spend time

Jiang Shaohua did not respond to the warm and sincere affection between father and daughter. He only smiled faintly: "Seeing that my father is well after a long absence, I feel happy in my heart."

With this, Junma Lu was satisfied.

What Jiang Shaohua did in the capital was reported back to the Nanyang Palace one by one. While he was shocked by Jiang Shaohua's strength, he was also secretly grateful. Fortunately, he didn't really fall out that day and stayed in the palace shamelessly.

In short, he is Jiang Shaohua's biological father. As long as he is careful and does not provoke or anger Jiang Shaohua, he will have a place in the palace.

Next, Yang Zheng and other subordinate officials came forward to see the ceremony.

Jiang Shaohua ran all the way, still in high spirits, and said with a smile: "Everyone, get up, let's talk after entering the house."

As soon as I glanced at him, I suddenly noticed that a figure was missing. I couldn't help but exclaimed, "Where is Cui Du? Why isn't he here?"

Chen Changshi responded with a smile; "I sent someone to deliver a message to the farm a few days ago. Mr. Cui is leading a new group of students. He said that he will wait for this period of classes to be completed before returning to the palace. It will be two or three days late. ”

"Not only did Mr. Cui not come back, but the people from Lushe also stayed at the farm."

The princess obviously didn't care much about the presence or absence of the Lushe people. She nodded casually and led everyone into the main hall of the palace.

Jiang Shaohua took the seat first, and the subordinate officials also sat in their familiar positions, eager to report the errands they had done in the past six months or so.

Chen Changshi stopped him with a smile: "The princess has been working hard on the journey, so she has to rest for a few days. These government affairs will be reported slowly in the future. Everyone, please be quiet first and listen to the princess's instructions."

As soon as Chen Changshi spoke, all the officials immediately stopped talking. This shows Chen Changshi's prestige in the palace.

Jiang Shaohua smiled slightly: "I originally had a lot to say, but now I don't have to say anything. In short, I did not stay in the capital, but came back."

Two simple sentences reveal strong confidence and calmness.

The officials were very excited when they heard this. Yes, the princess showed her determination with practical actions. No matter how good the capital was, the princess still chose to leave and return to Nanyang County.

Now that the princess is back, Nanyang County will always be their princess.

Jiang Shaohua smiled again and said: "Everyone should leave now and go about their own errands. Chen Changshi and Feng Changshi can just stay."

The subordinate officials resigned and left one by one. Lu Junma actually didn't want to leave, but Jiang Shaohua had no intention of staying. He hesitated for a while and had no choice but to leave.

Only Jiang Shaohua and two Changshi were left in the main hall.

Chen Changshi smiled and said in a low voice: "Princess, there is going to be chaos in the north."

"The Pingzhou army gathered more and more rebels. The imperial court sent General Fan to quell the rebellion. The Pingzhou rebel army was not defeated. They only gave up the three counties they occupied. Then they firmly occupied Pingzhou. I heard that the Pingzhou army numbered tens of thousands."

Feng Changshi sighed and continued: "All the food in those three counties was looted, and all the young men were taken away. How many old, weak, women and children died of starvation."

"Of the 500 hungry people that General Liu sent back a few days ago, some are from these three counties. I heard that these three counties have almost become empty cities."

It’s so miserable!
These shocking truths may be just a few words in the battle report. The court officials knew it, and Emperor Taihe, who was sitting on the dragon throne, also knew it, but they were unable to do anything. The capital was too far away from Pingzhou, and apart from sending troops to "recover" Pingzhou, nothing else could be reached. The imperial court did not care about the people of the three counties who were in dire straits.

Jiang Shaohua felt heavy and nodded lightly: "On my way back from Beijing, I met five or six waves of hungry people fleeing famine. This is what I saw. Where I didn't see, there were more refugees."

"If this continues, even if we survive this year's locust plague, next year the north will be thousands of miles bare, and the fertile fields will be uncultivated." Chen Changshi's eyes were dim and his tone was full of sorrow.

Jiang Shaohua was silent.

Yes, in the previous life, the north was in chaos, and the number of people who died in droughts, locust plagues, and wars was a huge and shocking number. In the end, no one could calculate the exact number.

Feng Changshi became angry again: "What on earth is the imperial court doing? Apart from sending troops to defeat Pingzhou, isn't it doing anything serious and useful?"

"The imperial court sent three imperial envoys to help the people." Jiang Shaohua calmed down and continued: "I was in the court that day, and the emperor personally opened the dragon's mouth. It was inconvenient for me to refuse, so I had to offer a batch of grain seeds. For the other two batches of grain, the Ministry of Household Affairs issued white slips.”

"No matter whether I can pay it back in the future or not, I have to keep this note. If something happens in the future, I can always use it to bluff people."

With that said, Jiang Shaohua took out two white slips from his sleeve pocket and gave them to Feng Changshi.

Feng Changshi took the bill and couldn't help complaining: "Just these two flimsy white bills have been exchanged for tens of thousands of shi of food. Princess, it is true that we have some surplus food. However, the three commanders currently have With a steady stream of sheltering hungry people, and the Tang family promoting new grains, we are running out of money. We can no longer be so generous."

I knew Feng Changshi would take the opportunity to complain.

Jiang Shaohua smiled and coaxed: "What Feng Changshi said is that I will never donate food at will in the future."

Feng Changshi is just saying it. As long as the princess gives an order, everyone in the household will obey the order. However, it is always comforting that the princess is willing to lower her profile and say some kind words to coax him.

Feng Changshi remained silent, looked at the note carefully, carefully folded it and put it into his sleeve.

"Chen Changshi, how many hungry people have been taken in by Nanyang County in the past few months?" Jiang Shaohua asked in a low voice.

Chen Changshi made a number with his finger and lowered his voice and said with a smile: "The three commanders have their own rules for doing things. Most of the hungry people they brought back were peaceful and honest people, and each family was settled well. Occasionally, there were some sneaky people among them, and they all The county government is not a vegetarian, so the hungry people will be honest after they catch them."

"If this continues, within this year, the population of Nanyang County will increase by at least 20%. In peacetime, it would take at least ten years to increase the population by this much."

When the population was mentioned, Feng Changshi got excited and continued talking enthusiastically: "Now every county is leading the hungry people to open up wasteland. Li County started it the earliest. Now it has opened up thousands of acres of wasteland and replanted a crop of corn." and sweet potatoes. Wait a few months and you’ll have a harvest.”

Of course, the food output of newly opened wasteland will definitely be low, but it is still better than none!
Jiang Shaohua's eyes lit up and he said with a smile: "This is really great. Thank you for your hard work, Chang Shi."

"However, the increasing population cannot be publicized for the time being. Otherwise, the imperial court will be dissatisfied."

The two chief historians agreed together.

You can make a fortune silently, they all understand this. (End of chapter)