Chapter 78 Incognito
All the wharves in Guanzhong are frozen, and the land roads are covered with snow. Except for small convoys, it is difficult for large caravans to pass.
Therefore, a large number of caravans were stranded in Guanzhong and were not allowed to leave.
Chang'an was the capital city, with a large population and high prices. Businessmen had to be careful with their budgets. If they stayed in Chang'an, they would eat, drink, eat, eat, and live in restaurants every day. The cost was too great, so they left Chang'an and stayed temporarily in various counties in Guanzhong.
A large number of merchants resided in Xinfeng.
The Wei River passes through here and there are many docks. Once the Wei River is opened and easy to pass, you can go down the river and turn into the Yellow River. It is convenient to go north along the Yongji Canal or south along the Ji Canal.
In the past, when so many caravans gathered in the county, the shops would probably be extremely happy. The large number of people meant an increase in daily expenses. Such a huge amount of daily expenses left in Xinfeng would be enough for every shop. Make a fortune and have a good year.
However, since the beginning of winter this year, there has been continuous heavy snowfall, rivers are frozen and land roads are blocked, Guanzhong is sparsely populated, and food from outside cannot be transported in. Food shortage has become a top priority.
If you don’t even have enough to eat, how can you think about doing business?
The locals don’t have enough to eat, let alone outsiders?
Therefore, although a large number of foreign merchants stayed in Xinfeng, it still looked lifeless and disorganized, without the prosperity of the past.
His Majesty Li Er got off an ordinary carriage and stood on the bank of the Weishui River with his hands behind his back. He looked at the tall stone monument in front of him and the crowded porridge shed not far away, his face sinking like water.
Li Junxian and Wang De stood on the left and right behind His Majesty Li Er, nervously watching the surrounding situation. Once they found any potential danger, they would issue an order and the "Hundred Cavalry" elites lurking around would gather around. , protect the holy driver.
An endless stream of people walked out of the city, supporting the elderly and the young, and lined up in front of the porridge shed, holding bowls and basins in their hands, waiting to receive free porridge.
His Majesty Li Er found that in addition to bowls and basins for serving porridge, every commoner had a small wooden sign, but he didn't know what it was, so he asked in a low voice: "What is that wooden sign?"
Li Junxian took a look and replied: "Report to your Majesty..."
His Majesty Li Er waved his hand: "This is not a palace confinement. I am leaving the palace incognito. You don't have to stick to etiquette, just act like an ordinary person."
Li Junxian heard this and said: "Promise."
He straightened his waist and continued: "This thing is a number plate. It is issued according to household registration. With this number plate, all people in Xinfeng can receive a free bowl of hot porridge every day. If there is no number plate, they are not local people and cannot receive it. Porridge.”
His Majesty Li Er nodded his head and praised: "This is a wonderful thing. In this way, we can avoid excessive claims and false claims. Is it the work of Uncle Cen Wen? But it is too harsh on non-local residents and loses his kindness."< br>
But after thinking about it for a moment, I understood Uncle Cen Wen's difficulties, and the slightest bit of unhappiness disappeared.
He is the emperor, leading the land, and he is not a royal minister. All the people in the world are his subjects, so he does not want to see any people suffering from hunger.
However, Uncle Cen Wen was just the county magistrate of a locality and the parent official of the people of Xinfeng. His first priority was only to safeguard the interests of the local people.
The road was blocked by heavy snow, and even if you had money, you couldn't buy food. Although Xinfeng received a lot of donations with Li Ke's help, the food was still limited.
As a Xinfengling, it is naturally not a dereliction of duty.
Li Junxian said: "This thing was conceived by His Highness King Wu. The food in the city is limited, so it is impossible for everyone to receive it for free, so we have to pay attention to the local people first. This porridge shed was originally in the city, but there were ruffians in the city a few days ago. The incident caused riots in the city, so they moved outside the city.”
His Majesty Li Er tilted his head slightly and looked up at the writing on the stone tablet.
Kong Yingda was a great scholar of the time and had a good character. The characters are just like the characters, they are square and well-organized, making them easy to read.
Looking at the rubbings on the stone tablet, His Majesty Li Er looked very ugly.
There are so many wealthy and wealthy families who cannot be kind and generous when natural disasters strike. Instead, they have to rely on a "stone to record merit" to force them to come up with money and food. It's so cruel!
The most abominable thing is that these dignitaries and relatives advance and retreat with Li Tai for political interests, without caring whether it will delay disaster relief or how many people will die of cold and hunger!
Selfishness and indifference are simply unforgivable!
As an emperor, His Majesty Li Er saw hidden worries in this.
Those who gathered around Li Tai included the wealthy businessmen from the south of the Yangtze River and the Long family.
In the past, the Guanlong family was monolithic, but now there are gaps?
You must know that the Guanlong family has always been headed by Changsun Wuji, a staunch supporter of the prince. Now there are actually people joining Li Tai's camp. In addition, the Shandong family has been silent and neutral since the "Xuanwumen Incident". The Jiangdong nobles, who have been rich for many generations, are in a state of turmoil in the court.
Sooner or later something big is going to happen!
His Majesty Li Er has no favorable impressions of these wealthy and powerful families at all, even if he himself was born in them!
Every time the government was in turmoil and the world was unstable, wouldn't there be these aristocratic families stirring up trouble and fanning the flames behind the scenes?
Aristocratic families are basically the cancer of the country. This was the case in the Sui Dynasty, and it is still the case in the Tang Dynasty today.
However, His Majesty Li Er also knows rationally that the huge strength accumulated by the wealthy family for hundreds of years has penetrated into every corner of society and the court, and it cannot be eliminated overnight.
Even though he personally issued an order to revise the "Chronicles of the Clan", some people still ranked the Cui family as number one, and did not take the Li family, the supreme family in the world, seriously!
His Majesty Li Er was in a bad mood and was worried about himself when he was suddenly attracted by several people passing by not far away.
Those people were wearing brocade robes and fast boots. They were gorgeously dressed but had no servants to serve them. They walked quickly through the snow. They were obviously businessmen from other places who were stranded here.
Only one person said: "I don't know what the second roommate is up to. It's freezing cold today. He called us over to have that...what's the meeting called?"
Another person laughed and said: "Tasting meeting...Brother Yu is really smart. He can't remember these three short words, but there are thousands of current accounts and there are no mistakes at all. Is it possible that he is born with business skills?" Talent? ”
The man from before laughed and said: "Who is born to be willing to do business? Businessmen are humble. If they were not begging for food, they would rather be a farmer!"
Another person teased: "Come on, brother Yu, you have an income of more than 100,000 yuan a year, and you still have to beg for food? Compared with you, we are almost catching up with the beggars."
Brother Nayu sighed and said: "Fortunately, the emperor is now a wise man. He is surrounded by more virtuous ministers and good generals. He is not harsh on merchants, and the officials are also clear-minded. Otherwise, let's just talk about the second son of the house prime minister... a tasting meeting, right? ? Yes, the tasting meeting... I don’t know how many censors will be impeached."
Someone next to him laughed and said: "Come on, what is the censor that the second room is afraid of impeaching? He even beat the censor and the censor, and I didn't see him doing anything to him."
Brother Yu also smiled and said: "That's true. The second roommate is a stick. He will fight anyone who messes with him. In my opinion, even His Majesty doesn't care about him... But what kind of treasure did he get this time? , but also to summon the wealthy businessmen from all over the world to attend the meeting?”
"It's called a tasting, and it's nothing more than bringing out a treasure. Everyone has a look at it. If someone likes it, they can bid to buy it. If there are multiple people who want it at the same time, the one with the highest price will get it."
“But I don’t know what kind of treasure it is?”
"Who knows? The invitation was exquisitely made, but the words were unclear. It only mentioned a rare treasure, but didn't say what it was..."
"Who cares? He is the prime minister's son after all. The invitations have been sent, so he has to give the prime minister some face."
"That's right. Otherwise, who would be free to look at the treasures in this cold weather?"
A few people were chatting and laughing, passing His Majesty Li Er, unaware that the wealthy middle-aged man on the roadside was the current His Majesty. (End of chapter)