Before the snow disaster, for future convenience, Xie Changshi had Gu Yuzhi buy the house. The old servant, wanting to befriend the Wen family, handed over the silver notes to the Wen Family Escort Agency.
Because it was a light escort mission, Qi Chenglang set off alone on a fast horse. He carried not only the old servant's silver notes but also ten thousand taels of silver notes given to him by Chief Secretary Xie, instructing him to act according to circumstances. If he successfully connected with Consort De, he should not waste time and should directly purchase the medicinal herbs on the list from Imperial Physician Qin.
Xie Changshi did not explicitly say how to act according to circumstances, and Qi Chenglang did not think much about it either. He figured things would work themselves out, and if all else failed, he would still have his elder brother.
On a day off after Qi Chenglang had been gone for half a month, Gu Yuzhi dressed early and prepared to take a carriage to the outskirts of the city to experience the snow and ice. Most importantly, he wanted to take Xueye out for a stroll.
After winter set in, Xueye's weight increased dramatically. Gu Yuzhi had been wanting to take it out for a while, but just when they had already planned the route, Prefect Qi's visiting card arrived.
Gu Yuzhi was sitting on Xue Ye's lap, hugging her neck, and asked in a muffled voice, "Did Prefect Qi say anything?"
He hasn't been out of the manor for a long time, so hopefully Prefect Qi just wants to ask Chief Secretary Xie for help with a small matter...
"Prefect Qi said he would like Your Highness's assistance with some matters concerning the resettlement of refugees." Chief Secretary Xie closed the visiting card. "Would Your Highness wish to summon him?"
Gu Yuzhi pouted and climbed off Xue Ye: "Xue Ye, you should ask a guard to take you out. I'm afraid I won't be able to leave today."
The matter concerned the resettlement of refugees, and it certainly couldn't be resolved in a short time. In the northern desert, it gets dark very early in winter, so Gu Yuzhi could only watch helplessly as he followed the guards into the carriage and went to the council hall with a pout.
"Your Highness." Prefect Qi quickly bowed, and before Gu Yuzhi could speak, Prefect Qi knelt down and kowtowed, "Please, Your Highness, help this humble subject and save the people of Changzhou from their suffering!"
Gu Yuzhi scratched his head: "How can I help? Aren't the refugees almost all settled?"
He looked up at Chief Secretary Xie and saw that Chief Secretary Xie looked unwell, blinking his big eyes at Prefect Qi. Could it be that something had happened again in the past few days?
Prefect Qi was almost in tears: "Refugees from other prefectures have come from afar after hearing that the refugees in Changzhou have been properly resettled. The number of refugees outside the city is increasing, and I dare not open the city gates at will. Li Ji Trading Company has used this as an excuse to raise grain prices again, and the people in the city are full of complaints. I am asking you to find a way to drive the refugees away."
Gu Yuzhi blinked as he looked at Prefect Qi, while he heard Manager Wen's angry voice: "Your Highness, I suspect that the resettlement of refugees in Changzhou was publicized by Li's Trading Company. Li's Trading Company must be retaliating against Prefect Qi for embarrassing the people in front of them."
"The people in the city are unaware of the truth and will not blame Li's Trading Company for the problem. After all, it was because Prefect Qi strictly guarded the city gates that the caravan's transportation was inconvenient and it was difficult for them to enter and leave."
Hearing what Manager Wen said, Gu Yuzhi looked at the figure of Prefect Qi lying down and felt a pang of sadness in his heart: "But I don't know what to do either."
He looked at Chief Secretary Xie and saw that Chief Secretary Xie looked serious, clearly not having come up with any good ideas either.
Prefect Qi looked up at him and said, “Your Highness, I have heard that your escort agency has been recruiting people. I think that there are some children who have lost their parents outside the city, about seven or eight years old, who are at the perfect age to learn martial arts. You could take in some of the boys. Also, there are very few escorts in the agency who can carry out escort missions. There are quite a few young men among the refugees. You could arrange for them to join the agency. As long as they can keep up with the training of the escorts, they can start carrying out escort missions sooner.”
He licked his dry, cracked lips as he spoke, knowing that what he was saying was unreasonable, but he was desperate. Otherwise, why would he have asked the young prince for this difficult problem?
Chief Secretary Xie's face immediately darkened: "Prefect Qi, do you know what you're saying? You should know His Highness's situation better than anyone. By saying this, aren't you putting His Highness in a very difficult position? Do you know that after going to the disaster relief site, His Highness has had a high fever for several days since then..."
Prefect Qi bowed even lower, his eyes red with tears: "I know, I know! But I have no other choice! The relief grain won't arrive anytime soon, and the number of disaster victims outside the city is increasing every day. I cannot watch the people outside the city starve to death! Please, Your Highness, save the people outside the city!"
Chief Secretary Xie flicked his sleeve: "Your Highness's escort agency can take in people, but how many? There's still more than a month of winter left. Even if the land thaws, these people will have no homes. How will you settle them?"
Prefect Qi wiped his sweat: "This is what I'm thinking. As long as Your Highness is willing to accept children and able-bodied men, I can arrange for a peck of coarse grain to be allocated from the granary to the escort agency every day. As for the other able-bodied men, I've already made them into patrol teams, serving as the refugee gathering point outside the city every day. After the land is civilized..."
Prefect Qi's eyes flickered: "Those who have truly lost their homes can go to Xinliang to help His Highness reclaim wasteland."
Chief Secretary Xie was almost amused by Prefect Qi's words: "Prefect Qi, you have such nice words, that young and strong men can follow the escort agency to do escort work. Aren't you trying to shift the danger of the refugees onto His Highness?"
Shu Xiaohan couldn't help but scoff, "This Prefect Qi is truly cunning and shrewd, taking advantage of our young prince!"
There are many other wealthy merchants in Changzhou City, so why doesn't Prefect Qi ask them for help? Isn't it because he thinks the young prince is too young and easy to bully?
Gu Yuzhi's gaze darted back and forth between Chief Secretary Xie and Prefect Qi, and he saw Prefect Qi shudder in fright at Chief Secretary Xie's light laugh.
Prefect Qi blushed deeply at Xie Changshi's words and sighed, "I admit I have such selfish motives. But Changshi should also consider His Highness's perspective. His Highness's fiefdom needs people to cultivate the land and farm, and it also needs population to maintain the operation of the entire city. If His Highness were to step forward now and take in these refugees, leaving a good impression on the people of the northern desert, wouldn't it be much easier for His Highness to recruit people to cultivate the land next year?"
Gu Yuzhi's eyes lit up, and he felt that what Prefect Qi said made some sense.
When the land was being cleared in late autumn, Prefect Qi had said that it was difficult to recruit people, after all, the northern desert was vast and sparsely populated...
He looked at Chief Secretary Xie expectantly. Chief Secretary Xie understood as soon as he saw him and hesitated, saying, "At this critical moment, you're asking the Wen family to step forward and take in the refugees, which means pushing the Wen family to the opposite side of Li's Trading Company. But isn't it a bit inappropriate to give them only a bushel of coarse grains a day?"
Prefect Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief and straightened his knees slightly: "Then, according to Your Highness and the Chief Secretary's opinion, what else can I do?"
Chief Secretary Xie smiled and said, "Next year, Prefect Qi will arrange for people to repair the official road from Xinliang to Changzhou for the corvée labor in Changzhou."
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