If there is a good official, the people can still survive. If the local official is corrupt and greedy, the victims can only rely on themselves if they want to survive. How cruel is it to eat one's own children? However, it is a bloody fact that happened in history.
Therefore, Su Nuannuan was more concerned about this matter than court officials like Duan Tingxuan and Long Pingzhang. Sure enough, after hearing her words, the young marquis and Lord Long were both stunned, and then they both straightened their faces. The young marquis said in a deep voice: "Nuannuan is right, which makes me feel ashamed. Then let's abandon the carriage and ride directly on horseback."
Long Pingzhang hesitated and said, "It's okay for me, but my sister-in-law and Xiu'er..."
Before he could finish, Su Nuannuan said, "No problem for me. Although I can't ride a horse, I can dress up as a man and ride with Tingxuan."
Chu Xiu also said firmly: "When I was five years old, my hometown also suffered a disaster. During that drought, my mother argued with someone over a piece of bread and was beaten and eventually died. Brother Niu, I can also dress up as a man and ride with you."
"Okay, let's do it." Duan Tingxuan made a prompt decision. Even though he was worried about the victims because of Su Nuannuan's words, the young marquis couldn't help but feel a little secretly happy when he thought about galloping on horseback with his beloved.
This time, there were continuous heavy rains in southern Liaoning, and many areas were affected by the disaster. After Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuannuan arrived, they found that the disaster situation was more serious than they had imagined, so they immediately got busy. They didn't even have time to visit the Duke Ping and his wife at Niutou Mountain dozens of miles away. They just found out that the place was relatively safe, so they didn't care about it anymore, but started to rush around among the government officials and the people in various places.
"The officials here are quite capable. After all, the area outside the Great Wall has always been regarded as a wild and barbaric land. Although the emperor is planning to open a customs office in Jinzhou, it will take two or three years. Therefore, most of the officials assigned here before were Jinshi candidates who had no connections. These people have relied on their own efforts throughout their lives. Most of them are capable officials with responsibilities and brains. Otherwise, the situation would be even worse."
Long Pingzhang and Chu Xiu were sitting outside the Jinzhou government office, looking at the pale-faced common people kneeling or sitting on the streets. When he heard Chu Xiu complain about the officials' ineffective disaster relief, he gave an explanation.
"Why are there so many disaster victims? Why don't they open the warehouses to release grain?" Chu Xiu was still angry. Her mother died because of grain. So she was particularly sensitive to this issue.
"Why open the granary? The civilian granaries have already been used up. Now we are using military rations. How much grain do you think can be stored in such a wild place? Besides, most of the people here are nomads outside the Great Wall, and they seldom farm. Tax grain is not enough. We can use military rations to maintain the situation now, and wait for the imperial court to send us relief grain. Even if people will die, we can keep things under control. If we open the military granary completely, the people will only care about eating. They will be forced to take the grain or even rob it, and more people will die. Xiu'er, you don't understand. This granary is everyone's hope. As long as there is hope, there is still hope."
On the other side, Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuannuan were also sitting on the steps. However, they were discussing another issue. Su Nuannuan was more knowledgeable than Chu Xiu, and had a clearer grasp of the people's mentality. So she would not complain about the local government. What made her feel strange was that in her memory, the Northeast Plain was a very famous granary. How could Duan Tingxuan say that the grain here could not even be self-sufficient?
The young marquis had to explain his wife's question with love and patience, but the problem was: he really didn't know that the Northeast Plain was a granary.
So he humbly asked, "Nuannuan, why do you say that? I've never heard that the land in the Northeast is rich, how can it be a granary? Five or six hundred years ago, Suzhou and Hangzhou were the granaries of the world. It was not until three hundred years ago that Lingnan was finally developed and the saying 'Huguang is well-fed and the world is well-fed' came into being. But I don't know when Liaodong became known as the granary of the Northeast?"
Su Nuannuan traveled all over the country in her previous life, but this did not mean that her geography grades would be good. In fact, she only knew that the three major plains in the northeast were famous grain-producing areas, especially the Sanjiang Plain and the Songnen Plain, but where should these places refer to? What should she do if she gave all this knowledge to the geography teacher?
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Duan Tingxuan said in a deep voice, "In recent years, as most people in the south have changed their land to plant mulberry trees, the amount of money collected by the state has increased every year, but the amount of grain has decreased. The emperor had previously wanted to force the large landowner families in the south to grow mulberry trees and grain, but unfortunately this policy encountered many obstacles. Later, with the lifting of the sea ban, a student who had traveled to Ryukyu, Luzon and other places submitted a memorial two years ago, saying that the land there was rich and vast, and because of the abundant sunshine and warm weather, crops could even be harvested three times. The emperor then turned his attention to the south. Do you remember what I told Tingye last year, telling him not to worry about having no place to spend the money? I plan to save enough money and immediately send some capable people to Luzon and Ryukyu and other places to buy a lot of land. You also said that there are many fruits and crops in those places, and there is also a kind of rubber, which is particularly powerful. If we can get it, it can even promote the development of the entire world in the future."
After listening to Duan Tingxuan's words, Su Nuannuan realized that since Duan Tingxuan knew her identity, she had unknowingly told him so many things that he didn't know.
Without any hesitation, she held her husband's hand and whispered, "Now that you've said this, it makes me sober. You know my biggest secret. What else can I say? But I don't know much about the situation in the Northeast. I just want to ask you, do you know the Songhua River?"
"Songhua River? You mean... Yazi River? When I was young, my teacher told me that there is a Yazi River in the far north. It is very wide and vast. Although it is not as long as the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, or the Grand Canal, it is also very long. It is the largest river in the north. The locals also call it Songhua River. Is this what you are talking about?"
"Yes, yes, that should be it." Su Nuannuan was excited and tightened her grip on Duan Tingxuan's hand: "Then you must know Heilongjiang, right?" Thank God, although they were two different time and space, the geography and history had not changed much, otherwise she would have been really confused.
However, her joy was quickly extinguished by the young marquis, who asked in confusion, "Heilongjiang? What is that? Is it another name for the Songhua River?"
"Oh my god." Su Nuannuan put her head on her knees, but a word immediately popped up in her mind. She quickly raised her head, grabbed Duan Tingxuan and shouted, "Do you know about the Nurgan Dusi? The Jurchens' territory still belongs to our Great Seal, right?"
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