Chapter 1,479: Refining the Heart in the Mortal World (26)
Chapter 1482: Refining the heart in the mortal world (twenty-six)
Qing'an County, which has just gone through a year of disasters, did not see any hope in the new year.
Although the bandit army was driven away, not a drop of rain fell throughout the winter.
After the beginning of spring, the Qingshui River completely stopped flowing, and the river bed was full of dried fish that had been exposed to the sun.
Soon these dried fish were picked up by people to satisfy their hunger.
Due to the cutoff of irrigation water, spring plowing has been unable to be carried out, and panic is spreading everywhere.
This made the county magistrate Ye Xiangming very anxious. On the one hand, he organized a large number of manpower to dig wells to collect water, and on the other hand, he guided farmers to plant drought-resistant crops such as sweet potatoes.
Although sweet potatoes are unpalatable and require processing before they can be eaten, they are still better than growing rice and wheat without any harvest.
Despite this, when summer came, disaster victims still appeared in large numbers in Qing'an County.
"Master, madam, please give me something to eat!"
In the streets and alleys of the county, there were suddenly many refugees with their families. They were in ragged clothes, sallow and thin, with only a few broken bowls and a bag. They sat on the ground and begged from passers-by.
But there is nothing to eat - food is very expensive nowadays, and one meal a day is considered a good thing.
Because the number of victims pouring into the city was too large, which seriously affected the security of the county, the Yamen sent out officers, together with the garrison, to drive these people outside the city for resettlement and relief.
For a time, the cries and pleas were endless, even reaching the county government office.
In the lobby, County Magistrate Ye Xiangming frowned and said to Wang Chen who was sitting aside: "The food stored in the county treasury can only last for another month at most, and now we can't buy food from Yunze Mansion.
"
"Xian son-in-law, what do you say?"
Ye Xiangming was good at military training, but his ability in handling civil affairs was not very strong, so he relied more and more on Wang Chen, the county magistrate, to provide him with advice.
"Borrow some more grain from big households."
Wang Chen said without hesitation: "They must still have food in stock, and they can borrow as much as they can."
"This is not good."
Ye Xiangming was quite hesitant about Wang Chen's suggestion.
Of course he knew that some large households in the county had hoarded large amounts of grain, but if he attacked these large households without justifiable reasons, it would easily lead to chaos.
Big business owners are not weaklings, so how can they tolerate being slaughtered so easily?
In addition, Ye Xiangming has been operating in Qing'an County for so many years and has inextricable relationships with many large companies.
It’s not easy to start!
"Nothing bad."
Wang Chen said calmly: "In times of crisis, we should all help each other. For the sake of peace and security for hundreds of thousands of people, they have to borrow it even if they don't want it. The most we can do is buy it at a fair price."
From Wang Chen's point of view, his father-in-law is very capable, but it is a pity that after being an official for a long time, especially after serving as the county magistrate, he began to feel constrained in his actions and lost the decisiveness of the past.
Ye Xiangming smiled bitterly: "How can they be willing to sell it!"
Nowadays, food is more precious than silver. No matter how much money you have, you cannot buy enough food on the market. If the victims outside the city had not received relief from the county's grain stocks, they would all have died of hunger long ago.
"That's not up to them."
Wang Chen said without hesitation: "Well, if I have people throw a few pieces of armor into the homes of those wealthy families, then the county government will have a reason to take action."
Throughout the dynasties, it was a serious crime to hide armor privately, which could range from being exiled to the whole family to being executed!
A pair of armor can destroy a large family, and there is a very good reason.
??????55.??????
Ye Xiangming was dumbfounded and even felt chilled. He felt that his knowledge of Wang Chen had been refreshed again.
He murmured and asked: "Then after eating these big households, the drought is not over yet?"
The big households in the county are not like leeks in the field. After cutting one crop, new ones will grow. In fact, there is not much difference between eating the big households and killing the goose to obtain the eggs.
"Then let's go grab it!"
Wang Chen looked cold and stern: "When the time comes, I will lead my troops into Yunze again to wipe out the bandits. I will definitely be able to collect some food and come back."
Yunze Mansion is a land of plenty. No matter how severe the drought is, the situation there is much better than here.
Ye Xiangming was shocked again: "Leading troops out of the country is a serious crime!"
This crime is much bigger than concealing armor, and at least it has the consequences of punishing the three clans.
Wang Chen said: "Can't we just pretend to be bandits? If bandits are both hot and black, the local government will only be happy. Who can put this crime on us?"
His eyes were full of seriousness: "If that day comes, our son-in-law will just rebel."
Ye Xiangming couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
Only then did he realize that his son-in-law's courage was far beyond his imagination.
Starting an army and rebelling has become as commonplace as Wang Chen said!
The county magistrate looked around subconsciously.
Fortunately, there were only two people in the county government hall, the father-in-law and his son-in-law, so these treacherous words would not fall into the ears of a third person.
Seeing that his father-in-law was stunned and silent, Wang Chen smiled and said: "Of course, this is the last choice. Father-in-law, do you think it is better to live in a wealthy family?"
Ye Xiangming couldn't help but smile bitterly.
That's right, compared to rebellion, eating the big ones is nothing at all!
The county magistrate could only sigh: "That's all it can do."
Ye Xiangming and Wang Chen are currently the number one and number two figures in Qing'an County. If Weng and his son-in-law join forces, there will be no rivals in this county.
As a result, many large households in the county were unlucky.
Under the heavy weight of the crime of "concealing armor", one after another large households soon donated large amounts of stored grain, either voluntarily or under compulsion, which greatly alleviated the food crisis in Qing'an County.
Countless victims were able to survive as a result.
However, the consequences of doing so are also very obvious. Many large households obeyed on the surface, but in fact secretly sent people to complain to the city, denounced Ye Xiangming and Wang Chen and Weng's son-in-law for robbing the good people and covering up the crimes in Qing'an County.
Tired.
The influence these large households can exert by joining forces is still great, and the city government responded quickly and sent inspection envoys to Qing'an to investigate.
As a result, the patrol team was suddenly attacked by rogue bandits before they entered Qing'an County.
Everyone, including the inspector, was killed, and not even the body was found.
At the same time, several large households in Qing'an County were suddenly raided by the county government, and a large amount of evidence of banditry was copied out!
In addition to having all their property confiscated, these unlucky guys were all arrested and sent to hard labor.
After all this hard work, Qing'an County was as quiet as a chicken. The prestige of Ye Xiangming and Wang Chen rose to its peak, and a large family was obedient to them.
This situation lasted until late summer and early autumn.