71-80

Chapter 71 - Putting Grain

The group arrived at the city gate. Li Wen climbed up the city wall, holding a loudspeaker he made simply for amplification. Otherwise, if he stood on top and shouted until his throat was broken, everyone below would be shocked. Unable to hear what he was saying, "Hello everyone, I'm going to start talking. Please listen carefully."

He repeated every sentence so that the people below could hear it clearly.

When the refugees outside the city heard the shouts from above, they stopped what they were doing and listened seriously

, "I am the person sent by the emperor to take charge of this disaster relief work. My surname is Li. The imperial court has not given up on everyone. Your Majesty." The people of Xiangzhou have not been forgotten. The Emperor has always kept you all in mind. He has appointed us to travel thousands of miles to transport disaster relief materials to Xiangzhou, hoping to help everyone tide over the difficulties. "Li Wen said not yet. Forgetting the kindness of the emperor to the people of Amway, he knew that there must be someone from the emperor on their trip. Someone would definitely report to the emperor everything he did and said outside.

What's the point of patting the emperor's horse in front of the emperor? If you have the ability to go out and say good things about the emperor, and when someone relays these words to the emperor later, the emperor will surely be happier?

After finishing speaking kindly to the emperor, Li Wen brought up the matter of giving porridge, "Next, the city gate will open in a while and food will be distributed to everyone. Men, please stand on the left side of the city gate. Women, Elderly people and children should stand on the right side of the city gate. Everyone should line up one by one.

"Everyone should stand up and line up before the city gate opens."

"Don't push, don't be in a hurry, take your time ." Take your time..."

"Starting from tomorrow, food will be distributed twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Food will be distributed at Chen time in the morning and You time in the afternoon. However, except for the elderly and children, the rest of the people will receive food for free. It's not that you can get food for free, you need to work in exchange for it.

I am here to announce a recruitment message. I am looking for men with sound hands and feet who can work, as well as women. In addition to rice porridge, the workers also need to eat rice every day. You can get a steamed bun. From now on, each person will have a daily allowance of three cents, and if you do well, you will be rewarded. "

Three cents is not much, and if a person works for thirty days a month, he will only get ninety cents. " , but no matter how small the subsidy is, it is still an income, which is better than nothing.

As long as there are subsidies, there will be people willing to work, which is better than giving them food for nothing. For them, they also have a lot of labor force to do things.

"Did you hear everything clearly? For those who didn't, I'll have someone post the notice in a moment. Please read it carefully... That's all I have to say. Next, open the city gate and start distributing food." See below. The refugees separated in an orderly manner and lined up. Li Wen finished his speech.

"Ahem..." Li Wen couldn't help coughing as he came down from above.

After standing there shouting for a long time, the wind hit me and I accidentally took two puffs of wind into my stomach. My throat felt dry and painful.

"Drink some water." Zhao Xiangyi had been standing beside the boy. When he saw the boy coughing, he handed over the water bottle in his hand. Li Wen took the kettle, opened it and took a sip of water. His throat felt better, and he said "Thank you."

The two men looked at each other, and Li Wen did not forget the people below. He said, "We Let's go down there and take a look."

Knowing that this man wouldn't allow him to go to a crowded place, he promised, "I promise I won't go into the crowd. Don't worry. "Aren't you sent by the emperor to protect me?"

"..." Zhao Xiangyi had no choice but to go down with Li Liuyuan.

Boom -

the city gate opened again. As the city gate opened, two teams of soldiers went out and built a simple soup kitchen. The people behind carried the food out and placed it on the table. There was a commotion among the crowd when they smelled the food.

"Let's start getting food. Line up one by one."

"Anyone who disturbs the order will be kicked out!" There are several strong men in charge of serving porridge. They hold ladles in their hands and scoop them into the bucket. There were not a few grains of rice in the porridge, it was just a bowl of water. But for a hungry person, this bowl of water is also a filling meal, which is better than having nothing and just waiting to die of hunger.

There are soldiers guarding the area to prevent anyone from breaking the rules and grabbing things.

"Next..."

"Next..."

On both sides of the team, men, women and children get different amounts of food. Men get more food, while women, the elderly and children get less food. , this is why Li Wen took into account that men and

women, children and the elderly have different food intakes.

But at this time, there is definitely not enough food to keep everyone full. At best, it can only ensure that no one will starve to death.

Xiangzhou City opened its city gates and started giving porridge to the people. At that time, a large number of refugees would inevitably flock here. They did not bring much food. If more and more people came here, by then There must be insufficient food. Moreover, it is late autumn now, and winter will soon begin. Once winter begins in the north, it will snow heavily. The refugees outside are still wearing thin summer clothes. By then, I don't know how many people will die from the cold. Or hunger.

When the recruitment starts tomorrow, some workers will come. At that time, these people can be arranged to do work, and at least a place to live will be built. They must arrange a temporary residence for these people before winter comes, or allow them to return to their original location and return to their hometown.

But at the end of the day, this problem is still an unresolved issue of land annexation. If the land issue cannot be resolved, there will inevitably continue to happen, like today, large-scale refugees leaving their homes and fleeing for famine.

How to solve this problem? There must be a reform from top to bottom, from the inside out. It's just that when it comes to reform now, it's easier said than done. The famous reforms in history are all reforms that have not yet been completed. The person who proposed the reform was killed first, and Li Wen would not be so stupid as to do such a thing.

For some things that cannot be rushed now, let's put them aside for now. We can use a roundabout policy, and we don't necessarily have to go all the way to the end. All roads lead to Rome, and there is always a way to success, just in different ways.

Fortunately, the weather at this time has already entered autumn, and it is not as hot and humid as in spring and summer, which can cause the occurrence of diseases. However, he thought that there must be sick people outside the city, so Li Wen asked people to find the doctors in the city, and then arrange for the doctors to go out of the city to treat the sick people. There are many things that can be thought of in his mind, but no matter which one they are, there is no rush now and can only be dealt with one by one.

They didn't have enough manpower to do the work here, so Li Wen asked Magistrate Lu to mobilize more people to help.

The soup kitchen is still going on, and there is a long queue behind it.

"Eat quickly, eat quickly..."

As soon as they got the food and the hot food in their hands, the hungry refugees ate hurriedly. Firstly, everyone was hungry, and secondly, they were worried. Someone comes to grab something. But this kind of worry is not unnecessary, because soon someone finished the food in their hands and went to grab the food in the hands of the people next to them.

"You brat, give it to me!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

.

This kind of robbery is not just one or two. Most of them are men who use their physical strength to bully the weak. Among these people who can make it here alive, there are many who commit crimes and do all kinds of bad things.

"You see, this is human nature." Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi stood at the gate of the city, looking at the things outside from a distance. This is the ugliness of human nature. The strong bullies the weak. This kind of thing cannot be avoided no matter where it is. What happened was

that Zhao Xiangyi understood what the young man was saying, but he didn't know what to say. He said to the people following him, "Go handle it."

"Yes." Someone went to handle the matter.

The child on the ground was picked up and a steamed bun was stuffed in his hand. Zhang Mingyu touched the child's head and said, "Boy, it's difficult to survive if you can't protect the food in your hands well." ."

He bit the steamed bun in his hand fiercely like a child, and ate it eagerly, trying his best to stuff the food into his stomach. There were fierce eyes on the side, but because there were several men in military uniforms and holding swords standing next to the child, those who were ready to move did not dare to move.

"These people, sooner or later, we have to give them a good meal!" Li Wen narrowed his eyes and said viciously. I really think that in this world, the one with the biggest fist is Wang Fa. This is really unreasonable!

"Okay, it's all up to you." Zhao Xiangyi said.

Li Wen looked back at the man beside him. There were many people around him at this time, and it was not suitable for two people to do anything intimate, so it was not suitable for him to reach out and hold the man's hand. Probably because having this man by his side, whether he was a refugee outside or dealing with officials in Xiangzhou City, he did not feel scared because he knew that this man would protect him.

They have been standing here at the city gate for a long time, and they have been looking at it for a long time.

Until the sun sets, the soup kitchen outside ends and the city gate closes.

The refugees blocked the outside and did not let the refugees enter the city. Once a large number of refugees are put in, it will inevitably disrupt the order in the city, so it is really helpless to keep the refugees outside.

Xiangzhou City has lost its former bustle and bustle. There are few vendors setting up stalls and doing business on the streets. There are not many people walking on the road. The people have closed their doors. It is chaotic outside. Most people are hiding at home. I dare not come out. Naturally, some people who had nothing to eat at home went out to beg for food. There were beggars on the road begging for food.

They rented a large inn in the city, and all their people lived here.

After returning from the outside, they returned to the inn. There were not enough rooms in the inn. The soldiers had dozens of people living in a large bunkhouse. Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi shared a room. Anyway, given their relationship, it would be just right for the two of them to share a room.

"Eat something to cushion your stomach." Zhao Xiangyi asked the waiter to deliver some food to their room.

"I want to take a shower first." Li Wen wanted to take a shower and change clothes first. He hadn't taken a shower in seven or eight days and always felt that he had a bad smell. Fortunately, the weather is cold now. If it were hot, I wouldn't be able to bear it for ten days and eight days before taking a shower.

They drove very fast along the way, barely resting on the way, and the two accompanying veterans were almost shaken apart in the carriage.

Li Wen relied on his youth to ride the horse all the way, otherwise they would not have been able to reach Xiangzhou City so quickly.

But after riding a horse all the way, this feeling was not pleasant. He had never been on a horse for such a long time before, and the skin on the inside of both legs was abraded, and the area was red and swollen. Even after applying medicine, it didn't heal so quickly, and even walking and pulling hurt.

"You need to eat something to fill your stomach first, and I'll ask someone to bring you hot water." Zhao Xiangyi knew that the boy loved to be clean, and he was used to it. The boy could endure so many days without making a fuss about taking a bath. , which is already very good.

"Oh, then ask someone to bring it to you as soon as possible." Li Wen just sat down to eat and couldn't help but let out a "squeak". His thigh was really sore.

The man who went out to ask someone to deliver hot water came back and saw the young man's teeth bared.

Zhao Xiangyi asked, "Does it hurt? After you finish taking a bath, I will give you another medicine."

He has been giving medicine to the boy these days. Naturally, he also knows the boy's condition. Applying medicine is a painful and joyful job, and he is willing to do so.

"Yeah." Li Wen nodded and asked the man to sit down and eat. "You can sit down and eat too. You haven't had anything to eat all day." When we arrived in Xiangzhou City today, everyone was very busy and didn't eat at noon. After eating, I didn't sit down and take a rest until I returned to the inn. I stuttered.

"Okay." Sensing the young man's concern, Zhao Xiangyi showed a faint smile on his face.

The two of them had a meal in the house. The waiter in the store sent someone to bring hot water. Zhao Xiangyi casually gave the waiter a few rewards.

"Thank you, sir, for the reward." The waiter took the reward with a smile on his face, "If you have any instructions, please call me."

Zhao Xiangyi closed the door behind his back, and the young man inside stood undressing. Li Wen looked up and saw When the man came in, he asked, "Ayi, do you want to take off your clothes and take a bath together?" He invited the man to take a bath with him out of good intentions and didn't think about anything else.

The man's eyebrows moved as he saw the boy take off the last layer of obscene clothes, revealing his fair and tender body underneath.

On the road these past few days, they had to eat and sleep in the open. They might not be able to find a place to stay at night, and they ate casually. The young man seemed to have lost some weight. In the past, life at the border was even more difficult, and Zhao Xiangyi was used to it, but now that he was here with the young man, he was reluctant to bear the hardships of the young man.

"Hey... I'm choking!" Li Wen felt like it was torture just to lift his legs, and Li Wen couldn't help but take a breath.

Hearing the boy's gasp, the man came back from his daze, walked over, picked up the boy, and put him into the water. As soon as he entered the water, the water irritated the wound on his thigh, and Li Wen almost died. Jump up. Zhao Xiangyi held the boy's shoulders and said, "Don't get up, it's cold outside. I'll give you medicine after you wash up."

"Oh...,, okay.

After he recovered, Li Wen felt that soaking in hot water was very relaxing . Feeling comfortable, with all the pores on his body open, he grabbed a towel and stuffed it into the man's hand, and said to the man politely, "Ayi, please wipe my back. "

I don't know since when, he stopped calling this man Brother Zhao. He always called this man by his name in private. On the contrary, it seemed that the relationship between the two people was closer.

"Okay. "Zhao Xiangyi saw a bitter smile on his face when he saw the young man who didn't know he had made him angry. He had no choice but to take a towel and wipe the young man's back.

Li Wen lay on the edge of the tub, exposed his back and let the man wipe it for him. It was comfortable. He narrowed his eyes.

The boy's legs were still injured. At this time, he had to take off his clothes and take a bath together. It was definitely not as simple as taking a bath, so the man was reluctant to torment the boy and just stood aside to serve him and soak in the water. The boy inside

is all pink and very attractive, and the man's hand lingers on it.

"Okay, it's time for you to get up. "In the end, Zhao Xiangyi still remembered that the boy's leg was injured, and he wanted to get up to apply medicine, and fished the man out of the water. Suddenly he was picked up from the water, and Li Wen subconsciously held the man's neck with both hands, his face With a full smile and bright starry eyes, he said, "Ayi, thank you.

"Let me reward you with a kiss. " "

When the man put him on the bed, he hooked his neck and kissed the man's lips.

The young man's soft lips came up against him. Zhao Xiangyi was stunned for a moment, then quickly changed his attitude and kissed the young man's lips fiercely.

The door of the inn is closed, and no one knows what the people inside are doing...

Chapter 72: A Banquet

In the evening, Magistrate Lu held a banquet and invited them to dinner. Li Wen did not refuse. He wanted to see what kind of medicine Lu Xingbang's cute reed was selling.

The two veterans accompanying him had collapsed a long time ago and were already lying dead on the bed in the inn room. The two old guys were so tormented by them along the way that when they arrived at the place, they no longer had the energy to direct the disaster relief work. There were several servants waiting beside them. It seemed that they had asked the servants to invite a doctor earlier.

Most of the officials who are ranked above the fifth rank in the imperial court are in their sixties or fifties. There are very few people like him who failed the imperial examinations and entered the imperial court as officials at a young age. Li Wen couldn't help but feel narcissistic in his heart again.

I just don't know if these two old guys will go to the emperor to read his book after returning to the capital. He was not afraid of this. He was completely concerned about the people of Xiangzhou, so he just hurried a little faster on the road. When the time came, he could still be reasonable when he was in front of the emperor.

Now they were sitting in the carriage and on their way to the banquet.

They only brought a few guards with them. With Zhao Xiangyi by his side, Li Wen didn't worry about his personal safety. This time Xie Yunfei also came with them. If he had something to discuss with someone here,

Li Wen expected that Lu Xingbang would not even dare to attack him as an imperial minister. If Lu Xingbang wanted to attack him at this time, he was undoubtedly not telling him about this place. No more three hundred taels of silver? He didn't look like Lu Xingbang was an idiot. However, it was unlikely that he would be touched. It was more likely that he intended to bribe him. Li Wen reached out and touched his chin, but he didn't know what the other party would bribe him with.

He has never been stuffed with money after being an official for so long, and he still doesn't know what it feels like to be stuffed with money. He also wants to experience it personally.

"Ayi, do you know who this Lu Xingbang belongs to?" He asked people to check this Lu Xingbang today, but nothing was found. Li Wen felt that this person must not be as clean as he appeared, and his subordinates must have done something unknown. He just didn't know how dirty the hands of the officials in Xiangzhou were.

"They are from the eldest prince's side." Zhao Xiangyi asked someone to get to know the officials in Xiangzhou before coming. It seems that the magistrate of Xiangzhou is from the eldest prince's side.

"Oh." Li Wen is not as good as Zhao Xiangyi in this regard. He has only been an official in the court for a few months. He has just understood the interpersonal relationships in the capital. He has not yet seen the people and things in the places below. Before he had time to figure it out, he was entrusted with an important task by the emperor and sent as an imperial envoy. And whether Zhao Xiangyi was born and raised in the capital, or in a big family like the Zhao family, he had a wide network of contacts, and there was nothing he couldn't find.

On a freezing day, Commander Xie held a feather fan in his hand and was shaking it. Li Wen almost kicked the man down, but after thinking about it, he still held back.

"Yunfei, who do you think this Magistrate Lu is?" Li Wen went over to discuss Lu Xingbang with Xie Yunfei. Xie Yunfei put away the fan in his hand, smiled, and said, "Let someone go to Magistrate Lu's house tonight. Will it be clear whether he is a human or a ghost?"

"This is a good suggestion." Li Wen thought it made sense, but it was a bit Worried, "What if I scare the snake?"

"Just be careful." Xie Yunfei didn't think it was anything. He still had some confidence in the people on his side. Li Wen and Xie Yunfei chatted for a long time and felt that not only Lu Xingbang needed to be investigated, but also all the officials in Xiangzhou, large and small, needed to investigate!

Check, check, check this place in Xiangzhou!

While they were talking, their carriage arrived in front of the Lu Mansion. The two people stopped discussing the issues and got out of the carriage.

At the Lu Mansion, Magistrate Lu and officials from Xiangzhou were already waiting inside. At this moment, the officials inside were also talking about Li Liuyuan. Some people think that Li Wen is just a yellow-haired kid with no hair on his head. There is nothing to be afraid of, but they don't believe it. There are some officials who are not deceived by money and beauty.

Lu Xingbang, who was sitting in his seat, looked calm and played with the two rolling balls in his hands. The two beads looked expensive. When the servants outside came to tell them that the imperial envoy had arrived, Lu Xingbang put the two balls back into the box, and the maids came up to put them away.

Magistrate Lu stood up and said, "Let's go outside to greet our imperial envoy."

"Yes, yes." The officials below agreed.

A group of officials followed Magistrate Lu out.

"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, Mr. Zhao." Lu Xingbang came out with a group of officials to greet him, giving the Imperial Envoy enough face.

With a smile on his face, Li Wen calmly dealt with Lu Xingbang, an old fox, "Prefect Lu."

"You're welcome, please. I've had people prepare food and drinks, and I'm waiting for the imperial envoy and Master Zhao to arrive. You guys have

a drink." Lu Xingbang made an invitation gesture and led the people inside. Li Wen answered with a smile, "I have kept Magistrate Lu and many other adults waiting for a long time. Isn't it mine?"

"No, no, it's my honor to have the imperial envoy here." In the prefecture city, he had the highest official position. All the officials below had to salute when they saw him. Very few people could let Lu Xingbang come out to pick him up in person.

Regardless of the young age of this imperial envoy, Liuyuan, who was sixteen years old, looked at it from a glance There was no one in the entire previous dynasty. Lu Xingbang was sending people to deliver the letter quickly to the capital, waiting for a reply from there.

Wine and food have been placed in the house, and there are delicacies running on the ground, flying in the sky, and swimming in the water on the table. Li Wen raised his eyebrows when he saw such a large table of dishes, thinking that the magistrate of Xiangzhou was really capable, and he could still put together such a large table of dishes at this time. They came all the way here to eat some dry food to satisfy their hunger. Now when he saw such a table of dishes, he couldn't help but want to eat it.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Envoy, please sit down." Lu Xingbang asked the Imperial Envoy to sit at the front seat

. "Master Lu, please sit down. Mr. Lu is the host, so there is no reason to sit as a guest. This is against the rules. I can just sit next to you." Li Qian was not stupid enough to sit down on the main seat.

The two complimented each other. Lu Xingbang smiled and sat on the main seat, Li Wen sat on the seat next to him, Zhao Xiangyi sat on the seat next to him, and the other officials took their seats one after another.

The maid serving next to them came forward and poured wine for them.

"Master Li, Master Zhao, this table is a banquet specially set for the arrival of the two adults. On behalf of the people of Xiangzhou, I welcome the arrival of the two adults. I also want to thank the two adults and everyone for escorting the relief. The people of Xiangzhou still don't know how to survive this difficult time until the disaster's silver grain arrives. On behalf of the people of Xiangzhou, I would like to offer a toast to the Imperial Envoy and Master Zhao." Lu Xingbang said this with sincerity.

If there hadn't been such a sumptuous meal in front of them, the words of Magistrate Lu would still have sounded pleasant to the ears. But compared to the hungry people outside the city, Li Wen only felt ironic in his heart when he looked at the large table of dishes. With a smile on his face, he faced Lu Xingbang, "Don't dare, don't dare, we are also acting under the emperor's orders, and we don't dare to take credit. What we should thank is the emperor, who cares about the people and sent us to Xiangzhou."

" Yes, my lord is wise." Lu Xingbang thought to himself that this boy has not forgotten to take pictures of the emperor's horses. No wonder he was promoted to a sixth-rank official at a young age.

In the end, their local officials will only be the fourth rank. It's not that Lu Xingbang has never thought of becoming an official in the capital, but it is not easy to be transferred to the capital. Someone needs to promote him there before he has the opportunity to become an official in the capital. . This is why he has been working in the capital camp for so many years, just so that he can be transferred to the capital one day.

It's just that he can't go to the capital now. Being a prefect in this place is not bad. He has the highest official position here. In this place, he can say one thing and no one dares to say two. The sky is high and the emperor is far away. In Xiangzhou, he is the one. A local emperor.

"Drink."

"Please."

Li Wen blocked the wine glass with his sleeve. In fact, he did not drink the wine, but poured it into his sleeve. Before he came, he put a piece of cotton cloth inside his sleeve, and when he poured the wine, it was absorbed by the cotton cloth. Who knew if the wine was poisonous? He was not that big-hearted yet, so he dared to drink the wine invited by Magistrate Lu with such confidence.

"Sit down.

" "Please sit down. Please sit down." "

Everyone sat back in their seats.

At this time, a beauty came out holding a pipa. After bowing to everyone, the beauty sat down and played the pipa. She still held the pipa to half-cover her face. Every time the beauty frowned and raised her eyes, she was filled with emotion. There was an indescribable charm. All the men present were staring at the beauty.

Li Wen admired the beauty like everyone else. He could count the number of women he had come into contact with in his entire life on ten fingers. It's rare to see a beauty, so naturally you have to appreciate her. The pipa playing is just average, not even half as good as Ms. Song's, but

there are not many people here who really want to appreciate the beauty playing the pipa. The young man stared at the other women, Zhao Xiangyi's jaw tightened, and his face looked even colder.

Li Wen didn't notice the displeasure of the man next to him, and was still staring at the beauty in front of him,

"This one is Peony . Girl, you are good at playing the pipa. I specially asked Miss Peony to play a song today. "Lv Xingbang did not miss the look on the face of the Imperial Envoy, and said with a smile, "The Imperial Envoy has done something like this at a young age, which is beyond your reach. I am ashamed and ashamed. "

Li Wen smiled and did not answer.

"I wonder if Mr. Li's family has made a marriage arrangement for you? There is a daughter in my family, four out of ten this year, she is as beautiful as a flower, and she is still in the boudoir and has not yet been married. "Zhifu Lu himself was not very good-looking. He had several beautiful

concubines and gave birth to several beautiful daughters.

Chapter 73: White Jade Zhenchi

"I haven't established a career yet, so I don't dare to think about starting a family." Li Wen didn't expect that Lu Xingbang would find him a matchmaker, and wanted to give him his daughter. He only married Lu Xingbang because of his stupidity. My daughter, find yourself such a father-in-law. Li Wen found an excuse and went back, saying, "Besides, Ah Wen's parents are still there, so the parents should make the decision on the marriage. Ah Wen can't decide it privately."

In this world, there is a saying that "the fate of the parents is the fate of the matchmaker. " "Word", so there is nothing wrong with what he said.

It's just that this situation is a bit special in their family. He left home when he was young and was always away from home. He had not been back home much in the past two years. When he was young, his parents rarely mentioned his marriage to him. When he went back to his hometown to visit relatives last time, his mother-in-law mentioned something, saying that she knew that he had always had his own ideas since he was a child. They couldn't find any suitable girl at home, and asked him to find a girl by himself if he fell in love with a girl in Beijing. The person you like doesn't have to be a high-ranking girl, just find someone you can live with, and then tell them about it.

What his mother-in-law meant was that he had to make the decision on his own marriage, and that he could not be the decision-maker at home.

His parents are open-minded and not too strict with him. He has always made his own decisions since he was a child. He has to thank his parents for this.

Just don't say that he already has someone in his heart. Even if he doesn't have anyone in his heart, he won't decide on his life-long event so early. It's just that he found a man, and he doesn't know how to explain it to his family when the time comes. This matter was a bit far-fetched. Li Wen pulled back his thoughts and concentrated on dealing with Lu Xingbang, an old fox.

"Yes, Mr. Li is not very old. It is okay for a man to get married two years later." Lu Xingbang heard the rejection in this boy's words and thought to himself that there were countless people waiting to marry his daughter, but this boy actually Rejecting him in front of so many people and not giving him any face made Lu Xingbang feel a little angry.

There are quite a few people in Xiangzhou City who want to climb the high branches of Lu Mansion, but Lu Xingbang looks down on ordinary people.

When he heard that Lu Xingbang wanted to tell his daughter to Li Wen, Zhao Xiangyi's face didn't look good. The young local official also wanted to marry his daughter to Li Liuyuan. Looking at the entire capital, there are still many people who want to marry their daughters to Li Liuyuan, and they may not be worthy of Li Liuyuan's status.

At this moment, Commander Zhao felt in his heart that no one was worthy of Li Liuyuan except himself.

Naturally, Lu Xingbang couldn't fall out with Li Wen because of this. After all, this guy was an imperial ambassador sent by the emperor, so he couldn't offend him. The scene was a little awkward for a while. Lu Xingbang didn't seem to notice, and said, "Drink, drink, and eat food."

"Please, Mr. Lu." Li Wen said with a smile on his face, as if he didn't notice that Lu Xingbang was unhappy.

The topic of matchmaking is over.

The hand placed under the table was suddenly held by someone. The expression on Li Wen's face did not change. He held the man's big hand with his backhand, and the two people's hands placed under the table interlocked with their fingers. Fortunately, at this time, no one would notice that the two hands they placed underneath were clasped together. Li Wen felt at ease, and after that, he rubbed the man's fingers with his fingers to tease him.

The expression on Commander Zhao's face softened a little, but in the eyes of outsiders, this unsmiling general was not an easy person to talk to. Naturally, the officials present were all trying to please the smiling Li Liuyuan.

They didn't move much with the chopsticks they had on hand. They didn't come here just to have a meal.

After these few months of training, Li Wen should be able to deal with these officials with ease. While talking to Lu Xingbang, he was doing Tai Chi with other officials. After sitting there for so long, Lu Xingbang didn't make any other move. They were all trying to persuade him to drink and eat. Could it be that Lu Xingbang just wanted to treat them to a meal today? He didn't believe it.

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Wen suggested that they should go back, "It's getting late, so we won't bother you at Master Lu's house."

"Master Li, wait a minute." Lu Xingbang made a gesture, and the woman held the pipa. He bowed and went down.

At this time, the housekeeper of Lu Mansion came over with a box, handed it to their master, and then left.

Magistrate Lu took it, opened the box, handed it over, and said, "I got a pair of white jade rulers a while ago. It turned out that Mr. Li was coming to Xiangzhou. It would be a waste to keep these white jade rulers by myself. It is a gift. Mr. Li is just right. Please accept it, Mr. Li. "

"This white jade ruler is really beautiful." Li Wen saw a pair of white jade rulers in the box. The jade color was warm and white, and the color was beautiful. Decorated with plum blossoms, it is lifelike, showing the jade carving master's care. The rulers he usually uses are ordinary wooden rulers, but he has never seen such a beautiful white jade ruler.

Since this was Lu Xingbang's wish, Li Wen did not reject it. He took it over and said with a smile, "Since it is Master Lu's wish, I will accept it and thank Master Lu."

"Haha, it's just a small comment . Just agree with Mr. Li's wishes." Lu Xingbang

smiled when he saw that the other party accepted it, thinking that he didn't expect this boy to accept the gift so easily.

The officials, big and small, who were following him had a look of relief on their faces. They were not afraid of the imperial envoy if he was willing to accept the gift. They were just worried that the lack of food and salt would be a problem.

Zhao Xiangyi didn't quite agree with the teenagers collecting these things. It would leave a trail in the future and it would be difficult for them to escape. Li Wen noticed the small movements of these people and handed the box to Zhao Xiangyi who was following him, giving the man a calm look. Zhao Xiangyi knew that the young man must have his own ideas when doing things, so he did not stop him.

"It's getting late. You two adults should go back early."

"Please, Mr. Li and Mr. Zhao, I will take you out." Magistrate Lu personally sent the imperial envoy out, and the two of them laughed and laughed along the way. When the group of people came out of the door, Li Wen turned around and said to Magistrate Lu, "Master Lu, please stay. Thank you Master Lu and all the adults for your hospitality tonight. We can go back alone."

"Okay, Master Li, Master Zhao, go slowly ." ." Lu Xingbang laughed.

Seeing that the young man was about to get into the carriage, Zhao Xiangyi stretched out his hand to hold the hand. Li Wen held the man's hand to get into the carriage and sat inside. Zhao Xiangyi and Xie Yunfei followed and sat in. Li Wen raised the curtains and waved to Magistrate Lu and everyone outside.

"Let's go."

"Drive a car." The coachman driving outside drove his horse, and the horse pulling the carriage started running. Several guards on horseback followed around the carriage, protecting the people in the car.

"A Yi , give me the box just now. "Li Wen asked Zhao Xiangyi for the box just now with great interest.

Zhao Xiangyi handed the box to the boy, and Li Wen took it. Xie Yunfei asked curiously, "What's inside?" He was standing outside the door just now and did not go in. So I don't know what's in this box, but I'm sure it was given by Magistrate Lu.

"Good stuff. "Li Wen gave Xie Yunfei a look.

On the box was a pair of white jade rulers. When Xie Yunfei saw the pair of white jade rulers, he raised his eyebrows and said, "This magistrate Lu is really generous. This pair of white jade rulers The ruler is worth a lot of money. "It's still carved from white jade, tsk tsk, this thing is worth a lot of money in the capital.

"More than that, look at it, there's more here. "As soon as Li Wen looked at the box, he noticed that the box had upper and lower sides, and there was another one hidden under the box. He opened the small drawer below, and inside was a stack of banknotes. He pulled it out, raised his chin and said proudly, "See, I didn't lie to you, good stuff! "

How much is a pair of white jade rulers worth? Looking at such a stack of banknotes, this is a valuable thing!

Xie Yunfei took a breath and asked, "Did you accept it?"

"Yes, it's free if you don't accept it. They gave it to you. Wait until I count how much it costs." Li Wen looked matter-of-fact, and there was an advantage. Bu Zhan is a bastard. Sorry, he doesn't want to be a bastard! He took out a stack of silver notes inside, counted them, and found that there were a hundred thousand taels of silver notes. He unfolded them like a fan and said, "It seems that there is more oil and water in Xiangzhou City than I thought."

" No, you have to have someone take this back and give it back to them^" Xie Yunfei didn't expect that Li Liuyuan was so courageous, and he suddenly became anxious.

"I don't." Li asked what he had hidden the banknotes and refused to take them out no matter what. He gave Military Advisor Xie a look and said, "I'm telling you, this is the evidence they used to bribe me. I didn't say anything." I'll use it myself, and I'll give it all to the emperor when I get back."

"Didn't the Ministry of Revenue still owe you a monthly salary from the camp in the suburbs of Beijing for several months? If you take this back, the emperor will have money to pay you a monthly salary. You're stupid, why should you pay them back!" And their monthly salary from the Hanlin Academy has not been paid yet! He wouldn't be stupid enough to take these banknotes back and give them back. Li Wen took the banknote and slapped Xie Yunfei, and asked, "What does it feel like to be hit with a hundred thousand taels?"

This seems to make sense! Xie Yunfei found that he still somewhat agreed with Li Liuyuan's words.

Hearing Li Liuyuan's last words, Xie Yunfei rolled his eyes and said, "You'll know if you let me smoke one."

"Haha, I don't want it." Li Wen shamelessly stuffed the banknote into Zhao Xiangyi's hand. Go, others also sat next to Zhao Xiangyi and shouted, "Hold the ticket for you, don't give it to him. Commander Zhao, protect me quickly, hahaha..."

Shameless! Only then did Xie Yunfei realize that Li Liuyuan can be ignored If you are so shameless, come out and let's fight! What kind of hero is hiding behind his boss?

Sorry, I'm not a hero. If Li Wen knew that Xie Yunfei was secretly plotting against him, he would definitely tell him this. "

Okay, don't make trouble. "Zhao Xiangyi stopped him.

You are partial! Xie Yunfei groaned in his heart, but it was hard to continue arguing with Li Liuyuan. Xie Yunfei said seriously, "Come here, I won't slap you anymore, let's talk about what happened just now. "

"Oh, you promise not to touch me. "Li Wen saw Xie Yunfei nodding, so he moved his buttocks and sat over.

The two of them were still arguing just now, and soon they got together to plot something.

Zhao Xiangyi saw these two people talking together, and ignored them, closing his eyes. He closed his eyes and listened to what they discussed.

After the imperial envoy and the others left, Lu Xingbang returned to the house with all the officials from Xiangzhou, and the door was closed. There were no guards around, and a group of officials didn't know what they were discussing inside

until very late. These officials left from Magistrate Lu and went back to their respective residences.

The people sent out came back and informed that the officials had just arrived from Magistrate Lu. They left the residence just because there were too many guards in Magistrate Lu's house, and they were afraid that they would be discovered, so they didn't know what they were discussing, so

Zhao Xiangyi said "I understand" and asked people to go back. After resting, he went back to his room and told the young man about this,

"Are these people leaving Lu Xingbang so late? "They have been plotting for so long, what have they said? Li Wen thought about it in his mind and felt that the matter they discussed should be related to him.

Li Wen was writing several letters to the emperor under the lamp, and he wrote several eloquent ones.

In addition to writing to the emperor In addition to the letter, he also sent a piece of news about the situation in Xiangzhou to their newspaper office. The newspaper office was still waiting for his first-hand information to be published in the newspaper. What was the response to the first newspaper? Unfortunately, they had already arrived in Xiangzhou and did not see the first newspaper published by the newspaper office.

But it didn't matter. He asked shopkeeper Zhang to leave a copy of each newspaper when he returned. After reading

and writing for a long time, Li Wen finally finished writing the letter to the emperor.

Li Wen stuffed the one hundred thousand taels of silver notes and the letter to the emperor into an envelope and handed both letters to him. The man said, "Ayi, when the time comes, you will have this letter sent back to the capital and delivered to the palace

. "Okay. Are you just going to stuff all these banknotes into it?" Zhao Xiangyi looked at it. The young man stuffed the banknote and the letter together, feeling relieved knowing that he didn't stay by himself. This was a silver note worth one hundred thousand taels, and the young man just stuffed it into the envelope casually, not knowing what to say.

Otherwise? Li Wen gave Zhao Xiangyi a look. Is it necessary to put it in an expensive box so that others can tell at a glance that it is a good thing?

It was very late now.

"Okay, let's go to bed."

The man twisted a towel and wiped his face. Li Wen took the water, rinsed his mouth, and lay on the bed waiting for the man to come up and sleep together.

Although he didn't bring Li Tong with him, the man had done all these things. He enjoyed the man's service with peace of mind, knowing that the other man was willing to be so kind to him because he loved him. He will remember all the kindness a man treats him in his heart, and treat him better when he looks back.

"Come here quickly."

Zhao Xiangyi blew out the lights on the table and got into bed.

"Ayi." When the man got on the bed, Li Wen rolled into the man's arms and nibbled on the man's chin. Zhao Xiangyi patted the young man's butt and said, "Don't make trouble. If you make more trouble

, you won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning." This sentence was threatening. The young man chuckled, as if he was not afraid.

In the darkness, Zhao Xiangyi lowered his head. , and accurately blocked the little villain's mouth. Li Wen reached out and hugged the man's neck, and a small hand got into the man's clothes and touched the man's eight-pack abs. He thought to himself, tsk tsk, he My man has such a good figure...

Chapter 74 Recruitment

Early the next morning, as soon as the city gate opened, the refugees waiting outside the city gathered.

Two teams of officers and soldiers escorted the hot porridge out, and large baskets of steamed buns were placed on the table. The smell of the food made the people waiting outside swallow their saliva, and their eyes turned green with hunger. They all stared at the food.

There was also a small temporary shed with a "Workers Wanted" sign in front of it, and two gentlemen sat there to register.

"Recruiting workers, recruiting workers."

"Anyone who can work, whether male or female, over twelve years old or under sixty years old, come here to register and get a sign, sign and pledge. From now on, this sign will be used to receive food and wages." People wearing government uniforms shouted.

A notice was posted at the city gate yesterday, and the refugees waiting outside the city had long known about the recruitment.

"They're recruiting workers over there. Let's go quickly. We'll be late in case there are enough people and they don't want us."

"Hurry over there."

"Wait a minute. I'll go quickly." As

soon as they heard that they were recruiting workers, the refugees waiting outside also Instead of rushing to get food, everyone came here to register and receive work badges.

For most people, it is already good to have something to eat to keep them from starving to death. Not to mention how much money they get from working every day. Many of them here are penniless and have not a word on their body. No children. Nowadays, when the government recruits workers, most people are willing to do it.

After a while, a long queue formed here.

I heard that women were also being hired to work. Some women hesitated for a while and gathered together in twos and threes. They also had children to feed. Someone asked, "I heard that the wages can be paid on a daily basis. I don't know if that's true." "

Won't you know if it's true or not after today?" Someone responded.

For the same reason, these women also went over and lined up.

They stayed in the inn and got up early in the morning. After going downstairs to have a simple breakfast, Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi led people to the city gate. The two old guys in the inn struggled to get up from the bed. They had to be helped to walk and they had to come with them.

Li Wen did not advise the two old guys not to come over, lest they go back to the emperor to read his book, saying that he had ulterior motives and deliberately prevented them from going to the scene to see it.

The genius at this time was slightly bright. He slept late last night and got up so early tonight. Li Wen covered his mouth and yawned all the way. He had not slept much recently and was short of sleep. He would definitely give it to him when he returned from this errand. Sleep for three days and three nights!

It hasn't rained in Xiangzhou City for a long time, and this man who was hit by the wind had sand all over his face and mouth.

Embry embryo...

"Xiaguan has seen the imperial envoy."

At the gate of the city, they met a man.

Li Wen recognized this official. He was one of the group of officials who followed Lu Xingbang yesterday. His surname seemed to be Xu? He smiled and greeted the other party, "Governor Xu, you arrived so early^"

"Xiaguan also just arrived." Xu Gang actually arrived before the city gate opened.

"Oh." Li Wen nodded and did not continue to struggle with this matter. Instead, he asked Governor Xu what counties and villages were nearby.

Xu Gang answered all the questions asked by the imperial envoy.

Xu Gang stood next to the Imperial Envoy. He was obviously still a half-year-old boy, but standing next to him, he looked even younger. The children in his family are also fifteen or sixteen years old, but they are still ignorant of worldly affairs, so Li Liuyuan became the number one scholar and became an official in the court.

But how many people in the world can compare with Li Liuyuan? Xu Gang sighed slightly in his heart, feeling that he had lived half his life in vain and felt ashamed of himself.

"There seem to be a lot of people coming to apply for jobs." They stood here and saw a long queue in front of the recruitment shed. Li Wen said, "Governor Xu, when the time comes, you can send someone to do statistics. How many people are there? Please register them one by one."

"Okay, I will ask someone to register them." Xu Gang responded.

What they agreed on yesterday was to build a temporary shed in an open space three miles away from Xiangzhou City and place the refugees here first. When they recruit workers today, they are recruiting people to build houses.

The picture of the house was taken by Li Wen. It is a uniform mud-brick house with one bedroom and one living room or two bedrooms and one living room. It is faster and more convenient to set up in this way, and you can try to build

part of it .

The ownership of these houses belongs to the government, and ordinary people can also pay to buy them.

After these houses are built, people can live in them. The location here is good, and maybe they can be developed into shops for business. The rent of shops will be cheaper than in the city.

"Let's go over there and see how the recruitment is going." Li Wen said to the man next to him. Zhao Xiangyi did not object and followed the young man. The two were almost inseparable. Li Wen was also used to seeing the man behind him whenever he turned around.

Xie Yunfei looked at the two people walking together and always felt that he had missed something?

When he came out and saw these refugees in ragged clothes, all of them were as thin as a stick of hunger and had sallow complexions. Seeing such a scene, Li Wen actually felt uncomfortable. In his last life, he was born in a peaceful era. Apart from seeing some impoverished areas and countries on TV news, he really didn't understand what poverty meant in his last life. People might starve to death.

In this life, he has been in Lijia Village since he was a child. Lijia Village is backed by mountains and has water. In addition, the land there is fertile, and it is easy to make a living by growing things. Basically, as long as you are not too lazy, the family will have a year of hard work and produce from the land. All the food can fill your stomach. I heard from his grandma that they had also encountered famine times and many people died, but until he was born, they had never encountered anything like that. In recent years, due to the three large workshops opened in their Lijia Village, not only the people of their Lijia Village have been fed, but the lives of the people in several nearby villages have also improved.

So after two lifetimes combined, it was only now that Li Wen truly experienced what a famine was and discovered that there would be such things as cannibalism.

Human nature is the ugliest thing. In times of famine, cannibalism is just the norm.

"Sir, please let me work. I have the strength." A half-year-old boy ran to the recruitment place and said he wanted to sign up to work. When the gentleman who registered him saw such an older child, who looked no older than ten, how could he want him? He waved his hand and said, "Go, go and play, don't get in the way here and prevent me from doing my work.

" Go, go, go aside, don't block my way. "The man behind grabbed the child and threw him out.

The child didn't give up and wanted to run inside.

Just as they came over, Li Wen saw a half-grown boy being thrown out of the team. It didn't look like he was home yet. He had a rough guess and knew that this kid was going to apply for a job and was thrown out. "Ayi, send someone to gather all the children who have no fathers and mothers to manage them. Let's see what to do with these children then. "

"good. "Zhao Xiangyi responded.

In every natural disaster, someone will inevitably die, leaving children alone in this world. Some children here have not yet learned how to survive. It is difficult for children without their parents to take care of them. Live to adulthood.

Just think of it as sending Buddha to the West!

We will see how these children are dealt with when the time comes. Dacheng does not even have an orphanage facility so far. At worst, he will build their first orphanage in Dacheng starting from Xiangzhou. In fact, it should not be difficult to set up a welfare home. What is difficult is the subsequent operation and management.

The boy who was thrown out got up from the ground without patting the dirt on his body. With sharp eyes, he saw a group of people wearing beautiful clothes coming out of the city. He rolled his eyes and ran to kneel in front of the old man. He came down and asked, "Sir, do you need anyone to work for you? Don't look at me because I'm young. I'm very strong and can work for you."

Li Wen saw the boy kneeling on the ground and wanted to laugh but Without even smiling, he took two steps forward, helped the child up, and said, "Get up and speak, don't kneel when you see people. Have you ever heard that a man has gold under his knees?"

Gold under his knees? The boy's eyes said he had never heard of it.

"Tell me, why do you want to work? Didn't the government say that children and the elderly can receive free food every day? Even if you don't work, you can still receive food every day." Li Wen didn't understand why this boy wanted to Go to work. Their work policy is mainly for adults who are able to work, and does not include such older children.

"But, but, my brother is sick. He can't get up and can't get food. I don't have money to ask a doctor to treat my brother... If I work, I will have food and money..." When the child said this, Dou His big eyeballs dropped down, looking so aggrieved.

It turns out that my brother is sick, but he is a sensible boy.

Li Wen was a little surprised, so he looked back at Zhao Xiangyi, then looked at the child and asked, "Where is your brother? Can you take me to see him?"

Yesterday they sent people to the city to summon the doctors and asked them to Doctors from the city came out of the city to treat these refugees. It's just that there weren't many doctors in the city originally, and not all of them were willing to go out of the city. Now they can only invite three or two doctors to come out of the city to treat these refugees for free.

As for the cost of medicine, the government will be able to bear part of it, and the remaining part may have to be

paid by individuals. It is impossible for the government to support so many people for free all the time. The Minister of Household Affairs is crying about poverty every day. Where can the court get so much silver? The silver coins they escorted can only solve a temporary emergency. Later, they still have to find a way to make these people self-reliant and self-sufficient.

"Brother is here..." the child pointed over there and said.

"Take us over there and take a look. Maybe we can help you." Li Wen said.

The child roughly wiped away his tears and nose, looked up at his elder brother with his little face raised, and felt that the other person was a good person, so he agreed to take people to find his elder brother.

Li Wen turned around and glanced at the man behind him. Zhao Xiangyi motioned to him to follow the child and he would follow him. Li Wen then followed the child and the group followed behind. They were walking so fast that the two old guys behind them couldn't keep up in a hurry, so they had no choice but to lag behind.

They followed the children and saw a young man lying under the corner.

"Brother, I brought someone here, you can be saved." The child threw himself on his brother and called him, shaking him twice. Bai Yu heard the shouting in his ears and was shaken awake. He raised his eyelids and opened them. His eyes were blurry and he couldn't see clearly who was in front of him.

Just as Li Wen was about to squat down to check the other party's condition, Zhao Xiangyi pulled him and said, "I'll do it."

"The fever persists, and this foot seems to be compromised. The situation is not very good, and we need to do it immediately. He needs to be sent to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment." Zhao Xiangyi squatted down to check the boy's condition. Not only did the boy have a high fever, but there were also traces of injuries on many places on his body. One of his legs was dragging weakly. It seemed that he had been injured. Was interrupted.

Li Wen frowned, not expecting it to be so serious.

"You two come here and send people to Baicao Hall in the city."

Yes.

Two men stepped forward and lifted the young man up on the ground. The young man's eyes moved, his head dropped, and he couldn't help but fainted. Before he fell into coma, Bai Yu only saw a blurry white shadow and heard someone talking in his ears. However, he tried hard to see clearly who the person who saved him was, but he could never see the appearance of that person clearly.

After walking around outside the city, he didn't feel very good. The situation was worse than he imagined.

Now is just the beginning. Li Wen believes that after how long, these situations will ease, or at least be better than now.

They stayed outside the city for a while. The soup kitchen was guarded by officers and soldiers, so nothing happened.

The recruitment was going on smoothly, and the problem was not big. Li Wen gave the order and let the people below take care of it. However, he didn't see Magistrate Lu all morning after he arrived, and Li Wen felt a little dissatisfied about this.

"Let's go back to the city." Li Wen turned around and said to the man behind him.

Chapter 75, fourth update:

"Selling newspapers, selling newspapers, the latest news from Xiangzhou 1"

Kyoto is as bustling and lively as ever, with busy traffic and pedestrians on the road. Restaurants and teahouses were full of people early in the morning. The boy selling newspapers was running on the street with newspapers, shouting, "Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, fresh newspapers!"

"Hey, don't leave, bring me a newspaper." "The teahouse master stopped the boy selling newspapers, handed over three coins, and took a newspaper.

"Thank you, uncle. Please take it."

"Give me one too."

"Three cents, thank you."

Nowadays, reading newspapers has become a daily habit for the people in the capital.

Many people in the teahouse were reading a newspaper in their hands. After everyone read it, they gathered together to discuss what was in the newspaper. News about Xiangzhou has been in the newspapers every day recently. The people in Beijing are discussing the disaster relief in Xiangzhou the most. Every article about the disaster in Xiangzhou is written in detail, as if the person who wrote this article is actually in it. Same.

It is true that the person who wrote this report was in Xiangzhou. Li Wen went back to the inn from outside every day. The first thing he did was write letters and reports under the lamp. Later, when he got really busy, he asked Xie Yunfei to help write the report. , but he still had to write the letter to the emperor himself. Unexpectedly, after Xie Yunfei wrote it once, he felt that it was a good thing to write. Every day after that, he wrote down what he saw and heard in Xiangzhou and sent it back to the capital together with Li Wen's letter to the emperor.

There are also some gossips and little news about the capital in the newspaper, which is also what people like to discuss most.

It can be said that good things don't go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles away. Some people who have become the protagonists in newspapers have recently covered their faces with grapefruits when they go out, for fear that others will recognize them.

In fact, not only the people outside the palace like to read newspapers every day, but even the emperor and queen in the palace, as well as the concubines in the harem, ask the palace people to go out of the palace to buy a copy of today's newspaper every day. You can also know what is going on outside the palace while you are in the palace. For the people in the palace, this newspaper is very fresh.

The ministers in the court would send their slaves to buy a newspaper every day so that they could see what was written on it.

Without the knowledge of these ministers, a copy of "People's Daily" was published in the capital, which was almost everyone's copy. When someone reacted, they still didn't know who ran this newspaper.

"Go and check. I want to know who did this." Dong Xian knew that it had been several days since such a newspaper was published in the capital.

"Yes, I will send someone to investigate right now." The person below responded.

The emperor naturally knew about the newspaper, and he approved the newspaper.

Emperor Zhaozong just didn't expect that Li Liuyuan could still run this newspaper with great success now that he was no longer in the capital, but it made him have a slightly different view of Li Liuyuan in his heart.

Early in the morning after returning from the morning court, Emperor Zhaozong asked about today's newspapers.

"Your Majesty, the newspaper is here. This old servant has asked someone to prepare it for the Emperor." Eunuch Sun took today's newspaper and gave it to the Emperor. Emperor Zhaozong opened the newspaper and read it. When he saw the bad news, the emperor frowned. When he saw the funny news, the emperor also laughed.

Qian'er's newspaper also reported a story about an official in Beijing who favored his concubine and killed his wife, allowing his concubine to bully his legitimate son, and wanted to replace his legitimate son with a concubine. Since ancient times, a great achievement has been that only a son born from the first wife can establish a legitimate son. A concubine is a concubine. Once a concubine, she will be a concubine forever. A bastard is a bastard and can never replace the legitimate son. If a concubine can replace a wife, and a concubine can replace a legitimate son, wouldn't the entire Dacheng ethics be thrown into chaos?

As a minister of the DPRK, he did not lead by example and took the lead in disturbing the ethics of the society.

The emperor asked someone to investigate the matter and found that it was indeed the case. He took off the official's hat in anger. This case was handed over to the Dali Temple. The concubine poisoned and murdered the first wife, and also intended to kill the legitimate son. The concubine was indeed guilty of harming his brother, so the Dali Temple sentenced the concubine to death and beat the concubine forty times. Ban, exiled for three thousand miles.

The people in the capital were very happy to know about the verdict of Dali Temple.

Since this incident, some officials in the capital have been keeping their tail between their legs, fearing that one day it will be their turn. In this capital city, there is no one who hasn't found anything dirty in their backyard. However, the fact that he allowed his beloved concubine to kill his wife, and also wanted to kill his legitimate son and replace his legitimate son with a bastard son is really outrageous and should be severely punished. .

In the eyes of outsiders, this was just a small matter that the emperor dealt with casually, but in the eyes of several princes, this was a beating and killing by their father. Therefore, the princes and their highnesses have been acting a lot erratically recently. His highness the prince smiled slightly and felt that the newspaper run by Li Liuyuan was not without its benefits. The benefits were greater than he thought.

The letters sent from Xiangzhou to the capital were quickly delivered to the palace.

Eunuch Sun got the letter that Li Liuyuan sent to you, and sent it to the emperor with brisk steps, "Your Majesty, the letter that Li Liuyuan sent to you has arrived."

"Haha, really? The letter arrived so quickly today. Bring it to me." Emperor Zhaozong put down the book in his hand. Reading Li Liuyuan's letter was much more interesting than reading the newspaper.

After Li Liuyuan went to Xiangzhou, he wrote a letter to him every day and asked him to send it back to the capital. However, because it took four or five days to ride from Xiangzhou to the capital at the fastest, when the letter was delivered to the emperor, It was already four or five days later.

The letter Li Liuyuan wrote to him that day was a thick stack. Emperor Zhaozong opened it and saw that in addition to the letter, there was also a thick stack of banknotes. Seeing the banknotes, not only the emperor was stunned for a moment, but also Eunuch Sun who was beside him was stunned for a moment. Where did he get so many banknotes? It must have been at least tens of thousands of taels.

Li Wen's letter to the emperor was not different from ordinary excerpts, but more common and colloquial. He first talked about the specific situation in Xiangzhou, and when he was angry, he would express his hatred and blame, and when he was sad, , he will also cry for the victims. Later, he explained the origin of the bank note to the emperor one by one. At the end, he did not forget to pat the emperor's horse to express his loyalty to the emperor. He applied to the emperor for permission to carefully investigate the disaster in Xiangzhou and its consequences. Officials in Xiangzhou.

"We can learn from the sun and the moon that my heart is loyal to the emperor..."

After reading the end, Emperor Zhaozong was rarely moved. It turned out that his ministers were loyal to him as the emperor and for the people of the world. "This Li Liuyuan , My champion is not Bai Qin. "Sun Haide, put these banknotes and letters together.

" Although Eunuch Sun was curious about what was written in the letter, he didn't have the guts yet. Dare to peek at the letter written by the minister to the emperor. He put this letter together with the original letter that Li Liuyuan sent to the palace in a box and put them away.

Emperor Zhaozong, who was sitting on the dragon chair, let out a long sigh, with relief and emotion on his face.

Recently, Jiuzhang Bookstore in Beijing has released the second part of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms". Since the first part of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms" was released, there has been a group of loyal readers of "Drawing the Three Kingdoms" quickly. The second part As soon as his book came out, it was sold immediately - Kong 0

and "Painting the Three Kingdoms" were sold side by side, and there was also a "Collected Works of Qinglian Lay Buddhist". The cover of the book still had a picture of a handsome and elegant layman. Is this Qinglian Lay Buddhist? But who is this lay Buddhist Qinglian? When someone opened it and took a look, the layman Qinglian was introduced at the back. It turned out that the layman Qinglian's surname was Cao and his given name was Zhenqing. He was a Hanlin bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.

Everyone has a feeling of, oh, that's it.

At the beginning, some people were attracted by the cover picture of the anthology. Some people bought "Painting the Three Kingdoms" and bought a copy of "Collected Works of Qinglian layman". After reading "Collected Works of layman Qinglian", these scholars were attracted by the book. I was attracted by the poems written by Zhong Qinglian layman. He deserves to be the layman Qinglian, and he deserves to be a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Scholars in the capital have been discussing the poems and essays of this layman Qinglian recently. This layman Qinglian has become very popular among the scholars.

The business in the bookstore is so good, and the happiest person is Zhang, the shopkeeper. His daily abacus is crackling, and when he sees the daily income, he wakes up with a smile in his dreams.

Their boss ordered him before leaving Beijing to personally deliver the manuscripts of poems and essays to Cao Hanlin as soon as the collection was printed. Therefore, after the anthology was printed, shopkeeper Zhang personally took the original manuscript and the printed anthology, and put the reward in an envelope and sent it to Cao Hanlin.

"Knock knock—"

Shopkeeper Zhang and his men stopped in front of the door of a small courtyard and knocked on the door.

An old servant in the courtyard came out and opened the door, asking them what they wanted and who they were looking for. After shopkeeper Zhang explained his purpose, the other party welcomed him into the room, and he was fortunate enough to meet the talented bachelor Cao Hanlin.

"The common people have seen Mr. Cao."

"Get up, you're welcome."

"Before our boss left the capital, he asked me to wait for the collection of essays to be printed and then bring the printed books and manuscripts to you. Your Excellency, And this one, our boss ordered me to hand it over to the adults." Shopkeeper Zhang handed over the things in his hand. Cao Zhenqing asked someone to take it and looked through it in person.

He saw an envelope containing something. Cao Zhenqing asked, "What does this mean?"

Shopkeeper Zhang told Mr. Cao what their boss had told him. The general meaning was, "The book we published was written by Mr. Cao, and it should be paid to Mr. Cao." Master Cao's reward." After hearing this, Cao Zhenqing couldn't help but smile, thinking that Li Wen was no longer in the capital, and was still thinking about someone giving him money, and

knowing that the gift was a lot, he wanted to refuse it. , when that boy comes back to the capital, he will definitely deliver it to him personally. After thinking about it, Cao Zhenqing said, "I will accept it."

Shopkeeper Zhang delivered the things, stood up and said goodbye, and left.

After the man left, Cao Zhenqing gave the banknote to his wife. His wife took charge of everything in the house, and Cao Hanlin didn't care about money. The woman was stunned for a moment when she got the banknote and asked, "Where did this come from?"

"It was sent by the shopkeeper just now." Cao Zhenqing explained the origin of the banknote to his wife. When the woman knew the origin of the banknote, she smiled. Since this was what they deserved, they should accept it. The woman said, "In that case, let's accept it. When we get back, I will exchange it for silver and buy some meat for the two little ones."

Now that they have money, their lives don't have to be so tight. .

"It's me who has suffered for you." Cao Zhenqing sighed and said.

The woman shook her head and went out with a smile on her face. Old Hanlin, who was standing behind, looked at his wife who went out happily, thought about it, and smiled with relief on his face...

Chapter 76 Looking for Water Source

Li Wen, who was far away in Xiangzhou, could no longer feel the excitement of the capital.

At this time, a group of them were looking for water sources in the nearby mountains. There has been a drought for such a long time, and the water level of the wells in the city has dropped long ago. They are eagerly looking forward to some water coming out of them, but the water they bring up is still mixed with a layer of mud. , that little water can't feed so many of them at all. If they can't find a new water source, their draft will become a big problem.

They were desperate to find water and had been wandering the mountains for three days.

"There are ferocious beasts in the deep mountains. We can't go any deeper." Zhao Xiangyi stopped the young man who was about to go in. There were ferocious beasts in the deep mountains. He was worried that the boy would be in danger if he went in further.

Autumn is the season when vegetation dies, and since it hasn't rained for a long time, the vegetation on the mountains has withered. Some small herbivorous beasts will starve to death without food. They didn't see any small beasts on the way up from the foot of the mountain. In the past, there must have been a lot of rabbits and pheasants in these places, but now they have disappeared.

At this time, the beasts in the mountains must be hungry, and he is alone. There is still a three-point chance of survival after entering. As a group of them went in, if they encountered a pack of wolves, it was unknown how many of them would come out alive.

"Let's go a little further. If we really can't find it, we'll go back." Li Wen knew there would be danger ahead, but he was still a little unwilling to give up. Maybe they could find the water source if they went a little further? If he misses it this time, he will definitely not come here again next time. He doesn't want to let go of even a small opportunity.

The two people faced each other, and their attitudes towards each other were very firm.

In the end, Zhao Xiangyi took a step back, with a hint of helplessness on his face, and said, "Then let's look further. If we still can't find it, we'll go back." After all, this man was still a doting boy who didn't want to Saw the disappointment on the boy's face.

"Okay." Li Qiao responded readily this time, and he didn't want to make fun of everyone's lives.

In addition to the accompanying guards, their group also had hunters they found living in a nearby village, who took them up the mountain. The hunter in front could still lead the way for them, but when they got to the back, the hunter had never been so deep before, so he was a little timid and unwilling to go forward.

"Wait a minute!"

Suddenly, Zhao Xiangyi felt something was wrong. He subconsciously pulled the young man behind him and looked at the bush not far away.

Just when Li Wen was about to ask what was wrong with this man, he saw a huge wild boar rushing towards them very fast. When he saw the pig's two long tusks, he cursed in his mind, " Damn it!" If these two fangs hit him, a hole would be made in his belly.

"Spread out!" Zhao Xiangyi shouted.

Fortunately, these soldiers were all well-trained elites. When given an order, their bodies reacted faster than their brains, and they all dispersed around. Zhang Mingyu saw a wild boar running out and shouted excitedly, "Brothers, catch it and we will have meat to eat tonight!"

"..." Li asked.

"..." Everyone.

At this time, everyone else had to hide away, but Zhao Xiangyi couldn't hide. He pushed the young man to the back, while he stepped forward to lure the wild boar away. Li Wen was pushed by the man and pushed to the back. The guards guarded him in the middle, and they all pulled out their swords to block the front.

Hunters who enter the mountains are most afraid of encountering wild boars. Wild boars have rough skin and thick flesh. If they cannot be killed with a single blow, they will be angered and become more dangerous.

But it seems that these worries of the hunters are nothing to General Zhao.

Zhao Xiangyi dodged and avoided the rushing wild boar. At the same time, he took out an arrow from the quiver on his back and put it on the bow. Pulling full, the arrow was pointed at the wild boar charging towards him.

Suddenly -

the arrow shot out and hit the wild boar's neck. The arrow penetrated and the wild boar fell suddenly.

Seeing the fallen wild boar, Li Wen breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, it's okay!"

Fortunately, Zhao Xiangyi reacted immediately. Otherwise, they would not have been able to dodge immediately before they discovered the wild boar when it rushed towards them. If they were hit by the wild boar, they would be half dead or half disabled.

Li Wen walked around the wild boar that fell on the ground and walked to the man on the other side. He stood with Zhao Xiangyi and looked at the wild boar that twitched twice on the ground and then completely stopped. He couldn't help but stretched out his feet and kicked it twice. Get off the wild boar and confirm that it is dead.

"Don't move." Zhao Xiangyi saw that the boy didn't forget to be naughty at this time, and he was a little helpless.

"Don't be afraid. It's already dead. Are you still worried that it will jump up and bite me?" Li Wen looked at the man

and smiled . Zhao Xiangyi looked at the young man without saying anything. His eyes seemed to be asking, "Should we go down?"

Li Wen was about to speak when he saw a little piglet running out in front of him. Unexpectedly, he caught the big one and the little one. They were very lucky today. Seeing Zhang Mingyu raise the arrow in his hand and aim it at the little pig, Li Wen hurriedly shouted, "Wait a minute."

Everyone's eyes fell on him.

Seeing everyone looking at him and waiting for him to speak, Li Wen explained, "If these pigs can survive here, there will definitely be food for them." There may even be a water source!

If a person goes without a drop of water for seven days, he may die of thirst. In the same way, animals are the same. If there is no water source and food, they will die soon. Since these animals can survive here, it proves that there must be conditions for their survival here.

"What you said makes sense." Xie Yunfei said.

The hunters who were following saw that these big men were desperate for their lives, and said hurriedly, "Big men, there should be more than just one or two wild boars here. There may be wild boars ahead. Why don't we leave? This thing, It's hard to deal with..."

Usually when they go up the mountain and see a wild boar, they can't even hide. No one dares to chase the wild boar.

"I'll take a few people to the front to have a look first. You guys stay here and wait." Zhao Xiangyi's mind was calm and he knew that Orion's words made sense. He held the young man with one hand to prevent him from running to the front accidentally. . But he also knew that if they wanted to go back now, the young man would definitely refuse. There might be wild boars ahead, and there might also be the water they were looking for on this trip.

"Can't you take me with you?" When Zhao Xiangyi looked at him, Li Wen knew the man's answer, "Okay." He had no choice but to compromise, knowing that this man was thinking about his safety, and he didn't He is not a person who only cares about himself and does not consider the feelings of those around him.

"Then you go ahead and explore the road. If you encounter wild boars and you can't deal with them, come back quickly. Let's go down and find a team of people to surround them." These are meat. You can catch them for extra meals. You must not let them go. Yes, but we must do our best. After they arrived in Xiangzhou, they ate steamed buns and pickled vegetables every day. None of them had eaten meat. If they could catch prey, they would still be able to taste the fishy smell of meat.

Of course, their main purpose is to find water sources.

I hope they have good luck today, and don't go out searching for a long time every day like they did in the past few days, but can't find anything, Li Wen prayed in his heart.

"Okay." Zhao Xiangyi saw that the young man was so obedient. If there weren't so many people here and the two of them couldn't do anything intimate, he wanted to touch the well-behaved young man.

After telling Xie Yunfei to keep an eye on the good people, Zhao Xiangyi picked a few people and went forward to look for them.

Li Wen and Xie Yunfei stood behind and waited with a few guards. Everyone nocked arrows on their bows, preparing to deal with dangers that might appear at any time. There was a corner ahead, and there happened to be a protruding triangular area blocking their view, so they couldn't see the front.

Hearing the sound coming from the front, Li Wen knew that Zhao Xiangyi and the others had encountered wild boars. He couldn't help feeling a little regretful. He regretted letting Zhao Xiangyi lead people there. It was nothing to take the initiative to provoke these wild boars. Smart thing to do.

These wild boars on the mountain are different from domestic pigs. Domestic pigs have lost their feral nature after being raised by humans. However, the wild boars on the mountain are different. Wild boars are aggressive. They not only eat vegetarian food but also eat meat, and even attack people.

An adult wild boar is equal to a tiger, and is not that easy to deal with. Otherwise, there would be no other animals besides this group of wild boars within a few miles. I think it is this group of wild boars that has taken over this place. Occupied.

While he was filled with regret, two injured wild boars ran out towards them.

"Fire the arrow!" Xie Yunfei shouted.

The arrows in everyone's hands shot out, turning the two wild boars into hedgehogs, and they fell down with a roar.

After a while, Zhao Xiangyi came over there with someone, and Li asked, "Did you encounter a wild boar? Have you dealt with it?" Seeing the man nodding, he walked up with a few guards behind him. He went forward and asked, "Is anyone injured?"

"It's just a slight injury, it's okay." Someone said.

Li Wen nodded, that's good.

I saw that the two people were a little bit injured, but it didn't look serious. It was probably caused by falling to the ground instead of being attacked by a wild boar. It will be fine when they go back and apply some medicine.

"We found a cave ahead. Do you want to go and have a look?" Zhao Xiangyi asked proactively.

"Yes!" Li Wen responded excitedly. Maybe they would find something in the cave? He followed the man forward. They rounded a corner and saw five or six wild boars that had been killed on the ground. They had eaten up

everyone 's pig nest.

"Do these wild boars need to be dealt with?" Otherwise, it would be troublesome for such a strong smell of blood and bacon to attract larger beasts. Li Wen pinched his nose and didn't like the smell very much.

"Mingyu, take a few people and take these wild boars to the foot of the mountain." Zhao Xiangyi ordered.

"You take the pigs down there and go back and find some carriages to bring them back." Li Wen didn't forget to add. Otherwise, you have to pass through the city gate on the way back, and you don't know what will happen. If you put it in the carriage and pull it back, outsiders won't know what's inside.

"Great." Zhang Mingyu responded.

Zhang Mingyu directed the people to work. Carrying a wild boar was an easy task for them. Each of them carried one on his back and dragged it to the foot of the mountain. Fortunately, they brought dozens of people out today, and seven or eight people left at once. They still have many people here, so they don't have to worry about any unexpected situations that cannot be handled.

Behind the brushed bushes is a cave. Looking in from the outside, it's pitch black inside and you can't see the bottom. Standing at the entrance of the cave, they felt a breeze blowing from inside, with a coolness in the wind, and smelled the humid water vapor in the air. Sure enough, he had gone through all the trouble and couldn't find anything. Li Wen showed a smile on his face and affirmed, "There must be water in here. Let's go in and have a look?"

"I'll take people there, and you wait outside." Zhao Xiangyi He didn't intend to let Li Wen go in with him. Seeing Zhao Xiangyi and wanting to leave him again, Li Wen glared at the man and said, "I want to go in with you. You believe me, I am also capable of protecting myself."

At the end, he added, "Besides, this is not Are you here? "Don't you believe that you can protect me

?

"..." Zhao Xiangyi looked at the young man helplessly. It wasn't that he didn't believe that the young man had the ability to protect himself, he was just worried. Forget it, since he is here, if you want to go together, let's go together. He had no choice but to nod.

Seeing the man nodding, Li Wen had a smile on his face, grabbed the man and said, "Wait a minute, let's light a fire outside and smoke it out. If there are any living things inside, we can smoke them out." ."

Zhao Xiangyi called two people over, piled hay at the entrance of the cave, and lit it.

The fire soon started, and thick smoke filled the inside, and a few piglets were actually smoked out. Without waiting for Li Wen's instructions, someone took care of the piglets. "Yes, I haven't eaten roasted suckling pig for a long time. You can try roasted suckling pig tonight!"

After finishing the smoke and waiting for a while, Zhao Xiangyi Seven or eight people were selected to follow, and the rest stayed outside to wait for them.

A group of people went inside holding torches in their hands.

The cave is not very big and can accommodate two people. People have to bend down to walk in. After walking deeper, the inside becomes wider. A group of bats flew out from inside, startling Li Wen. Zhao Xiangyi suppressed the frightened boy and said, "Don't be afraid, they are just a few flying squirrels. They don't bite."

"..." Li Wen, these things don't bite. People are scary too!

Li Wen felt that they were going deeper. The deeper they walked in, the moister the ground under their feet was, and the density of moisture in the air was getting higher and higher. He was certain that they had found the source of water this time. There are often low underground rivers under the mountains. Finding the underground rivers can solve Xiangzhou's current draft problem.

As they walked deeper, the stalactites above their heads were dripping with water, and they made a ticking sound when they fell.

Below where the water droplets fell was a vast pool. If you ignored the large python with a waist as thick as a bucket and several meters long that was coiled beside the water, everyone should be in a good mood at this moment.

Not far from the python, there is a pile of bones, both human and animal bones...

Chapter 77: Void and Submissive Snake

Bang -

Hitting the snake seven inches, the man riding on the snake's back inserted the Longquan sword into the heart of the python, pulled out the long sword, a stream of blood spurted out, and the python fell down suddenly, The tail hit the water, causing a huge splash.

Seeing the python fall, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After the battle with the python just now, everyone was now disgraced, and a lot of stones had been smashed down in the entire cave. Li Wen almost thought that they were all going to confess here. Zhao Xiangyi pulled Long Quan out of the snake's body. Blood was still dripping from Long Quan. He walked over to the young man lying on the ground and pulled him up.

Li Wen had a gray face and dirt all over his body. He held the man's hand and stood up using his strength. He stumbled and bumped into the man's arms. Zhao Xiangyi raised his hand to hold the young man's shoulder. Li Wen stabilized his body. He looked at Zhao Xiangyi and asked anxiously, "How are you? Are you injured?"

"I'm fine, how about you? Did you hit Zhao Xiangyi somewhere? Shaking his head, this little injury is nothing.

"I'm fine too." "Li Wen shook his head and said.

This matter also starts with the python they encountered in this cave just now. Originally, Li Wen wanted to remind everyone to exit gently and figure out how to deal with the python after they went out. But they just When they entered the python's territory, the python discovered them. It was too late for them to run away.

The road out was narrower than the cave inside. They couldn't run as fast as the python, so there was no chance that they would be bitten by the python one by one. Swallowed. Such a big python could eat several sheep in one meal, and it would certainly not be a problem to eat several people. Therefore, in such a crisis, they had no choice but to fight the python and maybe have a chance of winning

in the end . The facts proved that they had won the bet. In the battle with the python just now, everyone was only injured and no one was swallowed by the snake. Two people's injuries were slightly more serious, but fortunately,

Li Wen looked dead . The giant python was so big that he had goosebumps on his hands.

He had only seen such a big python in the Animal World program on TV. This was the first time he saw it in person. The visual impact was really extraordinary. Just now He was almost swept away by the snake's tail. If Zhao Xiangyi hadn't pulled him and rubbed his arm, Li Wen wouldn't have dared to touch the python on the ground, even if he knew the python was dead.

"Isn't this water poisonous?" ? "Seeing the red blood in the pool, Li Wen was a little worried.

They spent so much effort to find this pool. If they can't eat the water, it will be in vain. It will be difficult for them to find a second water source. "

Probably not, I think the water is flowing. "Zhao Xiangyi asked two people to pull up the python and pull the dead python out of the pool. Seeing the boy's frightened face when he saw the python, he reached out to cover the boy's face and said, "Don't look. "

The people waiting at the entrance of the cave heard the movement inside. Xie Yunfei was worried and led people in from the outside. When they saw the big python on the ground, their eyes almost vomited out and asked, "You encountered such a big thing? We heard a noise outside just now, so we wondered if something happened to you in here, and sure enough, I guessed it right. "

It's okay. Find two people to drag this snake out." " Zhao Xiangyi ordered.

"Oh oh. "Xie Yunfei called two people over and dragged the python outside.

After handling the python, they walked in along the path on the side of the cave. The water on the ground was flowing.

As Li Wen guessed, this was an underground tunnel . The formation of underground rivers is related to the local geology. It is also possible that underground rivers appear when rivers flow underground. He has seen some geological exploration projects before. Books, knowing that there are various reasons for the formation of underground rivers.

Now that they have found the water source, they don't have to worry about the water problem here in Xiangzhou City.

After coming down from the mountain, they gained a lot this time. In addition to a litter of wild boars, they also killed a large python that was several meters long. Li Wen was very disgusted with the dead python, but Xie Yunfei happily asked someone to carry the snake back. On the way back, Xie Yunfei said While counting the benefits of pythons, "Don't you understand this? This kind of big python is full of treasures. The gallbladder, liver, and snake venom can be used as medicine. This snake meat is always a little old, and it tastes very delicious when grilled... "

..." Li asked, "I beg you, please stop talking. I don't want to know whether this snake meat is delicious." "

He knew that they had almost become food in the belly of the python, and he did not eat snake meat, so he firmly refused!

"Haha..." Unexpectedly, Li Liuyuan was also afraid of something, and Xie Yunfei couldn't help laughing.

The city is full of refugees. Since Xiangzhou City began to accept refugees, more and more refugees have flocked to Xiangzhou City. However, these refugees cannot enter the city, but are arranged to live in temporary sheds outside the city. , except for the elderly and young children who have lost their labor force, all adult men and women have to work, working in exchange for a day of food and a small subsidy of wages

. Everyone still didn't believe that they could get paid by working for the government. After the first day was completed and they actually received food and wages, everyone really believed that they could get paid by working for the government. So from the second day on, everyone started working for the government. More and more people signed up to work.

Houses outside the city were already being built, and some of the extra manpower was sent to build roads.

The carriages contained more than a dozen of their trophies. The wild boar and a python are all packed in the carriage. I don't know how many people will be scared if these things are released. However, whether you can catch so many prey depends on whether you have the ability. At this time, there are big insects on the mountain. The wolf was also hungry.

The innkeeper saw a bunch of wild boars and a big python in the backyard.

"I don't care about that snake." The small ones of these wild boars are made into roast suckling pigs, and the bigger ones have their bones kicked out to make soup, and the meat is stewed into a big pot of meat, so that each person can have a bite. Everyone hasn't tasted meat for a long time, so let everyone try something meaty. "The sight of the python made his eyes irritate. Li Wen avoided the python and asked people to deal with the dozen pigs.

They have thousands of people here, and these few pigs are not enough for them. , they will definitely not be able to share it with the refugees outside the city. This is the prey that they paid for with their own lives, and they cannot just share it casually. There is no reason to let their brothers starve with the generosity of others

. Thinking of the 100,000 taels of silver notes stolen from Lu Xingbang, Li Wen still ordered, "When the roast pork is ready, send one to Magistrate Lu. "They haven't broken up with the officials in Xiangzhou yet, and the relationship on the surface still needs to be well maintained.

In the past few days, he has asked people to collect evidence of corruption among the officials in Xiangzhou. Minyin really searched a lot, but the only one was that they couldn't find any evidence of Lu Xingbang's corruption and bribery. Regarding these trivial matters, Lu Xingbang said that he didn't know anything about it, so there was nothing they could do against him. Li Wen was sure that Lu Xingbang, this old fox, must be the one. The problem is that I don't know when his fox tail will be exposed.

"Okay, I'll take care of this snake. I'll make some snake wine for you to drink. "Not long after the snake died, Xie Yunfei asked someone to get a knife to pick the snake's gall, and asked the innkeeper to get a few jars of good wine. After a while, he picked the snake's gall and made it into wine.

When he was young, Xie Yunfei followed his master. , has done all kinds of work, and handling a snake is not a problem.

Snake gall soaked in wine is a good thing. It not only promotes blood circulation and dispels wind, but also replenishes the vital energy. Especially for these soldiers who have stayed in the border pass, all of them are suffering from ailments. The winter in the border pass is cold and long, freezing. It makes people's bones hurt, and they become ill over time. It's no wonder that they all like to drink. After taking a sip of wine, their whole body will feel comfortable.

Your friend Li Wen refuses your invitation to drink snake wine!

Li Wen didn't want to talk to Xie Yunfei about the eighteen ways to eat snakes.

After they found the water source, the next step was how to divert the water to Xiangzhou City. It was not difficult to divert the water. Although they found the water source, considering that Lu Xingbang was the prefect of Xiangzhou, out of respect for the other party, they still had to talk to the prefect about this matter.

After returning to the inn, taking a shower and changing into clean clothes, Li Wen took Zhao Xiangyi to Magistrate Lu's house.

"This is really great." When he heard that he had found the water source, Lu Xingbang stood up happily and said excitedly, "Master Li, this time, I must thank Master Li on behalf of the people of Xiangzhou, and also "Master Zhao."

"Don't take it seriously. We were sent by the emperor to help Mr. Lu deal with the drought in Xiangzhou. It's our honor to do something for the people of Xiangzhou. We don't dare to take credit." said.

After discussing with Lu Xingbang about bringing the water down, Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi left from Magistrate Lu's house.

When he saw the person leaving, the smile on Lu Xingbang's face instantly disappeared. He looked completely different from the way he had just faced the imperial envoy, Yanxiao Yanyan.

With a snort, Lu Xingbang said, "I really didn't expect that they were the only ones who found the water source."

After the imperial envoy arrived in Xiangzhou City, Prefecture Lu sent people to keep an eye on them and collect their Every move is in his hands, and he naturally knows that this imperial envoy has been leading people to the mountains every day in the past few days. He thought that this imperial envoy was going to the mountains for something, but he did not expect that he was going to the mountains to find water. .

There has been a drought for such a long time, and the spring water on the mountain has long since stopped flowing. There is no mountain spring water anywhere. I didn't expect that this imperial envoy was really capable and could actually find a water source from the mountain.

"Sir, it is a good thing for us that we have found this water source." An official said.

"Yes, sir, all the wells in the city have been cut off. This imperial envoy found the source of water for us. We would like to thank him. After this disaster relief work is over, they will return to the capital. "They found this.

Doesn't benefit from them?

The officials in Xiangzhou all hoped that the imperial envoy would finish his errands and leave as soon as possible. Whenever the imperial envoy was around, they would always feel a little uneasy.

After leaving Magistrate Lu, Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi went outside the city. Since arriving in Xiangzhou, he has been running outside the city every day. The two old guys who came with him were still following him for the first few days, but after two days of running with him, they couldn't run anymore. Now they are still lying on the bed in the guest room, panting. Li Wen doesn't understand. "Why do you think the emperor sent two old guys to follow you?" "

You can't even walk two steps without breathing. Isn't it a burden to follow you?"

"Don't say such things. The emperor sent Yao Langzhong and Manager Fan to follow him. Naturally, the emperor has his reasons." Zhao Xiangyi's eyebrows jumped when he heard the young man talking about the emperor in such a disrespectful tone. Fortunately, they are far away now. After leaving the capital, no one would hear their words and spread them to the emperor's ears.

Li Wen slowed down a little, bumped the man's chest with his elbow, and asked, "What are you afraid of? Am I not telling the truth?"

"Yes, you are telling the truth." Zhao Xiangyi also took his boy no way.

As he expected, since the city gates of Xiangzhou were opened and the government came out to provide porridge, more and more refugees came to Xiangzhou City. They couldn't bear to eat with so many mouths, and each person had to cook dozens of porridges. Pots, the daily supply of food to the refugees outside the city is a huge expense.

Seeing more and more people outside the city, Li Wen was worried that the food they brought would be gone before long. It was already the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, and the seeds would not germinate even if they were planted in the ground. Why did they have to wait? After next spring, these refugees can resume farming only when they return to their places of origin. In the intervening months, they had to figure out how to help these people survive this long winter.

If the land issue is not resolved, these refugees may not dare to return to their places of origin, so this is also a big problem. Li Wen told the man next to him what he was worried about. After he finished, he asked, "How much food do you think we can find from the city?"

Water far away cannot save the fire nearby. At this time of year, people coming from the south to the north There are no ships left, and it will take at least a month to transport food by land. Coupled with the uncertainties on the road, a batch of food may not be able to be safely transported to Xiangzhou. In fact, the best way is to transport it from Food is found here in Xiangzhou.

The two people's eyes met, and they both saw the same thing in the other's eyes.

One thing they are almost certain of is that there must be food here in Xiangzhou City. Whether it is in the hands of some wealthy businessmen or officials from the Xiangzhou faction, they must have a large amount of food. They just have to figure out how to do it. Asking them to take out the food is a problem.

Chapter 78: The third son of the Bai family

came out of the city and happened to encounter a few people who took advantage of the crowd and bullied the weak. Several people were bullying one another. At this time, Li Wen was originally in a bad mood. As soon as he encountered such a bad thing, he became even more irritable and cursed, "Asshole, these bastards will give it to me as soon as their stomachs are full." If you cause trouble, go and arrest those people and throw them in a cell for two days to see if they are honest. "

If you ask him to say that these people are full and hungry, they will be honest. If two meals are not enough, then three meals. He doesn't believe that these people can still make trouble for him all day long when they are hungry. What Li Wen hates most are these bullies. If you have the ability, you can pick on the tough ones. You just know how to pick the weakest persimmons!

He felt terrible when he thought that he had been working so hard all day long that he didn't even have time to sit down and take a sip of water, just working for these scum.

Zhao Xiangyi's eyebrows were beating when he heard the young man calling him "I". He waved his hand to let people deal with the matter, then turned to look at the young man and said, "Don't say bad words." "

Sorry, I couldn't control it for a moment." Li Wen muttered this in his heart. The man was so strict that no one was even allowed to say a curse word, but he could only hum in his heart and did not dare to say it out loud. Zhao Xiangyi knew what was thinking in the young man's heart through his eyes, and there was something he couldn't do about it.

There was such an episode in the middle. Zhao Xiangyi did not forget what they were talking about just now. He understood everything the young man said about him and what he was worried about. "You have not been in the court for a long time and have not yet established a firm foothold." , some things should be done with caution and not to be rushed. "

"I understand." It was because I understood that I felt depressed. I asked Li Wen to say that it would be best to kill all these corrupt officials from top to bottom and carry out a thorough campaign. With land reform, these people who depend on the sky may have a way out.

When it prospers, the people suffer; when it dies, the people suffer. Regardless of prosperity or destruction, it is the common people who suffer.

Of course, it is not easy to be a good official. Worry about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness. I asked myself that I have not yet been able to do this.

As the sun sets, people who have returned from a day's work are queuing up to receive their dinner and a day's wages. Although the money is not much, just a few in a day can be a lot in a month. It's just that if you don't hide your money well, it's very likely that you'll lose it after sleeping for a small amount at night. This kind of thing happens every day. If it disappears, you can only consider yourself unlucky.

There are many people outside the city who have not arranged a place to live. Some people just find a place under the corner to stay overnight, and wait until they get up the next day to get food and work.

As the number of refugees outside the city increases, some problems gradually come to light. Insufficient resources, inability to keep up with management, constant contradictions and conflicts every day, violence, hunger and death, and so on.

Although he has tried his best to manage and control these things, in places he can't see, people are dying every day due to various reasons such as hunger and disease. There are deaths every day outside the city. happened, the bodies were transported farther outside the city to be burned. When Li Wen thought of these things, he felt an uncontrollable sadness in his heart, and even began to doubt himself, "Is it because what I did is not good enough? That's why so many bad things happen every day?" "

It's not your fault, you have done a good job." Zhao Xiangyi comforted his young man. In his eyes, the young man had done a good job. No other minister in the court would be like this young man. He would run outside every day when he opened his eyes and wait until dark before returning to the inn where he was staying.

But Zhao Xiangyi's words didn't seem to comfort him, and Li Wen still felt a little frustrated.

The sun was setting and the city gate was about to close. Before the city gate closed, they returned to the city.

The imperial envoy who was running around in and out of the city these days seemed to have forgotten about the young man he had sent to the hospital that day. When Bai Yu woke up in the hospital, he found himself lying on the bed. His mind was still in a mess and he had not yet woken up.

Why are you lying here? What is this place?

His throat was so dry that he squirmed and made a weak sound, "Water..."

"Brother." The child who was sleeping next to him opened his eyes. He seemed to hear his brother's voice? He raised his head and looked over, and saw that it was really his brother who opened his eyes. The child's face showed joy, and he crawled over and shouted, "Brother, are you awake?"

"Water...,

" "Brother, tell me. What?" The child put his ear to his brother's mouth and heard his brother asking for water, "Brother, do you want some water? There is water, there is water, oh, Yang'er will get it for you."

Bai Jingyang heard his brother say that he wanted to drink water, and hurriedly went to pour water.

The water in the teapot was already cold, and the child didn't know how to get some hot water. He picked up the cup and poured it out, leaving

water all over the table. The child brought a glass of water over and tried to help his brother up clumsily. He found that he couldn't help his brother, so he had to feed him, "Brother, drink water."

Half of the glass of water slipped down the corner of his mouth, and He drank half of it into his mouth.

The cold water slid down his throat. Bai Yu felt better after drinking half a glass of water. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious or how long he had slept before waking up.

Seeing that his brother had really woken up this time, the child hugged his brother's neck and cried, fearing that his brother would no longer want him. Bai Yu touched his younger brother's head, his eyes were a little red, and coaxed, "Yang'er, be good, Yang'er won't cry anymore, brother is here."

"Brother, don't let Yang'er go, Yang'er is afraid..."

"No, Brother will not let Yang'er go...''

When the medicine boy from the medical clinic came in with medicine for him to drink, Bai Yu asked and found out that this was a medical hospital in the city.

He asked the medicine boy who sent him here, and the medicine boy I just don't know.

After thanking the boy who brought the medicine, Bai Yu looked at the thick black medicine in the bowl and drank the medicine.

He remembered that he used to drink a bowl of medicine and was reluctant to drink it, but now for this. To stay alive, as long as it was not poison, he could drink it in one gulp.

The taste was so bitter that it made people want to cry. The housekeeper and servants were gone, and overnight, the entire Bai Mansion was gone. It was feared that only the two brothers were still alive in the White Mansion. Along the way, he and his younger brother avoided the pursuers behind him and sneaked in. In the group of refugees, all the money and belongings he carried were robbed. Fortunately, he protected his younger brother and did not let anything happen to him, otherwise he would have been uneasy for the rest of his life

. Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard Yang'er's voice calling his brother, and a strange voice. He could vaguely see a shadow, and couldn't tell who it was. It was probably the voice he heard before he fell into coma. It was the man who sent him to the hospital.

"Eat, sir, he is busy outside and will come in to see you later. "After a while, the medicine boy who had just delivered the medicine brought some food.

After waking up, Bai Yu found that he could not move his feet. Whenever he moved, he felt a sharp pain, which made him feel a little uneasy.

In order not to let The younger brother was worried, but Bai Yu didn't show it.

What he brought was a bowl of porridge and two whole-grain buns. Seeing Yang'er staring at the food in his hand, Bai Yu took a steamed bun to his younger brother and said with a smile, "Yang'er, eat it. Brother, there is another one here. Brother, one is enough.

The child was hungry. He hesitated for a moment, but couldn't resist the desire in his heart and reached out to take it.

Seeing his younger brother holding the steamed bun and taking a bite, Bai Yu's face showed a smile, and he felt sad in his heart. They had never worried about a mouthful of food in the past, and never had they eaten such vulgar things. But now it's good to have a bite of food, so why can they be picky and picky?

He picked up the bowl and took a sip of the porridge water, then handed the bowl to his younger brother's mouth for him to take a sip. The two brothers finished the bowl of porridge.

After eating food in his stomach, Bai Yu didn't feel so hungry anymore.

It wasn't until the doctor from the medical center came to see him after finishing his work outside and told him that he was brought to the medical center too late and that his injured foot would be cured in the future but he might not be able to walk anymore. Bai Yu's mind was confused for a moment. Blank, not sure how to react. Seeing the patient's appearance, the doctor who was used to seeing life and death sighed, and just said, "You can rest here for two days. The person who sent you has already paid for the consultation and medicine."

"I wonder if Mr. Who sent me to the hospital? If sir knows, please tell me so that

I can repay this life-saving kindness in the future. "Bai Yu came to his senses. Since this is the case, it is useless for him to be sad. Well, it's better to find out who sent him to the hospital so that he can find opportunities to repay his benefactor in the future.

"The ones who sent you here that day should be the guards accompanying the Imperial Envoy." The doctor was still a little impressed by the two officials who sent the young master that day. He had seen the guards accompanying the Imperial Envoy wearing that. The clothes on his body suggest that he belongs to the Imperial Envoy, which is why he let this young master stay in his hospital.

Ever since that day when two officials sent someone to his hospital, he left the money and left, and he has not shown up yet.

After finding out who sent him here, Bai Yu thanked the doctor who came to see him.

There were still things to be busy with outside. The doctor came and checked on the people and then went out.

After staying in the medical center for two days, Bai Yu couldn't continue living in the medical center. He was leaning on a crutch and still limping when he walked, so he left the medical center with his young brother. Today's Xiangzhou City has lost its former prosperity. There are only a few pedestrians on the road. Bai Yu is penniless. He is standing on the street with his young brother, not knowing where to go...

Chapter 79: Grain Prices

There have been signs of this drought for a long time, but many people didn't take it seriously.

As early as a few months ago, some keen businessmen discovered that there was little rain this year. Generally, years with little rain are prone to drought. Once a drought occurs, the price of food will increase. Therefore, some businessmen stocked up a large amount of food early. Just wait for the price of food to rise, sell the food at a high price, and earn high profits from it. Until the drought broke out, and now there is a drought in all the capitals of the Northland. Many people have starved to death outside. These businessmen took the opportunity to raise the price of food, and the prices of other commodities also increased.

The imperial court introduced policies to control the rise in food prices, but the sky was high and the emperor was far away, and the central government could not control every place. In addition, there was serious collusion between officials and businessmen on the ground. Local officials took advantage of it and protected the businessmen. The price of food continued to rise, and the businessmen's Business as usual.

In an ordinary household in the city, the young woman who opened the rice vat saw the bottom of the rice vat and saw only a little rice left in the vat. After cooking today's meal, there would be no rice for the next meal. After cooking, she had to go back to the house to talk to her mother-in-law about it.

"Auntie, we are going to run out of food at home. Should we go out and buy some food?"

"There is no food, so we have to buy it." The old woman looked up from her sewing, just thinking of the current price of food in the city. He sighed slightly and said, "You can take your money to the grain store and buy some back tomorrow morning."

"Yes, grandma." The young woman responded in a low voice and went to cook.

The price of food in Xiangzhou City is getting higher and higher day by day. People in the city generally do not have the habit of buying too much food to store at home. People in the city do not farm. They usually buy as much food as they eat. Go to the grain store to buy. Nowadays, the price of food is soaring. Seeing that the rice jars at home are running out, the people in the city have to go to the food store to buy food at a high price, otherwise the whole family will starve to death.

In the past, good rice in the city only cost a few cents per catty. A family of five could eat a hundred catties of grain in a month for only four or five cents. Now the grain has increased more than ten times, and one hundred catties of grain costs several taels. The price is still rising. The common people are anxious and uneasy, fearing that one day they will not be able to even buy food to eat, and the family will starve to death. It is not just one or two people who have this worry, but many ordinary people have this feeling in their hearts. Worrying

, but compared to the refugees outside the city, the people in the city are already lucky.

Nowadays, the price of food in the city is not only high. Some unscrupulous businessmen also add impurities into it. A pound of rice can shake out three taels of impurities. Even if someone went to the grain store to make a fuss about this kind of thing, it would be to no avail. The troublemaker would be beaten, but it would be a trivial matter, and he would be sent to jail to eat prison food, but he would just walk away without being able to eat. It is still unknown whether he will walk out of the cell with his life.

If you think this food is bad and expensive, most of them won't buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. If you don't buy it, some people will buy it. You see, there are so many people starving to death outside. If you don't want to starve to death, you can just be obedient. Spending money to buy food from grain stores is also the reason why these businessmen are so confident.

Nowadays, not only food prices are high in the city, but the prices of oil, salt, sauce and vinegar have also increased. Meat prices are even more expensive. Pork stalls have not been open for a long time. Even those who want to buy pork have nowhere to go. But at this time, no one has the spare money to buy meat. It is better to buy a few kilograms of rice and take it home, so that the family can eat for several days.

A long queue formed at the entrance of the grain store early in the morning, and people lined up outside waiting to buy grain.

In the past few days since he arrived in Xiangzhou, he had been busy with things outside the city and had not had time to take care of things in the city. It was not until he thought about the prices in the city that Li Wen took the time to take people to the grain store. trip. Of course, there was no need for him, the imperial envoy, to come forward in person for the time being. Instead, he found a few inconspicuous-looking guards to dress up and go to various shops to buy food.

At this moment, the imperial envoy, who was dressed in casual clothes, was sitting with Commander Zhao and Xie Yunfei in a teahouse across the street from the grain store, drinking tea, and asked his men to queue up to buy grain.

From a distance, he saw a young man on crutches limping with a half-year-old boy walking down the street. Li Wen felt a little emotional that life was not easy for everyone in this world, and he did not recognize him. The people walking on the road were the refugees he had asked his men to send to the hospital in the city for treatment a few days ago.

In the past, the teahouse was full of people drinking tea. Nowadays, the teahouse is indifferent and few people come in all day long.

Li Wen and Zhao Xiangyi are sitting on the street side of the teahouse, with a few steamed buns and a bowl of soy sauce beef on the table.

I happened to be walking in a teahouse and saw food on other people's tables. The child couldn't move his feet and looked at the food on other people's tables eagerly. Bai Yu took two steps and found that his younger brother was lagging behind. He limped back on crutches, walked to his side, and called out "Yang'er."

Following the younger brother's line of sight, he saw The younger brother was looking at the food on other people's tables. Bai Yu knew that the younger brother must be hungry. His face felt hot and he felt embarrassed. He coaxed the child, "Yang'er, let's go."

The Bai family was the richest at that time . , he has four brothers, there are two elder brothers at the top, Bai Yu ranks third, and

there is a youngest brother at the bottom. They have lived a life of fine clothing and fine food since they were born. They have never been hungry, let alone know what it feels like to be hungry. Since the Bai family disappeared overnight, the two brothers have experienced the pain of being homeless, sick and hungry, and now he doesn't have a leg.

But even if they were poor, they were not beggars. Bai Yu couldn't bring his younger brother to beg.

"Brother." Where are we going?

Bai Jingyang looked at his brother with blank eyes. Yang'er was so hungry and his feet hurt when he walked.

"Yang'er, be good, follow me." Bai Yu wanted to find a job in this city, but they asked many places along the way, and the replies they got were that they didn't need people, and they would treat them as if they encountered bad people. The beggar drove away, but he had no choice but to find a job.

Bai Yu knew that there were porridge soup and labor recruitment outside the city every day, but Bai Yu didn't want to take his brother outside the city. There were homeless people everywhere outside the city. On the way, he saw some people stealing children and killing them to eat. He was not afraid of death. He was afraid of death. If something happened to his brother, he would never be able to forgive himself in his life.

Refugees outside the city cannot enter the city. Once they leave the city, they have no chance to enter the city.

In any case, the city must be safer than outside the city. Bai Yu is thinking of finding a job in the city. It doesn't require wages, and it only needs to give them a bite to eat and a chance to survive. Another reason is that he knows that the Imperial Envoy is in the city. Bai Yu wants to find the Imperial Envoy. The lives of dozens of members of the Bai family cannot be lost in vain. He wants to seek justice for the Bai family!

At this time, Bai Yu didn't know that the imperial envoy he was looking for was right opposite him, looking at the two brothers.

"Child, do you want to eat?" Li Wen found a child looking at the food on their table, leaning on it. The boy who came over with a cane wanted to pull the child away, but it was obvious that the child was not willing to go. Seeing this, Li Wen grabbed two buns, handed them to the child through the guardrail, and said with a smile, "Take it and eat it."

The extremely hungry child reached out to take the buns given by others, turned to his brother, "Brother, eat."

Bai Yu had some embarrassment on his face. He wanted to say no and let his younger brother return the things to others, but he couldn't say such a thing because he knew that his younger brother was hungry and they really needed these two things. A steamed bun. His mouth squirmed, he said thank you, and his face turned redder. Fortunately, at this time, his face was dirty and could not be seen as it was, and others did not know that he was blushing.

Li Wen smiled and said "You're welcome." He saw the young man's embarrassed face and knew that the other party was embarrassed, so he smiled and didn't take it seriously. Anyone who has a difficult time can help if he can, and he can't help those who can't.

When he saw the child taking food, the first thing he thought of was giving it to his brother. This reminded him of the little boy in the capital. He wondered if the boy was studying well in the academy, if he was obedient at home, and if he would cry when he missed his brother. My nose is broken. When I think about it, I really miss my little kid at home.

"Yang'er, let's go." Bai Yu touched his younger brother's head and prepared to take him to this teahouse to ask if they were hiring anyone. After leaving the hospital, they had nowhere to go. He didn't know where they were going, but he thought that if he kept asking like this, he could always find a place that could take them in.

Bai Jingyang recognized that the person who gave him the steamed buns was the person who saved his brother that day. He blinked twice and did not move when his brother pulled him. The child said innocently, "Master, do you need someone to work for you? You After saving your brother, give me the dough, and my brother and I will work for you."

The child actually thought very simply. He simply thought that someone saved his brother's life and gave him food, so he should do something. Repay others in return.

Why does this sound so familiar? Li Wen finally remembered that he had met such an interesting kid outside the city a few days ago and offered to work for him. He said that his brother was sick and had no money to hire a doctor, so he wanted to work for him. Later, they followed the child to see the patient. When he saw that the patient was not in good condition, he asked Zhang Mingyu to send him to a hospital in the city. After looking at it, he really felt that the two brothers in front of him looked familiar, so he laughed. He said, "So it's you."

"Are you feeling better?" Li Wen saw that the other person didn't look too well. He noticed that the other person's leg seemed to be injured and he was still limping when walking. Meeting was a kind of fate, and he thought the two brothers were quite interesting. He invited, "If you are not in a hurry, come up and have a cup of tea."

Bai Yu knew from his younger brother's words that this was his savior. His life was saved by someone else. Hearing the other party's invitation and looking down at the dirt on their bodies, he didn't know whether to go or refuse, which made him hesitate.

Chapter 80, second update:

"It's okay, you guys can come up." Li Wen observed from the other party's words and deeds that the other party should be a well-educated person, otherwise he would not be embarrassed because the younger brother took the food he gave, because He hesitated to come up with the stolen goods on him. In the past few days, they will also come into contact with some refugees outside the city, and these people are even dirtier and smellier.

Even though he has a little bit of mysophobia in his heart, when he goes out, he still goes out to do things for the emperor this time, and he is not so particular.

Zhao Xiangyi did not stop the young man from inviting others over. He recognized the two brothers at a glance as the refugees they met outside the city.

Xie Yunfei had a smile on his face and his eyes were observing the two brothers.

Since others had said so, and he wanted to thank others personally, Bai Yu took his younger brother up and stood two steps away from the table. He cupped his hands and said, "That day. I haven't had the opportunity to thank my benefactor for saving his life. Without his help, Bai Yu's life would have been lost long ago. Bai Yu is here to thank his benefactor for his life-saving grace."

"This little thing is just a small effort. "You don't have to be polite." This little thing is just a piece of cake for Li Wen. He was originally ordered to deal with disaster relief, and saving people is his job.

But for the rescued people, this is a matter of life and death.

"You should thank your brother. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have met you." Li Wen said.

At that time, Bai Yu was so sick that he was already confused, so he didn't know what his younger brother had done to save him. When asked later, his younger brother just said that the elder saved them. When asked who the elder was, the younger brother did the same. I don't know. It wasn't until now that he met someone and recognized the person who saved him that he knew who the elder he was talking about was. He didn't seem to be much older than him.

Li Wen looked at the man who was grabbing the steamed buns and not eating them, and looked at his child with a blank look on his face. This was the second time he met this child. Both times the child asked him the same thing, he couldn't help but joked, "I'm short of people to work here. I don't know what you can do or what kind of work you can do for me."

"I, I can endorse." The child thought for a long time and held back this sentence, "Mr. praised me. I endorse

it . "

This silly kid...

If it weren't for something wrong, Bai Yu would have laughed, but he couldn't laugh at this moment.

Hearing the other party say that he was short of people to work, Bai Yu didn't know whether the other party was telling the truth or just teasing Yang'er. He thought about it and said seriously, "I have read a few books, I am literate, and I can type." You can do abacus, do accounting, serve tea and water, you can do anything. You... Master, if you need someone to do something, just give us a bite to eat, and we can do any job."

It sounds like a reading . Those who have passed the book can do abacus and do accounting. This is good. Li Wen really needs someone to do accounting here. Moreover, the two brothers looked like rich young men in trouble, and they did not look like bad people. Judging from the way the two brothers got along, they seemed to have good moral character. Li Wen decided to leave the two brothers to work. He said, "Okay. , I am short of someone to help with the accounting, so please stay and try it first."

Bai Yu didn't expect that the other party would agree so quickly. He was stunned for a moment and said hurriedly, "Thank you, Mr. Li."

It happened at this time . Several people who went to buy food came back. Li Wen glanced at Zhao Xiangyi and knew that it was time for them to go back to the inn where they were staying. The few people who came back from buying food did not come directly to them. There were pedestrians walking outside. If someone saw them, it would arouse some people's suspicions. It was better to go back and talk about it later.

Zhao Xiangyi understood the meaning in the young man's eyes, and he made a gesture to let people go back.

The few people carrying the food left quickly.

"Waiter, please pay the bill."

After calling the waiter to pay, they left the teahouse and went back to the inn where they were staying.

At this time, Li Wen had no time to take care of the two brothers he had brought back, so he directly left them to Xie Yunfei and asked Xie Yunfei to make arrangements.

"..." Xie Yunfei had no choice but to have someone take them down to take a shower and change into clean clothes, and then make arrangements. He followed him upstairs and knocked on the door. When the person inside asked him to come in, he pushed the door open and went in.

At this moment, the imperial envoy was furious in the room.

On the table in the room was the grain that he had someone buy. The grain was bought from several stores, ranging from coarse grains to fine grains. The prices varied. Even the most expensive fine grains were mixed with old rice and other debris. Li Wen checked everything carefully and smelled the moldy food in his hands. He was so angry that he slapped the table and cursed angrily, "This is unreasonable!

" I think these people are crazy about making money. At this time, they still want to Make a fortune from disaster! "

This rice is not only expensive, but also of poor quality. Usually no one cares about these moldy millet.

Now it is more expensive than the best rice, and good rice is even more expensive.

Is this to blame? He said that there are also stones and debris mixed in, which is equivalent to 30% of debris in a pound of grain.

"If they dare to do this, there must be someone behind them to support them. Don't worry in advance. Send someone first." Check it out carefully and then talk about it after you find out clearly. "Xie Yunfei reached out to check the grain he bought. The price of grain in Xiangzhou City is indeed ridiculously high.

"Check, this matter must be investigated carefully! "Li Wen gritted his teeth and said.

These bad things are closely related to the officials in Xiangzhou. On the surface, these officials agree with him as the imperial minister, but in private they do other things and do nothing for the people. Forget it, I still want to put some money into my pocket at this time.

"Damn, I don't think these people will be comfortable sleeping at night if there are more people in Xiangzhou. I'll catch these bastards one by one and drag them away." Come out and kill! "Li Wen was extremely angry. These people simply ignored human life and did not take the names of the people seriously. "If it weren't for these people, the drought in Xiangzhou would not have been so serious and so many people would have died. ^ "

"I'm afraid it's not just the officials here in Xiangzhou who have problems. "I'm afraid that people from Beijing are also involved.

Xie Yunfei shook his head, sat down, poured a cup of tea for Li Liuyuan, and said, "Have a cup of tea to calm down the fire. "They have seen a lot of these things. They have seen a lot, so they are not surprised. Li Liuyuan is just entering the officialdom for the first time, and there is still much to learn.

Li Wen took a sip of tea, and several people discussed it in the room. .

The two Bai brothers were brought back to the inn. Bai Yu took his younger brother to take a bath. His injured leg could not touch the water, so he wiped himself and put on clean clothes. He didn't know who the clothes belonged to. They were a little bigger on him, but they were much better than his original clothes, which were so dirty that the original color could not be seen.

Bai Yu couldn't bear to part with these two dirty clothes . Throw it away, wash it and wear it next time.

After wandering outside for so long, the two brothers finally found a place to stay. They can have a bite to eat and don't have to worry about the brothers starving to death on the way.

Later, Bai Yu found out that the one who brought them back was the imperial envoy, Li Wenli Liuyuan, the top scholar in Jinke. This made him stunned. This could explain why the other party appeared in Xiangzhou City and rescued him. Thinking of this, Bai Yu smiled. Maybe this was the luck of the two brothers, allowing the two brothers to meet the imperial envoy.

Ever since he discovered the underground river on the mountain that day, Li Wen had people deal with the issue of pipeline water diversion. It took another two days for their people to bury the pipes from the mountain to the city, and divert the water from the mountain to Xiangzhou City. There were several water collection places set up outside the city, and the people could get water from here. use.

Since the drought, the water in the wells has gradually dried up, and there is very little water on the ground. It has become a big problem for the people to drink a sip of water.

The refugees outside the city receive dew all night, and in the morning of the next day they can have a mouthful of dew to moisten their throats.

It had been a long time since anyone had seen crystal clear water, so when the people in the city and outside the city saw the rushing water, everyone cheered.

"It's really water, am I not dreaming?"

"Hahaha... It's really water, I'm not dreaming."

"There is water, there is water..."

"There is water..."

People cried with joy, I was so happy that some people felt like they were dreaming, while others slapped themselves and found out that they were not dreaming.

"Eunuororun..." The yamen servant beat the gongs and drums in his hands and shouted, "The imperial envoy has found the water source for us, the imperial envoy has found the water source for us, there is water, there is water..." "

It's the imperial envoy, It was the Imperial Envoy who found the water. "

Thanks to the Imperial Envoy, they had food to eat. Now the Imperial Envoy found water for them. The common people knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the Imperial Envoy.

"Everyone brings buckets to fetch water. Each person can only fetch up to two buckets of water at a time. Follow the queue and do not jump in line." Considering that there are many people drinking water, each person is limited to fetching up to two buckets of water at a time. If Otherwise, the people queuing up behind don't know how long they have to wait.

Officers and soldiers stood guard at the water fetching place, asking the people who arrived to line up to fetch water. There were people behind to maintain order and were not allowed to jump in line.

"Go and get water quickly, there is water, there is water..."

Hearing the shouts of the officers and soldiers, the people went to fetch water with bowls and bamboo tubes. Some people fetched water and

drank a big bowl in a hurry. When the cold water slides over the thirsty dragon, everyone believes that there is really water.

At this time, when the people in the city heard that there was water, they all carried wooden buckets from their homes to the water collection place to fetch water. One by one, they fetched water and returned home, poured it into the water jar, and carried it again. He went to fetch water with a wooden bucket, and stood not far away repeatedly

. Looking at everyone queuing up to fetch water, Li Wen had a smile on his face, followed by a man following him, "It's good to have water."

Zhao Xiangyi The young man responded with a hum.