In feudal times, communication was truly too difficult.
At this moment, Jin Feng was completely like a deaf person. He knew nothing of what was happening in Xichuan.
Especially in the current situation, he was hurrying at full speed the entire time. Even if Yuan Caiwei received news from Xichuan, there was no way to pass it to him.
Because Jin Feng himself did not know where he would be tomorrow.
This made Jin Feng miss the convenient communication of his previous life immensely.
Creating mobile phones was out of the question in the short term. It involved too many aspects.
However, the principle of the telegraph was not complex. If Jin Feng truly devoted himself to research, there was hope of developing it.
In the end, it came down to lacking time.
Jin Feng could do nothing about this. He was already working extremely hard, but Rome was not built in a day, and one does not become fat from a single mouthful.
The only thing Jin Feng could do now was hurry back as quickly as possible.
Early the next morning, Da Liu released the pigeons, and the team set off.
By mid-morning, snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky.
The cold wind grew even more biting.
Jin Feng looked up at the gloomy sky, his mood exceptionally heavy.
Though they were on the north bank of the Yangtze, this was still the south.
If it was snowing here, Xichuan must be even colder.
Jin Feng guessed correctly. At that moment, Xichuan was indeed very cold.
Though not yet to the point of water freezing on contact, this was the second snowfall of the year.
This made the already starving and freezing disaster victims’ plight even more dire.
Below Damang Slope, groups of victims huddled together for warmth, relying on each other’s body heat.
Zhang Liang stood at the top of Damang Slope, his brows furrowed into deep lines.
Born into poverty, he fully understood the victims’ suffering and sympathised greatly with them.
But the grain on Damang Slope was military rations. Zhang Liang dared not distribute it for relief without authorisation.
Over the next few days, Zhang Liang climbed the hill daily to observe the situation below.
The number of victims starving or freezing to death grew daily. Some, unable to endure the hunger and cold any longer, tried to sneak into Damang Slope to steal food and drink.
These past nights, the escorts on duty caught such people every evening.
They were all pitiful souls. Zhang Liang did not punish them harshly, simply having the escorts drive them away.
But this could not continue. As the disaster worsened, such people would surely increase.
It might even lead to a riot.
An escort braved the wind and snow to run up the hill and reported quietly, “Captain, Lord Qing has arrived. He is waiting for you in the main tent.”
“Was Lord Qing not under house arrest?” Zhang Liang was stunned. “How did he get out?”
“I do not know.” The escort shook his head.
Zhang Liang nodded and hurried down the hill.
In the main tent, Qing Xinyao and his attendants were all dressed in black robes, with hats covering their heads.
“Lord Qing, how have you become so thin?” Zhang Liang frowned.
The current Qing Xinyao had lost all his former plumpness. He was much thinner, and his hair had turned almost half white.
Zhang Liang had nearly failed to recognise him.
Qing Xinyao did not answer, only shaking his head with a bitter smile.
Zhang Liang realised he had asked a foolish question.
Xichuan was the Qing family’s base, built over generations. Now ravaged by eunuchs until the people could barely survive, and with Qing Xinyao under house arrest, it would be strange if he were comfortable.
So Zhang Liang changed the question. “It must not have been easy for Lord Qing to come out, I presume?”
“Indeed, very difficult. If not for the secret passage my grandfather left, I truly could not have escaped.” Qing Xinyao replied.
Qing Muluan’s grandfather had built a secret tunnel in the Qing residence years ago. During Qing Muluan’s father’s time, it had occasionally been maintained.
But Qing Xinyao had never imagined falling into such a miserable state, so after his father’s death, he had forgotten about the tunnel and had not sent anyone to maintain it.
Only during this house arrest did he remember it.
However, the tunnel had fallen into disrepair over the years, with a collapse in the middle.
In normal times, Qing Xinyao could casually send hundreds of soldiers to clear the collapsed section in a day or two.
But now under house arrest, with few people in the residence and monitored by the eunuch’s men, he dared not make much noise. He could only secretly send people to clear the debris.
They worked until yesterday, when the debris was finally cleared.
Qing Xinyao had finally made contact with the outside.
After all, it was a base operated for generations. Even though stripped of his position, Qing Xinyao still had many hidden connections in Xichuan.
Once reconnected, he quickly learned the situation around Xichuan.
Early this morning, he found a way to slip out of the city and come to find Zhang Liang.
“Brother Zhang Liang, have you contacted Sir Jin?” Qing Xinyao asked.
“When sir reached Jiangnan and the East Sea, there were a few pigeon messages, but nothing since.”
Zhang Liang said, “In his last message, sir told me not to confront the eunuch head-on. He would return as soon as possible after eliminating the water bandits. I do not know how the fighting is going there now.”
“Suppressing bandits at sea is no easy task. Sir Jin probably cannot return for the time being.”
Qing Xinyao sighed. “This is trouble.”
“Lord Qing, has something happened?” Zhang Liang asked.
“The eunuch ordered your Jinchuan Chamber’s granaries sealed, right? Yesterday I learned they are stealing grain from the granaries and hauling it out to sell.” Qing Xinyao said.
“What?!” Zhang Liang punched the table. “Too much bullying! How can they be so shameless?”
Because Jin Feng’s letter had warned against clashing directly with officials, when grain merchants falsely accused the Jinchuan Chamber and the eunuch ordered the granaries sealed, Zhang Liang had not resisted. He obediently withdrew the escorts and chamber staff.
In fact, news of the impending disaster in Xichuan this year had long spread in Jiangnan.
So those transporting grain from Jiangnan to Xichuan were far more than just the Jinchuan Chamber.
Many grain merchants had also shipped large quantities into the region.
But they were not there for relief. They wanted to profit from the disaster.
Jin Feng had actually learned of this early but had not stopped it.
First, he had no justifiable reason. Second, he hoped more merchants would bring grain.
Merchants hauling grain thousands of li could not take it back. They had to sell it in Xichuan.
The more that came, the more people could survive.
At worst, he could wage a price war later to stabilise grain prices.
But Jin Feng had been lured away before that day arrived.
In Zhang Liang’s view, the eunuch sealing the chamber’s granaries was simply collusion with the merchants. Closing theirs would allow the merchants’ grain to sell at high prices.
But he had not expected the eunuch to be so shameless, so bold.
Sealing the chamber’s granaries was one thing, but secretly transporting out the grain inside to sell at high prices was another.
Tang Xiaobei had toiled in Jiangnan for months, only to end up working for the grain merchants.
If Jin Feng returned and learned of this, he would go mad.
“Lord Qing, what should I do now?” Zhang Liang frowned.
Zhang Liang was skilled in warfare, but against such court intrigues, he was out of his depth. He could only seek advice from Qing Xinyao.
“I do not know either.” Qing Xinyao shook his head helplessly.
