Chapter 609 Five catties of locusts and one catty of rice
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"Master Liu, we have arrived at the Governor's Yamen of Xiaguan. Please get out of the car, Master Liu!"
The carriage slowly stopped. Liu Mingzhi got out of the carriage and frowned as he stood in front of the carriage and performed a low-level hand gesture. Tong and Wu were going too far.
Although he is an imperial envoy and a senior official, he is not so lowly.
"Guide the way!"
"Master Liu, please come in!"
"Young Governor, there is no need to be so polite. Excluding the name of Imperial Envoy, you and I are both third-grade officials. In terms of age, you are also my senior. If you are too humble, I will not be happy!"
"Master Liu, please don't be offended. My colleagues and I thank Master Liu from the bottom of our hearts for rescuing Qingzhou from the siege. Otherwise, we officials in Qingzhou will never be able to get ahead."
Liu Mingzhi nodded imperceptibly towards Song Qing. Song Qing slowly fell behind everyone by about half a step, and finally gradually disappeared behind the last Qingzhou official.
Song Qing had two tasks this time. One was to find Chang Yunfeng's traces. He clearly sent him to open a warehouse to stock grain, but Chang Yunfeng, who was carrying the Golden Dragon Emperor's order, did not appear.
The second step was to send people to pick up people like Qiao Changjing from the People's Court for questioning.
Liu Mingzhi glanced at the officials who were nodding and bowing: "Colleagues, do you know where these bandits are imprisoning your family members?"
"Replying to Master Liu, our family members are locked in the cellar in the backyard of Qingzhou Governor's Mansion. Just now, the governor has quietly ordered people to rescue them. Thank you, Master Liu, for your concern!"
"That's good, that's good. You adults have worked hard for the country and the people. If your family members are harmed again, I will have uneasy conscience!"
"Your Majesty is benevolent and righteous. The police will send my colleagues' families over later to thank you for your life-saving grace."
"It doesn't have to be like this. I have been ordered to mobilize all military and political affairs in Qingzhou. It is my duty to save the people from the fire and water. The top priority is to deal with the locust plague first."
"Master Liu, please take a seat!"
While talking all the way, we finally arrived at the lobby of the Governor's Yamen.
"Hey, Lord Tong, please take the seat. You are the master of the Governor's Yamen. How can I overshadow the guest?"
"Master Liu, please don't refuse. You are promoting the imperial envoy from Qingzhou to come to Qingzhou on behalf of my emperor. How can I dare to take the seat while you are here to serve as an official? It's better for you to invite me."
"Yes, yes, Lord Governor, what you said makes sense. Lord Liu, don't be polite. Please take a seat."
"We invite Mr. Liu to take a seat."
Liu Mingzhi looked at the many officials with a faint smile: "Since all my colleagues admire me so highly and then reject me, wouldn't it be disrespectful to praise me? In this case, I will not be polite."
Liu Mingzhi put down the imperial seal and sat at the head of the hall: "Come here, prepare chairs for all of you."
"Thank you, sir, for the seat."
Liu Mingzhi drank the tea brought by the yamen and glanced at the Qingzhou officials who were divided into two groups. There were only about ten or twenty people with seats, and the rest of the people wearing green official robes mostly stood aside in a reserved manner.
"Comrades from Qingzhou, I have been ordered to provide disaster relief. Since disaster relief is here, let's make a long story short and focus on controlling the locust plague. What do you colleagues from Qingzhou think?"
"My lord is wise."
"Where is Qingzhou Governor Shi Xingrong?"
"The official is here!"
Liu Mingzhi looked down at Qingzhou Governor Sitting on the ninth chair and wearing a light red official robe: "Since the traitor Gu Zhiheng has been executed, Qingzhou cannot be leaderless. From now on, Qingzhou Governor will temporarily take over the position of governor of Qingzhou."
"ah?"
"What? Mr. Xing is not happy?"
"I am willing, thank you Master Liu for your trust!"
"This is the trust of the Holy Emperor and the trust of the people. Don't neglect your duties, otherwise there will be many people in Qingzhou who want to be in this position. Whether you, the chief historian, can be promoted to the position of governor depends on your ability!"
"Yes, yes, I am confused, I will definitely not slack off in Qingzhou affairs!"
"The governor of Pi, the governor of Pi, will also serve as governor for the time being!"
"Thank you, sir!"
"Qingzhou Prefecture has submitted the list of disaster situations in each state, and I want to take a look at it."
Tong Hewu nodded: "Send the situation in your states to Master Liu for review!"
Jiang Lei consciously walked down and began to collect books one by one and put them on Liu Mingzhi's desk: "Master Liu, please take a look!"
"kindness!"
Liu Mingzhi gently flipped through the books on the desk, his brows becoming more and more furrowed as he read.
Qingzhou suffered about 10,000 casualties, and the other states had at least 2,000 or 3,000 casualties.
The total number exceeds about 30,000 people. How many people are there in each state of Qingzhou Prefecture? The prefectures and counties are even sparsely populated. Qingzhou is now in a state of severe distress.
This is only within a month, and Liu Mingzhi is not sure whether the record is authentic.
There is insufficient time, and for the time being, we can only rely on these recorded accounts.
"Chief Commander Tong, the locust plague in Qingzhou is so serious. Why did you give two discounts beforehand and then there were no follow-up discounts?"
Liu Mingzhi took out the memorial given to him by the emperor and put it on the desk: "Now the number of people affected by the disaster in Qingzhou exceeds 30,000. What you wrote in this memorial actually says that you can live and work in peace and contentment. Are you guilty of the crime of bullying the emperor?"
"
"Lord Liu, it is clear that this official has never been in trouble since he was imprisoned."
"How many White Lotus Sect can break into Qingzhou City and kidnap the governor of a government? What do the tens of thousands of garrison troops in Qingzhou Mansion do for food? In the final analysis, it is you who have neglected your duties and your hometown has been raided. How dare you stand here and say something?
Loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and good at shepherding the people?"
A large group of Qingzhou officials all knelt down: "Master Liu, please forgive me. We were negligent when we went out to provide disaster relief. We were kidnapped by a traitor who suddenly appeared. We had to obey the order of the traitor. The traitor Bai Lian said.
Well, if one person refuses to obey, ten people will be killed, and if ten people refuse to obey, hundreds of people will be killed. We have no choice but to bear the humiliation and bear the heavy burden and let the White Lotus Cult manipulate us. We are unworthy of the great trust of His Majesty the Five Emperors. Please punish Master Liu!"
"Punishment? More than 30,000 people were killed and injured. Let alone punishment, your death is not a pity. However, when Qingzhou Mansion is upright in employing people, it is understandable that you were held hostage. Your crimes will be postponed to trial for the time being!"
"Thank you, Mr. Liu, for your kindness. We know our mistake and will make amends as soon as possible!"
Liu Mingzhi held up the imperial envoy's seal: "All civil and military officials from Qingzhou Prefecture, from the governor to the ninth-grade clerk, obey the order."
"Please give me your orders!"
"You will return to the area under your jurisdiction as soon as possible, straighten out the internal affairs of the state capital, clear out the remnants of the White Lotus Sect in the city, and immediately open a warehouse to release grain to help the victims. If there is anything missing, you can find a place to bury it yourself!"
The officials of Qingzhou Prefecture looked at each other before nodding hesitantly: "We obey the order."
"Remember the rules of giving porridge, two thin and one thick. When chopsticks float up and people's heads fall to the ground, if you dare to bully me when I am young and interfere with it, and do some fancy tricks, don't blame me for sacrificing his head to the flag to comfort the three of you.
The soul of all people in heaven!"
"Yes, I will definitely not dare to disobey this!"
"Disaster relief, disaster relief is one thing. Relying only on the grain stored in the state treasury and the grain allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs is nothing more than a drop in the bucket. From now on, we ordered the people in the city to drink gruel. After the victims with sufficient physical strength went out of the city to catch locusts, they came to the Governor's Yamen to replace them.
Grain! Five pounds of locusts and one pound of rice!"
"Ah? Catching locusts?"
Tong Hewu looked at Liu Mingzhi anxiously: "Master Liu, locusts are the punishment of the Locust God. If you make the Locust God angry, I'm afraid the people will have nothing to gain next year!"
"Yes, please take back your life, Mr. Liu!"
""
Liu Mingzhi was stunned: "Anyone who dares to disobey will be executed."
"yes!"
"This is the case in all state capitals. People affected by the disaster have been ordered to catch locusts if they want to drink porridge. Five pounds of locusts per pound of rice must be redeemed on the spot at the Governor's Yamen!"