half volume

Chapter 54 51

Xie Qing and others started to prepare for opening the warehouse to release the food overnight.Not under Zhao Yanzhi's nose, naturally no one can control him.Xin Wan urged him to go to bed. I don't know how many times she urged him to sleep, but he ignored it. He kept tossing and tossing until it was dawn, and then fell asleep on the table for a while.

After dawn, Xie Qing asked Magistrate Du to accompany him to the granary.

When he saw the granary in Pingyuan County, Xie Qing finally understood why the magistrate of Pingyuan County looked embarrassed all the way, and stopped talking.

The granary in Pingyuan County is not to say empty, but it is not much better.There are a few old rice bags piled up here and there, and they are obviously not full. Compared with Nuo Da's warehouse, it is really ugly.

County Magistrate Du touched his nose in embarrassment: "As you can see, the current situation is like this. Pingyuan County will suffer from disasters every now and then, and the grain saved in good harvest years is simply not enough. This time the Yellow River is flooded. , Flooded thousands of fertile fields, even if you open a warehouse to release grain, it won't last for a few days."

Xie Qing looked at those bags of grain and was really worried.Even if it is made into porridge, it will definitely not last for three days.No wonder there are prostitutes along the way, natural disasters are not man-made disasters, no matter whether it is a prince or grandson, there is nothing to do.

"Save a little these days, the grain allocated from above should be arriving in the county soon, let's talk about it after this period of time." It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, and Xie Qing has no good way.

After three days of drinking porridge with clear soup and little water, Xie Qing lived up to expectations and became as disheveled as a hungry person.As if he was struggling in his heart to share weal and woe with the victims, none of the cooks that Zhao Yanzhi brought to Xie Qing were useless to him.It has to be said that Xie Changshi is really talented. In three days, he was able to get along with the refugee team like a fish in water.Everyone thought he was a poor scholar, and he was good-looking, so everyone treated him well.

Therefore, Xie Qing also learned a lot of gossip.For example, the continuous flooding of the plains is actually a natural disaster, but it is largely caused by humans.

What the villagers say is not reliable. The family of Li Wang in Jibei committed crimes and offended the heavens. This is why the plains are flooded every year. Thinking about it, it is nonsense.But all the rumors are groundless, they can spread without a reason, Xie Qing still doesn't believe this kind of statement.

Xie Qing lost weight day by day, but his eyes became brighter.He was in high spirits among the refugees, and he was able to eat a few mouthfuls of the bad-tasting porridge in the porridge shed.Xin Wan was getting more and more worried every day.She counted her return date with her fingers, and couldn't help imagining what the emperor would look like when he saw Xie Qing, who was thin and had a few bones left.

The food for disaster relief was finally distributed to the plains, and Xie Qing was relieved.Although he could tell at a glance that the food was much less than what he ordered before leaving, but the official in charge of the escort said that it rained heavily all the way and lost some, Xie Qing also understood what was going on in his heart, he looked at it, It's not such an excessive number, so it didn't happen.

After the food arrived, the porridge became thicker and tasted better.Of course, a large part of the reason is that Xin Wan sent the two cooks who came with Xie Qing to the porridge shed where her young master often haunts. The taste is mediocre.In Mr. Xie's opinion, this difference is probably between unpalatable and unpalatable, so he never noticed it.

When it comes to the revelation of corrupt officials, it is probably because of their poor characters.Xie Qing fell ill within two days of eating the porridge, vomiting and diarrhea, Ji Chengchu hardly looked at it, and asserted that it was due to eating stale food.Xie Qing went to check the grain in the warehouse with a pale face, and found that it was not the corn he had ordered at all, but old grain from an unknown year, which was almost moldy.

The price difference between old rice and new rice is not 01:30; old rice can't kill people.How can the starving people who are so hungry be picky about the old and the new?This trick is not unreasonable; but it happened to be eaten by Mr. Xie, who has a delicate spleen and stomach, and he was exposed immediately.

Xie Qing, who is always good-tempered, couldn't hold back this time either.Xie Qing was furious, and Du Yu was so frightened that he didn't dare to utter a word.Xie Chengjun, the governor of Pingyuan, came overnight, and was so frightened by Xie Qing, who was so persistent with the sword of the Son of Heaven, that he almost collapsed on the ground.

Speaking of Xie Chengjun, he is still the eldest son of a side branch of the Xie family, and Xie Qing should be called his father when talking about it.When he followed his father to visit Prime Minister Xie, the head of the Xie family, he had met Xie Qing once.He clearly remembered that the eldest son of the patriarch was the most easy-going and gentle, a gentleman, but now who is this man with bare eyes and a sword, who makes people feel awed for no reason before he says a word?

Before Xie Chengjun could speak, a drop of cold sweat dripped down.Xie Qing glanced at him, and asked in a solemn voice, "What is the purpose of Governor Xie?"

This is asking knowingly, Xie Chengjun slandered.He looked at Xie Qing, who was not at all the same as the person in his memory, and was a little uncertain.He originally thought that Xie Qing was very easy to fool.

Xie Qing waited impatiently for him. Seeing that he had nothing to say for a while, he didn't want to be polite, so he asked bluntly: "Cheng Jun, because you and I were of the same clan, I'm asking you a private question now, and I hope you can answer honestly. The food has been replaced, does this have anything to do with you?"

This kind of thing cannot be said no matter what, Xie Chengjun is not stupid, how could he tell the truth.So without even thinking about it, he shook his head like a rattle: "It's absolutely nothing, my lord!" At the end, he didn't forget to please Xie Qing.

Xie Qingnian was too late to stand, and an old man with gray beard and hair would call him "Master", his face was a little hot.

Although it is true that in terms of seniority, it is not that he can't afford to be Xie Chengjun's adult.

Xie Qing didn't expect the first sentence to tell the truth, as he said, he really wanted to show his fellowship, even though he was kicked out of the house by his father a few years ago.Xie Qing nodded: "That's very good, then Cheng Jun is here to assist me in investigating this matter."

When Zhao Yanzhi saw Xin Wan, his first reaction was: "Why are you back? What happened to him?"

Xin Wan was taken aback: "No."

Zhao Yanzhi heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the words, and then became dissatisfied: "Then why don't you stay by his side?"

Xin Wan replied helplessly: "Your Majesty, the son specially asked the servant girl to come back to deliver the letter."

Zhao Yanzhi is happy now.He took the small bamboo tube in Xin Wan's hand with a smile on his face, and it was printed with Xie Qing's private seal; he looked very satisfied, and after admiring it for a while, he opened the seal, took out a piece of silk inside, and just made a gesture to unfold it. , but paused again.He told Xin Wan, "So, go and warm a pot of osmanthus wine for me, and burn some lotus ink on it. I want to read Huaifang's private letter carefully."

Xin Wan hesitated for a moment, but did not move.

Zhao Yanzhi looked up at Xin Wan displeasedly, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Only then did Xin Wan reply in embarrassment: "My lord has told my maid several times to stay by His Majesty's side and wait for an answer. Your Majesty, this matter seems to be very important."

It would be a lie to say that he was not disappointed, but Zhao Yanzhi still cheered up and read Xie Qing's "private letter".

It started with the same hello, hello, hello everyone, and then I said a few interesting things, and a legend about the Yellow River.

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary family letter, but the two of them have been together for many years and know each other's temperament very well. Zhao Yan only pondered for a while before saying to Xin Wan: "So, isn't half of your people in Pingyuan? Take the other half away, and listen to him."

"No!" Xin Wan didn't hesitate, and rushed back to report after the task was completed: "Your Majesty, the maidservant will leave."

"Wait," Xin Wan was stopped by Zhao Yanzhi before taking two steps: "Forget it, the half of the people don't need to see him, just go to investigate that matter, don't delay him. You go back and tell him, Zhen Got it, let him mind his own business, and hurry back to Chang'an."

Cases of embezzlement and embezzlement of food for disaster relief are actually very easy to investigate. After all, it is clear at a glance who has passed through the food.However, Xie Qing made a big fuss, as if he wanted to straighten out the official system.

An imperial envoy like Xie Qing is the most unpleasant.He is well-informed, and ordinary treasures are not in his eyes at all; he is not lustful, and many people want to give him some beautiful boys and girls, but he rejects them on the grounds that they have wives at home.If he can't be lured, he is not afraid of intimidation.The Xie family is a real noble family and the emperor's confidant, although his official position is not high, but no one dares to risk offending the Xie family and the emperor, and really threaten him.

What's more, Xie Changshi was so angry that he couldn't hide his murderous aura. Who could easily touch that bad luck?

Xie Qing finally waited for Xin Wan to return.After learning Zhao Yanzhi's answer, Xie Qing smiled.He told Xin Wan to go to rest, while he continued to dawdle in investigating the corruption case.

The author has something to say:

23333 Huai Fang, why are you so sick and delicate~~

ps The term "adult" is used to refer to one's elders~