Alongside Clear Water River, Self-Flowing Waterwheel has become a scene of Qing'an County.
Every day, a large number of people in the city come to watch the excitement under the scorching sun, supporting the elderly and the young, and marvel at the "big roulette" that can automatically draw water.
No matter the farmers outside the city or the people in the city, no one wants to see the rice fields fail.
Especially with the current skyrocketing price of rice, everyone is looking forward to the end of the drought and a bumper rice harvest.
Otherwise, forget about rice, we won't even be able to eat other cereals!
Because the effect of the first Self-Flowing Waterwheel was very good, the county government officially assigned the task to Official Workshop to build ten waterwheels of the same type in one go.
Ensure farmland irrigation on both sides of the Clear Water River!
After the news spread, rice prices in the county fell slightly.
However, this decline was only short-lived, and it rose back up within a few days.
Because the drought shows no sign of easing!
Every day, the sky is clear and the sun is shining brightly. The hot sun scorches the earth, causing many plants on the mountains and in the wilderness to wither and look scorched yellow.
As time passed, the atmosphere in the county became tense.
The refugees appeared!
Qing'an County is nourished by the Clear Water River, and the ten waterwheels that have been put into use continuously collect water day and night, so the drought can be barely controlled.
But the situation in some places is very bad. Large areas of field crops have withered, and rice prices in county towns have skyrocketed. Ordinary people have fallen into the dilemma of losing money and not being able to fill their bellies.
In desperation, many people have no choice but to leave their homes and flee, hoping to find a way to survive elsewhere.
Qing'an County, who was in better condition, was affected by the refugees.
At first, there were only three or five scattered people, but then the number continued to increase, and the fleeing team became longer and longer.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Qing'an County immediately closed the city gate and strictly prohibited the refugees from entering.
However, in order to prevent the refugees from rebelling in despair, the county government mobilized the wealthy gentry in the county to set up greenhouses outside the city to provide porridge and relief.
These are considered routine coping methods.
However, as the drought season continues to worsen in various places, the number of refugees coming to Qing'an County has increased sharply, reaching nearly ten thousand.
Now the county magistrate Yu Heqian was frightened.
On the one hand, he constantly sent people to ask for help from the capital cities above, and on the other hand, he tried his best to "raise donations" from large households, struggling to maintain the current situation.
As the saying goes, Yu Heqian is in great trouble, and Ye Xiangming can't escape.
That day he came to Wang Chen's home in person.
On the one hand, this County Assistant Lord wanted to see his daughter, and on the other hand, he also wanted Wang Chen to make suggestions.
The Self-Flowing Waterwheel previously provided by Wang Chen successfully solved the big problem.
As for the situation outside the county, Wang Chen naturally understands it.
When asked by his father-in-law, he said without hesitation, "We should take a two-pronged approach to deal with the refugees!"
Wang Chen's suggestion is to screen out the best among the refugees and use a work-for-relief method to let them dig wells and canals, or build roads and quarry stones, so as to avoid being idle and causing trouble.
On the other hand, organize people to fish in the river or go hunting in the mountains to collect as much food as possible.
Of course, the most important thing is to go to the higher authorities to ask for relief food - rescuing the refugees is not something Qing'an County can accomplish alone.
Wang Chen's vision and experience are not comparable to those of Ye Xiangming. After a conversation, this County Assistant Lord is convinced of Wang Chen, and is even secretly proud that he has a good son-in-law.
After Ye Xiangming left, Ye Dai said to Wang Chen, "Husband, do we want to go to the outside of the city to help the refugees and do some good deeds?"
Currently, Wang Clan is not short of food. Previously, Wang Chen purchased a batch of grain from other places at a high price through a local trading house.
The cellars and granaries have been filled to the brim, and they will last for two or three years without any problem.
Wang Chen smiled and said, "Okay."
If his wife has such kindness, how could he refuse her?
So under Wang Chen's suggestion, Ye Dai and Ye Yu, together with their cooks and servants, made a large number of pancakes at home.
The raw material used for these pancakes is flour mixed with grains, and only a little salt is added to it, but it is definitely a good thing to satisfy your hunger, and it will not go bad no matter how hot the weather is, and can be stored for a long time.
After the pancakes were ready, Wang Chen took them out of the city to help the refugees.
Due to the large number of refugees, a huge camp has formed outside the county town. It is a mess and smelly scene. It is a completely chaotic and miserable scene.
Many refugees lay motionless under the thatched huts, their bodies as skinny as skeletons, with cries and lamentations coming and going.
The soldiers responsible for maintaining order would occasionally have corpses dragged out of the camp and sent to be buried far away.
To prevent the decay of corpses from bringing plague.
Such a scene makes Ye Dai, who has been raised in a boudoir, pale in beauty.
"Dai'er, how about you and Xiao Yu go back first."
Wang Chen out of pity said to his wife, "Leave this place to me."
"No."
Ye Dai shook his head stubbornly. "I'm fine."
So under her arrangement, pancakes were delivered by servants to the victims on the roadside.
"Thank you, sir, thank you, madam!"
The victims who received the food all burst into tears of gratitude and knelt down to salute Wang Chen and Ye Dai.
But more victims gathered around, stretching out their withered hands to beg for food. Some of them had greedy looks on their faces, staring intently at Ye Dai and Xiao Yu.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense and strange.
Although Ye Dai brought a large quantity of pancakes, they were all quickly consumed after being distributed.
It simply cannot benefit everyone present.
"Master, madam, please do it!"
Seeing that Wang Chen, Ye Dai and others were about to leave, the victims who had not received any benefits immediately refused to agree.
They surrounded Wang Chen and Tuan Tuan, and some of them even looked fiercely.
Since these people escaped from famine, their humanity has been almost wiped out by hunger. Now they have no scruples, and they are even more jealous of Wang Chen, Ye Dai and others.
A tall man said viciously, "Brothers, we are all going to die anyway, today..."
Poof!
Before he could finish his words, a touch of Sword Light flashed across his throat instantly, and bright red blood spurted out.
This guy who was about to transform from a disaster victim to a thug didn't even have time to finish his bewitching words, and his head was already missing!
Make a Move is exactly Wang Chen.
He had a sword on him and cut off the opponent's head with one blow.
The dripping blood shocked the surrounding victims, and they all retreated in panic.
Wang Chen held his sword and sneered, "If you want to die, I will help you."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly turned around and swung his sword, cutting off the head of another sneak attacker!
——
The second update is sent.