Chapter 663: Fighting water is like putting out fire
There were four people in total. The two idiots led the four people into the living room and introduced them to Xia Xun. The four people immediately took off their raincoats, revealing a military attaché robe with brocade bullfighting blouses and patchwork. The leader cupped his fists and saluted Xia Xun: " Wu Shang, general of Mingjia of the Zhijun Army, who is a low-ranking bodyguard, has met the Duke of the country!"
As soon as he was wearing a bullfight uniform, Xia Xun knew that he must be someone from the palace. When he heard him announce his identity, he was indeed a palace guard. He couldn't help but feel moved: "Generals, you are here in the rain. What big thing happened in the capital?" ?”
Although the four Tianwei generals were wearing raincoats, they were still soaked because they had come all the way in the rain and walked such a long way. Raindrops dripped from the copper mouthpieces of the sabers at their waists. [] The black wounds were wiped off. With the rain on his face, he held his knife and leaned forward, saying respectfully: "Since this spring, there have been continuous heavy rains. Suzhou, Songzhou, Jiading, and Huzhou have become one area. The people are scattered and mourning is everywhere. The emperor is worried and urgently orders the Duke to return to the capital. , preside over disaster relief!”
Xia Xun was surprised and asked: "Are the floods in the Susong area so serious?"
Wu Shang smiled bitterly and said: "Bizhi is just delivering an order, and the details are not clear. However, the appearance of the emperor and all the great scholars, I am afraid that the flood in Su Song is worse than what I said!"
Hearing this general's words, Xia Xun had read several books for a few days. Hearing this, Xia Xun did not hesitate and said immediately: "I will go back to Beijing with you right away!"
Wu Shang was startled and asked: "Don't you wait for the rain to stop today? With such a heavy rain, my lord..."
Xia Xun said: "I, the duke of the country, am not a delicate and expensive dandy. You fool, prepare your horse and raincoat immediately!"
"yes!"
Er Lunzi agreed and rushed into the rain holding an umbrella.
Xia Xun turned around and thanked him: "The matter is urgent, so I won't say goodbye to everyone one by one. You can tell everyone later and don't worry about it. The children are having fun here. I and you can be more casual and stay here longer." Come on, I won’t be in Beijing for a while anyway.”
Thank you, you have endured hardships since you were a child, and you naturally understand that continuous heavy rains, for people like her now, only increase the children's interest in playing, but what a heavy blow they are to the poor people who are digging in the fields for food, so I immediately agreed, He gently asked: "Master, please pay attention to your health and don't overwork yourself."
Xia Xun agreed, and after a while, the two idiots hurried over and reported that they had prepared their mounts and brought rain gear. Xia Xun was dressed neatly at the entrance of the hall, and walked quickly with four palace guards who also put on raincoats again. Go.
Siyu stood under the tree and had a clear view, and asked in a childish voice: "Daddy, where are you going?"
Xia Xun paused for a moment, smiled at her and said, "Daddy is going to catch loaches for you!"
Siqi immediately licked his lips and said in a sweet voice, "The yellow frog is delicious!"
Xia Xun laughed loudly: "You greedy little kitten, do it! Daddy will catch a big yellow frog for you!" He said and left in a hurry.
Xia Xun was very anxious. He had spent more than a year at the lowest level of society. He even traveled all the way from Huzhou to Qingzhou begging for food. He had a very good understanding of the lives of the poor people at the lowest level of society. He even lived in Jinan City with his own eyes. He led countless people to starve to death. He did not have a heart of stone, and his nerves were not as tough as wires. All that hell was deeply engraved in his heart, and he was awakened by nightmares several times.
He knew very well what it would mean if there was a major flood during the lean years in April and May. People did not have much food left in their homes. Once it was washed away by the flood, there would be no food left. It would kill people, and
People die every day. If he died a moment earlier, he could save many lives. This has nothing to do with the fate of the country, the court, or the future. It is just for the poor people who are suffering now. Can't you bear the hard work of walking in the rain?
This is the simplest emotion a person has!
What's more, there is Huzhou in the disaster-stricken area. Over the years, although his adoptive father has died long ago and he has left the small village in Nanxun, Huzhou, he has never forgotten the place. He is just worried about being
After his identity was revealed, he did not appear there in person. When his family became prosperous, he had already given instructions to his family to make various charities and donations to the folks there. These things were always done by Xie Xie.
Now that his "hometown" has suffered a disaster, he is naturally even more anxious.
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It’s raining! It’s raining again!
It’s raining! It’s raining heavily again!
The river is full, the river is full, the ponds and lakes are full, and even the water in wells has risen three feet out of thin air.
It was only mid-April, and several consecutive heavy rains turned Huzhou Prefecture into a swamp. The fields were washed away, the seedlings were drowned, and the low-lying areas had become a vast area. The gentry organized private boats to rescue the victims and rowed their boats.
As we passed by, only pieces of roofs were faintly exposed on the water. Some of the refugees who had survived were standing on the roofs, shouting and crying. Some of them didn't wait for the boat to get close, and the houses collapsed with a crash, and people were thrown in.
There was no trace in the water.
In high-lying areas, the lowest level of flooding is a foot. Farmers use trucks to save their fields, but the water keeps flowing. Using trucks to save water is just a drop in the bucket. How can we save it? In the end, the flood is just a drop in the bucket.
The people who carried the water carts fell to the ground exhausted, and could only watch the hopes of their whole families soaking in the water, looking up to the sky and crying bitterly.
Outside the city of Huzhou, countless refugees came with their young and old to flee the famine in the city. Chang Yinglin, the prefect of Huzhou, made a decisive decision and immediately ordered the city gates to be sealed, not allowing a single refugee to enter the city. They were then escorted by officers and soldiers and sent people
They distributed food for disaster relief outside the four cities. The gruel, which was slightly thicker than water and brighter than a mirror, only lasted for half a day. Then they announced that Huzhou Prefecture had done its best and there was no food in the city. Then they no longer cared about the people outside the city.
Those refugees, the young and strong, can barely make the journey and then struggle to go to other places to beg for help from kindhearted people. But what about the old and frail people and the women holding their children? There are some unscrupulous people in the city.
The wealthy gentry secretly approached Magistrate Chang and asked him to send troops to escort him out of the city to select among the refugees. He specifically selected the young and beautiful girl, signed a deed of prostitution on the spot, and entered the government as a slave. This could be regarded as doing some "good deeds" for the refugees.
Such a domestic slave is cheap and of good quality. If you are lucky, you may be able to buy a beautiful and talented lady. After returning home, you can instruct her to do this and that during the day, drink a few sips of wine at night, and do this to her.
Wouldn't that be great? Magistrate Chang admired the minds of these businessmen, so he asked his housekeeper to go out with him. He actually found a few girls who were originally from gentry families and bought them back to be his maids.
Of course, these things have to be done secretly. There are still many officials and gentry in the city who protest all day long about his sealing of the palace gates and ask to go out of the city to provide disaster relief. There are also people who voluntarily donate rice and grain. These people's heads are really broken. They often
The prefect was dismissive of this. He "reluctantly" accepted the food donated by these rich gentry, promised that the government would come forward to provide disaster relief, and finally dealt with these people.
As for the donated grain..., he cleaned the floor of the treasury and used the old grain mixed with sand to cook porridge for a long time outside the city gate. Even if he had an explanation to the gentry, the officials and gentry
The donated new grain was of course sent to the family's warehouse.
Those girls who were bought back by the wealthy gentry as maids, but were actually the girls of their intercourse, were already lucky. Most people were not so lucky. Some people saw the opportunity early and fled as soon as the city was closed.
Begging elsewhere will not lead to death for the time being, but the old, weak, sick, and many women, including some unwilling people, are still staying under the city. As a result, the city gate cannot be opened and there is no grain of rice to help them. When they want to leave,
It was no longer possible to escape.
In desperation, many people covered their faces with their sleeves and jumped into the moat under the gaze of the defenders at the top of the city. There was also the woman, holding a baby in her hand and carrying a baby on her back, pointing to the city.
After cursing their heads in pain, they jumped into the river together and turned into a family of floating corpses that hugged each other until death...
Magistrate Chang was in a hurry, he was really in a hurry! After a while, his mouth was full of blisters.
Suzhou, Songzhou, Jiading, and Huzhou were all flooded by this flood. The situation was very serious, but the most serious one was here. Huzhou Prefecture is not the place with the most rivers around it, nor is it the topography.
There is only one reason why the disaster is so serious in the lowest place, and that is that all the money allocated by the Ministry of Works to repair rivers and water conservancy was put into his personal pocket.
Magistrate Chang was anxious, he was really anxious! His eyes turned red after a while.
He misappropriated a lot of the grain taxes handed in by the people of Huzhou Prefecture, all for this year's autumn harvest, and then exploited them to plug the loopholes. As a result of this flood, if the imperial court issued a decree to exempt the disaster-stricken areas from the grain taxes
, how can he live? What can he do to plug this shortfall?
No matter what you are afraid of, news came from above. The imperial court will send imperial envoys to inspect the disaster areas and release grains for disaster relief. At the same time, they will also check the disaster recovery situation in various places so that the imperial court can reduce the grain taxes of various disaster-stricken areas accordingly. This "bad news"
When the news came, Magistrate Chang, who "loved the people like his son", immediately had blisters on his mouth. In desperation, he thought of his good sister-in-law Ji Gang.
To talk about this sister-in-law, he is putting money on his own face. Because his uncle's family suffered from the plague a few years ago, the only cousin in the family left, and he came to him, and for the sake of all the family property his cousin brought
, and because he couldn't bear the reputation of refusing to help relatives, Chang Yinglin took his cousin in. Last autumn, Mr. Ji went to Huzhou for a business trip. Chang Yinglin entertained her warmly. After a glass of medicinal wine, his cousin was sent to Mr. Ji's house.
bedroom.
Master Ji liked her very much, and later made her his concubine. Although the cousin held grudges, she had to marry a dog and follow her. In this way, Chang Yinglin and Master Ji became relatives, and for this
Lord Ji may not care about his cheap relative, but most of the gold and silver he exploited went to Ji Gang, so can Ji Gang care about him?
So Magistrate Chang hurriedly revised a letter and sent it to the capital like a man on fire...
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