Chapter 62: Prince Qi draws his sword!
Li Sixing scratched his hands and ears subconsciously, and smiled faintly: "I had a copper stove for warming my hands and a fur coat that covered my neck. When I passed by Heyin, I saw two children with bruises and swollen faces from the cold, so I gave them the things."
Li Yuanji sighed and glared at Li Sixing fiercely.
Li Sixing's good deeds are worthy of praise, but Li Sixing's behavior is not worth promoting.
"You are the chief officer sent by the government to provide relief to refugees. The livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of refugees in Luoyang depend on you. If you fall ill, who will provide relief to the refugees?
Should I go? Or should Yuwen Bao go?"
Li Yuanji stared at Li Sixing and questioned him.
Without waiting for Li Sixing to speak, Li Yuanji continued, "I have to go to Guangfu in Hebei to take charge, so I can't spare the time. Yuwen Bao, that killer, can do it for you if you ask him to bring disaster to the refugees. He can do it for you if you ask him to provide relief to the refugees.
You are the only one in your family who can go to help the refugees, and I will feel at ease only if you go."
Li Sixing took a deep breath and said frankly, "I know this is inappropriate, but I just can't bear to watch those four or five-year-old children shaking with cold in front of me."
"Why……"
Li Yuanji sighed deeply. If he encountered such a situation, not to mention Li Sixing, he would also feel sorry for it.
The infant mortality rate in the Tang Dynasty was very high. If a child of four or five years old was shivering from the cold, he or she might die.
Li Sixing was not feeling sorry for them, but saving their lives.
But a copper stove and a fur coat could only save two people, not tens of thousands of children among hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Whether those young children who lack warm clothes can survive this cold winter safely depends entirely on Li Sixing.
Therefore, Li Sixing must protect himself first before he can save more children.
Instead of giving up your own safety to save one or two children.
"I'm afraid you've delivered all the warm clothes and equipment you brought with you?"
Li Yuanji glanced at Li Sixing and asked unhappily.
Li Sixing smiled bitterly and nodded.
He was a man of both literary and martial talents, and had fought on horseback. At least eighty people died at his hands, if not a hundred.
He originally thought that his heart had become as hard as iron, but when he saw those children with bruised faces and swollen noses from the cold and shivering all over, he still couldn't bear it.
He gave one piece here and one piece there, and all the warm clothes and equipment had already been given away.
Otherwise, if he had just given him a copper stove for warming his hands and a fur coat, he would not have gotten sore hands and ears from the cold.
People often say that poverty increases ambition and wealth increases conscience.
He felt that perhaps because he had become rich, he had developed a conscience and his heart was not as hard as before.
"There are still some leathers piled up in the Luoyang Palace armory. Take them out and find the merchants to see if you can exchange them for cloth and send them to the refugees so that they can make clothes to keep warm.
You should have seen Yuan Yi before. The method is not difficult. I will find someone who knows how to make it to follow you, and you can teach it to those refugees.
If there are feathers, stuff them with feathers, and if there are no feathers, stuff them with some hay, which can also help to keep out the cold. "
Li Yuanji could actually distribute the leather from the Luoyang Palace armory directly to the refugees. The leather clothes made from the leather would be more effective in keeping out the cold.
But the number of skins is limited and cannot take care of all the refugees.
Only by selling to merchants and exchanging them for more low-priced cloth can we take care of more refugees.
Li Sixing was somewhat moved, and he quickly stood up and saluted Li Yuanji, "Your Highness is kind and gracious. On behalf of the refugees in Luoyang, I would like to thank you for saving our lives."
Li Yuanji not only gave the refugees food, but also gave them warm clothes.
With the addition of houses provided by officials from all over Luoyang, hundreds of thousands of refugees will definitely be able to survive this cold winter.
Li Yuanji saved the lives of tens of thousands of refugees.
Li Yuanji glared at Li Sixing and snorted, "What qualifications do you have to thank me on behalf of the refugees in Luoyang?"
Li Sixing smiled awkwardly. He really didn't have the qualifications.
He was not the magistrate of Luoyang, nor was he an official of Hebei.
The reason why he went to provide relief to the refugees was also because he was ordered by Li Yuanji.
"The refugees in Luoyang don't need to thank me."
Li Yuanji said indifferently.
The refugees were the people of the Tang Dynasty, and they supported the Li family to become the royal family of the Tang Dynasty.
As a member of the Tang Dynasty royal family, Li Yuanji enjoyed the wealth and power brought to him by the people. Naturally, he also had to take care of the people's livelihoods and care about their life and death.
"When I left the palace, I brought a lot of warm items with me. You can pick out a few of them later. They will be given to you by me. I will take them back when we return.
If you dare to send them out, I will make you the inner quarters commander of the Wude Hall when we return to Chang'an."
The Neifang Bureau of Wude Hall was set up in imitation of the Prince's Neifang Bureau in the Prince's Palace. There was one Neifangling in the Neifang Bureau, who was of the fifth rank and a eunuch.
What Li Yuanji meant by this was to castrate Li Sixing and make him the chief eunuch in Wude Hall.
The awkward smile on Li Sixing's face froze. He felt that Li Yuanji was joking with him, but Li Yuanji's expression did not seem like he was joking with him, so he was a little panicked.
After Li Yuanji frightened Li Sixing, he said, "I will lead the army to Feixiang in Mingzhou in a short while. From now on, you will be solely responsible for the relief work for the refugees in Luoyang.
Remember, you are the one sent by me, and you are acting according to my orders. If anyone dares to obstruct you , you don't need to give them face.
If someone is being pushy, you don't need to be polite.
I will leave 500 cavalrymen at your disposal."
Li Sixing was about to bow and agree, but he heard Li Yuanji solemnly remind him: "The grain in the Luoyang granary, except for relief to refugees, can only be taken in but not taken out without my order.
Even if my father gives you an order, you must send someone to inform me first, and wait for my reply before making a decision."
After being stolen from by Li Shimin once, Li Yuanji had a new understanding of the moral bottom line of Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuan.
Li Shimin stole grain without any shame.
Li Yuan would be even more shameless if he stole grain.
Li Yuan's moral bottom line is much lower than that of Li Shimin.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to fool Li Shimin with the position of crown prince.
Li Shimin was in Hebei, and Li Yuanji was about to go to Hebei. With Li Yuanji watching personally, Li Shimin had no way to steal the grain from under his nose.
Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng were far away in Chang'an. If they secretly sent people to steal grain while he was in Hebei, he would really not be able to keep an eye on them.
Especially Li Yuan, if he used his status as emperor to bully others, ordinary people would be unable to withstand it.
Li Sixing looked at Li Yuanji in astonishment.
Would a saint be so shameless as to steal his own son's things?
Li Yuanji saw what Li Sixing was thinking from his expression, but did not explain much.
If Pei Ji heard this explanation, he would definitely not have such a reaction. Pei Ji knew better than Li Sixing how low Li Yuan's moral bottom line was.
"Did you understand what I told you?"
Li Yuanji asked.
Li Sixing hurriedly said, "I understand."
Li Yuanji nodded and said, "I will leave 500 cavalry and 1,000 armored soldiers to guard the granary. I will strictly order them to defend the granary and kill anyone who trespasses .
So if you meet people who have bad intentions towards the granary, it's best to tell them to stay away.
I don’t care who’s behind them.”
Li Sixing smiled bitterly and said, "It's not as serious as you said."
"hehe……"
Li Yuanji smiled sarcastically and said nothing more.
…
Li Yuanji gave instructions for disaster relief and guarding the granary, then led a thousand cavalrymen, two thousand officers and men from the Zuo Ertong Military Office, and two thousand soldiers from Shanzhou, and rushed to Hebei.
As soon as he arrived at Gongxian Posthouse, two letters, one large and one small, were delivered to him.
The older one belongs to Yuwen Shiji, and the smaller one belongs to Li Sixing.
Yuwen Shiji wrote a lot of flowery things in the letter, which was not only difficult to read but also boring. It was three or four pages long, with a sentence "redistribute the grain obtained from the equalization" in the middle.
Li Yuanji knew with his butt that this was a bad idea given by Li Shimin to Yuwen Shiji. Once Yuwen Shiji moved, he would no longer be able to control the distribution of grain, so he proposed to redistribute the grain obtained from the transfer.
Li Sixing and Yuwen Bao, whom he left in Luoyang City, were still unable to suppress Yuwen Shiji.
Yuwen Shiji couldn't control him, but he could control Li Sixing and Yuwen Bao.
Li Sixing only wrote a few simple sentences in the letter, the general meaning of which was that as soon as he left, Feng Li, the General of Chariots and Cavalry under the prince, appeared outside the city of Luoyang with his men, went straight to the granary, and took the prince's handwritten letter to ask for grain.
He happened to meet Yuwen Bao who was delivering grain to the granary, but Yuwen Bao didn't care about Feng Li's identity.
When he heard that Feng Li wanted to withdraw grain without his permission, he immediately brought people to fight with Feng Li.
Although Yuwen Bao lost, he successfully stopped Feng Li outside the granary.
"Are you testing my bottom line? Are you testing my patience? Or do you think that I, as a younger brother, should be bullied by you?"
Li Yuanji sneered.
He asked someone to get pen and ink and wrote a reply letter to Yuwen Shiji.
The content of the letter was very simple, "You want to redistribute the food you have obtained, right? Okay, I'll give you 100%, but from now on, the Qi Wang Mansion will no longer be involved in this matter. If you want to have fun, go and have fun by yourselves."
After writing the letter to Yuwen Shiji, he wrote another secret letter to Yuwen Bao, giving him a brief explanation.
Finally, he wrote a letter to Li Sixing, which contained only one sentence: 'Two days later, when the sun is the brightest, set the Luoyang granary on fire for me, and no one is allowed to rescue'.
Li Yuanji wrote the letter and sent it out on horseback.
…
Three days later.
When the sun was at its highest, Li Sixing was ordered .
For a moment, everyone inside and outside Luoyang City was shocked.
Yuwen Shiji stood on the city wall of Luoyang City, looking at the billowing smoke, and fell to the ground with a pale face.
Feng Li rode his horse palely towards the Luoyang granary, shivering as he looked at the thick smoke that covered the sky.
