Chapter 393 Public Sentiment
The man seemed to be in a dream, watching Wei Shao help him up. Overwhelmed with fear and trepidation, his knees buckled and he almost knelt down again.
Wei Shao reached out and helped the man up, feeling somewhat helpless. He shouldn't look scary, so how could he have frightened the people like this?
Seeing that Wei Shao hadn't done anything to him, and had even helped him up, the man straightened up with a sigh and said...
"Oh, oh, thank you, sir. I was just here to ask about the grain supply."
Wei Shao nodded: "It's true. There will be stalls set up at intersections in the city, east and west, and one person from each household can go and collect a bag of millet."
After saying that, seeing that the man had steadied himself, she let go of his hand: "There are still more than half of the people in the city who have not been notified. Please excuse me for a moment."
The man looked at Wei Shao with a somewhat dazed expression as he prepared to walk away, and instinctively felt that these people did not seem like bad people. What bad people would distribute grain to the common people?
Thinking of this, and seeing more and more people coming out, the man gritted his teeth and suddenly called out to Wei Shao: "Sir, calling like this is too slow. I can help you call the neighbors and villagers around here, and we can go together and it will be faster."
Wei Shao was taken aback. Looking at the man's sincere face, the man, seeing that Wei Shao was silent, thought that Wei Shao looked down on them, so he explained, "Yesterday the city gates were breached, and everyone was trembling at home. Even if you went, no one would dare to go out. We are all neighbors and relatives, so it might be more effective for us to knock on the door."
Wei Shao looked at the honest-looking man with a smile in his eyes, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you."
The man hurriedly gave Wei Shao a somewhat awkward bow.
"It's alright, it's alright, I'll go and inform everyone right away."
After saying that, he went home and, together with his wife, went to knock on the neighbors' doors. More and more doors and windows opened, and more and more people came out of their houses.
The news spread like wildfire, and the street gradually came alive. A dozen or so men stood together, and after informing the street, they walked towards Wei Shao and his group.
"Sir, we'll go with you to call the others."
Wei Shao nodded to the group of people, and together they walked towards other streets.
More and more people opened their doors. Hearing the shouts from Wei Shao and his men, they were suspicious, but seeing the group of happy-looking people behind Wei Shao, they slowly came out.
Lin Changning slept for less than two hours before being woken up by his personal guards outside.
"My lord, Lord Wei has already notified all the people in the city, and a small number of them have already started queuing at the tents. What do you think?"
Lin Changning yawned, fastened his sword back to his waist, grunted, and got out of bed. He hadn't expected Wei Shao to be so efficient.
After tidying his clothes slightly, Lin Changning went straight out the door. He hadn't gone far when he saw Li Mingxiu and Li Mingde walking out together. Presumably, when he called him earlier, he had called the two princes along with him.
Li Mingxiu nodded to Lin Changning: "Let's go. Once we've released the grain today and settled things in the city, we'll head back to Taiyuan."
After saying this, the three of them walked outside side by side. When they arrived at the grain distribution point on horseback, Lin Changning couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
Having just breached the city gates yesterday, he figured there wouldn't be many people coming to collect grain today. But when they arrived, they were surprised to find a large, bustling crowd, all queuing quietly and waiting for their share of the grain.
A commotion arose from the noise, and Wei Shao was surrounded by a group of people, squatting on the ground, looking quite happy.
Without knowing what to say, Wei Shao got up from the ground and jogged towards Lin Changning after seeing him.
"Sir, is it time to distribute the grain?"
Lin Changning dismounted and nodded to Wei Shao: "Hmm, are the people all so enthusiastic?"
Wei Shao scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "Sigh, we were quite enthusiastic, but I wonder if we distributed enough grain today?"
Lin Changning had checked the grain register last night: "There's enough. The old grain piled up in the government office is enough for the people to share. I didn't expect so many people to come today."
Having just captured the city yesterday, she thought there wouldn't be many people coming today, but she didn't expect the people to have such a good reputation for the King of Chu.
After Lin Changning finished speaking, she looked at Li Mingxiu. Li Mingxiu nodded to her and said, "Distribute the grain. It was our oversight today. We didn't expect so many people to come, and so early at that. Let's distribute it now. It's hot, so we don't want anyone to get heatstroke."
Lin Changning responded and watched as Wei Shao took out a silver ingot from his pocket: "Go to the pharmacy and buy some herbs to relieve the heat. Have our people boil them in a big pot right there. Judging from this, it will probably be noon by then. It will be very hot at noon. Prepare the boiled water for the people so they can drink some cool tea after receiving their food and avoid getting sick from the heat."
Wei Shao nodded, accepted the silver ingot, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Lin Changning, and then led a few people to quickly run towards the pharmacy.
Lin Changning, Li Mingde, and Li Mingxiu each went to a shed and distributed grain to the people with ladles.
Halfway through the distribution, an elderly man was suddenly pushed and shoved to the ground by several hungry young men in the line.
Lin Changning frowned, just about to go over and help the person up, when he saw Li Mingxiu drop the ladle and walk straight toward the old man.
After helping the elderly man, who was almost as thin as a stick, to his feet, Li Mingxiu glared at the young man who had pushed people and cut in line. The young man looked disheveled and wore coarse linen clothes. When he met Mingxiu's gaze, he shrank back and hid in the crowd.
Li Mingxiu softened his tone and asked the old man, "Are you alright, sir? Are you hurt anywhere?"
The old man's withered hand gripped Li Mingxiu's arm, and he hurriedly tried to stand up to apologize to Li Mingxiu, the stains on his body staining Li Mingxiu's clothes black.
Somewhat apprehensive, the old man was about to kneel before Li Mingxiu, but Li Mingxiu stopped him, looked him up and down, and then glanced at Li Changning.
"Changning, send it to this old man first."
Needless to say, Lin Changning had already prepared the food, and even secretly put a piece of silver in the food bag.
After handing it to the old man, the old man's eyes reddened slightly as he bowed deeply to Li Mingxiu: "Thank you, sir."
Lin Changning stuffed the bag in his hand into the old man's arms, and looking at the old man's sallow and emaciated face due to long-term malnutrition, he asked, "Grandpa, each household can receive one bag of rice. Where are the young people in your family? Why did you come here by yourself?"
A hint of despondency flashed in the old man's eyes. He cupped his hands towards Lin Changning and said, "My son served in the military two years ago and passed away last year. Now only my grandson and I are left at home. He caught a cold in the spring and is still sick. So this old man has come to take care of him."
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