Wu Ge went to Haizhou, while Zhao Huan, Linghu Yunlong and others, prepared to head to Langya County. Before leaving, Zhao Huan almost forgot one thing: when Linghu Yunlong returned to Mingcui Tower, the madam and the two big teapots had been starving in the cellar for three days and were almost starving to death.
In reality, the madam had committed no serious crime; she had merely taken advantage of the famine-stricken victims. When Linghu Yunlong dragged her out, he gave her a cloth bag and said that his grudge against her was over.
The madam had finally saved her life, so how could she dare to argue with him? After Linghu Yunlong left, they crawled to the kitchen and wolfed down their food. Only after they were full did the madam remember the bag. She opened it and was stunned to see that the bag was filled with gold.
A big teapot's eyes widened: "Mom, we are rich! We can buy more girls with this money!"
The madam slapped him in the face: "With so much money, why open Mingcui Tower? We should do some good deeds. Starting tomorrow, Mingcui Tower will be renamed Mingcui Residence, and we'll open a restaurant!"
Later, Mingcui Ju became the largest and most popular restaurant in Pizhou.
The imperial guards escorted the relief grain, and finally the number of starving people along the way decreased. This gave Zhao Huan some comfort.
Thanks to the relief grain Li Haoran sacrificed his life for, Langya County managed to maintain basic survival. Zhao Huan made a fatal mistake: he didn't realize that nine out of ten disasters are plagues. Famines are often accompanied by plagues, and Langya County has also begun to suffer from plague. Zhao Huan regretted not bringing Hua Tuo with him. The victims now feared not food, but plague.
"It's food! Food!"
"The food is here! Everyone, the food allocated by the court is here!"
As soon as Zhao Huan's grain transport team arrived in Langya County, they were surrounded by disaster victims on the street, and people rushed to spread the good news.
The famine had left the victims looking neither human nor ghost. Their clothes were tattered, their hair unkempt, and their faces filthy, like evil spirits from hell.
The convoy stopped outside the Langya County Government Office. Zhao Huan frowned secretly. Li Haoran was so arrogant that he didn't even come out to greet them.
Lu Asan and Gao Er, along with a group of yamen runners and some disaster victims, knelt outside the yamen and shouted "Long live the yamen!"
Langya County now resembles an independent kingdom, unloved by its father and mother. After Li Haoran's death, Han Tiexin, the prefect of Haizhou, seemed to have abandoned the area. In fact, the people there were quite fierce. Han Tiexin once sent a replacement magistrate to fill Li Haoran's vacancy, but he was beaten out by the victims before he could even enter the county seat.
Afterward, no one dared to take up office in Langya County. Fearing a major incident, Han Tiexin hesitated to charge Langya County with treason. Thus, shrouded in famine, Langya County practically became an independent kingdom. Fortunately, under the management of yamen runners Gao Er and Lu Asan, and thanks to the gratitude of the disaster victims for Li Haoran's kindness, Langya County remained relatively untroubled.
"Gao Er, where is Li Haoran?" Zhao Huan said with a cold face.
Gao Er raised his head, his face covered in tears: "Your Majesty, please help County Magistrate Li!"
"Your Majesty, please help Lord Li!" All the people knelt on the ground, crying inconsolably.
Zhao Huan was shocked: "What's going on?"
Gao Er wiped away his tears. "The relief grain from Langya County was so late, the people were starving to death. County Magistrate Li had no choice but to take the disaster victims and force the wealthy families in Langya County to hand over the grain. He then wrote IOUs to those wealthy families. Later, when life became unbearable, County Magistrate Li took us to rob the Haizhou granary. The Haizhou governor, Han Tiexin, wanted to charge the disaster victims with rebellion, but County Magistrate Li took the blame alone to avoid implicating everyone else. In the end... just..."
Zhao Huan asked in surprise, "What happened?"
Gao Er sighed, "County Magistrate Li refused to be humiliated and committed suicide!"
Zhao Huan was shocked and angry. He turned his horse around and rode away.
Nangong Lian'er was shocked: "Your Majesty, where are you going?"
Zhao Huan angrily said, "I will go to Haizhou and skin Han Tiexin alive!"
Cao Dongsheng and Linghu Yunlong rushed forward to stop the carriage: "Your Majesty, calm down."
Cao Dongsheng followed suit, saying, "Your Majesty, the Haizhou case was definitely not the work of Han Tiexin alone. It's definitely related to the grain transport envoy Liu Yu. It would be better to investigate the corruption and abuse of power against these individuals before sentencing them."
"I don't care! I'm going to kill them all! Kill them all!" Zhao Huan was extremely angry.
Seeing Zhao Huan's rage, no one dared to persuade him anymore and could only look at Nangong Lian'er. Now she was the only one who could persuade Zhao Huan.
Nangong Lian'er said softly, "Your Majesty, please look at the people of Langya County. We should first resettle them. We can't let the court let the people here down again."
Zhao Huan got off his horse and looked at these disaster victims whose clothes were torn and who looked like neither human nor ghost. They seemed to have no flesh on them except for their skeletons. They looked more like a group of walking zombies.
Some of the children who managed to survive had large bellies. Zhao Huan knew this was due to ascites caused by malnutrition, which made them look distended. Because starving children don't get enough protein, their livers lack the raw materials to synthesize albumin. This reduces the amount of albumin in their plasma, lowering the plasma's colloid osmotic pressure. This leads to ascites, causing their bellies to swell. Their bellies are actually full of fluid.
Zhao Huan could no longer hold back his tears, and he fell to his knees, wailing loudly: "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry to the people of Langya County!"
The emperor knelt before the people, something that had never happened in any other dynasty. Zhao Huan did it, and even after kneeling, his guilt remained undiminished.
Zhao Huan was puzzled and used some measures to govern officials and fight corruption. In particular, the establishment of the Tiger Court had indeed achieved very good results in the capital.
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