"The most prodigy in the world from Emperor Zun Pavilion?"
"As expected, he has a dignified appearance and a majestic and upright appearance."
Among the people in remote areas, the influence of Emperor Zun Pavilion even exceeded that of the imperial court.
After Fang Jue helped the old man up, everyone else also stood up.
"Master Fang, please make the decision for us!" Someone shouted from hiding in the crowd, not daring to show his face easily even at this time.
"Please make the decision, sir!" everyone agreed.
"These profiteers have sold rice that usually costs one liang or one stone at more than 2 taels per dou, which is a difference of more than twenty times. They should have been punished long ago!"
"Even if you make so much dirty money, you won't be able to sleep without worrying about it!"
Fang Jue said: "Don't worry, the court will definitely give you an explanation."
"Master Fang is really Master Qingtian!"
Before I could do anything, someone was already calling me.
They hope to meet a Master Qingtian who can give them justice.
Turning his head, Fang Jue looked at the rice shop owner and said calmly: "Call Chu Huairen."
"Sir, someone has already called." The shopkeeper had already fainted from the pain, and the person who spoke to him was a boy.
It turned out that when I heard the word "young master" just now, the young boy had already got the idea and went to call someone.
No one can stop such a scene, except Mr. Chu himself.
During the waiting period, Fang Jue was not idle. Instead, he invited the old man who had helped him up and ordered two chairs to be set up.
"Old sir, you must be very aware of the situation since the city was destroyed in Suzhou, right?" Fang Jue asked in a warm voice.
Lin Bei and the deputy general, who were a little further away, looked at each other, feeling like they were not trusted.
They have already reported these situations, but why did the young master still ask this old man?
Seeing the two of them looking like this, Bai Qing rolled his eyes and said, "What are you doing standing there in a daze? Why don't you ask someone to bring the old gentleman a bowl of water?"
"Ah?" Lin Bei was slightly stunned.
The deputy general nodded: "Oh oh oh, I got it, I'll go right away..."
"You don't have any sharp eyesight at all. How did you manage to become a third-grade military attache?" Bai Qing looked at Lin Bei in confusion.
Along the way, we got to know a few of them very well, so it was okay to make some joking remarks.
Lin Bei said with a smile: "Our military attachés in Daxia only care about military merit and loyalty, and don't care about people's sophistication, unlike you in Western Chu."
"..." Bai Qing choked instead.
By the time Cheng Jie handed a bowl of water to the old man, the old man had already finished explaining the current situation in Suzhou.
Fang Jue kept nodding, and it was indeed more detailed than what Lin Bei reported.
Although the Yulin Army is in charge of the overall situation of Suzhou, the details are still not as well known as the local people.
"Come on, old gentleman, let's drink a bowl of water to moisten your throat before we talk." Cheng Jie tried to speak as gently as possible.
But his sudden appearance still startled the old man who was entranced by his thoughts.
"Thank you, sir." The old gentleman took the water flattered and glanced at the general's armor cautiously.
Military attachés can recognize grades by their armor.
Fourth-grade military attache...
He immediately realized that this should be the deputy general of the Yulin Army, and the one in the distance over there should be the third-level general.
"It's okay, no thanks, haha..." Cheng Jie had never been so grateful before. He scratched his head a little embarrassed, turned around and walked away.
The old gentleman took a sip of water, placed the bowl on an empty stool beside him, and continued:
"Young master, I don't know. Suzhou has been doing well in the past few years. It has not suffered any major disasters. There was no need for this calamity."
"Unexpectedly, the Northern Liang Army suddenly attacked. The defenders fought and died, which is worthy of our Suzhou people."
"What's hateful is that the Northern Liang army took away money and food before leaving, and burned everything they couldn't take away... If my family hadn't hidden some food, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to see me, old man."
Since the Suzhou disaster, the most starved to death are the elderly.
If an old man can survive to this day, it can be seen that he is not simple, which is why Fang Jue directly asked him for questions.
Fang Jue said: "The number of people counted by the government is probably not accurate. Does the old gentleman know how many people have died so far?"
When officials count victims of disasters, they usually like to lower the numbers in order to whitewash the situation, cover the eyes of superiors and control public opinion.
The Yulin Army is not the defender of Suzhou, and many situations are not known so clearly, so it is only then that it is necessary to ask this question.
The old gentleman shook his head: "No one has calculated it...but there are already over a thousand corpses piled up in mass graves outside the city."
Over a thousand...
Fang Jue felt his heart twitch.
It was just a number, but I saw a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
This was still the result of the Northern Liang Army, and there was no mass killing. If they had intended to massacre the city, I am afraid that less than a thousand people would have survived in Suzhou.
"This is just the main city of Suzhou..." Fang Jue frowned.
After all, the people in the city of Suzhou live better than the people outside the city. Even they don't have any surplus food, and the peasant tenants are even more difficult.
In the entire Suzhou territory, at least tens of thousands of people have died because of this!
Not counting the defenders in Suzhou and the dead and injured officials from government offices at all levels.
"If this continues, the roads in Suzhou will be frozen to death..."
Listening to the old gentleman's helpless emotion, Fang Jue said: "Old gentleman, don't worry, the imperial court has already shipped grain from Ganzhou, and it will arrive in Suzhou in two or three days at most."
"Two or three days..."
The old man was overjoyed at first, and then smiled bitterly: "How many people in Suzhou are starving to death, the walls of the City God's Temple have been stripped off and eaten, and some people have even exchanged family members who have starved to death..."
The words were not finished, but Fang Jue already understood.
"In two or three days, hundreds more people will die..." The old man couldn't help crying.
Fang Jue clenched his hands and glanced at the north.
Luoyang!
Even though it is an enemy country, the people are innocent after all. In order to damage the reputation of the imperial court of Daxia, they resort to such unscrupulous means.
He suddenly regretted that he did not shoot Luo Yang directly when he bowed before the formation that day!
"Old sir, I will order the Northern Chamber of Commerce to open a warehouse later. You can take the words back and everyone can come to the city to eat porridge. If someone at home is too hungry to walk, officers and soldiers can follow and send some porridge back."
Fang Jue said.
At present, the food in Suzhou City is not enough to be manufactured randomly, and it has to be distributed carefully, so Fang Jue does not plan to release food, but can only give out porridge.
"Seriously?" The old man couldn't believe it.
He was a knowledgeable person after all, and said: "Master Young Master, I heard that there are high-ranking officials from the capital behind this Northern Chamber of Commerce. Can you defeat him?"
The common people are so simple and are very strict with corrupt officials, but they are also afraid that the officials who are petitioning for the people will do anything wrong.
They are not hostile to officials, but most of them eat nothing and even eat meat for the common people, which cannot make them sympathize with them.
"Old sir, I also have friends in the capital." Fang Jue said with a smile.
The old gentleman immediately nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay... That's great, I'll go back and tell them right now!"
The old man was not going to say any more, because he saw on the other side, Chu Huairen, who was surrounded by a group of bodyguards and thugs, finally arrived belatedly.
"Old sir, please come back. We will start serving porridge at noon today." Fang Jue signaled, and soldiers from the Yulin Army immediately stepped forward and sent the old man back to the crowd.
Fang Jue then turned around and looked at Chu Huairen and others who were stopped by Bai Qing.
He walked over and said calmly: "Who is Chu Huairen?"
Chu Huairen bent down, stood up carefully and said: "Master Young Master, the common people are..."
After taking a look at this person, Fang Jue felt that he had a standard profiteer smile and a face that was so acerbic that it could be called a template.
With just one glance, Fang Jue waved his hand and said, "Take it."
"Zheng——"
Lin Bei stepped forward with his sword. This time he rushed very quickly, not wanting to be beaten first by Bai Qing every time.
Since we are all in one party, we have to show ourselves in front of the young master.
"Take it!" Lin Bei shouted, and Cheng Jie led his people forward, tightly surrounding Chu Huairen and others.
The group of escorts were a little surprised and at a loss. The people did not fight with the officials, and the scholars did not fight with the soldiers.
They are just the bodyguards of the escort agency who are just making a living, not Chu Huairen's dead soldiers.
However, there was a loyal boy who saw Chu Huairen being directly held back by his backhand and shouted: "It's unjust, sir, my master is unjust!"
"Unjustly accused!" Chu Huairen was surprised for a moment and didn't react, so he shouted quickly.
But Fang Jue wanted to capture him in public, saying: "You designed to prevent the imperial court from providing food for disaster relief. You took the opportunity to rush to Suzhou, swallowed up the accumulated wealth, and enriched the country's wealth... Actually, a bushel of rice was sold for more than 2 taels, and the living expenses increased by more than 20 taels.
Times, what injustice can you say?"
"What?" the crowd exploded.
"He also blocked the court's disaster relief team?"
"No wonder I said he was so anxious to sell for big money. It turned out that he knew that the court's disaster relief food was coming."
"It's really abominable, such a person should be executed prematurely!"
But even so, Chu Huairen was still arguing:
"Your Excellency, you are wrong. I have completed all the procedures and have the qualifications to sell grain. The cost of traveling all the way is too high. Selling grain at high prices is really helpless..."