In the study of Wu Mansion.

Zhao Hao was shocked by Wu Shilai's appearance. He had blisters all over his mouth, sunken cheeks, and dark circles under his eyes, as if he had been playing mahjong all night for ten days...

"Uncle, don't you want to sleep a little longer?" Wu Kangyuan asked Wu Shilai, who was yawning, while making tea.

"I won't sleep anymore. We have to go to the palace for a banquet later." Wu Shilai asked Zhao Hao to sit down and said jokingly, "Every year at this time, the Minister of Imperial Households will be greeted by all the officials. Your elder brother is lucky. He actually escaped."

Zhao Hao knew that it was a tradition of the Ming Dynasty for the emperor to grant a banquet to ministers, officials, and envoys from vassal states on New Year's Day.

It is said that there were more than 2,000 people attending the banquet. It was such a cold season, and after all the officials went through the red tape, the dishes naturally became cold. They felt uncomfortable after eating, and they cursed the Guangluqing's mother...

After wishing Uncle Wu a happy new year, the two chatted for a while and Zhao Hao turned the topic back to the beginning.

"Uncle just mentioned refugees, what's that about?"

"Hey, look at the fire on me." Wu Shilai pointed to his mouth full of blisters and said, "It's all caused by them."

"Weren't they all driven out of the capital?" Zhao Hao asked in confusion, "I saw that the shacks on both sides of the road were completely demolished."

"The city is peaceful, but outside the city is in chaos. Shuntian Prefecture governs the seven counties and five states in the capital, not a small place like the capital. We have to take care of the chaos outside the city as well." Wu Shilai smiled bitterly, took a sip of strong tea to refresh himself, and explained to Zhao Hao:

"The reasons why the imperial court is clearing out refugees this time are quite complicated, so I won't go into details. But no matter what, the refugees will not understand the difficulties of the imperial court. Many of them have actually found jobs in the city. Although the money is not much, they can at least make a living..."

Zhao Hao nodded. There was a very important reason why the people of the Ming Dynasty abandoned their homes on a large scale. As refugees, they did not have to pay taxes or perform labor service, and there was no levy from the government.

In this way, they only need to earn a small amount of money to support their entire family.

For many people who were unable to survive due to the heavy taxes, the benefits of being a refugee allowed them to overcome the pain of leaving their homes.

"As a result, the imperial court took a one-size-fits-all approach and drove all the people out of the capital, but they didn't want to go home." Wu Shilai sighed and continued, "So they wandered around the towns outside the capital, causing a surge in thefts, robberies, and murders."

"Didn't the two ladies and the eldest princess set up a porridge factory near Baiyun Temple, and people from all walks of life in the capital donated money enthusiastically? Won't a single refugee starve to death?" Just as Wu Shilai was reserved in his words to Zhao Hao, Zhao Hao would also not tell him everything.

"It's just that we won't starve to death..." Wu Shilai's tired face showed a trace of compassion, "But people like you and me have to celebrate the New Year, and refugees also have to celebrate the New Year!"

"..." Zhao Hao froze there for a moment, as if he had been struck by lightning.

"They are also fathers, husbands, and sons. It's ok for the whole family to live on porridge on weekdays, but when the year is coming to an end, who wouldn't want to buy a firecracker for the child? Want to improve the living conditions of the elderly? Want to let the wife have a hair flower to wear?" Wu Shilai said with tears in his eyes:

"The court doesn't allow them to make money with their own hands, so they take their anger out on the people outside the capital, stealing, cheating, and even robbing in groups!"

Wu Shilai had suffered in Guangxi for more than ten years, and he understood the people's thoughts better than ordinary officials.

But the more I understand, the more miserable I am than those officials who are muddle-headed and obedient...

"In the capital, stability is the most important thing. Those who dare to commit crimes during the New Year will naturally be severely punished by the court. The jails in Shuntianfu, Wanping, and Daxing counties are already full, and more than a dozen boards have been broken... Of course, there are criminals who deserve to be punished. But most of them are just ordinary people who are forced to steal."

He now deeply regretted that he had not urged Xu Fan not to expel the refugees in a one-size-fits-all manner.

But both Wu Shilai and Xu Fan believed that after the refugees were driven out of the capital, if they did not want to starve to death or freeze to death, they had to quickly go to the lower prefectures and counties such as Liangxiang, Gu'an, and Xianghe to make a living.

The capacity of the county towns below is limited, so the refugees can only disperse and even go to Baoding, Tianjin and other farther places to survive. In this way, the relief pressure on the prefectures and counties is not great, and the difficulty of control is greatly reduced. By the spring of next year, they can all be repatriated to their hometowns.

Of course, some people would die on the way back and forth, but with nearly 200 million people in the Ming Dynasty, how could there not be thousands of people dying every day?

In Xu Fan's opinion, as long as the problem can be solved, this cost can be completely ignored...

But neither of them nor Lord Xu had expected that the two ladies and the eldest princess would actually take the lead in providing relief, and they even raised nearly 100,000 taels of charity, which was basically enough to ensure that the refugees would not starve to death.

Who would dare to embark on a journey of life and death in the ice and snow? Hundreds of thousands of refugees were stranded outside the capital, and changes that the rulers had not expected occurred...

~~

Forbidden City.

In the corridor outside the three rear halls, the eldest princess sat in a phoenix sedan chair carried by four eunuchs, preparing to take her two children home to catch up on some sleep.

Last night, the mother and her two daughters stayed in the palace to keep up with Emperor Longqing and his family to celebrate the New Year. They were busy until four o'clock in the morning.

The mother and her two daughters took a short rest at the Queen's place, and as soon as the palace gates were opened, they hurried home to catch up on their sleep.

The princess was sitting in the sedan chair yawning, when she suddenly heard Liu Shanggong beside her whispering, "The imperial concubine is here."

She rubbed her eyes hastily, lifted the curtain and looked out, only to see a phoenix sedan of the same specifications slowly approaching from the opposite side.

The princess thought to herself: "It seems that she has just brought Zhu Yijun to pay her respects to the emperor..."

She quickly took a deep breath to drive away the fatigue from her face, making herself radiant again.

Then the princess ordered the sedan chair to stop by the roadside and asked Li Chengen and Li Mingyue to get out and wait for Concubine Li's phoenix chariot to arrive.

After a moment, the two phoenix carriages met in a corridor formed by high vermilion walls.

Concubine Li's sedan also stopped, and then the two ladies opened the curtains at the same time, revealing the cordial smiles of a family.

"Your Majesty, congratulations on your new birthday, and may you have a long and prosperous life."

"Your Highness, congratulations on your New Year's Day, and may you have a long and prosperous life."

It's a pity that we can't call each other aunt and sister-in-law...

The eldest princess' sister-in-law is Empress Chen, but Concubine Li is not considered as such.

After Li Chengen and Li Mingyue also wished Concubine Li a happy new year, the princess smiled and asked:

"Her Royal Concubine, have you just returned from the Palace of Heavenly Purity?"

The two of them sat in their respective sedan chairs, chatting softly about family matters.

"Yes, I took Yijun to pay New Year's greetings to His Majesty. This child could not even recite a few auspicious words with much difficulty, which made me nervous..."

"How could that be? Children are cute no matter what they look like." The eldest princess looked into Concubine Li's sedan chair.

"Your Highness, are you looking for Yijun?" Concubine Li said with a smile, "If he was in the sedan chair, he would have been clamoring to play with his cousins ​​a long time ago."

"Oh, Your Majesty left Yijun behind?" The eldest princess was slightly surprised. Today was the New Year's Day court meeting, so His Majesty didn't have the time to coax the child.

"Yes, His Majesty said that he would bring him to the court and let all the officials and foreign envoys meet Yijun." Concubine Li couldn't help but smile with joy, her voice sounded like the chirping of a magpie:

"They also said they were going to announce the appointment of a crown prince. I think they are a little hasty, but how can a woman like me get involved in such a national affair? I dare not say a word..."

When the princess heard this, the smile on her face froze for a moment, and then she said happily:

"Really? That's great!"

After a moment of surprise, the eldest princess hastened to offer her most sincere, warmest and joyful congratulations to Concubine Li.

He smiled again, listened to the woman who was about to go crazy with joy talking for a long time, and then agreed to come to celebrate her another day, and then said goodbye to Concubine Li.

When the curtain of the sedan chair fell, the smile on the eldest princess's face also melted away...

ps. Fourth update, thanks to the new leader '十里飘飞的', thank you for your support, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~