The daughter of the mansion is slapped in the face every day

The porridge cooked in the porridge shed in Daizhou gradually became thinner.

From half a bowl of rice in the original bowl of porridge to less than half a bowl of rice in the later bowl of porridge.

Now there are only a few grains of rice in a bowl of porridge.

Looking at the bowl full of porridge but with the bottom clear, the victims who came to get the porridge cursed and were very dissatisfied.

Some disaster victims began to eye the granaries, ready to grab a few bags of rice first.

Zhao Zheyong received a secret letter from the Ministry of Agriculture, which had a lot of things written on it.

In summary, the Sinong Mansion wrote this letter in accordance with the will of Emperor Zhao Changta, believing that the grain Zhao Zheyong took away should still be surplus, and that he should not ask for a large amount of grain. If it was not enough, Zhao Zheyong should find a way to raise grain on his own. The Sinong Mansion had insufficient surplus grain, and the grain could only be delivered to Daizhou later.

Of course, the letter did not mention how late this late date would be.

According to the usual practice of the Ministry of Agriculture, it is possible that they will procrastinate until the end of flood control.

Zhao Zheyong was so anxious and angry that blisters appeared at the corners of his mouth because he could not get any grain in Daizhou.

"Your Highness, the eldest prince must be cheating and deliberately finding excuses to delay providing food. What should we do if we don't have food?" Jiang Siqi said anxiously, as if he was seriously considering Zhao Zheyong.

Zhao Zheyong glared at Jiang Siqi, "If I have all the solutions, why would I need you?"

Jiang Siqi was glared at by Zhao Zheyong and immediately shrank back. In order to please Zhao Zheyong, he risked his life, "Your Highness, don't worry. I... I have a way."

Zhao Zheyong's expression was very impatient, "Speak!"

"As far as I know, the wealthy families in the city will store up food in case of emergency. Now that the flood has occurred, they have never come to the porridge stall to get porridge, which shows that they have surplus food. Now, as long as we persuade them to donate some food, Your Highness will commend them and use this to encourage others to donate food and supplies. Wouldn't we have food then?"

Zhao Zheyong didn't think about it, "Okay, then you take some people to persuade them."

Jiang Siqi didn't expect that this task would fall on him.

He was extremely happy and determined to show off his abilities in front of Zhao Zheyong.

"Your Highness, should we discuss this matter with the governor of the same state? After all, we are acting on his territory. If there is any accident, we can still have someone to take care of us."

"You go and inform him." Zhao Zheyong didn't want to care about so many things. He just wanted food now.

Jiang Siqi put his hands behind his back, excitedly took his people with him, and went to the homes of the wealthy to beg for food by pretending to be powerful.

These aristocratic families and wealthy gentry gave Zhao Zheyong some face and opened their doors to welcome Jiang Siqi.

However, no matter how hard Jiang Siqi talked, the unanimous answer given by these wealthy families was "We have no food at home, we can't take out any food at all."

After walking around the city, Jiang Siqi didn't beg for a single grain of rice.

It was almost noon, but Jiang Siqi did not dare to go back to the porridge shed to eat, for fear that Zhao Zheyong would see him with empty hands, think that he had problems with his ability, become dissatisfied with him, and no longer use him.

Now that grain prices in Daizhou have skyrocketed, Jiang Siqi does not have any extra money to treat his men to a meal, so several people sit on the ground under the shade of trees by the roadside and rest on empty stomachs.

Jiang Siqi leaned against the tree, closed his eyes and thought about what to do.

We can't fail to take back any food at all, otherwise we won't be able to explain ourselves.

But if we only bring back a few bags of food, which may not even be enough for the guards to eat, that won’t work either.

Where could he find so much food?

Jiang Siqi could vaguely hear the soldiers' discussions.

The officers and soldiers thought Jiang Siqi was asleep. They exchanged glances with each other, gathered together, and laughed at Jiang Siqi in a low voice:

"He is just a bookworm, and he actually told those merchants about the great principles of serving the country and the people. He can't even win the argument, and he is too thin-skinned. How can he get anything?"

"Yeah, I almost died of laughter. Who can understand those great principles? Those merchants will probably laugh at him and think he is easy to deal with."

"It's easy to see that they didn't suffer when they were young. They act on impulse. Who would give them anything if they talk nicely? If we had to rely on reasoning to get food, we would have starved to death. Everyone is worried about not having food to eat in the future, so they hold on to their own food. If we buy it at a high price, we might be able to buy some. This is the first time I've seen someone get something for nothing."

"Look at him like this. If we can't get food, we won't be able to go back. When will this end? How long do we have to stay here before we can go back to eat? My stomach is growling."

……

Jiang Siqi had certainly never suffered any hardship since he was a child. He thought that with his personal charm and talent, he could just say a few words to people at their door and they would obediently send him food.

How could he know what people who don’t have enough food to eat would think or do?

This is also the reason why the great scholars in the Bai Lu Dong Academy did not want Jiang Siqi to enter the officialdom so early: Jiang Siqi was well protected by a group of people at home and in the academy, he did not have enough experience among the people, knew too little about the ways of the world, and would easily offend others after entering the officialdom.

Although Jiang Siqi felt uncomfortable listening to the soldiers' discussions behind his back, he was more afraid of being looked down upon by Zhao Zheyong.

Those who gossip behind our backs will be dealt with later; the most important thing now is to complete the task.

Jiang Siqi suddenly opened his eyes and looked at them with a frown, "Then according to you, what should we do?"

These soldiers didn't expect Jiang Siqi to be awake, and they all stared at him with wide eyes.

They also knew that they had just said something bad about their superior and were afraid that they would lose their official positions because of this young man in front of them.

They looked at each other for a moment, and no one dared to speak.

"Come on, talk. Weren't you quite talkative just now?" Jiang Siqi yelled at them.

The officers and soldiers were even more afraid to speak.

Everyone lowered their heads, hoping that Jiang Siqi could divert their attention.

Seeing that no one spoke, Jiang Siqi thought that maybe he looked too fierce, so they didn't dare to speak. But Jiang Siqi wanted to know what good ideas they had, so he softened his voice, smiled and touched his stomach and said, "I also want to go back early, I'm hungry. But if I go back empty-handed, maybe His Highness will be unhappy and we won't be able to eat."

He indicated in his words that he was in the same group as these officers and soldiers.

This sentence really brought Jiang Siqi and other officers and soldiers closer together.

Suddenly, soldier Xiao Wu spoke up boldly, "Even the Liu family we just visited said they hadn't eaten enough for several days. But one can tell at a glance that they still have surplus food at home, because even the servants are well-fed, with rosy faces and bulging bellies. I guess they must have hidden food at home, and the amount is not small. Since he is unwilling to give it, we can just go in and take it. Can he stop us?"