Chapter 74

Lin Shuge summoned doctors from all over the county to prepare and boil medicine early this morning, and he was filled with the smell of medicine.

Most of the medicines were for preventing diseases. They were not only distributed to the victims outside the city, but also several distribution points were set up by county officials inside the city. The people were also supervised not to drink raw water and to pay attention to ventilation.

When the people in the county first heard that there were disaster victims pouring in, they were in a panic and quite at a loss. Some of them who had evil intentions wanted to take advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters and rob, but Lin Shuge caught a group of them and made an example of them, and dealt with them severely.

Then he summoned the heads of all the villages to explain the situation, telling the people that the victims would be kept outside the city, and asked everyone in each village to organize patrols on their own. Once anyone was found acting suspiciously, they would be arrested immediately and reported to the police. Only then did the people gradually calm down.

So although the streets are not as crowded as before, there are still a few businesses open.

Lin Shuge rode his horse and took his men for a walk on the street. It was relatively peaceful today and no one was found taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble. He dismounted from his horse, and the officers following him also dismounted. There were many people queuing up on the street ahead to get medicine. Lin Shuge threw the horse to the officer behind him and went forward to check.

A woman with her face covered was giving people medicine. The medicine tasted bitter. A man pinched his nose and drank it. It was so bitter that his tongue was numb. "This medicine is so bitter. You can't believe the county government is so mean. They ask people to drink medicine every day, and it's so bitter."

The people in the queue behind him said angrily, "If you don't want to drink it, leave quickly. The officials in the county government are so kind to give us free medicine, but you are still complaining. If you have the ability, go outside and take a look. The people in Wei County who were affected by the disaster are almost eating dirt..."

Everyone was talking at once, and the man's face turned red with embarrassment. When no one was paying attention, he ran away in shame.

The man in the queue behind him made a "Puh" sound, but when he saw Madam Li applying the medicine, he immediately smiled. Li Wan took his bowl and filled it with medicine.

"Thank you, Madam Li." He took it and drank it all in one gulp, saying with a smile.

The people around laughed.

Lin Shuge also smiled slightly. As usual, he prepared to go out of the city with the officers.

Unexpectedly, a female voice was heard, "County Magistrate Lin, please stay." Madam Li handed the thing in her hand to the lady who was applying medicine next to her and shouted.

Lin Shuge stopped and looked at her.

"Your Excellency has worked hard these days." Madam Li said after she walked in.

Lin Shuge smiled and said, "Thank you for your help these days, madam."

"Your Excellency, what are you talking about? Compared to you, it's just a piece of cake. How can it be considered hard work? By the way, my Excellency, my shop has also rushed to make a batch of gloves today. When you are free, just send someone to pick them up. Just consider it a small token of my appreciation."

Lin Shuge nodded, "Thank you, ma'am."

Li Wan watched him ride away on horseback, bowed to him from a distance, and went back to distribute medicine to the people in line.

Lin Shuge walked out of the city gate, dismounted, and immediately ordered the servants outside the city to distribute today's medicine to the victims.

The officers came to report to him the number of disaster victims in Ganzhou and the various situations in the past few days. Lin Shuge listened and looked towards the shack.

There may not be enough shacks, so it is a good opportunity to let the disaster victims who have been resting for a few days work and pay them wages. This way they can earn money and have something to do.

I accidentally met someone's eyes.

Ling Xue trotted over and said, "Sir, do you still remember me? You saved my brother and me last night, and you asked me to come find you today."

"Of course I remember." Lin Shuge replied.

In addition to this porridge distribution point, which is considered a temporary resettlement point, a group of seriously injured and sick people were placed in a farm outside the city. Lin Shuge ordered people to send the injured boy there last night.

"I sent someone to take your brother to get treatment last night. If you're worried, I'm going there after I finish my work today and can take you there."

His tone was gentle, and because he was wearing a veil, only his eyes, bright as stars, could be seen.

Ling Xue looked at her mother and shook her head. "My Lord, my mother is weak and I have to stay to take care of her. Now that I know my brother is fine, I am not worried anymore."

Lin Shuge handed her a bowl of medicine and said, "Then when he is almost fully recovered in a few days, he will be reunited with you."

Ling Xue held the medicine in her hand and said with some embarrassment: "Sir, I heard that the county is recruiting people for work. Don't look at me as thin, I am very good at work. Can you recruit me?"

She raised her arms, wanting to let Lin Shuge see her strength, and the officers behind her burst into laughter.

"Okay, but you just arrived in Ganzhou, take care of your health first, and someone will find you to work later."

Lin Shuge signaled the servant to bring another bowl of medicine, "This is for preventing diseases. You and your mother should remember to drink it every day."

Ling Xue looked at him, her eyes suddenly reddened, "Thank you, sir."

Lin Shuge smiled without saying anything. He and the officers distributed the medicine to the victims. He also asked about some safety issues and told them to tell the victims not to drink raw water.

He continued to ride westward with a group of officials. As they rode past at full speed, Lin Shuge was thinking about the boy just now, no, it was a smart young lady.

Although he is young, he is brave, careful, and kind-hearted. He is a good candidate.

He and the officers came to a wasteland. In the distance, there was a group of people reclaiming the wasteland. These people were the first batch of disaster victims to arrive here. The northwest was vast and sparsely populated, so the county government arranged for them to come here to reclaim the wasteland, provided them with food every day, and the reclaimed land was considered theirs.

Seeing him coming, Zhou Du strode over to greet him, "You're finally here."

"How's the situation today?" Lin Shuge asked.

"That's it, but it's a good idea to let them reclaim the wasteland. I've asked about the situation of these disaster victims. Many of them have only relatives who have fled to Ganzhou. They don't want to go back and are planning to settle down here."

"However, there are still some who are waiting for disaster relief from the imperial court before returning home. I told them that I would give them some money to return home. Alas, you don't know, before I finished speaking, everyone knelt down and called me Lord. I have been an official for so many years, but I have never seen such a scene. My first reaction was shock."

The disaster victims nearby moved the stones from the wasteland one by one with their hands, and then used hoes to carefully weed and turn the soil, without stopping for a moment.

When these disaster victims arrived in Ganzhou, most of them were half-naked and skinny. They wolfed down the first bite of food and then fell to their knees unable to get up. Even though there were some extremely vicious criminals, ordinary people just wanted to fill their stomachs.

Lin Shuge was staring at the victims in a daze, without saying a word.

Zhou Du said again: "Brother Huai Ting, there are fewer disaster victims coming here recently. Do you think Yandu has sent people to provide disaster relief?"

“I don’t know.”

"Hasn't the county magistrate received the news?" Zhou Du asked curiously.

Lin Shuge shook his head.

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient and information transmission was slow. Perhaps before they had any news, the disaster in Wei County had already eased.

"I'll leave today's medicine. Although these disaster victims are no longer at risk of disease, I'll still leave some for them just in case," said Lin Shuge.

"By the way, remember to drink it too. Don't take off your towel and gloves on weekdays."

"I know, I know. You also need to wash your hands frequently and not drink raw water. You've told me this eight hundred times." Zhou Du shook his head.

Seeing that nothing happened here, Lin Shuge took the officers to a farm.

Different from the previous one, the atmosphere here was depressing. The doctors and pharmacists wearing face scarves were so busy that they kept their feet on the ground. The groans of patients could be heard from time to time.

Lin Shuge knocked on the door, and a medicine boy opened it from the inside, "Master, it's County Magistrate Lin."

A man wearing a turban walked over. He looked young, but his temperament was very steady. He was the first one to recommend himself after Lin Shuge explained the situation that day.

"Why is County Magistrate Lin here again? I've already told you that there are many patients here, so try not to come here as much as possible."

I just have a bad temper.

"I'm here to deliver some medicine. It's made from a new recipe developed by the county doctor." Lin Shuge explained.

Doctor Wu asked the medicine boy to take the water bag and said, "Got it. Give me the prescription directly next time. By the way, the child you sent over yesterday is fine and has recovered well."

"Thank you for your hard work, Doctor Wu." Lin Shuge said while standing at the door.

Doctor Wu nodded and waved his hand for them to go back.

Lin Shuge smiled helplessly, and rode back to the county government office with the other officers. He had been very busy during this period and had been living in the county government office. He asked Xu Yu to pass on a message, and he didn't know how his younger brother and sister-in-law were doing at home.

The disaster victims who fled to Ganzhou recently have been mostly resettled. After some time has passed and they have reclaimed the wasteland, and then gone to various workshops to do odd jobs to earn money, they should be able to settle down.

He also happened to go home to rest for a few days.

I just don't know why there is no movement in Yandu yet, Lin Shuge sighed in his heart.

Wei County.

The victims were dressed in rags and lined up to receive relief food. The people who received the food were overjoyed. They cried as they hugged a bag of food and murmured, "If only we had this bag of food earlier, my father wouldn't have starved to death."

The people nearby shed tears and gritted their teeth in hatred as they looked at the tied officials above.

A man in black official uniform was looking at this side with a frown in the distance. A minor official came up to ask for permission and said tremblingly: "Sir, the relief grain for Linze County has been distributed..."

"Um?"

"Please spare my life, sir. Please spare my life. Everything was the idea of ​​the county magistrate. I was only following his orders." The clerk kowtowed and begged for mercy.

"Oh, Lord Ruan, you have such great authority." The man sat down in front of Ruan Qingyun. "His Majesty sent you and me here to provide disaster relief. You have killed so many people and raided so many houses along the way, but the food is still not enough."

"What Lord Ding said is inappropriate. I rely on the laws of this dynasty to do things. Such corrupt officials who enrich themselves, exploit people and even embezzle the court's disaster relief funds without caring about the lives of the people, cannot be used to appease the public anger unless they are killed. Lord Ding, are you trying to speak for such people?" Ruan Qingyun said in a stern voice with a stern face.

Ding Wenhong's eyebrows were filled with anger. "Ruan, you are just relying on His Majesty's favor to be so arrogant. You are still short of a lot of food. This Wei County is suffering from disasters everywhere. I want to see how you can raise food."

After saying this, he left with his servants.

Ruan Qingyun signaled the officers to take the offending official away. A man stood up and said, "Sir, although Ding Wenhong is a fool, what he just said is true. We have used up all the food we bought along the way. Do you have any solution?"

"Wei County was hit by disasters everywhere, but other places were not affected. Dingyuan County, which is the closest to here, has food."

"Your Excellency wants to go to Dingyuan County to buy grain, but Dingyuan County is located in the northwest. It is not a major grain-producing county. It is good enough to be self-sufficient every year. Where can it get the grain to sell to us?" asked the confidant.

"You know very little. Dingyuan County has seen many changes in the past two years. Maybe there will be a turning point." Ruan Qingyun thought about the paper and cashmere that were passed on to Yandu, as well as the printing technology that recently appeared in Yandu and the many legendary books from Dingyuan County, his eyes deep.