Chapter 43

Borrow military tents?

In the grand hall of the Ministry of Revenue, Changsun Wuji stared with wide eyes at the magistrate Qi, his mind struggling to comprehend the request. Military tents were public property and could not be lent out casually. He had never heard of such a thing and wondered how Magistrate Qi had come up with this idea.

"These snowstorms have collapsed over a thousand houses in our county. Tens of thousands of people are now standing in the icy cold. If they don't have a place to shelter from the cold, many will die tonight!" Magistrate Qi stood opposite Changsun Wuji, his face filled with sorrow as he pleaded.

"How did you come up with this idea?" Changsun Wuji, after hearing Magistrate Qi's words, carefully considered it and suddenly thought that borrowing some military tents from the Ministry of War might not be a bad idea. However, he was curious about how Magistrate Qi had thought of this.

"I dare not hide anything from the Minister. This idea was not mine, but rather suggested by the judge of the Academy of Practical Learning!" Upon hearing this, Magistrate Qi did not dare to hide anything and recounted the encounter with Zhao Chen to Changsun Wuji in detail.

Changsun Wuji's face immediately showed understanding. This made sense; only that young man could come up with such an idea. No one else would dare to think of using military tents.

After figuring out the situation, Changsun Wuji dismissed Magistrate Qi and headed to the grand hall of the Ministry of War to find Du Ruhui. Lives were at stake, and this was a particularly sensitive time. Even Changsun Wuji could not afford to be careless.

In the grand hall of the Ministry of War, Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling were both present. After hearing Changsun Wuji's words, both of them looked stunned. After a moment, Fang Xuanling said thoughtfully, "Although this plan is somewhat unconventional, in such extraordinary times, it is not a bad solution!"

"Since neither of you have any objections, I will go to the palace to see His Majesty!" Du Ruhui, after hearing Fang Xuanling's words, paused for a moment, then stood up, took a deep breath, and said to Fang Xuanling and the others in the room.

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Tired! It felt like all his bones were about to fall apart, and his feet were terribly itchy. This was the result of spending the whole day in the snow.

Back at his residence, Zhao Chen sent several dozen quilts to Yongping坊, then had hot water prepared and stripped down to get into the hot water.

After a day of being covered in mud, the once clear hot water immediately turned into a muddy mess as soon as he got in. Zhao Chen sighed in frustration and quickly washed off the mud. He then had more hot water prepared and finally relaxed in it.

In the middle of the night, the temperature suddenly dropped, and a fierce wind howled, making a sound like ghosts wailing as it swept over the rooftops. The fire in the stove burned fiercely, turning the stove red.

The entire Chang'an was buried in wind and snow!

Listening to the deafening howling outside, Zhao Chen secretly felt relieved about his quick decision. Otherwise, the prisoners in Yongping坊 might not have survived such a night.

He wondered if Magistrate Qi had managed to borrow the military tents. After all, this era was different from the future, and some things that seemed obvious were not feasible here. Zhao Chen sincerely hoped that Emperor Li would agree to lend the tents to those poor people.

In the morning, the snow and wind were still raging outside. The snow that had been piled up by Zhang Lu earlier was now gone, and a 'snow wall' had inexplicably appeared on the south wall, with sharp edges like it had been cut by a knife.

Everyone was trapped inside and could not go out, so there was no way to get any news. Zhao Chen paced around the room in frustration, but it was no use. The people he had sent out earlier were blown over by the wind as soon as they stepped out of the gate and struggled to crawl back.

As evening approached, the wind and snow finally began to subside. Zhao Chen quickly sent people out to gather information. After a day and night of strong winds, he was very worried about whether the houses in Yongping坊 could withstand such a storm.

The people he sent out returned after a full hour. The houses in Yongping坊 were intact, and Sun Simiao was fine. What made Zhao Chen even more relieved was that Emperor Li had not ignored the plight of the people and had urgently allocated five hundred military tents.

Now he could finally rest easy!

Zhao Chen smiled and patted Wang Ping on the shoulder, quickly instructing the kitchen to prepare a bowl of hot noodle soup. This guy was frozen stiff; he could barely speak, his ears were bright red, and his feet hurt so much that he dared not stomp them.

As the sky darkened, Cheng Chumo arrived. In such cold weather, being trapped inside must have been driving him crazy. This guy was just like his father, never able to stay still.

"Your place is much better! Look, how warm this room is!" Cheng Chumo, upon arriving, immediately took over Zhao Chen's seat, leaned back in the chair, and sighed contentedly.

"Don't act like you don't have a stove at home!" Zhao Chen, in a bad mood, moved another chair to sit opposite Cheng Chumo, and the two of them talked while sitting around the stove.

"Forget it!" Cheng Chumo's face suddenly looked miserable. "My father is raging at home, scolding everyone, so I've been busy dodging him and haven't had time to warm myself by the stove!"

"Who made your father so angry that he's throwing such a fit?" Zhao Chen, hearing this, was surprised and asked.

Cheng Chumo's expression suddenly became serious. He glanced back at the door and lowered his voice. "I heard that during court today, His Majesty was furious and ordered the flogging of a few idiots who were spreading rumors!"

Spreading rumors? Zhao Chen was stunned. At such a time, instead of focusing on disaster relief, they were dealing with such trivial matters?

"Do you know, Xiao Chen, that the whole court is secretly spreading the rumor that this snow is a punishment from heaven for His Majesty!" Cheng Chumo, seeing Zhao Chen's stunned expression, thought for a moment and then lowered his voice to tell him what he had heard from Cheng Fang.

"Bullshit!" Zhao Chen, hearing this, was so angry that he started cursing. "Blaming everything on heaven, at such a time, these bastards are not thinking about disaster relief but are sitting around spreading such nonsense!"

Cheng Chumo, hearing this, also nodded in agreement. "You're right! I heard from Cheng Fang that the scouts sent out yesterday reported that this snowstorm not only collapsed many houses in Wannian County but also destroyed many houses in the surrounding counties of Chang'an!"

At this point, Cheng Chumo suddenly remembered something and smiled foolishly at Zhao Chen. "Xiao Chen, do you know, you're famous now!"

"Huh?" Zhao Chen, who was already annoyed, was taken aback by Cheng Chumo's sudden words and blinked, looking at him.

"Hehe!" Cheng Chumo suddenly grinned and said, "Do you remember the idea you gave Magistrate Qi last night? It turns out that Magistrate Qi mentioned it, and this morning, His Majesty praised you in front of the entire court!"

Praised me? In front of the entire court?

Zhao Chen, seeing Cheng Chumo still grinning foolishly, felt a wave of dizziness. Emperor Li had praised him in front of the entire court, a scene he could hardly imagine. He guessed that some people must already hate him!

What a mess!

He had kindly offered an idea, but ended up offending so many people. This was truly an unexpected disaster!

"Xiao Chen, aren't you happy to hear this?" Cheng Chumo, seeing Zhao Chen's face turn pale upon hearing the news, was puzzled and asked.

When he heard this news from Cheng Fang, he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. Zhao Chen was his brother! His brother was praised in court, how could he not be happy?

Moreover, his brother hadn't even started his official career yet! Once he did, it would be even more impressive!

"Happy, of course I'm happy!" Zhao Chen, with a bitter smile, looked at Cheng Chumo and said, "Can't you see I'm so happy I'm about to cry?"

He didn't want to explain the implications to Cheng Chumo. His brother was happy about his achievement, so why make everyone unhappy?

"Right, since the news hasn't come back yet, what are we sighing about here!" Cheng Chumo, after a moment of melancholy with Zhao Chen, suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "I haven't eaten yet! Let's have the kitchen prepare some dishes, and we'll have a few drinks!"

Zhao Chen, who was already troubled, was so amused by Cheng Chumo's words that he couldn't help but laugh.

"By the way, you said that many houses in the surrounding counties of Chang'an were also destroyed?" Zhao Chen, after a moment, put aside his worries and asked Cheng Chumo.

Cheng Chumo nodded and said, "Yes, I heard from Cheng Fang that news came last night that many houses were destroyed in places like Xinfeng and Lantian."

"What's the current situation?" Zhao Chen, hearing this, felt a tightening in his chest. The people who had been in their houses all day could still feel the bone-chilling cold outside, let alone those who had lost their homes.

"It's not clear yet!" Cheng Chumo shook his head, rubbed his cheeks, and said sadly, "His Majesty has sent several groups to gather information, but none have returned yet!"

It would be strange if they did return! Zhao Chen, feeling dejected, sat in his chair and poked the stove with a fire poker, feeling a heavy heart.

"Let's not worry about it. Since the news hasn't come back, what are we sighing about here!" Cheng Chumo, after a moment of melancholy with Zhao Chen, suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "I haven't eaten yet! Let's have the kitchen prepare some dishes, and we'll have a few drinks!"

Zhao Chen, who was already troubled, was so amused by Cheng Chumo's words that he couldn't help but laugh.