This winter is extremely cold. Except for the grain, oil, charcoal and other shops that have remained open at the request of the court, other shops have been operating for three days and drying their nets for two days. They open when the weather is fine and close when it snows too heavily.
The situation was similar for Su Ji and a series of other shops until the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, when the Chinese New Year was just around the corner. Many shops remained open even if the snow was up to a depth of one or two feet covering the door sills, so that people could come to buy New Year's goods and prepare for the Chinese New Year.
Su Yanli is not a local official now. Although he holds a high position, he is in the Ministry of Justice after all. Handling cases is urgent and not urgent at the same time. Because the weather is too cold, except for particularly serious cases involving human lives or court secrets, the rest are basically handled according to the simplest procedures and either settled or delayed until the weather warms up after the New Year.
So this winter, whether it was the newlywed Su Ruojin or Su Yanli's family, except for going on duty, they basically stayed at home, away from the living circle of poor people in and around Bianjing City.
It was not until the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month that news came that the people were rioting and the entire capital was under martial law. Only then did the Su family realize that hundreds of people had frozen to death in the slums of the capital in a short period of time. They ranged from newborn babies to elderly people in their seventies. It was a horrific sight.
Su Ruojin and Zhao Lan went to her parents' home to deliver New Year gifts. Their carriage was stuck in traffic, and they realized how severe the snowstorm outside was.
"Alan, this isn't the area you're in charge of!"
Zhao Lan shook his head, "I applied to live outside the city a long time ago." Ever since his wife suggested that the capital's army clear the way for merchants, he applied to live in a small town near the capital. Recently, he has been leaving early and returning late, and sometimes he can't make it back in time and has to stay in the town.
The weather was cold, and Su Ruojin stayed at home and didn't care about anything. She really had no idea what it was like outside.
Because of the unexpected snowstorm, in addition to the normal operation of institutions, special measures were taken to deal with the disaster. The children of the noble families of Tianhuang were assigned to different regions to assist regional officials in handling various incidents caused by the snowstorm, from small tasks like finding people to help the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled go up to the roofs to sweep the tiles and plug the earthen walls that were leaking snow and wind, to big tasks like distributing rations to poor people and finding midwives for women who were about to give birth. No matter how big or small the matter was, as long as Emperor Jingyuan could think of it, he would ask people to do it at the court meeting.
As a result, from the 23rd to the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, the coldest five days, hundreds of people died in the slums.
Zhao Lan and Fusu Ruojin got off the carriage and squeezed into the crowd of rioting common people. The imperial city patrol stopped a group of people heading towards the imperial palace.
Su Ruojin whispered to the old man beside her, "What are you doing..."
The old man was shivering with cold, but he still replied, "Go to the Imperial City and play the drums."
Dengwen drum?
Su Ruojin was shocked and knocked on the drum at the gate of the palace, but he had to be beaten with a stick first. Only if he could survive it would he have a chance to complain. If he couldn't, his life would be in vain.
The middle-aged man standing in front of the Imperial City Office had a face full of anger and grief. "I've heard that the ladies have been collecting money and materials for us poor people. Tomorrow is the New Year's Eve, and the officials in the North City Office and the alleys are greedy for our food and firewood. Neighbors, let's go to Jingzhao Prefecture to ask for an explanation..."
As soon as he said this, there was a lot of cheering from the back.
"Yes, go to Jingzhao Prefecture..."
"Your Majesty cannot let us starve to death..."
"I don't believe that His Majesty doesn't care. These rats must have coveted our food and clothing..."
…
Su Ruojin asked, "Then who was the slum area in the north of the city assigned to?"
Seeing that the people's emotions were about to get out of control, Zhao Lan did not reply to his wife. Instead, he took her hand and turned away, asking Santai to take a detour.
Logically speaking, as a prince, Zhao Lan could have stepped forward to take charge of the situation if he had encountered it, but he avoided it.
Why?
He turned around the street where the commotion was happening before he replied, "Huo Yu."
Huoyu is the fire-fighting agency of later generations, which is the professional fire brigade in the city of Bianjing.
The fire corners in the slums in the north of the city are not as likely to be burned as those in other areas. Even if there is a fire, what will be burned are just simple shacks made of reeds and wooden boards, which are not worth much money. Therefore, the fire-seeking team members sent here are basically the unfavored children of aristocratic families. They are extremely irresponsible and it is not surprising that they do not rescue when there is a snowstorm.
But Zhao Lan avoided it, and Su Ruojin still felt something was wrong, and asked in confusion: "You are causing trouble so blatantly, aren't you afraid of the emperor...?"
Zhao Lan curled his lips and said, "The person in charge of Huoyu in this area is a member of the family of Duke Xie."
Su Ruojin took a deep breath. The Queen's family? No wonder Zhao Lan wanted to avoid it. (End of this chapter)
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