The fleet of Xia Xun and his party stopped when they were close to Wuxian County. It was no longer possible to sail further. The terrain in this area began to gradually become higher, and the damage was not particularly serious. The imperial fleet sent people to Wuxian County to inform them.
County Grand Master, soon Wu County Magistrate Xie Xin organized a group of vehicles and came in person to greet the imperial envoy.
Magistrate Xie was in his thirties, with a thin figure and a thin face. He seemed to be smart and capable. When he met Xia Xun, he didn't bother to be polite. He chatted with him for a few words and then went with Magistrate Xie and a group of people from Wuxian County.
As he walked towards the city, Tou Nao Nao Nao asked about the damage caused by the disaster.
Magistrate Naxie said: "My lord, things are better in Wuxian County, but parts of the city are still soaked in water and some houses collapsed. The people of these affected families are now scattered in Taoist monks' houses. It's just the county warehouse."
The grain stocks are limited, but the villages and towns around the county have been severely affected. Not only has the price of grain and rice increased, but the price of all necessary items, such as oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, vegetables and even firewood, has doubled..."
They walked while talking, one foot deeper and one foot shallower. After a while, Xia Xun could hardly move. The ground was very muddy. Xia Xun's official boots seemed to weigh dozens of kilograms when they were stained with mud. The ground was so heavy
The mud was sticky, so it was difficult to move. Magistrate Xie seemed to have been prepared for it. As soon as he said hello, a class leader picked up a bunch of straw sandals with a scabbard and brought them over. Magistrate Xie smiled dryly and said: "Master Guo, look
…Should I change my shoes? It’s just these straw sandals…”
Xia Xun couldn't help but laugh and said: "Okay! You were already prepared. What's wrong with the straw sandals? Very good. In this situation, who is wearing official boots and is insane? Come on, give me a pair!"
After Xia Xun said this, the other officials also changed their shoes. They also followed Xia Xun's example by tucking the hem of their clothes into their belts and rolling up their sleeves. They were finally more comfortable. The straw sandals were not only light but also durable.
It is slippery and walking in the mud is much faster.
After entering the city, they were not in a hurry to go to the county government office. Xia Xun and others wandered around the city for a while. The city also had ups and downs according to the terrain. There was indeed a lot of water in the low areas. Some traders paddled
Bamboo rafts travel along the water, selling firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy and vinegar food to residents. From time to time, the sounds of residents and vendors bargaining loudly can be heard.
Xia Xun said: "If natural disasters are not dealt with properly, they can turn into man-made disasters! Some businesses take the opportunity to hoard and drive up prices. Hasn't the imperial court banned it? Prices must be stabilized. Some of the merchants' goods are purchased from other places.
The cost is much higher than usual. It is unrealistic to ask them to pay nothing. In that case, the merchants will not go to other places to purchase and traffic. Relying on the government's relief sometimes cannot be so comprehensive, and there is also a problem of urgency, but
If prices have doubled several times in a row, that’s abnormal. Hasn’t Wuxian County put some control on this?”
Magistrate Xie said with a troubled face: "My lord, the imperial edict has been posted. Three squads of government officials patrol the streets. Once they are found to be driving up prices, they will be severely punished. It is indeed very difficult to enforce it. 1.
Therefore, the grain stored in the county treasury is limited. Even if all the grain is taken out and sold at a fair price, throwing it out is like throwing a pebble into the flood. It will not even make a splash, and it will be difficult to stabilize prices.
The merchants use their abilities, not to mention the rice purchased from other places. Even if there are some wealthy local merchants, no one knows how much grain they have in their homes. If you order them to sell at a fair price, they will say they have no grain to sell. How much grain they have in their homes?
Only the people themselves know, and they have not broken any laws, and the subordinates cannot listen to the rumors, so they go from house to house and take stock of their granaries. This is really a tricky matter, so... in order to prevent the people from starving to death, they sell
Even if the food is more expensive, the official can only turn a blind eye..."
Magistrate Xie said this with a bitter look on his face, but officials rarely admit in front of superiors that they were forced to compromise due to difficulties, so his honesty won Xia Xun's favor. And Xia Yuanji and others
People who are familiar with officialdom understand this better. Being a county magistrate at the local level is said to be the parent official of a county. In fact, it is absolutely impossible to be arrogant and arbitrary in the local area, unless you have a very strong backer in the government and have no intention of being here at all.
How long do you have to work? Otherwise, the county magistrate's strengths will be very rare.
The reason is that population mobility was not strong in ancient times. Aristocratic families settled in one place for hundreds of years, thrived, and had influence in all walks of life in the local area. Therefore, a county magistrate wanted to make some political achievements in the local area.
We must seek the support of these local wealthy families, not to mention showing off to officials. During festivals and festivals, if there is any festive event, these officials have to give gifts to people to curry favor.
Because such aristocratic families have lived in the area for a long time, they are generally very responsible for the local area. Building bridges and roads, establishing volunteer schools, and providing relief to the countryside when encountering famines are all regarded as their own duties, so they are responsible for the government.
The rule of the people is a useful supplement, but once someone among them is greedy for profit and wants to enrich the country, the local officials also have many scruples and dare not go too far.
On the one hand, their power is limited, and a confrontation with a local big family would be a lose-lose situation at best. On the other hand, they still want to be officials here. Once they break up, they will lose the support of the local gentry, the issuance of government orders, and the supply of food.
The collection of taxes has become a big problem, so it is difficult to make too firm a decision.
Of course, these are not problems for Xia Xun. What he wants is the efficiency of disaster relief. The higher the efficiency, the fewer people will die. Gentle methods are not feasible now. Xia Xun sneered and said: "Among them
My father-in-law also knows a little bit about the matter. You still want to be an official here. I will not let you be embarrassed. I will do it for you, this evil person!"
He turned to Yu Shiji and ordered: "Xia Shilang, immediately start the disaster relief work. Tell the local government that the food relief from the court will arrive soon. The food brought by the court will be sold at a fair price, and porridge sheds will be set up to provide relief to the people whose homes have been flooded." Yu
Royal envoy, strictly investigate those who hoard and raise prices. Due to the famine, there will be looting, fraud and theft, and severe punishment will not be given!"
Yu Shiji was not stupid. He heard Xia Xun's words clearly and immediately bowed and said: "I obey my orders!"
With this sentence, any big businessman who is hoarding money and can't catch him for a while can just find a witness and identify a bad person who has escaped into the house, and then he can search the house openly. People in the government do things from the wrong to the straight.
It is also a commonly used method.
The disaster situation in Wuxian County is not very serious. At least the rescued victims can get some resettlement. Although the price hike is abominable, it only allows people who have no food at home to exchange their savings for food for many years, allowing some profiteers to make a lot of money.
The bowl was full, and at least the people who had escaped the flood would not starve to death again, which made Xia Xun feel a lot relieved.
He personally walked the streets to let the people in Hecheng know that the imperial envoy had arrived, and the food relief was immediately available. People's hearts were calmed down, and then he settled down at the magistrate's office, planning to stay here for a day to hear the report on disaster relief measures, leaving some personnel behind.
Supervise the disaster relief work, and then rush to Suzhou Prefecture, which is Dachengfu. The disaster may be lighter than that of Wu County, but due to the influx of a large number of affected people, the disaster relief work may be more complicated. At the same time, the dredging of the river must also be called Suzhou
If the government takes action, a small Wuxian County does not have that power.
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When Xia Xun stopped briefly in Wu County, then quickly rushed to Suzhou Prefecture to actively deploy disaster relief matters. When relief grains arrived and launched a series of disaster relief operations, Qingzhou City, Shandong Prefecture was also bustling.
In the past few days, many foreigners have been pouring into Qingzhou Mansion, and more and more people are coming. These people are all going to the funeral of the Peng family. It is impossible for Pengjiazhuang to accommodate so many friends, and apart from close relatives and best friends
, it was not suitable to live in Pengjiazhuang, so we all stayed in various inns in Qingzhou City. The inns could not accommodate us, and even the Peng family’s martial arts gym, car dealership and other places were full of people.
The Peng family has too many friends from all walks of life. They have been operating in Qingzhou for decades. They have friends from all walks of life locally, not to mention from other places. The old man of the Peng family naturally has to come to pay homage to his funeral. There are also many friends from other places. When driving,
Ma Xing, the business partners and friends from the martial arts industry who opened a martial arts school and engaged in transportation; the Xiangtang affiliated to the Pengzihaoshanmen in Huaixi, and the important disciples of the branch; the friends from the martial arts who have been supported and protected by the Peng family over the years; and the Peng family
Business partners after starting to get involved in shipping and inland trafficking...
Such guests not only come from all religions and religions, but also number in the thousands. Ximen Qing from Yanggu County is here, and even Xie Chuanzhong from Beijing has sent people to attend with generous gifts, which shows the vastness of the Peng family's contacts. The old man of the Peng family is about to die.
The funeral took place on 7749 days ago. Such ample time left enough time for the arrival of the guests. For this reason, Peng Ziqi took his daughter all the way north. Although the journey was inconvenient due to the flooding of the river, it was not a problem.
Too busy to catch up.
Chen Yunan from the Hundred Household in Jinyi pretended to be a businessman, and led Li Renhu, Liu Lintao, Dan Ting, Li Leming and several confidants to quietly follow Peng Ziqi to Qingzhou. Peng Ziqi arrived in Qingzhou and went to Pengjiazhuang without stopping. Naturally, Chen Yunan and his party could not be reckless.
After chasing him all the way to Pengjiazhuang, he had to find a place to stay in Qingzhou City first.
But he didn't expect that most of the inns in Qingzhou City were already full. After wandering around for a long time, a few people couldn't find a place to stay. Finally, they found an inn with two vacant rooms. Chen Yunan was feeling happy when someone suddenly appeared next to him.
Said: "There are two more rooms? We want them!" Chen Yunan couldn't help being furious when he heard this!
It was Lin Yuqi from Putai County who was speaking. In addition to his two close brothers, there were also the little girl Su Xinchen from Dezhou Huntang and the current little girl Tang Saier. They had been treated by the Peng family in the past.
Help, now that Mr. Peng has passed away, why should he come to kowtow and lay incense sticks?
Su Xinchen has grown up now, and has become even more beautiful, dressed as a young woman, while Tang Sai'er has grown from a baby in the swaddling clothes to a girl with white lips and red teeth, picturesque eyebrows, pink cheeks and a smile that everyone loves.