The snow disaster situation in Jingjia Prefecture is slightly better than that in other prefectures, which puts Gu Beiyi at ease. However, he is worried about Rong Sheng, as the snow disaster has already begun, and he doesn't know how Rong Sheng and the others are doing.
The prefect said, "Your Highness, rest assured, Jingjia Prefecture has made preparations in advance. Every household's house has been repaired and tidied up, and it has not been crushed by the heavy snow for the time being. However, some people have lost their homes, but I have already sent people to receive them and settle them in! Once the snow disaster is over, I will find a way to resettle them properly!"
"Besides the prefectural city, what about the county town?" Gu Beiyi asked, his cold eyes narrowing.
The prefect said, "The counties under the jurisdiction of Jingjia Prefecture are all in very good condition. According to intelligence, the situation in Wenhong County is the least severe! The magistrate of Wenhong County, Zuo Li, made preparations in advance, even earlier than those made in the prefecture city, and there were almost no casualties among the people! But the other poorest counties are in dire need of help!"
However, Zuo Li had already sent people to discuss with the magistrates of other counties the possibility of sending the injured and wounded civilians to the refugee camp outside Wen Hong County. "Your Highness, you may not know this, but Wen Hong County has a renowned physician named Rong Sheng! Physician Rong Sheng has built a very large clinic near the refugee camp outside the city, so the refugees will be handed over to him for treatment immediately!"
"Excellent! After the snow disaster is over, we will give a proper reward to the magistrate of Wenhong County and the divine physician Rong Sheng!" Gu Beiyi was very happy and honored to hear the prefect praising Rong Sheng so highly!
Unfortunately, no one knows about his relationship with Sheng Sheng, otherwise Sheng Sheng's influence would definitely be even greater.
Gu Beiyi wanted to go to Wenhong County to find Rong Sheng, but he couldn't for the time being. He had to check the situation in other prefectures before going to find Rong Sheng. If the people of Wenhong County and Jingjia Prefecture were all in good health and there was nothing to worry about, then they would borrow the divine physician Rong Sheng, including his disciples.
The snow was getting heavier and heavier, with blizzards every day. So the county magistrate and the prefect had begun preparing to distribute porridge, because there were too many people affected by the snow disaster. The injured people were all sent to Rong Sheng for treatment.
The snow disaster was very serious, and many people in the north suffered greatly. In comparison, the situation in Jingjia Prefecture was the best.
Meanwhile, in other prefectural and county towns, the houses of the people were crushed by the snow, leaving them homeless. Wherever there was a road, one could see the suffering and dejected people, like walking corpses, devoid of any spirit.
Gu Beiyi sat in the carriage and saw many people holding children who were crying loudly from hunger. They had nothing to eat and could only carry and comfort their children as they walked on the snow. They looked very pitiful.
"Folks, why don't you go to your county magistrate or prefect? The porridge distribution has already started in the city! Three times a day! If you keep walking like this, when will you ever get a full meal? Look, the children are crying so hard they have no strength left! Hurry up and go into the city to line up and get some porridge!"
The guards beside Gu Beiyi asked the people, who looked at him helplessly: "Do you think I don't want to get porridge? But those officials are all heartless. The porridge is full of sand. How can anyone eat this? We heard that the officials in Jingjia Prefecture are very kind, so we thought we'd try our luck there. Maybe the officials there will take pity on us and give us a bowl of hot food and a warm place to sleep."
Gu Beiyi's dark eyes narrowed as he watched the common people pass by. Once they were out of sight, he ordered, "Send men to teach these officials a lesson, and at the same time, collect evidence of their crimes and arrest them! Send them, along with the evidence, to the capital and hand them over to the Emperor!"
Two days before the snow disaster, Gu Beiyi returned from Qinghao Kingdom!
The destruction of Qinghao Kingdom is only a matter of time. Yuwen Yuanjing has already led Rong Zheng back to the military camp, and they can attack Qinghao Kingdom at any time.
His return to the capital was meant to cause the emperor trouble and force him to empty the coffers to aid the people in the north. If the emperor could just eat porridge and cabbage every day, that would be perfect!
Therefore, Gu Beiyi, along with Su Wenxian, other ministers, and aristocratic families, joined forces against the Emperor, making the Emperor constantly irritated by the sight of Gu Beiyi, as the national treasury was already empty. It's important to understand that the national treasury supports the entire Qingluan Kingdom, not just the North! However, the North is facing a once-in-a-century snow disaster, and will inevitably send people to provide disaster relief; otherwise, the entire northern populace will harbor resentment towards him, and the southern people will not let him off the hook either. His life will then be like being roasted on a fire.
Su Wenxian had already discussed it with Gu Beiyi. They had already given away all the grain and silver they had to help the people in the north. So no matter how much the emperor made a fuss, their family couldn't come up with a single penny. In fact, the Su family had already started eating porridge and cabbage.
With the Su family in such a state, how could other officials, imperial relatives, and merchants possibly run away? That's why everyone hates Su Wenxian to death, yet they have no choice but to donate their entire fortune to the Emperor for disaster relief!
Su Wenxian didn't want to take the blame, so he directly stated that the Emperor had suppressed the Su family first. Later, when there was a flood in the south, the Emperor suppressed and exploited the Su family again, and swallowed up the Su family's assets, which made the Su family no longer what it used to be and had long since fallen from its position as the richest family!
They're not even doing as well as regular businesses right now!
When no one believed Su Wenxian, Su Wenxian simply took out the account book to show that he hadn't lied!
However, in reality, all of his businesses had already been transferred to Rong Mu's hands. Rong Mu was unaware that he had replaced Su Wenxian as the richest man in Qingluan Kingdom.
Thanks to the protection of Prince Yi and Wuyinglou, no one knows about this news yet!
So the emperor was unfairly blamed, and when the snow disaster struck, powerful families, officials, and merchants all started to cause trouble for him! Originally, the emperor could rest for four hours a day and even sit in the palace for a while, but because everyone ganged up on him, he didn't even have time to drink a sip of hot water.
With continuous snowfall and blizzards in the north, Gu Beiyi couldn't sit still and volunteered to go north for disaster relief.
The Emperor was very displeased with Gu Beiyi at the moment, but he had too many things to do and could not let Gu Beiyi go. At the same time, he ordered the Ministry of Revenue to keep an eye on Gu Beiyi to prevent him from abusing his power for personal gain and appropriating all the grain allocated to the people for his own use!
At the same time, he instructed the Ministry of Justice and his own secret forces to keep an eye on Gu Beiyi, looking for any dirt on him. Once Gu Beiyi's disaster relief efforts were over, he was to be cast into the deepest abyss, never to rise again.
So Gu Beiyi went to the north openly and legitimately. Since Jingjia Prefecture was the closest to the capital, Gu Beiyi's first stop was Jingjia Prefecture. However, the snow disaster was too severe, and Gu Beiyi was unable to go to Rong Sheng immediately!
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