Yan Liqiang was reminded of the snake in his body, so he knew very well what the officers sitting at the dinner table were thinking and whether they were really indignant and complaining. It was also for this reason that when Captain Liu asked him about it, he came straight to the point and gave a direct answer.
Although several officers from Luyuan had been mentally prepared before, they still had some hope and expected to hear some different answers from Yan Liqiang. However, when they heard Yan Liqiang say so bluntly that those who stayed behind would die, the faces of several officers changed drastically. After looking at each other, they were speechless for a moment.
For those who were destined to stay, when they knew that the result of staying would be death, the moods of several people at this moment were extremely complicated, as if something had collapsed. If several of them were not still sitting, their legs would probably have gone weak at this moment.
Captain Liu wanted to drink, but when he picked up the glass, it was shaking and all the wine spilled out.
"The court also knows that staying here is a dead end, so your majesty and all the civil and military officials in the court decided to leave the imperial capital and go on a hunting tour in the south to avoid this natural disaster. Before that, the court had actually been considering moving the capital..." Yan Liqiang said calmly.
"I also heard last year that the court was considering moving the capital... but... but then there was no news for some reason..." Captain Liu said hesitantly, and put the half-spilled wine glass back on the table. He withdrew his hand and clenched it into a fist under the table, which calmed his mood and thoughts a little.
"At that time, the court said to move the capital because it thought it could allow the people in the capital area to move out before the catastrophe came, so the court was not afraid to say so. But later the court found that the people in the capital area could not leave before the catastrophe came, but had to stay where they were, so there was no talk of moving the capital. Moving the capital became His Majesty's southern tour, and it became difficult for the people in the capital area to leave, and they needed a pass issued by the government..." Yan Liqiang explained.
"Why is this happening?"
Yan Liqiang smiled bitterly, "I didn't understand it at first, but after I came to the Imperial Capital, I realized that the reason why the court didn't let the people in the capital migrate and flee was because there were too many people in the capital. The court thought that it could let the people in the capital leave because the granaries and official warehouses in the states adjacent to the capital were full. As reported by the local authorities, the grain in the official warehouses and granaries could be used for disaster relief, and the people in the capital could be relocated to various states and counties for resettlement, so that they could survive this disaster and then slowly make plans. But the actual situation is What’s more, the government warehouses and granaries in the prefectures and counties surrounding the capital have been severely eroded and are unable to bear the needs of the people in the capital. In this case, if the court allows the people in the capital to escape and migrate freely, the people in the entire capital will become tens of millions of refugees and rioters, and the local government will be unable to restrain them. You are all soldiers, so you can naturally think of what that means to the court. Just think about it, if there are tens of millions of refugees and rioters in the capital of the Han Empire, will the Han Empire still exist... "
Although Captain Liu and his men were all officers of Luyuan, they were of low rank and did not know the secrets behind the imperial court's policies. When they heard what Yan Liqiang said, they suddenly woke up and understood everything. They were all scared and broke out in cold sweats. They were not stupid. After hearing what Yan Liqiang said and thinking about everything that had happened in the capital city in the past few days, they suddenly understood everything.
“This… this is… that is to say, the imperial court knew that letting us stay here would mean death… but… but they still lied to us and let us stay…” The captain named Guo Sida muttered to himself in a daze, and the faces of the other officers also changed again and again, and suddenly became ugly.
“Those who were imprisoned in Luyuan before were all my former colleagues and friends from the Great Han Empire Times. They were arrested and imprisoned in Luyuan because they didn’t want to tell lies in the newspaper to deceive the people in the capital and let everyone stay and wait for death. If it weren’t for the fact that I founded the Great Han Empire Times, Lord Sun, Eunuch Liu and I were familiar with His Majesty, and we had done some work for the court and risked our lives for His Majesty, they would probably have died long ago!”
"Please save our lives, sir. We will be grateful and will follow your orders!" Captain Liu was the first to react. He stood up, pushed away the chair, and knelt down in front of Yan Liqiang, paying his respects.
The other officers also reacted immediately, pushing aside their chairs and kneeling in front of Yan Liqiang. "Please save our lives, sir. We are very grateful and will follow your orders!"
"Get up, get up, let's sit down and talk!" Yan Liqiang helped the Luyuan officers up one by one, "We have come to this point today, how can I sit back and watch your family suffer in the capital city? I have brought the pass a long time ago, you sit down..."
After letting several officers sit down, Yan Liqiang stood up and went to the next room. He walked in with a box, put the box on the table, opened the box, and slowly inside the box were boxes of travel passes.
Seeing the brand new road passes, several officers became excited, as if they had seen a life-saving straw.
"Meng Hui said before that you need hundreds of passes. I brought 300 passes this time. You can divide them up. There are exactly 50 passes per person. In addition to your immediate family members, other relatives and friends who need them can also give them to them. It can be regarded as saving a life!"
“Thank you very much for saving our lives…” Several officers from Luyuan were so grateful that they didn’t know what to say. This life-saving grace was more important than Mount Tai, not to mention saving the lives of an entire family.
"I still have the pass here, but you also know that this matter should not be made public now. It is best to come quietly. Now that His Majesty is about to go on a southern tour, the court is also afraid of chaos!"
"Don't worry, sir. Most of our relatives and friends are old friends in the army, and many of them are working in the government. They know the limits!"
"That's good!" Yan Liqiang nodded, and then asked, "In half a year, there will be a catastrophe. After the catastrophe, the situation of the Han Empire will not be optimistic. There are signs of chaos. I wonder what your family plans to do after leaving the capital. Where are you going to settle down?"
Several officers looked at each other, with a trace of worry on their faces again. They were all strong men, and traveling around the country and sleeping in the open air was no problem. But it was not an easy task for this family, old and young, to find a strange place to settle down after leaving the capital, especially since they still had to work in Luyuan, and their family had better leave as soon as possible. It was really distressing for the old father and young children to leave their care and go out to make a living.
"It's a great blessing to get a pass from the adults, which gives our family a glimmer of hope. We don't dare to expect too much. As long as our family can leave the capital first and survive, we can slowly find a way to deal with the rest!" Captain Liu frowned and thought for a moment before speaking.
"If your family is willing to settle down in the northwest, I can arrange for someone to take care of them along the way. The families of my friends and subordinates in the newspaper are almost all in the northwest now!"
Hearing what Yan Liqiang said, several officers were shocked. They looked at each other and couldn't help but be very interested. They all knew that Yan Liqiang had great influence in the northwest. Yan Liqiang was the governor of Qiyun and had the world's number one factory and manufacturing bureau. Even the seven tribes of Shatu had to be obedient in front of him. If the Han Empire really fell into chaos, their small family would move to the northwest. With a local tyrant like Yan Liqiang to take care of them, it would be a hundred times better than going to other places where they were unfamiliar with the place. At least living would not be a problem and they would not be bullied.
"You don't have to answer me right away. You can discuss it with your family first and see what they think. If they agree, come back and tell me and I'll ask someone to help you arrange it!"
"Thank you, sir!" Several officers were grateful and thanked Yan Liqiang again.
…
Half an hour later, Yan Liqiang personally escorted several officers to the gate of the yard and watched them leave.
When they left, each of these officers had 50 travel permits on him. Seeing these people leaving cautiously in the night, Yan Liqiang really felt like he was recruiting people to join a pyramid scheme...
After the first batch of passes were distributed, Yan Liqiang believed that within a few days, these people would definitely come back to find him. This human relationship is like a big net. As long as any one end of the net is pulled, the whole net will slowly move...
The next day, Liu Xi and several other officers who were not on duty changed into civilian clothes and left the Deer Garden with the pass given by Yan Liqiang. On this day, Yan Liqiang met a eunuch from the palace again after more than a month...
On February 15th, which is the day after tomorrow, His Majesty the Emperor summoned Yan Liqiang to the palace to explain archery to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!
(End of this chapter)