Chapter 125 Behind the rich gates, meat and wine go to waste; on the roads, frozen corpses lie.
A few days later, Li Yuanyou, accompanied by his officials, went to inspect the soup kitchen.
As soon as I arrived at the shed, I saw that the people queuing to receive porridge all looked emaciated, and the porridge in their earthenware bowls was so thin that you could see the bottom of the bowl.
Scooping up a spoonful, there was only water, and hardly any grains of rice.
Li Yuanyou frowned and asked, "Will this fill you up?"
The official beside him replied with a bitter face, "Your Highness, there's nothing we can do about it. The city's food reserves are almost exhausted. Distributing food at this rate is barely enough to ensure that everyone has a bite to eat every day, so they won't starve to death immediately. If the amount is any more, we'll run out of food in less than two days."
Li Yuanyou's gaze swept across the porridge shed and saw a dozen or so ragged refugees being stopped by the officials, staring longingly into the shed. He asked, "Why aren't those people being given porridge?"
"Your Highness, we distribute them according to the household registration records to prevent anyone from fraudulently claiming or over-collecting them," the official explained. "Those are all refugees who have fled from other places and do not have household registration in Weizhou. As instructed by the Prefect, we cannot distribute them to them."
"This is outrageous!" Li Yuanyou shouted angrily. "They're starving to death, who cares about household registration! Make them line up for porridge!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a "vomit" was heard from the side.
One man had just taken a sip of the porridge when he vomited it all up.
"This is supposed to be porridge? It's all sand and bran! Is the imperial court feeding us like livestock?! How can anyone eat this?"
His outburst drew the attention of the other people receiving porridge, who chimed in with his words.
"Yeah! They only give us this little bit of soup every day. It's like we haven't had any at all, and our stomachs are still growling with hunger!"
"Where did all the grain donated by those wealthy households go? Did you officials embezzle it?"
The crowd immediately stirred. Some sharp-eyed people recognized Li Yuanyou, who was surrounded by officials, and rushed forward to kneel down and cry out.
"Your Honor! Please have mercy! Give me some more food, my child is starving!"
More and more people knelt down, their cries rising and falling, all they wanted was more food.
Li Yuanyou had never seen such a scene before, and he was at a loss for what to do, standing there with his face pale.
The officers beside him quickly shielded him behind them, shouting sternly, "Insolence! This is the Second Prince of the Dynasty, His Highness Prince Cheng! How dare you offend him!"
But the starving people had no time to fear. Instead, they were even more excited by the identity of the "Second Prince" and rushed forward, wanting to grasp this "lifeline".
Just as the chaos was about to spiral out of control, Huang Wei rushed over. Upon seeing the situation, he made a decisive decision and sternly ordered the accompanying officers and soldiers: "Drag the ringleaders away and keep them under strict guard! If the rest of you make any more noise or disturbances, the porridge will be stopped immediately!"
The officers and soldiers immediately stepped forward and pulled away the most agitated civilians.
Although the surrounding people still had complaints and their eyes were full of resentment, they finally dared not to cause any more trouble when they thought of the threat of "stopping the porridge".
The crowd gradually quieted down and formed a crooked queue again.
Li Yuanyou looked at the people being dragged away, his brows furrowed, and asked Huang Wei in bewilderment, "They just want to have a full meal, why are you arresting them?"
Huang Wei pulled Li Yuanyou toward the porridge stall and said in a low voice, "Your Highness is kind-hearted, but the situation is complicated right now. There are refugees gathering outside the city, and people's hearts are restless. The worst thing is for someone to take the lead and cause trouble. If we don't make an example of them today and set some rules for them, once their emotions are completely ignited, they will either loot the food and smash the stalls, or even storm the state government office. If that happens, it will be all over."
Li Yuanyou nodded as if he understood but not quite.
He knew he had little ability and could only listen to Huang Wei at this moment.
"Your Highness, the Prefect has prepared a banquet in the yamen and invited several prominent families, gentry and wealthy merchants from the city, hoping to persuade them to donate more grain."
Huang Wei softened his tone and changed the subject, "It's getting late, shall we head back to the prefectural government office?"
Li Yuanyou gets furious whenever those people are mentioned.
“I eat and drink with this group of people every day. All they say at the table is flattery and sycophancy. But when it comes to donating grain, they all cry poverty. They say they have no grain at home or they are short of funds! In my opinion, we should just send troops to confiscate their property and granaries, and use all the grain for disaster relief. Wouldn’t that solve all the problems?”
Upon hearing this, Huang Wei solemnly advised, "Your Highness, you must not! These gentry and wealthy merchants have deep roots in Weizhou and are secretly colluding with local officials. If we forcibly confiscate their property, they will surely unite in resistance. At best, they will close their shops and hoard supplies, exacerbating the famine; at worst, they will incite the people and collude with displaced people. The consequences would be unimaginable!"
Li Yuanyou frowned and said, "I am the second prince, sent here by imperial decree to provide disaster relief. How dare they?"
Looking at his innocent face, Huang Wei could only patiently continue to explain: "His Highness is of noble status, so they naturally wouldn't dare to do it openly. But if they secretly trip him up and hinder him, it would be enough to completely ruin the disaster relief efforts. Now we still need them to maintain local order, so we must not push them to the opposite side."
Li Yuanyou frowned and did not refute further.
The banquet at the prefectural government office was as lavish as ever. The tables were laden with fresh pheasants and venison, and amber-colored wine was served in glass goblets. Maids moved about among the guests, constantly refilling their wine and serving them dishes.
But when Li Yuanyou looked at the table full of delicacies, he found them tasteless and didn't even touch his chopsticks.
The scenes I saw at the soup kitchen during the day are still vivid in my mind.
The refugees held their bowls of porridge, so thin they could reflect a person's image, and carefully licked the few remaining grains of rice from the bottom.
The old woman at the city gate, just so her grandson could have one more sip of porridge, deliberately went hungry herself, squatting in the corner...
Looking at the faces of the wealthy merchants and gentry chatting and laughing at the table, he felt nauseous.
The dish in front of these people was enough to feed the refugees outside the city for several days.
A single jug of wine in their cups could be exchanged for ten bushels of rice, saving several lives.
But they turned a blind eye and only cared about their own enjoyment.
It truly reflects the saying: "Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste; on the road, frozen corpses lie."
He couldn't help but drift off into thought. If his elder sister were here, what would she do?
With my elder sister's abilities, she can definitely get these people to obediently hand over their grain for disaster relief.
But what about him?
Despite having the status of a prince, he couldn't even accomplish such a small matter.
The local gentry and wealthy merchants below the table saw Li Yuanyou's gloomy expression but did not take it to heart.
In their eyes, although this second prince held the title of "Prince Cheng" and might even be the future emperor, he was ultimately just an outsider who was just passing through.
Weizhou is the land where they have been rooted for generations. They control the grain, land and shops, and even local officials have to give them some leeway.
To put it bluntly, the people on the dragon throne may change, but these powerful local clans have deep roots and have remained in power for generations.
For them, years of disaster are not a crisis, but rather a golden opportunity.
In order to get food, disaster victims are forced to sell their land at rock-bottom prices, which allows the authorities to take advantage of the situation to buy land at low prices and consolidate farmland.
With grain prices soaring, the stockpiled grain could be sold for several times the price, allowing them to amass a huge fortune.
They could even use the pretext of "donating grain" to request a nominal title from the imperial court.
In this way, they have amassed wealth and gained fame, so why should they care whether the Second Prince is happy or not?
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