You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 106 I am the reincarnation of the Red-Clothed Demon Lord, dedicated to bearing the karma of the mortal world.
Although both the inner city and the southern city belong to the capital, they are two completely different worlds.

The inner city is spacious, sparsely populated, and solemn.

The southern part of the city is crowded, bustling, and full of life.

Wanping County Magistrate Shang Zhou: "I always felt that the inner city was a bit oppressive and lifeless."

The magistrate of Daxing muttered, "With so many people dead, how can it not be depressing?"

Tong Guogang, the Prefectural Magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, suddenly had a brilliant idea: "I believe the court should invite some highly virtuous monks to perform a ritual to deliver the souls of the dead and suppress the wronged spirits."

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

Jiang Qingyun listened attentively and kept it in mind.

Metaphysics, believe it!
We should have even greater faith in eminent monks!
He turned his head and glanced at the monk following behind him.

As if sensing his intent, the monk Tianji nodded slightly and chanted the Buddhist prayer: "Amitabha!"

……

"Sir, Yongding Gate is just ahead."

Jiang Qingyun was taken aback. Who had asked me to meet them outside Yongding Gate a few days ago? Oh, it was Kong Sizhen, the daughter of Prince Dingnan, Kong Youde.

I stood her up, but it doesn't matter.

"Sir, shall we go back?"

"No, let's go out of Yongding Gate and take a look."

"As ordered."

Everything inside Yongding Gate belonged to the capital.

The place is just outside Yongding Gate.

Jiang Qingyun acted on a whim, thinking that since he was already here, he might as well go out of Yongding Gate for a stroll and then return to the city through You'an Gate.

He hadn't gone half a mile outside the city gate when he saw a corpse half-covered in snow and mud.

"Buried."

"Yes."

Two soldiers went to drag the body away.

……

Just as he was about to gallop away, Jiang Qingyun saw two people lying in a ditch by the roadside, thin and skeletal.

One of them shakily stretched out the broken bowl, as if trying to make a sound, but in the end, he only opened his mouth.

"Did anyone bring food?"

“I have some here,” shouted Tong Guogang, the Prefectural Magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, from behind.

"Wait a minute, pour some water on it and it'll rot."

"Yes."

One of the guards took the pastry, crushed it into powder, mixed it with water, stirred it vigorously with his finger, and then ran down into the depression.

"I have long admired Your Excellency's benevolence and kindness, and after meeting you today, I am truly impressed."

"you are?"

"My humble servant is Tong Guogang, a member of the Plain Blue Banner Han Army, currently serving as the Assistant Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture. My father, Tong Tulai, was granted the title of Second-Class Baron for his military achievements. My grandfather, Tong Yangzheng, died at the hands of the Ming general Mao Wenlong in Zhenjiang City, Liaodong."

……

Jiang Qingyun looked him up and down.

He was not familiar with the name Tong Tulai, but he knew that Tong Guogang was Emperor Kangxi's maternal uncle and that he had a brother named Tong Guowei.

At this time, the Tong family had not yet risen to prominence and their reputation was not yet established.

"You are a fourth-rank official, and so am I. There is no need to address me as 'subordinate official'."

"No, no, in front of you, I am just a humble official."

Tong Guogang is clearly very good at speaking.

The beggars in the depression had already started eating, shoveling food into their mouths, while soldiers stood by, helping to pour water for them.

Jiang Qingyun looked around and casually asked:

"How is your father?"

"not too good."

"how?"

"My father accompanied Prince Zheng on his southern expedition against the Ming army, and was wounded in three places during the battle of Hengzhou in Hunan. He is currently recuperating at home, but the arrow wounds are severe, frequently reopening and bleeding profusely."

"Your father was truly a brave general."

"My lord, my Tong family are loyal subjects of the Qing Dynasty."

Tong Guogang knelt down with a thud.

"Lord Tong, please get up."

“Your Excellency, although my father is a member of the Plain Blue Banner, he has no connection whatsoever with Dorgon.”

Jiang Qingyun suddenly realized that this person had come specifically to take sides.

"On the day of the February 226 Incident, your father was still fighting in the south?"

"Yes."

"how about you?"

"I was handling some official business in Fangshan at the time, and fortunately I escaped disaster."

"Where is your family?"

"My younger brother and sister are too young to be taken hostage by the rebels."

"I recall that Minister Li Shuaitai of the Ministry of Justice was also from the Plain Blue Banner?"

“Yes.” Tong Guogang thought for a moment and said in a low voice, “But the Li family and my Tong family don’t get along. My grandfather’s generation had some disagreements.”

Jiang Qingyun dismounted and personally helped Tong Guogang up.

"I believe that your family has nothing to do with the rebellion of the Plain Blue Banner, nor are you a remnant of Dorgon."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

Tong Guogang was on the verge of tears.

He was really scared.

The father, the family's breadwinner, lies on his sickbed, his life hanging by a thread as half a basin of blood is poured out every day. His younger siblings are still young, and the family is on the verge of collapse.

……

Jiang Qingyun mounted his horse and rode south for another four miles, where he noticed a significant increase in the number of refugees and beggars.

Why are there so many refugees?

Wanping County Magistrate Shang Zhou leaned closer and whispered:

"Your Excellency, it has always been so. Shuntian Prefecture has regulations that allow refugees to pass through, but they are not allowed to linger."

How can you guarantee that?

“Each county sends out its yamen runners every month to patrol around the city. If they encounter any shacks within 20 li, they must burn them down. Without shacks, there will be no settlements for displaced people.”

Jiang Qingyun nodded and turned to ask Tong Guogang.

"I don't understand. The country is at peace, so why are there so many refugees? Has there been any serious natural disaster in Zhili region this year?"

Tong Guogang lowered his voice and uttered two words.

"Land grabbing!"

……

After returning to Nancheng, Jiang Qingyun dismissed everyone around him.

“Monk, disaster relief is within the responsibilities of the Five Cities Garrison Command and is not an overreach. I plan to open a few soup kitchens outside Yongding Gate, and save as many people as we can.”

"Uncle Dong, what is the scale of the porridge distribution?"

“If the scale of the porridge distribution becomes too large, the imperial court will inevitably become wary. If this matter is investigated in detail, I really won’t be able to explain it. Winning over the hearts of the people in private never ends well in any dynasty. But if I don’t help, I will feel uneasy, after all, I have seen it, and after all, I have the ability to do so now. Don’t rush, let me think about it some more.”

The next day.

Outside Yongding Gate, porridge was being distributed on-site.

This is just one of the six porridge distribution points set up by Jiang Qingyun.

The Pujitang of Nancheng has arrived, as have the healthy children over 5 years old from the orphanage, along with the key leaders of various guilds in Nancheng and the monks from Chongfu Temple.

They divided the work among themselves: the guild leaders were responsible for purchasing cakes from the city and transporting them outside the city; the people from Pujitang were responsible for cooking porridge on-site; the children from the orphanage were responsible for serving the porridge; and the monks were responsible for chanting sutras loudly.

There were also yamen runners from Shuntian Prefecture carrying gongs, banging them and shouting.

"People of all ages are lining up. Before drinking the porridge, they face the Buddha statue and say, 'Please bless Imperial Censor Jiang to have a son.'"

"If you say so, you'll get porridge and flatbread."

Each refugee in line could receive a bowl of porridge and five flatbreads. The bowl of porridge would keep them alive, and the five flatbreads would allow them to slowly eat and walk another hundred miles.

……

The chanting of scriptures, making vows, and distributing porridge created a rather comical scene.

Jiang Qingyun wanted these people to survive, but he couldn't afford to cause them trouble. He had too many enemies in Beijing to count.

"I remember Shakyamuni said that wisdom cannot be transmitted, and karma cannot be saved. To arbitrarily interfere in the karma of others means to bear their karma. Monk, do you think I have interfered in the karma of others?"

"Calculate!"

"Then, wouldn't I have to bear the karma of tens of thousands of people?"

"Exactly."

"Bald monk, can't you say something nice to flatter me?"

The monk Tianji put his hands together in prayer.

"Without the power of a Vajra, one cannot act with the heart of a Bodhisattva. You, sir, are an Arhat riding a deer descended to earth, a reincarnation of the Red-Clothed Demon Lord, and naturally you can bear the karma of millions of people."

(End of this chapter)