Sweet and warm little peasant woman

Chapter 336 Understanding the situation
"Yes, especially when the Chinese New Year is approaching, when the sky is freezing in the north and supplies are scarce, some wandering horsemen will climb over the back slope mountain and come into the city to rob!"

"Aren't they afraid of death?" Tong Xiaowu knew that this question was naive, but she still couldn't help asking.

"Don't be afraid, those people are desperadoes. Besides, the city wall in Beizhou has been in disrepair for a long time, and some places can easily climb over the wall, so entering the city is easy..." the matchmaker continued.

"Well! Then let me ask you again, who has the biggest officials in Beizhou City? Who has the richest family? Who has the most rights? How is the relationship between the officials and the people? And what is rich here? What is lacking? What is the worst? And who is the leader of the Beiming Xilin Department, and who is around him?"

As expected of a native of Beizhou, the matchmaker told everything, but she said all good things, who is the best, who is good, who has the strongest ability, etc., and transferred to the other side without offending anyone. words.

She didn't know anything about Bei Ming, so it could be seen that she had a long-term mind.

Tong Xiaowu nodded, and after all the questions were asked, someone sent her out of the palace, and then found two people with different identities, one was a slave sent to Beizhou, and the other was a minority Sai After the person asked the question, and then combined the answers of the three people, she knew a little about Beizhou.

It's freezing cold, and the winter in Beizhou is really bitterly cold. The provincial capital of Nanzhou has a population of more than 200 million, while the entire city of Beizhou has a population of only 20 including the army of 50. The population of several counties and cities can be seen, what kind of existence is here?
After this questioning, Tong Xiaowu became more certain that the most important thing in Beizhou now is not development, but stability!

"Princess, it's not good. The main entrance of the palace is blocked by people. How many people are crying and shouting outside?" Nanny Zhang had never seen such a battle before, and her voice trembled a little when she entered the inner room.

"what happened?"

"It's slaves and refugees, because they have nothing to eat, they have blocked the entrance of the palace!"

Early this morning, after King Xuan left, the front door was closed all the time. Asking someone to ask questions was not a serious matter, so Nanny Zhang always brought people in through the back door.

But he didn't want to hear that when it was almost noon, the gatekeeper came in to report that there were many poor people gathered outside the gate of the palace.

Nanny Zhang climbed up to the wall to have a look, she was almost scared out of her wits, what the hell is this place?People live in a mansion, can this kind of thing happen?
Are these people so poor and crazy that they dare to block people at the door?Nanny Zhang had never encountered such a thing, so she had to come in and report.

When Tong Xiaowu heard this, she stood up, frowned, and walked back and forth in the inner room. The floor here is paved with blue bricks, the white mud on the walls has fallen off, and the entire palace needs repairs. There is also coal, the most lacking thing in the palace now is coal.

One of her palaces can be like this, not to mention the ordinary people who have been harassed by Beiming all the year round.

"Has the prince returned from the military headquarters?"

"not yet!"

Fortunately, Tong Xiaowu repaired the broken courtyard wall last night, otherwise it would be even more troublesome for these refugees to enter the courtyard.

"Princess, what should we do?" The little maid on the side clutched the handkerchief nervously. When they were in the capital, they had never encountered such a thing.

"What's the price of food here?"

"To be honest, there is a price but no market. I went to the market this morning, and the old slave went to the market. Rice costs six cents per catty, but I can't buy it. White flour costs five cents per catty. I have to make an appointment in advance. Even cornmeal costs three cents. A catty, meat is more expensive..."

When Tong Xiaowu heard this, her heart collapsed.

"Go, find a local old farmer, and people from the food industry, I want to ask questions!" Tong Xiaowu's back was cold, she knew that Beizhou was the most difficult of all the states in Xuanyuan, but she didn't It turned out to be so difficult to think of.

After questioning, Tong Xiaowu soon found out that although the land here is vast and sparsely populated, most of the land is in the hands of officials. No more.

As for the food store, it is also pitiful, because the common people have nothing to eat, the food store was robbed two or three times, and then they asked the help of the government to start the business again. The thugs guard the store because they are afraid that someone will steal the food.

After the two left, Tong Xiaowu found that the problem here became more and more serious. If the common people cannot eat for a long time, the problem will become more serious in the future.

It's no wonder that after they entered the city in a mighty way, they would be mistreated by the common people. It turned out that the gap between the rich and the poor was too large, which caused some people to hate the rich.

It’s understandable if you think about it carefully. It’s not that they have the strength and can’t make money, but they have the strength and can’t eat?With the conditions in Beizhou, they can't live a good life even if they try hard!

Tong Xiaowu walked out of the house, it was so cold outside, she stood in the north wind, listening to the cries of refugees outside, her heart was tangled.

"Princess, I have inquired about it. Other officials chose to ignore them. After two days, they could not see any hope, so they left!"

Nanny Zhang sighed slightly, but what can I do now?Even if the concubine wants to give out porridge, there is no food. I asked the manager of the food store just now. He only has ten generations of each food, which is not enough for these refugees to use for a day.

If some people can eat and others can't, causing chaos, it will be difficult to suppress it at that time. Instead of doing that, it's better not to give porridge in the first place.

"How much food do we have in total?"

"I didn't bring much. I thought it would be enough to buy it here. Now if I count it all, it will be enough to eat and drink for half a month." Zhang Momo knows the material of the palace better than anyone else.

"Understood, Lu Xing, you go to the military headquarters. If the prince finishes his work there, let him bring the town Beijing Juntruer over there. I have something important to discuss with them!"

Although they didn't live in a good place, they didn't have to worry about eating and drinking, but those refugees outside would die if they were delayed for a day.

"Yes!" Lu Xing turned and left!

In the afternoon, Xuanyuan Yuchen returned to the palace with his work done. Because the front door was blocked, they also entered the courtyard through the back door.

"General Trull!" Tong Xiaowu suddenly lowered her body and saluted him.

Trull looked surprised, and hastily stepped forward to make a gesture of asking, "The princess is so humble, I don't know what the princess has to do, as long as I can do it, I will definitely work hard."

"I...I want to ask, can I borrow military rations?" Tong Xiaowu knew that this kind of thing was impossible, but how many people were there?
Hearing this, Trull frowned. He looked back at Xuanyuan Yuchen and shook his head.

(End of this chapter)