After the earthquake, the homeless villagers had no choice but to go to the county town for help. Under Chen Keming's arrangement, all of them stayed in the county town temporarily.
"Have you brought all the affected villagers into the county?" Mr. He asked.
Chen Keming nodded naturally: "We are all from Piyang County. After the disaster, we naturally have to gather together and twist into a ball of hemp rope to survive the natural disaster and rebuild our homes."
Mr. He took a slow breath, reached out and patted Chen Keming on the shoulder: "Take us into the city to have a look, and talk as we go."
"Yes, sir."
Chen Keming led everyone towards the county town, "Because there were too many collapsed houses, it has been more than 20 days since the disaster, and the people in the county town will have finished cleaning up all the collapsed houses.
If we want to rebuild the house, I'm afraid we will need more manpower and time."
"The problem now is that there is no surplus food in the county," Chen Keming sighed. "The people have not eaten rice porridge for several days. Ten days ago, the official led people to tidy up the farmland and plant the fastest-growing vegetables. Now we can only
Barely serving vegetable soup.”
"If you can't even eat, how can you still have the energy to build a house?" King Chu suddenly interrupted.
Chen Keming smiled bitterly: "What this lord is saying is that I have been worried about this matter for the past few days. Fortunately, you lords are here, and we in Piyang County can be saved."
The King of Chu glanced at him: "I just saw your cheerful appearance outside the city. I thought the disaster in the city was not serious at all and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment."
"To be honest with you, sir, if the officials are sighing every day in this situation, the common people will lose even more confidence after seeing it."
Chen Keming scratched his head naively and said: "Xiaoguan has always believed that the imperial court will not sit idly by and look forward to hearing from you adults every day."
Mr. He stepped forward to grab Chen Keming and said solemnly: "It's my fault. If it hadn't been so late, the people of Piyang County would have suffered a lot less."
"Sir, please don't say that," Chen Keming waved his hands repeatedly, "As a magistrate, you have many things to do every day. It is a blessing to the people that you can come to Piyang County in person."
Everyone talked as they entered the county town.
The county town is not big, and the roads paved with bluestones are not spacious.
Looking up, you can see a lot of collapsed and uneven areas stretching forward on one side, while on the opposite side, there are still intact houses and shops.
In the collapsed area, there were many shirtless men working carrying gravel and soil.
Most of the wives and mothers-in-law were basking in the sun outside the door, sewing and mending.
Many children were laughing and playing, carefree.
As soon as the people saw Chen Keming entering the city, they all stood up and greeted: "Master Chen!"
"Master Chen, come and drink a bowl of water. The sun is shining brightly, and it's easy to get heatstroke when you go out into the fields."
Chen Keming smiled and took the water and drank it in one gulp: "Thank you, Granny Lu. Your legs and feet are not good, so don't stand for a long time."
Many other wives came closer and said, "Mr. Chen, who are these people?"
A pair of curious and bright eyes quietly looked at everyone.
Suddenly a voice exclaimed: "That gentleman is so handsome. Could it be that he is an immortal from the Nine Heavens?"
Then all eyes fell on Ji Yannuo.
A bold daughter-in-law came forward and said, "Mr. Chen, the story you told everyone earlier about the immortal king descending to earth to save the people, was it about this handsome man?"
Chen Keming suddenly blushed: "These are the adults from Jicheng who have come to inspect and treat us in Piyang County. We can't be rude and disrespectful anymore. Let's disperse quickly."
The daughters-in-law and ladies all sighed with regret, followed the instructions and reluctantly retreated.
Ye Fuxun tugged at Ji Yannuo's sleeve in a funny way: "Your Highness, look, many people are still looking at you secretly."
Ji Yannuo's mouth twitched: "Let's see what I do."
"Look how handsome you are!"
Ye Fuxun raised his face with a smile and said: "Smile at those wives, and they will immediately feel that although this disaster is painful, it is really worth it to see you and smile. value!"
Ji Yannuo paused, lowered his head and stared at that cunning face, and suddenly smiled with his thin lips: "Does Ah Xun now think that coming to this world is worth it?"
She looked away and said, "Your Highness, the county government has arrived."
If it weren't for the plaque saying "Piyang County Government" hanging outside the door, everyone would have thought they were entering someone's house, because the county government is not very big.
A young woman with a round face came forward with a smile and said to Chen Keming: "Husband, I am preparing vegetable soup for tonight. Didn't you go to the fields to plant vegetables? Why are you back so early? They are …”
Chen Keming quickly pulled his wife aside and whispered a few words, and then awkwardly led everyone into the Yamen.
Mr. He looked puzzled: "Mr. Chen, why is your county government like this?"
“I’ll be honest with you, there are too many collapsed houses,” Chen Keming said. “The houses that are still habitable are doing their best to accommodate homeless people, so we can help each other get through the difficulties.
The county government office in Xiaguan is not big and can accommodate three or four families temporarily..."
"In addition, Mrs. Xiaguan can lead her daughter-in-law to make some food for the victims."
His innocent smile once again refreshed everyone's understanding of Piyang County.
If the people's customs are not clean and upright, the houses are not closed at night, and the things left behind are not picked up on the road, how can the common people tolerate each other and live together?
"Who is the food prepared by your wife for?" King Chu asked.
"There were 231 people who originally lived in the county who were homeless, and 198 of them were taken in by families with houses."
Chen Keming explained, "The remaining 33 people and the 199 people from the village had to live in temporary sheds. We provided them with two meals a day, morning and evening."
Everyone generally understood.
"It's just that the grain reserves in the county have been exhausted, and there is not much food left in people's homes." Chen Keming looked at Mr. He sincerely, "Mr. He, I wonder if the disaster relief materials can be distributed to Piyang County?"
He Yuan pondered for a moment and looked at Ji Yannuo.
Ji Yannuo nodded: "The imperial court's disaster relief materials have arrived in Jizhou and will arrive in Piyang in about two or three days."
Chen Keming's eyes suddenly lit up, and his voice trembled with excitement: "Thank you, the court! Thank you all!"
He suddenly lifted his robe and knelt down: "On behalf of the people of Piyang County, I would like to express my gratitude to you!"
"Get up!" Mr. He stepped forward and pulled him up. "If it weren't for you to stick to Piyang and lead the residents of Piyang to fight the disaster together, Piyang would not be what it is today."
After seeing Fan Yang's situation yesterday, He Yuan was very worried that Pi Yang would be far inferior to Fan Yang.
After all, Piyang is more remote, and Chen Keming is serving as a county magistrate for the first time.