Although Qing'an County did not fall, the damage caused by the rogue army to the county was heavy and lasting.
The county town with tens of thousands of people lost a large number of young men, so Ye Xiangming had to recruit young men from the countryside for training to supplement the losses of the Garrison Army soldiers.
In order to prevent the bandits from attacking again, Qing'an County's Garrison Army also expanded to a scale of 700 people.
Fortunately, I made a lot of money by plagiarizing a big player before, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to afford it.
After the situation inside and outside the county was completely stabilized, Ye Xiangming sent a message to the capital city, reporting the murder of the county magistrate Yu Heqian and a group of gentry.
Then half a month later, someone from Fucheng sent a letter of appointment and a commendation order.
Ye Xiangming was appointed as the county magistrate of Qing'an County, and also served as the county magistrate, in charge of the military and political affairs of the county.
This means that Ye Xiangming is not only the number one person in Qing'an County, but also has unparalleled power.
In fact, there is nothing the Fucheng can do. The rogue army is harassing Yifu everywhere, repeatedly threatening the safety of the Fucheng.
Under such circumstances, no one is willing to work as an official in the most dangerous county down below.
Simply give Ye Xiangming a half-level promotion and let him and Qing'an County fend for themselves.
For the men in Fucheng, there is nothing more important than the safety of their own homes.
As for the murder of County Magistrate Yu Heqian, the prefectural government has no interest in investigating it.
Anyway, Ye Xiangming can say whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't ask for help from Fucheng.
In the current crisis, everyone can only look after themselves.
The new county magistrate Ye Xiangming, who held great power, did not have much joy in being promoted, because after the rogue army retreated, the drought showed no signs of easing, and land and water transportation was basically cut off.
The most outrageous thing is that the rogue army destroyed more than a dozen Self-Flowing Waterwheels erected on both sides of the Clear Water River, causing large areas of rice fields to lose irrigation and completely lose their harvests.
Ye Xiangming can only curse and organize people to rebuild the waterwheel, and then try every means to save the rice fields that have not yet failed to harvest.
It's more tiring than dealing with an army of bandits!
"What a thief!"
On this day, Wang Chen and Ye Dai went to the county government office to visit Ye Xiangming. While the latter was drinking the nourishing soup cooked by his daughter, he cursed, "If we don't stop now, they are going to drive us all away!"
Although Self-Flowing Waterwheel was rebuilt as quickly as possible, the water level in the Clear Water River dropped seriously, which greatly reduced the water extraction effect of the water tanker.
This year's Qing'an County grain harvest is a foregone conclusion, and currently it is estimated that even 30% of the normal harvest may not be achieved.
This is very scary.
If the drought continues, it will be a blessing to have 10% or 20% of the grain stored in previous years during the autumn harvest!
Moreover, now the waterways have been completely cut off by rogue bandits, and the trade routes are no longer inhabited. Qing'an County, even if he has money, cannot buy grain from outside and import it, so he is trapped here.
"A good son-in-law."
Ye Xiangming put down the soup bowl in his hand, looking a little embarrassed. "There is something I need to trouble you with."
He wanted to reopen trade routes and buy a batch of grain from the south back to Qing'an County.
But it is obviously unrealistic to expect local merchants to complete this matter, so the county government plans to organize a caravan to go to the south to purchase grain.
Ye Xiangming hopes that Wang Chen can serve as the leader of this caravan!
"I really have no choice."
Ye Xiangming said helplessly, "The grain stored in the county treasury is no longer enough to enable the tens of thousands of people in the city to survive the famine years. If we cannot buy grain, many people may die this year and next."
He knew very well that given the current situation, it was very dangerous to lead a caravan out to buy grain.
It's a long road, it takes a month or two to get back and forth, and anything can happen during this period.
But Ye Xiangming has no choice.
He used to be the county magistrate and only had to worry about military affairs. Now he took care of military and political affairs. After taking over the county government, he realized that Qing'an County's problems were getting bigger.
As for the most important county treasury, the food stored in it is less than one-third of the prescribed level!
Where did the other two-thirds of the stored grain go?
Ye Xiangming wanted to investigate, but the treasurer burned himself and his entire family on fire.
Including the ledger!
Ye Xiangming I know there are too many tricks here, but we can't clean the county government again, right?
It can no longer function normally.
Fortunately, a large amount of gold and silver had been seized during a previous house raid, so he could only hope to solve the problem by purchasing grain from abroad.
"Daddy!"
Ye Dai's beautiful face turned pale. Unexpectedly, his father just drank the nourishing soup and couldn't wait to push Wang Chen into the hot bed.
Even though she is gentle and filial by nature, she couldn't help but get angry at this moment. "How could you do this?"
Ye Xiangming smiled bitterly and said, "Dai'er, it's not that dad is heartless, it's really... sigh!"
He had been thinking very hard during this period, and his hair had turned a lot gray, and his frown looked particularly haggard.
Ye Dai was speechless for a moment.
"It's okay."
Wang Chen patted his wife's hand, and then said to Ye Xiangming, "Leave this matter to me."
Since he married Ye Dai, he will inherit the cause and effect of his wife's family, not to mention the people of Qing'an County.
Ye Xiangming was delighted. "Great."
Apart from Wang Chen, there really is no suitable person to choose from for this matter.
After getting Wang Chen's promise, Ye Xiangming organized a large caravan as quickly as possible.
In order to ensure safety, he also deployed 300 well-trained Garrison Army soldiers, plus escorts and escorts from the county, and a larger number of handymen.
This brings the total number of caravans to more than eight hundred.
Because only so many people can ensure basic safety and transport back the food needed to supply tens of thousands of people.
All the mules, horses and trucks in the county were also emptied.
Three days later, the caravan left Qing'an County Town and headed for Yunze Prefecture under the leadership of Wang Chen.
Before leaving, Ye Dai and others moved to the county government office.
Yunze Prefecture and Changyi Prefecture are adjacent, and the area is much larger than Changyi Prefecture. There are many swamps in the territory, so even if there is a drought all year round, there will be enough water sources to irrigate the farmland.
It can be called a land of plenty.
In previous years, Changyi Prefecture often purchased grain from Yunze Prefecture, and the caravans usually used waterways.
However, Changyi Prefecture is now facing an extremely severe drought. Many rivers have dried up. Not only are the waterways blocked by bandits, they are also unable to carry large merchant ships.
Therefore, Qing'an County's caravan can only travel by land.
In order to avoid encountering the army of rogue bandits, the caravan deliberately made a large circle to the west after leaving the county. After more than half a month of arduous trek, it entered the territory of Yunze Prefecture.
The journey was relatively smooth, no bandits were encountered, and some rural thieves could not pose any danger to the caravan.
However, after coming to Yunze Prefecture, the situation changed.
——
The second update is sent.