Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) are important, but the stability of Yangliao is equally important.

Yinyin and her companion set off from the capital without lingering and soon entered Yangliao territory.

Not long after entering Yangliao, the two noticed something amiss. East of Yangliao, where there had been few people due to the previous battlefield, there were now wisps of smoke rising from chimneys.

"This doesn't look like there are only a dozen or so refugees," Fu Yuanzhou muttered to himself. Without even returning to his residence, he ordered the carriage to head in that direction first.

Before the two even got close, they were stopped: "This is a temporary residence for refugees. Without permission from the Prince's Palace, no one may enter or leave at will."

Fu Yuanzhou lifted the curtain and, seeing that it was people from the Yangliao camp, said directly, "It's me and the Queen returning."

The man quickly bowed.

Yinyin stepped out of the carriage and stood on the carriage shaft, gazing into the distance: "Wasn't it said that all the refugees who came had been settled in the Chu family manor? How come there are suddenly so many more people?"

The man scratched his head: "Your Highness, please wait a moment. Young Master Chu came here yesterday and hasn't left yet. I'll go and invite him here."

With Yin Yin's permission, the man quickly left, and soon after, a haggard-looking Chu Yun arrived.

Upon seeing the two, Chu Yun breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Highness, Yin Yin, you're finally back."

Chu Yun didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point: "Before the New Year, a few refugees appeared in Yangliao. They dared not enter the city and were just barely surviving in dilapidated temples in the wilderness."

"When Father saw how pitiful they were, with nowhere to go in the freezing cold, he settled them on the family estate, thinking it was an act of kindness."

"Who knew that after the New Year, another ten or so people came, all from the same village with their families."

"Father felt something was wrong. He was afraid that something had happened in the Song Kingdom that they were keeping from him. After discussing it with Wen's advisors, he decided not to let them into the city, but to keep them in that manor. He also quickly sent someone to deliver a letter to you."

"Who knew that several hundred people would suddenly appear yesterday? Father and Wen, the advisors, were terrified and quickly mobilized the people in the Yangliao camp to temporarily surround them here."

Fu Yuanzhou asked, "Are all these people from the Song Kingdom?"

“Yes, all of them,” Chu Yun answered affirmatively. “After surrounding them here, Father ordered someone to compile a booklet overnight, which contains all the basic information.”

“Then let’s go back to the Prince’s Mansion first,” Yin Yin said. “We need to find out what happened and submit a memorial urgently. With so many people, if things get out of hand, it won’t be a joke.”

The group told the Yangliao camp to mobilize sufficient manpower and be careful, then turned around, got into the carriage, and returned to the city.

They were lucky; the messenger sent to deliver their message met them just as he left the mansion.

Yinyin and the other girl opened the letter as they walked toward the study.

At this point, washing up and such doesn't matter; the most important thing is to find out the situation.

Fortunately, all the officials in Yangliao were promoted by Yinyin herself; they were not idle people who did nothing.

They had secretly sent the message instead of reporting it directly, thinking that the number of refugees was small and other places might not care. Yangliao was short of people for development, so they planned to let these twenty or so people stay and settle down.

But now that there are so many more people, and there may be more to come, the situation is completely different. The letter describes the situation in great detail, and even lists a table according to Yin Yin's teachings. As long as you read the letter, you will have a clear understanding of the situation of these hundreds of people.

Yinyin quickly read the letter and handed it to Fu Yuanzhou.

After reading the letter, Fu Yuanzhou frowned: "Song has plenty of water resources. Although the summers have been hot these past two years, they haven't been so dry that not a drop of rain has fallen. How could there be a drought, and for two years in a row? Is this news credible?"

Yin Yin's question also lay here, but she knew even more that some things could not be measured by common sense.

Having water doesn't mean everyone can use it.

Once inside the meeting place, their questions were answered.

Feng, a scholar from the Song Kingdom who was specially chosen to speak, said: "In previous years, droughts like this could have been alleviated simply by the people working hard and carrying more water, and it would never have come to this extent."

"But ever since the Song emperor favored the treacherous minister Shi Qiuliang two years ago, enfeoffing him as a king of a different surname and granting him several northern prefectures as his fiefdom, the people have been suffering."

“He said that all the water veins in the fiefdom belonged to him, so he destroyed the wells in every household and heavily guarded the water intake points. Whenever people needed water to irrigate their land, they had to pay him to buy the water.”

"Those who can afford it can irrigate their fields, while those who can't can only pray for rain."

Fu Yuanzhou had never heard of such a request before. He asked, "The river is so long. No matter how many people he has, he can't possibly fill all the riverbanks with people. Can't he just go to the unguarded places to fetch water?"

“Okay,” Feng Xiucai’s eyes were red and almost bleeding. “When it was almost harvest time, Shi Qiuliang’s men came and said that these people were stealing water and that half of the harvest would be used to pay for the water. Ignoring all objections, they ordered the harvesting of the crops.”

"They did have half of their crops left, but after harvesting that half, they might not even have enough to pay the taxes to the imperial court. How would they survive?"

After this conversation, everyone in the room fell silent.

If what Scholar Feng said is true, then there may be more trouble to come.

Yinyin immediately ordered, "Someone, grind the ink. The Prince is submitting his memorial, and I will also send a letter to the Empress."

Fu Yuanzhou realized what was happening: "Right, make another copy of the record book and send it to the capital along with it."

The two had only been in the mansion for an hour when an urgent letter to the capital was sent out of Yangliao City.

The letter has been sent out, but these people from the State of Song still need to be properly settled.

Yinyin thought for a moment and said to Feng Xiucai, "The register yesterday only gave us a general idea of ​​your basic information and where you came from. When we get back today, I'd like to trouble you to help us get them to report what kind of business they used to do and what they are good at."

"Whether you return to the Song Dynasty or not, Yangliao does not support idlers. If you want to survive in Yangliao, you have to work to earn money."

As soon as Yin Yin finished speaking, Feng Xiucai's eyes lit up. Fearing that someone might raise objections again, he quickly thanked her and agreed.

Because there were quite a few people, Yinyin specifically chose two officials to accompany her along with several clerks.

After they left, Fu Yuanzhou asked, "Yinyin, do we have enough food?"

Uncle Wen, who was drinking tea nearby, choked and coughed several times, not wanting to look at Fu Yuanzhou.

Knowing they were heading to the Yangliao camp, why couldn't they pay attention to other matters? Anyone with even a little knowledge of Yangliao's internal affairs wouldn't have asked such a question.

Yinyin said to him tactfully, "Even if another thousand or eight hundred of them come, Yangliao can still make sure they are well-fed."

"Yinyin, you're amazing," Fu Yuanzhou praised immediately. "When I first came here, the Yangliao Prefecture didn't have much surplus grain in its granary, but now it has enough to feed the refugees."

Uncle Wen, who had been holding back for a long time, couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, we have built three granaries in Yangliao, and they are all fully stocked. Why don't you take a look tomorrow when you have some free time?"