Chapter 571 You Are My Brother
Knowing that the person opposite her was Su Xuanming, the son of Duke Yun, Yang Lan's attitude became much more enthusiastic.
"I heard that Duke Yun has eighty-three heads and six arms, is eighty feet tall, is strong enough to lift a tripod, and can spit fire. Is that true?"
Su Xuanming had heard even more outrageous rumors. He smiled and said, "It's fake. My mother looks like a fairy."
Yang Lan felt a little regretful: "It is said that Duke Yun traveled thousands of miles to attack and burnt Chierle. Could it be false?"
"No, this is real!"
Yang Lan was shocked: "It is really amazing that a beautiful girl can achieve such a great achievement. Is it true that Duke Yun recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and drove the Tartars out of the grassland? The officials of Henan County are all claiming that this is a lie."
Su Xuanming said solemnly: "This is true! My younger sister led all the people of Yunzhou and the women's army to defend Yunzhou City in this battle!"
Yang Lan let out a long breath and said admiringly, "Duke Yun has made such a great contribution, but the court is so stingy that it doesn't give him any reward! The prefectures and counties below are even spreading rumors that Duke Yun deliberately exaggerated the results. I guess they can't do it themselves and don't want to admit their incompetence."
Su Xuanming did not expect that outside of Kyoto, other states and counties would actually talk about the recovery of the Sixteen States of Youyun in this way.
"Rumors stop with the wise, and facts speak louder than words. The great achievements made by my mother cannot be covered up by the few words of these villains!"
Yang Lan nodded heavily: "Indeed."
Su Xuanming asked, "Why was Brother Yang imprisoned in prison?"
Yang Lan picked up a piece of straw from the ground and put it in her mouth: "I'm unlucky. I was originally a small leader of the Henan County uprising army. Later, I was suppressed and recruited by the court. I spent money and used connections to become a small military officer."
"A few months ago, there was a severe drought. The court had to send people to Jiangnan to transport the grain from Jiangnan all the way to the capital and hand it over to the Jingzhao Yin to recruit refugees as soldiers."
"My superiors were unwilling to go, so they gave me this task. When we sailed to Shanzhou, we encountered a sudden rainstorm. After we waited for the sky to clear up, it started to rain again. The food was stuck on the way and could not be moved."
"As bad as it was, the river surged and washed away all the food and boats."
In this kind of situation, there is no need for anyone to frame him. According to the law, he should pay compensation for the grain. If he cannot afford it, he will be exiled.
Yang Lan had nothing to say about this, but the guards didn't give the prisoners food for half a month: "You are still lucky. The guards dare not starve you to death. We ordinary prisoners are miserable. We don't have food every two or three days."
Yang Lan touched her stomach, which was empty but burning.
If I continue like this, I will starve to death before I even have to wait for a trial and conviction from my superiors.
Su Xuanming lowered his head and was silent for a moment. He gulped down half of the thick porridge that he had not drunk yet, and then pushed the bowl of porridge to the middle of the road.
"If Brother Yang doesn't mind, half of it will be yours."
Yang Lan looked at Su Xuanming in disbelief, her throat rolling up and down uncontrollably: "Su Dalang, are you really willing to give me food? Half a bowl of porridge, can you be full?"
Su Xuanming waved his hand: "Meeting is fate. Brother Yang, you don't have to be polite."
Yang Lan was so hungry that her eyes sparkled. She stretched out her hand and reached forward as hard as she could, and finally reached the bowl.
Yang Lan wolfed down half the bowl of porridge, and even licked the rice soup on the wall of the bowl clean with her tongue.
"Su Dalang, from today on, you are my Yang Lan's good brother! If I survive to get out, I will definitely repay you!"
…
The news that Su Xuanming was imprisoned had not yet spread back to Shuozhou.
Gu Nanxi’s rescue was very timely. After a large number of Pingyang County residents evacuated Pingyang County, all the river embankments broke!
The rushing river water instantly turned the entire Pingyang County into a vast ocean.
Many people looked at the river and couldn't help crying.
First, I was afraid that I almost died, and second, I felt regretful that all my life’s accumulation had turned into nothing.
But these disaster victims soon had no time to feel sentimental, as they were assigned various jobs and had to support themselves.
Shuozhou has richer mineral resources and more forests than Yunzhou.
These disaster victims can go to Jingshan to cut down trees, go to the mines to mine, build bridges and roads, and dig ponds.
The elderly and frail people and children who have lost the protection of their parents are arranged to grow mycelium and mushrooms.
In short, except for those hungry babies, almost everyone can find a job. They can't fill their stomachs, but they won't starve to death.
Gu Nanxi and Niu Jinyi were inspecting the disaster situation and saw that the refugees were sleeping on the ground. Those with slightly better conditions were using straw as a cushion under their bodies.
Gu Nanxi frowned: "It's almost late autumn, and the weather is getting colder. If the victims don't have a place to live, I'm afraid they won't be able to survive this winter."
Niu Jinyi looked at the flood on the other side of the river, which showed signs of receding. "Mr. Xu said that the river water should recede in a few days. Then we will enter Pingyang County and replan the houses so that they can have a shelter before winter comes."
The victims are mobile and resources are limited. The only way to allocate resources reasonably is to wait for the flood to recede and allow them to return to their hometowns and rebuild their homes.
As for the refugees who had signed a ten-year land lease contract with Shuozhou, they had already started digging foundations and building brick houses.
The Yunzhou Brick Factory sent people to Shuozhou to provide guidance on building kilns and firing bricks, and the refugees could choose to exchange their labor for red bricks.
If you really don't have that much labor, you can also choose to apply to the county government for low-interest housing construction funds.
Shuozhou’s series of policies are telling refugees that as long as you are willing to settle down in Shuozhou, you will receive much more benefits!
If you just want to survive the disaster year in Shuozhou, you can only work hard to ensure that you don't starve to death.
Gu Nanxi looked all the way and discovered an extremely important problem: the gender ratio of the victims was extremely unbalanced!
"Jinyi, what is the male-female ratio in Yunzhou and Shuozhou?"
Niu Jinyi was stunned by the question. He had never noticed this before. "I have never counted this."
Gu Nanxi: "There are more men than women among the disaster victims. This is not a good sign."
When people can't survive, it's not a problem if there are more men than women.
But once everything is on track, there will be more men than women, and a large number of old bachelors will not be able to find wives, which will easily cause social unrest.
At the same time, this is not conducive to population growth.
If we want Yunzhou and Shuozhou to develop healthily, we must encourage childbirth.
After all, wars result in casualties. A major battle in Yunzhou wiped out almost one third of Yunzhou’s Qingzhuang.
In ancient times when production levels were not advanced enough, human resources were a very important productive force!
Gu Nanxi decided to go back and discuss with Cui Sanlun and others what measures should be taken to encourage childbirth.
"Sir, someone is looking for you, claiming to be Xiao Hei from the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion!"
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