Following Zhu Yunwen's instructions, Magistrate Li quickly invited the local gentry and wealthy people over.
These gentry and wealthy people were naturally unwilling to come, because under these circumstances, they were the only ones living relatively comfortably in the entire Hukou County.
Anyone who wasn't an idiot could figure out that the magistrate's visit at this time was definitely not a good thing.
However, he couldn't refuse the magistrate's request, since even though he was a gentry and a wealthy man, he was still staying on someone else's territory.
Such blatant disrespect will cause trouble if the county magistrate tries to make things difficult for them in the future.
Soon, all these gentry and wealthy people arrived at the county government office. Zhu Yunwen was not disappointed; the county magistrate had actually invited five gentry and wealthy people.
Three of them are local super-rich businessmen with immense wealth.
Another example is an official who once came from this place, and after retiring from officialdom, he returned to his hometown to retire.
The last one can be considered a prominent family, with some powerful nobles in their ancestors, who are said to have even held titles.
They have declined in status, but even in their decline, they are still considered a prominent family in Hukou County.
These five gentry and wealthy individuals were already among the most prestigious and highest-ranking figures in Hukou County.
Even though the drought in Hukou County caused the people to lose their crops, it did not have a significant impact on these gentry and wealthy people.
Or rather, for the residents of Hukou County who are relatively well-off, the impact is not significant.
After all, wealthy people can always find ways to buy food; the ones who truly suffer are the ordinary people who have neither money nor food.
In normal times, when there are no natural disasters or man-made calamities, they can barely make ends meet. But once a natural disaster or man-made calamity occurs and food becomes scarce, they will go hungry.
Currently, with this famine, almost no one outside the city can escape the fate of starvation.
Even though there was a little food stored at home, it was almost all eaten up in the past month.
Most ordinary people in the city were also slightly affected. They dared not eat much food on a regular basis, and when the disaster struck, they used their savings to buy food.
Of course, such actions will only intensify the people's fear of the remedy and exacerbate the food shortage.
Hukou County has a total population of nearly 300,000, of whom 200,000 were affected by the disaster, 100,000 were forced to leave their homes, and another 100,000 were barely surviving in the city.
Speaking of which, Hukou County is a very large county in western Shaanxi.
In fact, there are quite a few truly wealthy people in such county towns.
Zhu Yunwen simply chose to target the gentry and wealthy. Once the gentry and wealthy were taken down, the other common people with money and grain would naturally be no problem.
The magistrate prepared a rather ordinary meal and wine in the back hall of the county government office.
There was meat on the table, but almost no rice, noodles, vegetables, or other staples.
Because of this natural disaster, some meat can actually be obtained.
Five people, all gentry and wealthy individuals, sat around the table, their faces solemn.
Those who have risen to the status of gentry and wealthy individuals must possess considerable ability and intelligence.
Realizing that the magistrate's visit was not for anything good, they put on a good show, preparing to start crying pitifully if the magistrate asked them to make a donation.
One of the fat men was particularly outrageous; despite being a well-known local tycoon, he was drooling as he looked at the table full of food.
That's truly admirable.
After the magistrate came out, he did not sit down. He greeted the men with a cupped-hand salute, and then began to speak:
"I did not invite you all here today."
An elderly man who had once served as an official stood up and said:
"What do you mean by that, Lord Li?"
Magistrate Li said, "Lord Zhang, to be honest, I am the third grandson of the current emperor. His Highness Zhu Yunwen entrusted me to invite you all here for this gathering."
Upon hearing this, all five gentry and wealthy men showed expressions of shock.
The old man was even more excited and said:
"His Highness Zhu Yunwen, the third grandson of the current emperor? Oh my, I never expected that His Highness would come to our humble Hukou County. It truly brings honor to our county!"
Another middle-aged gentryman, whose ancestors had held noble titles, spoke up:
"Lord Li, where is His Highness the Imperial Grandson?"
Magistrate Li smiled and said, "Please welcome Your Highness, the Imperial Grandson."
Zhu Yunwen led Zhao Qingzhu out slowly from one side.
He smiled, appearing rather reserved, and bowed slightly to the five gentry and wealthy men, saying:
"Gentlemen, I have been waiting here for quite some time!"
The five men hurriedly prepared to kneel and bow, but Zhu Yunwen stopped them, saying:
"I invited everyone here today, so please don't stand on ceremony!"
Everyone smiled and nodded, but they still seemed very reserved, after all, the person in front of them was Zhu Yuanzhang's grandson.
Although Zhu Yunwen's reputation in the capital was not good, Hukou County was quite far away, and gossip from there was unlikely to reach here.
After Zhu Yunwen had everyone sit down, he sat down himself and then said seriously:
"As you all know, the disaster situation in Hukou County is quite severe!"
Upon hearing this, Old Master Zhang realized something was amiss and said:
"Is His Highness the Imperial Grandson here on orders to deal with the disaster?"
Zhu Yunwen smiled and said, "You could say that. Alas, I had no choice but to accept this difficult task."
As you all know, I have never been well-liked by the civil and military officials in the court, and my grandfather, the Emperor, doesn't like me very much either.
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