It was already noon. The gates of Taiyang City were supposed to open at a quarter to three in the morning, but they were still tightly shut. From afar, Li Chengfeng and the rest could see troops of soldiers lined up on top of the city gate tower with their bows nocked and arrows pointed at the bottom of the tower, as if an army was approaching.
However, what they saw was not a fully-armed army but a bunch of ragged, destitute disaster victims.
They surrounded the city gate in a dense mass. Their shouts shook the heavens, and wails could be heard everywhere. They cried and shouted loudly.
"Let us in!"
"Let us in!"
"I'm here to seek refuge with my relatives, let me in!"
"I'm not a bad person, why can't you let me in?"
"We have the travel permit and the entry token, why can't you let us in too?!"
A fat man wearing a brocade robe and an official hat was lying on the tower. He had a big waist and a fat belly. He looked panic-stricken and kept muttering to himself, "What should I do? What should I do?"
Next to him stood a person who looked like an advisor. He had a medium build and was about 40 years old. He lowered his voice and whispered, "Sir, you can't release these arrows. If you release the arrows and cause casualties, it will cause criticism. I'm afraid it won't be easy to clean up!"
The other advisor was a skinny, shifty-eyed advisor with a long moustache. He let out a shrill laugh and retorted in a mocking tone, "There are tens of thousands of people here. If we don't chase them away, what are we going to do when they attack the city gates?
If they charged through the city gates and entered, they would become refugees smashing and looting everywhere. What would happen then?
Do you think you can afford to do that? "
The middle-aged man was about to retort angrily when he suddenly heard someone yelling from below, "Sir, please open the gates! We're here to seek refuge with our relatives!"
The people below were in an uproar as they yelled in agreement. Many people in the city heard the commotion and rushed towards the city gates.
The prefect looked back and saw that the streets behind them were filled with black heads. Moreover, there was an endless stream of people coming in, blocking the people on the city gate tower, unable to advance or retreat.
The prefect was at a loss as to what to do. "What's going on?
What should we do? "
The middle-aged advisor gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, why don't we take in some of them and send the rest to Wan City?"
The shifty-eyed advisor sneered and said, "What a joke!
Take in some of them?
How many?
Ten thousand?
Twenty thousand?
Which part will you take in?
Most importantly, even if you only take in ten thousand, hey, are you going to pay for their rations? "
As he spoke, he moved closer to the prefect, lowered his voice, and whispered, "Sir, don't forget, the granary … is empty!"
The governor's expression immediately changed!
The Kingdom War in the southeast might be ten thousand miles away from them, but the effects of the war had spread throughout the entire Great Qi Kingdom!
In order to win this battle, Long Tenghai not only squeezed out all the blood from the southeastern counties, but also began to frantically transfer the resources of the other counties.
After all, millions of soldiers and people were piled up on the battlefield. Every day, the cost of food for the soldiers and horses would be astronomical. The provisions of the entire Da Qi Kingdom, which had been saved for many years, were being transported to the southeast at a crazy speed.
But this was still not enough for Long Tenghai's troops!
In order to collect provisions, Long Tenghai began to purchase provisions at a high price under the suggestion of the Military Advisor Gao Shenghan. This was to motivate the commoners who had stockpiled provisions. At the same time, Long Tenghai wrote a letter to the Supervising Crown Prince to report the situation of this war. He also pointed out that the outcome of this war would be decided within a month!
This sentence triggered the Crown Prince. He began to harshly reprimand the local officials for collecting provisions and cracked down on the merchants who were hoarding.
At the same time, Long Tenghai announced that he would collect provisions at a high price in the southeast. This way, while cracking down, he would collect a high price. The hoarding merchants heard the news and rushed to sell the provisions to the southeast, making a lot of money.
Even some of the prefects could not hold back and secretly opened up the official's grain reserve and began to sell the provisions privately to fill their own pockets.
From their point of view, it was fine to just replenish the provisions collected next year. In any case, no one would come to check on the provisions even after eight to ten years. Furthermore, as long as there were no natural disasters, no one would notice.
Therefore, there were always empty provisions in the various regions. This was the unspoken rule of the entire Daqi officialdom. There were no exceptions.
However, there was no one like the governor who had sold off his granary cleanly … who was the only one who had ever done so!
However, the old prefect did not expect that …
A natural disaster had really occurred!
Furthermore, it was so big!
Indeed, if these refugees were allowed in, what would happen to them with so many mouths to feed?
The official's provisions would be empty!
Who would provide the provisions?
Those wealthy merchants?
Their provisions would have long been sold to the southeast!
In other words, if the entire Taiyang did not receive any provisions within a month, even the people of Taiyang would starve to death!
Not to mention feeding these people!
Thinking of this, the prefect's face turned ashen. His forehead was covered in sweat and his body trembled!
The shifty-eyed advisor's voice was not loud. It was just enough for the middle-aged advisor to hear him.
The middle-aged advisor snorted angrily and said, "I've said it before. The official's provisions cannot be touched. Even if they were to be touched, they must not be sold out!
Now that such a huge problem has occurred, how can we make up for it?
Moreover, if this flood spreads to Taiyang, what should we do? "
The shifty-eyed advisor said in a strange tone, "It's easy for you to say that. If we don't sell the provisions, where will we get the money to feed those officials?"
The middle-aged advisor was furious when he heard this, but his face turned cold. He lowered his head and dared not say anything.
Who in Taiyang did not know that the prefect in front of him, Li Daren, was illiterate? Did he buy his position with money?
He had been donating for five years and waited for three years with great difficulty to make up for this position. He eagerly came here to scrape three feet of the ground to get his money back. However, he did not expect that Taiyang was so poor that even birds would not defecate. Just feeding those officials who helped him cover up was enough to make him poor.
Official Li felt bitter in his heart. He had a bellyful of grievances, but he had no place to express them!
Selling official positions in Daqi had become a common practice. Buying and selling official positions was also common. Which one of them did not first bleed three liters of blood before digging three feet into the ground, and then pay a hundred thousand taels of silver for three years?
Why did others earn so much money, but he suffered so much when it was his turn?
There was no justice in this!
Could it be that the way he paid the tribute was wrong?
Official Li was in great pain!
But what made him even more miserable was the mess in front of him!
Just as he was scratching his head and wiping the cold sweat off his face in the cold winter, there was a sudden clamor from below. Someone shouted excitedly, "Let us in!
Our homes are inside too. Why won't you let us in?! "
Yuan Jin and Taiyang were quite close to each other. There were indeed many people on both sides who had their homes there. There were also many relatives who visited each other. At this moment, there was a commotion inside and outside the city. It was like a boiling cauldron of voices!
The prefect was so anxious that his forehead was sweating and his nose was greasy. He stamped his feet and said, "What should we do? What should we do?!"
The shifty-eyed advisor hurriedly said, "Sir, quickly give the order. Once the city gate is breached, we will not be able to escape.
Once the city gate is breached, Your Excellency's official hat … will be gone! "
This last sentence was the final word!
Official Li was shocked!
What, I can't keep my official hat?
That's terrible!
I haven't even gotten my money back!
I spent money, but you don't even let me earn a little. Is there any justice in this world?
Is there any justice in this world?!
Thinking of this, Official Li's anger rose from his heart. He clenched his fists and shouted with all his might, "Release the arrows!
Release the arrows!
Chase these unruly people away! "
The officer on the city gate turned pale with fright, but he did not dare to disobey the order. He could only bite the bullet and say, "Release the arrows!"
The soldiers on the city gate were all shocked, but they had to obey the military order. They could only release the arrows!
For a moment, the arrows on the city gate fell like rain, and the refugees below fell like wheat being reaped!