In the spring of the fourth year of Jianwu, continuous rain turned the lower reaches of Yuanhua River into a Zeguo. On March 17, three consecutive days of heavy rain caused Yuanhua River to surge. Many river embankments collapsed in Fangzhou, Renzhou, Weizhou, Duanzhou and other four prefectures, and a total of 47 counties on both sides were affected to varying degrees.

Linhua County, Duanzhou, is located in the north of the Yuanhua River. Since ancient times, it has been a major water and land transportation route. Tens of miles west of Renzhou is Renzhou. When crossing the river, it is Weizhou. All ships passing by Yuanhua River will load and rest at the wharf in the south of the city. Linhua County is Shangxian, with a population of more than 40,000. It is backed by the business dock, and there are many shops, restaurants and inns in the city. Many wealthy businessmen purchase houses and live in the city. The county has expanded several times. It is also known as the "Duanzhou Second Mansion". The Jiangnan Transportation Office is located in Linhua County.

Although it is not as prosperous as Huaixing Prefecture City, it is close to the main road and has all the food and clothing, and can also enjoy what you can enjoy in the Prefecture City. Duanzhou is Shangzhou, the governor is a senior member of the third rank, and the Jiangnan Transportation Commission is an organization specially assigned by the Ministry of Works of the Court, but the Transportation Commission is only an official rank of the fifth rank, and in name it has to be under the jurisdiction of the governor. No one wants to have multiple mother-in-laws on his head, and as the governor, he does not want multiple special institutions of the courts around him. So, the Jiangnan Transportation Commission Office is tacitly established in Linhua County, the "Duanzhou Second Prefecture".

This time, the Yuanhua River broke the dike, and a hole was opened ten miles upstream of Linhua County. The terrain of Linhua County was relatively high, and the water poured into the city two feet deep. After three days, the water receded, and the loss was not large. However, the four villages and eight townships in Linhua County suffered great losses. The dike was broken in the middle of the night. Many villages were flooded, and the people barely escaped. The property in the family was soaked in the water. There was no way to rush to the county town.

Yuan Decheng, the magistrate of Linhua County, ordered the opening of warehouses to provide relief, built simple shacks on the edge of the four cities, ordered the county schools and temples to accept the victims, and asked the gentry for help to shelter the fleeing villagers. Yuan County Magistrate handled the right governance and asked for help. The victims in Linhua County were able to eat hot porridge and live in a place, which was finally a blessing in disgrace. The people were glad to have their parents and officials to take back their lives.

Compared with Linhua County, the situation in other counties is not good. Some counties close the gates and do not allow victims to enter the city. The porridge can be seen at the gates. The porridge is cooked by old and bad grains. You will be considered strong if you don’t have diarrhea after eating. There is nowhere to tell the disaster victims about the disaster relief situation in Linhua County. As a result, countless victims dragged their families and rushed to Linhua County in the drizzle to seek a way out. Within five days, the number of victims in Linhua County increased by 100,000, and countless victims continued to flow towards Linhua County along the road.

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The granaries in the county are in a hurry, shops are closed one after another, grain prices soar, and a steamed bun is asking for a hundred cents. Many people sell their children to wealthy households or businessmen in the city, hoping to survive this natural disaster. The streets and alleys are filled with yellow-faced and thin-faced victims coming to beg for the victims. Thirty pots of porridge in each city gate cannot meet the needs of the victims. The porridge in the pot has been exhausted, and countless people use the broken bowls in their hands to catch the rainwater in the pot, hoping to salvage a few missing porridge particles.

The public security of the victims from other places flocked to Linhua County quickly became deteriorated. The rice shop in the north of the city was smashed by the victims. The Captain Wang of the county government led the yamen runners to arrest more than a dozen victims before he could barely take the situation down. The local victims had already had enough porridge to eat because of the arrival of the victims from other places. The porridge that was originally enough for the victims from other places became even thinner, and they couldn't eat it later. Every time the porridge was served, the locals and outsiders inevitably had several battles. The whole of Linhua County was like a gunpowder barrel, I wonder what it was.

It will explode at any time.

The rain was getting dark quickly, and the sky was dim at the right time. Yuan Decheng returned to the county government with several yamen runners, took off the wet poncho, stood in front of the lobby, looked at the gray sky, and sighed to the sky: "The heaven and earth are unkind, why are the people? I hope that the disaster relief food in the court can arrive earlier, and fewer people die of hunger."

"Sir, let's have a meal first. If you fall ill, it will be even more difficult for the county to support you." Yuan Kang advised him. In the past twenty days, the flesh on the clan uncle's face seemed to have been peeled off and was very thin.

Yuan Decheng shook his head and said, "Go and call Qiao Jie from the household house, I have something to ask him."

Yuan Kang had no choice but to go to the house with an oil paper umbrella. He didn't have much effort, so Qiao Jie came to the lobby. Two candles were lit in the lobby. Under the dim light, Yuan Decheng sat behind the case, holding his forehead and dozing. Yuan Kang was about to pull Qiao Jie away quietly, but Yuan Decheng tilted his head and woke up, and asked directly: "Qiao Jie, how much surplus grain is left in the warehouse?"

"Sir, there are only less than two thousand stones left."

"Two thousand stones, it can't be supported in five days." Yuan Decheng murmured: "Didn't Huaixing Mansion send 3,000 stones of grain in the first five days? With the original stored grain, I thought there were at least more than 4,000 stones?"

"The city gate has added 100,000 new victims in the past few days. Each victim uses three taels of grain, and consumes more than 400 stones a day. The large pot of porridge is increased from forty to more than one hundred. Each pot is filled with porridge three times. Master, how long can the grain can last."

Yuan Decheng was silent. Whenever he was serving porridge, he would go to the four gates to check. He knew that he could not prevent clerks and yamen runners from making profits, but he was very dedicated to ensuring that most of the food was entered into the stomachs of the victims. The porridge cooked three or two meters a day could barely ensure that the victims would not starve to death. All he could do was this.

"I asked you to borrow some more grain from the gentry in the city yesterday. Do they have any reply?"

Qiao Jie smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, I have borrowed it once at the end of March. This time everyone said that there is no surplus grain. Mr. He and Mr. Ye and other big gentry simply went to Huaixing Mansion to do business, and there was no one to be the master."

Yuan Decheng leaned behind the chair tiredly, closed his eyes and gasped for a while, then opened his eyes and said, "There are more than 3,000 taels of silver in the warehouse, and they will be sent to Huaixing Mansion to buy grain. The amount of food you can buy is calculated as much as you can. If you can support it for one day, you will support it for one day. The disaster relief grain in the court is already on the way to transport it."

"Sir, those money are the funds of the yamen this year, and they are all used to buy grain. How does the county yamen operate this year?" Qiao Jie shouted. He couldn't even pay the salary of his subordinates without money. This yamen would not be in chaos.

Yuan Decheng's eyes were covered with blood, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I can't care about so much. It's a merit to save more people. Even if I don't become this county magistrate."

Seeing Yuan Decheng exhausted, a hint of emotion flashed through Qiao Jie's heart. The county magistrate is a good official and can love the people as much as his son, but he is a little overestimated. After hesitating for a moment, Qiao Jie said: "Sir, the current difficulties are mainly caused by the flood of disasters in other counties. In theory, the grain stored in our county, the grain donated by the gentry, and the relief grain transported by Huaixing Prefecture can cope with the difficulties. However, the adult's approach has attracted the disaster victims around him to come and join us, and even the people of Weizhou have taken the risk of crossing the river. Sir, the adults in his county are not called

It’s really unfair to put all the pressure on you.”

Yuan Decheng sighed and said, "Right and wrong, there will be public opinion when the disaster is over. The most important thing is not to starve people to death."

"Sir, if you order people to close the city gates and no longer accept disaster victims from other places, those victims will naturally disperse when they see there is no food. But if you just want to do it, you may not be enough for more food. The gentry and wealthy businessmen are afraid that the disaster victims will cause trouble, so they would rather hide the food than attract the victims."

Yuan Decheng thought for a moment and said, "It's all my parents' flesh and blood, why should we divide each other? Let's discuss this matter. First, get the money, send people out of the city to buy grain from the north overnight, buy a batch of selected and transported back to the emergency. I hope the disaster relief grain in the court will be in time."

The sky was completely dark, the rain stopped, and it was rare that the moon showed half of its face from behind the clouds, looking at the miserable scene on the ground coldly.

The hour of Xu was already here. When the city gate was reached, the yamen runners guarding the city were about to close the city gate. Two fast horses rushed along the official road, and the horse's hooves splashed the mud on the ground. The yamen runners hurriedly dodged to the side to avoid the splashing mud. The two horses rushed into the city. Jiang Anyi and Huang Zhu rushed to Linhua County.

On April 11, he set out from the capital and arrived in five days. At the same time, the imperial envoy, the Censor General Lu Congming, and his party were still in Pingzhou, and he was still 600 miles away from Linhua County.

There are shacks outside the city. Except for county schools, temples, etc., disaster victims are not allowed to sleep on the streets in the city. Jiang Anyi entered the city and found that the streets were quite neat, but most of the shops on both sides were closed. It was probably affected by the disaster victims. The inns in the city are still popular, and merchants are seeking profits. The disaster is also a business opportunity for merchants. The most popular business is to buy people. Da Zhenglu is not allowed to sell people, except for sales. The government stipulates that people under the age of ten are not allowed to sell, and whether they are willing or not, they are guilty of luring them.

150,000 victims flocked to Linhua County. Yuan Decheng could not save everyone with deep skills. In order to overcome the difficulties, the victims had to sell themselves as servants, selling their older children to save their younger lives. Some even sold their wives and children together. Children under ten years old were not considered sold, and they were considered a match. The court originally had a charismatic orphanage, but in this case, Yuan Decheng was unable to take in tens of thousands of children. I was afraid that as soon as he spoke, more victims would flock to Linhua County.

Next to the small courtyard where Jiang Anyi lives is a businessman from Pingzhou. He took advantage of the Yuanhua River disaster and took it back to sell it to brothels. These girls were carefully selected by him. After he went back to train for a few years, he was the red apprentice in the building. This businessman named Zhang bought more than 30 women aged 11 or 2 for a price of about 5 taels per year. The procedures were complete and there was no need to be afraid of the government's investigation.

Poor girls left their parents, not knowing their future and destiny, and were shocked and afraid, and they couldn't help crying, which made the businessman surnamed Zhang angry and took a whip to teach a lesson. This kid not only bullies women, but also bullies the underage girl. Jiang Anyi felt angry when he heard this, and Huang Zhu whispered: "Sir, please teach this kid a lesson."

Thinking of the purpose of this trip, Jiang Anyi was not ready to make trouble and said, "You should first go to the shopkeeper's office to find out what this person is doing, and it will not be too late to teach him a lesson after finishing the errand."
Chapter completed!