activa-t Chapter 1615 Where is the food?
Chapter 1615 Where is the food?
Chapter 1615 Where is the food?
As soon as the announcement came out, even the most serious people in Tianshui City showed long-lost smiles on their faces.
The Emperor's River either doesn't come for a whole sixty years, or it comes several times in a year. They are really luckier than their parents and grandparents!
The inauguration ceremony of the new city government office was held with great ceremony. King Yao took time out of his schedule to attend the ceremony, giving all the officials a great surprise.
Afterwards, He Lingchuan continued to immerse himself in the project, leaving home early and returning late, busy like a top.
The people sent by Qingyang monitored him at the construction site and returned to Youhu Cottage to report He Xiao's itinerary. It was fully scheduled. Except for a quarter of an hour for eating and two quarters of an hour for squatting in the toilet, he worked non-stop for seven hours a day.
Great chaos and disaster are about to come, but this guy not only does not run away, but also does the task assigned by King Yao conscientiously. It seems that he is fully focused on his career here. Qingyang even admires him a little.
He always remains calm when faced with major events and pretends to give it his all. Such people are terrible.
Such a patient young man must die.
At this time, He Lingchuan was discussing with You Rongzhi: "Master You, the eastward expansion site is progressing too fast, and it's causing a lot of trouble."
You Rongzhi was very surprised: "Why? Isn't this a good thing?"
He had been busy with family matters these past two days, and just as he returned to the construction site he heard He Xiao's strange words.
Junshang and Yaoting both hope that the progress will be as fast as possible, so why does He Xiao do the opposite?
"The progress is fast because the labor force has increased dramatically. In the past seven days, more than 12,000 people have been added. Most of them are here to do rough work such as moving bricks, laying tiles and breaking stones." He Lingchuan shook his head. "Wages are secondary. It's okay to pay a little more when the work is rushed, but the food supply will be cut off."
When You Rongzhi heard "twelve thousand people", he immediately realized that this was indeed a trouble.
The price of grain in and outside the city soared. People who used to be able to buy six or seven kilograms of grain now had to be thankful to buy one kilogram. Even if people lined up outside the grain shop with money to buy grain, it was likely that by the time they finally got in line, the grain had been sold out.
A large number of civilians and refugees in the city have enthusiastically signed up for the Tianshui Eastward Expansion Project because -
This project provides meals!
It rushed to complete the project from the very beginning, and of course introduced preferential measures to attract civilian craftsmen to do the work.
Although the food is provided at fixed times and fixed quantities, not all big-bellied people can eat as much as they want, and the food is not good food. Don't pick and dig when eating, otherwise you will pull out a fat white worm. But who dares to be picky at this time? Everyone has to eat it with a smile as a snack and savor it carefully.
In just a few days, the Tianshui East Expansion Project had an additional 12,000 laborers, and together with the original ones, all of them were ruthless eating machines.
The project department was suddenly stretched to the limit.
The price of grain is several times higher than before, but there is no demand for it!
He Lingchuan smiled bitterly, "We have been scraping together so that they can barely have a meal. Originally they had two meals a day, but now they only have one at most. People on the construction site are starting to complain."
You Rongzhi also felt a headache: "Does Island Master He have any ideas?"
"I have already notified everyone to suspend hiring for the project. The problem is that the existing labor force is already very large." He Lingchuan said seriously, "It is really difficult to coordinate the food for this project. I have to ask you to help."
There are some things he will never say, and some ideas he will never take, because these should be decided by the Yao Wang himself.
He can't be involved in these causes and effects.
You Rongzhi asked him: "How many days can you hold on?"
He also knew that people who do hard work are the ones who eat a lot. Man is made of iron and rice is made of steel, how can one survive without a meal?
"In two days at most, we will run out of food."
Two days! You Rongzhi's forehead was sweating again. He Xiao said "it's hard to coordinate", and that was the truth.
But this guy is just a governor and has no real power. It is useless to suppress him because he cannot produce food.
Without power, there is no responsibility.
The ones who really make decisions and take measures to solve practical difficulties are You Rongzhi and Yao Wang.
You Rongzhi thought about it and could only say, "Wait for me to go to the palace."
He Lingchuan only talks, he is the real person in charge of the project.
You Rongzhi left in a hurry, and He Lingchuan looked at his back and smiled slightly.
The soul-catching mirror in his arms coughed: "Hey, do you want to?"
"That's right, adding fuel to the fire." Qingyang's plan was pretty good, and He Lingchuan planned to add fuel to the fire for her.
……
Yao Palace, the imperial study.
You Rongzhi has reported in detail the food shortage problems caused by the Tianshui East Expansion Project.
"Two days?" Yao Wang frowned. "There are only two days of food left at the construction site. Why did you report only today? Go and coordinate with the Ministry of Revenue."
"I've looked for it twice." You Rongzhi smiled bitterly, "But the price of food is too high now. To supply food for tens of thousands of people, the cost is equivalent to that of hundreds of thousands of people in the past."
The eastward expansion of Tianshui was a huge project. The amount of grain consumed every day was astonishing, and the price of grain increased six or seven times.
If you multiply that expense by six, it’s not just astonishing, it’s scary.
"Lord Li from the Ministry of Revenue said that the surrounding granaries are all working hard to supply Tianshui City and have no spare capacity to take care of the eastward expansion project, unless, uh..."
King Yao frowned and said, "Just say it, stop nagging!"
Each and every one of his ministers was unhappy!
"Unless you take food from the military warehouse."
King Yao slammed the table and said angrily: "Military granary? Military rations are always given priority. How dare you do the opposite? You have been an official for so many years. Have you lost your common sense?"
Which country dares to cut the army’s food supply easily?
"This..." It's okay to move it secretly. Isn't it already done this way? How much better can the military warehouse be than the standard warehouse? Of course, You Rongzhi couldn't speak the truth in front of King Yao, so he had to settle for the second best. "We can also go to the market to buy high-priced grain, but we can't provide it to the laborers for free. Even if we only sell it at cost price, the project will be difficult to carry out like this."
At the beginning of the project, it was agreed that free food and drink would be provided to the laborers, but they started to charge for food halfway through. This was fine, as it was forced by the situation. But with the current food prices, how could those peasants afford it?
I'm afraid a day's work is not as expensive as half a meal.
Are they here to earn money from the work, or are they here to lose money on the construction site?
You Rongzhi and Yao Wang could both imagine what a scene the Tianshui East Expansion Project site would be like if this method were really implemented.
Those filthy bastards will be unhappy. Stealing things and pissing and shitting are just small matters. If they get excited, they might start rioting, smashing and looting on the spot.
However, if we continue to supply free food to the construction site, the cost will be too high.
Tens of thousands of people, six times the price of food! Every penny has to be paid from the national treasury!
Is it worth the price for the menial labor they do?
Thinking of this, King Yao's heart ached.
Actually, there is another way.
He said solemnly, "Well, the Emperor's Slurry is about to erupt, and the project will be suspended in the next few days anyway, so we might as well start it early."
When the Emperor's Flowing Slurry erupts, humans and animals are driven by instinct and tend to become ruthless. Every time the Emperor's Flowing Slurry erupts, the city is in chaos, so large projects involving multi-person collaboration such as the Tianshui Eastward Expansion will definitely be temporarily suspended.
There are only a few days left, so it’s better to do it in advance.
You Rongzhi asked in a low voice: "What do you mean?"
"Leave a few teams here, settle the wages for the rest and send them away early." Yao Wang's words always make sense: "Working a few more days won't make a temple; working a few days less won't delay the construction period by much."
As long as King Yao is willing to make the decision, You Rongzhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, I will prepare it right away."
"Do it beautifully and don't let anything serious happen."
You Rongzhi agreed and respectfully took his leave.
His back was wet with sweat. After he came out of the Frost Fairy Palace, he was blown by the cold wind from the Jade Spring Palace and sneezed dozens of times.
Ugh!
……
The person He Lingchuan was waiting for was not You Rongzhi, but Zhao Song who had just returned from the palace.
He went to the palace this morning to report to the emperor. Of course, what he reported was mainly about He Xiao's recent words and deeds, which can be called snitching.
He Lingchuan noticed that he looked strange, so he asked with concern: "Brother Zhao, what happened?"
Zhao Song moved his lips, hesitating whether to speak or not.
But then I thought, He Xiao is well-informed. If I don't hear it from him, I will know it through other channels.
So he took He Lingchuan to a corner and whispered, "Last night, the court officer took the palace guards to arrest someone."
This is very meaningful. Does ordinary people need the intervention of the Chief Justice?
"Who?"
"Hu Qianying, the left envoy of the Chariot and Clothing Guard, Wang Zuo, the magistrate of Tianshui Chengdong County, and I heard there are two high-ranking officials from the Ministry of War, but I am not sure of their names yet."
He Lingchuan was surprised: "What do you mean?"
"The court arrested them and locked them up in the prison for secret trial. Until now, no one has figured out their crimes."
Zhao Song only knew one thing: the Chief Justice was also acting on the orders of King Yao, without a doubt.
"Are these officials related to each other?"
Zhao Song shook his head: "I don't know."
He had been in the palace for many years and knew very well that gossip also had to be done in moderation. Some things could be said casually, but others could never be speculated upon, otherwise losing one's job would be a small matter.
He Lingchuan has been in Tianshui City for so long, and he has been in the palace for a few days, and he has become more and more familiar with the temper of King Yao. This old man is a bit stubborn, but at the same time he is not a resolute person. He suddenly ordered the court to arrest someone without even giving a reason, and he ignored the discussion of the court and the public, which means -
Either he was so furious that he didn't care about the consequences; or the crimes these people committed were so serious that King Yao felt it was urgent to capture them and interrogate them.
Of course, both situations may exist.
Tianshui City has been in a turbulent time recently: project construction is difficult, food prices are soaring, refugees are starting to make trouble, and Luodian in the north is frequently harassing the border... In addition, King Yao in the deep palace may have just realized that Qingyang is planning to deal with him.
Which of the above things did those ministers do?
At night, more news came.
Vice Minister of War Bao Wei was taken away by the Chief Justice and died of poisoning on the way to prison; Doctor Wu Xianlong fled and his whereabouts are unknown.
These incidents caused a great uproar in the court. People were discussing what these high-ranking officials had done wrong.
Before King Yao had time to speak frankly, a piece of bad news came:
A fire broke out in the kiln warehouse!
The wind is dry and the air is dry in this season, so the fire is particularly fierce and out of control.