Keqing, it’s just cultivating immortality, is it that difficult?

Logically speaking, the natural disaster shouldn't be like this as it has continued until now.

Keqing was puzzled, but she did not try to find out more. Instead, she moved directly into the county government office.

"General Geng, please go and make arrangements for food, gather a batch of pots and bowls for cooking porridge, and send soldiers to collect some firewood.

Keqing instructed.

"Yes, I'll go right away..."

As Geng Hu left, Keqing thought about it and called Qizhou.

Because Qizhou had no concealed ambitions, and considering the incident with the bandits last time, Keqing tacitly agreed that he would work for her, and would sometimes instruct him on certain things.

"My Lord, what do you want from me?"

Seeing that the princess had sent someone to summon him, Qizhou hurried over.

The princess was naturalized and entered Hengshan County in a strong manner. This was a good opportunity for him to show his ability.

Keqing naturally saw the urgency in his eyes.

"How are the refugees? Are they doing okay?"

"Thanks to the help of the princess, we have enough water. Although the journey is difficult,

A little bit annoying, but no big deal.”

It was inevitable that some refugees could not keep up with the journey or fell ill. The princess donated some carriages and horses so that those who could not keep up could rest, and those who were sick could also be treated by doctors. In this way, the refugees were able to follow the journey until now without any harm or loss.

Even Qizhou knew that if half of the people died on the way to escape the famine, it would be considered a light punishment. However, no one died following the princess, so it seemed that the decision they made was not wrong.

To be honest, if there weren't the carriage, water, doctors and medicines to treat diseases, we would have lost at least one-third of the journey in just over half a month.

"Ah That's good……"

Keqing nodded and got down to business without further ado:

"When we distribute porridge later, let the refugees blend in with the crowd and ask about the situation to see what the current situation is."

"Yes!"

"Also, you are a scholar, right? You should be able to handle some account books. All the people in the county government have been arrested. You can check the accounts later and compare them with General Geng to see what they have done."

"Yes!"

Seeing that Qizhou was very excited, Keqing didn't say anything else, but asked him to go back and do what she had asked him to do.

Soon, the people of Hengshan County learned that an important figure had come to the county, a princess, and they immediately beheaded the county magistrate.

They also prepared to provide porridge to the refugees outside who were about to starve to death.

Chapter 565 Bluffing Li Zhubu (5000)

"Who is this big shot? He actually killed the county magistrate? Could it be that the refugees are rebelling?"

"What nonsense are you talking about! I heard that it was some kind of princess, very powerful. It is said that Tongzhou Prefecture is the fief of this princess, including our county..."

"This is incredible! She's a princess!"

"That's right. I heard that the princess chopped off the county magistrate's head in two strokes. I heard that the county magistrate was a traitor who concealed the disaster and deliberately didn't let the court know that we were affected by the disaster. If the princess hadn't found out, I'm afraid something terrible would have happened a long time ago!"

"They said they deliberately let the refugees rebel, and then they were beheaded!"

"What! This is too scary..."

People were talking about it, but the refugees outside the city were overjoyed. With the work of those foreign officers and soldiers, pot after pot of thick porridge was cooked.

The sweet smell brought tears to their eyes. They held the bowl of thick porridge and licked it happily. It was sweet and delicious and unforgettable for a long time.

They... were finally saved.

Tears welled up in his numb eyes, and the hope to live on was rekindled in his body.

With the guards maintaining order, no refugee dared to act recklessly or push or shove others. Perhaps it was because the teams of strong and powerful soldiers were intimidating, or perhaps it was because the high pile of food behind the iron pot made people feel safe, or perhaps they had been hungry for so long that they simply did not have the strength to push or shove.

So this time when queuing for the porridge distribution, everyone was very well behaved and no chaos occurred.

As I held the bowl and drank the porridge, I felt at ease.

The refugees were originally worried that the porridge was so thick that chopsticks could not float when inserted into it. They wondered if the porridge would be finished in just a few times and there would be nothing to eat in the future.

However, after a few days, they had porridge twice a day. The porridge was thick and sticky, with a fragrant aroma. It filled their empty stomachs with a bite, and the refugees felt relieved.

Looking at those officers and soldiers again, they didn't seem to be worried at all, and their feeling of running away was no different from before. My uneasy heart suddenly fell back into my stomach, and was weighed down by the bowl of porridge.

Who cares? No matter what happens in the future, at least they have something to eat now.

Let’s not talk about the refugees for now. As long as there is enough food to fill their stomachs and they don’t starve to death, there will be no problem and nothing bad will happen.

Whether they were rioters or refugees, wasn't it all about seeking a safe and secure life, clothes to wear and food to eat? Now that they had taken out food, if nothing else, at least they wouldn't starve to death. As for water, the wells in the county were about to dry up.

However, the water spirit bead in Keqing's hand can continuously produce fresh water, so there is food and water.

It can be said that the most urgent and necessary issues for the refugees have been resolved, and that is enough.

Therefore, Keqing is not worried about the refugees.

Meanwhile, at the county government office, the legal advisor, the chief clerk and other people related to the county magistrate were also being kept under lock and key by Keqing.

As the local bosses and the county magistrate's team, Keqing did not trust them, so she sent people to detain them directly, and then searched out the account books and asked Qi Xiucai to check them.

Unfortunately, the account books were burned in advance, leaving only a few pages. Only some of the visible account books are still preserved, but there is probably no important information.

The account book issue might take some time, but Keqing didn't care. Instead, she turned and went to the granary in the county town.

Every county in the Great Zhou Dynasty has a granary, not just in the provincial capital, but also in every county town. They exist as a storage for grain, but the granaries in the county towns are much smaller than those in the provincial capital. If a natural disaster or man-made disaster really occurs, such granaries will generally only provide emergency support for the local county town for one to half a month. The real disaster relief still depends on the provincial capital.

If a disaster occurs that can destroy the granary, such as a flood, then disaster relief will be completed.

It all depends on the court.

Of course, this does not mean that the granary does not play a role. On the contrary, the granary plays a very important role. Because the Great Zhou is vast and rich in resources, the counties and prefectures are far apart. Once a major natural disaster occurs in a certain place, the flow of information and the support from the court or surrounding prefectures will not be so timely.

At that time, the local stored grain would have to be used for emergency response, so that the affected people could hold out until the imperial court issued relief grain.

Therefore, food is of paramount importance, and so are granaries.

Keqing found a yamen runner to lead the way and followed him to the south side, where a granary had been burned.

"Is this the burned granary in Hengshan County?"

"Yes. Yes, Your Excellency..."

The bailiff hurriedly answered the person in front of him. He wiped the sweat off his face carefully and spoke timidly.

He had seen this man capture their county magistrate without mercy, and then after returning to the city, he decisively killed him with a single blow, without showing any mercy at all.

Now the county magistrate's head is still hanging on the city wall.

He was afraid and naturally more respectful. After all, he didn't want to accompany the county magistrate.

“How big was the granary before?”

"From here to here, it's the area of ​​the granary."

The bailiff stretched out his hand, drew a circle, and measured the distance.

"Look, my lady, there are traces of burning here and there, all over this area."

Keqing looked down and saw that there were indeed traces of burning on the ground.

"This fire seems to have burned too cleanly. Why is there no ruins left?"

"It was the county magistrate who asked us to clear out the area. We had wanted to build a new granary, but it was delayed."

The bailiff explained.

After hearing what he said, Keqing felt it made sense.

"How long did the fire burn? Did it burn all the food?"

“Yes, yes…” The bailiff raised his eyes carefully and secretly glanced at Keqing who was standing beside him with a calm expression. “It burned for quite a while. Although it was discovered in time, it was too late.”

"All the food was burned, nothing was left."

After listening to what the yamen runner said, Keqing was thoughtful, "Then the grain really can't stand the burning. Such a large granary only took half a day to burn. What about cleaning up the residue afterwards? It didn't take long, less than half a day?"

"How did you know that, sir?" The bailiff was surprised. "At that time, I thought it would take a long time to clean up. Who would have thought that all the grains were burned to ashes and there were not many debris left? I guess the fire was too strong and it was all burned up."

"I don't know, but I know that if there was really food in the granary, it would not have been burned for less than half a day." Keqing looked around slowly and said, "Although it is sad to burn food, it is not flammable like straw. How could it be burned so cleanly and completely in the end, and the debris was cleaned up so easily?"

“Maybe it’s too dry?”

Keqing shook her head.

"Wheat seeds are not easy to burn, let alone such a large granary. If it spontaneously combusts, it will definitely not take only half a day. If it really only takes such a short time, then we can only say."

Keqing paused.

"There isn't much food in the warehouse, or it's not food at all."

The yamen runner was stunned. It wasn't food? What else could it be if it wasn't food? Could the food have escaped?

The yamen runner asked subconsciously, but suddenly closed his mouth! He almost forgot that the person in front of him was the princess.

"Well, maybe... he really ran away."

Now the bailiff understood something...

Could it be the county magistrate?

The bailiff was surprised, and then he thought of the head hanging on the city wall. Could it be that the county magistrate was not wronged?

Keqing looked at the granary and went back. Although she had doubts before, now that she had taken a look, it was confirmed.

Now we just have to wait for Qizhou to check the account books to see if the grain was taken away by Zhang Sheng and where it went.

Zhang Sheng might not know that Song Zhi was a member of the Goddess Cult, but he was not really innocent. After all, Li Hu and others had confessed that they had communicated with Zhang Sheng, and some food was also transported by Zhang Sheng. How could Zhang Sheng be innocent if he was involved in it?

Not to mention that this guy also provided the bandits with information about passing merchants, exchanged messages, and helped the bandits to rob people. This alone makes him not innocent.

And those people were sent to the iron mines. Little did they know that mines were places where people were brutally punished and that the work was the lowest and most tiring. Even an eight-foot strong man did not dare to work in an iron mine as he was afraid that he would die soon.

The location of the iron mine also needs to be inquired. Although the exact location is not clear yet, Zhang Sheng definitely knows it.

Unfortunately, in order to establish his authority as quickly as possible and to win the hearts of the people, General Geng cut the Gordian knot and killed Zhang Sheng. Now his head is still hanging on the city wall. However, this action did save a lot of trouble.

At least there was no resistance. The refugees in the county and outside were all very obedient. I'm afraid that head played a big role.

Keqing returned to the county government office and took out the documents her elders had given her to Qizhou to check for a few days, but still could not find any specific information, such as the content of the contact between Zhang Sheng and Song Zhi, what they had done specifically, and the location of the iron mine.

When I asked the chief clerk and the legal advisor, they seemed to be old hands and said nothing, which was a bit troublesome.

But there is a way. Keqing found something from the poems that were not burned clean. She looked at the poems on them.

After thinking for a moment, he soon came up with an idea.

A day later, at Keqing's order, the chief clerk of Hengshan County was brought to the hall.

"Princess, please spare my life, Princess..."

"What is the Goddess Cult? I don't know. All this was done by the county magistrate!"

As soon as he was brought in front of him, a figure suddenly knelt down on the ground, crying and complaining.

He kept claiming that he was innocent, not knowing at all that the county magistrate Qun⑥九四;玖三⑥]壹③伍 was a member of the Goddess Cult.

"The county magistrate is my superior. I will do whatever he tells me to do. I really don't know anything about the Goddess Cult."

"Please forgive me, my Lord. How can we question the affairs of our superiors? Although I think the county magistrate's behavior is strange, I am just a small legal advisor. How can I question the county magistrate?"

"It's unfair, Princess."

Keqing was holding her head up and daydreaming, but was brought back to her senses by his sudden cry.

She rested her elbows on the table, leaned sideways, rested her head on her hands, and looked at Li Zhubu in a shameless manner.

He is really talented, just like the young actor on the stage, the posture, the tears, and the wrinkled face, he captures it perfectly.

Keqing almost thought that he was just used to doing this, otherwise how could it be so natural.

However, she also knew that the people around her knew nothing about the Goddess Cult, because that was a name she had given herself.

She looked at Li Zhubu without saying anything, just watched quietly, and even took out a book and quietly flipped through it. If the two of them could look up and see, they would probably see that what was in her hand was not something, but an account book.

Offstage, he kept making excuses, but she could get the general idea of ​​what he meant without having to listen carefully.

They are simply putting all the blame on the dead county magistrate, saying that everything was done by him and it has nothing to do with them. They are probably thinking of themselves as fools who can be fooled at will.