It's June now, more than three months since the drought in the south began, and Yuan Zhengqi and his group have been traveling for a month.
We finally arrived at the southern city.
This is He City, the first city in the south.
In the past, this place was bustling with people and had many merchants.
The fields outside the city also yielded the most bountiful harvests.
However, as we've traveled along the road, the city is no longer what it used to be, and the streets are much more desolate.
The wealthy merchants had already fled to other cities, leaving behind only the elderly, women, children, and some commoners.
...
On the outskirts of Hecheng.
A large number of refugees stopped here to rest.
They were all refugees who came from villages further south.
"Ruhua, go with this auntie, at least you won't starve to death."
A middle-aged man covered in patches said with a bitter expression.
They had fled from the south, and their fields had yielded nothing.
The family, which was not well-off to begin with, suddenly became reserved.
My son is still young, and the journey has taken a toll on him, and he finally fell ill.
They spent all their savings on medicine to treat their illness, and now their family is almost penniless and has no food left.
The youngest son was still ill, and in the end, he listened to the advice of the other refugees and sold his children for money.
That's why we're in this situation now.
"Come on, look at your parents and your younger brother. If it weren't for the money you paid for selling yourself, they might not even be able to survive."
Human slave traders were registered with the government and their business was legitimate.
Whenever there is a disaster, they send people to make purchases.
Purchase these homeless people who voluntarily sell themselves.
Upon hearing this, the girl named Ruhua froze for a moment, then silently shed tears.
Look at my aged parents not far away, and my unconscious younger brother.
He knelt down with a thud and kowtowed three times to them.
Her voice choked with emotion: "Father, Mother, please take good care of my brother. I don't blame you."
He then got up and left with the slave trader.
"Ru Hua, Ru Hua..."
Ruhua's mother held her unconscious youngest son and cried bitterly.
Human life is cheapest at this time, especially during disasters.
Selling children has become commonplace; otherwise, human traffickers wouldn't come to these places.
However, in their hearts, as long as they could live, they were willing to be enslaved.
"The imperial army has arrived here to provide disaster relief. Hurry up and gather in town. Lord Yuan is about to distribute grain."
It wasn't just someone who suddenly shouted that.
Her voice was filled with excitement. Even though she was far away, her voice carried far enough that Ru Hua's parents in the suburbs could hear it clearly.
"The imperial court has sent people to provide disaster relief, and they're even distributing grain?"
Ru Hua's father murmured, then burst into tears, his voice hoarse: "Why didn't you come sooner? It's too late, too late! We were so close..."
Yes, it was so close. If I had waited a little longer, Ru Hua wouldn't have been sold.
Many people share this thought, but where in this world is there room for waiting, for "what ifs"?
At the entrance of Hecheng.
Yuan Zhengqi led the group to the city gate.
The officers and soldiers split into two teams, each carrying a bag of grain behind them.
Seeing that the people outside the city gate had already been taken care of by the county magistrate's men, Yuan Zhengqi stepped forward and said:
"I am Yuan Zhengqi, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, here to provide disaster relief on the Emperor's orders."
"His Majesty heard that the people in the south were suffering from natural disasters and that the fields had yielded no harvests, so he specially ordered us to open the granaries to relieve the people's suffering."
Yuan Zhengqi then said a lot more, which was nothing more than saying that the emperor still cared about them and hoped that they would know how to be grateful, and so on.
Then they had people register everyone's name and other information, and distributed food according to the number of people, even the children.
They also had young and strong men work together to build temporary shelters in the suburbs, and the government paid them for their labor.
We also hired a few women who knew how to cook, and paid them the same wages.
Yuan Zhengqi arranged everything perfectly within a day.
The people's faces were no longer deathly pale; instead, they were filled with rising hope.
"His Majesty is truly a wise ruler. He cares about us common people and is a good emperor."
An elderly man, well past fifty, was drinking piping hot porridge, his eyes filled with tears.
His family was originally quite wealthy, but all their money was taken away by his son and daughter-in-law, who said they were fleeing to another place, leaving behind their elderly father.
Having no food or money, he had already resigned himself to death.
But things took an unexpected turn when the imperial envoy sent by the court arrived.
They also brought a lot of food, and he received a share as well.
"Yes, it is truly a blessing for the people of Dayong to have such a wise ruler governing the country."
The same sobs echoed one after another.
No one knows who started it, but the refugees in the suburbs all knelt down and bowed in the direction of the capital.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Each shout was louder than the last, showing the sincerity of the people.
Yuan Zhengqi, standing on the city wall, felt a pang of sadness as he listened to the people's cries.
But more than anything, it was a spontaneous sense of worship, a worship of Emperor Jing.
"His Majesty would also like to see such a scene, with the people all safe and sound."
"Lord Yuan did a very good job."
Xu Bohan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, also remarked that they had become familiar with each other along the way and had hit it off.
Because of their youth, neither of them could easily stand out in the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of Works.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Jing has now given them this opportunity.
Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Shen Zhou stood guard beside the two, holding his sword.
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