The news of the catastrophe in Zhongzhou also gradually spread to farther cities. In the middle of summer, even the southwestern border towns heard about it. Most of the people can empathize with it. It's raining, and hope the court can go to the disaster relief.

After Xu Qinyu heard about this incident, she could do nothing if she wanted to do something. The fourth brother has not returned in the past few months, but a letter from home is sent back every month, and this month's letter from home will not arrive until the end of the month.

In fact, she knew vaguely in her heart that even the fourth brother might have nothing to do. In ancient times, such natural disasters occurred, except for the imperial court to relieve the disaster, there was really nothing to do. Fleeing famine is also difficult, and only half of them can survive.

Xu Qinyu also hoped that the court could provide disaster relief.

But according to what the imperial court and those two in the palace have done in the past few years, it may be impossible to expect the imperial court to provide disaster relief.

Xu Qinyu really doesn't understand what the queen mother and the new emperor think. If you really want to have fun, you can be a lazy king, a leisurely queen mother, eat and drink all day long, and have glory and wealth. In terms of money, although the treasury cannot be used by you , but it is absolutely not worth the money, why bother to fight for that position, the position won by vicious tricks, but only enjoy the glory brought by this position, instead of fulfilling the obligations that need to be paid.

Do you really think that being in a high position is all about having fun?

What comes with it is endless responsibilities, responsibilities to the people of the world.

But luxury and money are really fascinating, otherwise there would not be so many stupid kings and corrupt officials in history.

Although there was a severe drought in Zhongzhou, it had no effect on the southwest side. After all, it was more than three thousand miles and almost four thousand miles away. It was also difficult for Xu Qinyu to donate some food in the past.

This era is different from the later generations. You can donate online. If you want to donate some materials in this place, it is really difficult. First, the officials of the Yamen come forward and let the dignitaries and rich households in the city lead everyone to donate together. In this way, with disaster relief supplies, you may encounter robbers on the way to disaster relief, or some corrupt officials will deduct half of them, and very few of them can be delivered to the victims.

Xu Qinyu could only wait like this first, taking care of Xu Ji's business first.

The business of Xuji Restaurant has not been greatly affected, because after the summer, Xuji is also a good place to escape from the summer. Rich businessmen and dignitaries in some rich states and cities near the southwest like to come to Xuji Restaurant to escape the summer heat. There are three gardens It's all overcrowded.

Now some wives and wives who often come to Xu Ji are willing to come to the hot spring pool to soak in the hot spring. It is not as restrictive as before. The hot spring pool here for female customers is very secretive, so everyone is gradually letting go. Many women have already gotten used to it. , Wearing a small dress, soaking in the hot springs with the sisters you have made friends with, skin care and beauty together to loosen the muscles and bones, not to mention how comfortable it is.

Xu Ji's business is as usual, and Xu Qinyu's daily life is similar.

And it wasn't until the end of summer that people in the southwest knew that the imperial court had not sent anyone to Zhongzhou for disaster relief.

Some poor people and tenants in Zhongzhou could no longer afford to buy food. They went to the mountains to dig wild vegetables and pick wild fruits every day.

But the imperial court still did not send officials to provide disaster relief.

"Why didn't the emperor send people to help the disaster?"

"Is it because the treasury is empty? So there is no money to help the disaster?"

"Why is the national treasury empty? How much food and land tax are paid by our common people on the land every year, as well as various commercial taxes, shop tax and land tax paid by rich businessmen every year. I heard that when the new emperor came to the throne, he also copied a large number of officials. Home, how rich those officials are, they must have been filled into the national treasury, even if the national treasury is empty, it is because of the extravagance and extravagance of the one above that makes the national treasury empty."

"You don't know, I have relatives who run caravans and often go to the capital. I heard that there is a Handong King in the capital. That Handong King is the queen mother's younger brother. He builds palaces everywhere and lives a variety of extravagant lives. Corruption of military pay, didn’t an imperial envoy come to Raozhou last time, just for the embezzlement case of military pay, and in the end the Minister of the Ministry of Households took the blame. Of course, no one dared to talk about it on the surface, otherwise it would be with those officials whose homes were ransacked The same, if you are convicted of any crime, your house will be copied."

"If the imperial court does not provide disaster relief, will the people of Zhongzhou have a way out?"

"Hey, with such an emperor, there will be no chaos in the future."

"Hey, it's not obvious. When the new emperor first came to the throne, there was a snowstorm in the north, and many people died of freezing. Many people in the north fled famine and went to the capital in the south. Many victims contracted diarrhea on the way, and the new emperor didn't care. I wanted to kill all the victims who fled to the capital, regardless of whether they had diarrhea or not, and then those victims began to flee... Fortunately, there is a county magistrate here in Raozhou City who came up with a way to deal with diarrhea, otherwise A lot of people had to die just that one time.”

But even so, everyone doesn't want to make the world chaotic. When the world is chaotic, ordinary people like them suffer the most. Now at least they don't have to worry about eating and drinking. There is really no way out.

Not only some restaurants, inns and tea shops in the city were discussing this matter all day long, but even the guests that Xu remembered had many people discussing it.

At the end of summer in Zhongzhou, there was only a light rain in Zhongzhou, which was of no help to the dry river.

Moreover, it is no longer a matter of whether it rains or not. It is the end of summer, and even if it rains, if the crops are planted, they will all freeze to death in winter and there will be no harvest. If we wait another two months, if there is no disaster relief supplies, the poorer people and tenants may have to flee the famine.

On the contrary, there are also some righteous people asking everyone to raise donations, and there are people from the government behind them.

Xu Qinyu also received a letter from the fourth brother at the end of the month, saying that the person who is now soliciting donations in Raozhou City is a good person of righteousness. Sent to Zhongzhou.

Xu Qinyu didn't recognize this man, but heard that he was the owner of a big caravan, called Zhou Yan.

Naturally, he didn't know that he belonged to the eldest prince, and now he is also the fourth brother.

Xu Qinyu also has a lot of surplus grain.

The 100 acres of land that Yuanbao Town bought before has been handed over to the tenants to plant, and they can collect a lot of rent every year.

Tenants from other people's fields are 40% of the harvest, she gives 60%, and the remaining 40% is collected by herself. Some of these grains are not very good, so they are reserved for their own family to eat and use in the restaurant. The grains are all selected high-quality rice, flour and miscellaneous grains.

In addition to the 100 mu of land that Yuanbao Town had bought before, this year, she also bought 200 mu of land near Raozhou City one after another, with a total of 300 mu of land on hand.

So there is a lot of surplus food.

Now, there is no need to donate money. What Zhongzhou lacks is food.

Xu Qinyu kept these surplus grains for his family's rations for a year, and donated the rest.

However, these grains are only a drop in the bucket. Xu Qinyu bought some grains and sent them along. The fourth brother did not recommend that he use all the money to buy grains and donate them. It's just a drop in the bucket, and more people need to be mobilized to donate food. In this way, it's just to let the people of Zhongzhou last for a month, and the government's household department still needs to allocate funds for disaster relief.

However, Xu Qinyu still bought tens of thousands of taels of food and delivered it to Zhou Yan.

She didn't go in person, but let Brother Gong go.

Brother Gong is seventeen now, tall and sturdy. He is in charge of the restaurant, and he still helps her a lot.

In this way, the grains from the southwest side were transported towards Zhongzhou one after another.

In other places, some officials couldn't stand the actions of the imperial court one after another, and called on wealthy businessmen, dignitaries, and ordinary people to donate food.

It is said that ordinary people, even if they donate one or two handfuls of food, will add up.

...

In the capital, which is three thousand miles away, the court has been arguing for a day in the past few months, and has been letting the new emperor go to disaster relief. The people who have been scolded by civil and military officials in the past few months have lost a lot of weight. He also wanted to pretend to be sick to avoid the daily lessons and scoldings of these important court officials, but before he could pretend to be sick, he really fell ill, and the illness lasted for two months.

In the early stage of Emperor Sheng Yuan, he was really sick, and in the later stage, he pretended to be sick and did not want to go to court.

Since sitting in this position, Emperor Sheng Yuan has not been very happy. He has to go to court all day long, and has a pile of memorials to be reviewed. To be an idle prince, he really didn't understand why his mother and concubine had to let him take this position.

Emperor Sheng Yuan lay in his own bedroom, feeling that there was no fun at all, and then went to the pet gardens kept by the fourth brother, licked a few pets, and then went back.

The pets were still the same as before. When Emperor Sheng Yuan passed by, they were affectionate and warm. When Emperor Sheng Yuan left, they ran to the pond and started cleaning their wings and fur.

Obviously, he still doesn't want to see Emperor Sheng Yuan.

The little eunuch guarding the garden has become accustomed to it, and feels that these real pets are very intelligent, and they are better and better on weekdays.

Emperor Sheng Yuan just lay in the palace for two months without going to court, and he usually gave the empress dowager to review the memorial.

Lying like this for two months, ended his two months of leisure with the blood of a civil servant splattering the palace gate.

Some officials hit the palace gate to ask the new emperor for disaster relief, and the new emperor and the queen mother could only bite the bullet and ask the Ministry of Household to allocate funds to buy food for disaster relief.

This time, the Queen Mother did not dare to allow her younger brother to embezzle with other officials, so this batch of food for disaster relief was delivered to the people of Zhongzhou safely and steadily, and the people of Zhongzhou had a way to survive.

It's almost autumn. With the disaster relief food from the imperial court and the food donated by the prefectures and cities, can only drink two bowls of multi-grain porridge mixed with beans every day, which is barely enough for the people of Zhongzhou to survive the cold winter and twelfth lunar month. , and wait until next year to start planting new crops...

In Dechang Hou's Mansion.

Xu Qinhui did not expect that the new emperor and the queen mother would ask the household department to allocate funds for disaster relief. In their previous life, they procrastinated and never went to disaster relief. In the end, many people in Zhongzhou starved to death, and many people fled from famine and left Zhongzhou. Zhongzhou became a desolate place. Everywhere, there are people's uprisings one after another...

Xu Qinhui didn't understand why this life was different again.

But in the previous life, no officials went to splash blood on the palace gate.

The official who went to smash the palace gate this time didn't die, but was seriously injured and was treated again, and now he is still lying on the bed. I heard from the doctor who went to treat him that the injury was serious, and I'm afraid he will have to recuperate for a long time , In the end, it may not be completely cured.

Xu Qinhui also felt that the blood splattered on the officials forced the Queen Mother to let the Ministry of Households go to the disaster relief.

Because of such a leadership, the new emperor and the queen mother will turn a blind eye to the people of Zhongzhou, and more officials in the imperial court will start to rebel. Even if the queen mother kills all these troublesome officials, it will have to be peeled off, which is not worthwhile. .

Xu Qinhui sighed, but she hoped that things would remain the same as in her previous life, so that King Shu could follow the same trajectory as in her previous life, get mixed up in the uprising team, gradually grow in power, and finally return to the palace.

Otherwise, if King Shu couldn't inherit the great line in this life, wouldn't she choose the wrong one again?

Just as it is now, everything is different from the previous life, will King Shu really come back to inherit the rule?

She can no longer enter the palace now, and there is no turning back.

However, Xu Qinhui still remembers one thing. When next year, the King of Han Dong will meet a beautiful little woman dressed as a woman on the road, and finally let the little woman be snatched back to the palace to humiliate wantonly. But this little woman is the married daughter of Taifu.

Of course, every time the King of Handong robbed people, he didn't dare to be blatant, and he just let the servants of the mansion, even so, the dignitaries and wealthy families in the capital, no one knew that it was the method of the King of Handong.

The Eastern King of Han is in his forties. He usually likes to snatch beautiful women back when he sees beautiful women. Before, except for some beautiful women, he even snatched the granddaughter of Duke Chongming back into the palace. The Empress Dowager married Miss Zhang Si from the Chongming Duke's Mansion to the King of Han Dong as a side concubine.

But this time is different. The Taifu this time is a real century-old family, even more than a hundred years. The ancestors of the Taifu followed the ancestors of the Dasheng Dynasty. Taifu's lineage relied on their own abilities, studied hard for more than ten years to enter the cabinet, and finally sat on the position of Taifu. The Taifu's family is completely different from the capital's upstarts and princes.

The Eastern King of Han didn't even inquire, and directly snatched the Taifu, the daughter who had returned to her natal family, back to the palace.

In fact, even if the Eastern King of Han had inquired about it, he would ignore it.

He felt that his own elder sister was the present empress dowager, his nephew was the emperor, and the empress dowager still doted on him. In this world, apart from these two, even if he was a grand tutor, he was still a courtier.

In order not to be humiliated, Qi Zhiqing from the Tai Tuo's family bumped her head to death in the palace.

Later the Taifu learned of it and sued him to the palace, but the Empress Dowager shifted the responsibility to Qi Zhiqing.

Zhi Taifu was disheartened, and after suing the official, he took his family and left the capital and returned to his hometown.

But the Taifu didn't actually go back to his hometown, he went to other places. The first uprising team was led by the Taifu. The two-hundred-year-old Qi family still has great appeal.

But Xu Qinhui knew that even if the Tai Tuo later rebelled, it was because of the stupid king's ignorance that he massacred the disaster victims in the north, regardless of the safety of the disaster victims in Zhongzhou.

It's just that the people of Zhongzhou are going through the difficulties this time. They don't know that Qi Zhiqing will continue to be robbed to the palace and run over to death.

But Xu Qinhui still didn't intend to help Qi Zhiqing. For her, only by allowing these things to happen in her previous life, and King Shu inheriting the Great Order, can she avoid the fate of her previous life.

...

Southwest Raozhou City.

Xu Qinyu finally breathed a sigh of relief when she knew that the imperial court had finally sent officials to relieve the disaster. It was already winter, and it was almost the twelfth lunar month. She also started to busy herself with her own affairs, starting to pickle ham.

In a few days, the fourth brother will also come back for the New Year.

This year, the restaurant and the restaurant are still open. A month ago, the restaurant was fully booked for the New Year's dinner.

On the days of the Chinese New Year, the restaurant became more and more busy, and Pei Weixuan also returned. This year, he was also busy with a lot of things, and he would not be free until the end of the year. He planned to rest at home for the first half of the New Year to accompany Yu Niang.

Xu Qinyu was busy at the restaurant during the day, and at night she liked to stay with her fourth brother to cultivate a relationship.

Xu Qinyu was also curious about why the two in the palace dragged on for so long, and finally agreed to allocate funds for disaster relief.

Pei Weixuan told Yu Niang about the blood-splashed palace official in the palace.

Only then did Xu Qinyu know the reason. The queen mother and the new emperor didn't care about an official who splattered blood on the palace gate, but if such an official had a head start, it would also force other aristocratic families in the capital, as well as dignitaries and court officials to be even more indignant. In the confrontation, other officials will follow suit, and in the end, even the people in the capital will rebel, so the new emperor and the queen mother compromised to relieve the disaster.

Xu Qinyu admired the official very much.

But she didn't know that the official who splattered the palace gate with blood was also the one left by the eldest prince to the fourth brother.

Pei Weixuan had not planned to use the people left by his elder brother in the capital before.

If it was before, in order to avenge the father and the first prince, he might ignore the people of Zhongzhou, let the situation develop, let the new emperor and the empress dowager pretend to be confused, and put the victims of the disaster in Zhongzhou in fire and water. their resistance.

But this time, he couldn't let the people of Zhongzhou be in the middle of the fire. He still felt empathy for his feelings and began to change. He seemed to be able to feel the feelings brought by various emotions.

His mood seemed to have unknowingly changed under the influence of Yu Niang.

Even if he couldn't do anything with this incident in Zhongzhou, at least the people of Zhongzhou were alive and survived this disaster.

Xu Qinyu naturally did not know this.

She is also satisfied with her fourth brother to accompany her for the New Year this year.

This is the fifth year she has been here, and she only wishes her family to be safe and healthy.

After the Chinese New Year, Xu Qinyu took three days off like last year. She didn't even bother to move for the past three days. She was tired enough to take care of Xu Ji on weekdays, so when she took a break, she just wanted to lie at home and didn't want to go anywhere. really had to wait. If you want to go out to play, it is better to earn more money, give birth to a cub, and when the cub grows up, give Xu Ji to the cub, and she can retire and go to the mountains and waters.

It was said to be giving birth to a cub, but Xu Qinyu hadn't made any plans yet. She and her fourth brother were talking about love right now. The most intimate behavior was just kissing and hugging. A little girl, at least in her twenties, when she is really ready to be a mother, it will not be too late to be born again.

So Xu Qinyu just thought about it.

She was idle at home for three days and did not go out. During the day, her fourth brother accompanied her to enjoy flowers in the back garden, Bai Yu Mo Yu was also having fun in the back garden, and even Qilin was in the back garden.

Ever since he brought the unicorn home from the prefect's mansion, Xu Qinyu didn't let it stay in the stable, and stayed in the garden behind like Baiyu Moyu.

This horse is also very clever. You don't have to worry about eating, drinking and lhasa. There is a fixed place.

After three days of rest, Xu Qinyu began to get busy, and Pei Weixuan also went out after a few days. This year, he planned to ask Zhou Yan to discuss with the prefect, and let the prefect come forward and let the people in the southwest buy sweet potatoes and start planting a lot of potatoes. In the future, there will be natural disasters in other places, and these high-yield crops will be able to feed everyone.

He didn't plan to use the people to make a move, he had his own plans and methods, and now he just wants the people to live and work in peace and contentment and be able to eat.

It's just that he looks at the sky, and the world seems to be in chaos.

After Pei Weixuan left, Xu Ji disguised himself and went to the prefect's mansion to meet the prefect.

The prefect knew that this was a good thing for the people, and was naturally very happy, but this matter also had to be written to the court and told the court first.

A few days later, Empress Dowager Fu in the palace saw the document handed over by the prefect. Because of the natural disaster in Zhongzhou, she had an impression of the prefect of Raozhou City. It was this Zhu Prefect who wrote the document and said that an eminent monk traveled around the world and told him about Zhongzhou. There will be a major drought. The Prefect Zhu specially wrote a book to remind him, but the Queen Mother didn't take it seriously. Seeing that he handed over another book, it was written that there are two kinds of crops that can produce more than several thousand catties per mu. It is also written that it was discovered by a large caravan going to other countries for business and trade.

The queen mother wanted to ridicule, saying that she had lived for most of her life and had never seen any crops that could yield several thousand kilograms per mu, but she didn't know, thinking of the severe drought in Zhongzhou, she shut her mouth in the end.

Empress Dowager Fu pursed her lower lip and approved the book, wishing the prefect to try out these crops in the southwest.

If you don't plant it, you will be condemned to the prefect. If you really want to plant it, you can take the credit for it.

Empress Dowager Fu also knew that her and her son's reputation among the people did not seem to be very good, so she naturally wanted to improve.

When the secret letter was delivered to the southwest, Prefect Zhu started to do this.

He knew that no one would want to believe it, so he could only stipulate that if the family had a field, half of the field should be used to buy the seeds of new crops for planting.

The potato seeds that Zhou Yan sells to the common people are not expensive, and the common people can afford them, which are about the same price as ordinary crop seeds.

It's just that the people are still very uneasy, and they are talking in private.

"Is there really a few thousand catties per mu of grain? Isn't this too weird, our ancestors have passed it down from generation to generation, and the average grain yield per mu is a few hundred catties, so why are there still several thousand catties? I don't believe it, If one is not good, or the harvest is not good, and the harvest is better than other crops, will you not be allowed to drink the northwest wind after paying the tax in the coming year?"

"Me too, but the prefect has always been thinking of our people. I think maybe this crop can really yield two or three thousand catties per mu."

"I don't believe it. How can there be such a high yield per mu of crops. I don't plant them anyway."

"If you don't plant it, you can't do it. I heard that there will be a door-to-door inspection. If you find someone who doesn't plant, you will be punished."

"I heard that there are several other vegetable seeds called peppers, tomatoes, and onions. The prefect also said that you can try to buy some and try growing them in your own vegetable field."