Qin Yining's lips trembled, looking at the familiar city gate and the once-familiar street, the sourness and sadness in her heart flowed through her body like lava.
This is a troubled place. The people living here, in addition to being harassed by war, are constantly being ruthlessly tortured by various natural disasters.
Does God really want to kill everyone
Although she did not live in the capital for too long, after recognizing her ancestors and returning to her family, she always regarded this place as her hometown. Although the time she spent in this city was short, it was richer and more exciting than the previous fourteen years. , let her remember.
Therefore, among the group, Qin Yining did not want to see the old capital like this.
Pang Xiao put his arms around Qin Yining's shoulder and patted it, then turned around and ordered, "Let's enter the city and go to the yamen first."
"Yes."
On the originally spacious and flat street, there was a deep pit with ground fissures, and most of the houses on both sides became broken walls.
The street was filled with a dead air, and the air was mixed with the smell of white lime, the burnt smell that lingered after burning corpses, and the stench of corpses that were too late to dispose of.
It was July now, and the old capital was located in the south. Those who were buried in the ruins in such weather would not take long to emit an unimaginable stench.
In such a harsh environment, ragged people built rough shacks to live around the streets. Naturally, there are also those houses that are not damaged, but the walls are cracked, and the overall situation remains the same, but after all, they are all big families.
Usually, the kind of intact courtyard is very careful in the construction and selection of materials. Most of the ordinary people live in mud houses, so how can they resist the constant tossing and turning of the earth dragon
Qin Yining frowned as he watched all the way. Those streets, either familiar or unfamiliar, are now in ruins.
Pang Xiao knew that she was sad, this was her hometown after all, so he could not help holding her shoulders tightly and protecting her in his arms.
On the way to the former "Shuntian Mansion" and the current "Old Capital Prefecture Yamen" on foot, the people they met saw the appearance of their group, and they were so hungry that they couldn't even lift their eyelids to take a look. Look.
They were so hungry.
The supply in the city is insufficient, the roads leading to the city outside the city are blocked, the food in the city is limited, and the shops with food at home refuse to open their doors. Even if they have money, they find that they cannot buy food.
And the relief from the court has never come.
It was Dayan who surrendered to Dazhou, and it is difficult to have a sense of belonging in Dazhou.
And now, the Great Zhou Dynasty, just as they expected, couldn't think of their people in times of crisis. Just like the former emperor of the Yan Dynasty, he can never remember the life and death of the people.
So what if we changed the sky? What should be abandoned will still be abandoned.
On the way, Pang Xiao saw those refugees with yellow faces and thin muscles, and the slender sword eyebrows were wrinkled a few lines between their brows.
"Liu sister-in-law, Liu sister-in-law!"
At this moment, there was a faint cry from the side of the road.
Everyone looked at the source of the sound, but saw a few victims rushing towards a remote small alley at the corner of the wall.
In the alley, a shriveled woman hung with a belt on a sturdy branch that slanted out from the side, dangling her worn skirt and bare feet under the shade of greenery, with a few scattered and overturned bricks under her feet. tile stone.
Qin Yining exclaimed and covered her mouth.
Then Pang Xiao covered her eyes with his hands.
Hu Zi hurriedly ran over to inquire, and returned with a downcast after a while, in the voice of the victims who had no strength to cry, whispered:
"That woman was a widow. Last year, her husband who got sick from the famine died of starvation. The earth dragon turned over, and her son and mother were buried under the old house. She was the only one who was a servant for a big family in the city and survived. But that big family couldn't afford their servants and wife, so they drove everyone away. The woman had no hope of living, and she went hungry for so many days, and in despair..."
Pang Xiao frowned and nodded, "I see. Let's go."
The group continued to step forward, leaving those faint cries in the distance.
But where in the city is there such a tragedy
A piece of the courtyard wall of the Yamen of the old prefect's government was also collapsed by the earthquake, and it was obviously repaired later.
The gate of the yamen was locked tightly, and Pang Xiao ordered someone to knock on the door.
The people who responded were weak, and when they learned that the person who came was actually an imperial envoy, several people hurriedly opened the door together.
Several pale-faced men hurriedly looked behind Pang Xiao and his group, but only saw a carriage and horses, but no food and grass.
Disappointment flashed in their eyes, but they respectfully invited people in and carefully closed the door.
Li Qitian later arranged for the local official surnamed Gong in the old capital, famous, with the word Zhongtang, and was forty years old. He was a Jinshi in the Northern Hebei Dynasty. It has always been reused by Li Qitian, who was named the prefect of the old capital and governed the old capital and several surrounding counties.
Seeing Pang Xiao and his party coming, Gong You hurriedly greeted them and saluted.
The two sides were polite and entered the front hall.
Gong You asked straight to the point: "Your Majesty came here, did you bring food and grass?"
Pang Xiao smiled wryly and sighed, but he couldn't directly say that Li Qitian didn't allocate food, so he had to say: "This king was worried about the situation, so he came first. The food and grass prepared by the Ministry of Household should arrive later."
Gong You didn't suspect him, and sighed, "It's not easy to go this way, right?"
Otherwise it wouldn't have gone so long.
Pang Xiao heard the meaning, and his smile became more and more bitter, "This king is also rushing ducks to the shelves. The disaster relief ambassador appointed by the sage was the king of Yan Jun, who knew that the king of Yan Jun rebelled and ran away halfway. For this matter Son, after a delay of several days, the sage then named this king as the disaster relief ambassador, replacing the task of the king of Yanjun."
"It turned out to be like this!" Gong You now fully understood, "The Prince of Yan County is too ungrateful, and the sage uses and trusts him so much, thinking that he is familiar with this place before he is arranged for the sake of the common people. Be safe, he is so good, he took the road to escape!"
When Pang Xiao saw Gong You like this, he knew that he was a straightforward and warm-blooded man of integrity. Working with someone like that has to be straightforward, just the way he likes it.
"Hey, don't mention him." Pang Xiao sighed and asked again, "How is the situation in the city? This king seems to have not seen the porridge shed for relief?"
Gong You shook his head with a wry smile, and said bleakly: "Your Highness, you don't know anything. This old Yan has been hollowed out a long time ago. Last year's famine year, the people went to 60%, 60%!"
Gong You painfully gestured with the thumb and tail finger of his right hand, "Then Dayan Dynasty is not wronged at all! Lord Gouhun is incompetent, and the people he has caused have been displaced. To be honest, this official was appointed last winter. That winter, the city was a dead city! It was lucky that there was no large-scale plague outbreak.
"Who knows that the remaining four adults will be turned over by the dragon in the next year. I don't know how many people died this time."