61-70

Chapter 61: The Dandy in the Capital

"Don't you remember me?" Situ Yu looked shocked.

Does he know this person? Li Wen subconsciously turned his head to look at the man behind him, wanting to ask Zhao Xiangyi if he had seen this young master.

Zhao Xiangyi looked at Situ Yu and said hello lightly, "Little Prince."

Little Prince? When did he meet some young prince in the capital? Li Wen had a kind smile on his face, but his heart was full of question marks, but judging from the other person's expression, he might really know him. However, it seemed that Zhao Xiangyi knew the other person, so he would ask the man next to him later. He really couldn't remember that he had met the other person.

"Ah, it's you, Zhao Xiangyi, you're here too, do you know him?" Situ Yu then saw Zhao Xiangyi here, and he knew that Zhao Xiangyi was the companion of His Highness the Crown Prince. His sister Situ Xue is the crown prince, and Zhao Xiangyi is the person close to the prince, so he has met Zhao Xiangyi a few times, but they are not familiar with her.

Zhao Xiangyi nodded as a greeting to the other party.

It turns out that these two people know each other, so that will be easy. Li Wen tried to be a good person and said to the young masters with a smile, "Hello, my dear prince, do you and a few of your friends want to go to the store for dinner? There is a private room upstairs that we specially reserved for ourselves. It's not used to receive guests. The waiter didn't mean to lie to you. Please don't be angry.

If you don't mind, can you come up with us? This meal is my treat. Please come with me. Let's have a meal."

By the way, I also found out whether he knew this young master. The way he looked at him was like he was a heartless person.

Do you want to invite them to have dinner together?

What the other party meant was to tell them that he opened this store and that person had reserved a seat for himself, so there was nothing they could say.

Situ Yu turned around and asked a few questions about his friend.

, 'Let's do it together. "

The guys who hang out with Situ Yu are also young men from aristocratic families in the capital. They are salivating as they stand outside the door smelling the fragrance. Now that they have a place to eat, they don't mind sharing a table with others. Here Several people know Zhao Xiangyi.

"Okay, let's go in and invite you inside. "Li Wen made an invitation gesture.

Situ Yu walked in front, and he and Zhao Xiangyi followed him. Following the waiter who led the way, the group went upstairs and entered the side room.

As the owner of the store, Li Wen I knew everything about the food in the restaurant, and after asking everyone about their preferences, I ordered a mandarin duck pot and a lot of meat dishes, and asked someone to bring me two bottles of plum wine. Not easy to get drunk.

Sitting on his left was Zhao Xiangyi, and on his right was the young prince. When he turned around, he saw the young prince staring at him. Li Wen gave him a smile,

"Don't you really remember me?" ? Situ Yu murmured with a look of resentment, "I still remember the smell of your cooking noodles." "After he was carried out of the examination room, he was ill for two full months. It was not until spring was almost over that his body got better.

He remembered the scene in the examination room for a long time after he returned . It smelled like noodles. He was eating dry food in the examination room. The examinee opposite was cooking three meals a day. He looked envious. He didn't know if it tasted really that good. This thought almost became a petty thought. The prince was stunned, so it was no wonder that he recognized Li Wen at a glance. The picture of

cooking noodles

flashed in his mind, and Li Wen let out a long "Oh" and said with a smile, "I remembered, it turned out to be. After the other party reminded him

, he remembered that there was a young prince sitting opposite him in that interview. Wasn't he the young prince in front of him? At that time, he still thought about why this child went to the examination room without taking the exam, and sat there every day without answering papers. During the exam, he encountered a late spring cold, and the sudden drop in temperature caught people off guard, causing many people to fall ill. The young master was carried out after two days.

At that time, he thought that nothing would happen to the little boy, but at that time he was busy answering papers, so this concern for strangers was quickly forgotten by him.

If the other party hadn't mentioned this, he would have forgotten about this person. After all, they only met once and they didn't know each other. In addition, because of the exam at that time, he was focused on the answer sheet. When he went back after the exam, he didn't remember anyone he met at the venue, let alone more than half a year had passed.

"Do you remember?" Seeing that the other party was thinking of him, Situ Yu said, "Let me just say, we have met."

"Yes, yes, I remembered, we have met ." "Li Wen remembered the young master and introduced himself with a smile, "My name is Li Wen. I don't know your name yet. It's fate that we meet each other. How about we make friends today

? , it was fate that they could meet here today.

"My name is Situ Yu." Although Situ Yu is the young master of the Hou Mansion, he does not hold an official position. He does not enter the court, so he does not know that the person in front of him is the famous Li Liuyuan. But he doesn't hate the other person, so he just makes friends with him and introduces his friends to the other person.

After Situ Yu's introduction, Li Wen reorganized the information he obtained. That is, this beautiful young master is Situ Yu, the young prince of Zhongyuan Hou Mansion. The one on Situ Yu's right is Shangguan Yixiang, the third young master of Anyuan Hou Mansion. , and then there is Xue Zelin, the seventh young master of the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion, and the rest are all official young masters, all of whom are of noble birth. This is the top version of the dandy young masters in the capital.

The late emperor consecrated three princes of the opposite sex and four princes, and sitting here with him are three young masters from the princes' mansions. The young masters all looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old, about the same age as him. Li Wen, with a young face, got to know each other.

Xue Zelin and Shangguan Yixiang knew Zhao Xiangyi. They looked at Li Wen with a little curiosity. They didn't know Li Wen's identity. They mainly wanted to give face to their friend Situ Yu.

As for the other young masters from the official family, they all followed the attitude of the young master from the Hou family.

Just at this moment, the waiter brought soup and food to the table. The thick soup was still piping hot just after it came out of the pot. As soon as the charcoal fire below burned, the whole room was filled with fragrance. The meat and vegetables were placed on the table one after another.

There were not many places, but there were a lot of them, filling a big table.

It was the first time for several young masters to eat this hot pot, and they couldn't help but drool when smelling the aroma.

"Don't be polite, you can order whatever you want to eat. This is a hot pot, and there is a charcoal fire burning underneath. We can eat while placing the dishes. There are sauces here. You can make your own sauces if you like it. If you don't know, you can ask it. The people next to you will help you prepare the food. "Li Wen left two boys here to serve the young masters, so as not to have to wait for them one by one.

"This is mutton soup. Eighteen kinds of medicinal materials are used in it. This weather is perfect for eating to replenish the body. Let's have a bowl of soup first and try how it tastes." The bottom of this mutton soup is full of good things. Li Ask the waiter to serve soup for everyone.

"Let me try it."

"Well, it tastes good, so fragrant. What did you use to cook it?" After taking a sip of the soup, they all said yes. Li Wen picked out a few medicinal materials and said that this was their secret recipe for making soup, and he couldn't tell others all of them.

"Do you open this shop?" Situ Yu felt that none of the food cooked in the imperial kitchen was as delicious as this soup.

Li Wen nodded and said, "Just mess around when you have nothing to do. If you feel it tastes good after eating this time, come directly over next time. If you come down and there is no place, just tell me my name and I can give it to you." 12% off. ,

These young men didn't know how to eat it at first, but they learned it after seeing someone make it. The freshly picked meatballs were delicious and hot when they were dipped in spicy sauce. People couldn't help but continue to eat.

When they tasted the fun of hot pot, they started

to cook hot pot in the private room. They were still sweating while eating, but it was more exciting

. The guests and hosts enjoyed the meal, and the young masters all said that they would come back next time.

When they left the restaurant after finishing the meal, Li Wen sent them downstairs, and Situ Yu asked him, "I want to see you next time." Play, where can I find you? "

"Just go to Liuyuan Mansion to find me. "Li Wen said with a smile.

"Oh, okay, I'll come and play with you when I have time. Situ Yu and his friends got on the carriage.

After sitting in the carriage, someone remembered and asked, "Could that be Li Liuyuan just now?" "Some people here have heard of Li Liuyuan, but this is the first time they have seen him. No wonder they don't recognize him.

Li Liuyuan? The most educated person in Dacheng? It sounds amazing.

So on the way back, a few kids The young masters all talked about Li Liuyuan.

It happened that they had just eaten, so Li Wen suggested that they go back for a walk together. Zhao Xiangyi nodded, and the two of them walked back together.

The wind was blowing very well at night. After noticing the smell and heat of the hot pot he had just eaten in the room, Li Wenwen asked about the young masters just now. From Zhao Xiangyi's words, he found out that the Crown Princess was Situ Yu's sister, which meant that Situ Yu was the Crown Prince's brother-in-law.

If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince becomes the Emperor and the Crown Princess becomes the Queen, this one will definitely be the uncle of the state.

"Oh, that's it. "Li Wen nodded, finally understanding this level of relationship.

The relationships are complicated, and all the powerful families mentioned above have a level of in-law relationship, so the water in the capital is deep, and you won't know it if you are not careful. Who did you provoke?

"How did you meet Situ Yu? "Zhao Xiangyi asked.

Li Wen said that the person sitting opposite him during the examination was Situ Yu. He did not expect that the other party would still remember him after such a long time.

Zhao Xiangyi nodded, and he understood "

It's cold at night, let's go back by carriage. "They walked for a while, Zhao Xiangyi said.

"Okay. "Li Wen didn't object. After walking for a while, he felt a little cold, so they got on the carriage that was following behind.

The wheels of the carriage turned at night, the axles rattled, and the horses' hoofs made a clattering sound...

Chapter 62: Update 1

In the morning of the second day, the court continued to discuss disaster relief. But now the Ministry of Revenue cannot come up with the money for disaster relief, so what should we do? Below, a minister stood up and suggested raising donations to raise money. The smooth meaning is that if the ministers in the court each contribute their own efforts, everyone will add firewood and the flame will be high, and a small amount will become a large amount. This is pretty much what it means.

They were in the imperial study room yesterday, and it was Li Wen who made the suggestion first.

Li Wen stood at the back of the team, lowered his head and touched his nose. He knew that the emperor could not bring up the matter of raising donations, but the ministers below could only bring it up first. He looked at the several officials who stood up and guessed that they were probably from several princes.

Since someone has taken the responsibility for this, there is no need for him to be regarded as such a bad person.

Li Wen stood quietly at the back. The emperor was determined not to do this without mentioning his name.

The emperor, who was sitting on the dragon throne, pretended to think for a moment, nodded, and asked, "Which of you has a better way?"

No one below said anything, which meant that there was no better way.

Since no one had a better way, and some ministers came forward to second the suggestion, saying that the method of raising donations was good, Emperor Zhaozong agreed to the suggestions of the previous officials. None of the officials in the court dared to speak out against the emperor's decision. Anyone who dared to speak out against it would have been convicted of disregarding the life and death of the people, and his official position would be over. These ministers in the court are all old foxes, and they will not be stupid enough to ruin their official careers with their own hands.

It's just that now it requires them to pay, and each of them feels extremely distressed in their hearts.

Emperor Zhaozong was very satisfied when he saw that there was no objection below. He looked at his sons and finally fell on the prince. "This matter will be left to the prince to handle. The fourth child will cooperate with the prince to handle the matter."

The emperor also said something else. Two officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs were ordered to assist.

"I'll give you three days to get this thing done." So what the emperor meant was that he would see the disaster relief money in three days.

This job is thankless and not necessarily easy to handle, but now it is up to the prince to handle it personally. No matter how slick the officials below are, they still have to give the prince some respect. The prince is now the prince, and he might be their future master.

"Yes, Father, I will accept the decree." The prince and the fourth prince stood on the left and right in the main hall and received the decree.

The two officials who were named stood up and said, "Wei Chen takes the order."

Seeing that the errand fell on the crown prince and the fourth son, the eldest prince felt indignant. Why did everything good happen to the crown prince!

Yang Shaoyong looked gloomy and was in a bad mood.

The third prince was deep in thought, with no expression on his face.

"If you have something to do, leave the court if there is nothing to do -"

The emperor left the dragon throne, followed by the eunuchs and maids.

"I will respectfully see you off, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty." All the officials respectfully saw off His Majesty. Li Wen knelt behind him and waited until the emperor left before the officials got up from the ground.

Li Wen patted his knees. Fortunately, he was wearing a "treasure weapon", otherwise he would have knelt down and clicked his tongue three times a day...

After the court was dismissed, the officials in the court walked out of the main hall together in twos and threes and went back to work in various ministries.

On the way, everyone was discussing donating money and asking how much money others planned to donate.

Donate money now. If you don't donate too much, it's hard for the emperor to explain it. If you want to donate too much, I feel sorry for you. If the emperor asks you where you got so much money, you can't explain it clearly, so it's best. The amount of donations given by others should match the amount donated by others, so that there will be no mistakes.

On the way, he saw Yang Shaoyong standing in front. Needless to say, Yang Shaokang knew that his eldest brother was waiting for him here. He walked over and called out, "Brother eldest emperor." He waved his hand, and the slaves behind him went to He took two steps back.

The two brothers stood on the arch bridge, with the flowing lake water below. Fish jumped from the water and fell back into the water.

"Lao San, are you just going to watch the prince grow up? Are you willing to do so?" Yang Shaoyong looked at Lao San and asked.

"What else?" Yang Shaokang snorted and asked.

"Third brother, why don't you and I join forces while there is still a chance now?" They join forces now, and they still have a chance of winning against the prince. His father is paying more and more attention to the prince. If it is later, they will have no chance at all. Yang Shaoyong is here specially. The person waiting for Yang Shaokang here just wants to attract the third child to his camp.

Yang Shaokang was not stupid, he naturally understood the meaning of the eldest prince's words.

Among the brothers, including the fourth child who pretends to have no desires and desires all day long, no one wants to sit on that chair. If he joins forces with the boss, the chance of winning will naturally be greater, but the boss has always been Can't believe it.

Yang Shaokang did not immediately agree to Yang Shaoyong's proposal, but just said, "Let me think about this matter."

"Okay, think about it and give me an answer as soon as possible." The eldest prince was anxious, fearing that he would be delayed. He became the new emperor.

"Yeah." Yang Shaokang led his people away.

Yang Shaoyong stood behind and looked at the people who left, his eyes narrowed slightly. The hunched slaves stood beside their master. Yang Shaoyong said, "Let's go." He led his slaves to the other side of the road.

The eldest prince and the third prince had just separated, and Yang Shaomu knew about the meeting between the eldest and the third prince. When he heard the words from the people below, Yang Shaomu didn't seem to care too much, and said lightly, "Brother It's normal for them to say a few words."

The messenger responded with a "yes" and stood quietly aside.

Just after the morning court, everyone in the Hanlin Academy soon learned about the morning court. The Ministry of Household Affairs could not come up with any silver to go to the disaster relief. The emperor wanted them, the officials, to donate money for the disaster relief. After learning the news, the old Hanlin officials in the Hanlin Academy were struck by lightning, and all of them had sad faces.

"If the monthly salary cannot be paid, where will we get the money

to donate?" "That's right, this matter is the responsibility of the Ministry of Accounts, why should we pay for it?"

The Ministry of Accounts still owes them the monthly salary that has not been paid. Now they are asked to donate money. Where did they get the money? Several old Hanlin officials from the Hanlin Academy gathered together to talk about this matter. Everyone was accusing the Ministry of Revenue of shirking its responsibilities, failing to do good things, and dragging them all into the water. "This group of people, this group of people..."

Li Wen stood at the Hearing the words of the old seniors at the back, he touched his nose. He must not let these old Hanlin officials know that he was the first to propose this proposal. If this was known to a few old guys, they might all be shocked when they meet him. moan and groan.

He originally came up with this idea to trick those officials who had made a lot of money in the officialdom. At that time, he forgot that some of the old Hanlin officials in the Hanlin Academy were too poor to uncover the blame. However, since the wool comes from the sheep, he doesn't know what some officials in the DPRK will do for this donation. So when he thought about it, he didn't know whether his original proposal was a good thing or a bad one.

When he heard the old Hanlin officials talking about donating money, he sneaked away from behind.

After turning around and walking a few steps, he met Cao Zhenqing. Li Wen saluted the senior. Cao Zhenqing, still smiling, said to him, "Come with me."

"Yes, senior." After hearing this, Li Wen followed Cao Zhenqing, thinking that Cao Laohanlin should have sorted out the manuscript and given it to him. Sure enough, he followed Cao Laohanlin and saw that the other party took out a thick stack of manuscripts for him, "This is the manuscript I sorted out from the study. There are only so many that have been sorted out so far. Take it.

" Senior Xie, please rest assured that I will take good care of these manuscripts and send them back to you when they are used up. "Li Wen took the manuscript handed over by his senior with both hands and said solemnly. These are the originals written by the original author himself. If they are to be stored in modern times hundreds of years later, these originals will be collected in the National Museum. stuff, so he must keep it carefully.

"Good. "Cao Zhenqing doesn't care. Anyway, he can still write these things out by himself, but it's a bit troublesome. These are the poems and articles that he picked out and felt quite satisfied with.

"Senior, I have another unkind favor here. , I wonder if the senior is willing. "Li Wen said a little embarrassed

.

"Oh, what's the unkind invitation, please tell me. "Cao Laohanlin was very busy waiting for someone to say something.

Li Wen told him that he wanted the other party to sit here and let him draw a portrait. Cao Laohanlin waved his hands and said, "This is OK. "Li Wen here half persuaded and half pushed Cao Hanlin to sit down, "Let's give it a try. When you see it, if you think it's not good, we won't use it. "

So it became that Cao Zhenqing was sitting there as a model for him. Li Wen was drawing a portrait sketch of Cao Lao Hanlin with a piece of homemade charcoal in his hand. He had learned sketching for a period of time before, so it was very important for him to draw a portrait. It's not too difficult.

"Have you finished painting? "This is the first time for him to sit here and draw a portrait for someone, which makes Cao Laohanlin feel very awkward.

"Hurry, hurry. "Li Wen wrote very quickly, and it didn't take long to draw a portrait.

He had seen portraits of a certain Tang Dynasty before, so this picture was also based on the portraits of the Tang and Song Dynasties, so...

he drew it It's more beautiful.

"Senior, look at it, do you think the portrait I drew for you is okay? "Li Wen showed the picture he had drawn to Cao Laohanlin. The picture showed a middle-aged handsome uncle. His double chin has been reduced, his face has become thinner, and his protruding belly has disappeared. Except for the similar charm, his appearance is completely different. There is no imagination of the current Cao Hanlin, but the painting

can to be that of the young Cao Zhenqing.

When Cao Zhenqing saw this portrait, he was simply amazing and extremely satisfied, "Okay, it's very beautiful. It's a beautiful painting ." Very similar to me. I didn't know it was possible to paint like this. "

Haha, is that so? Li Wen chuckled in his heart, and complimented Cao Laohan's forest-growing jade trees in the wind, his graceful and unrestrained style, and sent out the good words as if free of charge, "I painted them after you, senior, and painted them naturally. It's you, senior. "

This made him despise himself in his heart, Li asked, so you are this kind of person.

"When the book comes out, I will take out the book and return it to the senior together with the original. Then the senior will also check whether the published collection of essays is correct. satisfy. "Li Wen and Cao Zhenqing made it clear that the book was sent to bookstores for printing and publication, and would then be sold in bookstores so that more readers could see his poems and articles for future generations to read and learn.

As for the picture he just drew The portrait will be used as the cover of the book when the time comes.

After he took a picture of the horse, Cao Hanlin was very happy, so he naturally agreed, "Okay.

"Then senior, I won't bother you here anymore. I'm going back to work." Li Wen said in apology and went out with the manuscript.

Chapter 63:

In the afternoon of the second watch, the eunuch in the palace came to send a message, saying that the emperor had summoned him to the palace. Li Wen had no choice but to put down what he was doing and follow the young father-in-law into the palace to meet the emperor amidst the envious eyes of others.

This time the emperor summoned him not in the Imperial Study Room, but in the Yangxin Hall where the emperor lived.

Li Wen followed the eunuch who led the way to the Yangxin Hall. When he arrived at the emperor's place, he happened to meet Concubine Dong Guifei who was also here. The emperor was already in his twilight years, and Concubine Dong Guifei was only in her early twenties. Li Wen sighed in his heart that being an emperor was different. At the same time, he also complained in his heart that the emperor was an old cow eating young grass every day. No wonder there were so many Everyone wants to be an emperor.

If this were left to future generations, half of the ten couples who had a grandparent-grandson relationship would be scolded to death by online trolls, but times are different now, and the one in front of them is still their noble emperor.

No matter what Li Wen was thinking, he would obediently kneel down and salute when he saw the emperor, "I have seen the emperor, long live the emperor."

"Get up." Emperor Zhaozong raised his hand.

Li Wen saluted Concubine Dong, raised his eyes slightly, and when Concubine Dong was looking at him, he lowered his eyes and looked at the ground. Concubine Dong glanced at Li Liuyuan and withdrew her gaze. She smiled and said to the emperor, "Since the emperor has something to do, I will go back first."

The emperor nodded. Concubine Dong made a salute and left with the people. .

"I haven't asked Li Liuyuan to play chess with me for several days. Li Liuyuan, come and play chess with me." Emperor Zhaozong asked someone to set up the chess board and invited him to play chess. Li Wen said "yes" and stood opposite the emperor. Sat down. There are black and white chess pieces on the chessboard. Li Wen moves the white chess piece and the emperor moves the black chess piece. They each hold one side and the chess pieces fall on the chessboard.

While the two were playing chess, the emperor asked him what he thought of the disaster relief in Xiangzhou.

Li Wen thought about it in his mind and then said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for telling the truth." Seeing that the emperor made a gesture to let him speak, he continued, "The disaster relief is urgent, Wei Chen thought This matter should be dealt with as soon as possible so that the people can escape from the disaster as soon as possible. "If

the court delays for one day, the people will not know how many people will starve to death.

He browsed through books in the library of the Hanlin Academy and found the topography of Xiangzhou and other places. From the recorded documents, he knew that the climate there was dry and there was not much rainfall all year round. In drought years, the climate there was Often the land is dried out, and naturally there is no harvest.

Farming must first solve the problem of irrigation, and also select crops suitable for local planting, drought-resistant and cold-resistant crops, etc. To solve this problem from the root cause, it is to solve the problem of water sources. Li Wen thought of a way - south-to-north water diversion, that is, transferring water from the south to the north, which can solve the problem of water shortage in the north.

However, the current conditions of Dacheng are not suitable for carrying out such a major project. If we reluctantly carry out such a major project, it will definitely bring down the whole Dacheng financially, not to mention the waste of people and money. Therefore, Li Wen will not mention this suggestion to the emperor now, lest the old emperor really wants to carry out such a major project because he is so happy about his success. come out.

When Li Wen played chess with the emperor, he would always answer the emperor's questions. If the emperor didn't ask, he would not talk nonsense.

This is also what Emperor Zhaozong likes about Li Liuyuan. This young man does not have the impetuousness of young people. He speaks and acts rationally. He is not shrinking or afraid in front of the emperor, but he is not full of compliments and flattery. Ever since the last time a foreign envoy came to Beijing, Emperor Zhaozong had begun to trust his minister Li Liuyuan a little bit. He felt that although this minister was young, he was different from other senior ministers. This was why he liked to recruit people to play chess with him. .

When the emperor asked him, "If I ask you to go to Xiangzhou to provide disaster relief, how will you handle this matter?"

When Li Wen heard the emperor's question, he was stunned for a moment, and he was guessing that the emperor was Don't you want him to go to disaster relief? But then he overturned this possibility. After all, there are so many eyes on this job now, and his qualifications are not enough to bear such a big responsibility, so he thought the emperor just wanted to ask him how he would handle this matter. .

After thinking about it, Li Wen said, "How to do it specifically depends on the situation in Xiangzhou. But one thing Wei Chen can be sure of is that Wei Chen will make every grain of food distributed by the court go to the victims. Every coin used for disaster relief is spent on the people to solve their most urgent problems. "

One thing he can be sure of is that he will never be corrupt as an official. There are many ways to make money, but greed for this one will never work. Do not take ill-gotten gains; do not do immoral things. Dare to face the sky with your head up, and step on the land everywhere. As a person, you must be worthy of your conscience, and as an official, you must be worthy of the people. Only when you have a clear conscience can you sleep peacefully at night.

"Okay, remember what you said today." Emperor Zhaozong obviously did not expect that Li Liuyuan would say such words, but after reacting to Li Liuyuan's words, the emperor laughed.

Li Wen touched his nose and didn't know why the emperor was smiling. But now that the emperor was in a good mood, he tried to say, "Your Majesty, I want to ask you for a decree."

"Oh, what kind of decree do you want to ask for?" Emperor I'm curious as to what kind of request Li Liuyuan wants.

"Wei Chen wants to start a "Min Bao"." Under the emperor's puzzled eyes, Li Wen explained to the emperor what a newspaper was and what the "Min Bao" he wanted to do was used for. "Your Majesty, the people outside do not understand you as the Emperor. They only know the Emperor, but they have never seen the Emperor or heard what you said with their own ears. Therefore, this newspaper run by Weichen can put the Emperor's thoughts right. What the common people said is published here, so that the common people can see with their own eyes that the emperor worked hard day and night for the sake of the people. "

In later generations, newspapers were a very common thing in people's lives, and there were all kinds of news at regular times every day. Information distribution, including news, newspapers, and various miscellaneous things, through which people can learn about various large and small things happening in the entire country and the entire world.

But here, newspapers are still something that has not yet been born. Li Wen had already thought about it. He would first apply to the emperor to open a "People's Daily". If it was successful later, he could also open a "Business News", "Literary News", etc. as needed.

Emperor Zhaozong was also a person who wanted to save face. When he heard that this newspaper could help him establish the image of a good emperor who worked hard for the people in the hearts of the people, he was tempted.

As Li Wen spoke, he observed the emperor's expression and knew that the emperor was moved. He continued to work harder and said, "For example, regarding the drought in Xiangzhou this time, we can tell the progress of the follow-up treatment through the newspapers. Let the common people know how the court does things,

and the decrees issued in the court can be passed on to the common people as quickly as possible through newspapers, so as to avoid the common people not knowing the laws and decrees, and the officials below who are obedient and secretly disobeying them. They don't dare to hide it from the people at will, so as to put this hat on the emperor. Newspapers can also report all kinds of anecdotes, and literary articles

can also guide public opinion through newspapers, but Li Wen will not do this for the time being. Tell the emperor.

"Okay, I'm sure of what you said. I'll leave it to you to handle the newspaper." "Since this matter was raised by Li Liuyuan, Emperor Zhaozong handed it over to Li Liuyuan to handle.

"I accept the order. "Li Wen made a Y in his mind. He didn't expect that he could apply for the newspaper so easily.

He played two games of chess with the emperor in the palace. In both games, he lost to the emperor by one step. The emperor He didn't complain about his chess skills in his heart. But there was no good in losing to the emperor. It was better to lose to the emperor "accidentally" and put the emperor in a good mood.

After coming out of the palace, Li Wen went back to the Hanlin Academy.

It just so happened that it was almost time for him to leave the office. He sorted out the things on hand in the Hanlin Academy. After waiting for the office, he took the manuscript back and planned to take it back to continue organizing it.

After dinner that day, Li Wen went into the study to proofread the manuscript. He had to proofread it, but he had to respect the original author in terms of word choice, so as long as there were no mistakes, he would not make any changes. If If you have any doubts, write them down and discuss them with Cao Zhenqing later.

Thanks to doing these tasks in the Hanlin Academy these past few months, he can now read manuscripts much faster than before.

The most important thing to separate the poems and articles one by one is to formulate a table of contents according to the title of the article. One thing Li Wen had to complain about was that the books here did not have a table of contents, so it seemed really inconvenient.

In order to make it easier for readers to read the book, he had to work hard to classify the articles and make a table of contents.

It will be dark and windy tonight, suitable for climbing over the wall.

The big black dog sleeping on the ground suddenly pricked up its ears, then stood up and ran towards the source of the sound.

As soon as Zhao Xiangyi climbed over from the other side of the wall, he saw the big black dog running toward him. General Zhao came to other people's homes every day to climb over the wall. Even Li Liuyuan's dog knew him. Seeing that he was an old acquaintance, the big black dog was not interested and turned away.

The guards at the house noticed someone coming in, and when they saw the person, they retreated silently.

Zhao Xiangyi went to the yard where Li Wen lived and saw the light in the study room was on. Knowing that the boy was inside, he ducked in and saw the boy sitting under the lamp reading. Smelling a faint cold fragrance, Li Wen turned his head and saw the man standing behind him. He was used to the elusiveness of his men, so he would not be frightened by someone who suddenly appeared. He asked, "Come from the prince?"

Zhao Xiangyi nodded, hummed, and asked, "Why don't you go to bed so late?"

"I originally planned to go to bed after reading this. Forget it, let's wait until tomorrow. The prince's place must be very busy. It's so late, why don't you go back and come to me?" Li Wenlou grabbed the man's waist, rubbed his face, and

raised his head to smile at the man.

"I wanted to come and see you, so I came." The young man smiled like a dimple, and his eyebrows were delicate and beautiful. Zhao Xiangyi reached out and stroked the hair hanging in front of the young man's forehead, touched the young man's eyebrows, and moved his fingers down to the young man's lips, Touching the boy's pale lips.

The two people looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the air suddenly changed.

Zhao Xiangyi's throat rolled, and he obeyed his inner thoughts, bent down, and lowered his head to kiss the young man's lips. Li Wen didn't avoid it. He raised his hand, and two slender arms went up to the man's neck. He was pulled up from the chair and pressed onto the table. The two of them locked lips and teeth, exchanging saliva.

The lamp shines on the two people, and there are intersecting shadows on the ground. You and I are inseparable.

Chapter 64 Donate Money

Inside the bed covered by the curtain, two people were sleeping hugging each other under the quilt.

The man on the bed frowned and opened his eyes. In his arms was a gentle boy, who was sleeping soundly. There was a light gray under the eyelids covered by long eyelashes. Last night, General Zhao spent the night on Li Liuyuan's bed. The two of them had to roll around a lot during the night, so they naturally played some while sleeping.

A strand of black hair fell down to the young man's cheek. Zhao Xiangyi stretched out his hand to lift it. Looking at the young man sleeping obediently, his throat rolled unconsciously. In the end, he couldn't help but lowered his head and placed a light kiss on the tip of the young man's nose. , and then carefully took out the arm that had been pressed by the boy all night, lifted the quilt and got up.

When the man kissed him, Li Wen was already half-awake. He thought he was dreaming, but when he suddenly lost the man's warm chest, he really woke up.

Hearing the sound of sparsely getting dressed, he opened his eyes and saw the figure of a man sitting on the bed with his back to him, putting on shoes. He knew that this man was leaving.

It was still dark outside at this moment, and there were no lights on in the room, so it was dark.

"Ayi." The young man murmured. He rolled up the quilt and squirmed on the bed. He stretched out two long and thin arms and hugged the man's waist from behind. He held him tight and pressed his face on the man's back. I hesitated, not wanting this man to leave.

"Did I wake you up?" Zhao Xiangyi's hand covered the young man's hand and asked.

Li Wen responded vaguely. In fact, it was not the man who woke him up. He was leaning on the man's back, holding the man's waist and refusing to let go.

Zhao Xiangyi turned around and hugged the boy who was holding him and refused to let go. He saw the boy's exposed shoulders and arms. There were also a few dots of red marks on the boy's white and tender shoulders. They were traces from last night. The man's His eyes darkened, and he said in a hoarse voice, "It's cold outside, put your hands back under the quilt."

With his coaxing, the young man reluctantly allowed him to hold his hand and let go. He returned it and hid it under the quilt.

Zhao Xiangyi touched the warm face of the young man sleeping on the ground and said, "It's still early. You can sleep for a while. I have to go back to the General's Mansion." He hadn't gone back to the General's Mansion last night, and he wanted to go back and change his clothes. , I will go to court in a while.

The young man on the bed rolled up his quilt and lay on his side, looking at him with eyes filled with nostalgia.

Facing the young man's eyes looking at him, how could he not want to leave for such a little man? Zhao Xiangyi's heart moved and he couldn't help lowering his head and kissed the young man's lips.

The young man opened his teeth and allowed the man's tongue to drive straight in. He turned his tongue to wrap around the man's tongue and responded to the man's kiss. After the kiss ended, both of them were breathing a little unsteadily. Zhao Xiangyi laughed softly, rubbed the young man's red and swollen lips with his thumb, and said, "I want to go back to the general's mansion. Go back to sleep and get up again."

Li Wen was actually awake now. Knowing that this man was going back to the General's Mansion, he didn't stop him and just said, "I understand, let's go."

Zhao Xiangyi withdrew his hand. He stood up on the bed and said, "Well, I'm going back." Then he really left, went out and closed the door gently. Seeing the man's leaving figure, Li Wen pulled the quilt and buried himself, and fell asleep again after a while.

He didn't wake up until the child outside the door called him.

In the morning, when Li Wen stood in the main hall, he was still a little awake. He could hear those people arguing and arguing. These people would never end their relationship. Suddenly, he felt that this kind of day-to-day stress was coming to him. "Going up early in the morning makes people feel irritated and boring."

He didn't know what he had studied hard for more than ten years, passed the first prize and became an official. Is it just to listen to these people's nonsense every day? He couldn't help but laugh at himself in his heart, wondering if he was crazy or if these people were all crazy.

The morning session ended with hundreds of officials kneeling and worshiping, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"

After the meeting, it was already bright outside.

After coming out of the palace, Li Wen went back to work at the Hanlin Academy. He ate two sesame seed cakes he brought with him for breakfast along with hot water. After eating, he felt very sleepy. In the end, he couldn't hold on any longer and lay down on the table. A ton was hit.

After sleeping for half an hour, I was completely awake when I woke up.

Since he was not busy with the work at hand, he continued to sort out the manuscripts obtained from Cao Laohanlin and listed the contents one by one.

So it was a busy morning.

The lunch I had at the Hanlin Academy at noon is getting worse and worse. I used to be able to eat half full, but now I drink a lot of water and eat two whole-grain steamed buns at most. I could only hold on for an hour,

and I felt hungry again after peeing twice.

Now that he is growing up, he still feels hungry even after eating eight meals a day. The lunch provided in the Hanlin Academy can only last for an hour at most, so he brings dry food here every day and needs more in the afternoon. Eat some dry food to fill your stomach, otherwise you will be so hungry at the end of the day that you can't even go to the office. When he meets someone, he will share one or two pancakes with others. Fortunately, he is not short of money now, so he can still afford to treat people to a pancake.

By the afternoon, Li Wen had proofread the manuscript and compiled it into a table of contents.

The second part of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms" is already being finished. He will end each part when it is almost finished, and leave the remaining plot to the next part to continue painting. He plans to produce five parts of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms", and there are still three more to finish, so if he has good control over the pace, there should be no problem by the time the fifth part is finished.

After finishing the manuscript, Li Wen still had a little time in the afternoon, so he continued to finish the remaining two pictures and marked the end of the second part.

The emperor also approved his newspaper. What troubled Li Wen was that he was the only bachelor commander in the entire newspaper office, so he needed to find people as soon as possible to get the newspaper up and publish their first newspaper. .

It is not difficult to find people to work in the newspaper office. There are scholars everywhere in the capital. Go outside to find a few talented people with good writing skills. Send someone to spend a few money every day to hire people to collect the news and come back and write it into manuscripts. There are also a bunch of academic masters in the Hanlin Academy. If they are not used, it is a waste. Everyone in the Hanlin Academy can write good articles. He can talk to a few old Hanlins with good connections. If the discussion can be successful, invite them Being a special correspondent for their newspaper can lead to long-term cooperation.

In fact, the manuscript matter is easy to handle. At worst, he can write it himself. However, there is another important problem, which is that he wants to find a few people with strong backgrounds who can handle the matter.

Newspapers report daily current affairs news and policies, and play a supervisory role. The news reported in them will inevitably touch the interests of some people, and some things that others are not willing to make public. Once this happens, it becomes particularly important to find a few partners with strong backgrounds who can handle the task, but this partner is difficult to find.

When he arrived at the lower office of the Hanlin Academy, Li Wen was still thinking about finding someone to run the newspaper with him. He deleted some names in his mind, but finally found that there was no suitable candidate.

"Young Master." Li Tong, who was waiting outside, saw their young master coming out and went to greet him.

Li Wen hummed, still thinking about something, and said, "Let's go to the bookstore."

"Oh, okay." Li Tong didn't ask their young master why he wanted to go to the bookstore, and followed behind their young master. That's it.

After they now live in Liuyuan Mansion, it is not very far from Hanlin Academy, so Li Wen always walks on his way back and forth and rarely rides a carriage. Occasionally, Zhao Xiangyi would have someone drive a carriage to wait for him, but he didn't see that familiar carriage today, so the man didn't come today.

It's a bit of a distance from Hanlin Academy to the bookstore, so just walk slowly.

As soon as the cold dew passed, frost began to fall at night, and the leaves of the frost-beaten trees gradually turned red.

The sky is getting late at this time of year. In the past, there was still a bright sun in Xiaya at this time, but now there is only a faint golden color in the west, telling people about the change of solar terms.

At this time, most of the stalls on the street have been put away, and the people living in nearby villages have left the city and gone home. Only the people living in the city have not rushed back and are still setting up stalls to sell thing. On the way, we passed by a stall selling wontons and could smell the aroma from a distance. Li Wen's stomach was growling with hunger. He didn't know where the two sesame seed cakes he had eaten in the afternoon had gone.

"Let's have a bowl of wontons." They are not in a hurry, so they might as well have a bowl of wontons before leaving.

The wonton sellers are a middle-aged couple. They probably set up a roadside stall because they wanted to make a little more money. Li Wen saw that the stall was clean and there were wrapped wontons on them. Each one looked like a little Yuan Baoer, and he looked happy.

"Oh, okay." Li Tong was also hungry. When he saw their young master talking about eating wontons, he followed

him eagerly.

"Boss, here are two bowls of wontons."

"Okay, I'm here to sit down, young master."

Li Wen didn't care that he was on the street. He lifted up his skirt and sat on a small stool. The master and the servant sat on it. Waiting for the wontons here.

The wrapped wontons were not enough for two bowls, so the boss quickly wrapped a few more, grabbed two handfuls and threw them into the water. When the wontons floated, he scooped them out with a spoon, put them into a bowl, put a handful of chives on them, and scooped them out. Just serve a ladle of clear soup and two bowls of wontons.

The woman brought the cooked mixed eclipse and put it on the table. "You two gentlemen, use it with caution."

"Thank you." Li Wen nodded and thanked politely.

The woman said "You're welcome" and stood in the back where no one was around, waiting for the guests to finish eating before clearing the table.

There are chives floating on the soup, and the freshly cooked wontons are juicy and plump. In this era, pigs do not use clenbuterol or feed. The pigs eat only whole grains, so the taste of pork is original, so Taking a bite of the wonton, the meat inside is particularly fragrant.

Maybe it's because I'm hungry and everything tastes delicious.

Li Wen took one wonton in one mouthful and finished the bowl of wontons in one breath, not even the soup left. After paying for two bowls of wontons, the master and servant got up. They saw someone selling steamed buns on the road. Li Wen asked the boy to buy some steamed buns. After eating three or four more steamed buns in a row, he felt a little full. Got it.

"Boss, why are you here?" At this moment, the bookstore has not closed. When shopkeeper Zhang saw their boss coming, he hurriedly put down the abacus in his hand and led the person inside. Li asked the shopkeeper how the business was today, and the shopkeeper smiled and said it was okay. The two of them entered the tearoom inside. Li Wen gave the shopkeeper the compiled manuscript and the drawings of "Painting the Three Kingdoms".

"Hey, there are still people today asking when the follow-up to this book will be available. I said it will be soon, soon, no, my boss has sent it here so soon." Shopkeeper Zhang smiled happily when he saw the drawing, He said, "I'll let the masters at the back print it out overnight."

"Okay, you can arrange these things reasonably, but you still have to arrange your time and rest when it's time." Li Wen said, "This is Cao Zhenqing Cao I have arranged the poems and essays written by Lao Hanlin. You ask the printing master not to mess up the order and print them in the order I arranged. There is a portrait of Cao Hanlin on it. You ask the woodcarver to carve it out. , this is used as the cover of the first page of the book."

"Remember to tell the master not to get these manuscripts dirty or damaged. I will return them to Cao Hanlin after they are printed."

"Okay, boss, don't worry. , I will tell the people below about these matters." Seeing that this time there were not only drawings, but also the collected works of the old Hanlin in the Hanlin Academy, shopkeeper Zhang smiled so hard that he seemed to see a lot of money. Into his pocket.

Li Wen didn't stay in the bookstore too long. He took the manuscripts and drawings over, gave shopkeeper Zhang a few words, and then left the bookstore.

The emperor only gave the prince three days to raise the funds for this disaster relief. Although the prince is responsible for raising donations, His Royal Highness certainly does not need to do this work of collecting money himself. It is all delegated to the officials below to do these things.

Officials from the Ministry of Revenue took people to the Hanlin Academy to register. In addition to donating the one hundred taels of silver that the emperor had rewarded him, Li Wen also donated another fifty taels of silver, which should be given to Xiangzhou. The common people did their best and cooperated with His Highness the Crown Prince's work. Among the other Hanlin officials in the Hanlin Academy, those who had money donated more, and those who had no money donated five or ten taels.

Officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs visited so many departments and found that the Hanlin Academy was the poorest and donated the least amount of money,

but there was nothing they could do about it. Who allowed so many departments? The Hanlin Academy had the least amount of money. Many Hanlin Academy officials They get a small amount of monthly salary, but now the Ministry of Revenue has defaulted on the monthly salary and has not paid it, and now they are asked to donate money to go out for disaster relief. Everyone in their hearts is full of complaints against the people in the Ministry of Revenue.

The people in the household department couldn't do anything about it, and they felt miserable in their hearts. They did things according to the instructions from their superiors, and the money didn't come into their hands.

Chapter 65 Opportunity

Li Wen was walking on the street that day and met an acquaintance. It was Situ Yu, the young master of the Hou Mansion whom he met a few days ago. With him was Xue Zelin, the young master of the Pingyuan Hou Mansion. The two sides met face to face, and Li Wen smiled and greeted the other party, "Young Prince, Xue Qishao."

"Li Wen, I didn't expect to meet you here." Situ Yu's eyes lit up when he saw Li Wen, He stretched out his hand and held on to the person, saying, "That's right, let's go for a walk. Let's go up and have tea together."

"Hey..." Have you asked me if I agree? I didn't say I agreed... TSxdz

Li Wen was dragged into the restaurant by the young prince. Since others invited him so kindly, he had no choice but to give the young prince this face. But when he met the young prince, he had other ideas, but he didn't know whether the other party would agree.

Anyway, he didn't have anything urgent to do for a while, so why not just have tea with the young prince and discuss some matters with the young prince.

The group went upstairs and entered the wing inside.

"Last time we met, I didn't know that you were none other than Li Wenli Liuyuan, the number one scholar in Jinke appointed by the emperor. I'm disrespectful." Xue Zelin didn't know the identity of the other party when they met last time. When everyone talked about it when they left, he realized that the other party was Li Liuyuan. The emperor appointed the number one scholar in Jinke, Li Liuyuan, who was famous in the capital.

He didn't have much talent for reading since he was a child. Fortunately, he didn't have to take the top exam at home, but Xue Zelin liked people who could read the most. The sixteen-dollar number one scholar is the only six-dollar scholar in their entire Dacheng. He can be said to be the most knowledgeable person in their entire Dacheng. Why doesn't he admire this? If Master Xue Xiaoqi had a cold attitude towards Li Wen last time, then this time he really wanted to make friends with him.

"I don't dare, I don't dare. It's just a fluke that I got the first place. It's not worth talking about." Li Wen chuckled. He never talked about his grades. The glory of the past is still in the past. Now he can be fooled. The most important thing is to do well in the future.

Compared with these two young masters from the Hou Mansion, his reputation as the number one scholar is extremely weak.

"Tell me, is it fun to be an official? I see that all the officials are old men with long beards, but not as young as you. So don't you have to face a group of old men with beards all day long? "Situ Yu was the first to make friends with the number one scholar. The previous number one scholars were all old men with white beards. How could there be a young number one scholar like Li Wen?

During the last exam, he sat opposite Li Wen. Li Wen got the top prize and he was carried out halfway. It was a shameful thing to think about it.

He didn't rush to take the No. 1 exam, he just took a gamble with his father at home, and fell ill because of it. He later found out that the day he was carried back, his old grandmother who loved him was angry about it. He beat his father several times with a cane. His mother-in-law didn't show any kindness to his father for three whole months. His poor father coaxed his mother-in-law for several months. But it was only after he recovered from his illness and saw that his father was pitiful that he helped his father say a kind word to his mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law forgave his father.

The servants at home said that he was the young prince and would be the eldest son of the Hou Mansion in the future. Situ Yu felt that being the eldest son of the Hou Mansion had too many things to take care of, so he should let his father be the eldest son of the Hou Mansion. Just be his little prince.

Being an official is not just for fun. Li Wen kept the curve of his mouth unchanged and said, "You can't do what others say accurately. You have to experience everything yourself to know whether it is good or not." However, he was faced with all kinds of problems all day long. They are a bunch of old men with white beards, which is correct.

is that so? Situ Yu blinked twice.

"I wonder, little prince, what do you like to do on weekdays?" Li Wen said with a smile on his face. Anyone who knew him well would know that he had something up his sleeve. However, the two young masters here are not familiar with him, so naturally they don't know what he is trying to do to them.

What do they like on a daily basis? It's nothing more than a few friends getting together to fight crickets and cocks, horse racing and shopping in the capital, and going to a brothel to drink and listen to some music. At this moment, Situ Yu was a little embarrassed to talk about these things to Li Liuyuan. , so after holding it in for a long time, he lied and said, "My prince will study at home and listen to my teacher's lectures if I have nothing to do."

"..." Young Master Xue Xiaoqi's eyes widened and he looked at the prince as if he had seen a ghost. With a confused expression, when did you study at home and still like to listen to your teacher's lectures? Whoever made several of the gentlemen invited to the house get so angry that it must not be the Situ Yu he knew.

As soon as Li Wen saw Master Xue Qi's expression, he knew that what the young prince was telling was a lie, but he did not expose others on the spot. After listening, he nodded and said with a look of approval, "It's good to study. Reading makes people smart, and reading more is a good thing."

He picked up the tea cup in front of him and took a sip of tea. Then he put down the cup. Li Wen looked at the young prince and Xue Xiaoqi and said with a little distress, "I am here to express my gratitude to the emperor. I have an errand to do. This errand is difficult to handle. If I don't manage it well, the emperor will ask me later... Hey..."

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, curiosity appeared on the face of the young prince, and he waved his hand to wait. The man stepped back, came over, and lowered his voice and asked him, "What is the errand? Is it difficult? Tell me, maybe I can help you." "

It's not difficult to say it's difficult. "Li Wen glanced at the young prince secretly, "It's just..."

"What is it?" You should speak quickly. The young prince has a very anxious expression, and he is impatient at first glance.

Xue Zelin also had the same look on his face, "Just tell me, maybe they can help." He regarded Li Liuyuan as a friend. If his friend was in trouble, they would naturally help him. As the young master of the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion, no one in the capital would give him three respects.

"...It's easy to offend people when doing errands, so now I'm the only one. I don't know where to find someone to do it with me. I don't know if anyone else would have the guts to do it with me." Li Wen didn't say this. It is not difficult to deceive the young prince, but it is easy to offend people, so he has made it clear beforehand.

So he is not kidnapping the young prince?

"Who said it? If others don't have the guts, why don't I, Situ Yu, have the courage? There is no one in this capital that I, Situ Yu, am afraid of." The young prince looked at Li Liuyuan with a look on his face, "Are you kidding me?"

"Li Liuyuan, you haven't told us yet, what errand does the emperor want you to do?" Xue Zelin asked.

"...To put it simply, it is to gather together the major events discussed between the DPRK and China as well as interesting anecdotes in the capital every day, write them into articles and publish them in newspapers, so that the people in the capital and even the people outside can know what is going on in the capital. Things that happen every day." Li Wen explained to the young prince and young master Xue Xiaoqi what a newspaper was, and that they now wanted to set up a newspaper office and a "People's Daily".

Li Wen also secretly revealed to the young prince that the emperor did not require them to write this article by themselves, so the implication is that they can spend some money to hire someone to write it. As long as the young prince and young master Xiaoqi are here Just put a name on it.

He also hopes that these two top tattoos in Beijing can write first-hand articles and show some loyalty at critical moments, so that they can help carry out the affairs together. The latter is the purpose of recruiting people to join the team this time.

"Oh, I understand. This is the errand assigned to you by the emperor." The young prince understood and nodded. He felt that this was not a difficult errand. It felt quite fresh. He patted his chest. Said, "I will do this with you.

This is an errand that the emperor's uncle asked Li Liuyuan to run. Now that he is helping Li Liuyuan with the errand, he is indirectly helping the emperor's uncle to do things. When the emperor's uncle knows about it, he might even return the favor." Will praise him!

Xie Zelin also understood and said, "Count me in. "

Brother, you are righteous. From now on, I, Li Wen, will recognize you as two good brothers!"

At this time, Li Wen didn't know that he was pulling these two top dandy young masters in the capital in another direction.

By the time he walked out of the restaurant, he had successfully abducted the young prince of the Zhongyuan Hou Mansion. This young prince was also the brother-in-law of His Highness the Crown Prince. He also had a young master named Xiao Qi from the Pingyuan Hou Mansion to help him. The two young masters of the government, their backstage of the newspaper is as stable as a mountain, and they can walk sideways in the capital.

"There's nothing I can't handle yet!" Li Wen clapped his hands, feeling very happy in his heart.

Now that the main core figures in the newspaper have been found, the next step is to find a few scholars who can write articles and rent a house in the capital as an office.

On the way, I remembered that shopkeeper Zhang had been the shopkeeper of a bookstore for many years. All the people coming and going in the bookstore were scholars. He should know a lot of scholars. Thinking of this, Li Wen went to the bookstore and told shopkeeper Zhang to help find a few readers who could write articles, and rent a house near the bookstore. Future newspapers would be printed directly from the bookstore. Also convenient.

"Yes, yes, don't worry, boss, I will definitely take care of this matter for you." Shopkeeper Zhang responded happily.

newspaper? Although Shopkeeper Zhang doesn't know what this is, with Shopkeeper Zhang's keen intuition, it is definitely something that can make money.

The business in their bookstore is now as good as ever. Everyone who comes to the bookstore buys a copy of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms". The masters of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms" are already working hard to print the second part of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms". The book has not been printed yet, and there are already Many people have made deposits and made reservations, and their bookstores will definitely make a lot of money by then.

"Okay, let's leave this matter to shopkeeper Zhang and finish it for me as soon as possible. As for our newspaper office and newspaper management, the less people know about it, the better." He was worried that someone would come to seek revenge, so he kept this secret The work had to be done, Li Wen told shopkeeper Zhang and left the bookstore.

"Yes, yes, I must remember it, little one." Shopkeeper Zhang escorted their boss out of the door.

After seeing that their boss had left, shopkeeper Zhang went back and began to work on the things that his boss had ordered

. After the court was dismissed the next day, Li Wen saw little Eunuch Su coming towards him, and knew that the emperor was looking for him.

On the way to the imperial study room, Li Wen took out a bag of snacks from his pocket. They were jelly beans bought from a time-honored store in the capital. He casually gave them to little Eunuch Su.

"Slave, thank you, Mr. Li." Little Eunuch Su thanked him, took it and hid it in his arms, with a cheerful smile.

They were just servants serving their master. The ministers in the court had never looked at them. Their master didn't even treat them as human beings. Master Li was the only one who treated the little eunuch like him kindly, and would bring him small things from outside the palace from time to time. The little father-in-law received the reward, and his happiness was written on his face.

"It's not something valuable, you can just take it and eat it." Li Wen saw the smile on little Eunuch Su's face, and felt a little sad in his heart. He was just a half-year-old child who was given away by his family at a young age. Enter the palace and become a eunuch. When the palace maids leave the palace at an old age, they can find someone to marry, and if they are lucky, they can have a son and a half daughters. The eunuchs will not be able to have offspring in this life.

There is always a bit of compassion and compassion in his character. The more he understands some things in this era, the more he finds that life is not easy for people in this era. People are divided into three levels from birth, rich and poor, high and low. Some people are born as human beings, and some people are as light as grass. But those who can change their destiny, Not none, but very few.

"Long live your Majesty."

"Long live the Emperor." "Get back on your feet."

When he arrived at the Royal Study, the Crown Prince and several other princes, as well as Prime Minister Dong and the court elders were already here. After saluting, Li Wen stood at the back. He turned around and saw General Zhao standing on the prince's side.

Zhao Xiangyi glanced at the young man. The two exchanged a look and then stood in their respective positions.

In the mornings of the past two days, the court was debating who should be sent to Xiangzhou to provide disaster relief. Officials in the court were arguing endlessly, and this candidate has not yet been decided. At this time, the emperor summoned everyone to the imperial study room for this matter.

He was a sixth-rank petty official mixed in with a bunch of pavilion elders and important ministers. It was embarrassing. Li Wen rubbed his nose in his heart and stood there quietly, thinking that there was nothing wrong with him, so he just listened to what others said. . He didn't expect the emperor to call him, "Li Liuyuan."

"I'm here." Li Wen had no choice but to go around from behind, saluted, and waited for the emperor to speak.

"Do you still remember what I asked you the day before yesterday?" Emperor Zhaozong looked at Li Liuyuan who was kneeling in front of him and asked.

"Yes, I remember." Li Wen reviewed in his mind what the emperor had asked him that day, and finally stopped at one sentence. The emperor asked him, "If I ask you to be responsible for going to Xiangzhou to provide disaster relief, what will you do?" Handle this matter?

99

So the emperor has long thought of letting him be responsible for disaster relief?

"Li Liuyuan heard the order, and I ordered you to be the imperial minister responsible for going to Xiangzhou to handle disaster relief. " Emperor Zhaozong said with a straight face.

After hearing the emperor's oral instructions, Li Wen was obviously stunned. He did not expect that the emperor would appoint him as an imperial minister to be responsible for going to Xiangzhou for disaster relief. This morning, what are the ministers below still thinking about? A prince was the imperial envoy and the minister was arguing endlessly. The job that several princes were competing for, now fell to him in vain?

Chapter 66 Appointment

"Your Majesty, this trip has a heavy responsibility. Li Shidu has insufficient experience, so I am afraid his qualifications are shallow..." Everyone in the imperial study obviously did not expect that the emperor would hand over such a big responsibility to Li Wen. Jinke So what if the No. 1 scholar is just a sixth-rank junior minister, a young man who is not as good as a weak official. He has been an official in the court for only a few months. How can he be able to shoulder such a heavy responsibility? Therefore, some ministers stood up to refute the emperor's decision. .

Emperor Zhaozong raised his hand and said, "You don't need to say any more. I have

made up the emperor has made up his mind. At this time, everyone in the imperial study did not dare to refute anymore and continued to say words to make the emperor take back his life. They did. To see what Li Shidu was capable of, the emperor favored him again and again.

University Scholar Zhan and Prime Minister Dong stood aside. University Scholar Zhan raised his eyelids and glanced at Li Liuyuan who was kneeling on the ground

. Li Liuyuan, you still don't accept the order? "Are you thinking that you can't resist the decree? Emperor Zhaozong looked at Xiao Liuyuan who was kneeling in front of him and

asked.

"Yes, Wei Chen accepted the decree. "Li Wen felt that everyone's eyes were on him, and one of them wanted to poke a hole in him. He knew who the owner of this line of sight was. The eldest prince might want to stab him with a knife. He was the one who stole his errand.

It was Li Wen again! The eldest prince stared at Li Wen's back with eyes filled with anger.

"I entrust you with this errand. Can you handle it well?" " Emperor Zhaozong asked with a serious face.

"Thanks to the emperor for trusting me, I will live up to the emperor's expectations^" Li Wen lowered his body and knelt on the ground.

At this time, he definitely couldn't say no. If he dared to say no, , just be prepared to die of old age in the Hanlin Academy for the rest of your life! If you don't seize the opportunity, you will be a fool. Li Wen realized that this was an opportunity for him, and he had to seize it

. Emperor Zhaozong waved his hand and asked people to get up.

Li Wen did not get up immediately. He raised his head and glanced at the emperor quickly. Emperor Zhaozong noticed the way Xiao Liuyuan looked at him and said, "Get up and talk. What else do you want?" I said it all at the same time.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. " "Li Wen got up from the ground, licked his dry lips, glanced at the emperor's face, and said, "Your Majesty, you appointed Wei Chen as the Imperial Ambassador, and asked Wei Chen to be responsible for going to Xiangzhou for disaster relief. minister's trust. However, Wei Chen's official spoke softly, and Wei Chen was worried that along the way he would encounter someone who would use his status to oppress his minister, disobey instructions, and delay disaster relief, so Wei Chen wanted to ask the emperor for a talisman.

"I agree with your request. " Emperor Zhaozong played with the jade ring on his thumb and ordered, "Sun Haide, go and get my Shangfang sword."

"Hey, I'm going to get it for you. " "Eunuch Sun responded and quickly went to get Shang Fang's sword. Emperor Zhaozong waved his hand, and Eunuch Sun received the order and handed Shang Fang's sword to Li Liuyuan.

The emperor said, "See you . This sword is like seeing me. This sword cuts down traitors at the top and corrupt officials at the bottom.

"I thank you, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty. " "Li Wen held Shang Fang's sword in both hands and knelt down to kowtow.

The emperor later selected two officials from the six ministries to accompany him to Xiangzhou to assist Li Liuyuan in handling the disaster relief. And the escort team accompanying this time was also indispensable. Emperor Zhaozong ordered Said, "Jingwei Commander Zhao Xiangyi.

"I am here. " "Zhao Xiangyi stood up.

"I order you to order two thousand elite soldiers to escort Li Liuyuan to Xiangzhou for disaster relief and protect the safety of the accompanying officials. You must protect my Li Liuyuan and escort him back to the capital safely. If my Li Liuyuan is missing a hair, I will only ask you. " Emperor Zhaozong had a smile on his face, and what he said next sounded like a joke, but it didn't seem to be a joke at all.

"I accept the order. "Little General Zhao had no expression on his face, but in his heart he disagreed with the emperor's words. People belong to him!

Anyone who wants to touch his people must step on his body!

Everyone came out of the imperial study, and the eldest prince took When the servant passed in front of Li Liuyuan, he looked at Li Liuyuan with disdain, snorted, and led the people away. Li Wen didn't even move his eyebrows. He only raised his head after the eldest prince and the people passed by. Come.

Li Wen came out of the imperial study and saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince not far away. He couldn't stand behind them, so he had to walk over, saluted them and said, "See you there." After passing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince,

"Let's go together, I just want to talk to you about Xiangzhou." Yang Shaomu said with a gentle smile on his lips.

Yang Shaojian nodded to Li Liuyuan.

His Royal Highness, the fourth prince, is kind to others and has a non-competitive character. He has the lowest sense of presence among the princes. Unlike the prince who was established as the crown prince from birth and attracted everyone's attention, his mother-in-law's status was low and she was not favored by the emperor in this palace. Therefore, he, the prince, was not favored by the emperor when he was young, but he was able to eat and drink in this palace. Growing up safely in a human palace is considered good luck.

"My father appointed you as the imperial ambassador because he must be interested in your ability. You must also believe in yourself and don't put too much pressure on yourself." The prince knew that this time the job would not fall on him, but compared to letting him Whether the eldest or the third should go, Yang Shaomu would rather his father choose Li Liuyuan to go.

However, he also knew that disaster relief was no small matter. The road to Xiangzhou was full of dangers and difficulties.

"Thank you, Your Highness, I understand." There must be pressure. Li Wen did not expect that the emperor would ask him to be responsible for going to Xiangzhou for disaster relief. After taking over this task, he felt that Alexander was afraid that he would not be able to do it. Well, he wasn't worried that he couldn't do the job well and couldn't explain it to the emperor, or that he had to explain it to the civil and military officials in the court. He was worried that he couldn't do it well and couldn't face the people.

But now that the emperor has put him in charge of this matter, he cannot resist the decree. No matter what the road ahead is, he will go on step by step. The only surprise was probably that the emperor chose Zhao Xiangyi to escort him. Thinking that Zhao Xiangyi would accompany him all the way to Xiangzhou, there seemed to be nothing to worry about in this errand.

When the time comes, the soldiers will come to block it, and the water will come to cover it up!

In three days, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince tallied up the amount of silver raised for disaster relief. The amount of silver donated by each official in the court was recorded in the book one by one. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince delivered the book to the emperor's desk. forward. After the emperor flipped through the book, he saw the amount of silver on it and nodded. Emperor Zhaozong was finally relieved.

The other half of the silver came from the Ministry of Husbandry. This time, the Minister of the Ministry of Husbandry did not push back. Zhu Guangquan drew a sum of silver from the Ministry of Husbandry. Seeing that a large amount of silver was missing from the account of the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance was bleeding. But he couldn't do it without taking the silver, so it was difficult for him to be the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.

However, just having silver taels is not enough. This trip also requires a large amount of grain to be transported to Xiangzhou. The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for the silver taels and grain, so after the disaster relief trip was confirmed, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue began to get busy.

There is imperial supervision here in the capital, and merchants in the city dare not raise food prices at will. It's just that the food in the capital comes from other places, and there are transportation and labor costs. Therefore, the price of food in the city is definitely higher than the price of food outside.

The amount of grain that the Ministry of Revenue can mobilize from the capital is not enough, and it has to mobilize grain from other places. Food from other places can be transported by water, and it will take three days at the fastest to reach the capital.

Now, just wait for the food to arrive, and the imperial team to go to Xiangzhou for disaster relief can set off.

Although most of the preliminary work was taken care of by the Ministry of Revenue, Li Wen, the imperial envoy, could not relax much. He had to confirm and arrange the relevant work and personnel arrangements one by one. Otherwise, if something goes wrong then, he, as the imperial envoy, will be responsible, so he must be fully prepared before setting off.

So there are bits and pieces, and there are a lot of things to be busy with.

"Boss, the place and people have been found." Shopkeeper Zhang came over and said that the place and people for the newspaper office had been found. Li Wen was so busy in the past two days that he almost forgot such an important thing. He had just come back from outside. He had been busy for a whole day and didn't even have time to sit down and take a sip of water. He raised his hand and said, "Sit down, Shopkeeper Zhang. " Welcome the Spring Festival and

serve tea." "Yingchun hurriedly brought the tea. After delivering the tea, he stepped aside to wait.

Li Wen took a sip of tea and told shopkeeper Zhang about the newspaper office. Now the place and personnel are in place, which is to publish the newspaper. Things, the current affairs in the court, the things that the people in the city are paying attention to and talking about, as well as the current anecdotes, etc., can all be used as content to be published in the newspaper. However, shopkeeper Zhang is not responsible for the above matters. The shopkeeper only needs to be responsible for the subsequent printing.

"Okay, after the newspaper company determines the version and content, it will be handed over to the bookstore. Then the printing and sales will be left to you, shopkeeper Zhang. "

Newspapers are published every day and are timely. After today, the news will have no value until the next day. Therefore, it is best to sell the newspapers we sell on the same day, so the price is It's not too high, it's better to set it at a few copper coins per piece, so that everyone can spend money to buy one, small sales make big profits, and we can also make money. When the time comes, you can hire some kids to sell newspapers in the city. For example, you can earn a copper coin by selling a few newspapers. I think there will be people who want to earn some living expenses. You can just arrange these things when the time comes.

"Yes, boss, I understand. " "Shopkeeper Zhang now knows that their beloved boss is an official, or the famous Li Liuyuan in the capital. When he walked into Liuyuan Mansion for the first time, his legs were trembling, and he was still inexplicably excited. He could do something for Li Liuyuan. This life is worth it.

Chapter Sixty-seven Second Update

Li Wen didn't know what Shopkeeper Zhang was thinking, and naturally he didn't know that Shopkeeper Zhang regarded him as a god-like figure. Shopkeeper Zhang is the person who works under him, and his identity will be known to the other party sooner or later, so he will not hide his identity from the other party, "I will go out of town in two days, and the return date is uncertain. There is something about the bookstore." I'll leave it to you to handle everything. If you really can't make the decision, have someone send a message to my house,

"Okay, okay." " Shopkeeper Zhang knew that it was inconvenient for him to stay here longer, so he stood up and left.

" Yingchun, you send shopkeeper Zhang out. "Li Wen asked Yingchun to see him off.

"Yes, Master. "Yingchun sent people out.

Shopkeeper Zhang left Liuyuan Mansion, turned around and glanced at the plaque hanging on the mansion, then turned and left. He still couldn't believe that he just entered Liuyuan Mansion.

After the people left , Li Wen went into the study, and he was busy until midnight before returning to the room.

At night, he felt a person standing in front of the bed. The person seemed to stay for a while, and he felt a hand on him. On his face, it was just that he was too sleepy to open his eyes at that time, so he didn't wake up. It seemed that the person came just to take a look at his boy, and left when he saw the person

. When he went to the Hanlin Academy, Li Wen went to Cao Hanlin and told him that he wanted to hire him as a newspaper consultant. If he had not suddenly received an appointment from the emperor to go to Xiangzhou to provide disaster relief, Li Wen would have done the newspaper affairs himself. , but now I have no choice but to find someone to check.

He has the best relationship with Cao Zhenqing in the Hanlin Academy. He also understands Cao Zhenqing's personality and knows that he is not a rigid person, and the other party should accept him. He asked Cao Zhenqing for help today, and since Cao Zhenqing was in the Hanlin Academy, it would be easy to invite other colleagues to write manuscripts, so if he could invite Cao Zhenqing as this consultant, he would kill two birds with one stone

. He had the emperor's approval for the newspaper, so as long as the article did not incite the people to rebel or do anything detrimental to the court and Dacheng, the emperor would allow them to continue running the newspaper.

The other party didn't know what a newspaper was yet. Wen spent some time explaining to Cao Zhenqing and asked, "I wonder if senior is interested in this and if he is willing to be a consultant for our newspaper. Seniors can regard this as a job outside the Hanlin Academy, and it is not too hard. The newspaper will also pay seniors an additional salary every month. "

Hey, let's not talk about salary or wages. I think the newspaper you mentioned is a bit interesting. "Cao Zhenqing is a little interested in this.

"Then if senior agrees, then let's just settle this matter? After I get out of office today, I will take my senior to the newspaper office to have a look. "Li Wen said with a smile. When the monthly payment comes, just ask shopkeeper Zhang to send someone to deliver the monthly payment to Cao Laohanlin's home. In short, he won't treat Cao Laohanlin badly.

"Okay. "Cao Zhenqing agreed.

After leaving office in the afternoon, Li Wen specially arranged a carriage to take Cao Zhenqing to the newspaper office.

The newspaper office is in a small courtyard behind the bookstore. Li Wen has been busy these days, and so has he. It was the first time I came here, so I didn't know the way. It was shopkeeper Zhang who brought them here.

There was no plaque hanging at the door of the courtyard. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary small courtyard, so they would never guess that it was Dacheng's No. 1 courtyard. There was a newspaper office. They knocked on the door, and a scholar-looking young man came to see the door. He knew Shopkeeper Zhang and called out, "Shopkeeper Zhang." "Seeing Li Wen, the other party was obviously stunned for a moment, and asked uncertainly, "Are you Li Liuyuan?

"Yes, hello. " "Li Wen didn't expect that the other party knew him, but thinking that he had won the first prize and was parading on horseback, many people should have seen him.

"Please come in quickly, please come in quickly." "Zhang Qing was stunned for a moment and said hurriedly.

After waiting for people to go in, Zhang Qing, who was waiting by the door, closed the door with his backhand. When he went inside, he saw a sign stuck at the door, which read: People's Daily, the name is still Li Invitation. There are several tables in the room, and there are a few scholars there.

"Everyone, please stop and see who is coming." Zhang Qing shouted.

When they saw someone coming in, everyone stopped writing and stood up to look at the person. The people here were all invited by shopkeeper Zhang, so they all knew shopkeeper Zhang, but the other two They didn't know each other. When someone saw Li Wen, they obviously doubted this person's identity and looked surprised. They couldn't believe that the other person would appear in their small courtyard.

"Hello everyone, this is our first meeting . , nice to meet you. First, let me introduce myself. I am Li Wen. Li Wen saw a series of expressions of surprise, surprise, etc. from everyone's faces, and introduced them, "The senior next to me is named Cao. He is the consultant I hired for the newspaper. You can call him As Consultant Cao, the articles you write in the future must be reviewed by Consultant Cao. Only after they pass the review can they be published in the newspaper. " "

I hope you will have a happy cooperation in the future. "

Cao Zhenqing nodded reservedly to several juniors. He saw that there were only a few tables and a few scholars in this house. Is this the newspaper office Li Liuyuan mentioned? Let's continue to look at it later.

"Are you Li Liuyuan? "There are no scholars in the capital who have never heard of Li Liuyuan's name. This top scholar who caused a sensation in the capital, even the small, medium and large three yuan, is their first six yuan since the founding of the Dacheng Dynasty, and the other party won the top prize. At that time, I was only sixteen years old. At that time, everyone was talking about this little six yuan. Some people said that the smoke was coming out of their Li family's ancestral graves, so

some of them had already passed this . Even in their thirties, they had not yet been able to obtain an official position. The thought of this made them feel ashamed.

No one expected that they would see Li Liuyuan here today. They all thought that they were invited by the bookstore owner to write articles. , I didn't expect that it was someone else who invited them.

"Well, that's right. "Li Wen nodded. He asked someone to bring him two chairs. He invited Cao Laohanlin to sit down first, then waved to everyone and said, "Everyone, please sit down. There is no need to stand. "

When everyone saw Li Liuyuan's attitude towards Consultant Cao, they began to guess the identity of Consultant Cao. Thinking of Li Liuyuan's appointment in the Hanlin Academy, they guessed that this old gentleman was probably also a member of the Hanlin Academy. He could enter the Hanlin Academy. Who are the people inside? Only those who are in the top two of the imperial exams are qualified to enter the Hanlin Academy.

The Hanlin Academy is a place that they can hardly enter in their lives, so the thought of them sitting here now. The two people in front of them were Hanlin from the Hanlin Academy, and Li Liuyuan, whom the scholars admired and envied the most, everyone's attitude immediately became cautious.

"Don't be nervous, I'm here today to bring the seniors . Come here and have a look. This is my first time here, so I also came here to have a look. Secondly, I want to come over and see all of you and meet you. Li Wen said with a smile on his face and a kind attitude, "Today we meet for the first time. I'm sorry that I don't know your names yet. Is it okay?" "

Can you introduce yourself?

"Hello Li Liuyuan, hello senior, I am the person who opened the door for you just now. My surname is Zhang and my name is Qing. Zhang is the foreman Zhang, and I am from Qingshui. "Zhang Qing was the one who opened the door just now. He stood up first.

Below were Lu Ziyu, Feng Chenggui and others. Everyone reported their names one by one.

Two or three of them were Xiao Shizi and Xue The people sent over by Mr. Xiao Qi saw Li Liuyuan for the first time. They thought they were working for the young prince, but they didn't expect that they were working for Li Liuyuan. This was a completely different feeling.

After listening to everyone's introduction, Li Wen continued, "Shopkeeper Zhang probably didn't tell you that our newspaper was approved by the emperor, so we invited you here. We are doing things for the emperor." . "

This is to tell these people that their newspaper has been established by the emperor, so this is also a full-time job, and I hope they can take it seriously.

"I believe in Shopkeeper Zhang's vision of people, so you are all excellent people who were invited here by Shopkeeper Zhang. Ours is the first newspaper office in Dacheng, and what we run is the first newspaper in Dacheng. So I hope you can take it seriously.

You are the first members of the newspaper, and the good people will continue to stay in the future, but I hope that you will all stay in the future. I just hope that you will stay. Everyone works hard, helps each other, and gets along harmoniously." Although Li Wen smiled on his face, his words were full of criticism. He hoped that everyone would do a good job here and not cause trouble for him.

After he finished speaking, Li Wen turned sideways and asked Cao Zhenqing, "Senior, do you have anything to say here?"

Cao Laohanlin cheerfully said a few words, "Young man, work hard," completely making the people inside Treat them as juniors.

"I wonder if you have any doubts or have anything to ask?" Li Wen asked.

Someone asked what kind of articles they could write, what things they need to pay attention to, etc. Li Wen simply explained a few sentences, "The article should be as brief as possible and easy to understand. As for the content, it does not violate the laws of Dacheng. Damage to Dacheng's interests immediately, there are not many other things that need attention. I will write out the rules and regulations of the newspaper later, and then give them to Shopkeeper Zhang to send to you. "

There is nothing else to do after that . Went out of the newspaper office.

After Li Liuyuan and Advisor Cao left, a group of young people in the newspaper office still couldn't believe it.

"Am I dreaming? Li Liuyuan came to our place just now, and we are still running errands for the emperor?" Lu Ziyu took his companion's hand and said, "Here, slap me and see if it's true. "

Pa!"

A slap and five finger prints.

"Ouch..." Lu Ziyu covered half of his face and said angrily, "I asked you to hit me, and you really hit me

?"

The man felt very wronged and said innocently, "You didn't ask me to hit you. "

Qiluziyu,"..."

Chapter 68 Departure

It was not until the evening of the third day that the food brought back from other places arrived in the capital. Carloads of grain were brought back to the Ministry of Revenue. After officials from the Ministry of Revenue counted the quantities overnight, they were waiting to be handed over to the Imperial Ambassador Li, who was responsible for the disaster relief in Xiangzhou this time.

Officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs stayed up all night, waiting for Li Liuyuan to come to check and accept the goods.

"Boom! - Boom! Boom!"

The watchman at night had just finished playing the clapper for the third watch.

At this time, the streets of the capital were empty, with no pedestrians on the road. People were still sleeping in their houses with their doors closed. A group of people riding horses passed by on the road, and the horses' hooves stepped on the ground, making a neat clicking sound.

They barely slept that night. Just after midnight, Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi led soldiers from the _ brigade to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and two accompanying officials arrived in sedan chairs. At this time, there were less than three hours left before their team set off. Before setting off, they had to inspect and accept all the materials shipped to Xiangzhou for disaster relief, then load them into trucks and escort them away as soon as the city gate opened.

Seeing the boxes and grain piled up at the door of the house, inside the box were boxes of silver. This was the first time he had seen so much silver and grain, and Li Wen was inevitably shocked.

Although he still doesn't know the specific situation of the drought in the North, he can probably guess that there should be a lot of affected areas and people, and it may not be enough to transport these supplies. Some of the supplies were donated by officials and businessmen, otherwise the court might not have been able to come up with so many things.

Every time the Ministry of Revenue allocates money and materials, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue will personally come to the scene to supervise the implementation. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, he, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, must first bear the greatest responsibility.

"Your Majesty, please see Mr. Zhu."

Seeing the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue here, Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi stepped forward and saluted Zhu Guangquan.

Zhu Guangquan nodded to the visitor. In his heart, he looked down on Li Wen. He didn't know why the emperor would entrust such an important job to a young boy. But since this is the emperor's decision, they, the ministers, are not allowed to comment. They, the ministers, can only follow it. However, Zhu Guangquan's attitude towards Li Wen is not very friendly, "Li Shidu, all the silver and grain for the disaster relief are all It's here. You have carefully counted it. Once the things leave the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Finance will not be responsible. Don't have any problems on the way and come back to the Ministry of Finance

to get something from the petty official next to the Minister of the Ministry of Finance. This booklet was given to Li Wen. Li Wen reached out and took it. He didn't care much about the other person's attitude towards him. Indeed, the other person's official position was higher than his. He wanted to do things based on other people's faces, and he had no right to ask others to be nice to him. He He responded calmly, "I understand. "

Li Wen glanced at the man behind him. Zhao Xiangyi understood and made a gesture. A group of soldiers following him immediately stepped forward to inspect the supplies.

On this trip to Xiangzhou, in addition to the two thousand guards, there were another five If there is any problem with the relief supplies, all of the soldiers escorting them will be involved. The soldiers below know it, so they are very serious about checking it.

These soldiers have been around for half their lives. I have never seen so many white coins.

Zhao Xiangyi transferred Yang Guanglu, who was originally guarding the city gate, to the escort team heading to Xiangzhou. Yang Guanglu was different from the children of the aristocratic families in the capital. From an ordinary soldier to his current position, this man may seem rough, but he is actually a rough-and-tumble man, which is what Zhao Xiangyi likes about him.

"Brothers, check carefully. "Yang Guanglu received the order and led the people below to work.

He didn't listen to what the people in the Ministry of Revenue said. Once something comes out, it has nothing to do with them.

In the past, military generals and civil servants like them would not deal with it. If something happened, These civil servants will always try their best to shirk the problem and put the blame on their generals, thinking that they are easy to bully because they are illiterate and illiterate!

"Let's go and have a look too. "It's not that Li Wen doesn't trust others, but he has to see it himself in order to ensure that everything is foolproof.

This time he will do a good job in the disaster relief work, and he will definitely get a promotion and salary increase, but once he fails, he will It's one thing to have a black gauze hat on his head. It will also affect the people in his family. So once he becomes an official in the court, there will always be a knife hanging on his head. He still has to be careful in everything. Besides, he doesn't think The people in the Ministry of Revenue are trustworthy.

Zhu Guangquan has been sitting in this position for so many years, but he really can't sit down without any ability. Li Wen has to guard against this person. The water in the capital is deep. I didn't know what was going on.

Li Wen asked people to open boxes one after another, and personally checked the boxes of silver coins

. You open it and take a look.

"Okay, sir, take a look. " "

Xiao Bing opened the mouth of the rice bag, and Li Wen went to look through it himself. After checking the rice on top, he grabbed the sack and shook it twice to shake up the rice below. He reached down and grabbed a handful of rice. He looked at the colors, lowered his head and smelled the smell carefully. He was not a rich young man who didn't distinguish between grains, so he could easily tell that the rice on top was fine and the rice on the bottom was old rice. Li Wen turned around and said, Zhao Xiangyi said, "Come and smell it.

Zhao Xiangyi took a look, went over to smell it, and discovered the problem.

It's already good to have old rice at this time instead of moldy rice. Zhao Xiangyi pressed Li Wen's hand and lowered his voice and said, "That's it." It's not possible that all the rice will be good at this time. There will definitely be old rice to make up for the amount. As long as the amount is right, the problem is not too big. As long as it's big, it's fine. This is an unspoken rule that everyone understands privately.

So this is what makes Li Wen angry. It is that the officials above are letting things go and may even get involved. Only the people below can do this.

Good rice is expensive, but old rice is cheap. If someone uses old rice to make up for the price, someone must have made a profit from it. This is the rule that everyone understands, so these people dare to tamper with the grain for disaster relief.

But their trip was imminent, and if he wanted to pursue it, it would inevitably affect their scheduled trip time.

There are many twists and turns in this, and if we really continue to investigate, we may not know how many people will be brought out, and it is just a matter of using Chen Mi to make up for it. If he wants to go all out to investigate, it will not be worth the loss.

Li Wen naturally understood the truth that if the water is clear, there will be no fish. There must be the same set of behaviors and rules in the officialdom, but just because everyone thinks so, some people will become more and more unscrupulous. He took a deep breath and finally suppressed the anger in his heart. He knew that he alone could not shake the entire bureaucracy. He made a note of this in his mind and waited for an opportunity to settle things with these people in the future!

When Zhu Guangquan saw Li Wen checking so carefully, the veins on his forehead were jumping. He was mainly angry. But there was nothing he could do about it because he was the one who said it. If there was any problem, the Household Department would not be responsible for it, so he had to let others check it carefully.

"Sir, I'm afraid everything will be over for a while. Why don't you sit down and rest for a while." The junior officials who followed saw that their adults looked bad, and knew that their adults must be in a very unhappy mood at the moment. He has worked in the Ministry of Household Affairs for so many years. Every year, tens of thousands of silver coins go in and out of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He has never seen anyone check the disaster silver and grain inspections so carefully. This means he doesn't trust them!

In the past, the inspection took less than an hour. This time, Li Wen was stunned and it took him a full two hours and more.

Okay, okay, Li Wen!

Zhu Guangquan grabbed the tea at hand and took a sip. The tea in the cup was cold. He swallowed it in one gulp, but he couldn't suppress the fire in his heart.

After the inspection of the last bag of grain was completed, Yang Guanglu came to report, "Sir, we have completed the inspection, and there is not much difference in the number."

"Okay." Li Wen nodded, took the book and went to the Minister of Household Affairs, that's it. He bowed and said, "I've asked Mr. Zhu to wait for a long time. After everything has been checked, the amounts of silver and grain match up."

"Okay, if it's no problem, just sign and pledge it." Zhu Guangquan's expression remained unchanged.

The junior officer who was following him handed over the brush. Li Wen took the brush, signed it, and drew the pledge. As soon as

Zhu Guangquan got the pledge slip, he snorted and took the people away.

Li Wen touched his nose. He didn't know why he made Mr. Zhu unhappy, but it didn't matter. If he wasn't happy, just be unhappy. He didn't care anyway, "Hurry up and load everything into the car."

" Great."

Boxes of silver and grain were loaded into trucks and transported from the Ministry of Household Affairs to the city gate.

Taking advantage of the fact that he still had some time, Li Wen went back to his house to pick up his luggage and tell his family that he was going on a long trip and he might not be able to come back in three or two months. His luggage was simple, just a package containing a few pieces of clothing. When he went out, he kept everything simple. He didn't even plan to bring a girl or servant, but only took two guards with him.

"Master, are you really not going to take me with you?" Li Tongliang looked at their young master with tears in his eyes and said,

"If I don't follow you, who will take care of you, young master?"

How could their young master not take him with him? , wuwuwu...

"I'll just take Ah Chen and Ah Wu there. You can just stay in the capital and wait for me to come back." Li Wen had no intention of taking Li Tong with him. He would have to travel day and night on this trip, and he would go to Xiangzhou. We still don't know what the situation is. He brings a book boy with him who can't even protect himself. If something happens, it will only drag them all down. It's better not to take him with him and leave him

here in the capital.

Take Ah Chen and Ah Wu there, they can still protect him if anything happens.

"As long as Ah Chen and I are here, nothing will happen to the young master." A Wu patted Li Tong on the shoulder and said.

Li Tong wiped his tears and sobbed, "You have to protect the young master."

Li Tong said. Wenya had no choice but to deal with this loyal little slave, and said helplessly, "Okay, don't cry. Those who don't know would think that something happened to your young master. I just went out to do an errand and came back after finishing it." "He looked at the girl and boy standing at the door, touched his little brother's head, and said, "You should study hard with your husband. My brother is not in the capital, and you are in charge of the house. You are a man, and you have to protect my sister and the family. "I'm afraid I won't be able to come back within two months

. It might be the Chinese New Year by then. I originally wanted to send you home to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my mother-in-law. If I come back late, You will celebrate the New Year in the capital, and I will ask someone to take you back after the new year." If he is not in the capital, no one can arrange these things for me to return to my hometown. If something happens along the way, it is not good. It is better to wait a little later. It doesn't matter if you go back.

"Yes." Li Haopeng knew that his brother had received the emperor's order to go to disaster relief, and it would take a long time to come back. He held his brother's hand, feeling a little reluctant to let go, and said, "Brother, you go safely and come back safely. We will

I 'll wait for you to come back at home. I'm not in a hurry to go home. It doesn't matter if I don't go back. It's not convenient to write letters outside," Li Wen explained.

"Okay." Li Haopeng nodded and looked at his brother eagerly.

"Brother, this is dry food prepared for you, for you to eat on the road." Li Jinwan took a package to her brother. Li Wen took it, hung it on the horse, and said, "I am not in the capital, and everything at home has to be done. I'll leave it to you.

Li Jinwan nodded, her eyes a little red.

"I'm leaving. You guys will wait for us when we come back." "Li Wen got on his horse and waved to the family below,

"Brother, have a nice journey. "

"good. ,'

This time Ah Chen and Ah Wu, who had followed him, also walked out the door and followed their master. It was still not bright yet in

"Tata Tower"

, and the soldiers outside the city had already assembled. Five hundred officers and soldiers were responsible for escorting the silver grain. Li Wen rode out and saw the man on horseback at a glance. He led the people over to join Zhao Xiangyi and the others.

The two exchanged glances, and Li Wen nodded, confirming that there was no problem.

"Departure-"

The team moved forward slowly, with horse-riding guards in front and behind, and in the middle was a team escorting silver grain and two accompanying officials in a carriage.

Li Wen rode a horse and walked in front with Zhao Xiangyi.

On the day they set out, the People's Daily published its first issue.

"Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, fresh newspapers."

The boy waved the newspaper in his hand and shouted as he ran: "Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, report big things in the court, small things in the people, interesting things."

"If you want to know about the world, you just need to A newspaper will do. "

Newspaper?"

What is this? The people in the city saw a boy shouting and selling newspapers. They heard what the boy shouted, reporting on big things in the court, small things among the people, and interesting things in the capital. So the curious people stopped the boy and asked, "What are you doing?" "What are you selling?"

"Sir, I'm selling newspapers for three cents a piece. Do you want to buy one?"

It's only three cents a piece, which is not enough for him to finish his tea in the teahouse. Money, the man said, "Let's get one."

The first person to pay for the newspaper saw what the newspaper was, and then people began to pay for it one after another. Before long, the child's hand was filled with money. The newspapers were sold out.

The newspaper on this day devoted a lot of space to writing about the drought in the North, the imperial Chapter 70 Entering the City

"Everyone, step back, step back, don't come forward..."

"Get out of the way, everyone, get out of the way..." It's a pity that no one listened to Li Wen even if he shouted at the top of his lungs. His

instructions.

At this time, the hungry refugees had lost their rationality. The refugees kept coming, intent on grabbing the relief food, and bumped into the guards' knives. These well-trained guards responded at the same time as the refugees rushed towards them. Everyone surrounded the food in the middle. Unless they were forced to do so, they would not draw their swords against these refugees.

"I'll have someone escort you into the city first." Zhao Xiangyi was worried that the young man would be in danger here. There were too many people here, and he was worried that these refugees would hurt the young man. Li Wen grabbed the man's hand, shook his head resolutely, and said, "I want to go in with you."

He is the imperial envoy, the soul of the team. If something happens, let him go alone. Then how can he continue the following work? No one will obey his orders in the future. He must advance and retreat with this team.

"Follow me and don't leave the team." Zhao Xiangyi had no choice but to lead people to protect the young man and control his horse so that no one would disturb him. Not only because he was ordered by the emperor to protect Li Liuyuan, but also because this was the boy he loved and the person he wanted to protect in his life. He couldn't imagine what would happen to him if the boy was hurt by these people.

There was a conflict between the two parties, and casualties were inevitable.

The influx of refugees startled the horses under them. The horses neighed, raised their front hooves and kicked people. Some people were trampled by the horses' hooves and fell to the ground.

People kept falling to the ground and were trampled to death by the surging refugees from behind. The irrational refugees rushed up and bumped into the guard's knife. The knife in the guard's hand was stained with bright red blood. Seeing the dead people, the refugees in front finally became afraid and did not dare to come forward again.

"Killing people... killing people..."

"Officers and soldiers killing people..."

Zhao Xiangyi, who was riding on horseback, followed the source of the sound and saw at a glance the man who was instigating the trouble. He was the person who shouted the loudest just now. . Zhao Xiangyi narrowed his eyes, pulled out an arrow feather from his horse, put it on the bow, pulled the bow hard with his hand, and shot the man in the throat. The man fell on the spot.

The crowd screamed.

"If you don't want to die, get out of my way!" Zhao Xiangyi shouted.

Obviously this arrow shocked these refugees, and the refugees on both sides retreated one after another, not daring to come forward to grab food.

"Sir, please give me a bite to eat..."

"Sir, please..."

The woman knelt down and cried while holding the baby in her arms. The baby in her arms was sallow and thin, and she didn't know how long she had eaten. . Following the woman's plea, the refugees behind them all knelt down one after another, begging for a bite to eat.

Seeing these people kneeling on the ground, Li Wen's eyes were slightly hot, and he felt very uncomfortable.

"Let's go in first, don't stay here." Zhao Xiangyi pulled Li Wen back to his senses. He knew that he could not rush at this moment. He would make arrangements after entering the city and understanding the specific situation. It's better than them staying here.

At this time, Li Wen could not condemn the guards for not caring about the lives of the people. These refugees had lost their rationality. If they did not pick up the knife in their hands to defend themselves, they would be the ones injured in the end. That person has no parents anymore, and their parents and relatives are waiting for them to return home. Naturally, Li Wen doesn't want to see anything happen to his people.

This short road of less than 300 meters was extremely difficult to walk because of the constant influx of refugees.

The generals who came out of the city led their soldiers to open a road. As soon as the people and horses from the two sides met, a road was opened in front, and they entered the city along the way.

Boom -

the city gate was closed again, blocking out the refugees outside the city.

Li Wen entered the city smoothly under the escort of Zhao Xiangyi. They arrived at the government office in Xiangzhou City and saw a group of officials waiting here.

Compared with the ragged refugees outside, the officials in Xiangzhou City seemed not to be affected by the disaster at all. They all expressed themselves so brightly that Li Wen started to care. What happened this time can be said to be a natural disaster, but it was not without human factors.

Li Liuyuan was surrounded by everyone, and people could tell his different status at a glance.

"Xiangzhou Magistrate Lu Xingbang has met the Imperial Envoy." Xiangzhou Magistrate Lu Xingbang was waiting for the Imperial Envoy's arrival with officials of all sizes in Xiangzhou. The officials behind him saluted and shouted, " "The officials in Xiangzhou have met the imperial envoy."

None of the officials in Xiangzhou expected that the imperial envoy who came to provide relief this time was only a teenager. Everyone in Xiangzhou knew what was going on in the capital, so naturally they knew that this year's top scholar was just a ten-year-old. The six-year-old boy, the popular man beside the emperor, was the imperial envoy in front of him.

It's just that when some officials saw a half-year-old boy coming, they somewhat didn't take him seriously.

I wonder if when Li Liuyuan slaps the evidence of their corruption and bribery on their faces, these officials will feel that this is just a boy with no hair at all.

"Master Lu, there is no need to be polite. Everyone, please stand up. There is no need to be polite." Li Wen asked the officials behind him to stand up and said to everyone, "This is the first time we meet. I am the imperial envoy sent by the emperor to take charge of this disaster relief. I am The surname is Li. The one next to me is Commander Zhao, this one is Yao Langzhong, and this one is the feudal chief. "

The local magistrate is a fourth-grade official, and his official position is lower than Lu Xingbang's, but he is. The imperial ministers appointed by the emperor and the officials sent by the emperor to handle local affairs also had the intention of going on patrol on behalf of the emperor. Therefore, even the prefect Lu was very polite when meeting him, let alone these small local officials.

It's just that when they first arrived in Xiangzhou, they didn't know what the situation was like here, and they didn't know what the officials were like. The first time he dealt with Lu Xingbang, he felt that this person was an old fox who kept things hidden. Before entering the city, Li Wen had already sent people to investigate the Xiangzhou magistrate. He didn't know the result of the investigation. He would know it later.

Now they have officially met.

"The imperial envoy has had a hard time on the road. I have arranged a place for the imperial envoy and several adults to stay, and asked my servants to prepare food and wine. How about the imperial envoy and several adults go to the hotel to take a comfortable bath and change clothes first? Later, I asked someone to bring you over for dinner." Lu Xingbang knew that the imperial court had sent an imperial envoy here, and he had already arranged accommodation for the imperial envoy and his party at his house.

"Thank you Mr. Lu for the arrangement. It's just that there are many people on our trip, so we don't need to trouble Mr. Lu. I have already sent someone to the city to book an inn. We can just stay in the inn." As soon as they entered the city, Li Wen sent people to find an inn. He must have found an inn by now, so he did not plan to stay at Lu Xingbang's place.

To live here with Lu Xingbang is to put himself under the eyes of the other party, which is not conducive to their actions

. The other party cannot refute the excuse he used.

"Let's not be in a hurry about the meal. It won't be too late to have dinner together later." Li Wen said, "This time we went to Xiangzhou to handle the disaster relief according to the emperor's order. The following are the things we escorted this time. We came here to use the silver grain for disaster relief. We first arrived in Xiangzhou and we didn't know what the situation was like here. Why don't Master Lu and many other adults talk to me about some of the situation here so that I can have a better idea. Let's discuss it and make arrangements for disaster relief."

In fact, from what he saw and heard along the way, he also knew something about the situation in Xiangzhou.

And when they were outside the city just now, they saw so many refugees blocked outside the city gate. The officials in Xiangzhou did nothing about it and allowed the people to starve to death outside the city. This was a serious crime. But now, before he has clear evidence, it is not easy for Li Wen to start pursuing responsibility as soon as he arrives. It is best to arrange for the victims first, and handle the accountability matter later.

In the past, the silver and grain allocated from above for disaster relief had long been divided up before it could reach the local area. It would be good to have five points at the local level, but after arriving at the local level, local officials would divide another one. There is not much left in the hands of the people. But this time, all the things they escorted were here, except for some left in other places along the way.

Li Wen couldn't believe that anyone could touch the silver they had worked so hard to transport!

When the officials in Xiangzhou saw so many boxes outside, they knew that the boxes contained silver for disaster relief, as well as a lot of grain shipped there.

Lu Xingbang naturally saw the supplies delivered from outside. Seeing that Li Wen rejected his invitation, he was not angry. Instead, he said understandingly, "Yes, yes, I didn't think carefully enough." "

Why don't we get there first? Go inside, sit down and have a cup of tea, so that we can discuss how to deal with this disaster relief matter. "

"Okay, that's what I have in mind," Li Wen said with a smile.

"Invite your Majesty the Imperial Envoy."

"Master Lu invited

a group of people to sit down in the room, and the maids brought tea and snacks.

Li Wen picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea. The tea is good tea. Nanyue Yunwu, the local tribute. The emperor's tribute tea was not cheap when sold outside, so it was not a tea that ordinary people could afford. However, considering that Lu Xingbang was the prefect of Xiangzhou, he should be able to afford a sip of Yunwu. He asked, "Which of you can come?" Tell us about some of the conditions in the following places?

"I have seen the imperial envoy. " "An official stood up and talked about the situation in some villages below. There is a severe drought this year. The drought in Xiangzhou is particularly serious. God doesn't rain. The ground is cracked. The crops are dying in large tracts. The farmers are dead. The harvest is gone, and it is impossible to live this life. Some

of the villages below are now completely deserted, and there have been several refugee riots and so on.

How is the situation? How much food is left in the city now? "Li Wen had a question in his mind that he still couldn't figure out. As far as he knew, there was a government granary in the local area, which contained spare grain, which was used to prepare for natural disasters and be used to relieve the people. So what's inside the granary? How much food is there, or is there no food at all? If there is no food in the warehouse, then

he has to figure out these things one by one, but it is not easy for him to ask the place now. In fact, the drought in the granary

started to show signs of drought in March this year, but it did not start to break out until June. It was already two months later when the court received the report from the local government. "As of now, have you ever found out how many people have died in the famine, and how many refugees there are? "

This..." Even Lu Xingbang couldn't answer this question. How could he know how much surplus food there was in the city, how many refugees there were outside, and how many people had died. Not only Magistrate Lu couldn't answer, but also the officials below. I can't answer these questions.

Okay!

Li Wen nodded understandingly. It seemed that these local officials in Xiangzhou didn't know much more than him, the capital official. It seemed that they should wait for two days to find a time in person. Go to the villages in the county below and take a look, so that you can understand the specific situation below.

"Now let's talk about how to resettle the refugees outside. "The resettlement of the refugees outside is a top priority and the purpose of their trip.

They can't save the dead, so they might as well figure out how to let the living continue to live. They must always think about Come up with a way.

"What I mean is that we should resettle the refugees here first, open warehouses to store food, and give the people something to eat first. Then we will hire the refugees to work and give them food and a little food." reward. I wonder if Mr. Lu and the adults here have any other opinions on this? Or if you have better opinions, you can share them. "The method proposed by Li Wen is actually to use work for relief. This also prevents some lazy people from waiting for the court to distribute food to them every day. They can eat without having to do anything. It's a beautiful idea!

"It should be So, I agree with what the Imperial Envoy said. I wonder what everyone here thinks? "Lv Xingbang

agreed .

"Okay, this is a good method.

"Nature is good. " "

Zhifu Lu was the first to agree, and the officials behind all agreed. No one dared to object, and no one had a better way. If there was a better way, they would not close the city gate and hide. It's here.

There are also some matters such as how to serve porridge.

As for the silver grain they brought for disaster relief, Li Wen sent guards to stay with the officers and soldiers arranged by Lu Zhifu. Guarding them together, the two teams took turns guarding them twelve hours a day. He did not trust the officials in State #1, and there was no way anyone would steal them. When the food was gone, where would he cry?court sent imperial ambassadors to provide disaster relief, etc., as well as some interesting things in the capital, such as the master of a certain house who took a concubine, Whose wife is a Yaksha, etc. In short, it involves national and family affairs, big and small matters.

"Shopkeeper, today's newspapers are all sold out."

"All sold out?"

In less than half a day, all 300 newspapers printed have been sold out. Shopkeeper Zhang still can't believe it.

Chapter 69:

The sun hung in the sky in Xiangzhou, and the refugees in ragged clothes on the road continued to move forward like ants.

From the beginning of spring in March to now, there has been no rain in the Northland for most of the year. The crops in the fields have withered and the ground has cracked and cracked into cracks.

This autumn, many northern states have no harvest.

Landlords' rents increased year by year, and the court's taxes increased year by year. In good years, farmers paid their rents and taxes, and barely had enough to eat. In a bad year, there was not much food in the fields. The tenant farmers could not afford to pay the rent to their tenants, nor could they pay the taxes and labor of the court. All the edible food in their homes was looted, and the roots of nearby trees were looted. The bark of the trees has been dug up, there is nothing edible in the ground, and more and more people are starving to death.

There are also slaves from the landlord's house who come to collect rent every day, and evil officials come to the house every day to plunder the house. Every valuable thing in the house is taken away. Some people's house has nothing of value as collateral, and the girls and boys in the house are kidnapped. Go and pay off the debt.

Not that no one tried to resist, but these people eventually died in the hands of evil slave officials.

God does not allow people to live, landlords do not allow people to live, corrupt officials do not allow people to live, these mountains are pressing on people's hearts, these days are really difficult to live, some people take advantage of the darkness of night, and their whole family He packed his bags and fled with his family. At first, one family packed up their things and fled, then it became two or three families, or even an entire village, and then it turned into a procession with no end in sight.

If there was no other way, these people who had lived in poverty all their lives would not abandon their original homes and land and follow the team into exile.

As the number of refugees increased, all the edible grass roots and tree bark in the fields were dug up and eaten. More and more people fell down and died on the road. People's faces had numb expressions. He didn't know if he would be the next one to fall.

People seemed to have no idea where they were going, their legs would rise and fall inertly, and they would follow the people in front of them.

The woman holding the baby in her arms had a dull look in her eyes. The baby made a weak cry and then became silent.

"The little one in your mother-in-law's arms has died. I'll trade this big one with you for the smaller one." The man on the road had long noticed the baby in the woman's hand. As soon as the baby died, the man grabbed it. A half-year-old boy was thrown over and exchanged with the man following the woman, "You won't lose if I trade the older one for your younger one.

The boy was wearing tattered clothes, barefoot, and he was so skinny and hungry. , his eyes were dull, not knowing that he was a lamb to be slaughtered at this moment.

The men looked at the boy on the ground with a fierce look in their eyes,

"Give it to me. "Another man snatched the baby from the woman's arms and threw it to the man opposite. The woman found that the baby in her arms was missing. Her eyes were blank for a moment, and then she screamed, "No, no. ...Give me my child..."

The man opposite took the newly dead baby, hugged it and ran away.

"You guys, give me my child...Give me my child..." The woman chased after her and fell to

the ground. In the era of famine, it was normal to exchange children for food. When people had nothing to eat, they started to eat people if they didn't want to starve to death. They

had to find a way to survive day and night.

After seven days and seven nights of driving, with few stops on the way, we finally entered Xiangzhou on the eighth day.

"What happened ahead? "They were riding on horseback and looking farther away. Li Wen saw the commotion of the crowd over there from a distance.

Along the way, they passed through some county towns. Li Wen met some local officials along the way. After understanding some local situations, he asked local officials to accept and arrange for some refugees as much as possible. The purpose of their trip was to go to Xiangzhou, where the disaster was the most serious. Because it was not convenient for them to stay in other places for too long on the way, he only left a part of the money and food. He arranged for one or two people to stay and cooperate with the local officials to deal with these matters, and the group continued to move forward

. Along the way, they came with money and food for disaster relief. They encountered several bandits or refugees who came to steal things, but Zhao Xiangyi and his guards killed them and drove them away. Fortunately, they were not in danger along the way. The thousands of guards were all selected elite soldiers, and they were not something ordinary bandits could touch. However, a few guards were still injured because of this.

The closer they got to Xiangzhou, the more refugees there were on the road, and they were all killed. Avoid any conflicts with the refugees.

"Sir, it's less than three or four kilometers away from Xiangzhou City. There is Xiangzhou City in front of us.

"Oh, I see. " "Li Wen saw the commotion in front and heard shrill cries in the distance. He wanted to

go ahead to see what was going on. He subconsciously looked at the man next to him. When the young man looked at him, Zhao Xiangyi Knowing that the young man wanted to go to the front and have a look, he had no choice but to say, "Let's go, you and I will go over and have a look.

"You guys walk slowly, Commander Zhao and I will go to the front to have a look. " "

Li Wen explained, then left the team with Zhao Xiangyi and took a dozen people to look ahead.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves, the walking people subconsciously stopped and looked at the person.

"Give the child back. I...give me the baby..." The woman got up from the ground and threw herself at the man who had snatched her baby. The man was staggered and cursed, "Crazy woman, the baby will die even if you die. What else are you here for? "

Li Wen reined in the reins and the horse stopped in front of the man who had snatched the baby. He heard the woman's words and said, "Give the baby back

to her!" Li Wen said sharply.

Seeing these people riding horses, the man had no choice but to throw the dead baby back to the man due to the overwhelming number of people. He muttered, "It's not a good thing, it's just a dead child." He was unlucky

.

The baby fell to the ground, and the quilt it was wrapped in fell apart. Li Wen saw a baby with a blue face inside. He must have died long ago. The woman gently picked up the baby and coaxed her. , "Don't be afraid, dear, don't be afraid, grandma is here, grandma is here..."

"Stop looking, let's go." Zhao Xiangyi drove the horse forward and grabbed the boy's hand.

Li Wen's throat rolled up, and his heart felt like he was choking, feeling very uncomfortable.

He saw the man who had snatched the baby step forward and pull a half-grown boy from another man's hand. The two seemed to have an argument. It's not that Li Wen didn't know that in the era of famine, people exchanged their children for food, but seeing it from historical documents and seeing it with his own eyes were completely different things, not only in this backward era, but also in the modern civilization. In society, people cannibalize people.

In fact, humans are the most cruel animals in the world. In times of famine, cannibalism was just the norm.

"Sir, please give us a bite to eat..."

"Sir, please show mercy and give us a bite to eat..."

"Let's go. "Knowing that it is inconvenient for them to stay here, and they are carrying disaster relief money and food behind them, they must enter Xiangzhou City as soon as possible, otherwise it will be very troublesome to cause a riot on the way. Li Wen reined in the reins and turned around Ma Tou said to Zhao Xiangyi.

The group of them rode back to the team behind.

The gate of Xiangzhou City had been closed, and the refugees were blocked from the gate. The refugees rushed over and smashed the gate with both hands, intending to open the gate and let them in.

When their team arrived outside Xiangzhou City, they saw countless refugees waiting outside the city. They were blocked by refugees all the way there and they could not get through.

Another problem now is that if these people know that what they are escorting is disaster relief money, it will be a very troublesome matter, and conflicts are inevitable.

"How are we going to get there now?" Li Wen looked at the many refugees in front and asked with a headache.

"Wait for the people inside to open the city gate and send someone out to take us in." Zhao Xiangyi picked up a bow and arrow from behind, tied the note to the arrow feathers, pointed it at the city wall above and shot it. When Li Wen saw the man's arrow, he would have praised him if it wasn't in the wrong place.

The guards on the city wall saw the arrow feathers, picked them off, and gave them to their general.

The general guarding the city unfolded the note, read it, and hurriedly ran to the magistrate's house, "Sir, sir, the imperial court has sent people to deliver food."

"Quick, bring people to welcome them into the city." Xiang When Lu Xingbang, the prefect of the prefecture city, heard that the court's disaster relief team had arrived, he was delighted and hurriedly sent people to welcome people into the city.

As there were more and more refugees outside the city, he had the city gate closed. People outside the city could not come in, and people in the city could not go out. But the city gate has been kept closed, and when the food in the city is exhausted, they will have no choice but to starve to death inside.

Fortunately, there is always a way out, and the money and food provided by the court for disaster relief have arrived!

The city gate opened from the inside, and a group of soldiers holding broadswords came out of the city, guarding the people who were guarding the city gate and trying to get in, and pushed them out. The general leading the team shouted, "Get out of the way. Anyone who dares to bump into me will be blamed." The swords don't have eyes anymore!"

"Come back, come behind, everyone is pulling food here."

"Everyone, come here..."

As soon as someone shouted, the refugees in front rushed to the back.

"Damn it!" Li Wen cursed, and he was really afraid of what might happen. He shouted, "Everyone,

go away , go away..."

Zhao Xiangyi led people to protect the young man in the middle, with more than two thousand people. The famous soldiers protected the silver grain in the middle. When these refugees, whose eyes were green with hunger, knew that the food they were protecting was all grain, they rushed back like they didn't care about their lives...