By that time, the Yellow River had burst, causing disaster to six prefectures in the Central Plains. It had been happening for more than half a month.
The imperial decree came very quickly. The local officials of the six prefectures took the initiative to save themselves, provide disaster relief, rescue the people, stabilize people's livelihood, and wait for the arrival of food, grass and manpower from the imperial court.
This is also consistent procedure.
Even the grain and grass stored in Luoyang City were allocated and shipped to Kaifeng Mansion and Guide Mansion.
However, local manpower and material resources are ultimately limited, and investment is mostly directed towards prefectures, counties and cities with large population concentrations.
Chenliu County, Lanyang County (formerly known as Lankao County, revised county name, Lanyang County in the Ming Dynasty), and Qixian County formed a tripartite situation, occupying the entire northeastern position of Kaifeng Prefecture.
This time, Chenliu County was unfortunately dragged down by Lanyang County’s stupidity.
The floodwaters of the Yellow River sloping down from the breach, after overflowing Lanyang County, pushed all the way into Chenliu County with the momentum and power that swept away thousands of armies, and submerged the entire county without giving Chenliu a chance to react. The rolled up debris directly blocked one side of the county wall to the top of the wall.
Outside the city wall facing Lanyang County, there are countless officers and people carrying away debris washed away by the flood under the city wall.
Officials wearing Qipin Qingpao uniforms had their clothes rolled up and pressed under their belts, and their sleeves were rolled up high together.
The boots with green soles and green surfaces were already covered with mud at this time, and the trousers that should have been white were clinging tightly to the legs because they were covered in mud.
This person was Pei Benzhi, the then magistrate of Chenliu County, Kaifeng Prefecture.
Pei Benzhi, who went out of the city yesterday to inspect the disaster situation in the county and stayed away all night, did not rush back to the county seat until this time today. He continued to inspect the dredging work outside the city without even entering the city.
"County Honor."
"Your Majesty, you are back."
"The road here is slippery, County Lord, please walk slowly."
"We are all at work, county sir, you don't have to worry."
Pei Benzhi, who did not have three squads of officers to clear the way to protect him, led a servant and a clerk from the county government and walked among the busy people outside the city.
And around him, all the people who saw Pei Benzhi put down their work, saluted and said hello to this county magistrate, and spoke out reminders.
Pei Benzhi always has a smile on his face and greets fellow villagers, even though he has been awake all night and is exhausted.
[In view of the general environment,
Serving the country as an official and serving the people as an official.
This is the truth that Pei Benzhi has been taught by his elders since he was a child when he was studying and literacy. It is also the principle of life that he adheres to today.
Those who are officials should wear official uniforms all year round, have no worries in summer and winter, have a salary to support their families, and be supported by the people of the place. They should devote themselves to the survival of the people under their rule.
Pei Benzhi was thinking about the court's relief and how many days it would take to reach Chenliu County. He stepped in the mud under the city wall and did not feel that there was anything wrong with his official status.
After walking dozens of steps, Pei Benzhi raised his eyebrows, and the smile on his face finally subsided, and he couldn't help but reveal a hint of anger.
The chief clerk beside him immediately followed the line of sight of the county magistrate.
I saw a few gray-haired old men carrying baskets under the city wall, transporting the sand and debris accumulated under the city wall to low-lying areas outside the city.
….
Pei Benzhi immediately stepped forward quickly, his body swaying because of the mud under his feet.
In the blink of an eye, Pei Benzhi was already here.
He snorted lowly, looked around, and saw no officials sent by the county government. He immediately said loudly: "Who asked these old men to carry the burden! I said that day that old people over fifty do not need to carry the burden."
Let the young and strong do the heavy work, while the elderly just pick and choose the groceries!"
Several elderly people carrying heavy baskets full of sundries immediately put down their burdens when they saw the county official getting angry, and stood there with their heads down and hands tied.
The surrounding people also stopped what they were doing because of the county magistrate's anger and turned to look here.
In the crowd, there was a sound of hurried footsteps
It came from afar.
After a while, I saw a clay figurine whose original appearance could no longer be knocked out, running and crawling from behind the crowd to the front of the county magistrate.
"County... County Lord, this matter is not... not..."
The county official responsible for the dredging work of the city wall was already stammering when he spoke.
The few gray-haired old people over there finally couldn't stand it anymore, and they walked over, supporting each other.
"Your Majesty, this matter is not their fault."
Pei Benzhi's face was gloomy and his brows were furrowed. He moved his eyes away from the government officials and looked at the elderly people with a smile on his face: "Old men, I told you early on that you don't need to carry burdens if you are over fifty.
Don't be afraid, if they do things in a stupid way, I will punish them."
Several elderly people couldn't help but sigh and looked at Pei Benzhi with gratitude in their eyes.
"The county magistrate sympathizes with us useless old people."
"The county magistrate has been in our Chenliu County these years. Who dares to say that the county magistrate is not good? The people in the yamen have followed the county magistrate and are busy all day long for our Chenliu County."
"This time, it's us people. Seeing everyone busy, their shoulders are scratched. They are all their own children. The old men can't bear it."
Pei Benzhi frowned and glanced at the crowd around him.
He did not suspect that it was the government officials who were squeezing these people, but things always had to be confirmed.
Pei Benzhi coughed lightly and looked at the official who was covered in mud and water: "Get up now. Go home and have a hot meal. Come back after you have rested."
The official didn't want to get up, and still knelt on the ground with his head lowered: "Your Majesty, I'm not going home. Your Majesty, you haven't been home since you got sick, and you have worked so hard for us to stay in the county. I'm sorry."
I can’t do big things like the county magistrate, but I am willing to stay here and contribute to Chenliu County’s early escape from the floods.”
Pei Benzhi's brows furrowed even more tightly.
He stepped forward and lifted the clothes off the officials' shoulders.
The shoulders of the officials who stay in the yamen all year round and are not engaged in production have long been scratched, and the blood oozing out is mixed with sweat and mud, and has become pitch black.
Pei Benzhi couldn't help but let out a long sigh, straightened up and looked at the crowd around him.
He raised his hands high and bowed to the people around him.
"This county has not done a good job, so everyone has missed this year's spring plowing. Now we can only do work-for-relief work in and outside the city."
….
"Everyone, don't worry. Once this county becomes the magistrate of Chenliu County, it will be with you all the same day. The imperial court will never abandon Chenliu County. Yesterday, the imperial court received a letter. The grandson has already brought food to our Kaifeng mansion.
, the imperial court also sent the emperor’s personal army to help us.”
"Everyone, if you continue to persevere, we can weather this flood together."
Pei County Zun’s words are an iron rule in Chenliu County, a promise that will never be compromised.
With Pei Benzhi's encouragement, all the people under the messy city wall cheered.
Pei Benzhi smiled and waved, then turned around and walked towards the city with Chang Sui and the document.
Entering the city, the porridge shops on both sides of the street have never stopped since the flood.
Pei Benzhi didn't step forward to do anything that would make him fail in the tachyon test.
Because in Chenliu County, such things will not happen.
However, there was no smile on his face anymore.
Pei Benzhi turned his head slightly and looked at the county government office clerk next to him: "How much food is left in the warehouse?"
The clerk carefully looked around and saw people working, cleaning houses and roads.
The clerk quietly approached Pei Benzhi.
Then he whispered: "Your Majesty, if the relief food from the imperial court does not come, our Chenliu County can only survive for five days at most."
Pei Benzhi couldn't help but feel his heart sink. Although he knew that the county government had been tightening the supply of food these days, so many people in Chenliu County had to eat. No matter how tight they were, there would always be a day when they ran out of food.<
/p>
He just didn't expect that Chenliu County only had five days of food rations left.
Pei Benzhi's brows almost collided: "Can't we tighten it any more? What does Kaifeng Mansion say? Where is the food in the warehouse? Where is the food stored in the homes of the wealthy gentry in the county?"
The clerk's face became a little ugly and he shook his head: "Your Majesty, it can't be tightened any more. If it is tightened any longer, the people will not have the energy to work.
The government office responded with an official document, saying that it would first provide relief to Lankao County, which suffered the most severe damage due to the direct breach. We also need to support the officers and soldiers of the garrison, and this part cannot be lacking. Therefore, in addition to the first one, our Chenliu County
If you batch food, there will be no more food later.
The big gentry families in our county have donated money in the past few days. The county magistrate personally went door-to-door with people to ask for it, and so far he has probably obtained more than two thousand loads of grain."
Pei Benzhi immediately snorted coldly.
Then, all the depression in my heart turned into a sigh.
Pei Benzhi shook his head: "The Ming government has its own difficulties. Chenliu County is grateful to the Ming government for sending the first batch of grain. But should we continue to send messages to ask for it? As for... the two thousand tons of grain in this county?"<
/p>
Pei Benzhi sneered.
The clerk raised his head and glanced at the county magistrate, and he smelled something amiss.
The clerk quickly tugged on the county elder's sleeve and made a look.
Chang Sui coughed lightly, stepped forward lightly, and said cautiously: "Master, my grandson is already on the way with the relief from the imperial court. This disaster will eventually pass. Master, you haven't returned to the Yamen for several days, are you still here?"
Let’s go back and rest for a while. If something happens to you, our Chenliu County will really be doomed.”
"No reply."
….
Pei Benzhi replied in a calm tone, and then looked at the collapsed houses around him, his eyes full of vicissitudes: "This county has been favored by the country. I have been reading and writing since I was a child, and I know the principles of the saints. Fortunately, I was appreciated by the emperor and was appointed as the county magistrate.
I know Chenliu in the county, so I have to protect Chenliu for the emperor. If the disaster does not recede, the county will not return home."
Chang Sui nodded silently.
I thought that my county magistrate had forgotten what happened just now.
Unexpectedly, Pei Benzhi's tone suddenly turned cold: "The imperial court has given orders many times, and this year Taisun has been promoting the idea of dividing the land into an equal share. The purpose is to make the world peaceful and to enable the rich to help the poor. In such a disaster situation, this county
Do those wealthy gentry families want the county to take the disaster victims to live in their homes?"
The clerk's heart tightened, and Chang Sui also looked nervous.
"The county magistrate, the big gentry in this county...are all related to Fucheng and Jingzhong..."
The clerk reminded him quietly.
Pei Benzhi didn't care at all, and his eyes were already looking at the few houses and houses not far away from the city that were best preserved under the floods.
"Don't let this county find an opportunity!"
Then he snorted coldly.
The clerk was completely uneasy and nervous for no reason.
In the past few years, the gentry and large households in Chenliu County have long been suppressed by the county magistrates and suffered terribly. Almost every month, slanderous comments were sent to the capital, even to Yingtian.
This is also the reason why my county magistrate, despite having a prosperous career in Chenliu County, has not moved away for almost eight years.
Even before the floods in the Six Prefectures, there were vague rumors in Fucheng that they would take them away for their own county officials and get them to serve as officials in Guanzhong or even in the northwest.
Just when the clerk was worried about the future of his county officialdom, there was a sudden noise outside the city gate.
Pei Benzhi turned around and looked over, only to see people outside the city gate heading towards the city.
Something happened.
Pei Benzhi immediately took the documents and his entourage, turned around and walked out of the city.
"County Honor! County Honor!"
"It's the imperial court...people from the imperial court are here!"
"His Majesty's personal army, the Habayashi Guards, are here!"
As soon as Pei Benzhi met the people rushing to the city, he heard these people shouting with joy.
The emperor’s personal army is coming!
Pei Benzhi's eyes suddenly flashed with a bright light.
He immediately picked up his robe, spread his legs and ran out of the city.
A few moments.
After leaving the city, Pei Benzhi looked at the open space outside the city, and a long team was gathering from behind.
The flags of the emperor's troops almost occupied a large area of open space outside the city.
The sun and moon flag, the star flag, and the beast flag cover the sky and the sun, fluttering in the wind.
The cavalry controlled their horses and spread out in all directions.
The soldiers began to look for high ground outside the city that had not been soaked by the flood for too long, and it seemed that they were planning to set up camp in Chenliu County.
Carloads of grain and grass, under heavy guard, appeared in Pei Benzhi's sight.
In Pei Benzhi's sight, several generals in armor and stomach, riding majestic war horses, and surrounded by their own soldiers and cavalry, approached him.
Pei Benzhi could not conceal his joy and hurriedly called the county government officers outside the city to come forward.
"Pei Benzhi, the magistrate of Chenliu County, has met all the generals. Are the generals sent by the imperial court to relieve the disaster in this county?"
….
Tang Bi, the commander of the Yulin left guard of the Shangzhi personal army, who originally did not get the position of commander of the Henan Daodu Commander's Division, was depressed in Yingtian for several days.
Although the grandson had someone pass the message to him, the two guards on Yulin's left and right were under his own control after Yu Ma took office as the governor of Henan.
But without the sight of the army and horses guarding a guard station, Tang Bi still felt a little unspeakable.
However, there was a flood in Henan Province and other six prefectures, and Tang Bi began to rejoice that he did not take office as the governor of Henan Province at that time.
At this moment, the commander in charge of the emperor's personal troops on the left and right of Yulin was sitting on horseback watching the busy scene under the city wall outside Chenliu County.
Then he looked at Pei Benzhi, who looked nothing like a county magistrate.
Tang Bi smiled slightly, clasped his hands, and bowed in the direction of Yingtian City: "I have been stationed in Chenliu County by the emperor's order. The troops and horses under my command will obey the order and assist in the aftermath of the disaster in Chenliu County."
This is what I want!
Pei Benzhi immediately turned his eyes and looked at the food brought by Yu Linwei this time.
He rubbed his hands and looked at Tang Bi, who had already stood up and dismounted: "General, the people in this county now have the county government to provide them with daily rations. The current disaster has been more than half a month, and the fields have been washed away by floods, so spring plowing has been delayed. Now the county government has
Government granary..."
Pei Benzhi could see clearly that regardless of the carts of grain that Yulinwei brought this time, it was only enough for the army to be stationed in Chenliu County for a short period of time.
The food and grass that the imperial court really provided for relief had to be transported from other places.
Tang Bi looked at the Chenliu County magistrate in front of him with a dull look, and smiled slightly: "Pei County, I, Yulinwei, will definitely provide strong support for Chenliu this time according to the order."
Only effort but no food.
This is Tang Bi’s subtext.
When the army is out there, the first thing a general should consider is military morale. If the army is short of food, how can it be morale?
Pei Benzhi had already known that there would be such an answer. With a smile on his face, he motioned to the surrounding officials to step back, and he walked lightly to Tang Bi.
Tang Bi narrowed his eyes slightly.
Magistrate Chenliu, from the first moment he saw him, was different from other magistrates or prefects in the Ming Dynasty.
Tang Bi first raised his hand to signal Pei Benzhi to calm down.
Then he turned to look at his lieutenants: "Instructions are sent to the entire army to set up camp outside Chenliu County. All arrangements must be made according to the order. Order the three battalions in front, left and right to assist Chenliu in disaster relief."
The generals immediately accepted the order and arranged themselves in the army.
At this time, Tang Bi led Pei Benzhi, who was constantly thinking about things, for a walk along the city wall.
"I heard that this time there was a major disaster in the six prefectures and dozens of counties in the six prefectures. Only Chenliu County, under the governance of Pei County, suffered the least disaster and the people were the most stable."
Listening to Tang Bi's praise, Pei Benzhi smiled slightly, cupped his hands, and pointed at the busy people around him.
"The reason why this county could not
The imperial court was worried, but the people of this county worked hard, and all the people were of one mind, so that we could do what the general said."
Tang Bi shook his head: "Because I am on pro-military errands, I have not been out of the capital for a long time, but I also know that if Chen Liu did not have Pei County in the local government, he would probably not have the praise of me."
Pei Benzhi was still shaking his head.
Tang Bi asked again: "Isn't it that the food from Kaifeng Prefecture will not be transported? How much food does Pei County have on hand to stabilize the people's hearts?"
"...Three days!" Pei Benzhi hurriedly changed his words and reported three days' rations.
Tang Bi smiled: "What are Pei County's plans? I, the Yulin Guard, have been ordered by the emperor to cooperate with the local government."
Pei Benzhi turned to look at Tang Bi, trying to see how false his words were.
After a while, Pei Benzhi's brows became more murderous: "Open the granary of a large gentry family in Chenliu, and use it to store grain to help the people of this county!"
Tang Bi paused for a moment, then turned his head and looked at Pei Benzhi carefully.
After a while.
Tang Bicai laughed loudly: "Pei County is not afraid of losing his head? Borrowing and robbing are just the same word. Pei County, as an official, opens private warehouses of large gentry households. Isn't Pei County afraid of impeachment?"
Pei Benzhi hummed twice and looked outside at Tang Bi: "General, you may not know that this county has been an official in Chenliu for nearly eight years. Although I have done nothing to serve your majesty, I have earned the title of "Iron-necked". Guarding a county for the emperor.
People, this county has nothing to fear!"
Tang Bi immediately cheered.
His eyes were shining at this moment, and he reached out and patted Pei Benzhi on the shoulder.
"Okay!"
"I want to see how tough your Chenliu County iron neck is!"