Chen Rongyan left his confidants to wait on him, and Zhu Biao also sat down directly. Nearly fifty thousand shi of grain was by no means a small amount. There were a lot of livestock needed to transport, and packing and loading was even more troublesome.
Zhu Biao drank tea for more than an hour before Chen Rongyan came back sweating profusely and reported that 70% of the grain had been loaded onto the truck, and the rest could be completed tomorrow.
After all, some grains have not yet arrived, and there is no stock even if they want to load them. Even though Han Zheng ordered that all the grains from the shops and granaries under the names of corrupt officials and their cronies be shipped over, some of them are scattered in Huaiqing after all.
among the counties.
Zhu Biao did not intend to stay in Fucheng for long, so he changed into light clothes, then got on the carriage with the Chen family's mark, and went straight out of the city gate. A few miles away from the city gate, he saw cars flowing like water and donkeys like dragons.
Of course, there were also cows and horses, but Zhu Biao saw more donkeys and even sheep. He didn't know whether they were carrying heavy loads or serving as food reserves.
Of course, more guards are needed, but that makes sense. After all, we are going to a drought-stricken area where there are swarms of victims. Without guards, let alone selling food, I am afraid that we will be robbed naked before we reach the disaster area. If we are poor, we will be robbers and bandits.
Wise words.
After setting foot on the official road, the queue was quite long due to the narrow road. Zhu Biao's chariot was walking in the front section, which was also the place where the government army guards focused on guarding. Although armor, firearms and strong bows and crossbows, which were prohibited to be taken by the people, could not be taken out.
But you can still carry swords, guns and sticks in your hands.
Moreover, firearms, bows, and some lightweight leather armors were hidden under the grain and the bottom of the vehicle frame. Once an unexpected situation occurred, some people would risk their lives to cover it, while the others could take out their equipment and restore their combat effectiveness.
What's more, Wang Shijian never lost contact with him that time. The group of soldiers who protected Wang Shijian were essentially to protect Zhu Biao, and would return immediately to provide assistance if necessary.
After the two sides kept a safe distance, they started the boring march again. Except for Chen Rongyan's absolute confidants, everyone thought that Zhu Biao was a young man from the master's family, but he was from a bad background, so they wanted to come and practice for the future.
Take over the family business.
As for the hundreds of forbidden guards, they all come from the military at first glance. After all, they know the level of the nursing home trained by the family. Zhu Biao also knows that this cannot be hidden. After all, they have to get along day and night, and the Chen family's guys are not
Silly, everyone is clever.
So Chen Rongyan was asked to let out a little bit of news, saying that he was a guard of the noble family, and that the sudden extra food belonged to the noble family. The Chen family was just helping to sell it, and there was no explanation for the rest.
But this is enough. The city is so big. Ever since the emperor came, they have seen the downfall of those high-ranking officials. Naturally, they also know that this is the food in the grain store under their name, but now it is suddenly handed over to them.
They sell it, and you can tell the secret behind it as soon as you think about it.
What's more, they knew exactly who the master was messing with, and they often brag about it when drinking. This time they all believed that this was the prince's business, and the Chen family was just following orders. No wonder the master specially sent a young master.
.
Thinking about this, everyone looked so proud, and their spirits were different. Before setting off, I was worried that the court would prohibit merchants from going to the disaster area to sell grain at high prices. If they were caught, they would be punished severely, but now they are not afraid at all.
Looking at the other obscure food caravans on the road, it’s like looking at shit.
Zhu Biao was also quite happy when he saw it. Sure enough, self-attack was the most deadly.
After walking for a few days, we approached Pingyang Prefecture, and there were more and more victims on the official road. Old and young, pushing heavy belongings and leading slender children, walked step by step on the road under the sun, looking at the food team with longing eyes.
Naturally, there are those who are desperate and kneel on the roadside begging for food, and there are also those who know that they can't stand it any longer and hope that the caravan can take in their children, even if they are to serve as slaves in the future, it is better than starving to death on the roadside.
Some caravan bosses will really carefully select the ones who are good-looking, but those who are crooked and crooked will not be selected. Even if they are regarded as cattle or horses, no one will want them.
There are even caravans that specially come to select such children, intending to take them back to Jiangnan and other places and sell them directly to wealthy brothels. They even select more handsome boys than girls. After all, prostitution is prevalent.
Zhu Biao and Han Zheng rode on horseback and looked at the people on both sides of the road. Before they even arrived at the disaster area, Zhu Biao saw more than a hundred dead bodies along the way. Basically, they were picked up naked and thrown by the roadside by the people who came after them.
Villages along the way were also closed to each other. The young and strong people gathered together and drove away the refugees with hoes and forks. Even if they couldn't bear it, they would not let them enter the village to beg for food. The refugees who were beaten to death by the villagers in the fields were not even aware of it.
How many are there.
It's all for a mouthful of food, and it's all about life. No one dares to be soft-hearted. The government will not care about the refugees who were beaten to death for stealing food. After all, the government's order is that the disaster-stricken people are not allowed to leave their places without authorization and wait for the government to provide relief.
It wasn't that Zhu Biao didn't order some food to be distributed to the refugees who couldn't survive at first. He just spread the word from one to another. Yesterday, there were more than 200 refugees following the caravan.
In the end, Zhu Biao was ruthless and asked the guards to disperse them. More than 40,000 shi of food sounded like a lot, but if it were divided like this, it might be used up before reaching the disaster area.
It doesn't matter if the natural grain is used up. It's not like Zhu Biao is really making money from this. It's just that these grains are the key he uses to break into the group of corrupt officials. Now being soft-hearted can only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, and it will also expose his
identity, in the end more people will die due to wasted time.
There were people dying in front of him, but there were definitely more people dying in the disaster area. Zhu Biao looked a little ugly. Even if he read the report a hundred times, he still wasn't as shocked as he was after seeing it with his own eyes.
Zhu Biao understood more and more why his father hated corrupt officials so much. It was because they had lost their humanity and did not treat the common people as the same kind.
Animals still have the heart to grieve over the death of rabbits and foxes, and have the heart to hurt their own kind. But when corrupt officials see this, they only want to line their own pockets and take advantage of the chaos and disorder of people's livelihood to make a fortune from the national calamity. Their thoughts are to be punished, and their actions are unforgivable!
Zhu Biao carefully calculated the disaster relief food allocated by the court last night. Even if it was 20-30%, it would be enough for disaster relief. It was impossible to feed the victims, but it was more than enough to maintain their minimum living needs.
After all, droughts are foreboding. In the late Yuan Dynasty, droughts, floods, and locust plagues occurred frequently in the past few decades. The people and the court had already experienced this. In addition, Zhu Biao borrowed grain from the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. It was indeed rare that the grain for disaster relief was sufficient.
Zhu Biao even allocated more funds than local officials requested, just to save more people.
