refugee

"Local officials are all required to go to the capital to report on their work at the end of the year. They should have all set off by now. I wonder if those county magistrates will panic when they see these people?"

Gu Yu racked her brains for a while before finally remembering a name.

The magistrate of Cheng County, Zhu Huxi, was given a thousand taels of silver. This man bought his position from Guan Yiyun.

This is a record from the ledger that Yu Zhu got from Guan Yiyun. She couldn't write it all down, only the first few pages.

Unfortunately, Sun Gu destroyed that ledger.

"My brother's memorial won't get submitted, will it? But how could these local officials, who have just arrived in the capital, know about the palace so quickly? Why not try to trick them and make them spit out some of what they've swallowed?"

"you mean?"

Gu Yu smiled slightly, "Now that the Five Cities Garrison is under my brother's jurisdiction, when they arrive at the city gate to hand over the tokens and official documents, we can just invite them here. Besides, having these county magistrates write a letter back to open the granaries and distribute grain is just their duty, and no one else can find fault with my brother."

The process of opening granaries and distributing grain is complicated, but these people, fearing for their lives, will probably act expediently in a hurry, at least the local refugees will suffer less and the number of refugees heading to Shengjing City will be reduced.

Gu Jin frowned, looking at Gu Yu with some surprise.

He rarely saw his younger sister, Gu Yu. To be honest, he didn't understand her, but he felt that his timid and cowardly sister seemed to have become a different person.

Maybe he's overthinking it. Ah Yu has grown up and gone through those things, so it's normal for her to change.

“Brother, if you don’t want these cakes, then I’ll take some back to eat on the way…” Seeing that he was deep in thought, Gu Yu didn’t bother him anymore. She just picked up a few cakes and wrapped them in a clean cloth.

She stepped out of Gu Jin's tent and saw a dark mass of refugees not far away, her expression inscrutable.

Most of the grain in Shengjing was allocated to Gu Jin as military rations. After deducting this portion, there would probably be little grain left over, and the merchants in Shengjing would definitely take the opportunity to raise prices.

Before Gu Yu reached the carriage, she suddenly felt the hem of her fur coat being tugged.

Looking down, she saw a small, dark face, and a child of about ten years old, whose gender was indistinguishable, reached out and grabbed her cloak.

"Sister... is there any food? My mother and I are so hungry, the porridge shed up ahead is out of food..." The child saw that she came out of the camp and looked so bright and beautiful, and his heart was filled with hope.

She followed the child's gaze and saw a woman who had become emaciated. The woman called weakly to her child, "Anan...come back..."

The child glanced at Gu Yu, who remained unmoved, and returned to the woman's side.

Gu Yu walked over, took off her fur cloak and covered the scantily clad woman with it. Under the cover of the cloak, she handed her a piece of cake wrapped in a handkerchief.

"Hide well, don't get caught..." she whispered, "Do me a favor."

"There's not much food left here. In seven days, the Emperor will leave the palace to go to the Temple of Heaven to worship his ancestors. You have a chance to survive if you can get into the city and appear before him... Tell this news to as many other people as possible."

"If anyone investigates, they mustn't be able to trace the source of this information. If it succeeds, I will take your child with me..."

Gu Yu glanced at the thin woman and said, "Auntie, I didn't bring any food. This cloak is the only thing that will keep you warm. If I come again, I will definitely bring you more food..."

Her eyes were filled with sorrow, her eyelashes drooped, and her gaze trembled.

"Well... cough cough... I'll wait for Miss to come next time..." The thin woman nodded, watching Gu Yu's figure gradually disappear into the cold wind in her thin cotton coat, and she had already made up her mind.

"Anan...cough cough...are you cold? Come here quickly." She lifted a corner of the black fur cloak and wrapped her daughter in it.

Although the frail girl felt very hungry, she felt a warmth in her heart as she hugged her mother.

Just then, her mother quietly handed her something warm, and she smelled a sweet fragrance.

"Mother!"

"Shh... hide inside... eat..." She looked at her daughter, whose mouth was bulging like a little squirrel, and smiled happily.

"Mother...you eat too." A-Nan only ate half, leaving the other half for her mother.

"Mother needs to eat later...it has to wait until evening...cough cough...otherwise they'll see and try to take it..."

"Mother, were those cakes given to us by that older sister? Why did she say there was no food?"

“Because if she says there’s food, those people will surround her and won’t let her leave.” The woman’s thin, bony hand touched A-Nan’s head. “Don’t worry… Mother won’t let you go hungry again… cough cough…”

For the first time, Ah Nan slept soundly and comfortably in her mother's arms, and even had a sweet dream.

*

Zhu Huxi had originally bought a carriage to come to the capital, but remembering that his county had suffered a disaster, he hurriedly sold the carriage when it was halfway there and traveled to the capital in a dusty and weary state.

His ancestors were merchants and the family had considerable wealth. His father hoped that he would study hard, pass the imperial examination, and become an official, but he was not well-educated and had no hope of passing the examination.

Hearing that someone in the capital was selling official positions, he hurriedly brought most of his family fortune to Shengjing and made many inquiries.

Just when he thought his career was hopeless, he encountered Lord Guan, who sold official positions.

That's like a fly and a rotten egg taking a liking to each other.

He had money and wanted an official position. With the help of his superiors, he paid a thousand taels of silver and finally secured a position as a seventh-rank county magistrate in a neighboring county.

Although the neighboring county was also poor, once he became an official, his power increased dramatically. He could take whatever disaster relief funds or money allocated from above were for dike and dam repairs.

And he absolutely had to take it, because the adults above had all taken it and there was still some left. If he didn't take it, wouldn't that show that he wasn't on the same page as the adults above and didn't know what was good for him?

So when he became the magistrate of Cheng County, he not only earned back the money he had spent to buy the official position, but also received a lot of benefits. Things like calligraphy and paintings, and antiques that he couldn't buy even with money before, he now had them all.

However, there is one downside: it has to be hidden.

When the provincial governor and the inspector arrive, one still has to maintain appearances and keep a low profile.

In this freezing weather, he walked for what seemed like dozens of miles before finally seeing the city gates of Shengjing.

He had just breathed a sigh of relief, because he still had to deliver gifts when he entered the city later. Every year, he would only dare to enter the capital if he brought enough silver notes.

When you're an official, you have two mouths to feed, one above and one below. Only when the mouth above is full can the mouth below get its share.

He dared not neglect to present the charcoal to these officials in the capital during the New Year.

"Sir, this is my official token and document. I am Zhu Huxi, the magistrate of Cheng County, here to report to the capital." He then slipped two taels of silver to each of the two guards at the city gate. "A small token of my sincerity, please accept it. You two gentlemen, take it and go have some drinks."

Zhu Hu was about to enter the city gate with a grin when he was stopped by the two men's spears. "Wait, are you the magistrate of Cheng County?"

They returned the silver to Zhu Huxi, who scratched his head, unable to understand what had happened. Why had the officials in the capital suddenly changed? Did they think he hadn't given them enough?

With a toothache, he pulled out a ten-tael silver note. "Gentlemen, has the price of wine in Shengjing gone up?"

“Our boss said we can’t accept money,” the two men said, exchanging a glance before refusing.

"But I didn't bring anything else with me besides money. Why don't you two gentlemen let me in first, and I'll go into the city to buy some things and then come back to offer them to you?"

The Great Sheng Dynasty forbade officials from bringing valuable gifts, such as gold and silver jewelry, into the capital to prevent bribery. However, those who wanted to bribe naturally had other methods, and extremely well-hidden silver notes were essential.

"No need for that, just stand there and wait a moment, our master wants to see you." With that, Zhu Huxi was pushed to a corner of the city gate by the two men.

Zhu Huxi's eyes and nose were running from the cold wind. He had felt warm while traveling, but now he was only left with the biting cold. He could only stomp his feet in place while hugging his bundle.

It was so strange that an adult wanted to see him. He thought about the disaster that had struck his county and wondered if it was because of this.

But the drought was a natural disaster; how could he stop it? He even left some relief funds to provide porridge to the people for a few days.

Compared to other counties, he was already a kind person, and he didn't feel that he had done anything wrong at all.

Zhu Huxi waited at the city gate until dark, and then he met several county magistrates. He casually asked them about the drought in their counties.

He was pushed and shoved by the two officers and walked another five miles until he saw a dark mass of tents with a banner bearing a large character "顾" (Gu).

There's only one family with the surname Gu in Shengjing City, right? Marquis Wu'an? He's just a minor local official, how did he get involved with the Gu family?

Zhu Huxi couldn't figure it out no matter what, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Anyway, he had connections above him, and his years of filial piety hadn't been for nothing.

The Gu family wouldn't kill him without knowing the facts, so he wasn't afraid at all when he entered the military camp.

Upon entering the commander's camp, Zhu Huxi only saw a cold and stern face. "This humble official greets Lord Gu?"

Of the five county magistrates, he only knew Zhang Wenshui, who was also from Xi'an Prefecture; he was not familiar with the others, such as Zhu Huxi.

However, despite knowing him, Zhang Wenping usually ignored him because he had obtained his official position through recommendation rather than through the imperial examination.

"Read this." A bright yellow workbook was thrown in front of them.

The five county magistrates looked at each other in bewilderment. Zhu Huxi only recognized half of the characters, but he could guess what they were writing.

After reading the entire question book, they were immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

“The higher-ups already know about this. The refugees are outside. Go out and take a look for yourselves, ask around. If you want to lessen your punishment, you might as well write a letter back and ask the county to prepare for disaster relief.” Yuan Jing looked at these people coldly, suppressing the anger in his heart.

The war in the north was already urgent, and now the young general was also bogged down in the refugee crisis, making him increasingly disgusted with these civil officials.

"If you can get these refugees to go back, that's fine. But if they still don't want to go back, you can just wait to lose your heads," Yuan Jing sneered. The five people kneeling down became more and more terrified as they listened.

"Yuan Jing, prepare paper and pens for them." Gu Jin's tone was authoritative, as if he wasn't discussing it with them, but rather that they had to do it.

These civil officials of Dasheng had never been treated like this before. Although they were at fault, they were still dissatisfied.

Zhang Shunyi, the magistrate of Ansai County in Yan'an Prefecture, was the first to object, "Lord Gu, although we were at fault regarding the refugees, our responsibility should be determined by the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate. Lord Gu, you're overstepping your bounds..."

"You..." Yuan Jing was so angry that he couldn't speak.

Gu Jin said calmly, "I am currently in charge of the Five Cities Garrison. In a few days, it will be the day when the Emperor leaves the palace to pay respects to his ancestors. If the refugees enter the city and offend the Emperor, I will at most be held responsible, but you will lose your heads."

Zhu Huxi's eyes darted around, and he feigned poverty, saying, "It's not that we're unwilling to open the granaries for disaster relief, it's just that we've run out of money. This humble official simply has no money left."

“Yes, yes, we can’t do anything without money,” Zhao Cheng, the magistrate of Fushi County, quickly chimed in.

"The silver issued by the imperial court is only so much that we can get our hands on it, and there's nothing we can do about it," said Zhang Wenshui, the magistrate of Yao County, with a worried expression.

"I wonder if Lord Gu would be willing to bestow some favors?" Wang Juren, the magistrate of Yijun County, had set his sights on the Gu family.

"Hmph!" Yuan Jing said angrily, "These refugees are being taken care of by the Gu family out of their own pockets, and you still want to take advantage of the Gu family."

"The supplies in the military camp are destined for the northern battlefield. They cannot be moved. If we miss the opportunity to fight, can you afford to take the blame?"

"No, no, we wouldn't dare," the five county magistrates shook their heads in unison.

"The five of you should write letters first, and I will send them to the respective counties by fast horses. You gentlemen should know that the number of refugees is now close to 10,000. If more come, I will not have enough manpower to guard them."

Gu Jin's tone was heavy, which terrified the county magistrates below him. They were afraid that if these refugees really went to the emperor to complain, not only would they lose their heads, but their entire families would also be ruined.

“There’s no place for five of you to stay in the military camp. You five should go outside and squeeze in with the refugees to see if your people are willing to take you in.”

Yuan Jing was so angry at these five incompetent officials that he wanted to draw his sword and kill them. He saw that they had finished writing the letter and wanted to send them away, but he had to wait for news from Shaanxi and could not let them go.

Gu Jin chimed in at the opportune moment, "The five gentlemen can stay here with me and await news. While you're at it, think about how to settle these people who have fled from your county."

On the day the emperor left the palace to worship his ancestors, the refugees outside the city rushed into the city as if their lives depended on it.

Yuan Jing looked at the refugees who he couldn't stop with a headache. He wondered if they had gained strength from eating porridge these past few days. The soldiers guarding the city couldn't stop them at all, nor did they dare to hurt anyone.

"If they get into the city, they can survive... Just pretend to stop them."

Gu Jin calmly looked at the thin, haggard, and poorly clothed refugees. "The war in the north is not over yet, so the Emperor will not punish me severely."

Although Yuan Jing heard his general say this, he still felt uneasy. "Young General, I just find it a bit strange. These refugees all come from the local areas. How did they know that today is the day the Emperor leaves the palace?"

"This is strange, but it has provided a way for refugees to survive."

At this moment, a subordinate rushed in to report, "Young General, something bad has happened! Those five county magistrates took advantage of the chaos and ran away together. They've probably gone to the capital."