The first stop for Xia Xun and his party was Suzhou Prefecture. As soon as they passed Changzhou, they had to abandon their horses and board the boat and paddle down. They were already close to the waters of Taihu Lake, and Taihu Lake had long been filled by Master Tian.
The flood spread, and the entire Taihu Lake seemed to have doubled in size. The boat Xia Xun, Xia Yuanji and the others took was not small. The boat carrying rice grains donated by Prince Zhu Gaosui and some Jinling gentry had a deeper draft.
It can travel freely on land and water.【】
The further the boat went, the more vast areas it saw. Some large trees that had been submerged by the floods, with their green treetops still left, were swaying gently in the turbid floods. There were also some houses and buildings, and the entire area was covered with water.
The floods have submerged, and only some roof tiles are exposed on the water. These houses that have not collapsed are all houses built by wealthy families. The construction quality is very good, the eaves are in different shapes, and they are extremely gorgeous. They are now looming on the water.
, but it looks even more desolate to human eyes.
This is a low-lying area. As the rain in the higher areas has decreased in the past few days, the situation has improved slightly. Some areas have already exposed the muddy ground. However, the low-lying areas are miserable. The floods are too great and the water suddenly floods down.
Many houses and buildings were washed away, mud and sand fell down, and some rivers were blocked. The water could not be drained out. It would just evaporate under the sun, but it would not wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.
Xia Xun, Xia Yuanji and his party were walking forward by boat while observing the water conditions. Seeing this, they expected that most of the rivers were blocked and the water could not be drained out, so they discussed that after arriving at the place, they would release food while providing disaster relief.
, we must quickly organize people to dredge the rivers and drain the accumulated water into the rivers as soon as possible, and then into the East China Sea. Otherwise, the longer the water accumulates, the greater the disaster the local area will suffer.
Xia Xun, Xia Yuanji and others stood on the bow of the ship, studying the flooding situation while studying corresponding countermeasures. Unknowingly, the ship entered an area with more serious water accumulation. The terrain here was originally the lowest and the water was
After rushing in, there was no smooth channel to discharge the water downstream as quickly as possible, so many debris and corpses accumulated in this water area.
Looking down, in addition to weeds, firewood, and dead trees, there were also tables, chairs, stools, pot lids and other household items. The bodies of the dead pigs and cows had swelled to a huge size after being soaked in water.
The livestock carcass is as swollen as a ball, and people are really worried that it will explode with a "bang" and splash people with filth.
If the water were just the corpses of livestock, that would be fine, but in the turbid current, there were also many human corpses. From time to time, the corpses of men, women and children would appear.
Not knowing what it was, looking at the common people, cattle, sheep, livestock, furniture and sundries all soaked together, their shapes were so horrific that Xia Yuanji, Yu Shiji and other scholars who had never seen a dead person die so miserably could not help but turn pale.
Paper makes me feel sick.
Even Xia Xun, who had experienced fighting on the battlefield and had lost lives under his men, couldn't bear to see such a situation. Seeing the faces of the adults as pale as paper, Xia Xun felt the same and thoughtfully ordered everyone to take a break. Several adults
If he was granted amnesty, he immediately turned back and ran into the cabin, not daring to look at him again.
Xia Xun glanced at the water again with a heavy heart. Just as the turbid current surged, a female corpse rolled up. The black hair should be a young woman. Judging from the clothes, she was from a pretty good family. As for her beauty and ugliness, she couldn't be sure.
Yes, the corpse has been soaked in water until now, and its shape is so weird that it makes people just want to have nightmares. It has absolutely nothing to do with beauty or ugliness.
Behind the fleet, a large number of bamboo rafts were coming down the river. They were idle men recruited from Jinling and along the way. They formed a salvage team, specifically responsible for salvaging human and animal corpses, so as to avoid further deterioration of the water source, and at the same time, so that the dead could rest in peace.
However, those corpses that cannot be laid to rest must be cremated later to avoid spreading the plague.
The salvage team behind will take care of these corpses. Xia Xun sighed sadly and turned back to the cabin. Lao Peng has lived in Liaodong for a long time and has never seen such a big flood. He is ruthless and fierce, and he can kill people with his eyesight.
Even if he didn't blink, he couldn't stand such a scene. As soon as he saw the adults entering the cabin, he pinched his nose and slipped into the cabin too.
There were many officials and subordinates accompanying the ship. Xia Xun, Xia Yuanji and other adults were responsible for the overall command of the disaster relief work. Of course, someone had to do the specific matters. Many local government offices have turned into crystal palaces.
Those who were swept away by the floods disappeared, so they also transferred many young and junior officials from various yamen in Beijing to be responsible for specific disaster relief matters.
These people were also watching the water situation on the boat, but the adults were standing at the bow, so they consciously moved to the sides or the stern. After Xia Xun, Xia Yuanji and others entered the cabin, some officials felt uncomfortable with the miserable situation.
As soon as they saw the adults entering the cabin, they followed Shan Ruliu and went their separate ways. The ones with stronger nerves still stood on the side of the ship and watched.
"I was very familiar with this place, but at this glance, I didn't recognize it at all!"
Standing on the side of the ship, looking excitedly at the hellish situation after the catastrophe, the person who expressed his emotion loudly was an eighth-rank warehouse manager named Hua Ming. Mr. Hua caught water and suddenly pointed to a place in emergency.
He said: "Hey, brother Li, hurry up, where is a pregnant woman? Oh my, one corpse and two lives, it's really miserable!"
He clicked his tongue repeatedly and shook his head, as if he was quite sincere, but the expression on his face was only curiosity and excitement. The big ship passed by, and the gentle water surged, making the sideways body half sinking and half floating.
The corpse was pushed to lie on its back on the water, with its swollen belly sticking out high. Hua Ming took a closer look and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief: "Oh! It turned out to be a man, and a fat man at that. He made a mistake..."
Even if the officials usually do not love the people as their own children, most of them would feel withdrawn after seeing this tragic situation. However, he was gesticulating and talking loudly, which made people look at him. If there is an official who is two or three grades higher than him, at this time
After scolding him, he told him to get out of the cabin and settle the matter. However, the people around him were all officials of similar rank to him. Even if others were dissatisfied, they would only give him a cold look, not bothering to get into trouble with him and make an unreasonable enmity with him.
.This Hua Ming was completely unaware of the gazes of others, still looking around.
Suddenly, he screamed in surprise, holding tightly the sleeve of another official next to him with one hand, leaning half out of the side of the ship, pointing forward with the other hand, and said to the colleague: "Brother Li, are you here yet?"
, the top of your tower on the water is the Lake Watching Tower, haha, I finally recognized it. Back then, I was ordered by the Ministry to go to this area to audit the accounts, and I had climbed this tower before, so I remember it very clearly.
Yes, this is the Lake Viewing Tower. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, even though the tower is only three stories, it is not short, but now only the top of the tower is visible, it is really..."
Brother Li, who was standing with him, was already fidgeting under the cold and contemptuous looks of the officials around him. He forced a smile and said: "Ah, Brother Hua, the wind is strong on the bow of the ship, and I feel a little uncomfortable. Let's... still go there
Let’s go and have a rest in the cabin.”
Hua Ming was in high spirits and was reluctant to leave. He quickly stopped him and said, "Hey, Brother Li, what you said is wrong. Such a flood is rare in a hundred years. When you are so old, have you ever seen such a spectacular scene? What a chance."
It’s rare. Look again, there is no shop like this after passing this village.”
People and animals drifting, corpses floating in the water, these tragic sights came to his mouth, and turned into a spectacular sight that was rare in a hundred years. Some older officials couldn't help but change their colors. This "scenery" was actually full of interest.
This man is wearing a human skin in vain, but does he have a human heart?
But no one spoke, even those who couldn't hold back and wanted to refute him didn't speak, because they suddenly found that there were three people standing behind them: Duke Fu, Shilang Xia, and Yu Shi.
The reaction of the people around him was quickly sensed by Na Hua Ming. He turned around quickly and saw three adults standing there with sullen faces. Hua Ming and Director Li hurriedly saluted: "I have seen you in this humble position!" Na Hua said in his mouth.
Ming seemed to feel that he had made a mistake just now, and rolled his eyes, trying to show a look of sadness and pity without making the change in his face too sudden.
Xia Xun stared at him and said slowly: "When my father-in-law was in Liaodong, in the middle of winter, there was a heavy snowfall. My father-in-law took to the streets incognito and visited the market. He was afraid that some families had nowhere to live because of the heavy snow. Their houses had collapsed. When we arrived,
I happened to see three people sitting in a tavern, sipping wine, eating vegetables, and enjoying the snowy scenery!"
The surrounding officials, including the ship's servants, all quietly gathered around. Hua Ming didn't understand why the Duke suddenly started telling a story. He blinked and looked like he was concentrating.
Xia Xun said: "Those three drinkers were a scholar, a county magistrate, and a wealthy gentry. Seeing the heavy snow filling the sky, it was very spectacular. The scholar was very interested in poetry, so he suggested that each of them recite a poem and write a poem together.
It became a poem. The scholar spoke first and then said: 'Heavy snow is falling one after another!'"
The officials who were listening to him tell the story, even the most junior officials, were all the same people. They were well-read in poetry and books. When they heard such mediocre poems, they couldn't help but snicker to themselves: "I heard that the Duke of the country wanted to do something for him."
He advocated the promotion of Liaodong religion and relaxed restrictions on the admission of Liaodong scholars. Sure enough, the poems recited by this Liaodong scholar are not much better than those of the schoolboys in my country school here! "
Xia Xun said: "The county magistrate raised his hands to the sky and complimented: 'This is a royal atmosphere!' The rich man was very interested in showing off his talents, and the county magistrate was also happy, so he quickly flattered and said: 'It doesn't matter if I stay down for three years.
?'"
Xia Xun paused for a moment before saying, "There was a farmer passing by wearing a thin winter coat with his hands in his sleeves on the street. When he heard what the man was chanting, he stopped and answered a poem. You guessed it, he
What did you pick up?"
Manager Li said in astonishment: "What kind of poetry can a farmer recite?"
Xia Xun said seriously: "Wrong, absolutely wrong! The poems recited by these three people are mediocre. It's all because of the farmer's finishing line that the whole poem becomes alive!"
Hua Ming said in surprise: "I just don't know what the poem this farmer is reciting is?"
Xia Xun glared at him and said, "This farmer said: 'Fuck your mother's shit!'"
Hua Ming's face suddenly turned into an eggplant color, and he was almost ashamed of himself.
Xia Xun coldly swept away all the officials and said in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, you and I are ordered to rectify the disaster. We are not here to give out a few grains of rice and pretend to be the reborn parents of the people! The people fatten the people and take it from the people. You and I
We must use everything we have for food and clothing. The common people are the parents of food and clothing for you and me! During this disaster relief, we must keep the people in mind, think about what the people think, worry about their worries, and be attentive in doing things.
Don’t chill the hearts of the people!”
Xia Xun said and walked away.
Xia Yuan Jihan said to Hua Ming with a straight face: "You can go home, the imperial court cannot afford people like you!"
Hua Ming's face was like dust, his knees softened, and he knelt down.
: I’m tired. I have a sore back. I wanted to stand up and wander around a few times, but I know that as long as I relax once, it’s easy to form a habit. It’s not easy to form a good habit. It’s very easy to become lazy. I finally bit it.
Teeth, I’ve finished coding seriously. I’m going out to socialize tonight. A relative’s baby is one month old. I’ve invited a lot of relatives and friends. I have to go. I haven’t had time to reply to the book reviews. I’ll do it again in earnest when I get back. Recommended votes, please support me!