The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 243 The Jia Family Father and Son Discuss Again

Although Tu Chengyu's words were not too harsh, they sounded like thunder to these people.

They all hurriedly said:
“Your Highness, we have remembered your words and will certainly not dare to disobey the people’s will in the future.”

Tu Chengyu said, "It would be best if you could remember it, but it's okay if you can't. I will show you what the consequences of not being able to remember are."

"We dare not, but will certainly remember it in our hearts."

After giving Ding Ze a thorough dressing-down, Tu Chengyu then said:
"General Ding, you know these people better than I do, so please register their names. If anyone causes trouble among the disaster victims in the future..."

I will take this list of names and find those who have violated it. Anyone listed here has knowingly committed the offense and will be punished doubly.

This was a matter that would offend people, and Ding Ze, this junior military officer, was really unwilling to do it.

But since he's now dealing with Prince Su, he can't disobey his orders.

So he bowed and said, "Your humble servant obeys. I will arrange for people to register and make a list."

Tu Chengyu nodded after listening and said, "Okay, remember to hand it in to me after you've registered."

Ding Ze dared not delay this task, and immediately selected two literate men from among his men to register them.

Seeing that the registration process had begun, Tu Chengyu continued speaking:
"Now that we've told you what to do, we can't leave out the punishment."

Upon hearing this, everyone was filled with disbelief. They thought that recording their mistakes in the register and writing them down on paper was already a punishment, but now it seemed that was not the case.

Shopkeeper Bai said with a bitter face, "Your Highness, are there any other punishments?"

Tu Chengyu nodded and said, "Of course, do you think things will just end so easily? But you don't need to worry, my punishment next will not have any impact on you."

Hearing Tu Chengyu say this, Manager Bai said hopefully:

"Your Highness, what is the punishment?"

Tu Chengyu said, "The punishment is very simple. Each of you will donate fifty dan of grain to the disaster victims for relief. How about that? This punishment is not too severe."

Well, with the current grain prices in the capital, fifty dan of grain would only cost about forty taels of silver. For these people, it would be a bit painful, but not enough to break their spirits.

Tu Chengyu chose this number precisely to achieve the purpose of punishment, without driving them to desperation and forcing them to default on their obligations.

At the same time, another purpose of his was to prepare some food in advance for the disaster victims who arrived early.

Judging from the current situation, the Crown Prince's investigation of the granary will certainly not be over anytime soon.

In that case, the plan to open the granaries to provide relief to disaster victims may have to be postponed.

If there are no early arrivals among the disaster victims, the delay in the distribution of relief food is not a problem.

However, judging from today's situation, some disaster victims will arrive ahead of schedule, and as time goes on, the number of people arriving ahead of schedule will increase.

In that case, it won't work if we don't prepare food.

That's why Tu Chengyu came up with this idea—to get some money out of this group of people.

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's punishment, these people indeed breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they were saddened by the impending loss of silver, the fact that they could escape unscathed from Prince Su made the loss worthwhile.

Fearing that Tu Chengyu might change his mind, Manager Bai quickly said:
"Your Highness, we accept this punishment. But where should we deliver the grain we have to?"

Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and said:
"Once your names are registered, you can go back. Then, before dark tomorrow, bring the grain here, and someone will take care of you."

Oh, by the way, I think it's necessary to remind you that the grain delivered is perfectly usable. If you dare to use moldy or rotten grain to make up the numbers, just wait for me to come knocking on your door with the roster.

"We dare not, but we will certainly send the best grain."

After saying that, these people ran over to register their names, hoping to get home as soon as possible.

During the registration process, someone asked:

"Your Highness, can this grain be converted into silver? If so, I can present the silver to you right now."

It seems this person doesn't want to run it a second time.

The others' eyes lit up when they heard what he said.

Since the money is already going to be paid, why not just pay it directly? That would save a lot of trouble.

Tu Chengyu did not answer his question, but instead said:

"I will not accept silver; it must be grain. When you deliver it, I will arrange for someone to make a separate donation register. Your names will be written on a large sheet of paper and posted at the city gate, saying that you are voluntarily donating grain to the disaster victims."

Such a good thing? These people were immediately overjoyed.

If they were reluctant to deliver the grain earlier, they are now doing so willingly.

When punishment is turned into donations, it's not just a matter of money anymore.

Thinking of this, Manager Bai quickly said:

"This humble subject thanks Your Highness for your consideration."

"Alright, if you want to thank me, just don't cheat me when you deliver the grain."

The reason Tu Chengyu described the punishment of these people as a donation was not because he wanted to protect them.

He was thinking that turning their food into donations would create a leading effect.

This would allow other wealthy people in the capital to see that, in addition to setting up their own soup kitchens each year, they could also directly donate food to demonstrate their compassion.

After making the donation, their names would be written on notices and posted all over the capital.

This is a very prestigious thing; if handled well, it might attract a lot of people to donate food.

Tu Chengyu's ulterior motives remain unknown to outsiders for the time being.

Just as Tu Chengyu was watching them register their names, Su Xuanbao, who had gone to rescue people, returned.

"So, did you manage to rescue the person?" Tu Chengyu asked casually.

"Your Highness, the old man's eldest son has been rescued. At the same time, I also rescued another family from where they were being held; they were also disaster victims who arrived earlier."

Judging from this, Huang Zhi has quite a lot on his mind.

"It's good that the people have been rescued. You can leave the rescued people here and take Huang Zhi and the other two back to the capital and hand them over to the Shuntian Prefecture. Let Lord Zhu interrogate them and see if there are any other people being imprisoned."

Judging from Huang Zhi's reaction today, he must have another master behind him. And this master's position should be quite high.

If you investigate someone like that, you won't get any results anytime soon.

Tu Chengyu is currently preoccupied with resettling disaster victims and has neither the time nor the energy to investigate these matters.

So he thought of handing the man over to Zhu Shiguo, hoping that he could find out something.

Ideally, nothing should be found out; that would be harmless as long as it doesn't affect the resettlement of disaster victims.

Su Xuanbao accepted the order and immediately led Huang Zhi and the other two back to the capital.

Shortly after he left, Quan Xu arrived in a large entourage. These were presumably the few disaster victims who had arrived earlier. Looking at them, each huddled in a small group, Tu Chengyu estimated there were seven households, more than the old man had said.

Tu Chengyu asked, "Have all the early arrivals been brought here?"

Quan Xu replied, "Your Highness, I have brought everything I was able to find."

"It's good that you've brought them all, Mr. Quan. Then I'll trouble you to register everyone here, making sure no one is left out."

The students accepted the order.

Quan Wenwei also went down to work.

Just then, the old man whom Quan Xu had sent mustered his courage and walked up to Tu Chengyu, saying:
"Your Highness, I would like to ask where our family of several households should be resettled?"

Tu Chengyu said, "Don't rush to make arrangements. Just make do for the night. We'll make arrangements after I've made all the necessary plans for tomorrow."

In Tu Chengyu's vision, the resettlement of disaster victims will not be like before, where they are left to wander around at will.

He plans to divide the vacant land into sections, and then arrange for the disaster victims to be placed in different locations according to their origin.

In this way, he will be able to manage all the disaster victims in an orderly manner.

Not only will it be easier to distribute porridge then, but public security will also be much better, and various diseases can be prevented.

The old man looked somewhat disappointed when he heard that he still needed to be saved, but he didn't say anything and could only silently retreat.

Tu Chengyu watched his retreating figure, then suddenly remembered something and quickly asked Quan Xu:

"I ordered you to bring some of your soldiers with you. Have you done so?"

Quan Xu replied, "Your Highness, I have already sent someone to inform them, and they should arrive soon."

"It's good that you've notified them. Once the people arrive, you can immediately assign them to guard the area and temporarily protect the safety of the early arrivals."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will make the arrangements."

"I trust you to handle things, but there is one thing you need to prepare in advance: find out if there are any literate soldiers among them, as we will need them later."

Upon hearing this, Quan Xu frowned: "Your Highness, as you know, those who can join the army are all roughnecks, how could they possibly be literate?"

"I didn't ask you to find someone really skilled. As long as they know a few words and can read people's names, that's fine."

“It would be difficult to find someone who can understand a person’s name,” Quan Xu said with a troubled expression. “But Your Highness, rest assured, I will do my best to find one.”

With several things arranged, Tu Chengyu finally had some free time.

After the group from the capital left after registering everyone's names, Quan Wenwei finished registering all the disaster victims' households.

Tu Chengyu left Quan Xu to handle the rest of the matter, while he, Quan Wenwei, Jia Lian, and the others headed back home.

On the way back, Tu Chengyu and Jia Lian parted ways and went their separate ways.

After leaving Tu Chengyu, Jia Lian quickened his pace and ran towards the Rongguo Mansion with Jia Rong.

When the two of them hurried back to Jia Zheng's study in the front courtyard of Rongguo Mansion, they saw Jia Jing, Jia She, and Jia Zheng already sitting in the study waiting for them.

As soon as Jia Zheng saw the two of them, he quickly asked:
"You only went to help Prince Su move today, why are you back so late?"

Jia Lian and his companion had been busy all day and were now extremely aroused.

At this moment, the two of them, disregarding their elders' questions, first took a delightful sip of tea before speaking:
"We were originally going with them to move, but when Prince Su heard that a place to resettle the disaster victims outside the city had been found, he was anxious to go and check it out, so the two of us went with him to the south gate."

Jia Jing, who had been resting with his eyes closed, immediately opened them upon hearing this and asked:

"So you went on an errand with Prince Su? I ask you, did you request to go to the South City, or was it Prince Su who ordered you to go?"

Jia Lian said, "It was Prince Su who took the initiative to send us there, and according to my observation, Prince Su seems to want the two of us to go with him on his mission."

Jia Jing asked in surprise, "Oh, why do you think that?"

Jia Lian said, "Before setting off for the South City, Prince Su brought up this matter in his residence. At that time, Prince Su had me and Rong-ge'er sit in the hall and listen to his arrangements. If Prince Su did not intend to use us, why would he have us participate in such an important matter?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Jing couldn't help but smile.

“The Prince of Su’s arrangement is excellent. He’s willing to let the two of you accompany him on his mission. It seems he’s not as wary of our Jia family as before. That’s very good.”

After expressing his feelings, Jia Jing asked another question.

"Was there anything important that happened when you went out with Prince Su today?"

"Nephew, I do have two important things to report."

"whats the matter?"

"The first thing is about my younger sister's wedding."

The "elder sister" that Jia Lian mentioned is Jia Yuanchun.

Upon hearing that his daughter was involved, Jia Zheng quickly asked:

"How could this involve the eldest daughter?"

Seeing Jia Zheng's worried expression, Jia Lian quickly smiled and said:

"Sir, there's no need to worry, it's a good thing."

"Good news? Tell me quickly." Upon hearing the good news, Jia Zheng was indeed no longer worried, but he still wanted to hear it as soon as possible.

Jia Lian had no choice but to immediately say, "As you all know, my sister's husband went to Jiangnan with Prince Su earlier this year and has some connections with him."

Today I also went to Prince An's residence and personally requested that Prince Su attend his wedding.

Before Jia Lian could finish speaking, Jia Zheng interrupted him, saying, "How could such a thing happen?" "Quan Xu is too reckless. How could he make such a request so rashly? By the way, has Prince Su agreed yet?"

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Master, how can it be considered a good thing if we don't agree?"

"That's true." Jia Zheng couldn't help but laugh as he spoke.

Although Prince Su was able to attend the wedding at Quan Xu's request, the Jia family was still a part of the wedding, so it brought them honor.

Jia Zheng chuckled to himself, and Jia Jing had no choice but to continue his questioning:

"Let me ask you, when Prince Su agreed, did he say anything else?"

"Prince Su said he would give both our families a big red envelope then."

After speaking, Jia Lian explained to the gentlemen what a red envelope was.

Jia Jing and the others then understood that this was Tu Chengyu's gift.

The thought that Prince Su would give a gift when their daughter got married made Jia Jing happy.

He said to Jia Zheng, "It seems that the banquet we arranged before was a bit too modest."

(End of this chapter)