Jeju, Cheongdam County.
County Magistrate Lu Guangzhi sat in the armchair in a daze, his face heavy with sorrow and full of despair.
Just now, he had just listened to the report from the yamen runner that another village under the jurisdiction of Qingtan County had been infected with the epidemic. Many people in the village had high fevers, and two children under the age of five had died last night.
This is not the first village in Qingtan County to suffer the disease. Two other villages were infected a few days ago. The county government's few medicinal materials and doctors have all been sent there.
He had finally gotten the situation under control, but then this incident happened again. Now he was really at a loss as to what to do and who to turn to!
"First, find some people in the county town to raise some food..."
"No, magistrate. We have several wealthy families in the city who have asked you for grain several times before. Last time, they said that they had no more grain left."
"Ordinary people have it even harder. Farmland has been destroyed, food prices have skyrocketed, and it's hard for them to even provide for themselves, let alone help others."
It was simply impossible to collect food in the city to support the villages that were affected by the epidemic and temporarily blocked.
But if we just seal off the village without providing food, wouldn't that just leave the villagers trapped inside to wait for death?
"How much grain do we have left in the county government? Let's give some away first..."
"No, magistrate!"
"Our stored food is only enough to last for half a month, and there are so many mouths to feed in the county government!"
"First, do as the county magistrate says." Lu Guangzhi said with difficulty: "The county magistrate will think of a way to transfer grain from other counties in the next two days."
The men retreated.
He was the only one left in the room, and Lu Guangzhi's face instantly fell.
Grain could not be transferred from other places. Now Jeju was guarded by troops sent by the imperial court. Not to mention the common people, even local officials like him were not allowed to leave. How could there be a chance to transfer grain from outside?
As for Jeju, every household has suffered and life is difficult everywhere. Where can he get food?
Just when Lu Guangzhi was frowning, the yamen runner who had just left came running back in a hurry.
"What's going on?" Lu Guangzhi frowned. "Could it be that County Magistrate Sun or Chief Secretary Liu disagree with releasing the grain?"
He should have thought that those two colleagues would not give in so easily!
Lu Guangzhong was still thinking about how to convince the two to agree, when he saw the yamen runners below shaking their heads vigorously and said excitedly: "No, County Magistrate, we are saved!"
"What?" Lu Guangzhi was stunned.
Then the yamen runner said, "Your Majesty, Prince You, bring people to Jeju to provide disaster relief and food!"
"What!" Lu Guangzhi slammed the table and stood up suddenly.
The excitement on his face was no less than that of the yamen runner in front of him.
Who would have thought that when the imperial court had given up, there would still be people willing to come here.
"King You...which King You?"
"King You of Tanzhou is the Crown Prince who requested to be deposed earlier!"
Lu Guangzhi suddenly realized what was going on and was deeply moved. "As expected, he is a prince raised by the late emperor himself. He has the character of the late emperor and cares about the people. If the one who succeeded to the throne was..."
Lu Guangzhi didn’t dare to say anything more.
But looking at the expressions on the faces of the other people in the county government, it was clear that they thought the same as he did.
…
In the capital, Emperor Xiaoming, at the suggestion of Lord Luo, raised relief grain from Concubine Ling and the homes of nobles, and sent people with grain and manpower to Ji and Ding states.
Qi Xu had stayed in Jeju for many days. The food he brought was delivered to the areas worst hit by the disaster, as well as to many places that were temporarily blocked due to the epidemic.
The amount of grain exposed to the court was only the amount on the surface.
In fact, the amount of grain Qi Xu brought was more than twice what the court knew. In addition to the grain raised from the three states of Tan, Qian and Yi and donated by aristocratic families, a large part of it came from the north.
Thanks to the bumper sweet potato harvest, Tianshu Pavilion has accumulated a considerable amount of grain reserves.
Thanks to this batch of food, the people of Jeju were able to catch their breath.
At the same time, Qi Xu had already secretly recruited more private soldiers in the three states of Tan, Qian, and Yi, as well as in the north, than the number that the court stipulated that a prince should have.
Otherwise, he would not dare to be so bold as to expose his whereabouts to Emperor Xiaoming.
As he expected, Emperor Xiaoming indeed sent people to Jeju to capture him.
However, Emperor Xiaoming would never have expected that Mr. Luo, who gave him advice, was actually the person left to him by his royal grandfather.
Judging from the time, the people sent by Emperor Xiaoming should arrive in Jeju soon.
It just so happened that the relief food he brought was running out, and although his "good father" came here under the guise of delivering food, he actually transported a batch of food over.
It can be considered a rare good thing done for the people who suffered in the disaster-stricken areas.
"Feng Ping, tomorrow you will personally lead people to take over the batch of grain shipped from the capital." Qi Xu ordered.
"Master, on your side..." Feng Ping looked at his master with some concern.
Although sufficient preparations have been made, the personnel sent by the court are also real, including two hundred people dispatched from the Shenshu Camp.
They are all good fighters who can fight three enemies at the same time on the battlefield.
"He really put a lot of effort into capturing me." Qi Xu had a sarcastic smile on his face.
His good father, the Emperor, did not do anything that would benefit the country and the people, but instead spent all his energy on guarding against him.
Who knows, if he can continue the will of his royal grandfather, defend the beautiful land of Dayong, ensure the people's life is safe and sound, and win the world and the hearts of the people, then why would he need to be on guard against others?
"Don't worry about me. Those people coming from the capital can't cause any trouble."
"Just bring your men to keep that batch of grain safe. With this batch of grain, the crisis in Ji and Ding states will be temporarily resolved."
Now the doctors he brought have brought under control the epidemic that broke out in Jeju a while ago. The number of people dying from the epidemic and hunger is decreasing every day. In some places that are not so severely affected, the people have begun to rebuild their homes with the help of the people he brought.
Everything is moving in a good direction.
Everyone saw Qi Xu's dedication to the people in the disaster-stricken areas.
When the troops sent by Emperor Xiaoming were about to arrive in Qingtan County where Qi Xu was, the county magistrate Lu Guangzhi was the first to find Qi Xu.
"Your Highness, something terrible has happened."
Lu Guangzhi deliberately changed into a servant's clothes and quietly entered the courtyard where Qi Xu was staying.
He lowered his voice and said anxiously: "A leader from the Shenshu Camp just came to ask me about your movements in the past few days. I heard that the capital sent 2,000 troops to Jizhou and Dingzhou. Now these 2,000 people have entered Jizhou. I'm afraid..."
Lu Guangzhi hesitated for a moment, and then thought of His Royal Highness King You and his contributions to the people.
He gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and continued, "I'm afraid it's not as simple as just escorting disaster relief grain."
"Your Highness, please leave quickly!"
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