During the turmoil, everything was simplified, but Zhao Bing still ordered people to perform three days of rituals to save the souls of the dead, and he insisted on going to watch the funeral with everyone every day. When the ceremony was over, Zhao Bing did not feel relaxed at all. The important question now is

The problem of feeding thousands more people made him feel a lot of pressure. This pressure seemed to be increasing continuously, but he couldn't blame others, it was all his own fault.

Cai Wanyi and his group asked to return to the team. They were also volunteers who were escorting the emperor in Quanzhou. Zhao Bing had no way to refuse and could only agree to have them come to the mansion to squeeze in. What is incomprehensible is that the Quanzhou volunteers who followed the emperor only attended the festival at first.

Yes, but I don’t know whether it was because they felt safe being together with fellow villagers in their hometown, or because they were impressed by His Highness King Wei’s personality charm. After the festival, they also gave up the ‘preferential treatment’ of accompanying the driver and refused to leave. Another group

Those who stay in the house and never leave are the uninvited guests who come when drinking blessings.

Regarding the plight of these children, Zhao Bing knew from the plight of the Quanzhou volunteers that what they said was true. As far as he knew, the Song Dynasty adopted a recruitment system, which meant that the soldiers were all professional soldiers. Once they joined the army, they had to declare for

Soldiers. At the same time, they are also human beings, with families, wives and children. Therefore, it is stipulated that military dependents can live in the military camp with them and rely on military pay to maintain their lives. Therefore, many of the current retinues are accompanying military dependents.

During the successive battles, especially after the retreat from Fuzhou, they experienced many fierce battles. The troops suffered heavy casualties. More than 200 warships were sunk on the way to evacuate Quanzhou. You can imagine how many soldiers were lost. Of course, the imperial court paid no attention to the war deaths.

The military generals also receive pensions. In addition to rewards, half of the military pay of the deceased will also be provided to the family members. But now that the world is in chaos and the court is in financial difficulty, there will inevitably be choices in supply. The volunteers are still short of food and clothing. These surviving family members

Naturally, it was hard to find food, but they had nowhere to go. They could only wander around with the imperial court, begging for food. Children whose parents had died were the most miserable.

Zhao Bing, who was well aware of the situation, originally planned to lock them up for a few days and then let them go when people had forgotten about the matter. Therefore, although he put all the children who had 'slandered' the imperial court under supervision, he did not treat them harshly.

, but provided accommodation and food. ?                                                                                                                                                                         being provided with accommodation and food.

This also acquiesces their existence.

But what happened next was unexpected by Zhao Bing and everyone. I don't know who spread the news that the palace was 'taking in' the orphans in the army. As a result, people came to seek refuge every day. In a few days, there were nearly a thousand soldiers.

The family members of the Chinese survivors are here. Zhao Bing is not a hard-hearted person. Seeing a group of poor orphans and widows without caring about them, he can only take them in and provide them with a temporary shelter. The consequence of this is that food and housing are tight, and everyone is in danger.

A clean and elegant manor turned into a refugee camp...

"Your Highness, since the end of last year, the states in northern Guangdong have successively surrendered to the Tatars. Xunzhou, Meizhou and other towns on the Guangdong Road have also fallen successively. The enemy chief Ali Hague led his army to conquer Jingjiang Prefecture and Yongzhou successively. Chen Wenlong, the governor who participated in the political affairs, was defeated and defeated.

However, things are not going well for Minister Wen. It is said that Tingguan Pass has been lost. Although the imperial court has issued an edict to collect grain and grass, there are very few local people who have responded, and my subordinates have paid huge sums of money to purchase but they have not received much." The general manager of the mansion responded.

Zhuang Shilin of Procurement Affairs reported.

"Well, is there any food allocated by the court?" After breakfast, everyone in the house was discussing matters in the side hall, and the main topic now was to solve the problem of food. Zhao Bing understood after listening to Zhuang Shilin's words: Now the enemy's offensive

At this time, the southeastern defense line has completely collapsed. The territory that the imperial court can control is getting smaller and smaller, and the supply of materials is even tighter. If you stay here now, it is most likely because you have not raised enough food. Otherwise, you would have taken refuge at sea early.

, the subtext is that even if they have money, it is difficult to buy food.

"Your Highness, please allocate some money. There is no food, so let us buy it ourselves." Zhuang Shilin replied with a wry smile.

"Oh?! It's always better than nothing." Zhao Bing was shocked at first and then sighed. Nowadays, it's hard to buy food if you have money. The money allocated is of some use, but having money is better than nothing.

"Your Highness, the imperial court called us volunteers. It only allocated money for rations and pickles according to the old practice, and what we gave were customs coupons (vouchers for the army to obtain food in other places).

, the shortfall is more than half, and the surviving family members who are temporarily living in the mansion are not included in this list." Seeing that His Highness was quite content, Zhuang Shilin explained again.

"Haha!" Zhao Bing was very happy after hearing this. According to the military system of the Song Dynasty, the volunteers were subordinate to the rural soldiers. They were similar to the modern militia. They were not paid, and only some food expenses were subsidized during recruitment and review, so he accepted it.

But firstly, they did not check the number of people; secondly, they did not consider the current prices; thirdly, they gave coupons that were like wiping paper, which made people doubt that the imperial court was deliberately trying to undermine itself.

"Don't be upset, Your Highness. This is always the case in other armies. They just have to use some means..." Zhao Mengjin saw His Highness smiling helplessly, knowing that he understood, and offered him a piece of advice.

"Give bribes and get free wages?" Zhao Bing understood before he finished speaking. In previous lives, subcontractors often used this method of falsely reporting budgets and bribing supervisors to obtain funds and increase profits. There may be some differences between this and the current method, but the method is

It's definitely very similar.

"This..." This time it was Zhao Mengjin's turn to laugh. He blushed and smiled in embarrassment, but he was extremely surprised in his heart. He did not expect that His Highness would even use such a trick on Yemen Qing'er.

"Your Highness, although this method can solve a temporary emergency, it is not the right way and must not be used." Cai Wanyi cupped his hands and saluted. Of course, he was very aware of the disadvantages and hated the pain, so he stayed in the house.

He also saw the new atmosphere here. However, no matter how smart His Highness is, he is still a child and his mind is not yet complete. He was worried that he would go astray due to impatience, so he quickly spoke out to stop him.

"To put it bluntly, the Sa family doesn't know the disadvantages, but what can we do now? If you come up with a good idea, everyone can't starve to death!" Although he knew that his idea was a bad idea, but was exposed by others in person, Zhao Mengjin couldn't help but feel angry.

Waiting for the eyes to shout, of course he did not dare to speak to His Highness, so he could only vent his anger on Cai Wanyi.

"Even if I starve to death, I cannot commit such an evil act. I am willing to donate all my salary and rice to share with the troops." Cai Wanyi snorted and retorted. He is a formal civil servant of the country, so he can naturally give him a full salary.

.

"Will the Sa family be stingy about that little Lumi? Take it too." Zhao Mengjin also jumped up and said, but he suddenly remembered that he was still a deserter, and there was no salary, so his momentum inevitably weakened.

"You two, please stop arguing. Your Highness has already used the money and food provided by the court to help everyone." Listening to the two of them arguing, Wang De, who was standing next to His Highness, reminded them with a sneer. The effect was of course immediate, and they immediately stopped

Squeaking and feeling even more shameless.

"Your Highness, since the government is also in difficulty, why not also dismiss some people and reduce some expenses." Cai Wanyi thought for a while and said.

"No!" Zhao Bing refused without hesitation. He knew that Zhao Mengjin meant to abandon the sick and weak children in the house, but he would have taken in a stray dog ​​in his previous life, let alone hundreds of young lives. Once the army

If these helpless children are evacuated, they will definitely be abandoned here. How can they survive in today's troubled times? And he knows that although some people regard money as dirt, there are too few saints like that. Once his family runs out of food, he is afraid that

He also disbanded immediately, but he still took in these people at such a difficult time. Not only could he save these children, but he could also find refuge in the hearts of everyone in the house and show that he was with everyone in the same boat. Therefore, no matter from a moral or situational point of view, he

All need to do this.

"The imperial court also has difficulties. The main thing is that we have to rely on ourselves to raise money. Even if we spend more money, we still have to do it. I am willing to donate my remaining wealth at home to meet the daily expenses of the palace. This will help to alleviate the urgent needs. Once we get through this difficulty, things will get better.

." Cai Wanyi bowed deeply. He had seen that His Highness could not bear to abandon those orphans, and he also understood that the reason why he could host the ceremony this time was definitely not because of His Highness's favor, but more because of his rank among the people in the mansion.

At the highest level, his status in His Highness's mind may not be as high as that of the profiteer in charge of purchasing. But he is not a person who wants to be subordinate to others. He can just take this opportunity to gain His Highness's trust and consolidate his position in the palace.

"Your Highness is kind-hearted and considerate of the orphans. This is just an act of sharing the worries of the imperial court. I am also willing to dedicate the imperial court's rewards!" Although Huang Xianyao has never been an official, he is at least a second-generation official, and his experience is naturally different from other people.

He knew that if his father died in the war, he would lose his support, and he would not be able to return home. He would have to rely on himself in the future. The emperor's thigh was too thick, and he could not hold it. He would have to settle for the next best thing.

The prince is not bad either. Now that he has the opportunity, of course he will not let the queen down, but he will also take the opportunity to express his feelings. He is just worried that the prince will not be able to understand his painstaking efforts.

"Your Highness, my subordinates all live and eat in the mansion. It's useless to keep the money, so just return it to the mansion!" Zheng Huchen, who had been silent until now, also stood up and said.

"Huh, it's no use having money if you can't buy food, and you can't buy wine and meat here. It's useless to keep the money in the Sa family. Let's put it in the government office and use it!" Zhao Mengjin looked at Cai Wanyi and snorted coldly,

"Damn, it must be those little brats who are causing trouble again. I'm going to discipline them." Suddenly there was a noise outside, and he cursed and walked out.

"The kid is just naughty, don't hit him too hard!" Seeing his aggressive look, Cai Wanyi thought he was still angry, so he looked at his back and shouted.

"The Sa family knows that you are troublesome!" Zhao Mengjin replied without looking back.

"Haha!" Zhao Bing laughed. In fact, he also saw that Zhao Mengjin was cold-hearted towards those children. As a former leading general, how could he not know the importance of settling the orphans of the soldiers to stabilize the morale of the army? "Outside the village member,

, I’ve given you the whole house, but it’s going to be a lot harder.”

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will do my best to raise food supplies." Zhuang Shilin seemed to have forgotten His Highness's instructions not to address himself as a subordinate in front of outsiders, so he saluted.

"Your Highness, there are still some new people in the house who need to be accommodated, so I will go first!" Cai Wanyi also saluted.
Chapter completed!