Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 186: Distributing Porridge and Food
Yue Ling, who was originally concentrating on handling official business, became overwhelmed with thoughts when he thought of Lin Daiyu.

There was a sense of déjà vu as if he was practicing a technique but was distracted by what he was thinking, which made Yue Ling's mind dazed for a moment.

Quickly dispelling the thought, Yue Ling said to the person coming from below: "General Shi, you have worked hard after traveling so long."

Jia Yun and Yue Ling had the same idea. He was about to leave, but he stayed and went to make tea.

The newcomer, Shi Ding, was a marquis with the title of "Zhongjing", and was the most unique one among the four kings, eight dukes, and twelve marquises. Shi's family was from the Baoling Marquisate, and his title came from his own military exploits.

This person is not only capable, but also a staunch member of the Qin Wang Party. He has some friendship with Yue Ling.

It was for this reason that Emperor Longyou was confident in entrusting this task to him.

At the right time, Shi Ding sat down in a reclining chair and said with a deep breath, "It would be good if the Grand Commander's work was not delayed. At the turn of spring and summer, the food in the capital was not abundant, and it took a lot of effort to purchase and prepare."

"This time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has taken out a lot of silver from your Majesty's treasury. A total of 20,000 dan of corn, as well as medicinal materials, cloth, oil, salt and other miscellaneous items were sent. It was originally planned to be enough for the governor to use until the beginning of winter, but from what I have seen along the way, I am afraid it is a little insufficient."

"Twenty thousand shi, from the imperial treasury?"

Yue Ling extracted key words from Shi Ding's words and looked slightly stunned.

"Twenty thousand shi, plus the prices in the capital and various miscellaneous expenses, this trip will probably cost two hundred thousand taels of silver, no more, no less. Your Majesty is really willing to spend it."

"Moreover, it was allocated from the imperial treasury. It is probably because the court has been restless recently. I am afraid that it will delay the progress."

With such a good relationship between the monarch and his subjects, Yue Ling had one more reason to govern Cangzhou well.

Shi Ding took the brewed tea and said with a worried look on his face, "I heard that several families in the city are still secretly trying to trip up the Grand Commander. I wonder how the Grand Commander plans to deal with it?"

"If the Grand Commander intends to resort to force, why not do it tonight? They will be defenseless. I will lead the elite troops of the Firearms Battalion to surround each of them and wipe out the roots."

Yue Ling shook his head and smiled, "You have already given me the solution. As for them, there is still some money to be made from them. After all the money is made from them, it won't be too late to take them all in."

"After the city gates are opened tomorrow morning, the general will lead people to transport food into the city. In front of the people, first deliver 100 dan of food to the porridge stalls, and then deliver 2,000 dan to each of the eight counties."

Shi Ding was stunned. "Eight counties each sent 2,000 shi, which means most of it has been sent. But the city was hit the hardest and has the most victims. How does the Grand Commander plan to deal with it?"

Yue Ling smiled and said, "I have my own way. Tomorrow, the general will have to cooperate with me in a play."

"acting?"

……

When Yue Ling returned to his room, he saw Sister Lin sitting in the hall as usual.

The familiar scene made him feel a little relieved.

He breathed a sigh of relief and looked over again, only to see that Lin Daiyu was wearing a plain white dress with a little bamboo leaf pattern on the neckline. Her raised arm was partly exposed, and she was supporting her cheek with it, looking as if she was worried about something.

Yue Ling couldn't help but find it funny.

How could a little girl who hasn't been out for a long time have so many worries?

Hearing the noise at the door, Lin Daiyu regained her composure a little. Seeing Yue Ling smiling, she also responded with a smile, "What good thing did Brother Yue encounter today?"

Yue Ling sat down next to Lin Daiyu familiarly, waiting for her to pour tea, "How do you know that I encountered good things?"

Seeing Yue Ling blinking and looking at the empty teacup, Lin Daiyu sat up straight and poured tea for him personally.

The dancing of her sleeves was more fragrant than tea.

Yue Ling likes the tea poured by Lin Daiyu herself, as if the tea she poured tastes better and has some magical effect.

After taking back the teapot, Lin Daiyu thought for a moment and replied, "On ordinary days, Brother Yue would stop outside the door to take a breath, but today he walked in quickly, so I knew it was a good thing."

Yue Ling's face turned red when his thoughts were exposed by the little girl.

No matter how much intrigue and conspiracy he engages in outside, he cannot hide anything from Lin Daiyu's sharp eyes when he comes back.

Seeing Lin Daiyu blinking again, Yue Ling looked shorter and sighed, "Sister Lin guessed it right."

Lin Daiyu chuckled, raised her chin, looked at Yue Ling, and said proudly: "Not only can I guess that there is a good thing, I can also guess what the good thing is."

Yue Ling couldn't help but pause as he held the teacup in his hand. "Is it that amazing? Then tell me about it."

Lin Daiyu pretended to think for a moment and answered, "The gloom that had been hidden between Brother Yue's brows for the past few days has dissipated, so the only thing Brother Yue is worried about these days is the food in the city. Most likely, the government grain has been delivered."

Yue Ling bowed with both hands, "It's exactly right. Sister Lin can guess it?"

Lin Daiyu's eyebrows were curved, and there was a hint of pride on her face.

The fact that she could guess what was going on from Yue Ling's subtle changes was not only because Lin Daiyu was meticulous, but also because the two of them had been together for a long time and she kept an eye on him every day, so how could she not see through the trick?

Seeing Lin Daiyu's caring look, Yue Ling secretly thought: "Such a caring little cotton-padded jacket, Lord Lin is willing to throw it away, but I can't bear to do so."

As we chatted and laughed, much of the day's fatigue was dissipated.

Yue Ling leaned back in the chair comfortably, as if every day after returning home, he was waiting for this kind of comfort, so that his tense heart could relax a little. After a while, Zijuan and Xueyan brought in the food from outside.

There was a shortage of food in the city, so the family ate simple food, just white porridge with some vegetables. Although it was light, it was exactly what Lin Daiyu liked.

After dinner, the two maids were busy in the room. Lin Daiyu poured some more tea for Yue Ling and asked, "Brother Yue, can you take me out to see the porridge distribution tomorrow?"

Lin Daiyu was kindhearted, and the scene she saw when she entered the city must have had a great impact on her. At this time, she wanted to go out not because she wanted to have fun, but because she really wanted to see the suffering of the people and how the city would recover its vitality after having food.

Just like when she grows flowers, she also likes to wait for the buds to bloom.

Yue Ling nodded slightly, "Okay, come with me for a walk."

……

Early in the morning, it was still cold in Cangzhou city.

The streets were deserted and cold. Apart from the soldiers coming and going and a few sedan chairs, there was nothing else to be seen.

Without peddlers and hawkers, the streets were silent and the whole town seemed much less lively.

The victims, dressed in coarse linen clothes, leaned against each other in various corners of the city. When the morning light shone on their faces, they slightly opened their eyes, realizing that they had survived another day.

There is hope as long as you can get through one day.

Suddenly, deafening cheers broke out in the street, leaving the victims deep in the alley confused.

But when they walked out of the alley with curiosity, they also cheered.

I saw grain carts driving on the streets of the city, heading to porridge stalls all over the city.

"The food is coming, the food is coming!"

Cheers rang out one after another, and the victims followed the food carts to various porridge stalls.

When we arrived at the porridge shed, we could see that there were soldiers guarding it, and hot water was already boiling in the big pot on the earthen stove.

The steam was rising, as if a cloud was floating above the porridge stall, making it more conspicuous on the street.

The news of the porridge distribution seemed to spread throughout the city in an instant, and everyone in the city was mobilized.

The soldiers were afraid that some people had missed the opportunity, so when they patrolled the city, they deliberately went deeper to investigate, informed people about the porridge distribution, and posted notices in various places in the city.

"The porridge distribution will start on May 25th and will last for 20 days, once in the morning and once in the evening. After the 20th day, each household can receive one pound of relief food per day from the city's warehouse with their household registration certificate."

"Food is scarce. Those who waste food will be severely punished. Relief food is meant to help those in need. If you are already working, don't claim more than you deserve. Anyone caught will be expelled from the city..."

Outside each porridge stall, there were people surrounding it in three circles inside and three circles outside.

After the bags unloaded from the grain truck were cut open, the white rice was put into the pot, and cheers broke out again among the crowd.

The imperial envoy did not break his promise, and they were saved.

This was the best publicity for Yue Ling's recruitment. In the eyes of the people, the new imperial envoy was even more popular.

Some are happy, while others are sad.

When they learned that grain carts were entering the city, each of the wealthy merchants in the city sent out servants to various porridge stalls to find out the situation. However, when everyone saw that it was all grain, and it was white rice, and they knew that Yue Ling was not just pretending to be rich, and had found the grains from somewhere, they all knew that disaster was about to happen.

The imperial court’s disaster relief grain has already entered the city!
The heads of the families were in a panic and got on sedan chairs, going against the flow of people, and rushed to the Huang family.

The fragrance of white porridge on the street seemed to fill the whole city, but when they smelled it, it made them sweat profusely.

The Huang family is not much better than them.

Huang Wenhua, the head of the Huang family, had many spies in the city. When the city gates were opened and the grain carts entered the city, he already knew that something was wrong.

At this moment, he was pacing back and forth in the hall, thinking about how to deal with the situation.

The heads of the various families came in a threatening manner, even more ignorant of the rules than the common people who came to grab the porridge, and there were no officers or soldiers to maintain order.

The heads of the families came into the hall, saw Huang Wenhua, and asked, "Head Huang, didn't you say that the imperial court sent a letter saying that the Ministry of Revenue's granary had not been touched recently? Why was there grain delivered today?"

Huang Wenhua looked embarrassed, "To be honest, I was thinking about this as well."

Someone else said, "There are a total of 16 porridge stalls in the city, and each of them has more than 20 grain carts with about 100 dan of grain. Yue Ling immediately took out 1,000 dan of grain to give out. The porridge was so thick that even chopsticks could be inserted into it without falling over. It was so extravagant, and I wonder how much grain he had!"

Huang Wenhua considered and said, "Perhaps, he secretly transported these two thousand dan of grain, and today he is just putting on a show for us. If we unite and endure for a while, Yue Ling will definitely not be able to stand it. Even two thousand dan of grain is enough to feed the people in the city for a month."

The family heads looked at each other, all with their own thoughts.

"There is more than 2,000 dan of grain. Yue Ling is also going to start construction to build residential buildings outside the city. Even the grain distributed is no less than that of the porridge stall!"

(End of this chapter)