Chapter 564 Who Will Save Me?
The idea of the Pingyang County Magistrate was very simple. Since the imperial court did not care about Hezhong County and Hezhong County did not care about Pingyang County, he would find someone who was willing to take charge.
Who in the world is more suitable than Duke Yun? !
Besides, Pingyang County is so close to Shuozhou, there is no reason to go somewhere far away.
The magistrate of Pingyang County handed the official seal and the letter to a clerk and asked him to deliver them to Shuozhou.
The clerk had long wanted to go to Shuozhou, so he was naturally happy to take on this task.
He first went to check the official road, but found that the muddy river water had already flooded the road. He did not dare to take the risk and wanted to cross the river.
However, the stone bridge was submerged, with only the top of it left. The waves were surging under the bridge, and the clerks dared not go forward.
Finally, with no other options, the clerk used the price of a bag of rice to hire a boatman to row him across the river.
As soon as the two got off the boat, they saw a flood surge from afar with the force of thousands of troops.
The two were so scared that they ran towards the shore.
Fortunately, neither of them was caught in the flood, but it was a pity for the boat, which was hit by a wave and broke into pieces in an instant.
The clerks and the boatman walked towards the county seat of Wudu County, taking one step forward and one step back. They arrived at the city gate in the middle of the night.
Because the two men were in such a miserable state, they were interrogated for a long time by the soldiers guarding the city gate. Only after the clerk produced the official seal of the Pingyang County magistrate did the soldiers let them go.
"You are really lucky. Duke Yun happened to be inspecting Wudu County and is resting in the county government office. I will go and tell him first. If Duke Yun has already rested, you can just find a corner and rest for the night."
How dare the clerk do that?
He quickly grabbed the soldier's sleeve and pleaded, "It's so late, should we go with you? Or tell us where is a safe place? Please don't leave us alone."
The soldier laughed: "Do you think our Wudu County is your Pingyang County? Don't worry, our Wudu County is very safe."
The clerks all had droopy eyebrows and a bitter taste in their mouths. They all work for the government, so who doesn't know who?
When he left Pingyang County, didn't he have to hold his head high and say that Pingyang County had good public security and was not poor?
The clerk did not dare to refute, and only whispered: "I heard that many refugees came to Shuozhou."
The soldier rolled his eyes and said, "Stop pretending. Those refugees all came through your Pingyang County. Don't pretend you don't know anything. Don't worry, the refugees have been arranged. They have a good life and have no intention of causing trouble. As for the Red Lotus Sect that caused trouble, they have been dealt with long ago."
The soldier ignored the clerk and ran to the county government office.
The clerk and the boatman huddled against the wall, back to back, and looked around vigilantly, not daring to blink.
The moonlight was like water, sprinkling on the city walls. Everything around was quiet and peaceful.
Unconsciously, the clerk's eyelids began to twitch. He had not felt such a peaceful and stable atmosphere for a long time.
Since the refugees entered Pingyang County, he closed the door tightly every night. He did not dare to take off his clothes to sleep, let alone fall asleep, for fear that a refugee would climb over the wall and cut his neck with a knife while he was sleeping.
“Huluhuhu.”
The clerk was startled and looked in the direction of the sound, only to find that the boatman had actually fallen asleep: "What a careless person!"
The clerk was completely sleepless. He touched the letter on his chest and couldn't help thinking.
The county magistrate wants to use the power of Duke Yun to save Pingyang County.
But, will Duke Yun send troops?
All Duke Yun had to do was to watch the flood raging in Pingyang County quietly, and then after the flood receded, he would be able to take over Pingyang County without any effort.
By that time, there would be no hateful powerful families in Pingyang County, no people in need of disaster relief, and no force that could resist. It would be like a clean sheet of paper, allowing Duke Yun to paint over it.
The clerk pulled his own hair in annoyance. If he were the Duke of Yun, he would definitely not help.
What's the point of saving Pingyang County? It's dangerous and laborious. We finally rescued a bunch of people, but there's nothing left. They're like refugees, and we have to waste food to feed them.
The more the clerk thought about it, the more desperate he became!
He couldn't find any reason for Duke Yun to save Pingyang County!
"Hurry up! Duke Yun wants to see you!" The soldiers guarding the city ran over, panting.
The clerk was surprised: "See me?"
"Yes. Duke Yun had fallen asleep, but when he heard that someone was coming from Pingyang County, he got up again. Hurry up and don't keep Duke Yun waiting for too long."
The clerk's mind went blank and he ran after the soldiers.
As soon as he entered the gate of the county government office, he found that everyone in the office was in mourning. Some tied hemp ropes around their waists, and some tied a white cloth around their arms.
The clerk swallowed and asked in a low voice: "What are they doing?"
"mourning."
"Who are you mourning for?" The clerk was puzzled. With such a big ceremony, how important a person must he be?
"All the soldiers and civilians who died in the battle of Yunzhou."
A chill spread from the soles of his feet directly to the top of his head. The clerk's teeth began to chatter and he couldn't even speak.
Are the Duke of Yun and the people of Yunzhou so vindictive? !
Isn't Hezhong County doomed? !
You know, during the war, everyone in Hezhong County strictly followed the government's requirements and did not let a single grain of rice flow into Yunzhou!
They also seized a lot of relief grain shipped from Jiangnan.
Later, many businessmen spent a lot of money to get through the channels and paid twice the market price to get a batch of grain to Yunzhou.
The officials of Hezhong County made a lot of money from this matter. Even they themselves received kickbacks from the caravans, didn’t they?
The clerk was in a state of severe distress.
Helping Pingyang County fight floods and provide disaster relief was not profitable in the first place, and there was a feud between the two sides, so how could Duke Yun agree to it? !
The clerk walked in dejectedly, not even daring to raise his head. After handing the letter and official seal in his arms to the person next to him, he knelt on the spot like a statue.
Gu Nanxi first looked at the official seal to make sure it was genuine and not a fake before opening the letter.
The letter was written by the magistrate of Pingyang County. It was written in flowery language and full of flattery. To sum it up in one sentence, "As long as Duke Yun sends people to rescue the people of Pingyang County, Pingyang County will ally with Duke Yun."
Gu Nanxi asked in a deep voice: "When I inspected during the day, your Pingyang County did not have a dike breach. Why is this so? Is there no sign of this?"
The clerk answered honestly: "The governor saw that the water level was rising too fast and was worried that he could not protect Hezhong Prefecture, so he released the flood. Our Pingyang County is low-lying, so the flood is coming towards us."
"Weren't you notified before the flood?"
"No."
Gu Nanxi narrowed her eyes slightly: "Is your riverbank still there?"
The clerk did not dare to hide anything: "It is still there, but it won't last long. The money allocated by the court to the county to maintain the river bank has been diverted to other purposes. The river bank has not been repaired for many years."
Gu Nanxi understood. No wonder the Pingyang County Magistrate was so eager to join him.
The clerk breathed softly and waited for Duke Yun's decision.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com