In the first year of Xianheng, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong, and there was no rain for several months. Even though it was late autumn, God was still extremely stingy. There was not even a drop of rain, there was not even a cloud in the sky, and the hot sun was burning.
The earth has dried up, the ponds have dried up, the creeks have dried up, and even the Bashui River that always gurgled in the past has dried up and bottomed out. The earth has cracked open countless criss-crossing cracks, like openings waiting for food, countless
The victims of the disaster had to leave their hometown where their ancestors had lived for generations with their families and embark on the road of immigrating to other places. Fortunately, the officials in various places have received the imperial decree and not only arranged manpower to maintain order, but also came forward to organize many local wealthy households.
The porridge relief along the way finally managed to keep most of the victims alive, but even so, there were still many weak people who collapsed on the way, so it was so miserable.
"Your Highness, please rest for a while. We are about to reach Lantian territory ahead."
Since passing Hangu Pass, Li Xian's face has become uglier day by day. He Xuan's smile in the past can no longer be seen, and he speaks very little. He only focuses on rushing on the road, even when he is resting.
He just stared silently at the refugees who were passing by. The pain caused all the guards to remain silent. No one dared to disturb Li Xian easily. Only Jiang Ye still had such courage.
After galloping for several hours, seeing that it was almost noon, Jiang Ye caught up with Li Xian and asked tentatively.
"Go to the inn!"
Li Xian glanced at Jiang Ye and replied in a hoarse voice. His face was still ugly. This was not because Li Xian deliberately acted like he was pitiful, but because he felt grief and guilt from the bottom of his heart - Li Xian felt this natural disaster.
It had been expected a long time ago, not only due to the experience in the previous life, but also because he had received early warnings from business houses all over the country. Compared with the princes of the DPRK and the Central Government, Li Xian was undoubtedly the first to know that the disaster was coming.
, However, Li Xian did not reveal the matter. The most fundamental purpose was to take this opportunity to achieve the purpose of immigration. The reason is very simple. The population density in Guanzhong is really too high, and it is too large to be overwhelmed.
This is precisely because the Tang Dynasty has always adhered to Guanzhong's localism. The Chinese people have attached great importance to the local concept since ancient times. It is not easy to immigrate. This goal can only be achieved with the help of natural disasters. Now, the goal is almost achieved, but there are casualties.
The tragedy made Li Xian feel extremely guilty. Even though Li Xian had tried his best to arrange for his businesses to donate money, it still could not alleviate the anguish and sadness in his heart.
"Speed up, His Highness said, go to the inn to eat a big piece of meat and drink a big bowl of wine!"
Jiang Ye was an optimist who would be trapped when the sky fell. He didn't mind Li Xian's indifference at all. He laughed loudly and turned around, roaring at the exhausted palace guards, and he immediately became excited.
There was a strange scream from the crowd, and the dull atmosphere in the team immediately lightened up. Although Li Xian heard it, he didn't pay attention to Jiang Ye's "crime" of tampering with his original words, and just shook his head with a wry smile.
He shook his head and galloped forward on his horse...
Lantian, the southeastern gateway of Chang'an City, belongs to Jingzhao Prefecture and is famous for its rich production of jade. The county is not big and the population is not large. There are more than a thousand households in total, and most of them make a living by mining or carving jade.
Although Lam Tin was also hit by the drought this time, the damage was not too serious. In addition, most of the people in the city made a living by handicrafts, so the people in the city were relatively stable. However, because it was located at a strategic transportation point, the majority of the people affected by the disaster were migrating from all directions.
The whole county had to pass through here, and the entire county was inevitably in chaos because of this. Even though Jingzhao Mansion sent many government officials to help, they could not sort out the chaos. In the end, they had to close the city and not accept the victims, and only stayed outside the city.
Some porridge shacks were set up along the road to provide relief to the victims. As a result, the villages and fields became crowded places for the victims, even the inns outside the city were no exception. The dirty and messy scene disturbed Li Xian and his party.
Everyone frowned and couldn't bear it anymore, so they had to set up a small camp on a hill outside the city. Li Xian, who had no intention of eating, didn't even wait for the camp to be set up.
Jiang Ye and several other followers hurried to the soup kitchen.
Lantian is the only place where disaster victims must pass through. There are many porridge stations outside the city. There are the porridge shacks of the Lantian government and the porridge stations of the city's rich families. Many wealthy families from the capital come here specially.
Of course, the largest soup kitchen is the porridge shed set up by Li Xian's "Deng Kee Company". It is easy to identify. It is the place where the victims gather the most. It is where Li Xian goes.
It was that place, but before Li Xian could reach the end of the field, there was suddenly a loud commotion in front of him. The sounds of fighting, roars, screams, and curses all came together. Li Xian's face darkened and he couldn't help but speed up his steps.
After a few minutes, relying on his strong body, he forced his way through the chaotic crowd. As soon as he saw it, his face turned dark instantly - dozens of strong men wearing business clothes were beating two victims!
Needless to say, the person who beat the person, even if he was not from "Deng Kee Company", was definitely inseparable from the company. As for the person who was beaten, it was a bit strange - a bearded man with a beard desperately resisted the attack of the company personnel, covering up
There was a middle-aged scribe standing behind him. His boxing and kicking skills were quite good. He used his fists to spread his wings and had the ability to subdue a tiger. No matter how many merchants attacked, he was always steady as a rock, but he could only defend but not attack.
Even if he received a lot of punches and kicks, he would never fight back.
"... Beat me, give me a hard beating, what the hell, I'm so kind and kind in giving you food, but you're not grateful and don't say anything, and yet you dare to complain endlessly, looking for a beating, brothers, give it to me
Work harder, beat these two bitches to death, grandma, don't bother to ask, can you mess with our "Deng Ji Trading Company"? Tell you, kid, don't say you are a cunning person, it's Jingzhao
If the people from the government are here, you have to lie down. Behind us is His Royal Highness the King of Zhou, do you understand? Fight, brothers, work harder, and you will be beaten to death..."
The place was bustling with fists and kicks. At the door of the porridge shack, there was a big fat man dressed in steward's clothes, roaring furiously and cursing, while the victims who were watching all remained silent.
Everyone's face was filled with expressions of anger and fear of speaking.
Damn the evil slave! Li Xian didn't know what was going on at first, but when he heard the fat man talking nonsense, he immediately guessed the root of the matter and immediately became angry. In order to avoid suspicion, Li Xian rarely interacted with "
In private dealings with "Deng Ji Company", Lin Hu was arranged to handle all matters, and Gao Miao was generally responsible for settling all official troubles. Therefore, although many forces had guessed that "Deng Ji Company"
Regarding the relationship with Li Xian, no one can attack based on this. After all, it is an unwritten practice for princes to take the dry stock capital of merchants. Even if they refer to it based on this, Li Xian obviously cannot do anything about it. This is a tacit thing.
Of course, it can't be mentioned on the table, but the fat man dared to announce it in public, which was already a taboo of Li Xian's, not to mention that his move was obviously due to the fact that the porridge relief and ginseng fraud was exposed.
Li Xian carried a big flag and used it as a tiger skin. Isn't this obviously ruining Li Xian's reputation? Moreover, relieving the victims this time is a major matter in the court, and there must be no room for ambiguity. What if?
When someone accused Li Xian of being guilty of "buying people's hearts", the serious consequences were no joke. When Li Xian was so angry, his face instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, and the evil spirit on his body immediately
Rising violently.
"Get the fat guy!"
After all, Li Xian was not an ordinary person. He was angry, but he would never lose his sense of proportion because of this. He did not directly commit murder, but gave the order in a cold voice.
"promise!"
Ling Zhong and others who were following Li Xian were all old guards of the palace. They knew Li Xian's temperament well. Hearing Li Xian's serious tone, they all did not dare to neglect. They each bowed and agreed, and then stepped forward.
He started to take the person, but he didn't expect that before anyone came forward, the silent Jiang Ye ran to the front and kicked the fat man who was still chattering unceremoniously to the ground without caring about him.
He kept howling miserably and kicked him in front of Li Xian like a ball.
"Oops, it's killing someone, hurry up, save our family..."
The fat man was just about to scold him, but he didn't expect that Cheng Yaojin would come out halfway, and he didn't expect that Jiang Ye would move his feet without even saying anything. After being kicked a few times, the poor fat man had already been kicked.
I was dizzy and started shouting without thinking.
"No, please save Wang Guanshi quickly."
"Where did you come from? You're a scoundrel, you're looking for death!"
"Go on, kill them!"
…
A group of store clerks who were beating up the two victims heard something wrong, so they didn't bother to teach the victims any more, and rushed toward Jiang Ye with roars.
"court death!"
Ling Zhong was the bodyguard who had followed Li Xian for the longest time. As one of the core figures in the Zhou Palace, he knew what the "Deng Ji Company" was about. When he saw that the store clerk dared to be so presumptuous, he immediately became angry and shouted.
With a cry, he led his guards and rushed towards the guys who were attacking.
The battle broke out quickly and ended even faster. The two sides were not on the same level at all. Even though the shop clerks were outnumbered and had two hands at their disposal, when they met Ling Zhong and other expert guards, then
It was not enough to watch at all. It was just a matter of meeting each other. All the store clerks were already lying on the ground. Apart from wailing and rolling, no one had the strength to fight anymore.
"You, you are looking for death. My Highness, Duan Raoer, can't wait. Just wait, ah..."
The fat man originally counted on his men to save him from suffering, but he never expected that his men, who seemed to be outnumbered, would be completely wiped out in an instant, and he immediately panicked completely.
Ignoring the pain in his body, he stood up, said nothing, and planned to run away. However, as soon as he turned around, he saw Li Xian's sinister and solemn black face, and he was immediately shocked and stood there dumbfounded.