reincarnated as emperor [rebirth]

Chapter 23. Cut off food

Unknowingly, he has been staying in Pingzhou for a few days. As Shen Lingqiu expected, the thing he was most worried about appeared. Due to the limited amount of food, there has gradually been a shortage of food. Children eat enough to eat only two meals a day.

Looking at the long queue, Ling Qiu turned around and went back to the house. After thinking for a while, he got a pen and paper and wrote a letter to Huangfu Yunzheng in the palace, telling him the current situation of food shortage in Pingzhou and asking him to Hurry up and send someone to bring some food over.

The letter was written quickly. He picked up the paper, blew on the wet handwriting, and then put it into a small envelope. He stood up and walked to the guard, looking up at the roof.

Like a ghost, Ming Feng, the leader of the dark guards, appeared in front of him. He bowed his head and half knelt on the ground, waiting for orders.

"Mingfeng, this letter must be handed over to the emperor, quickly." Shen Lingqiu glanced at him and passed the letter in his hand. The only way now is to let the treasury open a warehouse to release grain. The food sent is more conducive to the establishment of Huangfu Yunzheng's prestige and the stability of the people's hearts.

Taking the envelope with both hands, Mingfeng responded in a low voice, and his figure disappeared in a flash.

A few days later, in the imperial palace, Huangfu Yunzheng was reviewing memorials in the imperial study. Being alone for several days made him uninterested in anything, and only when discussing state affairs could he cheer up a little.

While watching, Feng Yang came in from the door, he knelt on the ground, took out the envelope in his arms and handed it over, saying: "Your Majesty, this is an urgent letter from Pingzhou, the queen asked to give it to you of."

Hearing Ling Qiu's name, Huangfu Yunzheng's eyes lit up immediately, he turned sideways and took the envelope, opened it and read it carefully, frowning while watching his brows, and finally revealed a reassuring smile .

See letter like me:

Pingzhou is short of food and clothing, and the people have no food to eat, no clothing to cover their bodies. I hope that the emperor will open a warehouse to release food to relieve the people of Pingzhou. He will be grateful and never forget it.

Sincerely, Lingqiu.

At the end of the letter, there were traces of ink dripping, as if the writer had hesitated for a moment, only to see a few extremely small fonts in the lower right corner, elegant and elegant.

I'm fine, don't worry.

Putting down the letter, Huangfu Yunzheng felt a little more at ease. He immediately got up and prepared to draft an imperial decree, sending people to send food to Pingzhou immediately, without delay.

As soon as the imperial decree came out, the person who received the order was ready to go. Huangfu Yunzheng stood outside the imperial study room, still holding the letter in his hand, looking at the words on it, he stroked it gently, as if he could touch the hand of the person who wrote the letter. , with a smile on his lips, he turned back and continued to review the memorial.

At the same time, in a certain room, Liu He watched a carrier pigeon fly to the window. He got up and walked over, removed a small scroll from the carrier pigeon's leg, returned to the table and unfolded it, his eyes widened. gradually deepening.

After burning the paper on the candle, he immediately went out to find a few brothers, and after giving them instructions for a while, he returned to the house in peace.

Want to open a warehouse to release food and win the hearts of the people by the way?He refused to let him get his wish!

The dispatched brothers set off quickly and encountered officers and soldiers transporting food on a pipeline. They separated and surrounded them from all sides and fought with the officers and soldiers.

During the battle, several men in black took the opportunity to destroy the grain transport vehicle. After the destruction was successful, they left behind a pile of corpses, wheels idling in place, and grain scattered all over the ground, which had been buried in the loess. .

After waiting for several days, there was still no food, and the food stock in the city was getting less and less. Seeing that the people were about to have no food, Ling Qiu became more and more anxious every day.

Suddenly one day, he overheard a news spread among the common people, saying that all the grain shipped from the capital had been intercepted by imperial envoys, trying to sell it to the common people in Pingzhou at a high price.

As soon as this remark came out, it caused a sensation among the common people. Of course, some people believed it and others didn't believe it. Those who didn't believe it still patiently waited for the food to arrive, while those who believed it ran outside the mansion where Ling Qiu temporarily lived, dragging their families with them. Kneeling on the ground.

When Lingqiu heard about this, he rushed to the gate of the mansion, and saw a group of people kneeling down on the ground. Seeing him coming out, they cried and kowtowed to him, begging him to show kindness and give them food, not at a high price. sell.

Hearing this inexplicably, Ling Qiu was about to ask a question, when he heard footsteps behind him, several children ran out and shouted loudly, "Nonsense! Brother imperial envoy is not such a person!"

"Okay, you guys go back first." Ling Qiu looked back at them, motioning them to leave with his eyes, seeing the dissatisfied eyes of the children, he could only kneel down and comfort him: "Go back, leave it to me here, don't worry."

Seeing the calmness in his eyes, the children had no choice but to purse their lips and leave in three steps. After they left, Ling Qiu looked back at the people on the ground and asked, "Dare to ask the folks, where did this rumor come from?" coming?"

He was also waiting for the food delivered by Huangfu Yunzheng, but after waiting for so many days, he still couldn't wait for such news, which made him feel a little strange.

The people below looked at each other, and after a long while, someone dared to answer: "Return to the imperial envoy, I don't know where the villain came from, please learn from me."

"Folks, get up first, please listen to my explanation." After a moment of silence, Ling Qiu continued: "Whether you believe it or not, I just learned about this matter. The idea of ​​selling grain at a high price, folks, please don’t believe the rumors and wait patiently, the grain will definitely arrive.”

When he was speaking, his eyes kept looking at the people below. There was a firm light in his warm eyes, which gave people the power to trust. The people below gradually stood up and dispersed one after another.

Watching the people leave, Ling Qiu turned back to the house, immediately called Zhong Lisheng, told him about the matter, and asked for a strict investigation, such rumors must not be tolerated, people's words are scary, and they must be handled with caution.

However, after Zhongli Life's people went to investigate, they didn't find out who the mouth spread it from, but they did find out an astonishing news.

The food had been intercepted during the delivery, all the officers and soldiers transported died, and the food was spilled all over the ground, making it inedible. The instigator of all this was Prince Naping——Liu He!

After discovering the whole story, Ling Qiu immediately wrote another letter to Huangfu Yunzheng, asking him to deliver another batch of grain, and to strengthen the supervision, absolutely not letting Liu He take advantage of it.

After Huangfu Yunzheng received the letter, he suppressed the anger in his heart, and without a word, he immediately sent people to deliver food there again, and added many officers and soldiers to guard him. Fortunately, he arrived in Pingzhou safely this time.

Naturally, this matter cannot be hidden from Manchao civil and military, and everyone is talking about it, and after Du Yi heard about it, she also sneered, and then realized that it must be her Ahe who did it, only he would cooperate with her like this.

Hearing that the queen went to Pingzhou to control the floods in person, Du Yi wished that he would die there so that he would be less of an eyesore. Troubled.

One day, she will solve the two of them together.

******

At night, Shen Lingqiu and Zhong Lisheng went to the embankment to check the progress. The fracture was only a little higher, and it was not known when the next flood would come. They hoped that it could be completed as soon as possible.

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard a person rushing over from behind, shouting anxiously: "My lord, the granary! Something happened to the granary!"

Ling Qiu was taken aback when he heard the words, "What did you say?" He hurriedly followed the man to the granary where the grain was stored, and before he got close, he saw a raging fire burning above, turning the entire night sky red.

Countless officers and soldiers were putting out the fire, but it was of no avail. Everyone ran around and poured water on the fire. The fire burned for nearly three hours before it was slowly extinguished. After the fire was exhausted, Ling Qiu immediately took people into the granary to check The situation, no accident, all the food was burned to nothing.

Facing the charred granary, Ling Qiu felt extremely depressed in his heart. He always felt that this incident was absolutely inseparable from Liu He, and that he must have done it again. When they were not paying attention, he secretly sent someone in and set fire to it. The granary was burned.

The food was burned, and the people in the city suddenly panicked. There was not much food in the first place, but it was even more desolate. They kept their eyes open and couldn't sleep well at night.

Moreover, Shen Lingqiu did not exceed Shen Lingqiu's expectations. Rumors circulated among the people again, saying that they deliberately burned the granary. In fact, the food inside had already been transferred. They just wanted to take the opportunity to raise the price of food when the people were starving. , in order to have enough food, people have to buy it even if they don’t want to.

As soon as the rumors came out, the people became irritable. Ling Qiu had no choice but to temporarily put aside what he was doing, and rushed to the place where the people lived with Zhong Lisheng to explain and comfort them. However, this time, not as many people believed in them as last time. There was deep suspicion in the eyes looking at them, which made him very sad.

As the saying goes, bad things come together, and the matter has not been resolved, and there was another night of heavy rain, causing the water level to rise rapidly, and soon overwhelmed the dam that had just been built, and rushed downstream. The flood this time was even worse. Because of his ferocity, he wiped away the last bit of fertile land, leaving nothing behind.

If the interception of grain was the starting point, and the burning of the granary was the starting point, then the flooding of fertile fields this time was the breaking point.

At this time, a man was standing in front of the mansion, and beside him lay a child on the ground, with a pale face, a chest that did not rise and fall, and a scrawny body, he had apparently passed away, and the cause of his death was precisely is hunger.

The child's starvation made his father feel unceasingly grief. Besides the sadness, he was even more angry. If it wasn't for the people in the imperial court deliberately withholding food, his child would not have starved to death!

Standing in front of the mansion, the man picked up a stone on the ground and smashed it hard at the gate of the mansion, shouting at the top of his voice, "Give me back my son! Give me back my son!" His eyes were full of anger and tears, and his back was a little hunched.

However, after shouting for a long time, no one came out. The man wanted to rush in, but the door was closed tightly. He clenched his fists tightly, and there was anger in his eyes. After a long while, he picked up the child on the ground, turned and left.