Don't reject me
Without the obstruction of the flood, the thoroughbred horse was finally able to play its role.
The horses galloped like the wind, bringing news to Qingzhou City that the imperial court had opened its granaries to distribute grain.
Fu Zhiqiao also breathed a sigh of relief. The spring crops in Qingzhou City and several surrounding counties had all failed. There was no grain to harvest or store in the first half of the year. The grain she had stockpiled was for brewing wine and could not be used to help the disaster victims.
When the people heard that disaster relief funds and grain were coming, their hope for life was rekindled.
"Great! This is really good news. I never want to sleep on the floor again."
"Once the disaster relief funds arrive, my house will be able to be repaired."
"Once the disaster relief funds arrive, I'm going to buy a brood of chicks to raise. I can't even remember the last time I tasted meat."
Everyone was cheering.
Great! Finally, we'll have a place to live!
Great, at least I don't have to worry about going hungry anymore!
In fact, most people are easily satisfied. A bowl of hot porridge can bring tears to their eyes, and a bowl of rice can make them feel happy.
Now that the imperial officials have arrived, Fu Zhiqiao sees no need to distribute porridge anymore. She announces that this will be the last bowl of porridge they receive today.
Soon, after the initial joy, everyone's mood turned to melancholy. Looking at the little bit of porridge left in their bowls, a sense of reluctance suddenly arose in everyone's hearts.
Why do I feel melancholy when we're about to escape this predicament of not knowing where our next meal will come from?
Perhaps because they had shared hardships together, the disaster victims felt a deep sense of gratitude towards Fu Zhi Qiao over this period of time. They knew that the white porridge they had been eating these days was donated by this young lady Fu.
Without Miss Fu, they would only be able to drink rice porridge and eat tree bark, or they would have starved to death long ago.
After the last pot of congee was distributed, Fu Zhiqiao and her team packed up the pot racks and other items in preparation for leaving. The disaster victims spontaneously came over to help with the packing.
The old man, accompanied by his grandson, approached her. "Miss Fu, please accept my bow."
As he spoke, he bowed deeply.
Fu Zhi Qiao tried to stop him, but before she could finish, the disaster victims behind the old man bowed in unison.
"Miss Fu, please accept our bow."
Fu Zhi Qiao silently withdrew her hand. She stood still, while thousands of people bowed to her in gratitude.
At that moment, she couldn't describe the feeling in her heart.
The food wasn't produced in vain, the effort wasn't wasted... But saying all that is too superficial.
If I hadn't helped, would so many people have survived?
The answer is no.
So it was all worth it.
*
After distributing porridge, Fu Zhiqiao became thoroughly famous in Qingzhou.
Although becoming famous was not her original intention, she was still happy to see the Taibai Wine Shop become a topic of conversation.
Unlike the disaster victims outside the city, many people in the city only found out on the last day that the food distributed at the city gates over the past few days was provided by her.
“Miss Fu lives in the same alley as me. I thought the Fu family was just a little rich, but I didn’t expect her family to be so wealthy.”
"I know that Miss Fu is the owner of Taibai Wine Shop. Those 100,000 catties of grain were what she planned to use for brewing wine. The disaster victims outside the city are too pitiful. Miss Fu couldn't bear it, so she took out her own savings!"
"More than 100,000 jin of grain were delivered just like that. Boss Fu's boldness is truly no less than that of a man!"
"Yes, we owe her a lot this time, otherwise who knows how many more people would have starved to death."
Yinxing bought dried fruit on the street, listening intently to the praise for her daughter. She returned home with light steps, saying, "Daughter, everyone outside is praising you!"
Fu Zhi Qiao twitched the corners of her mouth, telling Yin Xing not to get carried away, "Alright, I know, just be more composed."
Knowing that her daughter had the ability to remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of her, Ginkgo didn't care. She hummed a little tune to herself, like a happy little bird.
After Qin Zhao arrived in Qingzhou, he discovered that his relative by marriage, the governor of Qingzhou, Zhou Wenxian, was not in the city. He found Li Wenkang and asked, "Where is the governor?"
Li Wenkang replied, "The governor has not yet returned from his southern tour."
Qin Zhao knew that Zhou Wenxian was not in the city, so he gave up and then passed on the order to open the granaries and distribute grain. He also learned about Fu Zhiqiao's donation of grain for disaster relief and made a special trip to meet her.
Qin Zhao, the Vice Minister of Rites, was Zhou Miaosi's future father-in-law, and Fu Zhiqiao certainly knew him.
"Greetings, Lord Qin."
"The flood was devastating, and we are so grateful for Mr. Fu's generous donation." Qin Zhao bowed to her with his hands clasped in greeting.
Before meeting Fu Zhi Qiao, Qin Zhao thought she was a woman of a certain age, but he never expected her to be such a young woman.
Fu Zhiqiao accepted Qin Zhao's greeting with great grace.
"I will certainly report Mr. Fu's righteous act to the court truthfully."
"Thank you, Lord Qin."
Throughout the entire process, Fu Zhi Qiao remained completely calm, which further elevated Qin Zhao's opinion of her.
Since Qin Zhao arrived in Qingzhou, Li Wenkang has relinquished power. With the opening of granaries in various counties of Qingzhou, the daily meals for the disaster victims have increased from one bowl of porridge to two bowls.
After filling their stomachs, the disaster victims joined the soldiers in clearing the silt. Qin Zhao also sent skilled water conservancy craftsmen out of the city to inspect the condition of the dikes, formulate a construction plan, and lead the disaster victims to begin rebuilding their homes.
The imperial envoy from the capital is truly exceptional; everything is arranged flawlessly.
With the help of the imperial court, the disaster victims finally recovered.
The problems of the disaster victims have been initially improved, but the problems that followed were the people in Qingzhou City. Most of their surplus grain had been exhausted, and they could no longer afford to eat grain at the current price.
The floodwaters have receded, and the roads for transporting grain are slowly being reopened. It's really unreasonable for grain prices to remain so high.
Qin Zhao summoned major grain merchants in the city to discuss the matter. He wanted to persuade them to lower the price of grain, but the merchants were unwilling to give up the substantial profits that were about to be made.
The saying "merchants pursue profit" is perfectly embodied in this group of merchants.
All the grain merchants in Qingzhou City and the surrounding area united as one, with only one goal: to resolutely refuse to lower prices.
After several days of deadlock with the grain merchants without any progress, Qin Zhao was also having a headache. He was there to deal with the disaster, but what the merchants sold and what prices they set were not really under his control.
The grain of the entire Qingzhou was in the hands of these grain merchants. Qin Zhao could neither kill nor arrest them; he was truly at a loss.
Three days later, in the evening, Xie Zhuo brought the disaster relief funds into the city.
Qin Zhao personally went to greet him: "General, you must be tired from your journey. I have arranged accommodations and meals for you. Would you like to rest for a while before continuing your journey..."
"I'm fine, disaster relief is the priority," Xie Zhuo interrupted him.
Qin Zhao took over the disaster relief grain and silver brought by Xie Zhuo, and told him about the progress of his disaster relief efforts during this period. He also mentioned that grain prices in the city were so high that people could not afford rice and flour.
Xie Zhuo's brows remained furrowed ever since he heard about the grain merchants' actions.
It's understandable for businessmen to pursue profits, but to be so stubborn and obstinate in the face of matters of principle, and to take advantage of the national crisis to make a fortune, is truly unforgivable!
Since the soft approach isn't working, let's try the hard approach.
Without saying a word, Xie Zhuo led his troops to block the city gate. Under the pretext of guarding the city gate, they checked people entering and leaving the city. As long as they found that it was a grain merchant's group, no matter how big or small, they were not allowed to enter the city.
You want to sell at a high price? I'll just cut off your source of goods and see who's more anxious then!
The common people do not fight with officials, and the rich do not contend with officials.
Grain merchants are not unaware of such a simple truth; rather, they are used to being arrogant and domineering in their own spheres of influence, like local bullies.
But this time they ran into a brick wall.
When it comes to toughness, Xie Zhuo has never been afraid of anyone in his life.
Under his intervention, grain merchants faced restrictions everywhere and finally realized that Xie Zhuo was no ordinary official, and that the methods they had used in the past were no longer effective against him.
Thanks to Xie Zhuo's swift and decisive actions, grain merchants dared not raise prices arbitrarily anymore, and grain prices gradually fell back from eighty wen per jin to forty wen per jin.
Because the imperial court's disaster relief grain was only distributed to those whose homes were destroyed, other people had to find their own ways to fill their stomachs, so it was impossible for grain prices to return to their original levels overnight.
Considering the enormous manpower and resources required to transport the grain to the disaster-stricken areas, the grain merchants couldn't afford to operate at a loss, so Xie Zhuo simply turned a blind eye.
*
After resolving the troubles in Qingzhou, Xie Zhuo still needed to make a trip to Yuzhou for disaster relief.
The night before he was to leave for Yuzhou, Xie Zhuo arrived at Fu Zhiqiao's door as usual.
The candle was still lit; she hadn't gone to sleep yet.
Looking at the tightly closed doors and windows, Xie Zhuo felt as if needles were pricking his heart.
Before the two had any conflicts, Fu Zhi Qiao would leave the doors and windows open for him. As long as the doors and windows were open, it meant that he could freely enter and leave her house.
But that's not possible now.
After much hesitation, Xie Zhuo decided to knock on the door.
"Who is it?" The door opened with a series of footsteps.
Yinxing opened the door, and she was surprised: "Young Master, what are you doing here?"
Having just emerged from the tense and busy disaster relief environment, Fu Zhi Qiao hadn't done anything during this time, just relaxing as much as possible. Right now, she was engrossed in reading a thick storybook.
She was a little surprised to see Xie Zhuo come to her door.
Their eyes met, and there was something indescribable in each other's eyes.
Yinxing had left at some point, leaving only the two of them in the room.
After a moment of silence, Fu Zhiqiao spoke first: "Did things go smoothly?"
It was no secret that Xie Zhuo was cracking down on grain merchants.
Xie Zhuo nodded.
After entering the room, his gaze remained fixed on Fu Zhi Qiao's face. Apart from no longer being close to him, Fu Zhi Qiao's attitude towards him was no different from before.
This made Xie Zhuo even more upset.
It seemed as if there was an invisible wall between him and her.
Just like now, they are in the same room, but it's as if they are in two different worlds, able to see each other but unable to touch each other.
The atmosphere became awkward again.
Xie Zhuo took out a seven-tailed phoenix hairpin from his pocket and handed it over.
Fu Zhiqiao squinted slightly to see the style of the phoenix hairpin.
The nine-tailed phoenix hairpin is a symbol of the empress, while the seven-tailed phoenix hairpin is a style that only members of the royal family can wear. As a commoner, she was not qualified to wear the seven-tailed style.
"I cannot accept it."
Xie Zhuo's gaze was deep. "A Qiao, this is a coming-of-age gift for you. Please don't refuse me, okay?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
