Chapter 1886: Chapter 1888: Fire at the Capital City’s Western Granary
"Hehe, thank you, mother!" Yangyang said happily.
At this moment, Lele also came in holding a box. Yang Chuxia glanced at him and asked, "Are you donating money too?"
Lele blinked, saw Yangyang there, and said, "Ah, was I already beaten to it by little brother?"
"Hehe, brother, you are a step behind!"
Yang Chuxia held her forehead, they really are here to donate silver.
"Mother, this is one thousand taels, please donate it for me."
She opened the small box, and sure enough, it contained neat silver notes. Yang Chuxia said, "Well, you are a prince, you should indeed donate at this time. It’s a good thing you remembered, otherwise, I might have overlooked it. Since that’s the case, the clothes I donate will be under the name of you brothers, and the grain under your father’s name."
"Thank you, mother." Saying this, Lele even made a formal bow to Yang Chuxia, which made her very happy.
"Sigh, mother, don’t you think the children in the Northeast are so pitiful?" Yangyang sighed, "No clothes to wear, no food to eat, no place to sleep, and it’s so cold."
"That’s exactly why we need to donate silver, grain, and clothes."
No matter whether it is natural or human-made disaster, it’s the common people who suffer in the end.
At moments like this, even children like Yangyang and Lele can think about how hard life is for the people, but some people are heartless.
The Ministry of Revenue collected donations quickly. In one day, they gathered silver from all the ministers. Also, because Prince Zhuang and other families led the way in donating grain, other ministers followed suit and donated a considerable amount.
Additionally, some was taken from the national grain reserves, and the Ministry of Revenue purchased more, so in about three days, the relief grain was ready. This speed was actually quite fast. The missing cotton clothes were also being prepared and would be sent gradually to the Northeast.
But just the day before the grain was set to be shipped to the Northeast, something happened!
The granary in the western part of Capital City caught fire, all the prepared grain was burned, and the whole Capital City was filled with the smell of burnt rice.
Late at night, Ye Zi’an was called out, and he didn’t return to Prince An’s Mansion until the afternoon of the next day. His clothes were covered in all sorts of dust, even his face had black ashes, and there was a trace of redness in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Seeing him like this was rare, Yang Chuxia couldn’t help but worry.
"I’m fine!" Ye Zi’an waved his hand.
"How much grain was saved?"
Ye Zi’an paused and said, "Out of two hundred thousand pounds, less than four thousand pounds are left. The five thousand sets of cotton clothes prepared earlier are all gone! Only those ginger pieces have a part remaining."
Ginger pieces help fend off the cold, and the Ministry of Revenue had prepared several thousand pounds of it, ready to be transported to the Northeast.
"What about now?"
"All the people guarding the granary were burned to death." Ye Zi’an sighed and continued, "The cause of the fire is still unknown, and the Emperor is ordering an investigation."
"The important thing now isn’t the investigation, but to prepare grain and goods."
"The Emperor has already ordered the opening of other granaries in Capital City." Ye Zi’an paused and then said, "But I have a feeling this batch of grain won’t easily reach the Northeast."
Sure enough, the army escorting the grain was ambushed by a group of men in black two hundred miles outside the Capital City. Perhaps long prepared, these people targeted not the men, but the grain. Each person held a torch lit with kerosene, which was terrifying to watch.
Fortunately, there were many people escorting this time, so the loss wasn’t severe.
Upon receiving the news, the Emperor, fearing further incidents, dispatched another unit to secure the journey.