The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

The Regent was having a headache at the moment. He had originally sent people to the northwest to deliberately slander He Yue, but this kid He Yue got the news from nowhere and made his deal with the Tatars public. Many ministers had been surrounding his palace for several days.

"Please, Prince Regent, come out and prove yourself whether this is true or not?"

"Your Majesty, I feel deeply ashamed of you. For the sake of my family, I allowed you to remain alone in the capital. Now, we have all become traitors to the enemy. I truly feel guilty towards my ancestors and cannot face the late emperor's trust."

Some people did not believe it and thought that He Yue and the Regent were slandering each other, while others had already believed the fact. They were persuaded by the Regent to leave together. They also said that the Emperor had left first and they also had families. They did not want their families to be bullied by the Tatars, so they fled south in a hurry.

But now, their escape has become a joke. They have lived their whole lives, and although there were different voices in the court before, they suppressed some people for their own sake or for their own interests, but those were all internal struggles.

Now the devil they are following has deliberately brought the Tatars into the territory of Daqi for his own selfish desires, allowing them to massacre the people of Daqi. Tens of thousands of soldiers were slaughtered. Although it was not their fault, it was the result of their repeated connivance.

"Your Majesty, I am here. I can only atone for my sins by dying to prove my loyalty!" An old minister looked around, spotted the stone lions in front of the Regent's Palace, and charged into them.

"Mr. Dong, Mr. Dong, why are you doing this? Go and call a doctor!" Another young official in the crowd stepped forward and hugged Mr. Dong, his forehead covered in blood.

"This old minister feels ashamed to have lived up to the late emperor's trust in him. I will depart first." After saying this, Old Dong breathed his last.

"I am blind and blind. The Regent is such an incompetent person. I will resign immediately and return home. I do not want this position."

"Yes, I'm quitting too. The Prince Regent originally promised the Emperor that he would rule the country after his wedding, but he keeps finding excuses to delay. His evil ambitions are known to everyone in the world. I'm resigning and returning home."

"Oh, Mr. Dong, what's wrong with you? I have been discussing peace talks with the Tatars with the ministers in recent days. Go and ask the court doctor to come." The Regent had actually been paying attention to the situation outside the door for a long time, but seeing that the ministers were in high spirits, he did not dare to come out and ask for a scolding. Who knew that Lord Dong had such a strong temper and bumped into the stone lions on the spot? If he didn't show up, I'm afraid these people would resign and return home.

"Regent, what do you say about your treason? You can't just say General He deliberately slandered you. It's written in black and white. General He has evidence of your correspondence with the Tatars."

"Really? How could I not know? He Yue was young and full of energy. He relied on the fact that he had won a few battles in the past and because of the death of his family to slander me. These are all untrue. He dared to make up stories just because he captured a few Tatars. He has long forgotten his original intention.

The most urgent task is to negotiate with the Tatars, otherwise what should we do if they continue to harm our people? You are all still the subjects of Daqi, and you should share the worries of Daqi and stay here all the time, but what should we do?

This morning I heard news that disaster victims are already migrating south, and the people are displaced. Everyone, please quickly think of a solution. How can we stabilize the people? Should we open warehouses to provide disaster relief or settle the victims first?"

The Regent came out with an anxious look on his face, and his words seemed to put the lives of the people first. Everyone had been an official for so many years, and when it came to speaking official language, everyone would speak one thing after another. However, to this day, the Regent was still perfunctory. Several ministers shook their heads and left silently.

Among them, some went home and asked their families to pack up and prepare to leave, while others secretly contacted General He, wanting to serve He Yue. Since the emperor had a will that allowed the princess to succeed to the throne, they should obey the emperor's wishes.

People left Changzhou every day. Most of the people were afraid that the Tatars would attack Changzhou, and some were afraid that the regent would continue to kill people. When he was in the capital, the regent killed a group of people who did not obey him. However, after arriving in Changzhou, various affairs piled up at the same time. They had a premonition that after the Tatars retreated, they would become the targets of attack.

Rather than being in danger of being killed here at any time, it is better to go directly to General He. The imperial edict obtained from him is the orthodox one.

Some people also want to bet on both sides, and let their next generation secretly bring people to join them. No matter which side wins in the future, it will not affect the status of their family.

Lu Linlang didn't know what these officials were thinking, and they had no time to care about anything else at the moment. Because the first batch of disaster victims had arrived in Chongshui County, County Magistrate Zhao didn't dare to let them into the city rashly, but he still asked the gentry to organize people to provide porridge to these victims.

This year's grain has not yet been shipped to Hezhou. County Magistrate Zhao is also glad that it has not yet been shipped. Otherwise, if the victims arrive one after another and they are not properly resettled, chaos will surely occur.

The refugees, without houses and land, would easily become furious, and when resentment arose, it would be beyond the control of a county magistrate like him.

"Everyone, I invited you here today to hear your opinions. These disaster victims need to be resettled, but the government can't accommodate so many people. Chongshui is now just barren mountains and wasteland. Perhaps after the Tatars retreat, they will return to their hometowns. It's not appropriate to arrange for them to have farmland. We don't know how many more disaster victims there will be. Would you be willing to resettle them?"

"Sir, although we can provide resettlement, we are not short of manpower nowadays. There are not many people we can accommodate, and we cannot afford to support more." The gentry and wealthy businessmen looked bitter. They had already arranged people for their industries, and there were not many people they could accommodate. They had to do it for the sake of the county magistrate's face.

"Yes, sir, with so many people suddenly pouring in, I really don't know how to accommodate them. It would be better to let them go somewhere else. The further south they go, the fewer people there are. Maybe they can settle down there."

"I really want them to leave, but they said that after visiting so many places, only Chongshui is willing to provide porridge. They want to stay and spend the winter. They will go back next year when the Tatars leave."

At first, County Magistrate Zhao was happy about Taoist Ziwei's words, but not long after, these disaster victims began to give him a headache.

"Sir, I am planning to continue reclaiming the wasteland, but I am short of manpower. If you agree, I can temporarily accommodate 300 people." Lu Linlang had anticipated the appearance of disaster victims. She was planning to continue reclaiming the wasteland, and these people did not plan to live here for a long time, so they could be a good opportunity for her to reclaim the wasteland.

"Miss Lu is truly a timely relief. We have resettled three hundred people right away. Don't worry, I can't let you pay alone. I will return half of the grain tax you paid this year. Now that the court is still unsure what to do, and we don't know who to give the grain to, it's just right to feed these disaster victims."

Upon hearing about this good news, other gentry followed suit and said that they could provide employment and they also wanted to return the food. The victims only needed one or two thin meals a day. The winter in Chongshui was not very cold and it rarely snowed. If they built a few straw huts for them, they could squeeze together and survive the winter.