C78 Disease Relief

Mu Ruqing had settled the matter of the Prime Minister's Estate. She always wanted to know how the disaster was going. However, Mu Po had never mentioned it in the estate, so Mu Ruqing could only give up.

If it was a disaster, it had been more than half a month since the Imperial Court released relief food. According to Yu Longtang's suggestion, the relief food would be distributed according to the number of victims. The number of people reported in each prefecture needed to be accurate. If the disaster victims could not get the relief grain, then... The officials in the prefecture would be in charge of the rations. As such, they would review the rations once every level. It could ensure that every grain and money could be distributed to the disaster victims. Before the money and grain arrived, the state offices in the various prefectures and prefectures would do the same. They would not allow the disaster victims to not be fed or warm. Furthermore, the corresponding expenditure for each day should be recorded in detail. After that, he would hand it over to the Imperial Court one by one, which would then be audited by the Ministry of Revenue. Yu Longzi, on the other hand, carried out inspections.

A certain county was 400 miles away from the Imperial Capital. The yamen runner set up a simple shed at the entrance of the government office. A few wooden barrels were filled with clear soup and water. Only a few grains of rice were floating, and a wooden spoon was placed beside the barrels.

In the open space in front of the government office, a few tattered tents were casually set up. Fortunately, the weather was not too cold, so it was still able to accommodate people.

In the tent lay a few old, weak, and sickly people with yellow hair. It was a mess on his scalp. A woman with dirty hair and a dirty face was carrying a baby in her arms. The baby's face turned yellow because of malnutrition. From time to time, she would let out a weak cry as the woman squeezed her shriveled chest. She wanted to cry but had no tears. The baby took a few deep breaths. Without milk, he cried again.

"The food is ready!" A few yamen runner with unfriendly expressions emerged from the magistrate court. They lifted their ladle and stirred it a few times. Steam was emitted from the bucket.

"Everyone, come quickly. The rations are being distributed!" As they spoke, a group of disaster victims dressed in tattered clothes and with cracked lips rushed forward. Only half of their sleeves were left, and under the yellow skin were bones.

"Don't push! Take it slow!" yamen runner looked at the noisy crowd and cursed.

The originally noisy people also quieted down. They protected their broken bowls and did not dare to look at yamen runner in the eye.

Everyone carried a bowl of porridge and a sweet potato. A few of the people who were not full wanted to ask for more, but the yamen runner spoke maliciously. If they could not leave after scolding, they would be beaten up. Many people had suffered like this. Later on, they would rather starve than hate it anymore.

An old man held the food in his hands, and tears streamed down his face as he knelt down and begged for the yamen runner, "Lord Shangguan, give this little one another portion. There's still an old lady in the tent. If she doesn't eat, she'll starve to death! "

"If she starve to death, then so be it. In any case, she'll die sooner or later. She might as well go now. Save some food! Quickly go away! Only those who can walk over have food. Those who can't walk are hungry! " The yamen runner held the hilt of the saber in one hand and placed the other hand on its waist. It looked at the old man and cursed impatiently. Its thick eyebrows hid its disdain.

"Lord Guan! I beg you! I beg you!" The old man kowtowed a few times.

"Go away! Don't bother me. There are still many people behind you! I still have things to do after I'm done sending the money!" When the yamen runner saw that he did not leave, it became vicious. It crossed the wooden table and kicked the old man's body.

The old man's physique was weak to begin with, and coupled with the fact that he hadn't had enough food for the past few days, how could he have the strength to withstand this kick? His entire body was unstable. He fell heavily to the side. The clear soup in the bowl was sprinkled out, and there were actually only ten rice grains in one bowl. The sweet potato in his hand also rolled out.

The old man looked at the grain on the ground and became sorrowful. His trembling hands wanted to pick up the sweet potato but before they touched it, they were crushed into pieces!

The yamen runner looked down at the old man from above and spat out a mouthful of saliva in disdain, "There are still many old matters to attend to. Since you don't want to eat it, then don't eat it!"

"Ah ~ Ah! Wuwuwu..." He looked at the crushed sweet potato and cried so hard that he couldn't say a single word. That was food! Their life-saving food!

Another coarse looking disaster victim ran over and supported the old man. His eyes were filled with hatred as he stared at the yamen runner. The yamen runner looked at him. He turned his head and gave a few contemptuous laughs to the other yamen runner and scolded, "What are you looking at? Do you believe that I won't gouge out your eyeballs and let you eat them?"

The disaster victims still stared at him without any fear in their eyes.

"Yo, you're still in the mood?" The yamen runner mocked him for a while before raising its foot and stepping down.

Veins popped out on the hands of the disaster victims. They angrily frowned as they grabbed onto the foot of the yamen runner. The strength in their hands slowly increased.

"Let go! Do you want to die?! I'll send you there!" The yamen runner was in pain. A disaster victim dared to resist him! He no longer had the same expression as before. In his rage, he pulled out his saber, raised it high, and viciously swung it down.

"Clang! The saber was sent flying, and everyone was shocked. The yamen runner was even more furious, and without caring about anything else, he cursed, "That bastard?! How dare you hit grandpa! Let grandpa beat you to death!"

Yu Longzi jumped off the horse and landed in front of the yamen runner. The yamen runner looked at him carefully. The black golden silk was refined, and it had a golden crown on its head. This was a style that only princes had. The fierce-looking face trembled, and the anger in his eyes turned into fear. His feet did not listen to his orders as he knelt down and hurriedly kowtowed. "The sinners did not know that His Highness had arrived. This lowly one deserves to die ten thousand times for his crimes. I beg His Highness to spare me! "

Regardless of whether it was the disaster victims or the yamen runner, they all knelt down. If Yu Longzi did not speak, no one dared to stand up.

Yu Longzi looked down at the yamen runner in front of him and said coldly, "Bullying the disaster victims and abusing your authority is a capital offense! Men, detain them and sentence them to death tomorrow!"

"Yes!" The yamen runner in front of the grain shed looked at each other and obediently held their heads.

"Your Highness, please spare us! Your Highness!" As the pleas for mercy faded, the few yamen runner also disappeared from everyone's eyes.

The disaster victims did not even dare to breathe loudly. Yu Longzi bent down to help the old man up. His tone was filled with guilt and comfort. "Are you alright?"

The old man did not dare to be pulled by him and shrank back. He said in fear, "Thank you, Your Highness, for saving me. It's just that the peasants are extremely dirty, afraid of dirtying Your Highness's body"

Yu Longzi's face froze. He adjusted his expression and reached out his hand again. "The victims are also humans. They are the citizens of Dayong. How can there be a dirty saying?"

The old man tried to look at him, but he did not dare to stretch out his withered finger. The disaster victims beside him changed their expressions again and again. "The grass people thank His Highness for saving us. Let the grass people come!" As he spoke, he helped the old man up and placed his arm on his shoulder. His tone was respectful. "It is inconvenient for me to kowtow. I hope Your Highness will not blame me."

Yu Longzi nodded his head and did not stay any longer. He made the kneeling people stand up. He walked to the wooden shed, picked up a spoon, and looked at the clear water porridge in the wooden bucket. His frown deepened and the expression on his face also collapsed. His aura burst forth, and the disaster victims did not dare to raise their heads to look.

A county magistrate dressed in official robes hurriedly came out from within the government office. His small eyes flashed with a bright light. His fat belly was not worthy of his rodent-like face. The county magistrate ran to Yu Longzi and knelt down. His goat-horned beard trembled slightly, and his face was humble and fawning. "This official did not know that Eldest Prince's son had arrived and did not welcome him from afar. Why is His Highness in such a place? Be careful that you are infected with the muddy air of the disaster victims... "

"Humph!" Yu Longzi snorted and smashed the wooden spoon on the head of the county magistrate. The soup splashed on his face. Yu Longzi slammed the table angrily. "These disaster victims are much cleaner than you! Get over here!"

The county magistrate did not dare to be angry. He wiped his face with his sleeve and straightened his black veil hat. He knelt and moved over. "Your Highness, please calm down..."

Yu Longzi interrupted him again and picked him up from the ground. He stuffed his head into the wooden bucket that was filled with porridge. "Take a look yourself. This is the food you distributed! I think you don't want this black veil hat anymore!"

"This official knows that he has committed a crime. This official knows that he has committed a crime. It must be that the manor's yamen runner is lazy. This official will redistribute the food now!" The county magistrate held the wooden bucket with both hands, not daring to stick his head out, only daring to shout in grievance in the wooden bucket.

"This prince will give you an hour. If you are not able to prepare the porridge and the white-faced mantou, then don't take this hat!" Yu Longzi let him out, took the hat, and placed it on the wooden board. He was full of threat.

"Yes, yes, yes. This official will do it right away!" A few drops of cold sweat dripped down the county magistrate's forehead. He bowed and replied, then quickly retreated.