Infrastructure masters in the red building

After finding out the grain situation in Taoyuan Village, Jia Fang returned to Jia's Mansion, but heard voices from the back door of Rong Mansion, Rongning Back Street.

He walked over with his hands behind his back, and saw a woman dressed in red and green who looked like a matchmaker, sent out by Mrs. Shi's escort, Mrs. Lai.Behind this woman, there are more than a dozen girls, tall and short, ranging in age from about six to ten years old, all of them are sallow, thin, and quite sallow.

Jia Xin knew that he had met Ren Yazi.

The woman with human teeth had a rather ugly complexion, and the handkerchief in her hand was twisted and twisted, and now it almost looks like a twist.But Mrs. Lai didn't care at all, she held her head up and smiled and said, "Don't pretend to be our wife. Now there are refugees outside the city, and these people you have are like picking up for nothing. How can you drag them into the city and give you clothes? One coin?"

Jia Fang understood right away: There are a lot of refugees outside the city now, people are forced to rush, and selling children and daughters is also common.The little girls in Ren Yazi's hands probably came from this way.

"I only know that Mrs. Guo's wife has a kind heart. These are girls from a good family. If they hadn't suffered a disaster, they wouldn't have come out to work in someone else's house in a humble manner." Really unable to hang on, she retorted angrily, "I never thought that, when I came to Mrs. Guo's place, it was a miserable encounter. It's been so many years, and the dignified Mrs. Guo is still pointing out that we can't get money from people like us?"

"laugh--"

Mrs. Lai was not an easy-going lamp, and immediately retorted: "You have a good idea here. The girls you pick up for nothing are sold to various houses with the idea of ​​making no profit. But these girls from good families are taken from them. I don’t know how much morality I’ve lost.”

Lai Shi and Jia Fang have always hated each other, but Jia Fang thought that Lai Shi's point of view on this matter was not bad, and the three views were relatively correct, so he nodded to Lai Shi from the side.

When Mrs. Lai took a look, all the men in her family supported her, which made her even more energetic. Immediately, lotus blossoms bloomed on her tongue, and the fragrance was exhaled from her mouth, which broke her teeth. Finally, she said: "In this year, even the emperor can't bear it." Going up to the altar to pray for rain, how dare the big families of the government not routinely save money? You send these children here, so that the government will not only be charged with extravagance and extravagance, but also control them to eat and drink, and teach them to behave. Child, you can't do work, so it's just raising for nothing... You think our Rong Mansion is a kindness hall!"

Lai's robbing made the man's teeth turn red and turn white, and he couldn't get off the stage. He shouted: "Let's go!" He took the group of children and left in a gloomy way from the back street of Rongning.

Lai really let out a sigh of relief, only to realize that it was Jia Fang who gave her a thumbs up just now, and immediately "hummed", turned and left with her head held high.

Looking at her attitude, Jia Fang probably didn't know that something happened to Lai Da in her family.

As soon as Mrs. Lai left, Jia Fang frowned again.The old woman's last sentence reminded him just now: Rong Mansion is not a philanthropic hall.

Indeed, it is obviously unrealistic to rely on the power of one family and one government to save hundreds of thousands of disaster victims outside the city.

But now he is just a concubine of the government and has no official position. Although he has "a little" food in his hand, how should he act to ensure that he can "save all people" instead of "save one person"?

Just as he was thinking about it, he saw a few young men from Jia Sheyuan gathered at the back door of Rong Mansion, and someone pushed two carts over.Jia Fang saw that there was a huge iron pot on the cart, which was comparable to the big bell in the monastery.The driver behind was loaded with firewood and the like, and there was a bag of grain.

Those young servants all recognized Jia Fang, and greeted him happily: "Third Master!"

Jia Fang looked at the cauldron and asked curiously, "What is this for?"

The servants laughed together and replied: "This is porridge outside the east gate."

Jia Fang: That's right.

The boys all knew that Jia Amnesty and Jia Fang were good friends, and someone immediately laughed and said, "Master said, if you give up an extra handful of rice, you will accumulate more virtue for our grandma and future master."

Jia Fang stepped forward to have a look casually, grabbed a handful of rice from the grain bag on the second cart, put it up to his nose and smelled it, and asked with a frown, "Is this old rice?"

The boys looked at each other, and one of them was all smiles, and went up to explain to Jia Fang: "Go to build a porridge outside the east gate, of course there is no way to use good rice, use our green rice, rouge rice, etc." The rice is going to give away the porridge, the uncle will not kill us?"

"Besides, third master, in fact, the little ones eat these old rice on weekdays. They are all the same food, but they have a bit of a musty smell. If you really think the musty smell is strong, you can grab a handful of new rice and mix it with it. Cook it, and the taste will be much better."

"Yes, if the sisters-in-law in the kitchen give me a good face, let us add a spoonful of lard..."

Speaking of this, the boys all raised their faces, squinted their eyes, and pretended to enjoy it.

But Jia Fang felt something vaguely coming out of his mind, so he hurriedly asked the boy who had spoken just now: "Can you say it again?"

The boy was startled, and quickly waved his hands: "I don't often eat this lard bibimbap. Most of the sisters-in-law in the kitchen are in a good mood, and give us a spoonful when they are happy..."

Jia Fang shook his hand: "It's not this, what did you say before?"

Only then did the boys recall: "...mix new rice and old rice together and cook."

Jia Fang: "That's it. Doesn't the rice cooked in this way have a musty smell?"

The boys looked at each other, shook their heads, and said, "It still smells, but it's not as strong."

Jia Fang let out an "oh" and nodded.

A little memory that was about to come out in his mind suddenly sank again.

Jia Fang is not a rigid and stubborn person. As long as the [-] shi rice in his hand is not moldy and people will not get sick after eating it, he will choose to take it all out for disaster relief—although the [-] shi rice cannot be saved all affected people.

But he always vaguely remembered that old rice seemed to have some special uses, especially when he heard the boy say that new rice and old rice were mixed together for cooking, he seemed to have really thought of something.

At present, the price of food is high, and the food stores in the city are hoarding it. The people are living in a difficult situation, and the refugees outside the city are even more desperate.

What Jia Fang thought was that the [-] shi rice in his hand was not just a [-] shi rice, but a lever to pry up more food and save more lives.

It's just that the idea disappeared in a flash, and Jia Fang didn't even have a chance to see the real face.

Jia Fang then asked, "Isn't this the first day you went to sell porridge outside the city? How is the situation outside the city?"

The boys looked at each other, and the laughter on their faces gradually disappeared.Someone replied: "Third Master, you are young, don't go out of the city, especially don't go out of the east gate. Go out and see those tragic things, be careful that you won't be able to sleep and have nightmares when you come back..."

Jia Fang knew that the other party had good intentions, but it was a little late to remind him. He was returning to Beijing from the east gate.

At this time, Jia Fang nodded and let go, saying: "I won't delay you, let's do good deeds."

After these guys who went out of the city to set up porridge sheds went, Jia Fang couldn't just sit like this in the mansion, so he simply went to the street, and came to the vicinity of Datong Lane, a grain store and a grain store. come over.As he expected, every food store maintained a price alliance in a tacit understanding, and the price of food in the whole city was the same high.

In front of every food store, there are disappointed people returning home.Jia Fang even saw the well-driller who came to dig a deep well for the Grand View Garden last time, took out the copper coins in the bag, counted and counted, and then made up his mind to go to the grain store - obviously the price of grain made this experienced man The seasoned well-driller also found it difficult to cope.

In other words, the subordinates of "Tianyiyi" should also have several food stores, right?

Jia Fang lowered his head and just saw the "Tiansheng Seal" of the Qingtian Stone on his body, and he felt a little restless again.He thought to himself: Narcissus, narcissus, what are you thinking?

As he walked all the way, he remembered the advice of the fourth prince when he left De'an County: "I hope you can also be a person who can save thousands of people when you return to Beijing."

Every time he comforted himself, he told himself: There is food in hand, so don’t panic when things happen.But in the face of such a complicated disaster situation, he still has no idea - if one hundred thousand shi of grain is taken out casually, can it really save thousands of people?If there is no way to use it wisely, wouldn't so many advantages be wiped out, so much effort was in vain?

Maybe he should think of a way to write a letter to the crown prince who is in Beijing to supervise the country, and build a private camp in the eastern suburbs of Beijing?

However, the fourth prince built the refugee camp in De'an County first, and the effect was immediate. If there was no resistance from the court, the refugee camp in the east would have been built long ago?

Seeing the chaos on the other side of the capital now, Jia Fang really had some doubts about the organization and coordination ability of the Prince Jian Guo.

He didn't dare to act rashly anymore.

While Jia Fang was thinking about something, he strolled to a wide street.

Suddenly there was a ragged little boy on the side of the road, kneeling on the ground, with a grass sign stuck on his head, and the words "sold his body to bury his mother" were written crookedly on the ground in front of him.

There was indeed a straw mat next to the little boy, and a pair of feet were exposed under the straw mat.

Seeing Jia Fang approaching, the little boy raised his face and stared at Jia Fang closely.

Seeing that there was no sadness in his eyes, Jia Fang could conclude that the boy was a little liar.It's just taking this opportunity to cheat people's sympathy and make some money.And in a broken bowl in front of him, some kind-hearted people had indeed thrown a few copper coins into it.

He frowned at the boy, but his mind was on other things.

"How to save one person, and how to save thousands of people?" He murmured out.

Unexpectedly, there was a clear voice beside him and said: "If you don't save one person, how can you save thousands of people? Instead of hesitating here, Brother Jia, why don't you save the child in front of you first?"

Jia Fang turned his head and saw the person talking beside him, he almost greeted him, "Brother-in-law..."

Fortunately, he endured the words and went back. He hurriedly greeted the other party, and also called the other party: "Brother Lin."

The person on the opposite side had delicate features, and the outline of his face was somewhat soft like that of a southerner. It was the "Gusu Linhai" he had met in the Wanqing Building last time.

Two teenagers react differently to the same thief.

Lin Hai squatted in front of the child, and asked softly: "What's your name, where are you from, is there anyone else in the family? ... Don't worry, I will ask someone to arrange for you to be buried in the hall, but now I need to arrange a place for you .”

The child stared at Lin Hai closely, with tears gradually filling his eyes.Suddenly, he kowtowed to Lin Hai with a "bang" sound: "Don't bother me, as long as I reward you with a few taels of silver, and I will bury my mother myself, and then I will come to work as an errand in my mansion... I will be an ox and a horse for the rest of my life." , to repay the grace of the uncle."

There are many such deceptions in Beijing. Children say that they "sell their bodies to bury their mothers". If someone really gives the money, the child will be gone after taking the money, and it will be nothing if he works as an errand in the house. .

Lin Hai is from Gusu, Gusu has always been affluent, Lin Hai has never seen such a tragedy, let alone heard of this kind of deception, immediately took money out of his sleeve, and told the child while doing so, "I live in the west of the city. Xiang, whose surname is Lin, you will know as soon as you inquire. I don’t need you to be an ox or a horse, but if you have nowhere to go, follow me, and I can take care of you at least..."

Unexpectedly, at this moment Jia Fang stretched out his feet suddenly, came to the woman who was covered by the straw mat, stretched out his hand, and lifted the straw mat.

This move was unexpected, the boy who was talking to Lin Hai screamed and rushed towards Jia Fang, holding Jia Fang's arm tightly with both hands, trying to pull him back.

Lin Hai was stunned, but the passers-by felt that Jia Fang was boring, and said: "This young master is too serious. There are people who sell their bodies to bury their mothers all over the street, and how many of them are really going to be buried?" Mother? But why do you have to expose people?"

Only then did Lin Hai realize that he had been fooled.The person under the straw mat may not be a dead person.

At this moment, the boy suddenly stopped.He saw Jia Fang stretching out his hand to sniff the woman under the straw mat.

The boy himself stretched out his hand to try it, and then touched his mother's hand. He felt that it was cold, and immediately burst into tears with a "wow".

"Mother-"

Jia Fang hurriedly shook his hand at the child: "Being busy crying, I still have some breath."

He had felt something was wrong earlier: seeing the boy's sly look, he concluded that the man under the straw mat should be alive.But he saw that the straw mat was motionless, showing no signs of life at all.So Jia thought at ease that something really happened.

That's why he made this move to lift the mat, and sure enough, he saw that the woman under the straw mat turned blue, her anger was like a thread, and she was about to die.And the child only cared about pretending to "sell his body to bury his mother" at the front, and completely ignored the situation of his mother behind him. Unexpectedly, the woman under the straw mat was in poor condition, and this scene almost "made a fake come true".

Hearing that his mother was still alive, the boy stopped crying immediately. He quickly stepped back half a step, and kowtowed heavily at Jia Fang—he seemed to be used to kowtow, and his forehead was already bruised. Redness and swelling.

Jia Fang didn't care about him, he just turned his head to look at Lin Hai: "Brother Lin, is there someone on hand?"

Lin Hai nodded, called a strong and strong man to come over, ordered him to carry the woman on his back, and several people took the child together to the hospital.

As soon as the doctor in the hospital saw it, he said: "It's starvation disease. Alas, I have seen several of them every day recently." As he spoke, he stepped forward and pinched the woman hard with his thumb. After pinching for a while, the woman's eyes When I opened it, I woke up.

Jia Fang: Could it be the syncope caused by hypoglycemia?

The doctor waved his hand: "No need to take medicine, go out, go to the teahouse opposite, and tell the boss to order two or two rice juice. The boss will know. Don't make her rush to drink, just let her lie down like this, slowly Feed it spoon by spoon... as long as you can eat it, you won't die."

The doctor is very experienced, and it seems that he has seen many patients of this kind these days.

Jia Fang and Lin Hai hurried to the opposite teahouse, bought rice juice, and asked the child to feed the woman to drink it slowly.

The so-called "rice juice" sold in the teahouse is actually rice soup. The rice porridge is boiled slowly until all the rice grains in it are broken and melted. I feed the woman to drink it. After a while, the woman's face turns red. A little more blood.

After the child finished feeding the bowl of rice juice, Lin Hai ordered someone to buy a bag of steamed buns and a small jar of pickles for the child, and piled them in front of the child.The seven or eight-year-old boy looked at the two young men in front of him, and his eyes suddenly turned red again.

He climbed up in front of Jia Fang, kowtowed heavily, and said, "Thank you, my lord!"

He turned his head and kowtowed to Lin Hai again, saying, "Thank you, my lord!"

Lin Hai and Jia Fang looked at each other and smiled.Lin Hai smiled and said, "I can see the difference. You are the one who really saves lives." After this incident of saving lives, the relationship between Lin Hai and Jia Fang became much closer.

The two asked the child again, where did he come from, and how did he come to the capital.After asking, I found out that this child was also from the north, and his family was hit by a drought. The family of four left their fields and fled southward all the way.On the way, first his father was gone, and then the boy's sister was also gone, leaving only his mother and two sons, all the way to the east of the capital.

Originally, refugees like them couldn't enter the city, but the child's mother used to work as a needleworker's wife in an official's house on Hebei Road, and later the official was promoted to Beijing.The woman reported the official's surname and official position at the checkpoint of entering Beijing, falsely claiming that she was a distant relative of his family, and was released into the city by luck.

They thought that they would live better after entering the city. After all, there is food in the city, but there is no food outside the city.But who would have guessed that there is food in the city, but the price of food is so high that even ordinary people in the city can't afford it, let alone those foreigners who fled from the famine.

The mother and the son had no money, so they could only beg along the street. As the woman became weaker and weaker, the child came up with the method of "selling herself to bury the mother", trying to deceive the kind-hearted people for some money, but Unexpectedly, my mother almost lost her life.

As the boy spoke, he couldn't help crying again.

Jia Fang comforted him with gentle words: "If you know your mistakes, you can correct them. There is nothing good about being kind. You are a filial child, and there are people in the world who are willing to help you. Just don't do those cunning and fraudulent things again."

The boy fell on the ground and solemnly kowtowed twice to Jia Fang to show that he remembered.

Jia Fang thought for a while, and then asked the child carefully: "Have you really checked and asked that every food store in the city has such high food prices?"

The child nodded hastily, and said, "If there is one family whose food price is cheaper than others, wouldn't the threshold be broken?"

Jia Fang and Lin Hai looked at each other, knowing that this was indeed the case.

"The official storehouse releases grain at a low price. The villain went there once at night, and was kicked out before he entered the line. It's not the place where I'm waiting to buy grain."

"They said...they all said that the severe drought and locust plague this time are all because of it," the boy swallowed, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "It's because of trying the sandy land. This is the reason for such a disaster. My two masters, what do you mean by trying the sand?"

Before Jia Fang and Lin Hai could react, the owner of the teahouse got angry first, walked over quickly, spat on the ground, and said to the boy: "Don't leave this kind of stupid talk to me, it will implicate my shop. I will not tear your skin!"

Jia Fang was stunned for a moment before reacting, and looked at Lin Hai.

What did the boy say, "try the sand", it is clearly "killing teachers and killing brothers", plus the four-character test of "virtuous government does not cultivate"-this is more than what the scholars of Taixue said" "Heaven and Man Interaction" is too much, such gossip among the market is clearly pointing to the person on the dragon chair.

I don't know where the boy heard this kind of "bad talk", but such a young child can firmly remember the sloppy words, which proves that such discussions are not uncommon among the market.

Seeing the ferocious face of the owner of the teahouse, who wanted to drive the child out, Jia Fang quickly said: "This kind of gossip is nonsense, you must not remember it, don't remember a word, don't even think about it. Don't mention it to anyone else."

The boy was obedient and nodded quickly.The owner of the tea shop seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, and left cursing.

Several people talked about the future of the mother and son, Jia Fang and Lin Hai felt that it was not an option for them to stay in this city.Of the two of them, one couldn't make the decision at home, and the other was a temporary stay in Beijing, so neither of them could take in the mother and child.

Jia Fang thought for a while and asked the child: "If I tell you a place to go, but you have to go out of the capital and walk more than 100 miles, the road may not be safe...but it will be peaceful when you get there. You and your mother There is food to eat, water to drink, and wages if you help with the work... Would you like to go there?"

Since the mother and son could not gain a foothold in the city, the only way Jia Fang could think of was to persuade them to leave the city to the west and go to the refugee camp in De'an County.After all, there are father Jia Daishan and the fourth prince there, Jia Fang is very confident that as long as the mother and son get there, they will be able to survive this disaster safely.

But the premise is that they can arrive safely.

The boy thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "I do."

He puffed up his chest like a man, stood in front of the weak woman, with a firm expression on his face, nodded and said, "I will definitely escort my mother to...to the place you mentioned."

Jia Fang nodded, tapped his shoulders as a sign of encouragement, and told the boy the place name and location of De'an County.Finally, he clung to the boy's ear and whispered: "If you see other refugees who have not gone out like you on the road, if you think they are good people and won't harm you and your mother, you can take them with you, and let's go together , and head towards De'an County together."

The boy pondered for a moment, knelt down and kowtowed to both Jia Fang and Lin Hai, then carefully tied the steamed buns and road vegetables that Lin Hai gave him behind his back, and then helped his mother to bless them both, and then slowly Turn around and leave.

When the two walked away, the owner of the tea shop who had a fierce look on his face and scolded them angrily just now looked at the backs of the mother and son, shook his head and sighed: "Poor, poor..."

Jia Fang and Lin Hai looked at each other, and they both said, "Let's go!"

They both felt that they had a lot to talk about, and they had to find a proper place to sit down and discuss it.