The official road of the farmer

The long line went in an orderly manner along the official road towards the Huaihe area, and the sound of heavy wheels rolling across the road was extremely clear.

Although it hasn't rained anymore, they are not moving very fast because they are carrying too many supplies.

Bags of grain packed in sacks are loaded on the vehicle board. In order to avoid sudden changes in the weather, the grain supplies are covered with a large piece of tarpaulin.

Each wooden cart is pulled by two mules in front, and a mule driver in uniform bungee is holding the rope next to it.

There are also soldiers on both sides of the wooden cart, ready to help at any time.

They need to travel long distances to deliver supplies, and relying on manpower alone will affect the speed.The mule is a kind of draft animal that is very suitable for pulling supplies.

This is a group of horse mules raised by the imperial court, which not only have the load-bearing capacity and resistance ability of donkeys, but also have the flexibility and running ability of horses.

Generally, when transporting materials on a large scale, horse mules are used.

The mighty army is scattered in the front, middle and back of the team.

There are hundreds of people in the front responsible for opening the way, there is a team at a certain distance, and there are hundreds of soldiers at the end.

Although they are taking the official road, they will also pass through many uninhabited areas, and those places are the most likely to be robbed.

Of course, the aura of the mighty army is there to frighten, and it is estimated that no one will not have eyes to provoke the court.

But don't take it lightly.This batch of materials is huge, and the money is touching. Maybe there are some gangsters who are really not afraid of death and come to rob them.

As long as they don't reach their destination one day, they can't relax their vigilance.

Ye Junshu was at the front, together with Bu Dayong.

In their team, the highest officer is the eldest prince Xiahou Xuandai, while Bu Dayong and Ye Junshu still have to obey orders in the end.

Fortunately, Xiahou Xuandai didn't do anything wrong, he was very peaceful, and they walked smoothly all the way.

Even so, Ye Junshu still dare not be negligent to the eldest prince.

Ye Junshu has been thinking about why the First Prince took this job so actively. Based on his understanding of the First Prince, he would not be a person who put himself in danger.

You can't take the risk yourself just to kill him, right?

Ye Junshu felt that even if they had deep hatred, the First Prince would not be able to do this.

Later, I thought about it again, the incident of conferring the king that caused instability in the court some time ago ended with Emperor Tai'an's suppression.

But thinking about it, the eldest prince will definitely not be reconciled, and will make some moves.

The Huai River flood was the last straw for Emperor Tai'an to completely suppress the eldest prince's lineage, but it might not be the reason for the eldest prince to turn around.

If the Eldest Prince performed outstandingly during the Huai River flood, and when it was time to discuss meritorious deeds and rewards, and then proposed to be crowned king, there would be no reason to refuse, and everything would be logical.

Ye Junshu felt that this was the eldest prince's greatest purpose.

And I just solved it incidentally.

Ye Junshu had been in contact with the think tanks of the First Prince, but he didn't find any counselors with outstanding IQs during his brief acquaintance at that time. Ye Junshu still felt that it would be difficult to get things done with the think tanks of the First Prince.

Looking at it now, the eldest prince at that time was also guarding against him!

It is estimated that those are just the eldest princes who are generally retainers, real think tanks, and have not shown their faces at all.

Now the eldest prince has really grown a lot, which is a bad thing for those who oppose the eldest prince. This means that if the position of the eldest prince grows to the point where it cannot be shaken, the other There is nothing to be afraid of.

When Emperor Tai'an passed away, the First Prince would be at his fingertips.

But to a certain extent, it is also a good thing. Emperor Tai'an is still in his prime, and the more outstanding the eldest prince's performance, the more he will be afraid...

The closer we get to the Huaihe area, the darker the sky will be, with billowing dark clouds about to fall.

But it didn't rain in the end, which was a good sign.

Ye Junshu and his party went to Huaichuan County, the county where the Fourth Highness Xia Houjue and Deng Hongyuan took office. It was not far from the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, but it was also the county that was least affected.

It should be due to the relatively high terrain. When the flood was at its worst, the water flowed over Huaichuan County, and the deepest part was only knee height. There were not many damaged houses.

If the governor of Huaichuan County does not evacuate, the loss of the county may not be great.

It's a pity that Deng Hongyuan's family left all the people in the city and returned to Beijing early. Huaichuan County had no leader for a period of time, and no one organized the timely evacuation of the affected people. Many people lost their lives in the flood.

And the people who fled the disaster area in time also flocked to Huaichuan County.

Because the people were not resettled in time, Huaichuan County was in chaos for a while.

Fortunately, the imperial court appointed imperial envoys to Huaichuan County in time to control the situation, otherwise, the common people would suffer even greater harm.

The imperial envoy sent by Emperor Tai'an was Xi Maochang. Although he was a civil servant, he was from a family of military commanders. He was Xi Yuanyi's cousin.

Xi Maochang's temperament has the decisiveness of a general in killing, and he does things vigorously, so he quickly brought the chaotic situation under control.

When the flood receded a little, Xi Mao often organized the common people to clean up Huaichuan County, dredge the channels, and build mud and rocks along the banks of the river in the county.In order to prevent the flood from rising again and flooding the county city.

Since then, he has used Huaichuan County as a base to take in homeless people.

Xi Mao often opened treasury granaries to provide relief to the people, and also built temporary residences. Due to limited conditions, he could only build sheds, which could barely shelter the wind and rain.

In order to avoid crimes, patrols have been specially increased.

However, the grain stored in the granary can barely last for a period of time, and all the crops in the fields in this area have been washed away, and there is no harvest.

However, the Huaihe River was hit by successive torrential rains, and the upstream bank burst, and the floods on both sides of the river did not recede for a long time. If it continued for a long time, the people would face hunger.

Even now, in order to last a little longer, they can only barely feed their stomachs with gruel twice a day, and for more, they can only ask the court for support.

What made Xi Mao very happy was that the material support came very quickly, without delay at all.

When seeing the supplies team approaching the county city on the city wall, the entire Huaichuan County fell into ecstasy.

"We have food!"

"We don't have to go hungry!"

"We have food!"

This means that they no longer have to worry about missing a meal.

The imperial court did not ignore them, and they will soon be able to rebuild their homes!

Therefore, when Ye Junshu and his party arrived in Huaichuan County, they were greeted by the crowd. Although the people were basically dressed in rags, the smiles on their faces were full of gratitude and hope, and there was no trace of lifelessness or sadness from the destruction of their homes and crops.

When Ye Junshu saw these people, his heart was slightly touched, and his worry was relieved.

He has seen the current situation of ordinary people who have suffered natural disasters and man-made disasters twice. One is lifeless and lifeless, and the other has not given up hope even in difficulties.

This is the result of different circumstances, but Ye Junshu believes that the imperial envoy who arrived earlier is indispensable.

Ye Junshu paid attention to Huaichuan County, which had been hit by floods, and the street stains were cleaned up.

There are still many officials who really do practical things for the people. Although there are many intrigues in the officialdom, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and power struggles are inevitable.

Ye Junshu was also very pleased. Basically, the officials who had a good relationship with the Li family were all of good character. Ye Junshu could only say that birds of a feather flock together.

The Li family's behavior has always been to be loyal to the people first, and then to the king, and a group of people with the same thoughts naturally gathered around him.

Such talents, the emperor also knows how to use them.

Xi Mao often welcomes them into the city at the gate of the city himself.

After a while of pleasantries, there was no delay.

Material handover will be carried out soon.

Xi Mao often took over here, and also checked them one by one before loading them into the warehouse, and then heavily guarded them.

So far, the task of Ye Junshu and others has been completed.

It was just after noon when they arrived in Huaichuan County, and it was already evening when all the handovers were completed.

More supplies than Xi Maochang imagined were put in place, his serious expression relaxed, and he smiled sincerely at Ye Junshu and the others.

"The eldest prince and all the lords have worked hard all the way." Xi Maochang thanked again.

The eldest prince smiled casually, and said sincerely: "It is right to do things for the father. Mr. Xi is a hard worker, and he arranges the common people very well and in an orderly manner..."

"This is where my duty lies." Xi Maochang said, "The mansion has prepared a dinner party to clean up the dust for everyone, please come here, my lords."

The eldest prince nodded slightly, "Lord Lao, you are worried."

A group of people walked along the corridor together.

Ye Junshu was a few steps behind, but walked with several adults from the Ministry of Industry.

He wanted to know more about the flood situation in Huaihe River, but now was not a good time to start a conversation, so he exchanged a few words and got to know each other.

Xi Maochang has been living in the county government office all this time, and the backyard is enough to accommodate them, so they are also placed here. However, the eldest prince has a noble status, and it just so happens that the county guard's mansion has been cleared out, so he is allowed to live there temporarily.

It was the residence of Deng Hongyuan and Fourth Highness Xia Houjue. Although they were gone, they didn't want to occupy the magpie's nest, so they all lived in the yamen. But the first prince is the elder brother of Fourth Highness, so if he went to live, it wouldn't be a bad idea. would offend.

Huaichuan County is short of food, Xi Maochang and others have been here for so many days, and the food is not much better than that of ordinary people. Now, this dinner is the most sumptuous dinner that can be made for the eldest prince and others. It's a meal.

Of course, in the eyes of the First Prince, it was still too crude.

Along the way, he ate mostly dry food for his journey. The eldest prince was not used to it since he was a child, but he came out voluntarily and was ready to endure hardship.

However, thinking of his big plan, Xia Hou Xuandai's feeling of being neglected was suppressed.

Xi Maochang apologized: "Prince, forgive me, the environment here is really rough..."

Before he finished speaking, the eldest prince said with compassion: "Lord Xi has a heart. Now that the people of Huaichuan are suffering, if this prince blindly seeks delicacies from mountains and seas, he will really have trouble sleeping and eating. I wish I could eat bad bran with the people. "

Another official said with emotion: "The eldest prince is so kind!"

"It's really a great fortune for Daxia that the First Prince is so kind-hearted!" Other officials also complimented a few times.

The eldest prince didn't care about the situation, Xi Maochang was also relieved, he raised his hand and bowed slightly: "Please, eldest prince."

Xiahou Xuandai sat down on the seat, and immediately said: "My lords, please sit down."

Ye Junshu and his later officials naturally sat at the same table as the First Prince, along with Xi Maochang and several other high-ranking officials, forming a table of eight.

Xi Mao often sat on the right side of the eldest prince, and Bu Dayong and Xi Mao often sat on the other side of him because of their friendship.

Bu Dayong knew very well that his temperament was easy to offend others, and he couldn't cope with the eldest prince's tiger-like attitude, so he could hide as far as he could.

Ye Junshu originally wanted to sit by Bu Dayong's side, but the eldest prince smiled and said to Ye Junshu: "Ye Langzhong sit here."

He pointed to the position on the right, which happened to be empty.

Ye Junshu glanced at the eldest prince, smiled slightly, and sat down.