Zhang Yuan hurriedly set out in Linqingzhou, headed south along the Grand Canal, preparing to meet with Chenxi, and head to the disaster area together.

As a result, he walked for two days and was told that Chen Xi had left the canal and went on the official road to the west. He did not wait for him. Now Shen Xi is probably about to reach the disaster area.

"This eldest nephew is sincerely not giving me face, right? I am also the imperial envoy sent by His Majesty. Don't he want to know what the specific errands His Majesty gave him?"

Zhang Yuan was very upset, but had no choice but to do anything. The Ming Dynasty could make him so helpless, except for the emperor.

Zhang Yuan could only hurriedly chase the boundaries of Henan, hoping to keep up with Chen Xi's pace earlier, but he felt very uncomfortable now because he did not leave a specific place to meet with Chen Xi, which means that it is very likely that Chen Xi would go all the way and he would chase him all the way. If Chen Xi just didn't want to meet him, it would be difficult for him to meet Chen Xi.

Zhang Yuan thought Chen Xi deliberately avoided him, but it was not the case.

There was no need for Chen Xi to deliberately avoid Zhang Yuan. His anxious trip was related to the emergency disaster.

He went to Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan, where the Yellow River breach was between Huaiqing Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture. This was the section of the river that was ruling each other when the two prefectures built dikes all year round.

Chen Xi and his men walked west, walked more than 100 miles in a day, took a ferry from Xinji to cross the Yellow River, and then set foot on the border of Guide Prefecture, Henan.

Following the official road westward, groups of refugees began to appear along the way, and the more they walked forward, the more refugees they had.

Many refugees really couldn't walk and just lay on the side of the road, and then couldn't get up. Their families gathered around them and cried and snatched the earth, and they looked extremely miserable.

In the sky, crows hovered in the low altitude, landing on the ground from time to time, pecking at the corpses that began to decay everywhere on the roadside.

"Sir, it seems that the disaster situation is more serious than what was reported before... According to the investigation, many local victims were not properly resettled last year. This time, the Yellow River broke its dam, and the floods leaked, which destroyed a large area of ​​land and countless people were displaced. The prefectures and counties on both sides of the Yellow River have been prohibited from entering the city. If we go west, there will probably be more refugees on the roadside."

Xier stood behind Chen Xi.

Chen Xi stood on a big rock, looking at the refugees passing by below, everyone's faces were dead, and their eyes revealed despair, which was shocking.

Chen Xi sighed: "The Central Plains has suffered a series of disasters for several years and experienced wars. However, the birthplace of civilization has become the Avici Hell on earth. Even living has become a luxury. How unfair is God?"

Xier said: "Sir, have you notified the local governments along the way to accept refugees into the city and set up a porridge farm to settle the victims?"

Chen Xi did not answer, looked at the refugees' slow-moving team, sighed quietly, and then came down from a high place.

At this time, Ma Jiu, Zhu Hong and others came forward, and Ma Jiu said, "Sir, I have asked the refugees and the local postmaster, saying that there is an official in Ningling County to settle the victims, and these people are all heading to Ningling."

Chenxidao: "The rumors are too late. When these victims arrive in Ningling, I am afraid that the number of victims that Ningling can accept will be saturated long ago... Even the county town can't get in, so how can I have a bite of food?"

Ma Jiu said: "But... sir, they really have no choice. They have been hungry for a long time. If they don't eat anything, they will probably starve to death."

Chen Xi nodded and waved his hand: "Send a quick horse to Guide Mansion City and let the local magistrate come here overnight. I want to meet him in Kaocheng."

Ma Jiu asked for instructions: "Sir, do you need them to bring more food?"

Chenxidao: "If you have it, you can bring it, but no one will come. Then there is the canal urging the transport of grain. Guard Xi, go and notify Guard Yun, complete the contact earlier, and transport the food for disaster relief first..."

"Get orders!"

Xier took the order and left. Her mission was to inform Yunliu and ask Yunliu to escort the food to the disaster area to solve the urgent problem.

...

...

Disaster relief seems to be orderly, but in fact it is progressing slowly.

In Shen Xi's view, the difficulty in disaster relief is not that local governments do nothing, but that officials at all levels are powerless... A clever wife cannot cook without rice. Even a clean official who is dedicated to serving the people cannot produce food, and can only minimize the harm.

It was not until the third day that Chen Xi moved into an inn on the bank of the Yellow River. In fact, the inn could provide very little food. Chen Xi and the people around him could only rely on bringing their own dry food to satisfy their hunger. Because some dry food was placed on the road for the victims, the food was too short. Chen Xi had to consider it, and then he had to tighten his clothes and tighten his food, otherwise it would be difficult to go deep into the disaster area.

"Xie Yuqiao is too mediocre in handling state affairs. But it's not a big mistake. After the disaster, it's good that it won't happen if man-made disasters occur. These days, transportation is inconvenient and transportation costs are high. When encountering major disasters, you can only leave it to fate... Who can count on whom?"

After Chen Xi entered the official post, he did not rush to go to bed and fell asleep. He was energetic and happened to sit down at his desk to handle official duties. The guards and soldiers who followed him all the way were extremely tired, so he hurriedly set foot in the camp beside the official post and fell asleep.

Just after Shen Xi prepared the official documents for the Henan local government, Xier came to report that Sun Youcheng, the governor of Guide Prefecture, was about to arrive at the inn.

"Magistrate Sun has just arrived at the place."

Xier introduced, "I heard that he came alone and did not bring his family. There were many victims in Guide Mansion, which was related to the full efforts of Guide Mansion to manage the disasters."

Chen Xi nodded: "It's really rare. Kaifeng Prefecture and Huaiqing Prefecture were seriously affected. Guide Prefecture, which has nothing to do with the flood, was the most active in rescuing disasters. It seems that Sun Youcheng is a bit capable."

After waiting for less than a stick of incense, Sun Youcheng arrived at the inn and immediately came to see Chen Xi.

Sun Youcheng was about forty years old, looking smart and capable, and came up to give a simple salute. Then he told Chen Xi that the disaster he knew. Finally, he said regretfully: "Please forgive me, Shangshu Chen. Guide Mansion suffered frequent wars last year and consumed a lot of money and food in the treasury. Now that the people have just returned to their homes and are facing such a big flood, they really cannot produce more food, but now tens of thousands of victims are coming to Guide Mansion, and the local people can't bear it..."

Chen Xi asked: "How much food is left in the treasury?"

Sun Youcheng shook his head: "There is not much left. With the current situation, the current porridge shop can be maintained for up to two days. However, the problem is that a large number of refugees continue to pour in. I heard that more and more disaster victims are coming to Guide Mansion now."

Chen Xi nodded slightly: "As far as we know, the section below Wen County of Huaiqing Prefecture and Li Jinggaokou, Kaifeng Prefecture, is basically destroyed by floods. Now a large number of victims are gathered. If the victims are not managed in time, the victims will migrate to surrounding prefectures and counties, and more people will die of hunger and plague."

Sun Youcheng said: "That's true. Now the disaster area is seriously lacking in food and medicinal materials."

"Um."

Chen Xi nodded again, picked up a manuscript from the table and handed it to Sun Youcheng, "Afterwards, a batch of food and disaster relief supplies will be transported to Guide Mansion. You will lead people to set up a porridge field along the official road. To avoid the disaster victims doing nothing, you can organize the repair of the river embankment. Before the disaster is completely lifted, you must ensure that the porridge field is constantly being kept. Let's communicate with officials at all levels of the prefecture and county. Whoever fails to provide relief will be punished by the official."

"Shangshu Chen..."

Sun Youcheng is not very supportive of Chenxi's disaster relief punishment measures.

Chen Xi raised his hand to interrupt Sun Youcheng's words, "The people are displaced and they cannot count on others. Only local governments can help them. Officials should take a desperate attitude at this time... Those who have made contributions in disaster relief will report them. The official will ask for merit and be promoted. Just consider this a war and must be taken seriously."

Sun Youcheng thought for a while and nodded, "The officials must do their best."

...

...

The speed at which Chenxi transports grain is much faster than that in the capital.

The Ministry of Revenue is also investigating and inquiring about how much grain is stored in the grain warehouses in various places, and the grain has not even been shipped out of the warehouse. The first batch of grain transported by Chenxi has entered the front line of the disaster area in Guidefu.

Everything is that in order to build a new city, Chenxi established a relatively complete warehousing and freight system in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. Chenxi just so happened that a batch of grain was purchased from Jiangnan, including rice, corn, sweet potatoes and canned sea fish, and sent it to the north for sale through the canal. After learning that the Central Plains was hit by the disaster, Chenxi directly asked the grain transport fleet to go west in Xuzhou through the Yellow River waterway, and to stop and unload the goods at Xinji Wharf. Yunliu was responsible for transporting the grain to Guide Prefecture.

The victims who arrived in Guide Prefecture in advance could basically be treated.

The local area will first open a porridge farm for a few days. When the food is exhausted, the subsequent food transported will be replenished. Through labor-for-relief, the victims will be comforted.

But after all, there are only a few victims who fled to Guide Mansion.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "Sun Youcheng thought he had a good way to save disasters, but in fact he was just a drop in the bucket. The real disaster area was a place where floods were soaked. The people there were killed and injured. When there were shortage of doctors and medicines, they had already been corpses everywhere... The victims who had the strength to migrate were already considered to be relatively good among the victims."

Because of the insufficient food transported by Chenxi, he could only temporarily rescue disasters on the Guide Mansion, and even did not enter Kaifeng Mansion.

Xier then reported the situation of Kaifeng Prefecture to Chen Xi.

"...This time, the disaster was mainly caused by severe disasters north of the Yellow River. Kaifeng's Fucheng was not affected. However, the Fucheng has ordered that disaster victims be strictly prohibited from entering. Even if some relief points are opened outside the city, the supply of grain is severely insufficient and the treasury in the city is empty. I heard that local officials and wealthy families were unable to collect food, so I had to submit a memorial to the court for help..."

Chen Xi nodded: "The food price is higher now, right?"

Xier thought about it and said regretfully: "At least it is more than ten times the market price."

Chenxi Road: "There is still food in the local area, but unfortunately many people are unkind because of their wealth. It is impossible for them to give up their wealth to provide relief to the victims. In order to win over the hearts of the gentry, the local government cannot use compulsory means to collect grain... Can your senior sister transport the silver?"

Xier seemed very excited: "The new city used the stored brass and minted two million chunks of coins. In addition to allocating part for the construction of the new city, the rest was deposited into the money house. Now, 100,000 taels of silver were exchanged in Xuzhou and transported to Guide Mansion."

Chen Xi nodded: "Although it cannot completely resolve the difficulties in the disaster area, it should be enough to solve the urgent problem. Next, we have to go to Kaifeng Prefecture and bring the money to the city. We are always more at ease. However, this money is not enough, but even if you write an IOU, you have to collect enough food in the local area. This is much faster and more convenient than transporting it from other places. With food, you can save your life..."

"Do you write an IOU?" Xier found it incredible.

Chen Xidao: "Why, is my current identity and status like the kind of person who is not paying back the debt? This is also the time to test merchants from all over the country. If they want to do business under the business system I planned in the future, they have to follow my rules... Since I am here, they must obey my orders unconditionally."

Xier frowned and said, "It's better to take the soldiers to their mansion and grab them."

Chen Xi glared at Xier: "We are officials, not thieves, and we cannot know that the law is broken. However, the best result for me to preside over the disaster relief is. If you let others come, you may not have such courage in many things."

"Um."

Xier nodded.

Chen Xi said again: "Immediately contact the Henan local chamber of commerce and ask them to send people to contact us as soon as possible. Before I enter Kaifeng Prefecture City, I will implement the disaster relief food. After entering the city, there will be food to be transported out of the city!"

...

...

Chen Xi’s speech was not an ordinary official.

The news reached Kaifeng Prefecture in the shortest time, only three or four hours before and after.

The news soon exploded in Kaifeng Prefecture City. The local government had long known Chen Xi's reputation. After learning that Chen Xi was going to recruit food in the city to provide disaster relief, the gentry was very nervous, fearing that Chen Xi would come around.

But there is still a force in the secret, and I want to fight with Chen Xi. After all, it involves the vital interests of each family, and no one wants to be a soft persimmon and be pinched.

Zhao Mingyu, the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, immediately invited local gentry to the prefect's office to discuss the matter of collecting funds for disaster relief.

"...Mr. Zhao, before Duke Chen arrived, he reached out to us for food and clothing. Is the food too ugly? You can submit a memorial to the court to impeach him..."

In the main hall of the prefecture, there were twenty or thirty gentry families in Kaifeng Prefecture, basically representatives of gentry in the city. In the face of the disaster, these people did not lose without losses, because a large part of the land around Kaifeng Prefecture was their private land. After the disaster, the impact was not large enough on the south bank of the Yellow River near the Fucheng side. After all, this time, it was the Fucheng, and the embankment was relatively intact, and the situation on the north bank was much worse. This time, the Yellow River breach also occurred on the north bank.

In recent years, Kaifeng Prefecture was the main battlefield, so the Emperor's Office, the Censor's Office and the Ministry of the Ministry of the Ministry of the People were moved to Luoyang, the relatively stable Henan Prefecture City, and the Henan Governor also handled the matter according to the rules. Therefore, the Kaifeng Prefect Zhao Mingyu was already the largest official in the city.

Zhao Mingyu frowned when he heard this: "With Duke Chen's reputation in the court now, can he be impeached at will? As a local parent, I can only try my best to obey the angels sent by the court... Please see if you can help complete the errand of Shen's bus entrustment."

The gentry representatives present realized that Zhao Mingyu was also interested in disaster relief, but he had not been able to ask them for food before, but now he wanted to use Chen Xi's power to achieve his wish.

"Mr. Zhao, we have nothing to do. After the disaster, we can't save ourselves. How can we still have the energy to provide relief to the victims? The court did not allocate food, but wanted to ask the local government for it. This has never happened before..." A representative from a wealthy family named Han opposed it.

A representative from a family named Gu also jumped out and sang a counter-topic: "It's not easy... I hope Lord Zhao and Lord Shen will explain our difficulties."

Zhao Mingyu took out the official document and sighed: "This is a official letter sent by Duke Chen. You have seen it clearly. It is not because I am trying to make things difficult for me... Duke Chen has a word first. You will implement the disaster relief matter first. When the disaster relief money and food arrives, you will return it as much as possible."
To be continued...