The next day, before the sky was completely bright, Li Er, who had just finished his morning court session, had wanted to see his empress first after finishing his work. She was already seven months pregnant!
Although it was their fourth child, Li Er was still very concerned.
After the Great Tang faced a drought last year, followed by a locust plague, the Great Tang was in a state of panic and its economy was in a state of depression. The news that the Empress was pregnant and about to give birth made him feel as if he had just received a good rain after a long drought. He felt comforted.
"Your Majesty, the Empress has gone to the Imperial Garden for a walk. Should we move to the Imperial Garden?”The eunuch's report made Li Er stop in his tracks.
"Forget it, zhen will not disturb her. Since that's the case, I plan to go out of the palace today to see the Retired Emperor. He has already left the palace for three days, and I don't know how he is doing.”
Even his minister, Li Xiaogong, did not come to the morning court today. He was speechless. Why was Xiaogong also staying in Anping County and unwilling to come back?
What kind of magical place was the Lu Village of Anping County, which was more than ten miles away from Chang 'an City? Why did his father and the others miss it so much?
When he left the palace this time, Li Er planned to visit in civilian clothes and only brought a dozen personal guards. If he came as the emperor, he would probably disturb the peace of Anping County.
The journey of more than ten miles took Li Er almost two hours in the carriage.
And what he saw and heard in Anping County was indeed the same as what Wu He had reported. The people were actually not afraid of locusts and even actively caught locusts for fun.
"Locusts in exchange for food, even if the family had millions of dollars, it wouldn't be enough to spend.”Li Er believed it a little.
After all, the Great Tang did not dare to open up its granaries to provide aid to the people because they could not last for long.
According to the news that Li Er had heard, it had already started ten days ago. Just the tens of thousands of people in Anping County consumed at least 10,000 catties of porridge every day!
He followed the commoners and soon arrived outside the Lu Manor.
In the crowded courtyard, he just happened to see Wu He, who was guarding the Retired Emperor. Just as he was about to kneel and salute, he was stopped by Li Er.
"Wu He, where's Retired Emperor and the others?" Li Er asked.
"Your Majesty, the owner of the Lu Villa, Lu Xiu, has always slept until he woke up naturally. In addition, he drank too much yesterday, so I only woke up when the sun was high. Your Majesty, do you need me to wake them up to see you?”Wu He said.
"No, this zhen's visit this time is mainly to invite Retired Emperor to return to the palace and not to cause any more trouble. It's okay to let me wait a little longer. It was just that it would make things difficult for the commoners. They had probably already started waiting before dawn.”Li Er pointed at the long line of people waiting to exchange for food.
"Actually, Young Master Lu is not to be blamed. Young Master Lu comes out on time every day to open the granary to exchange for food. However, in order to exchange for some food, many people even waited for an entire day without being able to wait. Then, they did not go back at night and waited until dawn the next day.”Wu He said.
Li Er asked an old man in the queue and learned that he had been waiting outside for three days and three nights. He had come from Chang 'an County, which was more than 20 miles away.
From the mouths of the commoners, Li Er understood that the few catties of grain they exchanged from Lu Village every day were the livelihood of their family.
Most of the people were tenant farmers. They did not have their own land and did not have surplus grain in their homes. When the locust plague appeared, there was no harvest in the fields. Catching locusts in exchange for food was even more rewarding than working hard to farm.
"You can exchange for good wheat, flour, rice, and even beef, which is forbidden by the Great Tang?”Li Er was secretly shocked.
"No wonder the number of people queuing up is increasing day by day. Now, not only are there tens of thousands of people in Anping County, but the people from other places have also heard the news.”Wu He said in shock.
Because there were too many people in the queue, they usually arranged for the elderly who did not have much labor to line up. The main labor force in the family was responsible for catching locusts and exchanging them for food. Therefore, for the past three days, thousands of people had been eating and drinking at the Lu Manor. Who wouldn't want to exchange for food as soon as possible?
"I'm afraid it's difficult for him to save the hundreds of thousands of people around Chang 'an by himself.”Li Er's expression was complicated. Originally, it was his responsibility as the emperor to help the people, but now he had asked someone else to do it for him.
It was unknown how long the famine brought by the locust plague would last. However, if the people were to actively catch the locusts, the locusts that had swept Chang 'an would probably be cleared by the people very quickly.
Not only was Lu Xiu helping the victims, but he was also mobilizing the people to solve the locust plague themselves.
"Your Majesty, Young Master Lu has come out." After waiting for about half an incense stick's time, Lu Xiu, who everyone had been anticipating, finally came out of the Inner Academy.
It was easy to recognize Lu Xiu because his father, Li Yuan, and Hejian County Prince, Li Xiaogong, were accompanying him. The two of them deliberately hid their identities and chatted and laughed with him.
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