The return of Fengxi of the Red Chamber

No matter how undercurrents are surging underneath, the surface is peaceful and prosperous, full of bustle and prosperity.

The snow is falling heavily this winter, and the high-ranking officials in the city are only concerned with admiring the plum blossoms and stepping on the snow, but the common people outside are having a hard time.As the New Year's Eve approaches, the streets are bustling with people buying New Year's goods, but under the cover of heavy snow, there are also refugees begging outside the city.

Lin Qiong came back from the academy that day and met many ragged people along the way. In such a season of heavy snow, they were covered with cold and purple, curled up in one place and shivered.

Lin Qiong couldn't bear it, and talked about it with Lin Ruhai and others when she got home.

"This winter's snow was too heavy, and the houses of many people in the suburbs were not strong enough, and they were all collapsed. I saw many victims all the way back, curled up in the snow nest under the city wall, looking very pitiful. I Selfishly thinking, why not set up a porridge shed outside the city and help the victims every morning and evening, which can be regarded as accumulating virtue and blessings."

Lin Ruhai pondered for a moment when he heard the words, and Fang said: "I know your kindness, but you are not the only one who saw this matter, and no one else took any action. It is not easy for our family to make such a leader. We naturally know that you are thinking of the common people, but If it falls into the eyes of someone with a heart, if we participate in a book in the court, I am afraid that our family will cause a terrible disaster."

Lin Qiong froze for a moment, unable to react, Lin Qing and Lin Lang had been outside for a long time, so they were more sensible.

Seeing his younger brother like this, Lin Lang explained: "Our family is very close to Jia's, and Marquis Zhaoming has reached the peak of his power now. If he continues to show kindness to the people, it may be a disaster rather than a blessing."

When Lin Qiong heard the words, she just woke up, and then a burst of resentment surged up in her heart, but she didn't know where to start and who to tell.

Seeing this, Lin Ruhai sighed, and patted the nephew on the shoulder. He lived too innocently in the academy, so that he knew little about these intrigues.There is nothing wrong with being so innocent, but if you really step into the officialdom, you will inevitably have to stumble a few times and suffer a lot before you understand it.

"Although we can't stand out, we can't ignore it. His Majesty is not a person who ignores the people who eat the emperor's salary and loyalty to the emperor. As long as someone reports the matter, he will naturally send officials to help the victims. Then we will think again. If you donate money and effort, you can do whatever you want.”

Lin Qiong breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Then who should be called to report? Neither our family nor Jia's can do it?"

Lin Ruhai smiled and said: "Of course you don't need to worry about this matter. I have my own plan here. If you really want to contribute, you should first prepare money, food and clothing, and donate it when the time comes. It will be considered a good deed for the people." .”

Lin Lang brothers heard the words, and hurriedly responded, and even Lin Qing went back to the room to check the private room, to see how much he could take out.

After everyone left, Lin Ruhai sat quietly for a while, and then sent someone to inform Jia Lian of the matter.

On the second day, someone in the court hall handed the booklet.He said that the snow was too heavy this year, many people's houses in the suburbs of Beijing collapsed, and there was not enough charcoal fire at home to keep them warm.

Situ Yao immediately ordered the Ministry of Industry to start disaster relief. At the same time, the empress took the lead in reducing daily expenses in the harem, and raised money for the concubines, calling on everyone to give porridge and clothes to the people.

Actions were taken in the palace, and the ministers below could not stay out of it. Princess Changning held a flower banquet and invited high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen from all over the capital.Everyone knew that this was called appreciating flowers, but it was actually an act of raising money. In order to show their face in front of the present, they naturally prepared enough money to go.

The Xue family was not qualified to attend the banquet, but because of their reputation as a wealthy family, plus they are related to the Jia Wang family, and have a daughter who is a female history beside the third princess, so they also got an invitation.The Lin family of Shundelou also took Lin Ruhai and Jia Min's face into the mansion of Princess Changning and got a seat.

Because of the reputation of frugality in the palace, the dishes of this day's flower banquet were not surprising, but the general did not lose face, and it was only enough to be stable.When everyone had finished watching the song and dance, had lunch, and was sitting around drinking tea, Princess Changning and the other princesses in the palace revealed their true intentions.

"This year's wind and snow are heavy, and many people outside the city have suffered disasters. The saints and empresses in the palace worry about it day and night, and they can't eat. The ministers of the court are also working hard for it. The generation of women, but they also have a patriotic heart in their hearts, and they can't bear to see the people displaced and encounter difficulties repeatedly, so they discussed and held this flower feast."

As soon as the eldest princess of Changning finished speaking, several concubines from the following families agreed, and Yingchun was among them.Immediately, the heads of the wives of several Duke's mansions also spoke out, and there was a warm atmosphere at the scene, with everyone scrambling to donate money and goods.

Everyone knows that when Yingchun got married, the dowry was extraordinarily generous, and Wang Xifeng handed her the letter early, so she was well prepared.

When Princess Changning asked about Yingchun, she said with a smile: "Our Shenjun Palace will naturally respond to the Queen's call, and we are also willing to do our part for the people and the victims. The three grain shops under my name plus The two cloth workshops just bought a new batch of goods, and they are willing to donate all of them to keep warm and satisfy the hunger of the victims."

"In addition, I will take out 5000 taels of silver to buy bricks, tiles, wood and stones, and build houses for the people after the spring, so that they will not be displaced and have no tiles to cover themselves."

As soon as these words came out, Princess Changning couldn't hide her smile, and praised repeatedly: "Good, good, good! At this time, it is approaching the New Year's Eve, and there are many universities outside, even if you have money It’s hard to buy things. The fifteen daughter-in-law has done an excellent job, and she is thoughtful in every way, which shows that she really thinks about the people.”

The first few imperial concubines who only gave money had a slightly abnormal expression on their faces, but they didn't dare to say anything more.

First of all, the status of the eldest princess of Changning is there. She is the only living aunt today. Back then, the son-in-law was the hero who tried to protect the current position. Naturally, there is such a favor.Secondly, today's matter was ostensibly called by the eldest princess Changning, but in fact she was doing things for the empress, and the couple in the palace benefited, who had the guts to make a fuss about it.

Therefore, everyone had no choice but to echo a few words, praising Yingchun's thoughtfulness.

As for Yingchun herself, although she is still young, her seniority is not low. Her natal family is powerful and dotes on her very much, so of course she will not be questioned by others.

But this also gave everyone a new way of thinking. Many wives and grandmas, including those of the imperial merchants and rich merchants, specially donated a lot of rice, flour, oil, food, cotton clothes, and wood for fire besides silver.These things are all the promises of the wives and shops of the wives, and now they donate them more than money, and they can also make a wave of advertisements, which can be regarded as making the best use of them.

The Xue family had many shops, and the Xue Wang family wanted to pave the way for their daughter and son, so they spent a lot of money. Although the money donated was not much, they gave a lot.This behavior of showing off their family background has indeed attracted the attention of many dilapidated and honorable families. Some people actually took a fancy to the Xue family's money and planned to marry their concubine daughter into the Xue family.

This is all for later, let's not mention it for now.

Let’s talk about this donation, a total of more than 360 million taels, plus more than 700 shi of rice noodles, tens of thousands of cotton clothes, and tens of thousands of catties of coal...

All of these are enough to solve the temporary difficulties of the people in the suburbs of Beijing today, so that everyone can live a good year in peace and stability.

Taking this opportunity, Mrs. Lu also took the opportunity to advertise her pharmacy, and every day at the gate of the city, she gave free decoctions to prevent typhoid fever.Moreover, when poor people go to pharmacies to see a doctor, they only charge [-]% of the drug fee, and the rest are free.

Because of this operation, Mrs. Lu's medicine shop has established itself in Beijing. Although it has nothing to do with officials and wealthy families, the people inside and outside the city have a good impression of her, and the business is gradually improving.

Later, other pharmacies followed suit, and there were more free clinics at the gate of the city. Many poor people took this opportunity to go to the doctor to get medicine, which was considered a great deed.At the same time, this also relieved the worries of disaster relief officials, allowing them to let go to solve people's livelihood issues.

Now that food, clothing and medicine are available for the time being, the main task of the Ministry of Industry staff led by Jia Lian is to rebuild houses for the affected people.But at this time, the wind and snow were too heavy, and it was really not suitable to start construction. Jia Lian wanted to use an igloo to shelter the people from the cold, but he had a lot of scruples in his heart.

In the end, they started working in the snow while pinching their noses, but they provided enough wages to the migrant workers who built the houses, as well as warm clothes and three hot meals a day.

In addition, Situ Yao took the lead in giving the vacant Huangzhuang outside the city to the people for a temporary stay.The dignitaries of various families followed suit one after another, donating one or two villas to resettle the common people.

Also because of the timely management and control, the heavy snowfall did not cause many casualties this time, and Situ Yao, the royal family and others also earned a lot of reputation because of this.The common people all praised Situ Yao as the wise king of the world, and all kinds of rumors spread to the Jiuzhong Palace, which made Situ Yao very happy, and everyone had a good year.

After the spring of the following year, Jia Lian undertook the design of the railway from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River.

In fact, this job had been entrusted to Jia Lian the year before last, but at that time the court did not know how effective the so-called railway was, so every department was obstructed, and Jia Lian was very inconvenient.Jia Lian was not the kind of person who made selfless dedication, or who faced difficulties and faced them. Moreover, he was also wary of Situ Yao at that time, so he pushed the boat along with the current, but he didn't put much effort into it.

But now it is very different. Anyone who has been on the train will highly appreciate this thing, and Jia Lian's actions are quite effective in getting twice the result with half the effort.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to stay away from the capital, Jia Lian and his men were not idle. Instead of attacking military power and money, he searched for talented people from all walks of life and secretly transported them overseas.