Chapter 7: River Control (10)

As the saying goes, the spring breeze is so proud that the horse's hooves are fast.

While walking and looking, Chai Rong and others had already entered Jiahe County.

Compared with the dirty and crowded situation a few days ago, the current county environment is overturned. Most of the refugees who are sitting and waiting to die by the streets, under the eaves, and under the roots of trees have disappeared. A small number of people who are really weak and cannot move on their own are also carried to the shelter by the soldiers of Cangzhou with red cloth wrapped around their arms, and poured rice soup with porcelain bowls in order to get a glimmer of life. There are also a few scattered limbs who are healthy and have good physical strength, but are unwilling to support themselves. They are just thinking about stealing chickens and dogs, and are chased by soldiers riding horses like rabbits.

The local people not only refused to give any sympathy to these idle people, but instead stood up and pointed out the direction of the "prey" for the cavalry patrolling the streets. While pointing, they kept chanting Buddha's name. It seemed that the Cangzhou cavalry riding tall horses and wearing fine chain mail were all reincarnated by ghost-catching arhats.

Whenever I saw a rogue being caught by the cavalry, I wrapped an arm around a rope and tied it to the back of the horse. The local people were not hesitant to applaud and cheer. Almost everyone had a cramped smile on their faces. The rogues smiled bitterly and shook their heads with their fate. Anyway, they were caught by the Cangzhou army, and they only built the river embankment with other refugees, and could manage two full meals a day. Compared to being able to stab the backbone every day for a full meal, it seemed that the fate was not too bad.

In a blink of an eye, everyone came to the front of the official office of Jiahe County. A long distance away, a big guy was familiar with his figure, shaking his butt to greet him. He clasped his fists and bowed, "Your Highness, why are you here in person? The county is dirty and messy, and the order is not restored. If there are some people with ulterior motives..."

"All right, Shunzi, ordinary assassins may not be able to get close to me!" Chai Rong smiled and waved his hand, interrupting in a low voice, "Besides, the reputation of your Cangzhou Army is not revealed. With you, who would dare to risk his life to get close to me!"

"Thank you for your praise!" Li Shun and Chai Rong had already become familiar with each other and responded loudly without hesitation. "Are you looking at the fundraising situation? Please wait, and let the county magistrate and Pan Mei come out to pick it up..."

"No need, I just take a look. Let's go in quietly to see what spell your marquis cast to pull out the hair from the iron rooster?" The reason why Chai Rong changed into an ordinary subordinate officer's outfit was to have a private visit in vain. Therefore, before Li Shun'er finished speaking, he immediately waved his hand with a smile.

"That's fine. Your Highness, let's take you in here!" Li Shun did not dare to disobey, first he clasped his fists to take the order. Then he hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Just say, just say you are mine, the elder of my clan! Come and observe. Do you think, this is feasible?"

"It's feasible!" Chai Rong has never liked to show off in front of his acquaintances. He smiled and nodded slightly.

"Then, then, okay, your highness, please follow the last future!" Li Shun knew Chai Rong's nature, liked to do things but didn't like to be nagging. After thinking about it, he turned around to lead the way for everyone.

At this moment, in the lobby of Qinghe County, the guests and guests were busy bargaining and making a quarrel. Therefore, except for the county magistrate Liu Yingcai, no one was intent on caring about it. Whose name is the new lower-level officer, and what is the difference between the other people?

And Liu Yingcai had only met Chai Rong three or four days ago. At that time, he was only concerned about picking up the unfavorable responsibility of resettlement of refugees for himself, and never had the courage to carefully look at the appearance of His Royal Highness. Therefore, when he saw Li Shun leading a commander-designated subordinate officer and several soldiers in the interior, he thought that these people came to put pressure on the local gentry. He smiled uneasy and quickly turned his eyes to the faces of the gentry, his butts were slightly raised, and he said in a tone of pleasing: "Dear villagers, elders, it is not my official who has forced you to donate grain. Zheng and Marquis Zheng, General Pan, said clearly, it is to buy it, buy it at a fair price. How much food you take out, how much money they pay, is it true."

"Mr. Liu, you may not know that my warehouse has been empty for a long time. I have lent it to my own disaster-stricken relatives. If you don't believe it, you can search it yourself." A fat-headed and big-eared gentry immediately stood up and complained loudly. "If you can find a bag of excess food, the grass people will be struck by lightning!"

"Not really, there is no, there is no. Not to mention the price at weekdays, even at the price in the past few days, we have no food to sell at home!"

"That's not the case, the landlord's family has no surplus food!"

"Aren't the food stored in us all accumulated after sweat beads fell on the ground and eight petals? Master Qingtian, you are so good, let's leave a bite of food for ourselves!"

"To be honest, the county magistrate said that our family can only eat white rice during festivals. On other days, wild vegetables and rice bran are not dealing with each other. Last year, when the eldest daughter-in-law was pregnant, she ate an extra bowl of dumplings, and I almost let her son divorce him!"

"Yes, yes, we have only saved up the family wealth after years of thrift. Master Qingtian, you can't just destroy the family we are waiting for!"

...

The other gentry followed closely, and the reasons they said were different, but the answers were not the same: Don’t sell it! Never sell it! Don’t want food, but you will die.

"Nonsense!" Tao Liushun, the commander of the Cangzhou Army Navy, who was sitting beside the county magistrate, was furious. He slapped the table hard and asked loudly, "Is the man surnamed Zhang? What did you say when you have money to buy land? Isn't the family's money too much to spend? And you, Lord Wang, you bought three thousand acres of wasteland in one go today, how could your family have no savings? And you, the man surnamed Lu, Bao, Gao, you, you, the rich man surnamed, aren't you bullying me fast enough? "

"Unforgivable! Jun Ye, please spare me, Jun Ye, please spare me!" As soon as the words were finished, the gentry immediately knelt down on the ground and exchanged tears. "Jun Ye, please spare me, my family really has no food stored there. The government sold the land just now, saying that it was to pay the bill with copper coins and silver, and that it could only pay 30%, and the rest would be paid annually within five years. If so, if it was said that food was used, I would definitely not be able to buy it, I would not be able to buy it!"

"I can't afford it, I can't afford it. Jun Ye, even if you kill me, you can't get out the food!"

"Unforgivable, Jun Ye, we are unforgivable!"

"Mr. County Magistrate, County Magistrate, please say something to me quickly. Otherwise, if I die, I will be a little bit scared. If I destroy the reputation of His Royal Highness, I will never be redeemed for death!"

One by one, I cried heartbrokenly. It was as if I had suffered so much grievance, and I wish I could die to show everyone in the world immediately.

County Magistrate Liu Yingcai was a scholar and always valued his reputation. He heard the gentry crying pitifully, and he was immediately panicked. He took out a square scarf from his sleeve, wiped the sweat from his forehead hard, and said to Tao Liushun with a tone of prayer: "General, you should know that the local people are simple. They said that there is no surplus grain at home, and it is probably eighty-point true. Otherwise, you see, can the Cangzhou army help support it for a few more days? Hasn't the court sent someone to Jingchu to purchase rice and grain..."

"When the rice and grain from the court arrived, the refugees outside had long been starved to death!" The Hutu County Magistrate was so angry that his eyes were inflamed. Tao Liushun slapped the table again and shouted sternly, "Come, give it to me..."

"Xiao Liuzi, don't be impulsive!" Pan Mei sat in the center of the lobby and quickly stood up and interrupted in a low voice, "No need! Brother Zheng has an order, no force is allowed!"

After saying that, he quickly turned his eyes to the gentry and said with a smile, "Since you have no surplus food at home, then the matter of purchasing grain will be given up. You can leave, and I hope everyone will not regret it in the future!"

"What, can I leave?" The squire originally wanted to continue to play tricks, but when they saw that the other party had let him go so easily, they could not believe their ears.

"Let's go, by the way, before leaving, remember to sign and confirm all the land you are planning to subscribe!" Pan Mei nodded slightly, her handsome and delicate face was filled with harmless smiles.

He had already had red lips and white teeth. When he smiled, he became more and more like the boy Shancai next to the Bodhisattva. However, the gentry judged from his third-rank military robe that this person was definitely not a person who could fool him easily. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Although we don't have much surplus food at home, we can save some money by saving. Let's do this, Marquis Zheng doesn't have to buy it. We'll pledge it."

"Yes, pledge!" The fat man who had complained before had the highest voice. He jumped up and added loudly, "The grass people, the grass people donated ten stones of white rice, which is definitely a very good rice without any sand or rice husk!"

"Cao people, Cao people donated fifteen stones of corn!"

"The grass people, the grass people's family is poor, donate eight stones of silk and corn!"

"Caomin is willing to share the worries of Marquis Zheng and donate ten stones of white rice!"

...

Based on the principle of not tearing apart, the gentry spoke one after another. They took out some rice and grain to avoid the young general who looked as handsome as a woman disguised as a man, and then came to the door to find trouble for themselves later.

Even though he knew that the gentry was sending out beggars, Pan Mei was not angry. She first recorded the pledges from everyone, then knocked on the account book with her pen, and spoke slowly, "Okay, all the righteous people, I will thank you for your Royal Highness the Crown Prince and my Marquis first."

"I dare not take it, I dare not take it!"

"It should be, it should be!"

The gentry bowed together, fearing that the reaction was too slow, so the other party made other additional requests.

"Okay, please come and sign and seal. If you can't write, you can just press a handprint!" Pan Mei smiled at the gentry again and whispered. "After signing, you can leave. Pan will never stop you!"

"Really?" The gentry couldn't believe that they were let go so easily, and they glared and confirmed again with their eyes widened.

"What am I lying to you?" Pan Mei smiled and raised her lips slightly.

"Then, why is the master's record so detailed? Could it be that he is still afraid that we will deny it?" The fat squire was so angry that he was laughed by Pan Mei. He couldn't help but grit his teeth and asked in a low voice.

"Good question!" Pan Mei put down her pen and gently stroked her hands, "I'll read it once, you can listen. It says that Zhang Siyuan, the owner of Zhangjiazhuang, Qinghe County, was worried about the villagers. He responded to the imperial edict and subscribed to two thousand acres of unowned wasteland. On the same day, he donated ten stones of white rice to the victims, without any sand or rice husks!."

"Ah!" After the words came, the hall was silent immediately. All the gentry looked like earth. They fought and could no longer move.

Pan Mei, fearing that the attack on everyone was not strong enough, paused and smiled and bowed to Zhang Siyuan, "Forgive Master Zhang, my grandfather must clearly record your contributions, saying that in the future, the people along the coast should know who to thank for their life!"

"Ah!" Zhang Siyuan's face changed immediately after hearing this. He quickly handed a few silver beans from his sleeve and quickly stuffed them into Pan Mei's palm. At the same time, he asked in an extremely low voice: "I dare to ask the champion Hou, he is planning..."

Like no one, Pan Mei took the silver lightly, but her voice did not drop at all. "Master Zhang, good men, don't worry. My marquis said that he would not care about how much land you buy and how much rice you sell this time. However, he could not let your good deeds end up being unknown. Therefore, the marquis specially ordered people to prepare stone tablets, intending to put stones as inscriptions at the ferries of the Yellow River after the control. Record all the good people's actions during the disaster relief period, so that future generations can admire them for generations!"

"This, this, how to make it happen!" The squire's faces were as embarrassed as a monkey's butt, and could bleeding at any time.

Sliding stones is an inscription, and shaping stones is an inscription. This is a good deed to promote everyone. It is simply to nail everyone present to the stone forever, so that the people and merchants who come and go will be cursed for thousands of years!

Just as she was ashamed of shame, she saw Pan Mei suddenly turned aside, pressed her hand on the hilt of the sword, and shouted, "Come on, please sign and seal the righteous men!"

"Yes!" Two rows of burly men rushed into the hall, picked up the account book, and prepared to ask the squire to come forward and use ink.

The gentry was so scared that they could no longer care about their long-term plans, "Pu!" "Puu!" "Puuuu!" "Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

"The grass people, the grass people pledge, pledge three thousand, no, five thousand stones!"

"Caomin, Caomin's family, there are only 2,000 s of surplus grains. I am willing to donate them all to His Highness the Crown Prince and Marquis Zheng to provide relief to the victims!"

"The grass-roots donated three thousand stones..."

"Caomin..."

"Everyone, I have written the account book just now. Wait for this..." Pan Mei smiled happily at the group of sweaty iron roosters. She deserved it, and told you not to eat soft and hard! Without thinking carefully, my general can even kill thousands of Khitan troops, and she is afraid that she will not cure you, the group of hob meat?!

"General, county magistrate..." The gentry knelt upright and howled loudly, "Okay, okay, sir, okay, let me donate more. I'll wait and see those refugees who have no food, but I feel like I'm cutting every day!"

"Yes, general, county magistrate, when we get home, we will let our tribe members live frugality and will definitely overcome difficulties with the refugees."

"Change it, change it, General Pan, be good, let me wait for this time to change it!"

...

"Well, I will reluctantly accept your kindness!" The audience cried in a mess. Pan Mei pretended to be moved and responded with a pout, "But remember, it's a modest purchase, not a waste of food for you. To be honest, my marquis doesn't like this little money, and the crown prince doesn't like it even more!"

"Yes, thank you general, thank you marquis, thank you prince!" After hearing this, the donated rice and grain could be exchanged for cash at the usual price. It was as if I had been amnesty, and nodded one by one. I nodded one by one. I nodded again and continued to hoard goods, which made me engrave my greedy and stingy name on the stone, which was infamous for thousands of years.

"Oh!" Chai Rong, who had been standing in the distance for a while, shook his head and smiled bitterly. The third brother's move was enough to make all the iron roosters think. "Shunzi, please let Pan Mei continue, don't come out. I'm alone, and I can't stand waiting for you to continue letting go!"
Chapter completed!