The Jiangnan water town was hit by a snowstorm

Chapter 75: The Jiangnan Water Village Suffers a Snowstorm

This year, the north has cooled even faster than usual. It's only November now, and already heavy snow has begun to fall. With such heavy snowfall, I wonder if the crops in the fields will survive the entire winter.

However, this situation also has its advantages. It is estimated that there is heavy snow on the Mongolian grasslands, and measures to prevent snow disasters should have been taken. In addition, with the food exchanged before, it is highly likely that it will not come to the northern border this year.

Of course, we still have to patrol where we need to, and we must not lose our vigilance.

In mid-November, Chu Huaibei led his men on a patrol as usual. On the way back, the surroundings were quiet and there was no trace of the Mongolian army.

One thing was quite unexpected. I had thought that this year's patrol would most likely encounter heavy snow, and I had made preparations in advance. Unexpectedly, the weather was just cold, and there was no blizzard.

The North had a second peaceful New Year.

In the northern border, every household with a woman working in a workshop enjoyed a bountiful New Year's feast: new clothes, new quilts, pork, brown sugar, a can of wine, and the children's favorite malt candy. Not a single family member was unhappy.

While the northern border was celebrating the New Year with great enthusiasm, an urgent report from Jiangnan was delivered to the emperor's desk.

A sudden snowstorm hit the south of the Yangtze River, destroying countless houses and leaving the people homeless. I have tried my best, but it is really difficult to take care of everyone. I earnestly request Your Majesty to send people to rescue the people from this dire situation.

The letter from the Jiangnan prefect was written in hasty handwriting, and the seriousness of the situation could be seen from the thin letter paper.

The emperor immediately summoned the three ministers to discuss the matter. The oldest of the three ministers was already in his seventies. When he first heard about the snow disaster in the south of the Yangtze River, he thought that he was too old and had signs of hearing loss.

It was not until he saw the letter from the prefect of Jiangnan that he believed he had heard correctly, but this was also the first time he had heard of a snow disaster in Jiangnan in more than 70 years.

The emperor saw that the three ministers had the same expression and stood there without saying a word, so he spoke to break the silence.

"What countermeasures do the three elders have? Please speak freely."

When Han Zheng heard the emperor's question, he came back to his senses and began to organize his words to answer.

"Your Majesty, I believe the most urgent task is to send people to gather the surviving civilians and distribute porridge. Simultaneously, we should send people to rescue those trapped in the houses. This will require a large number of manpower. What suggestions do the Prime Minister and Lord Zhao have?"

Han Zheng passed the conversation to the other two and retreated.

"Your Majesty, I believe what Elder Han said is reasonable. As for manpower, you can transfer some of the Imperial Guards and transfer all the garrisons from the surrounding prefectures and states to Jiangnan to assist in the rescue."

Zhao Zhengyuan thought about it for a second longer, and then Li Min took over the conversation.

Old man, you’ve said everything you want to say. Look at what you can do!

"Your Majesty, I believe the garrisons in just a few prefectures and states may not be enough. Jiangnan Prefecture has a maximum of one hundred garrisons, and the garrisons in the surrounding prefectures and states range from thirty to sixty. All together, they do not exceed three hundred. Your Majesty, I implore you to increase the number of Imperial Guards to respond to this snowstorm."

The emperor pretended not to know the undercurrents between the three people. He sat on the dragon throne, touching the white jade ring newly presented to him by the inner court on his right hand, and slowly pondered the suggestions made by the three people.

"My three ministers are right. Who do you think can take on this important task of disaster relief?"

"I believe Minister Xu is capable of taking on this important task. He did an excellent job in disaster relief before."

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, you are prone to forgetfulness. Minister Xu took sick leave before he even finished writing in the twelfth lunar month. The imperial physician said that his previous work in disaster relief weakened his health, leading to his severe cold. I'm afraid he's now bedridden and unable to help Your Majesty."

"Oh, the other day I heard that Minister Xu was able to get up and walk around."

"Alright, let's change someone. I'm not so crazy as to ask my ministers to provide disaster relief while sick."

The emperor looked at the two people's inappropriate quarrel and angrily stopped them from continuing the conversation.

"This old minister is rude, and I hope Your Majesty will punish me."

At this time, the two of them spoke in unison.

"Not guilty, let's continue discussing the candidate."

The emperor waved his hand and told the three to continue working. There was an urgent situation and they were still dealing with these trivial matters.

"Your Majesty, I believe it would be most appropriate for Minister Wang of the Ministry of War to lead this disaster relief effort, with one assistant minister each from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to assist. What do the Prime Minister and Lord Zhao think?"

Han Zheng's words made Li Min and Zhao Zhengyuan stop competing secretly and seriously consider the feasibility of the matter.

The emperor nodded with satisfaction. Han Zheng was a more reliable person. He just liked to stay out of everything, which was both good and bad.

The four of them discussed in the imperial study for a long time and decided on the final candidates, with Minister Wang as the main candidate, and Chen Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue and Jiang Shilang of the Ministry of Works as the auxiliary candidates. The eldest prince served as the commander-in-chief and went to Jiangnan Prefecture to provide disaster relief.

Two thousand imperial guards were mobilized, and 280 garrison troops were stationed in the four surrounding prefectures. They followed the orders of Minister Wang, the Imperial Envoy for Disaster Relief, and rushed to Jiangnan Prefecture as quickly as possible.

The court officials had already passed the information of the snow disaster to each other, so after receiving the imperial edict, Minister Wang, Minister Chen, Minister Jiang, and Captain He of the Imperial Guards immediately called for people to assemble.

After Zhao Zhengyuan left the imperial study, he sent someone to deliver a letter to the eldest prince's mansion. The letter explained the snow disaster and the mission in detail, which was considered to be comprehensive.

But when things come to the eldest prince, there are always some unexpected things.

The eldest prince had fun with the newly-appointed honest official and the twin sisters last night. He slept until noon and woke up. He was still getting dressed and washing up when the servant rushed into the backyard in a hurry, not even paying attention to the rules of the backyard.

"Grand Prince, Grand Prince, are you awake yet? His Majesty has sent someone to deliver the decree, Grand Prince! Grand Prince!"

He started shouting before he even entered the yard. The servant guarding the yard heard the boy's voice from a distance and opened the gate in advance without even making a move to stop him.

The servant rushed into the room unhindered, knelt on the ground and quickly recounted what had happened.

"Such an important matter, why didn't anyone inform this prince in advance!"

The eldest prince quickly tidied himself up and ran to the front yard holding the hem of his clothes.

The angel who delivered the decree showed a rare look of anxiety, which made the eldest prince's wife, who was kneeling on the ground waiting, feel her heart sink.

Before entering the front yard, the eldest prince stopped to adjust his breathing, reached out to straighten his crown that had run crooked, then quickly stepped forward and knelt in front of the eldest prince's wife on the left.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be blessed with peace and happiness."

The angel dared to accept the kneeling worship of the ministers on behalf of the emperor, but he did not dare to accept the kneeling worship of the princes, so he turned sideways to avoid them.

"I decree that the Crown Prince Sun Zerui be appointed as the General Commander of the Disaster Relief Army and depart for Jiangnan Prefecture today to provide disaster relief."

"Grand Prince, please accept the order. Please pack up and gather at the east gate at 5:00 PM to join the army."

The angel gently placed the imperial edict in the prince's hand and gave him a special reminder.

"Your son accepts the order."

"Thank you, eunuch. I hope you will accept this small token of my respect."

The eldest prince casually stuffed a purse into the eunuch's hand.

"I am not worthy of your thanks, Your Highness. Please sort things out first. I will return and report. I will take my leave now."

The angel pushed the purse in her hand back to the eldest prince with a kind face, turned around and immediately led his people back to the palace.

"Time is tight, so just pack a few sets of clothes and the things you need most often, and fill a car."

The eldest prince's wife gave the order on the spot, and the servants turned around and took action immediately.

At this time, the counselor Yao Yun, who was at the back, took a few steps forward and handed the letter he had received an hour ago to the eldest prince.

"Grand Prince, here is a letter from Lord Zhao to you."

I took it, opened it and took a quick look, and then I knew the origin of this imperial edict.

"Such an important letter, why didn't you deliver it to this prince earlier?"

"Replying to the Grand Prince, as soon as I received the letter, I sent someone to inform him, but I waited for the imperial edict first."

Yao Yun only felt that there seemed to be a line connecting his solar plexus to his heart. As his heart beat, his solar plexus also beat in a muffled manner according to the rhythm of the beating.

Today is the third day of the first lunar month. All his colleagues are taking a rest and he is the only one on duty. How could it be such a coincidence!

An hour ago, there was some movement in the yard, but he was sleepy at the time and had no time to care about it.

The eldest prince felt a little guilty, so he folded the letter, put it back into the envelope, and stuffed it into his arms.

"This prince understands, you can leave first."

"I'm leaving."

By the time the eldest prince hurried to the east gate, the rest of the relief workers had all arrived, waiting for him to arrive before setting off.

When the relief team arrived at Jiangnan Prefecture, the prefect Su Yu had not slept for three days. His face was so haggard that Minister Wang thought he was about to collapse at any moment.

He quickly helped the man up and took him to the back hall, where he asked the accompanying imperial physician to take his pulse first.

"Prefect Su, you can rest assured and take a day off today, but don't overwork yourself. Jiangnan Prefecture will still rely on your governance in the future."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Excellency. I will rest for the day. You may consult my two subordinates on any matters."

"That's right. You can rest first. I will take over the disaster relief work. Don't worry."

"Your Majesty is wise, thank you very much!"

Su Yu's heart, which had been tense for half a month, suddenly relaxed. He lay on the hard wooden couch, tilted his head, and pretended to faint for a second in front of everyone.

The imperial physician was still taking his pulse, indicating to everyone that he was fine, just overworked and now he relaxed and fell asleep.

Leaving the imperial physician to prescribe medicine for the prefect, Minister Wang brought his men back to the main hall of the yamen and assigned personnel based on the current situation.

Minister Huang led people to the two places where the prefectural government had resettled the victims to distribute porridge. Minister Jiang led the imperial physicians and doctors from the clinic to treat the patients. Captain He led a thousand imperial guards to search and rescue the victims in the east, and he himself led the remaining imperial guards to search and rescue the victims in the west.

The eldest prince sat in the Jiangnan Prefecture government office, supervising the actions of all parties.

Everyone had no objection to this and took quick action with their men. Natural disasters wait for no one. Apart from the initial blizzard, there was not a single sunny day in the following days.

The eldest prince knew that he was just here for show, and his grandfather had given him detailed instructions in the letter.

He is not someone who likes to give orders, so it would be best if he could just do nothing and get the credit.

So, when others were busy, the eldest prince was idle in the government office, and his grandfather sternly lectured him, forbidding him to marry any girl from any family during this trip. Apart from staying in the study, he would go to the place where supplies were stored to take a look.

The eldest prince still had some conscience left, so he didn't run out and wander around during this chaotic time. He was trapped in the outer courtyard of the government office and almost went out to make a snowman for fun.

As the weather improved, the disaster relief work went smoothly. By the time the imperial physician cured the last patient, most of the people had returned to their homes and began to repair their houses and rebuild their homes.

The group packed up and went home.

Naturally, everyone was rewarded for their good work in disaster relief. Although they were physically exhausted on the way back, they were still quite excited in spirits.

My promotion is all thanks to this disaster relief. It is a rare opportunity in many years.