Chapter 133 Disaster Relief and Investigation!
A severe drought and locust disaster hit Hebei Road, and the disaster relief money and life-saving grain allocated by the court were used for a large amount of corruption, creating man-made disasters.
The people of Hebei Road fell into a hellish disaster under the ravages of this natural disaster and man-made disaster. There were
many people selling their children and girls, and all the bark and grass roots were eaten up. The ground was full of hunger, and it was a terrible sight!
The road was full of people fleeing famine, each of them was pale and skinny, with torn shoes and tattered clothes, and their empty and numb eyes were filled with despair and the desire to find a way to survive.
However, the road permit system of the Song Dynasty blocked the people fleeing famine at the intersection of every state and prefecture, and they could not get through. Groups of ragged, pale-faced, skinny disaster victims, with their families, old and young, crowded under the inhumane high city walls, begging the city's noble and respected people to feed them and let them pass to other prefectures to escape the famine.
The county officials who had a conscience, with a feeling of pity for the people but powerlessness, took out some of the food stored in the city and built porridge stalls to distribute porridge to prevent too many disaster victims from starving to death.
Each porridge stall was crowded with teams of disaster victims, holding broken bowls and pots, waiting to drink a bowl of porridge with few rice grains in it, or a bowl of thin corn paste that was as thin as soup. This kind of porridge can be drunk twice a day, and it won't starve to death for the time being.
The heartless county officials ate the relief money and grain against their conscience, so how could they bear to spit it out?
The city gates were closed and notices were posted outside the city walls, saying that the county's granary had long been empty and there was no surplus grain to provide relief porridge to the victims. The laws of the Song Dynasty did not allow people to roam outside the prefecture without a pass, so the victims went back to where they came from and waited for relief from the court at home.
Countless ragged victims cried and begged desperately in front of the notice, and the ferocious soldiers and yamen runners drove the victims who had fled here away with weapons and returned to the original route!
When the King of Qin came to the territory of Hebei Road, he saw this miserable scene.
On his first day as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, the emperor ordered him to be responsible for investigating the case of corruption in disaster relief silver and grain.
King Zhao Defang of Qin hated those corrupt officials who ate human flesh and drank human blood without blinking an eye. But he knew that the most important thing at the moment was disaster relief.
With the relief money and food that he had worked hard to obtain, the King of Qin ordered to build porridge sheds in the gathering places of the disaster victims, and all the 200,000 taels of relief money were used to buy food.
The black-hearted merchants who hoarded the food colluded with the corrupt officials and drove up the price of food by more than 30 times. In previous years, the price of food per dou was at most 20 wen, but it was actually raised to more than 700 wen per dou.
The black-hearted merchants, landlords and corrupt officials who made money from the national disaster were eating their fill, so they didn't care about the countless poor people who starved to death.
Among the more than 600,000 disaster victims, 50,000 to 60,000 of the elderly, women and children had starved to death. The corpses on the roadside were all white bones and skeletons without flesh, and the tragic incidents of cannibalism became more and more common.
Qin Wang Zhao Defang knew that by the time the slow officials of the Ministry of Revenue in the imperial court transferred food from Jiangnan, most of the 600,000 disaster victims would have starved to death.
The 30,000 shi of food he had worked hard to get from the Ministry of Revenue would not last for a few days, even if he only provided 600,000 disaster victims with two meals of porridge a day.
Qin Wang got off his horse and inspected the porridge sheds built everywhere to provide porridge to the disaster victims.
In front of each porridge shed
, there were dense queues of people, with ragged clothes, yellow skin and thin faces, holding broken bowls and broken pots, waiting for the life-saving porridge. With teams of Moyun cavalry patrolling back and forth, no one dared to make trouble or rob. The tall and strong men also lined up behind the women and children.
The victims heard that the handsome nobleman walking beside them was actually His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin. They all knelt on the ground, crying out in gratitude.
"Thank you, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin, for giving us porridge to save our lives!"
"The Eighth Sage King, who loves his people like his own children, is here, and we are saved!"
The Prince of Qin, Zhao Defang, did not stop to greet them, nor did he want to say a few lofty words to appease the people.
As long as these simple victims have a meal to eat, they are the hardworking and honest people of the Song Dynasty. But if they are forced to have no way to survive, they will also resist and rebel in anger.
Those corrupt officials and powerful landlords wish to drink their blood dry, so how can they blame these simple people for being forced to rebel by the officials?
The King of Qin was relieved to see that everything was in good order in front of the porridge stalls. He rode with his guards to the worst-hit areas.
The worst-hit areas of this drought and locust disaster were Jizhou, Dezhou, Cangzhou, Yingzhou and other places.
The King of Qin did not stay in Daming Prefecture, but went straight to Yingzhou.
This made the officials of Daming Prefecture, who had already received orders from His Royal Highness the King of Qin to investigate the case and provide disaster relief, feel uneasy.
Not to mention waiting for His Royal Highness the King of Qin to eat at the prepared banquet, they didn't even see the shadow of the King of Qin.
The officials discussed for a long time in fear and panic, and unanimously agreed to take out some food and provide porridge for the victims who fled here.
In order to prevent too many of these victims from starving to death and being blamed by His Royal Highness the King of Qin.
Therefore, as soon as His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin left, the porridge sheds that he had ordered to be built were immediately taken over by local officials. Cartloads of food were transported from the city to continue distributing porridge.
The swift and efficient Prince of Qin Zhao Defang rode all the way to the Yingzhou government office.
The Yingzhou officials who had already received the notice, led by the prefect and the judge, were waiting anxiously outside the city.
In the distance, dust was flying, the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, and the earth seemed to be shaking.
A team of elite soldiers in black clothes and armor appeared in sight, sweeping in like a black wave.
Two thousand elite Moyun cavalrymen surrounded a row of royal flags.
The iron-blooded and murderous aura was terrifying! ...
The King of Qin glanced at the officials who were kneeling on the ground, wearing bright green robes and with rosy faces. He
said calmly, "No need to be polite, please stand up!
Along the way, I saw that the fields were barren, the ground was dry and cracked, and there was no green grass. The refugees were ragged, pale and thin, and there were corpses of people dying of hunger on the roadside.
I didn't expect that you, the parents, were all dressed in bright clothes and had rosy faces. It seems that the nutrition of your people is really good!"
His Royal Highness the King of Qin gave a beating as soon as he met them, scaring the officials of Yingzhou Prefecture so much that their faces turned pale and their official uniforms were soaked with cold sweat!
Liu Jingye, the governor of Yingzhou, was terrified. He got up and said, "Your Highness, Prince Qin, I know that I have failed in my duty in this disaster relief effort.
But this natural disaster is beyond human control, and I have tried my best.
Your Majesty is wise and intelligent, and has extraordinary talents. Your coming to provide disaster relief is a blessing to the common people, and I, your subordinates, will fully cooperate with you. "
Qin Wang Zhao Defang coldly glanced at this hypocritical, black-hearted, greedy hypocrite, but did not continue to reprimand him.
Liu Jingye is a man of great talent and good writing skills. He is a Jinshi and a direct disciple of the powerful official Zuo Xiang Zhao Pu.
After knowing that the Qin Wang was sent to provide disaster relief and investigate the case of corruption in disaster relief silver and grain, he was frightened and uneasy.
In order to save his life, he and Tongpan Wang Ren summoned their subordinates overnight to discuss countermeasures and asked everyone to unify their words.
Liu Jingye once patted his chest and assured everyone! With my mentor Zuo Xiang Zhao Gong mediating in the court, the Qin Wang can't do anything to us. What!
Seeing that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin did not continue to embarrass them, Liu Jingye and the officials secretly wiped their cold sweat and breathed a sigh of relief!
Prince of Qin Zhao Defang saw that the Yingzhou government office was built and decorated in a very ordinary way, simpler than most provincial capitals.
In the middle of the hall, there were tables of prepared banquets with delicacies from land and sea, but the standards of the wine and food were high enough!
In Yingzhou, where nine out of ten houses are empty and there are not many common people, how can they still enjoy such luxury?
Liu Jingye smiled and said respectfully, "Your Highness has traveled all the way, and I have specially prepared a banquet to welcome you. "
Qin Wang Zhao Defang glanced at the several tables of sumptuous banquets in the hall, with no emotion on his face.
He said in a light tone, "Since there are these tables of sumptuous banquets, summon the wealthy businessmen and powerful landlords of Yingzhou Prefecture. I will offer them a good meal."
Yun Yi took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Liu Jingye.
"Governor Liu, this is the list of guests that my master wants to entertain. "
Liu Jingye took it and looked at it. He was familiar with the names on it. They were all local tyrants and wealthy businessmen under the jurisdiction of Yingzhou Prefecture.
Although he didn't know what the King of Qin was up to, he could only obey his orders.
Everyone knew the mission and purpose of the King of Qin's visit, which was to investigate the case of corruption in disaster relief silver and grain.
None of the powerful landlords and wealthy businessmen who were personally invited by His Royal Highness the King of Qin felt honored.
They were all terrified, their hearts pounding like drums, but they dared not not come to the banquet.
If they were ordinary envoys and ministers, they could either use illness as an excuse not to come or just go.
But who is the King of Qin? His Royal Highness the Prince, the Eight Sages King with great military exploits and awe-inspiring power. . No one has the guts to be disrespectful to the King of Qin.
The King of Qin, Zhao Defang, was still as gentle and elegant as jade, and there was no trace of anger on his handsome face.
More than 30 local tyrants and wealthy businessmen were still trembling with fear, as if they were facing the abyss.
Sitting around the sumptuous banquet table, those who had something to hide were all frightened and at a loss.
There were also a few people here who were at ease, but there was no uninvited person on the list.
Liu Jingye looked at His Royal Highness the King of Qin who remained calm and saluted with his fists!
He said cautiously with a smile: "Your Highness, all the people you want to invite are here, and these few are uninvited. They must have come to pay homage to Your Highness because they admire your majesty. "
The King of Qin, Zhao Defang, looked around and explained the mission of this trip without any ambiguity.
"This king has been ordered to supervise the disaster relief work, and I am responsible for investigating the corruption case of disaster relief silver and grain.
Does anyone know about it and would like to report the corrupt thief?
If there is anyone who reports meritorious service, he will be rewarded heavily once the facts are verified."
The officials of Yingzhou were so scared that their faces turned pale, their timid thighs trembled, and their official uniforms were soaked with cold sweat.
The invited guests looked at each other, and kept silent.
The King of Qin smiled faintly, "Since no one is willing to report meritorious service, then this king can only go and investigate it himself.
The reason why I invite you all to the banquet today is that the relief grains from Jiangnan to the disaster area are temporarily unavailable.
I heard that you have a lot of grain in your homes, so I will buy some from you to save the lives of 600,000 disaster victims!"
A wealthy businessman who runs a grain store stood up bravely, bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, how much grain do you want to buy and how much do you want to pay?" The King
of Qin said calmly with a face as warm as jade, "I brought 200,000 taels of relief silver. At the price of 20 wen per bushel, I will buy 100,000 shi first. "
Two hundred thousand taels of silver to buy one hundred thousand shi of grain?
Why don't you go and rob?
The grain price here has been driven up to seven hundred coins per dou by us. Your price of twenty coins per dou is comparable to that of a robber!
Everyone was immediately filled with anger and secretly cursed in their hearts!