With the disaster victims appeased, the next step is to get wealthy households to donate money and supplies.
After all, the seven southern prefectures suffered a large area of disaster and had many victims. Even if Xiao Mochen intercepted all the money and grain allocated by the emperor from the Ministry of Revenue, it would still be far from enough.
Therefore, we still need to pool everyone's efforts.
Let those who have money contribute money, and those who have strength contribute strength. Moreover, the intercepted grain needs to be accounted for.
After all, the Li family has only been wealthy for two years. Anyone with a keen eye can easily find out how much wealth Yan Qingqing has.
Ling Ziyuan and Yan Qingqing agreed to host a banquet for the local gentry and landlords of Chengyang County at the yamen three days later.
Afterwards, Yan Qingqing took Mu Xi back to Canghe Village.
When Yan Qingqing entered the village, she also underwent full-body disinfection according to regulations before returning home.
Because it was close to the end of the year and the whole village was under martial law, the whole family was together.
When the Li family children heard that Yan Qingqing had returned, they all rushed to Yan Qingqing's courtyard.
Li Xiangping was the first to speak, asking, "Mother, did everything go smoothly for you and Magistrate Ling when you left the city today?"
Yan Qingqing laughed and said, "It's just sending a batch of grain out of the city, what could possibly go wrong?"
Li Xiangping breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and said, "It's good that everything went smoothly. I heard that the disaster victims outside the city are not very well-behaved, and there is also a plague raging now. We are also worried about Mother's safety."
Yan Qingqing felt a warmth in her heart when she saw that Li Xiangping and the others were worried about her. At least these children cared about her, and she hadn't been a mother for nothing these past two years.
Yan Qingqing nodded and said, "You've all been very thoughtful. There were indeed some people who weren't behaving themselves, but I've already dealt with them."
Upon hearing this, Li Yueniang, who was standing nearby, quickly asked, "Mother, how did you handle it? Did you arrest them and beat them?"
In my opinion, people like that should be arrested and put in jail to suffer some physical pain.
Yan Qingqing shook her head and said, "That would be too much trouble, and there aren't that many free meals for them to eat in prison."
Hearing this, Li Yueniang became even more curious and asked, "Mother, how did you handle it?"
Yan Qingqing grew impatient with her persistent questioning and replied half-truthfully, "Killed him."
Li Yueniang pursed her lips upon hearing this. Was her mother just being perfunctory? She wasn't a three-year-old child.
In her memory, Yan Qingqing had never killed a chicken except for beating up the lame man. How could she have killed someone?
Seeing that Li Yueniang didn't believe her, Yan Qingqing didn't explain further.
After all, this matter cannot be explained in just a few words.
Li Yueniang felt that Yan Qingqing was not telling her the truth, so she turned her attention to Mu Xi, who was standing to the side.
But the answer they received was the same as Yan Qingqing's.
Li Yueniang was so angry that she cursed Mu Xi as a lackey.
Mu Xi stood aside feeling somewhat wronged. He was telling the truth, and there was nothing he could do if Li Yueniang didn't believe him.
However, everyone else looked at Yan Qingqing and Mu Xi with thoughtful expressions.
But neither of them brought it up again.
After confirming that Yan Qingqing was unharmed, the children stayed with her for a while longer before leaving, except for Xiao Mochen, who lingered and refused to go.
Yan Qingqing knew he wanted to talk to her.
So she waved for Ruyi to leave, then looked at Xiao Mochen and asked, "Mochen, is there something you want to say to your aunt?"
Xiao Mochen nodded and asked, "What Auntie just said was true, wasn't it?"
Yan Qingqing was momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend what was real.
Seeing this, Xiao Mochen explained, "Auntie just said that she killed those troublemakers, right?"
So that's what it was about. Yan Qingqing nodded without hesitation and replied, "Those people weren't disaster victims at all."
Then she recounted the actions of that group and her speculations to Xiao Mochen.
Xiao Mochen's expression grew colder as he listened. Were they really that impatient? These were tens of millions of citizens of the Great Yan Dynasty.
In their eyes, they were nothing more than pawns used to bring down the emperor and seize the throne.
If such a person were to become emperor, then the Great Yan Dynasty would truly be doomed, and its demise would be imminent.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Mochen suddenly spoke up: "Aunt, I'm planning to go on a long trip."
Yan Qingqing was taken aback when she heard this. At this time, if Xiao Mochen didn't stay in Canghe Village, where else could he go?
So Yan Qingqing asked, "Where are you going at this time? The New Year is just a few days away."
Xiao Mochen sighed and said, "Aunt, Mochen also wants to spend the New Year peacefully with you."
But given Mo Chen's identity, I have my responsibilities and mission.
Even if I can step down temporarily, I can't step down forever.
Some things have to be done sooner or later.
The batch of grain that my aunt asked my older brother to buy and transport to the border this time needs to be escorted by someone.
I think it's most suitable for me to go. And this is a rare opportunity.
Xiao Mochen was right; this was a good opportunity to win people's hearts.
If he can deliver this batch of grain to the northern border and relieve the soldiers' urgent needs, the people in the army will surely be grateful to him.
If he were to compete with Xiao Moyan for the throne in the future, how could these people possibly not support him?
However, Yan Qingqing was worried. Xiao Mochen was only twelve years old, and Xuancheng Prefecture was far from the northern border. In addition, Xiao Mochen's arm was injured.
But Yan Qingqing knew she couldn't stop him, so after a moment of silence she said, "Can't we postpone it for a few days until after the New Year?"
Xiao Mochen smiled wryly, "I received news some time ago that the Northern Territory's food supplies are running low. They can only last for another ten days or so at most."
Even if I set off for the North now, it would take me half a month.
So I have to leave by tomorrow at the latest.
Seeing that there was no room for reconciliation, Yan Qingqing knew that Xiao Mochen's trip to the Northern Border was inevitable.
So she stopped trying to dissuade him and said, "Since that's the case, your aunt won't stop you anymore. I've already instructed them to load all the purchased grain onto the carts."
I was originally planning to find someone to transport it to the border after the New Year, but this has saved me the trouble.
In addition, I also had our food processing workshop produce some vermicelli and bean products, which you can take to the soldiers at the border, hoping they can also have a bountiful New Year.
The embroidery workshop also rushed to produce a batch of cotton vests for close-fitting clothing; the border region is bitterly cold, and these things are the best for keeping warm.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Mochen bowed deeply to Yan Qingqing and said, "Aunt, your righteousness is something I will always remember. On behalf of the soldiers and people of the Great Yan Dynasty, I thank you."
That evening, Yan Qingqing, along with Li Xiangping, Li Xiang'an, and Li Yueniang, checked all the items and then handed the list to Xiao Mochen.
Yan Qingqing then had Mu Xi bring in ten guards from the mountain to protect Xiao Mochen's safety along the way.
In fact, Xiao Mochen has quite a few bodyguards around him, and in the past two years he has also trained a private army, so his safety is quite well guaranteed.
However, he was still very happy that Yan Qingqing had considered things so thoroughly for him.
After bidding farewell to Yan Qingqing, Xiao Mochen led his team out of the city overnight and headed straight for the northern border.
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