This time, Wei Yuan left two generals from aristocratic families to guard the military camp. These generals from aristocratic families at least relied on their family backgrounds as a source of confidence and would not be unnecessarily cautious and would fight when necessary. If Wei Yuan had left Cui Yu behind to guard the camp.
Camp, he would have brought down all the people in Anbei as soon as possible, and there was no need for Wei Yuan to come. Cui Yu would not be afraid of Xu Tongshou regardless of his identity.
Then Wei Yuan returned to the post house, changed into casual clothes, and called Cui Yu, saying, "Come on, let's go to the city."
The two of them disappeared into the streets in the light snow without any entourage.
A moment later, Wei Yuan and Cui Yu appeared at the junction of Northwest City. This area was the poorest area in the royal capital, and everything was dirty and messy.
Cui Yu originally thought that he had deliberately changed into shabby clothes, but when he and Wei Yuan walked on the path between the shanties here, the two of them were still extremely conspicuous, and there were countless pairs of eyes staring at them secretly.
It was still some time before dusk, but the sky was overcast, with a thin layer of snow falling, and a layer of white soon appeared on the ground. Cui Yu looked at both sides of the street, and the more he looked, the more deeply he felt.
The shacks on the roadside leaked air everywhere. The better ones were plugged with hay and rags, but some people didn't even have these things. A few people huddled together in the corner of the house to keep warm. Some shacks burned a little.
There are charcoal fires, but there are also people in some houses who can only survive.
Cui Yu was in a daze when he suddenly stumbled and kicked something hard. He looked down and saw that it was the body of a child, who looked to be only four or five years old. He had fallen dead on the roadside at some point and was already freezing.
Hard.
Cui Yu confirmed the certificate, then stepped forward. Then he looked forward, and then he saw that there were more than one corpse under the white snow.
The two continued to walk forward, and Cui Yu suddenly said: "If it were three years ago, I would definitely take the body away and bury it alive. But now,
I finally understood what my grandfather said to me back then: You can’t bury it all.
Wei Yuan looked calm, pointed forward and said: "There is a charcoal seller over there, let's go and take a look."
At the intersection of the street, there is a shop with two entrances, which is full of firewood and charcoal. A few people in shabby clothes are buying charcoal there. Some of them took out some scattered silver, some gave out some copper coins, and most of them
What they bought was firewood, but only two people bought less than half a basket of charcoal.
Wei Yuan approached and asked, "How do you sell these?"
"Rough firewood is fifteen cents per catty, fine firewood is fifty cents per catty, and charcoal is one hundred cents per catty." The boss was a dark and honest man. He looked at the clothes of Wei Yuan and Cui Yu, and his attitude became much more respectful.
Wei Yuan asked again: "I think there are still many people who don't have fires. Can they survive such a night?"
The boss sighed and said: "The ones you mentioned are all black households. Every good household listed in the court will put some firewood. Although it is not much, it can at least start a fire and prevent people from freezing to death. But it is difficult to say the black households.
As long as we can't find work for a few days and there's another snowstorm, people will die."
"Are those corpses just lying there on the road?"
"It won't rot on a snowy day, so let's leave it there for now. Someone from the court will come to collect the bodies every three to five days, and those who died at home will be taken out at that time."
Cui Yu could hardly believe his ears when he heard that his boss was talking about these things in a homely tone. He could tell that this kind of thing had become commonplace every year. But this was the royal city of the Western Jin Dynasty!
Cui Yu pretended to be casual and asked: "These people know that they may freeze to death, so why do they come here to work as gangsters?"
The boss sighed and said: "There are walls in the city to block the wind, and there are large formations that can protect against blizzards. How does it compare outside the city? They can still survive when they enter the city, but they will die when they leave the royal city."
Wei Yuan took a small piece of broken silver and put it in the boss's hand, saying, "Thank you very much for the silver. Let's take it to drink."
With the boss's endless gratitude, Wei Yuan and Cui Yu left the neighborhood.
In the next hour, the two of them chatted with the soldiers guarding the city gate, the government officials patrolling the streets, the owners of street food shops, etc. They also chatted with a few homeless people who were sheltering from the wind and snow in a shelter.
To chat, just give them a few hot cakes and they will start chatting and pour out all their experiences.
In the end, the two of them ordered a few simple dishes in a small restaurant and chatted with the businessman who shared the table.
Seeing that Wei Yuan and Cui Yu were talking very well and drinking each other's wine, the businessman knew everything he knew and told him all the secrets he knew:
"Two gentlemen, you don't know something. There are gangsters and homeless people in this royal city every year, and there are also homeless people in other cities. Every year, there are people who are dying, and they go to the city during the winter. If there are kind-hearted people, they can take them in.
, or if you are lucky enough to find a casual job, you will be able to survive this winter. If you are unlucky, you will not be able to survive this winter.
After all, Wangcheng is different from other cities. With the grace of the imperial court, it will subsidize firewood for good households in winter. Some people who cannot afford to buy charcoal will go to someone who has charcoal to make a fire, and the money they pay will be much less than burning a stove by themselves.
This can be regarded as a business unique to good households in the royal city——"
After dinner, the two returned to the inn. Cui Yu was a little confused as to what Wei Yuan had been watching all afternoon.
When Cui Yu asked, Wei Yuan said: "I just want to know where these gangsters and refugees come from, and what are the reasons why they became refugees. There are so many people freezing to death, you can't bury them all. Likewise,
There are so many refugees, and it’s impossible for me to buy cooking cakes for everyone. Besides, if I can help today, I won’t be able to help tomorrow. We will always have to leave.
So only by knowing the reasons for the refugees, can I know what I can do. Now I roughly know a little bit, and when the New Year's state banquet is over, we will take a closer look when we return, and that's about it."
Cui Yu knew that Wei Yuan had always wanted to accommodate the refugees, so he smiled and said: "Maybe we can find someone to make up songs and sing them in the streets and alleys, just like this: There is no winter in Qingming——."
Wei Yuan laughed and shook his head. If this ballad spread widely, he would have to do the opposite even if he didn't want to.
As night fell, Cui Yu went back to his residence to practice, while Wei Yuan looked through the mountains of invitations and greetings. Among them, Wei Yuan took out two invitations alone, preparing for the appointment. One invitation was from the prince, and the other was from the prince.
The seal is Li Weisheng.
It will be the New Year in a few days, and the King of Jin will have a banquet with all his ministers on the New Year's Day, and Wei Yuan will be among them. After the New Year's banquet, Wei Yuan can return to Qingming.
Wei Yuan was a little surprised when he received the invitation from the prince. As far as Wei Yuan knew, the prince's line had strong soldiers and talents. When Wei Yuan first became the governor, there was no place for him in the prince's line. Until now,
Only then did Wei Yuan receive the invitation, indicating that he had entered the prince's sight.
However, Wei Yuan felt that even now, his effect on the prince was very limited, or even useless at all.
To put it bluntly, as long as Wei Yuan is not rebelling, the prince can ignore him. When the king of Jin goes to the west, the prince will naturally ascend to the throne. If the king of Wei wants to fight the prince, at least he is still far away.
Not qualified. King Fu is just a child, and I heard he is very naughty and not very capable.
However, Wei Yuan suddenly thought of the titles of several princes and frowned slightly. The crown prince was granted the title of King of Liang, and the fifth prince was granted the title of King of Wei. Liang and Wei were both titles that had appeared in the previous dynasty, so they were quite satisfactory. But Concubine Yuan
The newly born child was granted the title of King of Chu!
In history, Chu not only had many large vassal states, but also had a time when it unified the world. In terms of royal titles, it was different from Han,
Shang, Li, and Tang are tied, second only to Qin. Generally, those who get the title of King of Chu are likely to be the future crown prince.
Although the King of Chu had just been born, he had already posed a substantial threat to the prince from the title, the birth of a strange child, the dominance of his mother and concubine in the palace, and the presence of Wei Yuan, who had a large number of troops outside the palace. The threat could even be said to be greater than that of Wei Yuan.
The king is even bigger.
As for age, it wasn't originally a big problem. As long as King Jin could live another twenty years, King Chu would naturally grow up. However, various signs showed that King Jin was about to live long and would probably not live until King Chu reached adulthood.
The prince held a banquet on the second day. When night fell, Wei Yuan went to the prince's mansion next to the palace. After the announcement, he was taken to the Nuan Pavilion in the west side courtyard.
The Nuan Pavilion is protected by a formation. Although the windows are open to enjoy the snow and plum blossoms, the pavilion is as warm as spring and not a single bit of cold wind can blow in.
The prince in Nuan Pavilion was in the first place, and there were four other civil servants. It seemed to be a small-scale private banquet.
At this time, the prince still looked like he was in his early thirties, with a short beard, a majestic face, and an extraordinary bearing. When he saw Wei Yuan arriving, he stood up and came out of the pavilion to greet him, and then the guests and the host sat down at the table. After drinking for three rounds, the prince casually asked some questions about the border war.
Let’s get to the point.
He held the wine glass, looked at Wei Yuan, and said, "I wonder what Master Wei thinks of the current situation in Da Jin?"
Wei Yuan's heart moved, and he knew that the drama was coming. However, this question seemed to him to be quite easy, so he immediately said: "I don't know much about the government, so I can't comment. But in my opinion, the Jin Dynasty is currently facing more foreign threats than
For internal worries, the first priority is to resist the aliens. Only when we can stop the aliens can we talk about other things. But the most important thing is to spend money to build a strong army, but now the national treasury seems to be a little empty."
The prince remained calm, nodded and said: "Master Wei's eyes are as bright as fire, and the treasury is indeed empty. I wonder what you can teach me?"
Wei Yuan said: "When I went to Beijing, I observed along the way and found that many places in the Jin Dynasty were actually quite wealthy. Logically speaking, the treasury should be full. But the reality is that the treasury is empty. That means one thing, the Jin Dynasty is not empty.
Silver, it’s just that the money didn’t go into the treasury.”
An elderly civil servant at the table suddenly snorted loudly, and the other two people also showed displeasure. Wei Yuan recognized that the elderly official was the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. He was qualified to discuss matters in the political hall and should be the core of the prince's lineage.
Character.
He stroked his beard and said seriously: "Master Wei, what you said is wrong! Hiding wealth among the people is the foundation of a strong country. The rich local families will recruit local braves and train them in their spare time. This is also a major source of our soldiers in the Jin Dynasty. The gentry is the
It is the foundation of the Jin Dynasty. It would be inappropriate for Mr. Wei, at such a young age, to start talking about the system passed down by our ancestors!"
Wei Yuan was also annoyed and said: "It's okay not to accept any money, but there's also a way to donate a small amount of money."
The face of the Minister of Industry became even more ugly, and he wanted to say something, but after looking at the prince's face, he said no more.
And Wei Yuan observed the words and expressions, and roughly knew the relationship between the aristocratic family and the Jin State. These things had actually been recorded in history books, but today Wei Yuan intuitively understood how much the aristocratic family members would react to any idea of ​​taxing them.
fierce.
Chapter completed!