Chapter 69 Natural Disasters and the Hardships of People's Livelihoods
"good!"
Upon hearing this, a man stepped out from the crowd. He stood outside the shop, separated from Shen Yujiao by only a threshold: "I suppose this young lady has heard something about what happened today. Our Qingyuan Town has taken in disaster victims in the past, but now we ourselves are struggling to feed ourselves, yet those refugees still won't let us go."
He turned around and pulled a boy out of the crowd. The boy's clothes were torn to shreds, and his exposed skin was covered in bruises. The man pushed the boy in front of Shen Yujiao.
“Ah Cheng’s family suffered a disaster this year, and his father had no choice but to go out to work to earn money to support the family. They are just an orphan and a widow. This morning, the child went out to fetch water and came back to find that some refugees were stealing their grain. It’s early October now, and in another month or two, it will be the dead of winter. If they don’t even have this little bit of rice, how will the family survive?”
"This child wanted to steal grain for his mother and younger siblings, but—" The man waved his arm, pointing to a group of people on the opposite side: "They actually attacked a nine-year-old child!"
The group of refugees were all dressed in rags. They had wanted to escape after hearing what Shen Yujiao said, but they were intimidated by her aura. At the same time, they were thinking about whether they could take the initiative and gain some benefits. However, before they could speak, the man beat them to it. Seeing that everyone was looking at them, they instinctively tried to run away.
But the Crown Prince's guards were no pushovers. As soon as they turned around, they were met with a row of blades, and their steps faltered. They could no longer move, but they did not want to silently wait for their deaths.
"What can we do!" the leader said first. "We've been begging all the way here, and the old people and children have all died along the way. We really can't survive. We've heard that the harvest here is good this year. We're not freeloaders; we'll do any job if you give us a bowl of rice. But these people, they, they just want to watch us die!"
"Pah!" An older woman squeezed out from the crowd: "The autumn harvest just ended not long ago, and you guys from the north were already coming to beg for food. Did we in Qingyuan let you starve to death back then? Even if you didn't work, we could still give you a handy bite. But now, we're almost starving ourselves. How can we abandon our own parents and newborn children to help you people? Does Qingyuan Town owe you anything?"
"that is!"
This statement was met with widespread agreement.
"Everyone has suffered from disasters this year. Why should we starve to death to save you a bite to eat? We're not related. Giving to you is a favor, and not giving is also our right. In a year of natural disasters like this, who doesn't want to survive?"
"Stop talking nonsense. It's one thing for you to be a habitual thief and robber, but what's the situation with Old Liu's family? This child's mother just gave birth and is still in her postpartum period! His younger brother and sister-in-law just turned one month old. We've always been thinking about how we can help them out, but what you did was come here and almost took their lives!"
Even though the refugees were usually indifferent, they felt a little guilty after hearing about the family's situation: "We didn't know they were in this situation. We went to every household. If you really helped them as you said, how could you not even have this much kindness?"
"You, you, you!" The woman stepped out of the crowd, her fingers trembling with anger. "Old Liu's family are our neighbors in town. His husband has always been kind to us. Everyone has their troubles, and we help each other out when we can. But what are you saying? We don't even know where you've come from, yet you're asking us for help?"
Seeing this, the man sneered, "It is indeed a year of famine, but you people all have hands and feet. Instead of staying in Liaodong Prefecture begging and waiting to die, why don't you go south? Each of you is as capable as a laborer. Can't you earn money with your own hands? A bunch of grown men, none of you have even this much backbone."
It's unclear which word in those words offended the refugees on the other side, but they started fighting again right in front of Shen Yujiao and her group. Seeing the scene in complete chaos, Shen Yujiao ordered her guards to forcibly pull the people apart. She walked out of the inn and stood between the two groups of people.
“I have a general understanding of the matter. It is indeed your fault. Even in a year of natural disasters, theft is still a violation of the laws of our Great Xia. Today I will send a letter to the county magistrate to send you to the county jail to repent and reflect on your mistakes.”
Seeing that those people were still resisting, Shen Yujiao said indifferently, "If it's really about saving your life, then at least you can eat in prison."
Sure enough, these words immediately deflated the spirits of the displaced people who had been restless. They didn't want to go to jail, but they also really wanted to live.
Then, Shen Yujiao walked up to Liu Cheng, squatted down and looked him in the eye, and said, "Good boy, you're a good boy. I will return the grain that was stolen from your family to you on behalf of the government."
Liu Cheng, who had been keeping a straight face, could no longer hold back. Large tears streamed down his face as he knelt down and kowtowed to the young man in his fine clothes, saying, "Thank you, sir."
All he wanted was for his mother, younger brother, and younger sister to survive; he just wanted to live.
Hearing her child's filial and simple words, Shen Yujiao felt a pang of sadness. She raised her hand and patted Liu Cheng's head, a different thought creeping into her mind.
Just as everyone was discussing the young man's decision, they heard a group of people approaching from afar. Everyone looked in that direction, and someone recognized that the man being led by a yamen runner while sitting on a horse was the magistrate of Qinghe County. They shouted, and then everyone quite consciously made way for the magistrate.
Magistrate Wang of Qinghe County is over fifty years old this year. He usually sits in the county office and needs someone to help him sit in a sedan chair when he goes out. If he hadn't heard that the Crown Princess was coming, he wouldn't have rushed over all the way here.
"Your humble servant greets Your Highness the Crown Princess. May Your Highness be well!"
The old magistrate knelt down and bowed to the astonished gazes of the crowd. Shen Yujiao couldn't bear to see the old man like this, so she had someone help him up. As for the magistrate revealing her identity, Shen Yujiao did not stop him at all.
"It's the Crown Princess!"
"It's actually the Crown Princess!"
Should we perform the proper rites?
"I'll take it..."
After a brief hushed conversation among the crowd, the people began to kneel and bow in the manner of the magistrate, all of them deeply shocked.
They lived in a small town north of Liaodong Prefecture. Some people might never see the county magistrate in their entire lives. As the local officials, the county magistrate was an extremely important figure to them, let alone a crown princess.
That is the current Crown Princess, the future Empress, and they actually have the honor of meeting the future Empress!
Some were overjoyed, some were terrified, and some were still feeling uneasy because they had lost their manners in front of the Crown Princess. But Shen Yujiao ignored them all. She faced the old magistrate and briefly explained her solution to the matter.
"Does Lord Wang see any problem?"
"No, no," the old magistrate hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands. It was already a great fortune that the Crown Princess did not blame him for his poor governance. How could he say that there was anything wrong with the Crown Princess's handling of the matter? He bowed deeply to the ground again: "It is your humble servant who is late. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Shen Yujiao didn't seem to mind: "It's alright, we just happened to run into something like this."
Now that the matter had been resolved, it would be inconvenient for a bunch of people to crowd around here any longer. With the assistance of the palace guards, the local officials evacuated the people in an orderly manner. The displaced people who had committed crimes were escorted back to the county jail, while the officials from the Ministry of Works, carrying their tools, prepared to go to survey the location.
“Xu Zhiyuan,” Shen Yujiao called out to Xu Zhiyuan, who was about to leave, and said to him, “The Empress and the Consort want to visit this child’s home. You will be in charge of the survey today, and with Lord Zhou assisting, there should be no mistakes.”
"Yes," Xu Zhiyuan replied and bowed. After hesitating for a moment, he turned back, rummaged through his clothes, and then took out a brocade pouch from his pocket and handed it to Shen Yujiao: "Your Highness, this is the silver I have on me today. If possible, may Your Highness give it to Liu Cheng on my behalf?"
Shen Yujiao took the money pouch he handed her, weighed it in her hand, and then smiled helplessly, "Is this pouch full of whole silver ingots? This child's family is not well-off, and giving him such silver ingots would only be a burden. I will convey your good intentions to him."
Xu Zhiyuan was a young master who grew up in a wealthy and noble family. While his peers had to consider the cost of brushes, ink, paper, inkstones and pigments when learning to paint, he used top-of-the-line painting tools and even used countless precious minerals for his paintings.
As a noble and prestigious family, the Xu family was incredibly fortunate to have such an ambitious son like him. Naturally, someone would take care of everything for him. Therefore, although Xu Zhiyuan has now entered officialdom, he has no concept of the hardships of struggling to make a living.
He took the money pouch that the Crown Princess had returned, his face slightly flushed. He turned to look at his colleagues who were busy preparing for their trip, and then said to the Crown Princess, "Your Highness, please wait a moment, I will be right back."
After saying this, Xu Zhiyuan bowed deeply to Shen Yujiao, then turned around and went to exchange silver with a group of colleagues. Before long, he returned with a pile of copper coins and small silver ingots, and asked somewhat embarrassedly, "Is this alright, Your Highness?"
"I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Shen Yujiao smiled and accepted the silver. Since Xu Zhiyuan and these Ministry of Works officials were so willing, she was happy to oblige them. However, as she weighed the money bag in her hand, Shen Yujiao's heart sank inch by inch.
The Liu family's situation is not uncommon. If they continue northward, their situation will only become more and more difficult. Money is not everything, and they cannot simply be spendthrifts.
The hardships of people's lives were laid bare before her, and in an instant she understood why Jiang Chen had to make this trip.
The corruption of the court and the greed of officials are not problems that they can solve right now, but the common people will suffer because of them. There is so little they can do, but if they don't even make these efforts, then these people, who are just like NPCs to them, will really die in their predicament.
Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings? Even if everything in this Great Xia is fake, their lives are still vibrant.
"Let's go, let's go to the Liu family."
As Shen Yujiao and Chu Rou followed the neighbor who was leading the way toward the Liu family's house, Liu Cheng had already run home to clean the house. When his mother heard that the Crown Princess and Consort Liang were coming to his house, she was so frightened that she thought she was dreaming for a moment. After she came to her senses, she got up and started to help clean up.
Several neighbor aunties who came to help quickly stopped her when they saw this: "You're still in your postpartum period, don't move. The Crown Princess is a good person and won't blame you. If you don't take care of yourself properly during your postpartum period, it can affect you for life."
Liu Mengshi was still somewhat uneasy upon hearing this, but she was eventually forced to lie back down because her two children were crying, and she had to pick one up in each arm and start comforting them.
When Shen Yujiao and Chu Rou entered the Liu family, this was the scene they saw: Little Liu Cheng had changed into a new set of clothes, which were a bit faded from washing, but had no patches. He was clenching his hands, looking somewhat helpless. When he saw the Crown Princess and Consort Liang coming over, he awkwardly performed a half-hearted, awkward greeting.
As everyone went into the inner room, they saw his mother. Although she was somewhat thin, she looked quite well. She stood in the main room and greeted the visitors. Although the room was simply furnished, it was clean and tidy, and it was easy to see that it had been carefully maintained.
"I'm so sorry for neglecting Your Highness," the woman said somewhat awkwardly. She led the two distinguished guests to sit on a bench in her house, her expression a little embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, my family suffered a disaster this year, and we had to sell the chairs we used to use to entertain guests in exchange for food."
"It's alright, ma'am. We'll just sit for a bit. Please, have a seat too."
The distinguished guest invited them to sit, but Liu Mengshi and her son hesitated and dared not sit down until the guest smiled and nodded at them. Only then did the two of them sit nervously on the bench.
Considering that they dared not speak, Shen Yujiao and Chu Rou gently inquired about the family's situation this year. At first, Liu Mengshi was not very willing to speak, but later, seeing that the two noble ladies were very gentle, she no longer had so many reservations and told them about her family's situation in detail.
"...Our family is considered to be doing well. Before the disaster struck, we were able to make a decent living. Although Qingyuan is not wealthy, every household could afford to wear clothes and have enough to eat. My husband and I are relatively better off. We have ten acres of fertile land, and our parents can help out a bit. We are living a very comfortable life in Qingyuan Town."
“But I never expected that something like this would happen this year…” She turned to look at her two sleeping children. “The family spent almost all their money on land to buy me for my childbirth, and they were just trying to make a living from the produce. But there’s nothing we can do about natural disasters. My husband had to go out to work, and since I had just given birth, all the household chores fell on Cheng’s shoulders.”
As she spoke, Liu Mengshi turned to look at her eldest son, her eyes filled with self-reproach and pity: "It's all my fault for being so useless, letting him, a mere child, face all this..."
Faced with this scene, Shen Yujiao and Chu Rou felt bad. As women, they could feel her suffering, but they could not truly empathize with her, so they dared not say anything to comfort her.
Shen Yujiao turned around and took the money bag from Mu Jin's hand, pushing it in front of the mother and son: "This is a small token of appreciation from the Ministry of Works officials to your family. It's not much money, so we hope you can accept it."
Then Chu Rou took the silver ingots and grain coupons that she had prepared earlier from A Jun and pushed them in front of the mother and son.
Upon seeing so much money, the mother and son immediately stood up and waved their hands to refuse. However, Shen Yujiao beckoned to them and said softly, "Take it. This is compensation from the Crown Prince. This year, there has been a natural disaster, and the court has been trying to find ways to solve the problem of food production and harvest for the people. However, we never expected that the situation would become so serious."
"This fifty taels of silver is from me and Liangdi. Childbirth is very taxing on the body, so let Acheng buy you some good things to nourish your body. This thirty taels is a reward from His Highness the Crown Prince to Acheng. Your courage in protecting your mother and siblings today is commendable. His Highness the Crown Prince hopes that you will remember this filial piety today and that no matter what you do in the future, you will become a pillar of our Great Xia."
"As for the grain coupons, they are compensation from the county government to your family. After today, the county government will go door-to-door to investigate the situation of grain that was stolen or robbed. Each household will be compensated according to the actual situation. Your family has just received them first. Tomorrow, people from the county government will deliver the grain. At that time, you can show this grain coupon as proof."
Hearing that it was a reward from the Crown Prince and two noblemen, and that every household would receive compensation afterward, the mother and son accepted it with great gratitude. Liu Mengshi's eyes were red, and her face was full of gratitude, while little Liu Cheng was even more excited than his mother, because this was the Crown Prince's reward to him!
After leaving the Liu family, Shen Yujiao and Chu Rou remained silent on their way back. By the time they returned to the inn, the sun was already setting. Chu Rou looked at the Crown Princess with some concern and softly asked, "When does Your Highness plan to depart?"
Shen Yujiao stood still, turned her head to look at the blood-red setting sun in the distance, and softly replied, "I'm not leaving."
The Liu family used to be considered a well-off family, but they were still forced to separate from their spouses in the face of natural disasters. Their rice jar was less than a third full, not to mention the already impoverished farmers in the northern border. Now that she had witnessed all of this, Shen Yujiao had no intention of ignoring it.
Tomorrow she will go to the county government office in Qinghe County to announce her promise to Liu to the people. After that, she will travel north and ensure that the people in every place they pass through have enough food before winter arrives. She will have the people from the Eastern Palace return with Jiang Chen's token to spread the word in the villages they pass through on their way.
Whether the officialdom in the three northern prefectures is clean or corrupt is not something she can solve alone, but she doesn't believe that any official would dare to defy the Crown Prince's authority under his forceful orders!
All the gold and silver needed were taken from the Eastern Palace Treasury. If that was still not enough, she would write to the Shen family to borrow money. No matter what happens next year, this year she must ensure that the people can at least have enough to eat.
As for Jiang Chen... Shen Yujiao slowly closed her eyes, and before her eyes was a hazy red light that shone on her body, making her feel very warm.
She thought that all she could do was trust him. In their positions, they had to be worthy not only of each other, but also of the countless people who looked to them for hope and faith. What Jiang Chen wanted to do was also what she wanted to accomplish.
"Jiang Chen, we will wait for you. Please come back soon."
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Author's note: Here's another long chapter for you all~
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