half life slave

It was not until the end of February that the group arrived outside Tianshui City.Zou Tinghe, the servant of the household department, was eager to take a rest. He followed him into the city first, and then asked him to prepare two horses for a walk around.

Zou Tinghe only said that he is a favorite minister, he is used to being pampered, and he has been eating and sleeping in the open for days, and he must not be able to bear it now, he is going to a big restaurant in the city to improve the food, so he should smile knowingly, and take his troops to the posthouse went.

After Rong Yu, Lin Sheng and others left, they all changed into casual clothes and returned out of the city again.It was freezing cold, Lin Sheng didn't know what his plan was, he just followed step by step, and after walking for a while, he found a long pavilion to shelter from the wind. After a short while, he saw many elders and elders from poor villages coming out together, women and children wailed and wailed for a while , let people listen to it with pity.

At that time, the local area had been providing relief for nearly two months, and the warehouses had been drained of money and food. However, according to the amount of food stored in the previous local warehouses, it was still enough for the victims to barely survive this winter.

Seeing the large number of people leaving the city now, Rong Yu signaled to Lin Sheng, he hurriedly dismounted to support an elderly man, and asked him, "Old man, where are you going? Why do you all look so miserable?"

The old man leaned on crutches and trembled, panting for a long time without saying a word. A frail young man was supporting him--probably his grandson, who nodded to Ah Sheng, "This little brother is from We are from other places, so I don’t know. We are all locals. After the earthquake, the houses were destroyed and the fields were deserted. We heard that the state government office opened a warehouse to donate food, so we rushed to the city and waited in front of the government office. Who Knowing that more than two months have passed, the lords in the yamen always say that the food has been distributed and they just wait for the court to rescue them. Today is postponed to tomorrow, and tomorrow is postponed to the day after. We really can't wait, so we go out of the city and return to the village to find a way."

Lin Sheng had expected this to happen. He glanced back at Rong Yu and asked again, "You've been guarding for so long, don't the lords of the government office pay attention? If you don't have enough groceries, you can borrow from other state capitals. I can't just watch you starve, can I?"

The young man sighed first, and then said bitterly, "I also asked why we were ignored, but the county magistrate said that the big families in the city should be paid first, and then the residents in the city, like us who came from towns outside the city. We can only wait for the court’s disaster relief food. No one can say exactly when the court’s food will arrive, and I don’t think it will be our turn even if it arrives.”

"What about the residents in the city, have they all been resettled and received food?"

"Where can I get it? It's just that some wealthy households have a large population and receive more. Ordinary people are similar to us. They haven't seen a grain of rice after waiting for several months! There are quite a few people If you can’t bear it, you sell your children for rations. If those rich people are not short of money and food, how can they have the leisure to buy people again? This world clearly does not give ordinary people a way to survive.”

The more the boy spoke, the more angry he became, the old man on the side hurriedly stopped him, and waved his head to signal him not to say any more.

"Grandpa stopped me from doing something, and what I said was not wrong." The young man ignored the old man's dissuasion, but raised his voice, "Where is there any livelihood now, bandits and thieves are everywhere outside the city, and they may kill them at home at any time. Grab it by force. If I knew this, I might as well have fallen into the grass, I am afraid that Grandpa will not have to go hungry anymore."

Hearing what he said, the old man coughed anxiously, blushing and gasping for breath, the young man calmed down, supported him, and patted his back lightly.

Lin Sheng shook his head and sighed softly, took off his wallet again, took out a piece of silver and handed it to the young man, "My brother, hurry up and go home with grandpa. I'll come from the east. I heard that the disaster relief officials from the imperial court are going to leave in the next few days." When the time comes, go back and wait at ease, and money and food will be sent to you soon. You take this first, the old man is old and weak, you settle him, go to the city to exchange some emergency food, and then wait with peace of mind. I don’t think the imperial court will ignore everyone.”

The young man was stunned for a moment, and just about to refuse, Lin Sheng didn't say much, just stuffed the money in his hand, took a look at Rong Yu, and then they both got on their horses and left.Behind him, he could only hear the young man thanking him loudly, after a while, the voice was far away and could not be heard anymore.

After traveling for several miles, Lin Sheng sighed indignantly, "As expected, the poor and the common people have no one to help. These officials are not afraid that the common people will force them to rebel, just like the little brother said just now. It’s a bloody thing to say that it’s about to fall into the grass.”

Rong Yu frowned and shook his head, "After a catastrophe, thieves often start from a group of mobs, and most of them rob the common people. Since the gentry and wealthy households have their own village warriors, they don't dare to harass them. So no matter who The people who suffer from lack of food are the common people, Ah Sheng, next we must not only provide disaster relief, but also eliminate bandits."

Lin Sheng looked worried, "Oh, but we don't have soldiers, so we have to rely on Liao Tong. If he wants to suppress the bandits, how can he delay until today?"

He took it for granted, but when he thought of Li Lian for a moment, he felt confident, and said with a light smile, "Have you forgotten that there is General Zhaoyong? He just quelled the Muslim rebellion in Salar here, and his troops were used to suppress the bandits. But more than enough."

Suddenly, Lin Sheng nodded and smiled at him because he was relieved.Now the two had reached the banks of the Hulu River. On both sides of the river or under the shade of trees a little farther away, victims of the disaster could be seen stationed. Many people were standing in the shallows, trying to catch some fish and shrimp to satisfy their hunger.

The Hulu River is a major tributary of the Wei River, with abundant water. It is named because the river channel is shaped like a gourd.According to records, the water quality of the river is slightly salty, so the aquatic products are not abundant. In addition, after the earthquake, it was overfished by the victims on both sides of the river, which inevitably made it even more barren.

Rong Yu was about to go forward to inquire about some of the victims, when he heard a burst of crying, a woman hugged a man tightly in front of him, the man was holding a child in his hand, and it looked like he was going to throw him into the water .

The victims on both sides watched intently, not sure if they were too hungry or they were used to such things, but no one stepped forward to stop them.Rong Yu hurriedly got off his horse, ran to the man's side, took advantage of his unpreparedness, and snatched the youngest son from his hand.

The man was startled, turned around and asked, "Who are you? Why are you robbing my child?"

Rong Yu saw that he was about forty years old, his face was full of hunger, his eyes were red and he seemed crazy, in order to prevent him from violently hurting others, he first tightened his arms, "I am a passing provincial, I saw How can you stand by and watch such a tragedy? You don’t have to be angry and desperate, the government’s relief food will be distributed soon, just be patient for a while, and don’t do stupid things that you will regret later.”

"Relief food from the imperial court? Is it real or not? How do you know that it will be available in a few days?" The man's voice suddenly rose, attracting the attention of people on both sides, and many people rushed forward spontaneously.

Rong Yu saw that the woman stepped forward, carefully put the child into her arms, then looked around, and said loudly, "I passed through your land from Shaanxi Mansion all the way, and I met the imperial court's disaster relief chariots and horses on the official road. Counting the days, we should have arrived in Tianshui City by now. If it goes well, tomorrow the government office will post a disaster relief notice, and you can also go to receive relief food, please be patient for another night."

As soon as the words fell, the crowd became commotion, and they rushed to tell each other the news, and the two sides of the Hulu River immediately burst into joy.

Rong Yu and Ah Sheng looked at each other, and while everyone was not paying attention, they quickly got on their horses and galloped all the way to the city.

As soon as he arrived at the post house, someone had reported that Liao Tong, governor of Gansu, was waiting outside to see him.Rong Yu hurriedly changed clothes, and led Lin Sheng to the flower hall.Na Liao Tong only brought a school lieutenant with him, when he saw him coming out, he stood up gracefully and bowed his hands to him.

Accept and return the gift, and sat down in two places.Liao Tong greeted him a few words, invited him to drink tea, and looked him up and down, seeing that his face was like a crown of jade, his eyebrows and eyes were elegant, he looked like a pampered son and brother, he felt contemptuous, and straight to the point, "" I heard that the Imperial Envoy has just inspected a place in the city, and the disaster relief in Tianshui City has achieved some results, and all walks of life are considered to be in order, so you can relax a little bit."

Rong He said with a smile, "It is thanks to your Excellency's earlier allocation of disaster relief funds to appease the people. I am about to discuss with your Excellency. It is not too late to issue a notice tomorrow, so that the victims in the city and outside the city can come to receive relief food. Your Excellency agrees." How about next?"

Liao Tong nodded and said yes, "Master Lin has worked tirelessly, and I would like to thank you on behalf of the local people. The imperial court has sent more than 8 shi of grain this time. I would like to hear your opinion on how to distribute it."

This is the meaning of the temptation, and Rong Yu understood it in his heart, and responded without haste, "I checked the files earlier, and I remember that in the 36th year of Shengping, I used to help Su Song's floods. The division is adult Liudou, six years old to 14 years old. One rises at the age of one, and no one is allowed under the age of five. This method may be imitated, and I would like to raise the child’s grain rate to three buckets.” Thinking of the baby by the Hulu River today, he went on to say, “The residents of the city who have received relief earlier Then reduce the ratio accordingly, one bucket for adults, six liters for children. Do you agree with this?"

Liao Tong frowned imperceptibly, and hurriedly concealed his surprise in his heart—he never expected that he had already found out the situation of the previous disaster relief. It turned out that the so-called lingering in the city was not for wandering, eating and drinking, but for inquiring about news ?

He was startled suddenly in his heart, and then became vigilant. He couldn't help but sit up straight, "It's very fair, I don't have any objections. Then at Maoshi tomorrow, I will invite you to come to the government office to supervise the handling. Thank you, sir." He said fearful words I have lost so much, I have stood up and wanted to say goodbye.

"Not busy, I still have something to discuss with your lord." Rong Yu compared his hands, and asked him to sit down, "I just left the city, and I heard from the victims that there were many thieves formed by refugees outside the city. Harassing the people. If this group of people is not wiped out, even if the people get food, they will rob them. So I would like to ask the adults to send troops to wipe out the thieves as soon as possible, so that the people can live a quiet and stable life."

Liao Tong hesitated for a moment, and said disapprovingly, "After a major disaster, there will always be thieves and bandits. In the past few months, I have been busy with disaster relief, and because of the lack of local troops, and the troops I brought from the capital are also limited, it is inevitable They will be overwhelmed. However, this group of people will not be able to achieve anything right now, and they will be busy distributing grain and money in the future, urging hoarding land to open up wasteland, and they will have to collect enough grain to fill the treasury next autumn. There are so many Passes, everything is a big deal."

Rong Yu listened to his prevarications and knew that he was unwilling to spend his troops, and at the same time he didn't bother to fight with the bandits.But if left unchecked, only the common people will suffer.After thinking about it, he smiled as if conceding, "I understand the difficulties of adults, so I dare not work. Now I recommend a suitable person, General Zhaoyong Li Lian. Ask him to send troops to help, and adults can concentrate on it." Within the government, let him supervise and suppress the bandits outside, I wonder if my lord will agree?"

The reason why he said this along the way is because he had already thought about calling Li Lian to help him. The key point was to investigate and deal with Liao Tong's corruption case. The words and the tricks behind them should be clearer than others, and Rong Yu just wanted to use his hand to cure corruption.

Although Liao Tong was at odds with Li Lian, he thought that this move would consume Li Lian's troops without costing himself a single soldier, so it would be a good deal, "Alright, Mr. Lin is an imperial envoy, if you have any ideas, you can directly report them to the emperor. Since we have made such a decision, we will ask the emperor for an order, and Liao will do as he pleases."

Rong and his party temporarily appeased Liao Tong, and the other party also said to cooperate actively, but for the next half a month, he seldom showed up, only sent a few close generals to visit, and Rong Yu is doing it by himself, so busy that he beats the back of his head. He starts to sit in the government office every day, supervising the distribution of relief food, and it is not until the middle of the month that he finishes counting the accounts for this day.

When the food distribution was almost done, even Lin Sheng's expression relaxed a lot, and he said with a smile, "It's almost over, the 8 shi of food, there is still some money left, if it wasn't for your saving, my lord, Give less to those big households who have already been helped, and it is estimated that they will all be gone by now."

Rong Yu breathed a sigh of relief, he had been exhausted for the past few days, and now he was already exhausted, but when he thought that there were still some omissions, he frowned and said, "It's just that it's almost there, and there is still one thing that hasn't been delivered." Puzzled, he said bluntly, "Accompany me to the prison at night."

In the dark and cramped prison, there are only two yamen servants on duty at the moment, and there is nothing wrong with coming late. The two of them sit facing each other, eating wine and warming up.Lin Shengfu revealed his identity as soon as he entered.The two yamen servants never thought that the dignified imperial envoy would step foot on the humble ground, and they immediately got up and knelt down in shock, their faces full of panic and bewilderment.

Rong Yu glanced around, except for the charcoal basin in front of him, there was nothing to warm him around. You must know that it is the middle of winter, except for the two yamen servants, the rest of the place is as cold as ice.Looking at the prisoners curled up in a ball in the cell, he couldn't bear it, and knew that he had made the right trip.

In my previous life, I worked as a volunteer for a period of time, and I also had the opportunity to give free medical treatment to prisoners in prisons, so I knew that it was a place that was neglected by the public.This is still the case in Qingping, let alone a catastrophe.But prisoners are also human beings, especially in this era of imperfect legal system, it is hard to say whether there are unjust, false or wrongly decided cases, and what kind of unfair treatment will be suffered by those sentenced.

I don't want to omit any one, and it is also because of selfishness.These days, he has created his reputation in the hearts of the people with his own hands and hands. It can be regarded as a positive image for the group of servants. However, the most important thing is that he represents the court and the emperor—to a certain extent, He is establishing an image for Shen Hui, and he will do everything by himself, and he will increase the favor of the emperor at the bottom.As for the aspirations of the people, in any era, it is very important to those in power.

Lin Sheng didn't necessarily understand what he was thinking, but he looked around, and he raised his voice to ask, "The relief food that the court distributed a few days ago, has it been given to these prisoners?"

A yamen servant replied tremblingly, "This is managed by the Prisoner, and the villains don't quite know it. It should have been assigned to this group of people according to the number."

Lin Sheng immediately rolled his eyes at the two of them, but Rong Yu knew that they were just servants, and he couldn't do anything easily, so he didn't want to make things difficult, so he ordered them to fetch charcoal pots, charcoal fires and other things, and put them in each cell.

Approaching a prison cell, he asked the people inside what they had been eating recently. Under the dim light, he saw that many of them were sallow, emaciated, sick, and torn apart. They are only given one meal a day, and it is very rough and difficult to swallow.

"My lord, they are just prisoners, why treat them so well?" Lin Sheng asked doubts in his heart when there was no one around.

Rong Yu said otherwise, "Prisoners are also citizens of Dayin. They should not be abused during their sentence, let alone die because of it. Don't you often feel that your status as a servant is looked down upon by others, and you should not look down on others. "

After hearing this, Lin Sheng lowered his head and remained silent as if he had realized something. After watching the two yamen servants put the charcoal fire in the cell, he ordered, "Tomorrow morning, ask your prison eunuchs to order the relief food for these people. They are distributed one by one according to the head. I will send someone to check in the future, if it is a little shorter, you are the only ones to ask!"

The two yamen servants hurriedly replied that they dare not violate it.Rong Yu was very satisfied with his timely display of pretense, but he didn't want to laugh at him in front of others, and only praised him for being smart and capable when he returned to the inn.

"Although Ah Sheng is young, he has a strong temper. He can be a vanguard." Fang Yu was arranging his clothes, echoing, staring at Rong Yu for a long time, and laughing loudly, "My lord is just too kind. It looks like a spring breeze, and when you don't smile, you don't feel cold at all. This way, it is good in the eyes of our girl's family, but I am afraid that those people outside will not be afraid of you. "

Rong Yu smiled lightly. He never thought of making others afraid of him, but Lin Sheng glanced at Fang Yu dissatisfied. He has nothing to do recently, and he often takes pleasure in bickering with Bai Yu, "What do you girls like? Your Excellency has a lot of people, and the commander-in-chief of the [-]th Regiment Battalion is your good friend, he is not a girl! Your Excellency deserves to be respected by others, how can it be covered by one word."

Fang Yu didn't show weakness, and sneered, "Respect is a matter for men outside, we girls know that happiness is the most important thing. Adults just want to attract girls. According to me, if adults can marry wives, I'm afraid The matchmakers in the capital are all very busy, and the threshold of our house is almost broken by them."

Lin Sheng's face changed when he heard this, he lowered his head in embarrassment and said nothing, but secretly looked at Rong Yu's expression, he was relieved to see that he was calm as usual, and secretly let out a sigh.

As for what Fang Yu said, she said it frankly and without coercion, Rong Yu guessed that she was just trying to praise herself, so naturally she wouldn't blame her, not to mention he really didn't have the energy to blame anyone.

After returning from the prison that night, Rong Yu was infected with typhoid fever, his body was in pain and high fever, and he could only lie in the post house for several days, Fang Yu and Lin Sheng took good care of him.