Qu Yutang looked at the food on the table and the corners of his mouth twitched.
Coarse grain steamed bread, dry fried soybeans, dried radish, wild vegetable soup, and a bowl of brown rice were placed in front of him.
Prefect Liu gave Qu Yutang an embarrassed laugh.
"Bailong City has been experiencing drought for over half a year. The fields have yielded nothing and there is a severe water shortage."
"Although these meals look simple, they are the best I can provide."
"It's just this bowl of wild vegetable soup. I had someone find it in advance, otherwise there wouldn't even be this little bit of vegetable soup."
"Alas~ Life is hard for the people of Bailong City."
Magistrate Liu sighed heavily, looking like he had no other choice.
Qu Yutang glanced at the skinny bodies and pale lips of Prefect Liu and Judge Zhao, and immediately understood.
Along the way, he also discovered that the further north he went, the more severe the drought became.
Fanjing City can also provide white flour buns and a bowl of rice porridge.
When we arrived at Bailong City, there were only wild vegetable soup and coarse grain steamed buns, and life became visibly hard.
What could he do? He couldn't get angry at the prefect of Bailong City just because of food.
Besides, he was just passing through Bailong City for a short rest.
It seems that he should not delay in Bailong City any longer, but go to Huohuo City as soon as possible to resolve the issue of the unauthorized expansion of the city wall, and return to the capital to report as soon as possible.
At this moment, he really couldn't understand why the situation in Bailong City was so bad, so the situation in Extinguishing Fire City would be even worse.
Under such difficult circumstances, the prefect of Huohuo City must have lost his mind to actually want to expand the city wall.
I don’t know how many people were killed by this incident.
Qu Yutang sighed softly, "I already understand the situation in Bailong City."
"When I return to the capital, I will report this matter to His Majesty."
He could only report that the situation in the capital was not very good.
Although the South has collected this year's taxes in advance, it is still not enough.
The key is that the treasury is short of silver.
During this period, many wealthy businessmen near the capital were trembling with fear and voluntarily handed over a lot of silver, fearing that the emperor would take action against them.
"Thank you so much, sir." Governor Liu stood up and bowed with emotion.
"On behalf of the people of Bailong City, I thank you, sir."
Qu Yutang curled the corners of his lips and raised his hand, "No need to be polite."
The food on the table made Qu Yutang's throat feel clogged and it was really hard to swallow.
The wild vegetable soup was also really unpalatable, without any salt taste at all.
He didn't dare to ask why it didn't taste salty. Is there any need to ask? It's because there is not enough salt.
I just didn’t expect that Bailong City has become so difficult.
From the city gate to the prefectural yamen, he had already seen the hardships faced by the people of Bailong City.
They were all covered in dust and had a foul smell.
However, there was one thing that made him very strange.
The people in the previous city, Fanjing City, had almost no light in their eyes, and looked like walking corpses.
But the eyes of the people in Bailong City seemed to be full of hope, and he also saw smiles on many of the people's faces.
The situation in Minglong City is obviously worse than that in Fanjing City, so why do the people's mental states seem to be much better?
Could it be-----a last gasp of energy! ! ?
Thinking of this possibility, Qu Yutang sighed in his heart.
Emperor Tianwu transferred food and grass from the south, but seemed to have no intention of transporting them to the northwest.
If disaster relief was really necessary, he would definitely be asked to bring some food and supplies with him when he came to inspect the Fire City this time.
However, Emperor Tianwu did not mention this matter at all.
Hey~
The people in the Northwest suffer so much. They are not loved by their parents and good things never come to them.
After finishing a meal that made Kara's throat ache, Qu Yutang asked about the situation in Fire Extinguishing City.
"Master Liu, do you know why Fire Extinguishing City secretly expanded its walls?"
He originally wanted to rest in Bailong City for two days, but now seeing the difficult situation in Bailong City, he decided to say hello and set off as soon as possible.
The issue of the Fire Extinguishing City's unauthorized expansion of its city walls needs to be resolved sooner so he can return to Beijing to report.
He really couldn't bear these hard days.
In the past, when he went on inspection tours in the south, he ate all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas.
Without him asking, the local officials would arrange the best restaurant banquet.
In some places, wealthy families would even lend their private chefs to cook for him.
On days like that, going out for a long journey won’t feel tiring.
This side of the northwest is hard to describe in a few words.
Prefect Liu paused for a moment, "I don't know what to do about this."
"Your Excellency has also seen that the situation in White Dragon City is extremely difficult and there are many things that need to be dealt with, so I don't have much time to pay attention to the affairs of Fire Extinguishing City."
"It just so happened that someone discovered that the walls of Fire Extinguishing City had expanded thirty miles towards White Dragon City, and I reported it."
"Expanded thirty miles?!" Qu Yutang's pupils trembled.
"How can we expand Fire Extinguishing City? The drought is so severe, has Governor Deng gone insane?"
He thought that Governor Deng had only reinforced and expanded the city wall, but he didn't expect that it was actually moved thirty miles towards Bailong City.
Isn’t this funny? Does Magistrate Deng have so much manpower and resources to build the city wall?
Look at how poor Bailong City is. It can’t even provide basic food and clothing for the people. How much better can Fire Extinguishing City be?
He didn't even need to look. He guessed that the city wall had just laid a foundation, and it was probably not even completed.
Such a large project cannot be completed without tens of millions of taels of silver.
"This..." Magistrate Liu laughed dryly, "I don't know."
What else can be used for expansion? Of course, silver, materials and food.
When Zhao Tongpan came back, he said that the people in the Fire Extinguishing City were all well-fed and had no shortage of food.
With so much salt sold, there is no need to lack food.
Qu Yutang snorted coldly, "Prefect Deng has no regard for the lives of the people and is privately expanding the city wall. I must ask him what his intentions are."
At this point, Qu Yutang's mind suddenly flashed through several memorials submitted by Governor Deng requesting disaster relief.
Could it be that Prefect Deng deliberately expanded the city wall in such a grand manner in order to attract the attention of the capital?
After all, building a city wall cannot be completed overnight, and it requires huge manpower, material and financial resources.
Perhaps Magistrate Deng was just bluffing to attract the attention of the capital, and then wait for the imperial envoy to arrive before crying and asking for support.
The more Qu Yutang thought about it, the more he felt that he had guessed the truth.
"Yes, yes, yes..." Magistrate Liu smiled wryly and nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Go quickly, it will be difficult to find out once you get there.
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