The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 23 People's Petition
Du Xiwang had just stepped out when he ran back in in a panic.

Li Heng asked in confusion: "Mr. Du, what happened?"

"Your Highness," Du Xiwang took a breath and said breathlessly, "There are many people outside."

"What are they doing here?"

As Li Heng spoke, he walked out of the inn, and Yang Yuhuan, Xin Yunjing, and Lu Lushuai followed him out.

When I arrived outside the inn, I saw a group of people kneeling on the ground.

When the people saw Li Heng, they shouted in unison: "Your Highness Prince Shou, please make the decision for us!"

Li Ying glanced at everyone and said, "Everyone please stand up. If you have anything to say, feel free to speak up."

As he spoke, he helped up an old man in the front.

“Your Highness Prince Shou,” the old man wiped his tears, his face full of bitterness, “The year before last, there was a disaster, and my two children starved to death. Not only that, but Master Cui also forcibly bought our farmland at ten shi per mu.”

This situation is similar to Chen Wulang's.

Li Ying asked, "Since they forced you to buy it, have you reported it to the authorities?"

"We have filed a complaint," the old man sighed. "We have filed a complaint from last year to this year, but no one has ever taken any action. But last year they just ignored it, and this year not only did they ignore it, they also wanted to arrest us. Several of our fellow villagers who went there were arrested because of this."

"Do you know why we are arresting you?"

"I heard that the saint issued an order this year, asking the fugitives to surrender within this year. Those with old property can stay in their hometowns, and those without old property will be resettled elsewhere."

After the old man mentioned this, Li Heng gradually understood.

Lanzhou officials, together with landlords such as Cui Chong, had forcibly purchased the land of the people and were doing the aftermath when Li Longji suddenly issued such an order.

With Li Longji's order, even if Li Heng did not come to serve as the envoy for promotion or demotion, someone else would be arranged to be the envoy for promotion or demotion next year to investigate the matter of escaped households.

By then, if they don't clean up their mess, they will be finished.

That is why the officials in Lanzhou were so anxious to arrest Chen Wulang.

Seeing that Li Heng had no words to say, the old man continued, "We had originally given up on the fact that our fellow villagers who reported the matter to the officials were arrested, but recently we heard that Your Highness had arrived in Lanzhou and would seek justice for us on the first day. We did not believe it at the time, until today, when we saw that all the high officials in the government office were thrown into prison by you, the Prince of Shou. Only then did we know that the Prince of Shou was sent by the saint to save us. Your Highness, you are..."

As the old man said this, he was about to kneel down again.

Li Heng quickly held the old man and said, "Don't worry, just tell me your situation and I will take care of it for you."

Li Heng said, then turned to Xin Yunjing and said, "General Xin, find the chief clerk and record them one by one."

"Yes." Xin Yunjing took the order and left.

Li Heng said to Du Xiwang again, "Mr. Du, please send some soldiers to maintain the situation."

"Yes." Du Xiwang also followed the order.

In fact, if Li Heng didn't want to take care of it personally, he could just let Xin Yunjing take these people to the government office, arrange for other people to do it, and then report the results to him.

However, Li Heng did not choose to do so.

Because although the result of doing so is the same, the gains in the process are completely different.

He needs to use this to establish an image of someone who cares about the suffering of the people.

Seeing Li Heng's arrangement, Yang Yuhuan praised him and said, "Yu thought of the drowning people in the world as if he were drowning himself; Ji thought of the starving people in the world as if he were starving himself. Your Excellency takes the people's heart as his own and the people's thoughts as his own. You are truly benevolent."

"This..." Li Ying smiled and shook his head.

To others, it seemed that he really cared about the people by doing this.

But he knew in his heart that when faced with the suffering of the people, the first thing he thought of was not the people, but how to use them. He suddenly realized that everything he did now seemed no longer simple.

Seeing that Li Heng was silent, Yang Yuhuan said, "Your Highness, what you are doing now is for the people."

"Forehead……"

Li Ying was stunned again.

Yang Yuhuan's words seemed to be saying that no matter what other ideas he had, his behavior was for the people.

In that case, do those thoughts matter?
Li Ying looked at Yang Yuhuan and saw her smiling face.

It seemed that since Yang Yuhuan knew that he was faking illness, her mind became much clearer.

In other words, she has always had a sharp mind, but she had been focusing on his condition before, and now she has more energy to think about other things.

Li Heng patted Yang Yuhuan on the head and said, "You are right."

"Yes." Yang Yuhuan smiled slightly, "In that case, I will not disturb you from your official business. I will go to the inner hall and wait."

"Yeah." Li Ying nodded and watched Yang Yuhuan leave.

After Yang Yuhuan walked away, Li Heng went back to the old man and asked, "You suffered from disasters last year and the year before last. Where is the relief grain from the court?"

The old man sighed and said, "In previous years, the relief grain from the imperial court required that the porridge be thick enough to hold a chopstick. But last year and the year before, it was all replaced with bran, and there wasn't enough bran. Not only was there not enough to cook, but it was also cut off halfway through. That's how my two children starved to death."

One pound of grain can be exchanged for five pounds of bran. Even if the court's disaster relief grain is exchanged for bran, it is still not enough. I don't know how much money was earned from this round trip.

Du Xiwang, who was standing by, was also frightened when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, when we were providing disaster relief last year or the year before, I was fighting with Tubo, and I had no idea about this matter."

Li Ying smiled and said, "Mr. Du doesn't need to explain. During the banquet that day, Mr. Du had already made his attitude clear. If we ignore this matter, it has nothing to do with Mr. Du."

Du Xiwang said, "I am ashamed."

Li Heng said, "Mr. Du, you are too kind. If this matter were to be reversed between Mr. Du and me, I would have to handle it the same way as Mr. Du. I am not very talented, so I hope Mr. Du will take care of me in the future."

When it comes to politics, those who can be loyal to the country and the people are, after all, a minority. Most of them are scoundrels like Du Xiwang.

In fact, they are not scoundrels, they are just people who know how to protect themselves. They do what they should do and get along with everyone. For such people, you can't say they are wrong, nor can you say they are right. How to use them depends on personal needs.

At least, for Li Heng at the moment, he needs Du Xiwang's help.

Du Xiwang said, "If Your Highness has any orders, just give them. How dare I... talk about taking care of you?"

Li Ying said, "Mr. Du is too modest."

Du Xiwang said a few more polite words.

Li Ying replied a few words and asked Xin Yunjing, "How is General Wang doing?"

Xin Yunjing said: "They have arrested him and are probably interrogating him now."

"Send Song Sitian over there." Li Ying said, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Ask him about the situation over there and report back to me as soon as possible."

After giving the order, Li Heng returned to the inner room of the inn and said to Yang Yuhuan, "This place is dangerous. I have brought you here through thousands of mountains and rivers. Thank you for your hard work."

Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "It is my heart's desire to share the joys and sorrows with you, my dear."

　Sorry, there will only be one update today. The manuscript has been written, but I am not satisfied with it. I will think about it tomorrow and see if I can make some changes.

　　Thank you all for your support. I know there are some fallacies in what I wrote. I know some of them, but I did them on purpose for the fluency of reading. Some of them I am not sure about either, and I only understood them after you explained them to me. In short, thank you all for your tolerance. I will put all my efforts into every chapter.

　　Thanks again. Best regards.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)