money. I was so hungry that I stole someone else's chicken but was caught. Finally, I had no choice but to hide in the ghost market."

"Famine in Qingzhou?" Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan looked at each other, both feeling a little surprised.

Zhu Lan wondered, “A few months ago, I did hear that there was a severe drought in Qingzhou and Tongzhou, and the harvest was lost, but the court has already issued an order for disaster relief, and the emperor has also exempted Qingzhou and Tongzhou from taxes this year.

How could people still starve to death? "

"Yes!" Hu Ping'an's voice suddenly rose a few degrees, "We saw the grain truck entering the city, but the grain didn't reach us at all!"

"On the contrary, the rice shops controlled by local tyrants have reopened one by one, and a bushel of rice is selling for 500 coins!"

"Five hundred coins!?" Zhu Qingyan gasped in shock, "Isn't this robbery?"

"It's not just our Qingzhou, the situation in Tongzhou should be similar." Hu Ping'an sighed heavily and said.

“It would be fine if they just sold rice at a high price. After all, people have to spend money to survive, at least they can still buy it.

But in the past few months, for some reason, even the rice shops seemed to be out of rice, and people couldn’t buy rice, so they started dying in large numbers…”

"How could this happen?" Zhu Lan frowned.

“The disaster relief food distributed by the imperial court last time should be enough for you to last until next autumn harvest.

How long has it been? Even if the government colluded with the local tyrants, the rice couldn't have been sold out so quickly."

"You don't know, our biggest squire is called Shen Wanxiong, his family sells wine, and he is close to those high-ranking officials, so naturally they have no shortage of food or clothing.

We all suspect that he bought all the grain to make wine!"

Zhu Qingyan was filled with righteous indignation when he heard this, and slammed the table heavily, "How unreasonable! Zhu Lan, you, the Censorate, can't just ignore this matter!"

Zhu Lan nodded, also feeling indignant.

She said to Tiger Ping An:

"You stay here first. I need to learn about the situation in Qingtong Prefecture first.

If the situation is as critical as you say, I will definitely not sit idly by and do nothing."

"Wait..." Hu Ping'an's gaze suddenly stopped on Zhu Lan in a daze.

"You... your name is Zhu Lan? Could it be that you are the censor?"

"She is the Chief Censor, who is in charge of the Censors. She should be called Lord Chief Censor." Zhu Qingyan said, folding his arms.

Hu Ping'an suddenly became a little excited.

"So... So you are Lord Zhu! We heard of your great name in Qingzhou. We heard that you arrested many corrupt officials!

When my fellow villagers heard that I was going to find a way to come to the capital, some of them told me to come and find you! But when I got to the capital, I didn’t know where to find you…”

Hu Ping'an said as he was about to kneel down and kowtow to Zhu Lan.

Zhu Lan quickly helped him up.

"I was the one who offended you before, please don't take it to heart, the people of Qingtong and Tongzhou are counting on you!"

"Don't worry, if it is really the local officials who are at fault, then we at the Censorate have an obligation to investigate it to the end." Zhu Lan said to him solemnly.

Zhu Qingyan recalled for a moment, "I remember the person who was sent to provide disaster relief last time was Lord Lu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, right? Should we go and ask him about the situation first?"

Zhu Lan exchanged glances with her.

"That's exactly what I meant."

…

After leaving Yuxiang Pavilion, the two went straight to the residence of the Minister of Revenue.

Zhu Lan often heard Xiao Wan mention Minister Lu of the Ministry of Revenue.

He is not a person of outstanding ability, but he is not a corrupt person either.

Therefore, when Zhu Lan met Minister Lu, he did not beat around the bush and quickly asked about the last time Minister Lu transported relief supplies.

Minister Lu recalled and told Zhu Lan that he had delivered the relief grain to Qingzhou and Tongzhou intact last time, but Qingzhou and Tongzhou were vast and the people were scattered, so it would take a lot of time to distribute the grain.

As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he was very busy with official duties and could not stay in the disaster area for several months. Lu Feng, the magistrate of Qingzhou, was his relative, and Minister Lu was trustworthy.

So he personally supervised the construction of porridge stalls in several important towns, arranged the aftermath with local officials, and then returned to the capital.

Upon hearing that the food shortage in these two places had not yet been resolved and that people had starved to death, Minister Lu was also shocked.

Zhu Lan was silent for a moment, then said to Minister Lu:

"Sir Lu, could you please check the Ministry of Revenue files to see how the people in Qingzhou and Tongzhou have been interacting with the capital in the past six months?"

"Okay, I'll send someone to get it."

Minister Lu immediately gave the order and the files were brought back soon.

After checking, it was found that the number of people from Qingtong and other states entering the capital in the past six months was obviously much less than before.

Zhu Lan closed the file with a serious expression.

"Qingzhou and Tongzhou are very far away from the capital. It seems that something has really happened."

After leaving the Minister's Mansion, Zhu Qingyan asked her what she was going to do next.

Zhu Lan said:

"Now that I have found the Nine-Curved Pearl, I will return to the palace to report. I will take this opportunity to tell His Majesty about the affairs of Qingzhou and Tongzhou.

Human lives are at stake, and this matter cannot be delayed any longer."

"What if His Majesty sends you to Qingzhou?"

"The Censorate is responsible for the officials' failure to do their job, and it is my responsibility to go."

"Alas." Zhu Qingyan looked up at the sky, "It seems that I have no choice but to sacrifice my life to accompany you."

Zhu Lan looked at her and said:

“If you really send me, Your Majesty will definitely arrange for someone to protect my safety.

You have a lot of things to do in the Hanlin Academy, so you don't have to go with me."

Zhu Qingyan played with a strand of hair on his shoulder and hummed softly:

"It's not that I want to go with you, but you have to take me with you when you go to Qingzhou this time."

"Why?" Zhu Lan said this and suddenly remembered something.

"Minister Lu just mentioned the relative who served as the magistrate of Qingzhou..."

Lu Yiner, the daughter of Lu Feng, the current Tongpan of Qingzhou, was Zhu Qingyan's roommate at Longchang Academy. The two had a very good relationship.

With this relationship, many things become easier.