Upon hearing this, Li Lao Er asked, "Did you come to the palace today for this matter, Lord Marquis?"
Jiayin was afraid that her adoptive father would lose his temper because of her, so she quickly said, "Adoptive father, don't be angry, I'm not scared! That little dark room is where hoes and shovels are stored by the garden, it's not scary at all. Besides, I only waited for half an hour before my royal uncle came to rescue me."
Lord Hou took a deep breath, not wanting this sensible chubby girl to worry, so he patted her on the back and said, "Your godfather knows what he's doing. Teaching the Wu family a lesson isn't just because you were bullied."
"The Wu family tried to plant people in the Marquis's mansion many times before, and they even pressured me to marry through the Empress. I shouldn't have tolerated that back then, which is why they've gone even further now!"
Li Lao Er advised with some concern, "My lord, the Wu family, after all, has the Empress backing them up..."
The Marquis shook his head and sneered, "Even if she had a prince by her side, let alone a childless empress, she should still treat Fu Niu'er with some courtesy for the sake of my military power. But this family of fools just jumped out and asked for a beating, so don't blame me for taking action against the Wu family!"
Having no other choice, and knowing he couldn't persuade him any further, Li Lao Er asked, "Then what does the Marquis intend to do?"
The Marquis replied, "Soon, the Emperor will issue an edict to conscript soldiers. They will not be recruited from the common people, but from the sons of powerful families and officials. Each family must have two members, and one of them must be a legitimate son."
Upon hearing this, Li Lao Er's eyes widened immediately. He had a feeling that this matter was going to cause a huge uproar and stir up the entire Xindu.
He hesitated before saying, "My lord, I'm afraid the powerful families and officials will object..."
The Marquis nodded and sneered, "Of course, they definitely won't agree. Their children and grandchildren are incredibly precious and certainly wouldn't want to be sent to Jiangbei to kill barbarians; they'd rather stay in Jiangnan and live a life of debauchery. But things in this world rarely go as planned. How can one enjoy wealth and honor without giving anything in return?"
"If they don't want to fight, then pay them! The people's children and grandchildren can go and kill the barbarians in their place, shed blood and sacrifice themselves, but they can't be left without even a pension!"
"Yes, Lord Marquis is right, that's how it should be!" Li Lao Er was thrilled and said in a low voice, "They can spend hundreds of taels without batting an eye to buy a single famous flower, so naturally they can spend thousands of taels to buy the lives of their children and grandchildren!"
The Marquis's expression softened somewhat, and he instructed, "If anyone asks you for leniency, just mention the matter of the pension."
"Understood!" Li Lao Er readily agreed, picking up his teacup. "I offer this tea in place of wine to thank Lord Marquis for seeking justice for the people and bringing peace to Tianwu!"
"Me too!" Jiayin didn't have a teacup, so she picked up the rice bowl beside her and stood with her second uncle in a very serious manner. "Fu Niu'er thanks her godfather for fighting for the country and the people. Godfather is a war god and a great hero!"
The Marquis smiled, raised his teacup, and clinked it with theirs, saying, "To Tianwu, let us drink this cup together!"
Li Lao Er and the Marquis drank tea, while Jia Yin stuffed the meatballs in her bowl into her mouth, her cheeks bulging out like a greedy little squirrel.
Both Li Lao Er and the Marquis couldn't help but laugh.
Soon, after finishing their meal, Houye and Jiayin greeted Jia Huan and then went to the relief office with Li Lao Er.
In just a few days, the previously desolate and dilapidated relief office has been completely transformed.
The weeds in the yard had all been pulled out, the ground had been compacted, and a few square flower beds had been set up with old blue bricks, where some ordinary but brightly blooming flowers were planted.
Most of the houses have been repaired and are no longer leaking.
Although the paint on the doors and windows is peeling and mottled, the window paper has been replaced with new ones.
In every room, the doors and windows were wide open, using the midday sun and summer breeze to drive away the darkness and dampness.
The rotten straw that had previously been used as a bed has been cleared away and replaced with a newly built kang (heated brick bed) covered with a golden-yellow mat.
One by one, some children and elderly people came back from outside carrying dry grass or broken wood, which they had found in dilapidated abandoned houses or remote places in the north of the city. They would burn a little bit of it at night to make the kang (heated brick bed) warm for the whole night.
In summer, it doesn't need to be too hot, so everyone can get a good night's sleep.
Everyone's clothes were still old, and some were even dirty, but if you looked closely, you could see that their hands and faces were clean, and their hair was neatly combed.
The entire relief office seemed to have been completely revitalized because of a few flower beds, new paper pasted on the windows, a roof that no longer leaked, and golden mats on the kang (heated brick bed).
But it seems that's not the only reason...
Li Lao Er led the Marquis and his niece around for a while, and finally they arrived at the three rooms that served as the main kitchen.
There were two trees not far away, providing good shade, so Zheng Feng and Zheng He placed their chairs there.
The two then busied themselves making tea and even brought out a box of pastries from somewhere.
Jiayin ate some snacks, pondering what else she could do to support the Relief and Relief Agency.
She could see that her second uncle was very dedicated to changing the relief agency, not just for his career, but more so to help these unfortunate people escape their suffering!
Clearly, the Marquis had also noticed this, and asked, "Feeding and clothing so many people is no small matter. Relying solely on the government's allocation of funds and grain is probably not enough, and selling flowers to supplement the income is not a long-term solution either."
Li Lao Er nodded and said, "I plan to repair some houses, partition them, and then rent them out. Although the income won't be much, it will be enough to cover the daily maintenance of all the houses."
"Find a few more boys from the village to be teachers and teach the children basic writing and arithmetic. They can study in the morning and do odd jobs in the afternoon. If they can make it through a year, these children can go out and become apprentices or shop assistants and support themselves."
"For the others who are slightly disabled but can still walk, I plan to have them sweep the streets. Autumn is coming soon, with leaves flying everywhere, and winter will bring heavy snow. As long as they keep the streets clean, it shouldn't be too difficult to give each household along the street a few kilograms of grain a month."
"As for the elderly who are old and disabled, they can only stay in the relief office to weave baskets and do some small jobs."
This arrangement sounds quite good.
Although we will certainly encounter many problems during the implementation process, at least we have set a goal of self-reliance.
Just as the Marquis was about to speak, several people suddenly walked in through the gate. They were all dressed in rags and were filthy, but they had smiles on their faces and were showing off their yellow teeth.
Perhaps drawn by the aroma of the rice porridge, the group found a sunny spot, squatted down, sleeves tucked in, chatting and laughing occasionally, and sometimes pulling something out of their pockets to pinch it...
Jiayin was momentarily stunned and didn't react. She wanted to take a closer look, but the Marquis blocked her way.
Li Lao Er's face was grim. He snorted and said, "My lord, are there any wounded veterans? Anyone who can walk, like Uncle Zhao and the others, would be fine. Preferably, they should be fierce. Send me about twenty men. We need four guards at Baihuayuan, and we'll probably need more than a dozen here."
The Marquis understood and nodded in agreement, "Alright, I'll select people for you when we get back. There were quite a few wounded soldiers this time, and I'm also worried about finding places to settle them. Don't be too angry; there are always good-for-nothings like this everywhere."
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