Going north, the number of hungry people is slightly reduced. Although the situation is not much better, the number of cannibalism is much less.
The rescued girl Xiaotu was silent all the way. The huge pain of losing her whole family was not something that such a girl could bear. It might take a long time for her to forget it.
After entering Laichang County, the situation here is very different from other places. Although it seems that the people are still in dire straits, there is no chaos and order is in order.
What’s even more surprising is that there are soup kitchens in Laichang County.
This surprised Ding Yunyi. He had never seen a soup kitchen shack along the way.
I walked over and took a look. I could count the rice grains in a large pot of porridge with my fingers, and there were some unknown wild vegetables floating on the soup.
Even so, there is no telling how many lives this pot of porridge can save. Outside the soup kitchen shack, the victims were arranged in a very orderly manner, with no sign of crowding at all.
"Who did this?" Ding Yunyi asked one of the victims in the team.
"Master Qi, Mr. Bo Hefeng." The victims were quite proud when they said this.
Lord Qi Bo? Master Feng? Ding Yunyi said the name again: "Where are they now? The county government?"
"It's at the Guanlaoye Temple in the east." The victim pointed.
Ding Yunyi became curious and walked towards Guandi Temple with a few of his subordinates.
There were dozens of victims at the entrance of Guandi Temple, and there were also two sacks of what looked like grain and a few piles of wild vegetables piled up.
Ding Yunyi and the others looked at each other, the food was just piled up like this. Aren't they afraid of people stealing it? It's a disaster year right now, and the victims' eyes are blood red when they see the food.
Also, why did Qi Zhubo come to Guandi Temple when he was not working in his own county government office? Where was the county magistrate? Where did the magistrate go?
Ding Yunyi walked to the door of Guandi Temple and heard a voice coming from inside: "Xiaobao, why are you stealing food? Haven't you heard what I said?"
"I know, I know." The man named Xiaobao said with a cry in his voice: "But I was really hungry last night. Sir, please forgive me this time."
"Xiaobao, I know you are hungry. You can only give up porridge once a day. You are a big boy, so naturally you won't be full." The first person to speak was kind and cheerful: "But if everyone is like you, come here when you are hungry.
Stealing food, isn't that breaking the rules? Look, the food is piled outside, and no one is looking at it, why? Because I believe you can all abide by the rules. But now you have broken the rules. It is a state-owned law, and the family
There are family rules. Although Laichang County is small, it is a place with rules. Since you broke the rules, what should you do?"
"Master, I was wrong. According to the rules, I stole food and drove out the chief. I am not allowed to come back until the famine is over. Master, Xiaobao made a mistake. Xiaobao will leave now."
"Hey, Xiaobao, I know you are a good boy, but there is no way. I can't let Lai Chang fall into chaos just because of you. You can go to Anhui. I heard that they are recruiting young men there. If you are destined to get there,
Maybe there is still a way to survive. By the way, take this little food with you on the way. Although it won't last for two days, it's better than nothing."
Xiaobao cried loudly: "Master, I don't want it! The master has only had a bowl of porridge for a few days. Xiaobao has done something wrong and dare not take the life-saving food from the master. The master still has a wife and children at home, and they are still waiting
I'm taking the food back with me. Don't worry, sir, Xiaobao has plenty of strength. He will definitely be able to reach Anhui and won't starve to death on the way."
As he said this, there was a "dong dong" sound of kowtow, and then a young man came out crying.
Ding Yunyi was amazed after seeing it. He never expected to see such officials and people here. It seemed that the person speaking must be Lord Qi Bo. It was rare to be able to convince people so much.
At this time, another conversation came from inside: "Master Bo, I really can't get any money, and even if I have money now, I can't buy food. Feng is ashamed of Master Bo."
"Brother Feng, please don't say that. In order to help Mr. Lai survive the disaster, Brother Feng has destroyed his home to help the victims. I, Qi, don't know how to repay!"
"Master Bo, please don't say that. Why is it that Master Bo is not like that? It's a shame that Zhou Zuchang has so much food, but he refuses to take out any of it. If he is willing to come forward, our Lai Chang will be saved. We will run out of food tomorrow, so this
But what should we do? There are so many people outside waiting for us to save their lives. Sir, when will the life-saving food from the imperial court arrive?"
"Even if the imperial court has disaster relief food, it has been intercepted by those big places. Where can we get it from a small place like Lai Chang? There is no other way. I can only go and beg Zhou Zuchang again. At worst, I will kneel down and beg him.
That’s it.”
Hearing this, Ding Yunyi could no longer bear it and walked in with his subordinates: "Who is Qi Lord Bo?"
There were two people inside, one was in his thirties and the other was in his early forties. When they saw several people coming in, they were all startled and stood up together. The man in his thirties said: "Lai Changzhang Bo Qi Yumu, don't you know that your Excellency
yes?"
Huangfu Yunjie said in a low voice: "This is Taiwan's military commander, Captain Zhaowu, General Ding Yun Yi Ding!"
"Lord Ding." Qi Yumu was a little confused. How could such a big official come to Lai Chang? He quickly said: "Qi Yumu didn't know that the soldiers were coming. I missed the opportunity to welcome him from afar. Please forgive me!"
"You're welcome." Ding Yunyi pointed to the person next to Qi Yumu: "Is this Mr. Feng?"
"I don't dare, I don't dare." Mr. Feng said hurriedly: "Feng Changzhi has seen Shen Rong."
"Let's all sit down and talk." Ding Yunyi asked them to sit down: "Where are you, the county magistrate? And, how do you do things in Guandi Temple?"
"County magistrate?" Feng Changzhi sneered: "Our county magistrate is very smart. When the locust plague happened, he reported illness and is currently recuperating in his hometown in Anhui. As for working in Guandi Temple?"
Feng Changzhi sighed: "Qi Lord Bo has been praying here every day, begging Master Guan to drive away the locusts. He made a vow that as long as the disaster is not resolved, he will not leave here."
Only then did Ding Yunyi understand: "Tell me everything that happened to Lai Chang. Don't hide anything."
As the two people talked, Ding Yunyi finally understood the whole story.
It turned out that when the disaster struck, the magistrate of Laichang fled, and the county magistrate also ran away, leaving only one master, Bo Qi Yumu. He couldn't bear the people of Laichang to be affected by the disaster and ran away, so he decided to stay and treat the people on behalf of the magistrate.
Qi Yumu usually has great prestige in Laichang. As soon as he came out to take charge, the originally chaotic mood of the people in Laichang was calmed down, and there was no chaos in other places in Laichang.
But although the people's emotions have settled down, food has become a big problem. Fortunately, Toyochoji stepped in. Toyochoji was also a great person. He first took out all the money at home and sent people to purchase food, but the money was all spent.
He sold his land and houses. But although Laichang is a small county, there are still so many victims. How can one person treat them? The money that Toyonagaji got from selling his business at a discount would not take more than a few days.
Already done.
Now the two of them are at the end of their rope and there is really no other way.
Ding Yunyi sighed in his heart after hearing this. One of the two men turned the tide and stabilized the people's hearts in times of crisis. The other was a righteous gentleman who, in the face of disaster, would not hesitate to destroy his family and business to help the poor. Such people are rare nowadays.
"What's going on with that little treasure?" Ding Yunyi asked thoughtfully.
There was a bit of bitterness written on Qi Yumu's face: "Join Rong. I originally set the rules, but anyone who steals a grain of food will definitely be discovered by Mr. Guan. Not only will the locust plague be insurmountable, but Mr. Guan will also bring disaster to the country again.
Lai Chang. The only solution is to drive the food thieves out of Lai Chang."
"Oh?" Ding Yunyi had never heard of such a thing: "What is the situation?"
Qi Yumu smiled bitterly: "Joining the army. This is an idea I came up with because I really had no other choice. Ten fingers are still long and short, let alone people? There are so many people, good and bad are always mixed. I don't have that much strength to guard the food, so
The only option is to pile up the food in the Guandi Temple, and then have people make up to look like disaster victims and hide quietly in the dark to protect them. Once someone is found stealing, they immediately say that Mr. Guan has appeared and catch the thief. This happens twice.
The people were all horrified, thinking that Mr. Guan had really appeared, and from then on the number of theft incidents decreased a lot."
Toyochoji helped him continue: "Shenrong, we really have no choice. Firstly, the locust plague continues to spread, and secondly, the food supply is becoming increasingly insufficient. In this way, the people can be blamed for the inability to pass the locust plague.
Going to those who steal food will continue to stabilize people's hearts, and secondly, it will also increase the confidence of the people. As long as it is fair and law-abiding, orderly, and protected by Mr. Guan, this famine will definitely pass. If the people have confidence, governance will be easier.
Lord Qi Bo lives in the Guandi Temple. In addition to praying sincerely, he also has reasons for this."
"There is another dirty idea. Brother Feng might as well say it in front of Shen Rong." Qi Yumu said with a bitter smile: "There are more and more victims and less and less food. We can drive away a lawless person who steals food."
If you become a disciple, you can save a meal of food."
"Then why not just kill them?" Huangfu Yunjie asked from the side.
"Kill? Are you killing someone just because you stole some food?" Qi Yumu was surprised: "Who would be willing to do such a thing unless they really couldn't survive? They are always forced to do this. Drive them away.
If we leave, not only can we save food for Lai Chang, but they may still be able to survive when they get outside!"
Ding Yunyi finally understood Qi Yumu's painstaking efforts. This man was not only a good official, but also very wise. How could it be that in such a disaster year, when everything was in chaos, only Laichang County was in order.
In years of disaster, since the court cannot help and the legal order has collapsed, using the power of the gods to stabilize people's hearts becomes the best option.
This is the sadness and helplessness of this era, but from another perspective, Qi Yumu has no choice.
Ding Yunyi pondered for a long time: "I just listened outside for a while, what happened to that person named Zhou Zuchang?"
As soon as he heard this name, Feng Changzhi suddenly showed anger on his face, but Qi Yumu shook his head and said: "When the disaster comes, some people will be in trouble, but some people can make a lot of money. Zhou Zuchang is one of those people who made a lot of money. He hoarded a lot of money.
However, he refused to take out a grain of grain. I begged him several times, but he still refused. What’s more, when the disaster came, he moved the grain to an unknown place. The victims of the disaster were
Even if you want to grab it, you can't. Shenrong, do you know who bought Brother Feng's family property and mansion? It's this Zhou Zuchang. Taking advantage of Brother Feng's urgent need for money, he tried his best to lower the price, which was almost less than 30% of the actual price.
Get there!”
Toyochoji said bitterly: "I don't care about money and personal belongings at all, but if he can add more money, we can survive for a few more days. Hateful, hateful!"
"It's not hateful, but killable!" Ding Yunyi said with a cold face: "Is there no one to take care of him?"
"Who dares to do that?" Qi Yumu felt helpless: "I'm afraid Shen Rong still doesn't know his origin. This person is related to Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet at the time. He helped Wen Tiren in his early years, and his granddaughter married
Given to Wen Tiren’s nephew, who else does he have to be afraid of, including this relationship?”
Wen Tiren? Ding Yunyi sneered. He thought there was a lot of backstage behind Zhou Zuchang. It turned out to be just Wen Tiren. The chief minister Wen himself was about to collapse. How could he take care of Zhou Zuchang?
Qi Yumu suddenly swayed and almost fell down. Fortunately, Feng Changzhi saw the opportunity quickly and hurriedly supported him: "Qi Zhubo, just eat something."
Qi Yumu shook his head stubbornly: "My wife and children haven't eaten yet, so I'll leave this to them."
Ding Yunyi glanced at a bowl on the side. It was the same as the one in the porridge shed. It contained some water-like rice soup with some wild vegetables floating on it.
"The wild vegetables are gone." Seeing that Ding Yunyi noticed what he was eating, Qi Yumu smiled bitterly and said: "Now the people sent out to dig wild vegetables have gone to the mountains dozens of miles away from Lai Chang, and they have to go through a lot of hardships to dig them.
At the last minute. Not only will the food be gone tomorrow, but even the bark and wild vegetables will be eaten up."
"Sir, you eat."
A hand suddenly held a piece of dry food and handed it over. Ding Yunyi took a look and saw that it was the little soil that Cai Cai had saved.
Qi Yumu's tears fell immediately. Looking at Xiaotu's thin body, he cried and said: "I'm not hungry. If you eat, you will see how thin I am. The little girl must eat more."
'I'm not hungry.' Xiaotu's voice was very nice: "Master Ding gave me something to eat, and I'm still full now. Sir, you eat. My father, mother, grandmother, and brother are all dead, so you eat
Well, only when you are full can you help others."
With that said, she forced the dry food into Qi Yumu's hand.
Holding this piece of dry food, Qi Yumu couldn't bear it anymore and burst into tears.
Ding Yunyi stood up: "Xiao Tu, you stay here to accompany them."
After saying that, he walked out, and Huangfu Yunjie and others quickly followed.
Ding Yunyi stood outside for a while, then said in a deep voice:
"You guys, come with me to do something."
Duan Saner immediately said: "I knew that you must handle this matter." To be continued...