Snowy Chang'an Road

Chapter 45 Raising food everywhere
  Seeing their sad faces, Pei Ying really had no way to deal with them.

"I have an idea."

Hearing this, several people's eyes turned to her.

"But you have to promise me that after listening to this method, you will eat first. Only after eating will we have the strength to work."

"it is good."

"I have already sent people to check. There is not much leftover grain in the granary of Liu'an Kingdom. After all, if it is made into porridge, it can barely last for three days. Around Liu'an Kingdom, there are Jiangxia County, Lujiang County, and Jiujiang County in the distance. There are Danyang County, Guangling Kingdom, and Kuaiji County. The water network here is dotted and extends in all directions. If it is transported by ship, it will be much faster than chariots and horses. We will go to these six places to collect grain."

"Requisitioning grain? I'm afraid this matter requires His Majesty's order, right? It takes two full days to go back to Chang'an from here, even if you work hard, and it takes four days to go back and forth. With Your Majesty's order, we will go to requisition grain. When the grain comes back, the people are afraid He has already starved to death."

"Brother Zhong's concerns are reasonable, but we already have His Majesty's will."

"What? When did His Majesty issue the decree?"

Pei Ying looked at Wei Shao, who took the token Ma Xi brought from his waist.

Zhong Yang looked at the two of them in surprise and said, "Is it possible that you are pretending to pass on the imperial edict?"

Pei Ying shook her head and answered him: "It's not a fake imperial edict, but to collect food while returning to Chang'an to request the edict."

"But."

"Brother Zhong, please stop. The you I know have never been a nagging person."

After Wei Shao heard what Pei Ying said, he said, "Brother Zhong, you and Xiao Shen go back to Chang'an to request the order, and the three of us stay behind to collect grain."

After hearing this, Zhong Yang quit.

"Brother Wei, are you saying that I am greedy for life and afraid of death?"

"No, Brother Zhong, you misunderstood me. After all, without His Majesty's will, I don't want to put you at risk."

"Bah, we brothers went through life and death together on the battlefield. I wasn't afraid at that time. What am I afraid of now? I'm the only one to worry about the food levy."

Pei Ying asked him tentatively: "Brother Zhong, what should I do with the eight sisters-in-law?"

"Don't worry about them."

Xiao Shen remained silent. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, it was just that he had concerns in his heart. Seeing that he hesitated to speak, Zhong Yang pinched his arm and asked, "Brother Xiao, what do you mean?"

"To be honest, I don't want to take action without receiving His Majesty's order. My father has taught me since I was a child that I must be a courtier and follow the Emperor's orders. But you are right. We are good brothers who go through life and death on the battlefield. I also I can't bear to watch the people starve to death, so I'm the only one in this matter."

Wei Shao knew him well and knew that he must have had a lot of courage to say such a thing.

He patted Xiao Shen's shoulder and comforted him: "If your father knew about this and wanted to beat you to death, I would help you carry it."

Seeing everyone reach an agreement, Wei Shao also came up with the final plan.

"Bai Zheng returned to Chang'an to request orders. Wei Shao and Zhong Yang first went to the three nearby counties to collect grain. Pei Ying and Xiao Shen stayed in the city and opened a porridge shed to serve porridge."

Outside the gate of Lu'an City, Pei Ying and Xiao Shen watched them leave, and then they went to the granary. Two hours later, a whole pot of white porridge was cooked in the porridge shed in the north of the city.

The porridge has been cooked for a long time, but there are still no people coming to eat the porridge.

Xiao Shen said with some frustration: "Sister-in-law, are the people here so afraid of us?"

"It's normal. They don't know us, so they are naturally wary of the food we prepared." It's okay to wait like this. Pei Ying followed her memory and came to the place where she met the little girl this morning.

She was holding a bowl of porridge in her hand, and Xiao Shen followed her, holding two bowls of porridge.

"Little sister, my sister is here to see you. Look what she has cooked for you, delicious porridge."

Seeing no one responded, Pei Ying continued to talk to herself: "Sister, take a bite for you first."

After that, she picked up the bowl, took a sip of the white porridge, and said, "This porridge is so delicious. Come out and bring a bowl back to your mother."

The brother and sister opened the crack in the door and looked outside, then looked back at their mother who was hungry and sleepy on the bed.

The little boy plucked up the courage and ran out. After seeing Pei Ying, the little boy plopped down and knelt down.

"Madam, it was my fault that I bumped into you this morning. Thank you for ignoring the past and being willing to give us food."

"Good boy, take the porridge back quickly and give it to your mother and sister."

The little boy nodded vigorously and took the porridge from Pei Ying's hand. Pei Ying motioned for Xiao Shen to follow.

"Folks, I know you are afraid of us, but we are not the army of King Lujiang. We are different from them. When we entered the city last night, we saw that the doors and windows of every house in your house were closed. King Wei Shao of Peiping ordered all the soldiers in the army not to break into people's houses or disturb the people. , have we done it? Don’t be afraid. King Peiping and General Zhong Yang have already gone out to collect food. In less than three days, the first batch of food will be transported back to Liu’an State. You will no longer be hungry and worry about not having food to survive this period. winter."

"We have set up a porridge shed in the north of the city. If the villagers don't mind it, they can bring bowls to us in the north of the city. Whoever comes will get a share."

After Pei Ying said these words, the originally closed doors opened one by one, and everyone rushed to the porridge shed in the north of the city like a tide.

Two hours later, after the people finished eating the porridge, they knelt in front of the porridge shed in the north of the city and thanked them for their life-saving grace.

"Sister-in-law, why do I want to cry?"

"Cry if you want. Saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda."

Xiao Shen has never seen such a scene. Over the years, he has experienced more brutal killings. This way of touching people's hearts with warmth is like a world away from the coldness he has seen before.

After a long time, everyone dispersed, and Xiao Shen sighed with emotion: "Sister-in-law, people's hearts are really strange. Some people are not satisfied even if they get thousands of dollars, but some people will shed tears of gratitude to us just for a bowl of white porridge."

Pei Ying stood with him on the city tower of Liu'an Kingdom. She looked into the distance and said, "Xiao Shen, if these old men, women and children encounter ruthless generals, they will only die."

"Why?"

"In the eyes of those who regard human life as nothing, they are just beasts that waste food and cannot create any value."

Xiao Shen didn't speak. He followed Pei Ying's eyes and looked into the distance.

"Do you know why I like Wei Shao?"

"Although he has a bad reputation, he is a person in the Wei royal family who truly cares about the people."

After hearing her words, Xiao Shen nodded in agreement.

"Brother Wei is a truly kind man. If it weren't for His Majesty's decree, he would not dare to disobey it. He would never lead troops to fight. In fact, he hates war. Those in power want to be quick, so how can they care about the common people in the world? Life or death."

Pei Ying thought of Dingtao and Lu'an, Wei Shao's happiness after defeating them without any blood, and a smile appeared on her lips unconsciously.

(End of this chapter)