Chapter 488 A Family of纨绔 (Wán kù, a spoiled and dissolute family) Causes the Death of the Entire Court (41)

The people are the foundation of the nation.

Those high-ranking people, far from the disaster area and living within high walls, with no worries about food and drink and servants thronging around them when they travel, how could they possibly realize that the drought outside the city walls had become so severe that countless people had died or been injured?

"In short, we still need to strengthen the management of migrants and we must not let everyone in."

"How do we manage them? Those people are starving, and anyone from inside the city can hardly move an inch if they go out."

They can't even walk, let alone care for anyone.

Zhang Shixu remained silent for a while.

This is indeed a difficult problem, after all, they have few people, but the number of refugees is constantly increasing.

"We can add barriers to manage and divert migrants."

Jin Shouan suddenly spoke up from the side.

Just as Magistrate Jin was about to tell him to shut up and not get involved, Zhang Shixu became interested and continued to ask questions.

"Barrier? What's that?"

"It's similar to letting horses run wild. If a herd of horses gets out of control, it's difficult to manage. So, we make the fence longer on the way out of the pen so that the horses can only run out one by one."

Humans and horses should be about the same size, but humans are not as strong as horses. Add passageways and fences at the city gates, making them as winding and circuitous as possible, so that any refugees who want to enter the city will have to pass through the fences first.

Wouldn't that make management much easier?

Zhang Shixu seemed to be deep in thought.

There were indeed checkpoints at the city gates, but once they were opened, it would be very easy for those refugees to break through them.

To deal with them, we can't use force like we would against an enemy, so Magistrate Jin hesitated about whether to open the city gates.

After hearing this, Zhang Shixu asked another question.

"Go on, and then what?"

"Then……"

He glanced at Jin Shu subconsciously, then continued.

"Then we took a measure, which was the principle of priority."

The elderly, the infirm, the disabled, women, and children should come in first.

"Women and children?"

That's quite novel.

Normally, when faced with such a situation, the whole family would concentrate all their efforts on protecting the men. But in Jin Shou'an's case, the women were ranked first.

Zhang Shixu smiled and nodded.

"Then what?"

"I think the world is tough. It goes without saying that the old, weak, sick and disabled are vulnerable. As for women, they are more fragile than men and have a harder time surviving."

Therefore, I think these people should be given priority to enter the city first.

"Hmm, I think that's good, it makes sense."

Zhang Shixu deeply agreed.

But then he said...

"How can we guarantee that these refugees will line up inside the fence as you say? When people are in a moment of impulse, they can easily break through even an iron fence, let alone the wooden fences we can only make right now."

"It's alright, we can just borrow some troops when the time comes."

“Troops aren’t something you can just borrow whenever you want. Right now, everyone is in danger, and nobody cares about anyone else.”

Jin Shouan, however, remained resolute.

"I have already borrowed an army stationed at the foot of the mountain. If there is a peasant uprising, it can be easily suppressed."

Magistrate Jin looked on incredulously.

"You've come to borrow troops? Can you even borrow troops?"

Half a day later, when Magistrate Jin stood on the city gate and saw a well-trained and fully equipped army marching in from not far away, he subconsciously rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and then turned to ask Jin Shou'an.

"Whose troops did you borrow?"

Judging from the appearance of the army, which looks to be no less than five thousand men, His Majesty would never station troops near He'an County. Therefore, this army must be privately maintained.

Putting aside the fact that this is a capital offense, who in the world has the ability to privately maintain such a large army?

How can they be equipped with such complete gear?

From a distance, even His Majesty's best army is no better than this.

Jin Shouan suppressed the pride in his eyes, but his tone still unconsciously carried a hint of smug satisfaction at sharing both glory and disgrace.

"Father, isn't this force more than capable of suppressing these refugees?"

That's more than enough.

With such a force, the displaced people who were crowded at the city gate were quickly deterred and retreated to a position two hundred meters away.

People outside were crying and cursing the heavens for their injustice, but Magistrate Jin didn't care much. Instead, he quickly sent people to set up diversion barriers outside the city gates.

A day later, the fence was set up, and soldiers on horseback rode through the refugee procession, making each household line up and move forward one by one.

No one had ever seen this thing before, but as soon as they saw the fence leading to the city gate, they couldn't wait to rush inside.

"Line up!! Go in one by one!!"

Some people naturally ignored this advice and even tried to climb over the fence to get to the front.

Magistrate Jin naturally didn't need to be polite to such a person. He directly ordered his soldiers to push him down with the hilts of their swords and pull him aside, shouting intimidation.

"Anyone who continues to disobey orders and charge at the fence shall not be allowed to enter the city gate!"

After this happened two or three times, everyone quieted down.

Once they reached the front of the line, a man started shouting.

"I have never heard of the idea that women should be ranked before men since ancient times!"

What use is it for women to survive?! Men are the foundation of the nation!

"You actually let her go in first, leaving me to wait on the side! Do you even know I've already passed the county-level imperial examination and might be promoted to a higher position in the imperial court in the future!"

At the checkpoint, Jin Shouan and Jin Shu watched the scene unfold before them.

Upon hearing this, Jin Shouan sneered.

"It seems the classics haven't taught you anything about how to be a person. Someone like you wants to enter the palace and meet the emperor? It's a joke!"

The scholar, unconvinced, continued to argue.

"Women are inherently lowly; they can neither hold office nor farm. The country may lack women, but it cannot lack men!"

Now, outside, the whole family provides food for the men, so that they can continue to carry on the family line and perpetuate its honor.

I ask you, can these women do it? If they live and we die, the world is doomed!

When it comes to arguing, Kim Soo-an gets really into it.

"You weren't born from your mother? You still talk about carrying on the family line? Even without your mother, your father's belly could have given birth to you."

Promoting the family line, isn't that something only women can do?

Men just lie in bed and enjoy themselves, while the rest of the work—giving birth and breastfeeding—isn't it all a woman's job?

And who says women can't be officials, farm, or do business? My mother has been a businessman for many years, my aunt once served as a border governor, and my sister is an excellent farmer!

In this light, it seems that men like you are the most useless! You can't lift a finger, you're full of grand theories, all pretentious and affected. Even if you become an official, you'll be a useless piece of trash!

Guards! He's not allowed into the city! Women, children, the elderly, and the sick are the first to enter!

Anyone who objects or expresses dissatisfaction, get out! You are never allowed back into the city!