200, the arrival of refugees
200, the arrival of refugees
Before mid-March, the first group of refugees had already arrived outside Kyoto Prefecture.
The prefect of Fengtian Prefecture issued an order prohibiting refugees from entering the city.
The gates of Kyoto Prefecture were guarded by soldiers, and the refugees who arrived were blocked outside Kyoto Prefecture and could not enter the city.
The city and outside the city have become two completely different worlds.
The emperor in the imperial city still sat on the high dragon throne, with all officials kneeling in front of him, and when he returned to the harem, he was accompanied by countless beauties; the officials in Kyoto Prefecture still wore their official uniforms and hats every day, and went to the various government offices on time every day to report for duty. After leaving the office, they went to restaurants and red-light districts to drink, and there was music and revelry every night.
The noble ladies and young masters all changed into new clothes of the season, and went out to meet guests and attend various banquets every few days.
Shops in the city are still open for business every day, and people live and work in peace and contentment.
Lu Mingfei had heard a lot about the court affairs at the Imperial Academy, and he also received more accurate information from Zhao Lang. The order prohibiting refugees from entering the city was said to have come from the Fengtian prefect, but in reality it must have come from someone within the Imperial City.
Since October of last year, many parts of the north have been hit by snowstorms. By March of this year, half a year had passed, and the court had only sent one imperial envoy to handle disaster relief.
The imperial court announced that it had allocated 100,000 taels of silver for disaster relief, but in reality the Ministry of Revenue only allocated 30,000 taels.
This batch of disaster relief money was distributed layer by layer, and in the end it was still unknown how much of it went into the pockets of corrupt officials and how much of it reached the hands of the people.
The information he learned from Zhao Lang was that the imperial envoy sent this time was from the second prince's faction.
Speaking of this, we have to talk about the current emperor’s sons.
The eldest prince was the son of a deceased empress. The current empress had no children, so the second prince was born to Consort Wan, the head of the four concubines. The remaining second and third princes, as well as the fourth, fifth, and sixth princes, were born to the remaining concubines and beauties.
The current emperor was in his prime, and the eldest princes had all reached the age of eighteen and entered the court to participate in government affairs. However, a crown prince had yet to be appointed. Year after year, court officials petitioned for a crown prince, with the eldest, second, and third princes being the most vocal. The fourth and fifth princes also had a few supporters.
The youngest, the Sixth Prince, was born only last year and is not even one year old yet, so he has the fewest supporters.
Lu Mingfei learned all this about the royal family from Zhao Lang. The imperial envoy sent this time was from the Second Prince's faction, that is, Prime Minister Wan's side.
There were two prime ministers in the court. Prime Minister Wan was the left prime minister, the father of the current Concubine Wan in the palace, and the second prince's grandfather. Therefore, the officials who supported the second prince to become the crown prince were all from Prime Minister Wan's faction.
But as for the second prince, Lu Mingfei learned some information about him from Zhao Lang. He was ruthless and narrow-minded, and was not a good candidate for the crown prince.
If the second prince were really allowed to become the crown prince and sit on the throne, I am afraid that Zhao Lang, who had beaten the second prince before, would definitely be retaliated by the second prince.
For this reason, Lu Mingfei did not want the second prince to become the crown prince and later the emperor.
However, the prince that Zhao Lang had beaten back then should not have been just the second prince... Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei inexplicably felt a headache.
The imperial envoy had just left the capital when the refugees from the north arrived outside Kyoto. Since Kyoto was not allowing refugees to enter, they would scatter and harass nearby villages.
On the day he returned home from the Imperial College, Lu Mingfei met his father and asked about his father's situation outside the city.
"In the past few days, some refugees have come to our place and asked for food. I'm afraid that I won't be able to drive them away if I ask, so I dare not help them casually." Speaking of this matter, Lu Youtian also had a headache.
Sometimes it was not that he was hard-hearted and unwilling to help the refugees, but that he knew that once he opened his mouth, endless troubles would follow.
"Fortunately, your adoptive father and I followed your advice last year and built a wall outside. Otherwise, a fence wouldn't be able to keep out the refugees."
During the floods in southern China two years ago, Lu Mingfei had suggested to his father and adoptive father that they build a wall around their farm. Fortunately, they had listened to his advice and invested in blue bricks to build a protective wall, which had been in place since last year.
However, seeing his father's happy face, Lu Mingfei had to remind him, "It's just a wall. It can stop ordinary refugees, but I'm afraid it can't stop bandits."
"If those refugees knew we had so many chickens, ducks, and geese in there, they would probably climb over the wall and get in, even at the risk of getting caught."
"...This is possible." After hearing his eldest son's words, Lu Youtian's face showed worry.
Seeing his eldest son's calm demeanor, Lu Youtian knew that he wouldn't say such a thing for no reason, so he asked him, "Do you have any ideas for dealing with this?"
"Well, I have an idea. Dad, please listen to it first." Lu Mingfei said.
"Wait a minute, let's go talk to your godfather." Lu Youtian asked his eldest son not to say anything first, then stood up and motioned his eldest son to go with him.
Before the father and son went out, they said goodbye to the hostess of the house.
After meeting his adoptive father at the pancake shop, Lu Mingfei told his two fathers some of his guesses, ideas and plans.
"You mean that we should take in those refugees?" Lu Qingfeng asked his adopted son.
"Yes. But we don't accept all refugees. We only accept those who come with their families. If the group consists only of young and strong men, we will never accept them." Lu Mingfei said.
Lu Qingfeng thought about it and understood why his adopted son had asked them to take in refugees with their families. Because the group consisted of only young and strong men, these people had abandoned their wives and children. Anyone who could do such a thing was definitely not a good person. On the other hand, a man who could bring his family with him to beg for food was at least loyal and righteous.
"Okay, I understand what you mean." Lu Qingfeng nodded in response.
Seeing that Lu Youtian still didn't understand, Lu Qingfeng explained to Lu Youtian why they wanted to take in families and not single men or young men who lived in groups.
After hearing what Lu Qingfeng said, Lu Youtian suddenly understood.
Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei reminded the two fathers: "When we take in these refugees, we must pay attention to one thing. If anyone among them is sick, we must find a separate room to isolate them and find a doctor to treat them."
"You should avoid direct contact with the refugees. If you do come into contact with them, it is best to wear a mask and gloves."
"Also, during the first month that these refugees are staying, don't let them live or eat with the people in our workshops or farms. It's best to wait a month to make sure they don't have any infectious diseases before letting them come into contact with anyone else. Even for the livestock we raise, wait a month before letting them come into contact with other animals, as some diseases can be transmitted between humans and animals."
Seeing the two fathers looking worried after hearing this, Lu Mingfei told them not to worry, "We have prepared a plan to deal with it, and we won't be infected with the disease."
"As for the time in between, we can let them farm in our village."
"The weather has been bad these past two years, so we should grow something that can be harvested quickly. We can take advantage of the spring to plant two crops of vegetables, harvest them, dry them, and store them as food. Also, plant the chili seeds I gave you. If the harvest is good this year, we can open a hot pot restaurant here in Kyoto Prefecture."
"Okay." Lu Youtian nodded.
Lu Qingfeng looked at his adopted son, waiting for him to continue speaking.
Lu Mingfei looked at his father and said, "Father, I have something else for you to do."
"What's the matter?" Lu Youtian asked.
"I want you to go back to the village and persuade the village chief and our clan leader to send people to the mountains to find a place to move the elderly and children in the village to live in the mountains. It would be best to reclaim land in the mountains and grow seasonal crops." Lu Mingfei did not have this idea now. As early as a few years ago, when he learned that a serious snowstorm had occurred in the north, he had already been making plans for the worst.
The situation this year was happening step by step just as he had predicted, and it was being confirmed one by one, which made the bad premonition in his heart even stronger.
"Otherwise, if these refugees don't leave, the crops we planted will probably be taken away by others before we can even harvest them."
"Okay, I'll go back to the village tomorrow." Hearing this, Lu Youtian's expression became a little solemn.
Lu Youtian was also clear in his mind that with so many refugees coming from outside Kyoto Prefecture, if more of them arrived, it would have a huge impact on their village. It would be better to make plans early, otherwise it would be too late.
That night the three of them talked until dark.
After discussing these things, Lu Mingfei and his father took their people and left his adoptive father's house.
After sending his adopted son away, Lu Qingfeng looked at his wife with some worry.
Xu Yueniang had been busy in the shop up front. When she heard that Lu Youtian and her adopted son had come to the backyard to talk to her husband, she had no idea what the three of them were talking about in the house. Her husband looked like this. "You two were chatting in the house for so long just now. What did you say?"
"I told her about some recent events." His wife was not an outsider, so Lu Qingfeng told her about what he had just said to his adopted son and Lu Youtian, and also expressed his concerns. "I'm afraid that if something really happens, I won't be able to protect you two."
However, when Xu Yueniang heard her husband's words, she smiled and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry about that. What can happen to us in the city?"
"There are His Majesty and Empress in the Imperial City, and there are so many high-ranking officials and nobles in Kyoto Prefecture. If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. As for ordinary people like us, as long as we close the door and live our lives, nothing will happen."
"I hope so." Lu Qingfeng looked at his carefree wife and didn't say any words of worry.
Here, Lu Mingfei returned to the store with his father, said goodbye to his mother, and went back to Chunxi Road with Zhang Qi and a guard sent by Zhao Lang.
On the way back to Chunxi Road that day, they actually encountered a robber.
However, before the other party could make a move, he was beaten up by the guards who followed him.
Looking at the people lying on the ground, Lu Mingfei didn't ask the guards to send them to the government office. "Let's go."
"Brother, why don't you send them to the government?" Zhang Qi asked.
"Don't worry about it." Lu Mingfei shook his head and left with Zhang Qi and the guards. He knew that if he sent these people to the government, they would have no choice but to die. He didn't want to lose several lives over such a small matter.
The few people lying on the ground got up quickly when they saw that everyone had left, and then they rolled and crawled away.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
