Chapter 127: Release of Grain (Part 1)

It was early May, and it was the time when the weather was neither lukewarm nor hot, and the climate was the most pleasant.

In previous years, the prefectures and counties in Dongyizhou, whether young men and women in large families or young men and girls among ordinary people, would choose to go out for a walk in the sunny days. This has almost become one of the traditions in Yizhou.

It was the sunny time. The handsome young man and beautiful lady were walking by the lake. When they saw him by chance, they searched for him thousands of times. When they looked back, they were in the dim lights.

Although the people's hearts are up to date, this story of a talented man and a beautiful woman is the most loved by young men and women.

This is the reason why the clothes are graceful and the flowers are scattered.

Horse and ox carriages are constantly coming and going on the street. All kinds of temple fairs are emerging one after another. Many ladies who are unable to go out on weekdays even take advantage of the breath and enjoy the scenery outside while visiting the temple fairs, and at the same time they have become the scenery in the eyes of others.

Xiyizhou, adjacent to Dongyizhou, has been in constant wars and frictions between the various races have never stopped for many reasons, causing the people to be displaced.

The more spring and summer alternate, the more famines will be.

The situation in Yueshan County was better. Cheng Yougong, the former governor, was cautious. Since his successor, he has been focusing on maintaining his career. Yueshan County has poor land and mostly mountainous land. The grain produced is only barely enough for the people in the country to feed, which has made the surrounding counties look down on it.

In May this year, because several counties surrendered to King Hongyi of Shu at the same time, the situation in the territory was very different from the past.

On May 3, Yongchang County, Wangjia Town.

"...Dear villagers and elders, stop, stop! Listen to me! In today's world, there are constant disasters. The Marquis of Shu is benevolent and righteous. Knowing that the people of Xiyizhou are suffering, they specially allocated grain and rice and distributed it to you."

"From today, the villagers will be led by the villagers and will be distributed according to the household registration. If there is no registration, the grain and rice in Wangjia Town will be distributed according to household registration in the square at the east end of the town. If you are outdated, the villagers will go quickly! Go quickly!"

On the streets of the town, several young soldiers were holding gongs in their hands, yelling loudly while beating to attract the people to come.

The thin people slowly gathered over, and some didn't hear it clearly, and asked the people beside them: "What are they saying? What? Distribute food?"

"Distribute food? Is this really true?"

When the people first heard this news, they first disbelief. After the soldiers repeatedly promised it, they were all overjoyed and rushed home to get the rice stuff.

Several people dressed in ordinary people's clothing but with good temperament stood by the street, watching this scene, but did not run home like others.

"Can all the grain and rice be distributed within three days?" A man wearing a cloak looked at the people with yellow faces in front of him and asked the people beside him: "Can you take this place to count the people's books?"

"Please rest assured that the relief work of several counties in Xiyizhou has been sent to supervise. The distribution of grain and rice is done by local officials, and the porridge sheds in several counties are carried out by the government and the large households. Within three days, all regions will provide relief at the same time. Yongchang and Yueshan counties are each station. The mayor is responsible for verifying the household registration and issuing grain and rice according to the list, so there will be no mistakes." A man next to the cloaked man said respectfully: "Take aside, he will definitely organize the actual population of each county.

This is the purpose of rule. It not only gives mercy, but also counts the household registration.

The man in the cloak heard this and said "happy". At this time, the people were already heading towards the square. The man in the cloak also turned around and walked towards the east end square of Zhen.

"Come on." In addition to the few people who followed him, there were more than a dozen young men dressed in various costumes in the crowd, and they followed carefully.

These people look very ordinary on the outside, but their every move is very light, and their feet fall to the ground, silently. If the master appears here, he will definitely be able to tell that the dozen people in front of him are not ordinary people.

The place where they appeared was Wangjia Town, Yongchang County, where wars were not serious. Although the wars caused no harvest in the ground, there were not many people fleeing famines in the villages and towns. Most of the people still stayed here, and there were barely some vitality. Merchants who came and went to each other occasionally. They had a new face and would not be noticed.

After the government posted an announcement and sent someone to ring the gong, less than half an hour, the people who received the news had spread to ten, ten and hundreds of them, making the entire town boil.

Sometimes one or two people holding utensils and cloth bags ran out of the house, and the crowd rushed to the open space square at the east end of the town.

The Dongtou Square in Wangjia Town is just an empty place, with a huge area, but no grass grows. When the people arrived here, the officials responsible for distributing grain and rice had already sat down behind a table.

The one who maintained order on the side was the temporary guards who were seconded from the large households and the taxpayers in this area. When the gathering of people was already dark and unable to see the edge, the officials stood up and announced the start of the release of rice.

As long as the people of this town have a reputation in their household registration, each household can get half a stone grain. Then mixed with wild vegetables and cooked into porridge to eat, and they can pass in a month.

Because the crops were not harvested in the last season, even if the people had some grains in their homes, they could not survive the harvest in the next season. With these distributed rice and grains, it would be no problem.

"Lord, it seems that the rice and grain distribution in Yongchang County is very effective, and the household registration inventory order is clear. Since you have seen it, you don't have to worry anymore, right?"

The group of people before stood on the high ground behind the crowd and looked at the scene in front of them. One of them let out a sigh of relief and said to the people beside him.

The man in the cloak standing beside him was silent for a while when he heard this, he said, "Yongchang and Yueshan counties, the disaster and war disasters are serious, but the situation is much better than the other counties. I wonder what the situation is now in the other counties?"

At the same time, Qinghe County and the county town were crowded with people.

"I really didn't expect that there were so many refugees in Qinghe County, which were even more serious than Yongchang and Yueshan County."

Zhang Youzhi sat in the carriage, lifted the corner of the curtain and looked out, and saw that most of the people waiting for Shi Mi outside were ragged and yellow and thin. Under the supervision of the soldiers, they lined up in an orderly manner.

Putting down the curtain, Zhang Youzhi sighed: "If I hadn't come here to see it with my own eyes, I would have never imagined that there were so many refugees in such a large county town. I really don't know how the former county magistrate managed this place..."

At this time, there was a sound of horse hooves, from far to near.

Then, a greeting voice sounded outside: "I have met Guzheng Chen."

Zhang Youzhi doesn’t need to look at him anymore, he already knows who the visitor is.

"Captain Chen, can we find out where these refugees came from?" Zhang Youzhi asked in the carriage.

"Sir, my subordinates have found out that these refugees are not residents in the county towns. Most of them fled from nearby villages and towns. Because Qinghe County has suffered many years of desolate bandits, many places in the county have become deserted villages and the fields have become deserted. Only this county town is still stable, and many wealthy families come out to provide porridge and relief. So many refugees have brought their children and daughters here to gather here."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Youzhi couldn't help but recall what he had just heard and sighed: "Fortunately, the lord thoughtfully was thorough. In Yongchang and Yueshan counties distributed grain and rice according to household registration, and set up porridge sheds to provide relief every day in the other counties. If Qinghe County also provided relief according to household registration, there would be trouble."

At this time, the guards outside asked for instructions: "Sir, the number of victims here is gathering more and more. Should I leave here first?"

"Well, this time I come here, besides patrolling the porridge shed, there are two other things to patrol... First patrol the city for a week, and then rush to Yonghe County."

"No." The carriage started to move again.

Yonghe County, Qinghe County, was the area where the famine was most severely affected by bandits and famine. It was almost as if the road was covered with corpses.

Zhang Youzhi inspected several counties this time. In addition to inspecting relief matters, he also had the task of curbing the occurrence of plague and rectifying street appearances.

"Sir, after passing the stone tablet in front, it will be the boundary of Yonghe County." After a while, the people outside the carriage reminded him.

Zhang Youzhi was already a little tired, sighed and ordered in the carriage: "Let the car move slowly."

"Yes, sir." The carriage was moving gradually slowed down.

Looking out from the curtains, the road was still deserted, but there were no dead bodies.

After walking for a while, I saw a group of people burning something in the open space in the wilderness on the side of the road.

"What are they doing? Are they burning dead bodies?" Zhang Youzhi frowned.

A cavalryman who followed the side replied: "That's right, sir. However, they burned all the ownerless corpses, and buried them in a cemetery, which can be regarded as giving those people a place to live."

"So that's it." Zhang Youzhi looked at it for a while and ordered the carriage to continue moving.

The entire Yonghe County is in chaos. After some renovation, the county town looks much better than before.

The garbage that was originally piled up in the streets and alleys was also cleaned up by a dedicated person.

If other people in power were ordered to clean the streets, it was just for the sake of neatness and good-lookingness. Wang Hongyi was even more trying to curb the plague.

"In a few days, the weather will get hotter. If you deal with these garbage and corpses later, the plague will probably start again. It's still the wise man who thought of this early." After inspecting the situation in Yonghe County, Zhang Youzhi's admiration for Wang Hongyi increased by no means a little.

The plague spread in Yonghe County last year, and many people died. This year, the plague spreads. If it is not curbed early, it will probably cause another disaster in Qinghe County. The rectification method proposed by Wang Hongyi is very detailed and clearly expressed.

Seeing the neat scene in front of you, Zhang Youzhi had to admire his lord for being able to come up with such an effective method.

On that day, Zhang Youzhi returned to Qinghe County City in a carriage and rested at the prefect's mansion in the city.

Just after dinner and was about to rest, a guard accompanied him to the door and said, "Sir, someone has come from Yongchang County."

"Yongchang County City? Is it the lord sent people?" Hearing this, Zhang Youzhi had to get up and put on his clothes and dressed up: "Please invite him in."

A moment later, a messenger entered the room and knelt down on one knee: "Mr. Zhang, under the order of the Marquis, you will be ordered to return to Yongchang County City tomorrow morning. The Marquis is waiting for you in the temporary Marquis' Mansion."

———
Chapter completed!