Chapter 487 A Family of纨绔 (Wán kù, a spoiled and dissolute family) Causes the Death of the Entire Court (40)
That makes sense.
When Zhang Shixu was at the Jin family's house, he would only talk about the past and never discuss politics.
Even when discussing matters of officialdom, they would stay in the study together with Magistrate Jin to discuss them.
Even Magistrate Jin rarely interfered in her business affairs, let alone Zhang Shixu.
He probably understood the situation, but didn't want to directly remind her, so he used the siblings to convey his message.
“Mother, the Wu family in our county has ancestors who were related to the mother of the current crown prince. Aren’t they always eyeing our shop?”
Since that's the case, you should take this opportunity to sell to the Wu family at a high price, collect all the money, and quickly go south to buy rice and flour, set up granaries, and hire soldiers to guard them.
"Time waits for no one, Mother."
Mrs. Jin's silence was the best answer.
Jin Shouan nodded with satisfaction, and immediately went to report to Jin Shu after completing the task.
A few days later.
"Ah Shu, just as you predicted, our mother is already making arrangements to sell the shop!"
Fortunately, our shop is in a good location and we don't have to worry about selling it. As soon as that guy surnamed Wu heard the news, he rushed over and bought all the shops on the street to the east of our house!
"Our mother probably has tens of thousands of taels of silver on her hands now!"
Jin Shu nodded.
It was only then that Jin Shouan noticed a strip of cloth covered with green ointment over her eyes.
What is this?
"Medicinal fumigation is good for the eyes."
"It smells so good! Who did you get the incense made? I want to get some made too. It doesn't sting my eyes, and it smells nice in the room."
"I made it myself. If you want it, you can find it in my drawer. Just go get it."
Jin Shouan looked at the drawer full of fumigation paste in surprise, then turned to look at Jin Shu.
“Is there anything you can’t do? If you didn’t remember everything you did when you were little, I really wouldn’t believe you are my original sister, Jin Shu.”
Jin Shu did not hide her personality, which was completely different from the Jin Shu before.
But so what?
They had their suspicions, but couldn't find any evidence. Moreover, everything was going well for them, and everything they did was for the Jin family and the people of He'an County.
Then they had nothing more to say.
That evening, the youngest sister of the Jin family started acting up again.
These past few days, Jin Shu's discipline has been somewhat effective; at least he can now sit obediently in the study for an hour.
But because Jin Chuyao hadn't appeared for the past few days, Jin Qi missed her terribly and started making a scene again in the middle of the night.
If a six- or seven-year-old child becomes dependent on a person or thing, it can take some effort to break them off.
Jin Shu didn't punish her by not eating like before, since that method only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause.
So he directly instructed Jin Shou'an.
"Next time you distribute porridge, take Jinqi with you and let her help with the work."
"What can a little kid like her do?"
"At sixteen, she's strong and healthy. If she refuses to carry a bag of rice, she'll be beaten."
Although Jin Shou'an felt sorry for her, he now obeyed Jin Shu's every word. He would do whatever she said without asking any questions.
The refugees of He'an County have now been accommodated by Magistrate Jin, who has set aside a separate street for them.
The number of migrants in the county is now close to 5,000. If it weren't for the recent effective control measures, the number would have increased three or four times.
Because they had no land, no livelihood, and no housing, these people could only survive by relying on the county government's twice-daily distribution of porridge.
At first, Magistrate Jin provided only thick porridge made from pure white rice, and the quality of his two meals a day was even better than that of ordinary families.
Later, Zhang Shixu suggested that he replace the thick porridge with a slightly thinner one, and also add a little bit of sand to the porridge every day.
Magistrate Jin couldn't bear it, but Zhang Shixu shut him up with just a few words.
"Food is limited and the number of refugees is increasing. The limited food should be used for those who really need porridge to survive."
Afterwards, Magistrate Jin sent people to investigate and found that among the people who came to collect porridge every day, three out of ten were people who owned land and houses nearby!
They were not so desperate as to need a bowl of porridge from the county government to survive, yet they still came every day to collect it, even bringing their families to seize the only food source for the refugees.
Over the next few days, Magistrate Jin gradually replaced the thick porridge with a slightly thinner rice porridge, and slowly added sand and mud to it, which affected the taste.
Ingesting the mud and sand won't cause any problems, but it makes the porridge harder to swallow. Anyone who isn't truly hungry will find it difficult to drink this bowl of porridge.
As a result, the daily consumption of rice and flour was indeed reduced significantly, and the line for porridge also seemed to have shortened somewhat.
Although this tactic worked, with the ever-increasing number of refugees, even mixing sand into the rice, the grain stored by the An County government, and the Jin family's own granaries were not enough to provide all the refugees with a life-saving meal.
Because of this matter, Magistrate Jin was so worried that he couldn't sleep at night and had to get up in the middle of the night to check the grain inventory.
Fortunately, Zhang Shixu was appointed by the emperor to provide disaster relief in He'an County, but the relief grain was only enough to last for half a month.
For today's family dinner, Madam Jin arranged the food to be served inside the porridge distribution tent.
The meal consisted of only one bowl of plain porridge per person, accompanied by pickled side dishes prepared by the family cook.
Jin Shou'an, who was already used to delicacies, was not used to eating them and wanted to leave a long time ago. But when he saw Jin Shu sitting next to him eating silently, he suddenly felt that he could eat the food.
Magistrate Jin put down his chopsticks, having only eaten half a bowl of porridge, his brow furrowed.
"I sent someone to do a count yesterday. There are 4,000 displaced people in the county town and nearly 9,000 more wandering outside the town."
"If we really let everyone in, the people of He'an County will suffer."
These refugees, driven by hunger, are capable of stealing and robbing, but what's even more terrifying is that they might kill for food.
"The imperial court only has thirty cartloads of relief grain, which won't last long at all."
"So many refugees, and they only gave them thirty cartloads of grain?"
Zhang Shixu's face was grim.
"His Majesty is critically ill. The Crown Prince's faction and the Third Prince's faction are fighting fiercely. The problem of the displaced people is nothing to them. The most important thing for them now is the selection of a new emperor."
This is why Zhang Shixu didn't want to stay in the court.
He had tried his best to remain neutral, but he was caught up in the tide and could not help but be swept away, so he could only choose the more benevolent third prince.
At the very least, the Third Prince was responsible for arranging the disaster relief grain.
"Of all times, a struggle for the throne has arisen. The people are starving, and the throne... sigh..."
Magistrate Jin dared not say anything more than the last sentence.
If all the people in the world die, does it still matter who becomes emperor?
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com