Qing'an County, which has just gone through a year of disasters, has not seen any light in the new year.
Although the bandit army was driven away, not a drop of rain fell throughout the winter.
After the beginning of spring, Clear Water River completely stopped flowing, and the river bed was full of dried fish that had been exposed to the sun.
Soon these dried fish were picked up by people to satisfy their hunger.
Due to the cutoff of irrigation water, spring plowing work has been unable to be carried out, and panic is spreading everywhere.
This made the county magistrate Ye Xiangming very anxious. On the one hand, he organized a large number of manpower to dig wells to collect water, and on the other hand, he guided farmers to plant drought-resistant crops such as sweet potatoes.
Although sweet potatoes are unpalatable and require processing before they can be eaten, they are still better than growing rice and wheat without any harvest.
Despite this, when summer came, disaster victims still appeared in large numbers in Qing'an County.
"Master, madam, please give us something to eat!"
In the streets and alleys of the county town, there were suddenly many refugees with their families. They were in ragged clothes, sallow and thin, with only a few broken bowls and a bag. They sat on the ground and begged from passers-by.
But there is nothing to eat - food is very expensive nowadays, and one meal a day is considered very good.
Because the number of victims pouring into the city was too large, which seriously affected the security of the county, the Yamen sent officers to drive these people out of the city for resettlement and relief together with the Garrison Army.
For a time, the cries and pleas were endless, even reaching the county government office.
In the lobby, County Magistrate Ye Xiangming frowned and said to Wang Chen who was sitting aside, "The grain stored in the county treasury can only last for another month at most. Now we can't buy food from Yunze Prefecture."
"Xian son-in-law, what do you say?"
Ye Xiangming is good at military training, but his ability to deal with civil affairs is not very strong, so he increasingly relies on Wang Chen, who is the county magistrate, to advise him.
"Borrow some more grain from big households."
Wang Chen said without hesitation, "They must still have food in stock, and they can borrow as much as they can."
"This is not good."
Regarding Wang Chen's suggestion, Ye Xiangming was quite hesitant.
Of course he knew that some large households in the county had hoarded large amounts of grain, but if he attacked these large households without justifiable reasons, it would easily lead to chaos.
Big business owners are not weaklings, so how can they tolerate being slaughtered so easily?
In addition, Ye Xiangming has been operating in Qing'an County for so many years and has inextricable relationships with many large companies.
It's not easy to start!
"Nothing bad."
Wang Chen said calmly, "In times of crisis, we should all help each other. For the sake of Qing'an County's hundreds of thousands of people, they have to borrow it even if they don't want it. At most, we can just buy it at a fair price."
In Wang Chen's opinion, his father-in-law is very capable, but it is a pity that after being an official for a long time, especially after serving as the county magistrate, he began to feel constrained in his actions and lost the decisiveness of the past.
Ye Xiangming smiled bitterly, "How can they be willing to sell it!"
Nowadays, food is more precious than silver. Even if you have money, you cannot buy enough food on the market. If the victims outside the city did not have the relief from the county's grain stocks, they would all have died of hunger long ago.
"That's not up to them."
Wang Chen said without thinking, "Well, if I have people throw a few pieces of armor into the homes of those wealthy families, then the county government will have a reason to take action."
Throughout the dynasties, it was a serious crime to hide armor privately, which could range from being exiled to the whole family to being executed!
There is a very good reason for a pair of armor to destroy a big family.
Ye Xiangming was dumbfounded and even felt chilled. He felt that his knowledge of Wang Chen had been refreshed again.
He murmured and asked, "So after eating these big households, the drought is not over yet?"
The big households in the county are not like leeks in the field. After cutting one crop, new ones will grow. In fact, there is not much difference between eating the big households and killing the goose to obtain the eggs.
"Then let's go grab it!"
Wang Chen looked cold and stern. "When the time comes, I will lead my troops into Yunze again to wipe out the bandits. I will definitely be able to collect some food and come back."
Yunze Prefecture is a land of plenty. No matter how severe the drought is, the situation there is much better than here.
Ye Xiangming was shocked again. "Leading troops out of the country is a serious crime!"
This crime is much bigger than hiding armor, at least it is the consequence of punishing the three clans.
Wang Chen said, "Can't we just pretend to be bandits? If bandits fight against each other, the local government will only be happy. Who can pin this crime on us?"
His eyes were full of seriousness. "If that day comes, our son-in-law will just rebel."
Ye Xiangming couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
Only then did he realize that his son-in-law was far more courageous than he had imagined.
Starting a rebellion has become as commonplace as Wang Chen said!
The magistrate looked around subconsciously.
Fortunately, there were only two people in the county government hall, and these treacherous words would not fall into the ears of a third person.
Seeing his father-in-law dumbfounded and silent, Wang Chen smiled and said, "Of course, this is the last choice. Father-in-law, do you think it is better to go to the big family now?"
Ye Xiangming couldn't help but smile bitterly.
That's right, compared to rebellion, eating the big ones is nothing at all!
This County Magistrate could only sigh, "That's all."
Ye Xiangming and Wang Chen are currently the number one and number two figures of Qing'an County. Together, they have no rivals in this county.
As a result, many large households in the county were unlucky.
Under the heavy weight of the crime of "concealing armor", one after another large households soon donated large amounts of stored grain, either voluntarily or under compulsion, which greatly alleviated Qing'an County's food crisis.
Countless victims were able to survive as a result.
However, the consequences of doing so are also very obvious. Many large households obeyed on the surface, but secretly sent people to complain to Fucheng, denounced Ye Xiangming and Wang Chen's son-in-law for robbing the people of good deeds, and Qing'an County single-handedly committed numerous crimes.
The influence these large households can exert by joining forces is still great. The city government responded quickly and sent inspection envoys to Qing'an County to investigate.
As a result, the patrol team was suddenly attacked by rogue bandits before they entered Qing'an County territory.
Everyone, including the patrol envoy, was killed, and not even the bodies were found.
At the same time, several large households here at Qing'an County were suddenly raided by the county government, and a large amount of evidence of banditry was copied out!
In addition to having all their property confiscated, these unlucky guys were all arrested and sent to hard labor.
After all this hard work, Qing'an County was as quiet as a chicken, and the prestige of Ye Xiangming and Wang Chen rose to its peak, and all the big players were obedient in front of them.
This situation lasted until late summer and early autumn.
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The first update is sent.