Chapter 276 News
On this day, after the court dispersed early in the morning, the emperor issued several imperial edicts early in the morning.
Starting from today, all ministers of the fifth rank and above will go to the outskirts of the city to set up tents on both sides of the official road to give porridge to the refugees.
Refugees were prohibited from entering at the city gate, and the imperial court would send officers and soldiers to set up tents at Shilibao outside the city for the refugees to rest.
After these decrees came out, the whole city was shocked.
Xia Shiming was a fifth-rank minister. He happened to catch the last train, so he hurriedly told Guo An, "Go back quickly and tell your wife, and send the eldest son of the family to follow the mother-in-law to set up a tent to serve porridge on the outskirts of the city."
This matter is the emperor's will, and it is a good thing to do, sooner rather than later.
Xia Shiming thought for a while, then took out another hundred taels of silver from his body and handed it to Guo An, and whispered, "If there is not enough rice at home, ask my wife to send someone to buy it..."
After giving many instructions to Guo An, he entered the school.
Xia Zihan and Mrs. Chu both had orders to set up a tent to provide porridge, so Xia Zihan handed over this matter to Cui Erguo.
"I will ask He Donglin to get the rice. You see how many pots of porridge others cook a day, and how many pots of porridge we cook a day. We can't fall behind others and make people laugh, but we can't be the one who stands out."
Now the price of rice on the market has increased to fifty cents per catty. Even if it is so expensive, the rice in the grain store will be sold out as soon as it is taken out.
Even if you have money, you can't buy someone who is slow.
Now that the imperial court has issued such a decree, the price of rice will definitely continue to rise.
At this time, it is a good opportunity for grain merchants to sell the grain on hand.
However, I believe that the imperial court will issue an edict soon to set the price of food to prevent unscrupulous merchants from making money from the country's disaster.
Xia Zihan thought for a moment and then told Butler Cui, "Prepare a sum of money. When the grain merchant sells grain, you can take the opportunity to buy a batch and put it at home."
By next year, there will be even less food, and it will be even harder to buy.
Everyone in the Chu family must eat. If the food is not prepared in advance, what will they eat when the food runs out next year?
On hand, she did keep a batch of rice newly harvested from Zhuangzi. Although the quantity was not large, it still contained three hundred shi, which was just enough to feed everyone in Chu's house for a year.
But now we have to give out porridge. Looking at the number of refugees who have poured into the capital in the past few days, this porridge donation may not be completed within a month.
How many kilograms of rice must be eaten from morning to night in a month?
She had to prepare in advance.
Butler Cui took the order and went down.
Xia Zihan ordered He Donglin to take thirty guards and go to Zhuangzi, "First deliver fifty stones of grain."
Fifty shi of rice, six thousand kilograms, is enough to cook porridge for a while.
But next year, the Chu family will be out of food for two months, and she has to make up for these two months of food.
Jiangnan was hit by a disaster and had the misfortune to encounter corrupt officials. As a result, the wheat for this winter could not be planted in time. By next year, there will be a big gap in food.
Jiangnan was a place rich in food during the Da Sheng Dynasty.
Jiangnan cannot produce food, and the entire Dasheng Dynasty will be in crisis of food shortages.
"County Lord, my wife has sent someone over and is waiting outside the door." The boy guarding the door walked in to report.
What can happen if Mrs. Xu comes to her?
Xia Zihan subconsciously frowned and said, "Bring it in."
The person who came was the second-class maid next to Mrs. Xu. When the little maid saw her, she blessed herself tremblingly and said, "Madam, please ask the county master to go back, saying that there is something urgent to discuss."
"Go and tell my wife that the old lady is sick and I don't have time to go there. If something happens to her, let her come by herself."
She is no longer the good-tempered Xia Zihan in her previous life who could be yelled at by Mrs. Xu just by saying a word.
Mrs. Xu had something to ask her for, but she didn't show up or come to Chu's house, so she asked a maid to run errands. Hmm...Does she think she is stupid? She would send him to her door to be tricked by her?
The little maid seemed to want to say something, but when she saw Xia Zihan's eyes were cold and indifferent, she didn't dare to say anything. She hesitated several times before she reluctantly said, "If the county master doesn't give orders, then this servant will Go back first.”
As soon as the little maid left, Chu Lin, who had just come back from asking for news on the street, shouted angrily, "Master, your stepmother is so disrespectful. Who does she think she is? She even yells at you. Yes, bah... The last time she tried to take advantage of you, Zhuangzi and Zhaizi, I saw that she was not a peaceful person."
"Okay, just say a few words." Nuanyu poured a cup of tea and put it into her hand. "After drinking the tea, tell me the information you have."
Chu Lin curled her lips.
After drinking the tea, Chu Lin only felt her mouth was full of saliva, her mouth was full of sweetness, her whole body felt comfortable, and she was very happy.
She began to tell Xia Zihan one by one about the big and small things in the capital that she had collected from the streets and alleys in the past few days. She first reported the situation of the Song family.
"Mrs. Song's calf was crushed to pieces and could not be saved. It was Pei Guogong who begged Lu Guogong, and Lu Guogong asked an academician from Taiyuan Hospital to personally saw off half of Mrs. Song's calf. Mrs. Song became crippled and has not been alive for the past two days. Go out.”
"Mrs. Song has not left the house these days. Prince Song drinks wine every night and rests in the outer study. Shu Zhen is waiting by his side."
"However, Crown Prince Song made a good excuse, saying that it was the period of filial piety and husband and wife could not have sex. Bah, with his face, he treated everyone as if he owed him eight hundred taels of silver. Anyone would know that there was something wrong with the young couple. ”
Chu Lin gloated, and then mentioned Dou San again, the smile on her face disappeared, and there was a touch of sympathy, "The day Miss Dou San arrived at Jia'an, she was held down and shaved. Baldy, after the Three Thousand Worries fell to the ground, Miss Dou San lost all hope. While the nuns in the nunnery were out shopping, she put a piece of white silk on the beam in the middle of the room. "
When Xia Zihan heard this, his heart tightened, his face suddenly changed, and he felt cold all over.
"Don't worry, little master, Miss Dou San is fine."
Seeing that her master's face suddenly turned pale, Chu Lin quickly comforted her and then said, "A little nun forgot to bring a cloth bag. When she went back to get it, she passed Miss Dou San's room and heard something moving inside, so she called out."< br>
"Miss Dou San had just strangled her neck and kicked off the stool. Naturally, she couldn't respond. She pushed the door in out of curiosity and saved Miss Dou San's life."
"If a person dies once, if you ask her to die again, she may not have the courage again. Miss Dou San does."
"After she was rescued, the Dou family got the news. Mr. Dou rushed over and gave her a severe scolding."
"She is obsessed with it. A man is more important than her parents who worked hard to raise her. She is willing to die for a man who doesn't even know her name. It doesn't matter that the Dou family doesn't want someone like her. Then let her Nuns, don’t look at her. If she doesn’t want to live, just let her die.”
"This was a harsh lesson, and Miss Dou San seemed to have seen through it. She did not dare to seek death anymore, and stayed in her nunnery to recite sutras, copy sutras, and serve the Buddha."
It would be better for Dou San to end up like this than to live alone in a place like the Second Prince's Mansion where people cannibalize people.
Perhaps this is a good ending.
The elders of the Dou family did this for the good of Dou San.
However, the Dou family also lost face because of Dou San, and even Dou Er was innocently implicated.
This time Dou Er got the last place among the talented girls in the capital. Originally, several families were very optimistic about her and wanted to go to the Dou family to propose marriage. However, after hearing about Dou San, everyone backed down.
No one from a respectable and wealthy family would ask for a daughter-in-law from a girl whose family has sisters whose chastity has been compromised.
No matter how talented and virtuous Dou Er is, people would not dare to gamble with their son's life.
Marry a virtuous wife, choose a good wife, and bring blessings to three generations.
After Dou San was born in the Dou family, it was not only difficult for Dou Er and Dou Si to find a marriage partner, but even Dou Da, who was married, was looked down upon by people in her husband's family, and life in her husband's family became difficult.
Dou Da kept a low profile and dealt with her husband's family grovelingly and cautiously. Not only was she often squeezed by her sister-in-law, but she also had to watch her mother-in-law's face from time to time. In order to win over her husband's heart, Dou Da even had tears in her eyes. The two maids beside him opened their faces.
She has only been married for half a year, and she has reached this point with her husband and mother-in-law. One can imagine how difficult it will be for her to live for such a long time in the future.
And all of this happened because of Dou San's selfish motives.
After Xia Zihan learned about it, his heart was very worried.
Nuanyu glared at Chu Lin secretly, blaming her for not telling the young master the news and causing him to worry about the girls of the Dou family.
Chu Lin pursed her lips innocently, feeling aggrieved.
The master is most concerned about the affairs of the Song family and the Dou family, so she must pay attention to the advance reports from these two families.
In order to divert Xia Zihan's thoughts, Chu Lin cleared her throat and continued, "Master, the marriage between the Lu family and the Dai family is probably going to fall through this time."
Sure enough, Xia Zihan's thoughts were diverted, and he twitched his lips and said sarcastically, "Of course it has to fall through. The memorial and evidence for Mr. Dai's impeachment of corruption are in the hands of the emperor. The Lu family has to quickly draw a clear line with him."< br>
Many years ago, Master Dai embezzled a sum of money for Concubine Lu. The evidence was just discovered by her grandfather. When the Lu family caught wind of it, they couldn't wait to draw a clear line with the Dai family, letting the Dai family take the blame for the Lu family. .
And this time, it's the same.
Chu Lin continued, "The area around the Dai family's yard was being monitored by the Yinlin Guards, and I didn't dare to go in. However, I spent some money to pry open the mouth of the manager of the Dai family who went out to buy every day. I learned that the Lu family On the day the Dai family was monitored by Yinlin Guards, a matchmaker was invited to the Dai family to cancel the engagement. ”
"It is said that just after the Lu family broke off the engagement, the Dai family was surrounded by the Yinlin Guards. The master of the Dai family was not allowed to enter or leave."
"When Miss Dai Wu learned that her engagement was annulled, she hasn't eaten for three days. Mrs. Dai is worried."
"The purchasing manager said that he accidentally learned that people from the Dai family were secretly asking someone to absolve Mr. Dai of the crime of corruption. As long as the crime of corruption was blamed on others, Mr. Dai would be fine. Even if something happened, it would be nothing. The crime of neglecting to investigate may result in a fine of several years' salary. ”
However, this time the corruption case in Jiangnan was very big, no one dared to help the Dai family, even the Lu family stayed away.
(End of chapter)