Four hundred and sixtieth chapters: Lost conscience
Yi Shiha said: "I heard that there is quite a turmoil in Taiping Mansion. Many people are short of food and clothing. Now in Taiping Mansion, they are saving food and trying their best to supply the provinces... This..." Dong
After Zhu Di heard this, instead of frowning, he sighed and said: "Mr. Zhang Qing is loyal to the country and has no selfish thoughts. He is really a model minister."
Yes.
The same behavior looks different in the eyes of different people.
Zhang Anshi can be regarded as selling his blood to wipe the butt of those corrupt officials.
In Zhu Di's opinion, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was both uplifting and upsetting.
When Yishiha was filled with envy.
Zhu Di suddenly said: "I heard that the prince also went to Henan?" Dong
Yi Shiha quickly put away his thoughts and said: "Yes, His Royal Highness the Prince is in the model camp to strengthen his body, but this time, the model camp was transferred to Henan, Guanzhong, and Huguang. He and a team of people rushed to Henan."
Zhu Di nodded: "It's okay to go there."
Next, Zhu Di had nothing to say.
It's hard for Yi Shiha to say anything else.
When the prince is involved, there are some things you should not say too much. If you are too exaggerated, your majesty will think that you want to change the master before I am dead?
But if you flatter me too lightly, the emperor will inevitably think that you, this slave, have a different heart for my son? No, such a person cannot be left to the prince.
It is really difficult to grasp the thoughts behind this. It is not Zhang Anshi. Zhang Anshi is the brother-in-law of the Crown Prince. He is hugging His Majesty's thigh. He wishes he could be His Majesty's pendant. He is not worried that the Crown Prince will be suspicious of him after Your Majesty's great success.
building
Don't worry, flattering the prince will arouse unnecessary suspicion.
After all, Your Majesty will only think that Zhang Anshi was raised kindly by the prince and praised the prince because he has a conscience.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Zhang Anshi said something bad about the prince, he would never think that Zhang Anshi had any evil intentions.
Instead, they will think that this is a good intention and it is for the good of the prince. This is like saying that good medicine tastes bitter and loyal advice offends the ears.
This is the difference between the Zhu family members, and it makes sense anyway.
For an emperor as sensitive as Zhu Di, whether it is Yi Shiha or a minister, any action related to the prince is actually extremely dangerous.
Everyone is not stupid, so they will try their best to ignore that there is such a prince in the world.
…
A large amount of grain entered the warehouse.
Stock up.
In almost every household in Kaifeng, the barns are piled high.
Zhou Juren was also a smart man. He had studied mathematics.
With just a simple calculation, you can know that these people of yours have purchased countless amounts of food.
This is true for Kaifeng Prefecture, and it seems to be true for so many prefectures and counties affected by the disaster. A large number of gentry are eating food.
There is so much food, not 10 million dan, but 8 million.
He was even surprised that Taiping Mansion could sell so much food.
But it doesn’t matter now…
Because no matter how he calculated, he believed that Taiping Mansion should have run out of food.
Even in the second half of the year, the entire Zhili grain supply has been sold out.
The food of the world must be in the hands of people like him in the four provinces.
And the reason why he dared to spend such a huge amount of money was not because he had a desperate side in his character. Dong
But throughout the ages, as long as there is a major disaster or a shortage of food, there is nothing wrong with hoarding food desperately.
The ancestors of Zhou Juren have been doing this since the beginning of their family history, and every time they encounter such a major disaster and hoard food, the Zhou family's family business will rise to a higher level.
This is inertia. Once a family has tasted the sweetness once, it will form dependence. In terms of running the family business, although the Zhou family will also use the so-called heirloom of poems and books, diligent and thrifty housekeeping, etc., in fact... it is really...
The best method is to stock up on food in good years and stock up on goods in bad years.
This time, the Zhou family borrowed a lot of money. It can be said that... everything that can be mortgaged has been mortgaged.
After all, there was no choice this time, and variables like Zhang Anshi forced him to make a huge gamble.
But now, he has confidence!
However... porridge and rice are still being distributed at various porridge sheds.
This made Zhou Juren feel a little uneasy! So he had to make calculations again and again, and the final results always made him feel at ease.
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
The food in Taiping Mansion... must have been exhausted.
It will never happen again.
This must be a comeback!
at the same time.
A team of model battalions arrived in Kaifeng, followed by a large number of personnel.
There was a theater troupe, and they also brought a large number of books, newspapers, and carts of goods, tightly wrapped in oilcloth.
As soon as the troupe arrived, Dongcheng suddenly became lively.
As soon as dusk arrived, the opera troupe began to sing operas. Most of the songs they sang were about Bao Zheng killing the consort, or visiting the thatched cottage three times in the Three Kingdoms.
Ordinary people love this kind of fun the most. Therefore, they work during the day, have entertainment at night, and have enough to eat and drink. The camp has become more stable, and even some of the petty thefts in the past have gradually disappeared.
Prince Zhu Gaochi was among them. This team of model battalions camped here in the name of assisting in the defense of Kaifeng.
It was only after dusk that he was allowed to leave the camp, and Zhu Gaochi walked east and west to look around.
He actually knew something about the catastrophe in the past. After all, he had experienced the Peking Defense War, and had also traveled between Peking and Nanjing as a prince.
Seeing this scene now, I can't help but be stunned.
Although the people here may not all have new clothes, they seem to be in good spirits, and there are no dishes that they thought they could expect in the past.
Almost everything is available here. A large bathhouse was recently built. A deep pit was dug in the ground, water was heated, and the water was diverted into the pit. A large tent was set up on the pit.
It is said that...the weather is getting colder, so we need to keep it clean to avoid the breeding of diseases.
Even clothes that have been worn for several days are collected by dedicated people, washed, and then dried.
There may be many things here, but there may still be some shortages, but there is plenty of manpower. If you organize people, you can always find work.
Zhu Gaochi looked at it casually, but the more he looked, the more strange he felt. He suddenly felt that this was like a huge military camp, but when he thought about it carefully, it seemed wrong.
On the next day, Zhu Gaochi began to garrison various porridge sheds.
The porridge stalls everywhere are already lined with long queues.
He saw many energetic people, especially those who had to go to work quickly, queuing up first, while women and children had to go later to collect them.
Everything is in order.
Liu Jianye from the medical center is among them.
At this time, he was holding a clay bowl, and all he was thinking about was his rice porridge.
Young people are greedy, and sometimes they always feel that no matter how much they eat, they are not enough.
What I look forward to every day is three meals a day.
But soon, a commotion was discovered up front.
The commotion became more and more obvious, so that the people in the rear didn't know what was going on.
Liu Jianye suddenly felt like a loach. He simply stopped queuing and squeezed in.
At this time, someone shouted: "Be quiet, be quiet, don't whisper, don't cause trouble!"
But several people from the model camp and the escort team came.
Everyone calmed down, and some people hurried away holding the breakfast they had received.
Soon we arrived at Liu Jianye's place.
Liu Jianye was still confused. When he took the pottery bowl, the person opposite scooped him a bowl of porridge as usual.
The porridge is piping hot, and the white rice is boiled, giving off a unique porridge aroma, which greatly increases your appetite.
Liu Jianye rushed to pick him up.
But the person who shared the porridge did not hand him the porridge water. Instead, he scooped out half a dried fish from the large tube on the side, and in addition, there was a piece of bacon.
The dried fish was only half the size of a fist, while the fatty bacon was only about the size of a thumb.
A mature man may be able to swallow it in one bite.
But Liu Jianye suddenly smelled the aroma of meat and fish. He was startled for a moment, as if he thought he had seen it wrong. His eyes widened a lot, and he stared at these two things. Seeing them sinking into the porridge, his whole body was filled with excitement.
...she was stunned in place, almost stopping breathing.
The other party handed him the pottery bowl: "Quick, next one."
Liu Jianye had no time to catch it, but Halazi fell down.
When he reacted, he immediately held the bowl of porridge in his hands, and then ran to a certain wall and squatted down.
He took the chopsticks and began to fish desperately in his porridge water. Finally, he saw the dried fish and meat fished out of the porridge water. Then, he seemed to realize that this was not a dream.
Then, the young man's face suddenly grinned... and started to smile stupidly.
He started to drink porridge, but never touched the dried fish and bacon. Finally, when all the porridge water entered his stomach, he realized that today's porridge water was particularly sweet. Dong
Perhaps because of the smell of fish and meat, the porridge also seems to have a meaty flavor.
When there were only dried fish and bacon left in the bowl, he carefully picked up the dried fish, put it to his mouth, and took a sip. The indescribable feeling suddenly spread throughout his body.
He chewed bit by bit, but time passed very quickly. After a while, his pottery bowl was empty.
There seems to be some indescribable meaty aroma wafting in my stomach, giving me a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of unfinished food.
On the side, someone poked Liu Jianye with his elbow.
Liu Jianye finally came to his senses and looked sideways, only to see his father squatting beside him at some unknown moment.
The porridge in his father Liu Jian's bowl has long been empty.
But there was still less than half of the salted fish and bacon left.
"Baby, eat."
Liu Jianye swallowed his saliva, glanced at it, and shook his head.
Liu Jian scolded: "You donkey, why are you disobedient! Eat whatever I tell you, why are you so long-winded? When you are full, you will obediently follow the two doctors to work. They are capable people in long robes.
Follow them and you will be successful in the future."
Liu Jianye still shook his head persistently and said, "Dad, you eat."
Liu Jian glanced at Liu Jianye in astonishment, and suddenly realized that his son had actually grown up without realizing it. He was no longer the kid with a staggering step, a runny nose, and always following his father behind him.
Suddenly, Liu Jian's eyes felt a little sour. He drooped his head and sighed: "It's because I'm useless and worthless. I haven't taught you to eat meat many times in my life. I borrowed it from Tian'en and Taiping Mansion.
I just taught you how many mouthfuls of meat you can eat, hey..." Dong
As he spoke, he wiped away the tears that had fallen uncontrollably.
"Let's eat together."
"oh."
The father and son were hiding in the corner, rustling with their heads down, like a pair of thieves.
On that day, Wang Wu of Jin Yiwei wrote in his report to Nanzhen Fusi: Fish and meat were distributed today, and everyone was cheered up. There was a scene of new life. The soldiers and civilians were all in high spirits and vigorous. The roads and bridges were built and dug.
The ditches are all progressing at a rapid pace. What I see today is that I feel like my heart is in my heart. Even in the past, there were some idle men among them who were always lazy at work and unwilling to do their best. Now they are willing to serve, which is a great pleasure.
After Wang Wu finished writing, he seemed to still have something to say, and added his own feelings: Now that I think about it, preaching day after day is not as good as three meals of fish and meat.
After finishing writing, he called it a day and ordered someone to send the report to Qixia Building as soon as possible.
…………
Today, the prefect Liu Jin seemed a little confused.
He had received news that His Royal Highness seemed to be coming with the army, so he hurried to the east of the city to meet him.
It's a pity that people ignored him and he couldn't even enter the army. Anyone who dared to enter or leave the army would die.
At this moment, Liu Jin became a little anxious.
When he returned to the prefect's Yamen in a puff of smoke.
But Zhou Juren has arrived.
Liu Jin frowned and had to come to see them.
After greeting each other.
The prince was mentioned.
Zhou Juren looked very dissatisfied: "The prince is the crown prince, and he should be close to the wise and stay away from the villains. But now, he is using riding and shooting as a sport, and he is in the army. What is the difference between this and Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty?"
Scholars love to use allusions when talking. This week, when Juren mentioned Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, the prefect Liu Jinren, etc., he immediately understood what he meant.
Liu Hong, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, once imitated streets, markets, various shops, and vendors in his harem, and asked some of his maids and concubines to dress up as various merchants selling goods, others to dress up as customers buying things, and some to dress up as singers.
, monkey trick, etc. And he himself
Wearing merchant's clothes, pretending to be a merchant selling goods, walking around in this man-made market, drinking and having fun in the hotel, or quarreling, fighting, and fighting with shopkeepers and customers. It's so lively. Liu
Macro hangs out here and has a great time.
In the eyes of scholars, such behavior is not doing one's job properly.
Of course, the prince's current behavior is actually similar to these, and may even be even more abominable. After all, Qiu Ba, a military man, is even more despicable than the singers or merchants in the market.
Liu Jin sighed, with dissatisfaction in his eyes, but he only said: "Be careful what you say, these days are different from the past."
Zhou Juren knew it, so he stopped talking and said, "Mr. Liu, is there any news from the Taiping Mansion?"
Liu Jin raised his eyebrows, looked at him strangely and said, "What?"
Zhou Juren said with worry in his eyes: "We have spent so much money to buy food, but why...the food in Taiping Mansion is still in endless supply?"
Liu Jin frowned, thought about it seriously and said, "This matter is indeed strange, but I guess the food is going to be exhausted."
Zhou Juren sighed: "But now...hey..." Dong
They say they are running out of food, but why is there still more?
Zhou Juren is feeling anxious!
Seeing that Zhou Juren and others were worried, Liu Jin consoled him: "You are all scholars and well-informed. Don't you have a sense of how much food there is in the world? After purchasing so much food, how can the Taiping Mansion
Where did such a large amount of surplus food come from? Now it seems that it is just a bluff."
Zhou Juren thought about it carefully and couldn't help but nod his head, and then said: "Student and others, there is one more thing."
"But it doesn't matter."
Zhou Juren sighed and said: "Well, the loss in purchasing food this time is really huge, so the students are thinking that with the current food price, I am afraid that the previous losses cannot be recovered. When Taiping Mansion runs out of food, I am afraid that this price will
It’s going to rise again.”
"This is your business." Liu Jin knew it in his heart, glanced at him indifferently, and said vaguely: "I am the father and mother of this place, and I only care about maintaining the well-being of the people. Now, you and other people have suffered heavy losses, and some
The loss is also deserved." Dong
Zhou Juren was overjoyed and was about to thank him.
But at this moment, someone came in a hurry and shouted anxiously: "Master, master..."
The person who came was a civil servant, who was regarded as Liu Jin's confidant. The other officers may have had other thoughts, but this civil servant was still completely devoted to Liu Jin.
Liu Jin picked up the tea cup, took a sip of tea, pressed his hand to the clerk who came in a hurry, and said calmly: "What's the matter?"
The civil servant took a breath and said: "It's incredible, it's incredible. Today... I heard... I heard... that the food for the refugees outside the city has actually improved."
Liu Jin, Zhou Juren and others remained calm.
Liu Jin sneered: "If it improves, it will improve, so what?" Dong
The clerk stammered: "But early this morning, in addition to a bowl of sticky rice porridge, there was also fish. The fish was half a fist big and had a piece of meat. At noon, there was a bowl of white rice and some
Fish. Yes, I also added a roasted sweet potato
Even the recipe for the evening was posted, and there was still fish and meat. They said there was no fish and meat, so they would not be able to gain strength, especially when children were growing, so Taiping Prefecture urgently sent it to them.
Many cars of fish and meat come..."
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Liu Jin and others suddenly changed.
In ancient times, fish was fine, but meat... was simply a top-notch luxury product.
In such a calamity year, who dares to hope for such a thing?
Even ordinary small landowners can only eat such things during the Chinese New Year.
But now... actually providing this to the refugees...
Zhou Juren felt as if his head was dizzy, as if a hammer was beating hard on his heart.
He covered his heart and thought of a very terrible thing.
Then, he tried his best to say: "They...don't they have no food? Why...how do they still have fish and meat...how...is this possible..."
The official said with a mournful face: "They say they are open to eating. Your Majesty and His Highness the Prince of Wuhu County will never starve to death even if they have a mouthful of food!"
Boom...
Zhou Juren felt his ears howling.
He opened his eyes wide, and then roared hysterically: "You are committing evil, this is unconscionable!"