Innocent cast of white iron

"Oh? So nothing was found?"

The man in black bowed his head to the ground, but his voice was as calm as ever, "This subordinate is incompetent, please forgive me, my lord."

Zhao Qi said, "Have you been a spy for the truth for a long time?"

"Yes, it has been seven years." The man in black said.

"Okay," Zhao Qi waved his hand, and said again, "Since there is no such person, let's forget it. It can be seen that he is not using his real name. You have taken a good look at him in private, and see who is behind him. Go down."

"Yes, this subordinate obeys." Then he jumped out of the window and dived into the night, disappearing without a trace.

Zhao Qi knocked on the table with his hand, as if he was in deep thought.

Since Luo Qingzhou used a pseudonym, it was to prevent himself from finding out his details.If it's just an unknown little person, why bother. It can be seen that Luo Qingzhou either has a lot of background, or has an inextricable connection with the people behind him.

But Zhao Qi hasn't figured out what Luo Qingzhou's purpose is so far.Just when Zhao Qi was worrying about these trifles, a major event that shocked the whole country finally happened.

In June of the second year of Mingde, there was a flood in Quanzhou, the houses were flooded, the crops were soaked in water for several days and all rotted, and the farms had no harvest.The poor people had no food and no money, and they couldn't open the pot at home. For a while, there were starvation and death on the road, and tens of thousands of corpses were floating around.The people mourned and complained, smashing the shops one after another to relieve the famine, and what's more, they were eating by Yizi.

Under normal circumstances, floods and famines are not the most serious. The most serious consequences are the plagues caused by famines, and that will be troublesome!

The people in Quanzhou are not living in peace, and the court is also having a hard time. This kind of flood not only washed away the dam on the river bed, but also uprooted the trees on the hillside. There were no trees to protect the steep slope, and the mudslides were human Headache.

Quanzhou was originally low-lying, and some areas were located in canyons. The flood almost submerged half of the city.

The imperial court immediately issued an order to open warehouses to release grain, and assigned several officials to the front line for disaster relief, and recruited people capable of water control to go to Quanzhou, with rewards as high as [-] taels.

Liu Changqing was even more distressed. Quanzhou happened to be a province under his jurisdiction. When such a incident happened, the county magistrate of Quanzhou didn't come to inform him immediately, but he was worried that he would lose his head and run away with his family.Liu Changqing stayed in the capital all the time, and Dashui didn't receive the news until the next day.Now is the time when the imperial court employs people, and when the disaster is resolved, it is inevitable that they will be charged with a crime of dereliction of duty.

Quanzhou.

Liu Changqing poked his head out of the carriage, and saw that there were sick and weak people everywhere on the street outside, or adults carrying children begging along the street, but unfortunately everyone was too busy to take care of themselves, so how could they have the energy to take care of the mother and child.

Liu Changqing couldn't bear it, and quickly stopped the groom, and asked the guards on the side to bring the mother and child over.

As soon as the woman saw him, she knelt down on the ground and cried, "Master! Please save my child, he hasn't eaten for three days! Please give me alms for my mother and child! Master!"

When the woman cried, some people on the side of the road also choked up.Who is not in this situation!

Someone went to pull the woman and said, "Mrs. Zhang, don't kneel down. These rich people just keep their doors closed and live on. How can they look at you!"

Liu Changqing knew in his heart that there were quite a lot of wealthy families in Quanzhou, but when the disaster hit, they closed the doors and windows one after another, and didn't care about the people who died of starvation and illness at the door.Even the magistrate has run away, isn't this group of people going to fend for themselves!

Liu Changqing got out of the carriage, stretched out his hand to help the woman, and said in a deep voice, "Madam, to be honest, the court attaches great importance to this disaster, and specially sent an official to come to control the flood and rescue the disaster. You can rest assured, after a while I am going to the government office to ask people to open warehouses to distribute grain."

The woman was shocked and said, "You, you are the official?"

The people around were shocked when they heard the sound, and then cried out, knelt down and kowtowed around the carriage, "My lord! Please help us!"

Liu Changqing sighed and said, "Everyone will go to the gate of the city in an hour, and I will personally send someone to distribute food!"

Everyone cried, "Thank you, sir!!"

Liu Changqing got into the carriage and immediately told the groom, "Hurry up and go to the magistrate's office!"

"Oh, I didn't expect my son to become a local parent official in the blink of an eye." Liu Zhao sighed, "It's a pity that your mother left early, and my father doesn't understand those parents who are short-sighted, so he hasn't promised you a daughter-in-law until today." Come back. In a few days, Dad will find the matchmaker and tell you about it."

Liu Changqing subconsciously went to see Zhao Qi, but found that the other party didn't respond. He couldn't help but feel disappointed, and said, "Father, we will talk about this later. The most urgent thing now is to control the flood and rescue the disaster. In addition, you need to call the doctors in Quanzhou to treat the patients in time. In case of plague."

Liu Zhao nodded, his face seemed to be full of relief.He used to like to carry a ruler with him, but now he probably won't need it anymore.

There were not many people in their group. Apart from the grooms, they were Liu Changqing and his son, Zhao Qi who was accompanying him, and Luo Qingzhou who insisted on following.Douding originally wanted to follow, but Zhao Qi refused and told him to stay at the house and look after the house.Douding said sullenly that Zhao Qi liked the new and disliked the old.

The personnel sent by the imperial court to escort the food are still on the way, and it is estimated that they will arrive in Quanzhou in a few days.Zhao Qi and his party rushed to Quanzhou non-stop. The disaster here is relatively high and the disaster is not serious. They are not so lucky a few miles into the city.

A few people rushed to the magistrate's office, and saw all kinds of paper scraps and garbage floating on the street, and the water in front of the door just reached the ankle, which was not serious.Zhao Qi hurriedly asked someone to clean it up, and scooped out all the water in the house with a basin.

After ordering these things, Liu Changqing hurriedly took people to the granary.

When the people in the city heard that there was food, they rushed to the gate of the city excitedly to wait for the officials to distribute the food.

As soon as he entered the granary, Liu Changqing was dumbfounded, what kind of granary is this!It was clearly a warehouse full of groceries!The accompanying guards sent by the imperial court were also shocked. The granary in such a large place in Quanzhou turned out to be a decoration!The mountain is high and the emperor is far away, so we can know how much money and food the people of Quanzhou County Zheng Gang have been greedy for!

Liu Changqing was furious, and kicked over the sack under his feet, causing dust to fly.

"What a dog official! Our government is going to wring his head off!" Liu Changqing waved his sleeves away, angrily said, "Send ten people to bring that dog official back, and if you don't shoot him to death! This government will definitely kill you!" See the corpse!"

"Yes!"

Besides, Zhao Qi, it's not that he doesn't care about things, but Quanzhou was originally under the jurisdiction of Liu Changqing, and there is no trouble now, so he is not in a hurry.He is not in a hurry, and Luo Qingzhou naturally doesn't care, as if he is out to play, so relaxed!

After traveling overnight for several days, just as the two of them were going to take a break, Liu Changqing who had just left came back in a hurry.

Chapter 2 South 5 South Lake

"Feilu!" Liu Changqing went to look for Zhao Qi as soon as he entered the government office, sweating profusely, he didn't know whether it was urgent or hot, "Feilu, there is nothing in the granary!"

Zhao Qi took a sip of tea, and it seemed expected that his expression would not change, but he said it as if he didn't know it, "This is going to be troublesome."

Before Liu Changqing took a breath, he heard a report from his servants, saying that the refugees were all waiting at the gate of the city, waiting for him to open a warehouse to release food.

"What can we do?" Liu Changqing looked at Zhao Qi as if asking for help, and said, "There is no food in the granary, and the people have been starving for a long time, and they have to wait for the court's relief for several days..."

Zhao Qi went on to say, "Now we have to worry about refugee riots. If it is a last resort, we can only use force to solve it."

"Solve it by force?" Liu Changqing was stunned, and then said, "But they, they haven't eaten for several days, even if they rioted, it's justifiable."

Zhao Qi ignored him, but passed him and said to the guards outside, "No matter what happened these few days, you are not allowed to open the gate of the government!"

"Yes!"

Liu Changqing wanted to say more, but Luo Qingzhou interrupted him, and said lightly, "Most people can't remember kindness in front of interests. If the governor really wants to show that he loves the people like a son, he needs to do it himself."

Liu Changqing didn't like him in the first place, and he was naturally displeased to hear him say that, so he said coldly, "It's not your turn to talk about it in this house."

Luo Qingzhou was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes turned red, she moved to Zhao Qi's side aggrieved, and said, "My lord, I did it for his own good, but he is cruel to me."

I have to say that this kid is really good at acting, and Zhao Qi also admires him.

Zhao Qi smiled, and then said to Liu Changqing, "Changqing, what Qingzhou said makes sense. It's a good thing for you to care about the people, but you must pay attention to safety. These refugees are not sure what they will do to survive."

Liu Changqing didn't believe it, thinking that the refugees were pitiful, how could they be as miserable as they said, and said, "Now they are still waiting at the gate of the city, I'll go and have a look, so that they can calm down."

Luo Qingzhou gave him a meaningful look, and said with a smile, "The governor has made up his mind, so I won't talk too much."

Liu Changqing frowned and looked at him displeasedly, and said in a cold voice, "I don't care what you usually do, but now this is the government office of Quanzhou, so be careful in everything!"

Luo Qingzhou bent her lips and smiled, flatteringly, "I have a prime minister watching over here, so don't worry about it."

Liu Changqing was already worried about the granary, but now he was ridiculed by Luo Qingzhou, and Zhao Qi didn't help him, so he felt uncomfortable and wronged for a while, so he ignored Luo Qingzhou, turned around and took a few guards Walked out of the government office.

Zhao Qi glanced at his back, lowered his head and drank his tea without saying anything.It's just that Liu Changqing still can't help being provocative, and I don't know how many times he has been reminded, but he doesn't have a long memory.Let him learn a lesson this time.

Luo Qingzhou said from the side, "Are you really not going to help him?"

Zhao Qi raised his head and glanced at him, and said calmly, "Next time if you are too troublesome, I will cut your tongue." Naturally, he was talking about provoking Liu Changqing.

Luo Qingzhou froze for a moment, then smiled lightly again after a while, lowered her eyelashes and stopped talking.

*****

Within half an hour, someone came to report, saying that refugees surrounded Liu Changqing at the city gate, crying for relief from the court.

Liu Changqing explained that the rescue team had two days to arrive, but the refugees believed that the court had given up their reluctance to provide relief.After the initial reactionary rhetoric, large-scale riots followed.Refugees surrounded Liu Changqing and the officers and soldiers accompanying him, yelling to rebel and find their own way of life!

It was two hours later when Liu Changqing returned to the government office, and the guards around him were all exhausted. It was really strenuous to protect Liu Changqing without hurting the mob.

Liu Changqing is not much better, he is just a scholar, he has no strength to restrain a chicken, and after this, he almost throws away his helmet and armor to show his embarrassment.

Zhao Qi was still sitting in his original seat, holding a book of unofficial history in his hand, and when he looked up, he saw Liu Changqing's disheveled and disheveled appearance.Compared with the high-spirited appearance of last year's Mid-Autumn Festival, it is really a black-bone chicken and a phoenix.

"I'm back." Zhao Qi smiled, "Hurry up and change your clothes."

Liu Changqing's eyes were red, but he didn't speak, and went back to the room silently.When he came out again, he had already changed his clothes, and sat beside him without saying a word.

Zhao Qi knew that he was wronged, so he comforted him, "You are right to think about the common people, but everything cannot be perfect. You have done what you should do, and after a while, the people from the court will be fine. Now the imminent The thing is that the province is flooded, is there a way to drain the water?"

Liu Changqing said sullenly, "In two days, many people will starve to death outside. As a parent officer, I can only watch them starve to death..."

Zhao Qi knew that he still couldn't let go of the refugees outside the door, so he said, "This place is less than a hundred miles away from Nanhu City. If we go fast, we can go back and forth within a day."

Liu Changqing was puzzled, "Nanhu City?"

Zhao Qi said again, "I'll take people to Nanhu Lake to borrow some grass and food in a while, and I'll be back around tomorrow morning."

Liu Changqing looked at him and asked eagerly, "But can the magistrate of Nanhu agree?"

Zhao Qi smiled, "Saving the people is like fighting a fire, so why not? According to my guess, many refugees from Quanzhou have already fled to Nanhu City, and now the magistrate of Nanhu County is probably in dire straits. If the famine in Quanzhou is resolved, they will also be resolved. problem." Besides, how dare he disagree?

It turned out that Chen Ping, the magistrate of Nanhu County, was Zhao Qi's former student!After several times of imperial examinations, he just entered the second list, and was sent to Nanhu City as a small county magistrate. Although he was not a high-ranking official, it was very comfortable for the emperor to be far away.

When Zhao Qi rushed to Nanhu with a group of people, Chen Ping was so frightened, he quickly asked someone to open a warehouse to load rice, wheat and other whole grains and sent them to Zhao Qi.One mouthful and one teacher called each other so kindly.Zhao Qi naturally patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, and said with a smile that he would be promoted after returning to Beijing.Chen Ping thanked him again and again, saying that this is what he should do, not seeking fame.

Zhao Qi was no longer polite, and set off on the road non-stop with the food and the team.

Sure enough, he rushed back to Quanzhou before Chen Shi the next day. As soon as he arrived at the gate of the city, countless people greeted him with cheers, shouting "Master Qingtian!"It turned out that they heard that the official rushed to Nanhu to borrow food in the dark last night, they were very moved for a while, and they waited at the gate of the city to welcome the team.

Zhao Qi reined in the reins, and the horse under him came to a stop with a long yelp, and it rattled and let out a straight breath.

"Come on," Zhao Qi said, "call the cook!"

After a while, several cooks and cooks were brought over.Zhao Qi sat on the horse and said sharply, "Burn pots and cook food within half an hour, and distribute it to the people!"

Hundreds of bags of grain were lifted off the carriage and thrown on the ground, raising dust.The people were so excited that they burst into tears.

Zhao Qi called several officers and soldiers guarding the city gate, and said, "Arrange these common people well, let them line up, everyone has a share, old and young, women and children first. If anyone forcibly jumps in line or grabs food, shoot them to death! "

"Yes!" The officers and soldiers also roared and took orders to maintain order.

Zhao Qi hadn't rested for two consecutive days, and was on his way anxiously. After relaxing, he felt sore and backache, and couldn't help lamenting that he was getting old.

"Go home." Zhao Qi raised his whip and walked away with the rest of the guards.

I don't know who it was, but suddenly knelt down and bowed, saying, "Regards to the Elder Master!" The refugees knelt down one after another, and shouted, "Regards to the Elder Master."

Zhao Qi turned his head to look, and saw that people were kneeling down, and their momentum was like a rainbow.No wonder those royal families fight each other for a false name.What I want is not a dragon chair, but the world's admiration.But is this power really more important than everything else?It can be seen that the heights are extremely cold, and if you are not careful, you will be doomed.Throughout the history, emperors have rarely died well, and there are countless people who have been killed by traitors...

Zhao Qi chuckled, isn't he that traitor?He turned around and rode away, leaving only a resolute back view for everyone.