A first snowfall continued for six days. At noon on the sixth day, the snow finally stopped.

But the whole capital has not cleared up and is still shrouded in gloomy clouds.

Looking at the gloomy sky, everyone knows that the heavy snow is not over yet.

Woo woo woo...

At noon, Zhao Yu, who was taking a nap in the Superintendent's office, heard a low sound of a horn coming from the school grounds.

"What happened?"

Zhao Yu called Ji Feng, who was on duty outside the hall, and asked.

Since Ji Feng was promoted to Supervisory Department Baihu, he has been responsible for the duties of the Supervising Department headquarters.

"My lord, because the first snow has cleared up a bit, the Qianhu Office of the Military Administration is summoning the headquarters' officers to assist the officers of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division and Shuntian Prefecture, and prepare to go to the outer city to clean the streets!"

Ji Feng knelt down on one knee and replied respectfully to Zhao Yugong.

According to Zhao Yu's instructions, the Supervisory Headquarters did not need to kneel down and worship Lu Jianxing, the deputy Qianhu, or an ordinary warrior when they saw him, but Ji Feng insisted on doing so.

Daqian Capital is divided into an inner city and an outer city. Most of the people living in the outer city are civilians. In the inner city, those living outside are wealthy merchants. The closer to the central imperial city, the higher the status of the people living there. .

Of course, small merchants and hawkers from the outer city can also enter the inner city to do business, but they have to do so in time for the morning bells and evening drums.

Otherwise, civilians from the outer city staying in the inner city would have to spend a lot of money to stay in an inn, or they would have to live in the prison of Shuntian Prefecture for a few days!

"Cleaning the streets in the outer city?"

Zhao Yu frowned slightly, the dignified West Factory servant, no matter how bad he was, was still under the emperor's internal ministers, but he actually started working as a cleaner?

Even so, it stands to reason that even if the streets need to be cleaned up, priority will be given to the inner city. When did the government officials start caring about the civilians in the outer city?

"Let's go and join in the fun!"

Being on duty at the Supervisor Headquarters was a bit boring, so Zhao Yu got up and prepared to follow the officers from the Qianhu Office of Military Administration to have a look.

"Sir, this street cleaning is a dirty thing. You..."

Seeing that Zhao Yu actually wanted to join in the fun, Ji Feng, who was kneeling below, was stunned.

No one else has time to hide from this unlucky thing, so why is this Shangguan so focused on getting involved?

"It doesn't matter! It's just free time anyway, it's good to go out and get some fresh air!"

Zhao Yu waved his hand, then stood up to greet Erha, leading Lu Jianxing and Jin Yichuan towards the outside of the West Police Factory.

Looking at Zhao Yu's expression, Ji Feng knew that this Shangguan did not understand the meaning of his words at all.

…

Outside the West Jishi Factory, the troops under the control of Qianhu, the military commander, have been prepared.

But when Zhao Yu saw what these soldiers were holding, he frowned slightly.

Since we were cleaning the streets, why didn't we bring brooms, shovels and other snow removal tools? Instead, everyone covered their mouths and noses with white towels.

After a while, hundreds of retinues dispatched by the military chief came to the outside of the West Police Factory and led the officers toward the outer city in a mighty manner.

Zhao Yu, who was suspicious in his heart, followed Fan Yi from a distance.

…

After passing through the inner city, Zhao Yu and his party arrived at the outer city of Kyoto.

When he saw this scene before his eyes, Zhao Yu froze on the spot. After a moment, Zhao Yu's face turned a sickly red color.

Wow!!

After a whirlwind in his chest, Zhao Yu vomited out all the pastries he had eaten in the morning.

When people are under extreme mood swings, their stomach and intestines will spasm rapidly.

Zhao Yu has never seen dead people before.

Since coming to Daqian, I have cut off several heads with my own hands.

But after seeing this scene happening in front of him, Zhao Yu still couldn't restrain the panic in his heart and started retching directly on the street.

"Sir...are you okay?!"

Seeing that Zhao Yu couldn't stop vomiting, Jin Yichuan and Lu Jianxing stepped forward and helped Zhao Yu up.

Yes, it's support.

Zhao Yu, whose inner strength had already surpassed most top-level masters, was so vomited at this moment that he no longer had the strength to even stand.

Now he finally understood why Ji Feng looked like that when he talked about cleaning the streets.

Why did he still wonder at the beginning that those officials would first consider the outer city when cleaning the streets!

On both sides of the street in front of Zhao Yu, frozen corpses were carried out by government servants and soldiers and dumped on wooden carts in the middle of the street.

All kinds of things...

When we clean the streets, what we are cleaning is not the snow that has accumulated on the roads for days, but the civilians who are freezing to death and starving to death!!

Although Zhao Yu lives in Daqian, his soul comes from a relatively peaceful society.

There, although I still live like a salted fish that will never turn over, at least as long as I am willing to move, I will not be hungry!

Zhao Yu had seen this scene in front of him from history books when he was studying.

But those few words and sentences simply cannot compare with the human tragedy in front of me.

After taking a good breath, Zhao Yu gradually suppressed the retching.

"It was just a heavy snowfall, how could so many people die?" Zhao Yu looked at the piles of corpses and whispered to himself.

This was still in the capital, at the feet of the emperor. It was hard for Zhao Yu to imagine what kind of bleak situation it would be in other prefectures of Beizhili outside the capital.

"Sir, the cold weather today is just one aspect. The most direct cause of these people's death is the food rations..."

Lu Jianxing heard Zhao Yu whispering to himself, and then opened his mouth to explain.

It turns out that as soon as the heavy snow fell, major grain merchants in Kyoto began to stock up on grain, and grain prices inside and outside the capital began to rise crazily.

The people who were already threatened by the heavy snow had their food rations cut off again...

"Sir, this is just the beginning. When refugees start to appear in the capitals of North Zhili, it will be really miserable!"

Lu Jianxing told everything he knew in one breath.

"Does the court just not care?"

After listening to Lu Jianxing's words, Zhao Yu asked something that made him feel quite idiotic.

"It doesn't matter. Of course it does!"

Jin Yichuan sneered and said: "This heavy snowfall will make officials at all levels grin from ear to ear."

When such a snow disaster occurs, the imperial court will definitely allocate funds for disaster relief, and at this time, officials at all levels will make a fortune!

…

Zhao Yu, who was feeling unwell, did not leave the outer city, but instead wanted to walk closer to the outside of the city.

Along the way, Zhao Yu discovered that the closer he got to the outside of the city, the more corpses died of cold and starvation. At first, there were just old and weak corpses, but in the end, there were gradually more corpses of even young and strong people.

"Go behind! Whoever dares to come forward again, be careful of the water and fire stick in my hand!"

Just after Zhao Yu and others turned around an alley, they saw a large number of ragged people crowded together in an open area.

"Sir, this is a porridge factory opened by the imperial court!"

Seeing Zhao Yu looking towards the crowd, Lu Jianxing explained.
Chapter completed!