Several fat men held long iron ladles in their hands and kept beating on the gongs standing aside.

The gong makes a loud sound.

Surrounding the men was a circle of earthen stoves with large pots on them. The huge thatched hut was brightly lit on all sides, and streams of smoke and smoke penetrated from under the hut and emerged from the top of the hut.

.

A shed like this can be vaguely seen standing at intervals along the entire long river.

The movement under the shed is getting louder and denser.

Zhu Yunxi and others, who were standing a long way away from the shed, saw that the people who were still cleaning up silt and debris in the river had slowly put down their work after hearing the sound and gathered towards the location of the shed.

Past.

In the blink of an eye, Zhu Yunxi and others, who originally wanted to take a look under the shed, were already crowded with people. The crowd surrounded the entire shed tightly, making it airtight and unable to get in with water.

The lid of the large iron pot that was placed on the earthen stove was lifted, and clouds of white steam that could block people's sight floated up from the pot.

The aroma of rice permeated the entire river in an instant.

In the rich rice aroma, there is also a unique meat aroma.

The people who gathered around the shed and were the first to receive the rice and meat dishes were already letting out bursts of exclamations and joy.

In this way, the people behind who had not yet received their meals became even more excited and hungry.

Gao Gaoguang looked at this scene with a rare smile on his face.

He bowed sideways to Zhu Yunxi, who was at the front of the team, cupped his hands and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, I think this is the county of Zhongmu County, Kaifeng Prefecture, which is following the imperial decree to provide work in lieu of relief and recruit people to work."

As he spoke, Gao Guang's nose twitched twice, sniffing the aroma of rice floating in the air.

He added: "There's a lot of meat, it's very flavorful, and there's enough salt."

All the accompanying officials also showed satisfied smiles on their faces.

The imperial court established the policy of providing relief through work, and it was they who implemented it in the six prefectures.

In Zhongmu County, there are also several accompanying officials who settled in early in the morning.

Just when everyone was trying to clear a path for the guards in golden clothes who were guarding the surroundings, so that the emperor's grandson could take a closer look.

Pei Benzhi, the magistrate of Chenliu County who was walking on the other side of the emperor's grandson, snorted coldly with an unkind look on his face.

There was no concealment in his voice, and when everyone was elated and happy that the court's policies could appear before their eyes, it was like a basin of cold water being poured out.

Gao Gaoguang's face changed slightly, and he looked doubtfully at Pei Benzhi, who had a gloomy face on the other side.

"What's Magistrate Pei's opinion?"

Gao Guangguang waved his hand and asked Pei Benzhi for advice.

Zhu Gaochi let out a sigh from the side, looked at Zhu Yunxi who turned around with a strange expression, and opened his mouth silently.

With a smile on his face, Zhu Yunxi said softly: "Since you have something to say, let's just say it. There is no ban on speaking here."

[It has been running stably for many years, it is comparable to the old version of the book chasing tool, and is used by all old bookworms

Gao Gaoguang exclaimed: "How is that possible!"

Pei Benzhi snorted: "How is it impossible?"

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly stagnated, and everyone was silent. Only Pei Benzhi and Gao Gaoguang breathed heavily out of dissatisfaction.

Zhu Yunxi looked forward and suddenly waved his hand.

The Jin Yiwei on the left and right of the team immediately stepped forward with swords and stopped several Zhongmu County police officers and civilian leaders who were about to rush over to supervise work on the river here.

Gao Guangguang still believes that even if the imperial court's will is compromised, it will still be used for the common people.

He said solemnly: "Have you forgotten, Magistrate Pei, that when we came with His Highness this time, there were also people from Jinyiwei who were accompanying us. After I entered Xuzhou Mansion, the people from Jinyiwei were divided into two lines, light and dark.

While officials were rushing to various yamen, these royal guards were also secretly going to various places to investigate for details. Even if there was occasional deception, it was not like what County Magistrate Pei said."

Pei Benzhi sneered: "Jinyiwei's spies? Has Master Gao forgotten his previous experience in Kaifeng Mansion?"

As soon as Pei Benzhi said these words, not only Gao Guang, but also some of the officials accompanying him suddenly turned ugly.

A few days ago, Gao Guang and others dressed up in strong attire and secretly headed to Kaifeng Mansion from Lanyang County. Their original intention was to enter the city quietly and then secretly inquire about the situation in Kaifeng Mansion.

It’s just the result that everyone knows.

Before Gao Guang and the others entered Kaifeng City, their identities were exposed by the then Kaifeng Mansion Judge Fang Guxin and others.

In the end, Gao Guang and others were watched in the Kaifeng Mansion Office. They never had the opportunity to investigate the situation in Kaifeng Mansion City. Until the emperor's grandson entered the city last night, a fire broke out in the high-rise building in Kaifeng Mansion. All officials from the two divisions of Henan Province and the Yamen of Kaifeng Mansion were killed.

Until he is arrested.

Pei Benzhi's words were undoubtedly a slap in the face of Gao Guang and others.

Gao Guangguang snorted twice with a cold face, but for the time being, he stopped speaking to refute.

Pei Benzhi said in a bad tone: "Ever since you entered the territory of Henan Road, your every move has been under the watchful eye of those people. These people have been running Henan Road for decades, how could a few Jin Yiwei spies be able to find out the details?"<

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"When people from the imperial court come, they will be able to know the news in advance and come up with the same disguise as today. The people in Jinyiwei will only see that the local government is carrying out the imperial court's request for work-for-relief and providing rice and porridge to the people.

Rice, don’t let the people go hungry.”

….

"As soon as the people from the imperial court left, all the government warehouses and the grain transported by the imperial court were written off in the account books and went into the pockets of officials and local gentry."

"On weekdays, if you can see rice on this construction site, it means someone has come. If there are kuai in the porridge, it means these people are afraid that the people will collapse from hunger and no one will do anything.

You will be more kind and don’t let the people collapse from hunger."

To write off the account, left hand goes out and right hand comes in.

In Pei Benzhi's words, the government officials up and down the Henan Province were almost completely criticized by him.

Gao Guang sighed for a long time, and finally retorted stubbornly: "The government and local gentry deceived the court and exploited them. Are these people willing to do so?

If I remember correctly, ever since the imperial court issued a decree to provide relief to the six prefectures, there have been many imperial envoys who have revealed their identities and traveled to various places to spread the word of the imperial court's grace and induce the people to report the evil deeds of the government."

The officials under his command quarreled, but Zhu Yunxi turned a deaf ear and looked curiously at the common people who had noticed the presence of people like him.

The people holding the meat rice in their hands, regardless of the mud and water all over their bodies, just held the bowls and kuaizi, squatted in a dry place on the river, took big mouthfuls of the food, raised their heads from time to time while chewing, and opened their mouths curiously.

Look this way.

The government servants and river stewards who were stopped by the imperial guards did not dare to make the slightest move when faced with the knife in the emperor's hand. They could only stand outside calmly and timidly.

Facing Gao Guang's rhetorical questions, Pei Benzhi couldn't help but utter a series of questions

He sneered, as if he had heard a big joke.

"Appeal to the emperor's messenger from the imperial court?"

Pei Benzhi asked self-deprecatingly, and then his face darkened: "Unless they don't want to continue living on this land, unless they can move their families away from Henan Road!"

Gao Guang and others were stunned for a moment, and did not wait for them to ask.

Pei Benzhi said quietly: "Don't you really know that those people are the ones who make the decisions in local affairs? A village is one surname, and hundreds of families are one family. How many people have lived here for generations, and everyone is related to them.

The words of the wise elders are more effective than the emperor's oral instructions!"

Gao Gaoguang no longer has any excuse to refute.

Even just now, he had a dispute with Pei Benzhi because of the sudden dissatisfaction in his heart.

Gao Gaoguang, who was born in a rural family, never understood the existence of clans in the countryside.

Imperial power does not go to the countryside.

It's not something that can be solved with a simple sentence or a simple article.

Gao Guang was a little frustrated, and even more angry, he turned around and wanted to find the emperor's grandson and request a thorough investigation of Zhongmu County, and then the entire disaster-stricken counties in Henan Province.

Gao Gaoguang suddenly discovered that the emperor's grandson was no longer where he was.

Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Gaochi, escorted by Zhu Shangbing and Tian Mai, had already walked up to the people who were carrying rice.

Zhu Yunxi squatted down while holding his robe. An old man squatting in front of him with a rice bowl in his hands carefully lowered his head and took two steps back.

….

He and Xiaopang glanced at the bowl held in the old man's hand. The white rice and pickled vegetables and fat meat were steamed together. The fat on the fat meat soaked the entire bowl of rice thoroughly.

The fragrance is very strong, and the appetite is also very good.

Zhu Yunxi's eyes flickered and he asked in a low voice: "My father-in-law, how long have you been working here?"

The old man lowered his head, with rice still stuffed in his mouth. After hesitating for a moment, he said dullly: "Since the disaster, we have been working here."

Zhu Gaochi took the conversation and asked: "Is this the same meal every day?"

The old man nodded immediately and said: "Yes! The gentlemen from the county government have been here several times. As long as the food here is almost exhausted, new food will be delivered, and we will not be hungry."

The servants and stewards over there who had been blocked by the Jin Yiwei finally squeezed over.

"Young man, please see His Royal Highness the Emperor."
To be continued...