Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 85: Complaint
Mizhi County, suburbs.
More than 30,000 people gathered here, all of whom had moved out from towns and were crowded in makeshift tents, like a prisoner camp.
Not only here, but within a radius of 100 miles, Beilin set up more than ten resettlement sites, each guarded by 3,000 battalions of soldiers. Tens of thousands of people who did not know the truth were forced to move out of the town, and resentment was overwhelming for a while.
During this period, Yulin prefect Jiang Wenke came in person to check the situation.
In his opinion, isn't it ridiculous to make such a big fuss and waste people's money just based on a groundless speculation?
As a result, before he could finish his two sentences, Beilin started scolding him.
Jiang Wenke was so angry that he returned to Yulin and immediately wrote a memorial to impeach Beilin, which he had sent urgently over a distance of 600 miles.
As the saying goes, a nest of gold or silver is not as good as your own doghouse.
From ancient times to the present, people are rarely willing to leave their homes easily.
What's more, it's snowing and freezing cold.
However, County Magistrate Li Yan did not think so, because he would really lose his head.
When he thought of the murderous aura emanating from those soldiers, he couldn't help but shiver.
Therefore, seeing the magistrate risking his life, the officers under him had no choice but to show their vicious side, almost breaking into the house and being extremely brutal.
Only then did the people reluctantly walk out of their houses, carrying their bags, and follow the officials to seek refuge out of the city.
In an instant, tens of thousands of people gathered in the suburbs, crying for their parents everywhere , and the soldiers were like bandits.
Especially some big households suffered the most.
Ordinary people can be said to have nothing and can only hide for a while. After all, the government has promised relief food.
But a wealthy family has a large population after all. How can they just leave so many mansions and fields here?
God knows if anyone will miss me after I leave and this place will be empty.
In the past, the county magistrate Li Yan would have to give some face to the local gentry. But now he can't do that. Between life is more important!
Therefore, the officers became ruthless, broke the door and took the people away.
Whenever there was resistance, the Three Thousand Battalion would come forward.
The gentry were horrified.
I've never seen anyone so cruel!
The trembling gentry had to be escorted by the government to a temporary shelter in the suburbs.
In a tent that looked fairly spacious, dozens of gentry gathered together, whispering and venting their dissatisfaction with the court.
In fact, general natural disasters do not have much impact on them.
After all, they are landlords, and landlords have surplus food, so even if an earthquake really happens, they can cope with it.
Not only that, after a major disaster, food prices often rise. Although they have no harvest this year, the price of food in previous years was several times higher, even more than ten times higher.
Ordinary people would go bankrupt when a disaster struck. In order to survive, they had to borrow money, and this was a loan with compound interest. If they lent out a bushel of rice, their descendants would have to pay back a load, and they would probably never be able to pay it back.
In years of disaster, it is much easier to annex land when there is grain and silver in hand.
"Hey, this is the government forcing the people to rebel!"
The man who was speaking was called Liu Jiangwu. He was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Yongle. He was quite prestigious here. Even the county magistrate would show respect to him when he met him on weekdays.
The other gentry looked at each other and nodded secretly.
Liu Jiangwu shook his head and said, "I have lived for most of my life, and I have never heard of an earthquake in the loess land? The government suddenly moved us here. What is the purpose? It is said that the current emperor is a good emperor. Why would there be such an order? We are all law-abiding common people, but we have suffered such an unexpected disaster. Oh, how can we live like this? My house is not taken care of by anyone now. God knows if there will be any thieves who are eyeing it, cough cough..."
Liu Jiangwu became more and more excited as he spoke, and started coughing violently.
"Mr. Liu, forget it. The government has always been bullying the people. Now that the emperor has personally issued an order, what can we do?"
Everyone fell silent.
The man realized that he had said something wrong, shuddered, and did not continue speaking.
It was still noisy outside.
The county sent people to distribute porridge, but the victims complained again because everything was too urgent and the county could not send much food.
Liu Jiangwu almost stamped his feet while eating this bland soup : "That Magistrate Li has always been respectful to us, but this time, he showed no mercy at all, humph!"
"Yes, I tried to meet him several times, but he always refused to see me. I don't know what he meant."
"This is harming the people. I heard that some people refused to leave and were beaten half to death by the officers."
Liu Jiangwu was shaking with anger and dropped the bowl with a bang, with the broken pieces scattering everywhere.
"I just don't believe it. There is no justice in this world. I...I'm going to file a complaint with the emperor!"
"Look at what you said. The imperial edict is the emperor's will. Who are you suing?"
Liu Jiangwu thought for a moment and said, "I heard that His Royal Highness Prince Qing is a rare and wise prince. How about this? I have a nephew who works in the Ministry of Personnel. Why don't we write a letter, have everyone sign it, and then send it to the capital as fast as possible, and let my nephew go to find Prince Qing. What do you think?"
Suddenly someone hesitated. No matter how powerful the King of Qing was, he was not greater than the Emperor!
Liu Jiangwu became angrier and angrier. He ordered someone to get a pen and paper, and then looked at the other gentry: "What do you think?"
"We...we..."
"This is a plea for tens of thousands of people. Can you just sit there and watch?"
"Okay, count me in."
"Then... count me in as one!"
Seeing someone respond, Liu Jiangwu immediately started writing.
Everyone seemed to be encouraged and came forward to see what was written on the letter.
Suddenly, someone timidly said, "This...this...Mr. Liu, this letter is too explicit. Can you be more tactful?"
Liu Jiangwu shouted angrily: "What is there to be afraid of? Since we have been educated and understand the truth, we should die for justice..."
While cursing, he crumpled up the paper into a ball and threw it away, then took out a new one.
Everyone sighed and said, "Mr. Fang is a very upright person!"
After writing it, he gave the letter to his servant and ordered him to deliver it to the capital at full speed.
Fortunately, although the Three Thousand Battalion was on strict watch, they only prohibited people from entering the city and did not care about those going out at all.
At night, the shelter was still in a mess.
Hearing that the county town was empty, some bandits took the opportunity to go there and clean it up.
Countless people, missing home in their hearts, gathered in this harsh place, looking at the white snow with tears streaming down their faces, choking with sobs.
Liu Jiangwu only stayed here for more than a day before he fell ill.
In addition to feeling depressed , what is more important is that I cannot adapt to the simple conditions.
It was late at night, but he couldn't sleep at all. He leaned on the bed, looking into the distance in the direction of the county town, and couldn't help crying: "I'm afraid my body can't take it anymore. Oh, how can the world become so dangerous..."
He sighed as he spoke.
"Your Majesty, you trusted the treacherous people around you. Hard times are still ahead. You won't give us a way out!"
Many people bowed their heads and cried bitterly after being scolded by him.
A soldier from the Three Thousand Battalion saw what was happening and wanted to step forward, but was stopped by another man.
Because Beilin had already ordered that here, the people could not be blamed for cursing however they wanted.
As a result, many people pretended to be deaf and dumb and dispersed.
Liu Jiangwu's curses seemed to have set off a powder keg, and all night long, there was endless cursing.
At dawn, Liu Jiangwu pointed at the dark sky and shouted at the top of his lungs, "You relocated the people without saying a word, and made them homeless. Is this still a good emperor? I don't have many years left to live, so I want to ask, God, are you going to let me live?"
Boom!
At this point, suddenly, the ground shook!
Everyone was stunned.
Liu Jiangwu's face turned pale with fright.
His body actually trembled, and then his crutches fell to the ground, and he fell to the ground.
Boom boom...
There was another muffled sound, as if the sky was falling!
The ground was shaking and tents collapsed suddenly, but these were temporary buildings and didn't hurt anyone when they hit them.
All of a sudden, the camp became unexpectedly quiet.
"quick!"
Liu Jiangwu shouted like crazy: "Go, get the letter back!"
