The next day, after Xia Bingyan got up, she took Qibao Ink Dragon, Liu Catkin and a few followers and walked leisurely on the streets of Qingshan City.
Maybe it was because the drought had not been alleviated. Along the way, everyone had a depressed mood on their faces.
"Liuxin, let's go to the farmland outside the city to have a look."
She doesn't know much about farming, but she does know a little bit about water conservancy. She doesn't know if it can be used to divert water from the south to the north and collect water to irrigate the fields.
Liuxu sent someone back to bring two carriages, and the group drove out of the city.
After leaving the town, she realized how serious the drought was. The crops in the fields had almost disappeared, and there were deep cracks in the ground. When she stepped on them, the ground that should have sunk three feet deep now had chrome feet.
a feeling of.
Looking around, she saw an old man with gray hair squatting there not far ahead and walking over.
"My father-in-law..."
When the old man heard someone speaking, he raised his head. His turbid old eyes saw the luxuriously dressed official lady in front of him, showing a hint of disappointment and despair.
"Old man, does the northwest region experience drought every year?" Such a serious drought definitely does not occur in a month or two. Why didn't it be reported earlier? Why did it have to wait until it was so serious before sending it to the court urgently? No matter what kind of emergency
, it is difficult to recover such a heavy loss.
"Yes, it happens every year, but this time it is especially serious." Looking at the dried rice in front of him with only grass roots left, the old man's eyes couldn't help but moisten.
This rice field is the lifeblood of their family. Now there is no harvest. Not to mention food and clothing for their family, they can't even pay taxes.
"Looking at the situation, it's not a matter of a month or two. Why haven't we made preparations earlier?" She was a little puzzled.
After hearing this, the old man couldn't help but sigh again, his voice still choked with sobs. He raised his tattered coarse cloth sleeves and wiped the tears from his forehead, "There was no early preparation. Three months ago, we went to ask the official more than once."
Master, but they said it was only temporary and they would be fine after two months. It has been more than three months now and there has not been a drop of rain. We, we have nothing to do. Look at the current fields, let alone taxes.
I don’t even know how my family will spend this year.”
Several nearby farmers who were checking their fields saw the old man crying here and came over one after another. When they saw the beautiful woman in front of them, wearing silk and satin, they couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"Dad Li, are you okay?"
Someone asked with concern.
"Hey, it's okay. If something happens again, will it be able to survive the drought?" Father Li waved his hand.
"Yeah, I'm afraid it would be nice to have 10% of the income this year. Even so, it won't be enough for our taxes." A man with bare arms shook his head and sighed.
"Our Zhuzi is planning to send him to private school this year, but it seems there is no hope." The speaker was a tall and thin farmer.
Xia Bingyan listened to their words quietly, her heart twitching and sour.
This is the scene of drought-stricken farmers in ancient times. There is no food in the family every year. Apart from taxes, it is only enough for the family to feed and clothe the family for the next year's harvest.
"I heard that the imperial court allocated five million yuan in disaster relief funds to the disaster-stricken areas in the northwest this year. Didn't the government give you the full amount?"
Everyone present was stunned for a while after hearing this.
"Disaster relief funds? Is there such a good thing?" Mr. Li asked in surprise with his cloudy eyes wide open.
Five million taels. Even if each person spreads a few taels of silver on average, it would be enough for them to make a living for a period of time, but it's impossible.