Chapter 418 Disaster Victims
"Ms. Wan Ning took the trouble to do this. It's nothing to say that she came up with this idea. After all, I didn't go to the academy for the past two days. I just stayed in my room and was lazy."
Su Qianqian smiled. This false title was of no use to her. Just like the Chief Supervisor of the Imperial Observatory and Young Master Qi, as long as she could use them to gain merit, it didn't matter who did it.
Su Qianqian looked at the system panel last night and was surprised by the extent of the increase in merit power.
Maybe when repairing houses and delivering firewood and food, the merit power did not increase significantly because it was not to save people from danger. However, it has skyrocketed in the past few days. Looking at the several zeros behind the numbers, Su Qianqian is already very happy and would not care who is getting the limelight.
"When Miss Xue is in the spotlight, Miss Xue can't sit still.
It was so cold. If I hadn't accompanied those two boys to practice martial arts, I would not have gone out. However, Second Miss Xue actually brought the servants of the Xue Mansion to deliver porridge to the homes of poor people.
When I met her, her nose was frozen and her face was blue, and she was shivering like a frightened pheasant! Hahaha……"
Qin Yuzhuo described it vividly, and with that devilish laughter at the end, if Su Qianqian had not been convinced that she would not hear the system's voice, she would have thought it was an imitation show.
"The fight between these two young ladies is a good thing as it benefits the common people." Madam Qin said with a smile.
[These people benefited the common people, but our Fifth Young Master devoted himself to the Fourth Miss Zhuang.
In order to meet the fourth young lady of Zhuang, he disguised himself as a laborer and went outside the Zhuang Mansion to clear snow. However, he was met and scolded by Lord Zhuang, who said that the Zhuang Mansion had its own servants to clear the snow, and that since the laborers took money from the government, they should work for the people, so why did they come here!
As a result, the Fifth Master was forced to work with the laborers to clear snow, but he couldn't admit his identity, so he was released after working for a whole day. Hahahaha...]
Qin Family: It is indeed an imitation, not surpassed...
Qin Hanjin was almost frozen when he came back. He finally recovered after eating a full meal and drinking hot tea. When he heard that what he had done was dug up by the system again, his face turned red from the frost that had not yet subsided. Now it was red enough to turn purple.
The third old lady didn't care about her son's life or death, she just wanted to enjoy herself and laughed the whole time.
Mrs. Du secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Su Qianqian finally smiled again.
She had seen soldiers die in the northern frontier, and although she felt sad, she was more likely to let it go. However, Su Qianqian was experiencing such a situation for the first time, and she was inevitably trapped in sadness.
Seeing Su Qianqian's depressed look these days, Mrs. Du did not try to persuade her. She could only let her figure it out herself. Everyone has his or her own mission, and sacrificing one's life to obey orders is the duty of people in the army.
Three days later, the snow in Xijing City stopped and the wind died down.
Emperor Gan De issued an edict exempting merchants and farmers from taxes for three months to make up for the losses caused by the snowstorm. At the same time, he conscripted civilians to clean up and repair the city areas after the disaster. The families of the people who were injured or died due to the snowstorm and could not receive medical treatment in time could receive disaster relief grain and pension silver.
The people were delighted. The Crown Prince and Prince Xiang, who provided relief to the people on behalf of the emperor, were deeply respected by the people for a time, and Prince Xiang stood out among the princes.
However, such praise from the people lasted only four or five days, as the first batch of disaster victims arrived outside the city of Xijing.
Some of them were injured, some were in mourning, and some were dragging their young children, and they all rushed to Xijing City.
The guards on the city gate hurriedly stopped them and reported to the City Patrol, who then hurriedly reported to the emperor. The emperor ordered Duke Xu to bring the Imperial Guards to investigate the details. Soon after, Duke Xu came back and reported:
"These are the mountain villagers closest to Xijing. The snowstorm caused many casualties. Most of them are victims whose houses collapsed and who can no longer live there."
"Why are there disaster victims who have not been warned in advance?" Emperor Gan De's face darkened.
"Perhaps there are disaster victims who have not been informed in time. Your Majesty, rest assured, I have already comforted them. The young master of the Loyal and Brave Marquis's Mansion has also set up a porridge stall outside the city. Those disaster victims are staying outside the city to avoid entering the city and causing panic among the people."
Duke Xu replied in a deep voice.
"They must be properly resettled and no unrest must be caused." Emperor Gan De nodded and gave an instruction.
Duke Xu accepted the order and withdrew.
But on the second and third days, more and more victims arrived outside Xijing City, and Master Qi's porridge stall was overwhelmed. When the hungry victims could not eat the porridge, they angrily attacked the city gates.
"Didn't you say that you have already appeased him?" Emperor Gan De asked Duke Xu in a cold voice. Duke Xu said helplessly:
"Your Majesty, I did comfort the victims before, but later there were too many victims, so I went back to my house to transport rice to make porridge. Who knew that Duke Zhou..."
Duke Xu looked aggrieved, but did not continue speaking.
"How is Duke Zhou?" Emperor Gan De asked.
"Duke Zhou tried to comfort the victims on the city wall, but this only aroused their anger. They blamed Your Majesty for not caring about the safety of the people and only defending the city of Xijing."
He Liansheng had been following Prince Xiang in providing disaster relief for the past two days, and seeing Duke Xu in trouble, he continued.
"Lu Guanlin, He Liansheng, what do you mean by saying this? The victims of the disaster are pouring into Xijing and are very angry. We should open the city gates to let them in and then appease them. Why do we block them outside the city and allow their resentment to grow?"
Duke Zhou was furious and pointed at Duke Xu and He Liansheng.
"Brother Zhongliu, the disaster victims entering the city will cause panic among the people. This matter has been approved by His Majesty. How can Brother Zhongliu blame His Majesty... Your Majesty, please don't blame Zhongliu. He is honest and outspoken by nature, and he has no intention of disobeying Your Majesty's will."
Duke Xu quickly explained on behalf of Duke Zhou.
"Lu Guanlin! Don't be so hypocritical. You should know the consequences of the people's resentment. Why are you encouraging Your Majesty to deepen the resentment of the victims?"
Duke Zhou was furious and rushed to Duke Xu and grabbed the collar of his official robe.
"Zhongliu, why do you have to be like this? We have been friends for many years, and you two are relatives by marriage. Why bother arguing over such a small matter? Just follow your Majesty's orders."
Duke Xuan then stepped forward to smooth things over, looking like a good old man.
"That's right, Brother Zhongliu. You and I serve in the same court, and we are both for His Majesty and the people of the country. If I have done anything wrong, please apologize to Brother Zhongliu. Don't bother about it anymore. You should appease the people first."
Duke Xu bowed his hands tolerantly, which made Duke Zhou seem even more intolerant.
"Well, the Crown Prince has important matters to attend to today. Yun Jin will go over and take a look. Make sure to calm the people's anger to prevent the situation from escalating."
Emperor Gan De impatiently stopped Duke Zhou's rebuttal, turned around and instructed Prince Xiang Li Yunjin, who took the order and went out.
"Where are Marquis Wuning and his imperial city guards? Aren't they guarding the city gate?" Emperor Gan De suddenly remembered that he had not seen Qin Hanzhang.
"Your Majesty, Marquis Wuning did not go to the city gate today, and there were no guards on duty at the city gate. I heard that Marquis Wuning returned to his mansion after retiring from court."
He Liansheng replied expressionlessly.
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