jdhmnovel Chapter 290 Liangzhou News (1)
Chapter 290 Liangzhou News (1)
Although Liangzhou is small, it has everything.
The two of them walked all the way from the county government office to the north of the city, and saw many shops of all sizes, as well as wine shops, inns, and brothels scattered everywhere.
Although they cannot be compared with the magnificent buildings in Tianqi City, it does not prevent some wealthy families and local nobles from renovating their mansions to be sparkling with gold and look noble.
In sharp contrast, there are refugees everywhere in the streets.
The two men dismounted and led the way, slowly continuing north along Qilian Street. The scenes before them really shocked Xiao Ruofeng.
Among these refugees who were constantly coming and going, there were old men carrying vegetables and selling firewood, and old women who made a living by picking up scraps.
At the street corner a hundred steps away from the two of them, there were three or four half-grown children wiping their noses and begging.
The oldest boy was no more than twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest was only six or seven years old.
There was a little girl who looked like a descendant of the Hu people. Her face was chapped and dirty from the cold, but her eyes were big, round and bright, sparkling with sky blue light.
Seeing that it would be dark in an hour, they chased after those friendly-looking people even harder, begging for food.
But there are not so many people who look good and have good hearts. Most of the time, you will get scolded after chasing them for a long time.
Fortunately, a dark-faced uncle who was passing by saw that they were really pitiful, so he took out a pancake wrapped in several layers of sheepskin towel from his arms, hesitated for a moment, and gave them two.
The pancake was about the size of an adult's palm, with more buckwheat flour than white flour, and it was very hard after being dried by the wind, just like an inkstone that had not been washed for a long time.
The older boy took great pains to break the pancake into pieces, giving the larger pieces to the smaller ones and keeping only a pot lid-sized piece for himself.
Then the children gathered under a ginkgo tree in the corner and began to gnaw on the fruits in the cold wind.
"Second Brother, why don't they go home, or even ask relatives for help?"
Xiao Ruofeng couldn't bear to watch it any longer, and with a look of sadness on his face, he turned around and asked.
Lei Mengsha frowned and sighed deeply:
"Home? I'm afraid they're homeless.
If my guess is correct, these children should be lucky enough to survive.
Their families may have already starved to death on the roadside, their bodies exposed in the wilderness..."
Xiao Ruofeng was even more puzzled after hearing this: "Starving people on the roadside? It's not as serious as you say!
Although Liang and Yong provinces have suffered from drought and locust plagues in the past two years, my father has already issued strict orders to the local governors to open the granaries and provide relief.
But now, a year has passed, why are there still so many orphans?"
Lei Mengsha remained silent, his eyes fixed on a girl about ten years old among the group of children.
Obviously, he was thinking of his daughter Li Hanyi, who was also a little girl who was just ten years old.
However, Li Hanyi's parents were both well-known wealthy and prestigious families in the world. He had lived a wealthy life since childhood and had no worries about food and clothing.
Xiao Ruofeng followed Lei Mengsha's gaze and saw that the girl was wearing a padded jacket that didn't fit her well. The edges of the jacket were rubbed black and shiny, with some fluff showing through.
He never expected that in the Beili Dynasty, which was now at peace and in power, there would still be so many children who were poorly clothed and had difficulty getting enough food.
The two states of Yong and Liang have been places where droughts and locust plagues have occurred frequently since ancient times.
After a disaster, if the local prefecture or county takes action, the victims can still receive some corn mixed with chaff and sand, which they can pick and choose to barely fill their stomachs.
If there are corrupt officials who do nothing or even deliberately embezzle money, the millions of disaster victims will only become a few figures in history such as "people eating each other despite severe drought".
As the ninth prince, Xiao Ruofeng was born in the imperial palace and grew up in Tianqi.
Although his mother was of low status when he was young and was not valued by the royal family, he lived through several years of so-called "hard times".
But compared with ordinary people, they are well-dressed and well-fed, like a paradise.
As the sky grew darker, the sun could no longer resist its downward trend and sank to the ridge of the Qilian Mountains with its remaining heat.
A bone-chilling northwest wind blew, sweeping up yellow sand and dead leaves, heading straight for the group of children.
"Second sister, Xiao Jing, Ya Ti, the wind is picking up, come here quickly!"
The older boy pulled the shivering girl over and called a few other children to gather in the corner.
He swallowed the last piece of cake and opened his arms to hug the other three children tightly.
The little boy's thin and weak body shivered in the cold wind. He closed his eyes tightly, and some white frost slowly hung on his eyelashes.
After the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, they arrived in Liangzhou. The north wind was as sharp as a knife, but he still held the three children tightly in his arms until the wind slowly passed...
"Second Senior Brother..."
Xiao Ruofeng's face was full of pity. He could no longer remain indifferent. After saying this, he immediately reached for the pouch on his waist.
Lei Mengsha held him down and whispered:
“You brought out silver ingots worth more than ten taels, so don’t give them money, it will harm them.
Don't worry, go find an inn and book two rooms, I'll take care of it."
Xiao Ruofeng nodded, knowing that Lei Mengsha had been in the martial arts world for many years and naturally had more experience in the market.
He then took Lei Mengsha's horse and went to a house called "Shaxi Inn" in the middle of the street.
Lei Mengsha rubbed his sore eyes, walked slowly to the ginkgo tree, adjusted his mood and put on a smile:
"Hey, come here, kid, I have something to talk to you about!"
Seeing Lei Mengsha in his tight clothes and his tall and sturdy figure, the boy immediately stood in front of the other children.
"Big brother...what are you going to do? We have no money to give you, nothing..."
Lei Mengsha was stunned and felt a little self-doubt after hearing what the child said.
"Do I look like a bandit?"
Then he leaned over and waved to the boy:
"Little boy, what's your name? I'm Lei Mengsha, the famous Burning Ink Master of Beili. Do you want to be my friend?"
Seeing that he had no ill intentions, the boy slowly relaxed his guard and tentatively replied:
"My name is Huangfu Yan."
"I don't understand all the names you mentioned just now... But big brother, you don't look like those fierce military masters."
Lei Mengsha was left speechless for a moment by what the boy named Huangfu Yan said, his face full of black lines as he stood petrified on the spot.
The girl behind the boy whispered, "Brother Xiaoyan, this guy looks very kind, but he seems a little bit stupid..."
Huangfu Yan gently pinched the girl's purple face and warned her, "Shh... Second sister, don't make a sound."
Lei Mengsha coughed twice, trying to ease the embarrassment:
"Cough cough!"
"Huangfu is a well-known family in Yong and Liang states. How did you end up here at such a young age?"
Huangfu Yan's eyes dimmed for a moment, he lowered his head and said timidly:
"We are from a branch of the family. My father died in the ninth year of Taihe while fighting against the northern barbarians. Later, I followed my mother and second sister from Yongzhou to Liangzhou to seek refuge with my uncle."
"But last year's drought wiped out my uncle's family's harvest and their livelihood. My mother and uncle both starved to death, and we..."
Huangfu Yan's voice was choked with sobs and he couldn't speak. He raised his chilblained hands and wiped his eyes.
Lei Mengsha's heart tightened, and he reached out to pull Huangfu Yan over:
"poor child."
"Xiao Yan, I just arrived in Liangzhou City and I want you to do me a favor. If you can help me, can you go eat some big white steamed buns with me later?"
When Huangfu Yan heard about the big white steamed bun, his eyes immediately lit up:
"Okay, okay, what do you want me to do for you, big brother?"
Lei Mengsha smiled and took his little hand: "Come on, let's go eat some hot food first, we can talk about helping later."
Huangfu Yan looked up at Lei Mengsha first, then shifted his gaze to the other three children, as if hinting at Lei Mengsha.
Lei Mengsha waved his hand and said, "Everyone go, everyone go, you can't leave your friends behind!"
When the children heard this, they immediately became overjoyed and surrounded Lei Mengsha, shouting and yelling.
Lei Mengsha picked up the little girl, held her against his chest and asked softly:
"My name is Lei Mengsha. What's your name, little girl?"
The girl was a little shy, her sky-blue pupils trembling slightly: "I... my name is Huangfu Rui..."
Lei Mengsha gently scratched Huangfu Rui's little nose and led the children towards Shaxi Inn.
……