Chapter 566 How big a disaster can a person get into?
When the Pingyang County Magistrate boarded the rescue boat, crossed the turbulent river and landed in Wudu County, he felt as if he was in a dream. He was in a trance and could not believe that Duke Yun's actions were so fast!
"Of course we have to hurry. The riverbank in Pingyang County has been in disrepair for a long time. We don't know when it will collapse. We have to race against time."
As soon as Niu Jin learned that the Pingyang County Magistrate had been rescued, he immediately came to recruit soldiers: "You are more familiar with Pingyang County than we are, so come and lend a hand."
The Pingyang County Magistrate blinked in confusion and pointed at himself, "Me?!"
Is Duke Yun so confident in me? I am a surrendered general!
Being able to take good care of me was already considered magnanimous of Duke Yun, but he actually let me participate in government affairs? !
Niu Jin was so busy that his scalp was tingling. Not to mention the surrendered generals, even everyone in the state who could read was recruited to do clerical work.
"Don't talk nonsense. How big a mess can you make? This is the territory of Duke Yun! Don't dilly-dally."
Although this is the truth, and although I am very touched by Duke Yun's trust, but...
The Pingyang County Magistrate knelt down and stammered, "I don't know how to write documents."
Niu Jin said without raising his head: "You don't need to write in fancy words, just keep it brief and clear, easy to understand, even plain language is fine."
Now, almost half of the people under my command can only read. If you ask them to read those official documents, they probably won’t be able to understand them at all.
Therefore, Gu Nanxi directly ordered that during special periods, the fixed format of official documents should be temporarily abolished and plain language should be promoted.
Pingyang County was even more annoyed, so he simply threw in the towel: "But, but, I'm a fake county magistrate."
Niu Jinyi finally raised his head and asked coldly: "What do you mean?"
"The former Pingyang County Magistrate was killed by bandits on his way to take up his post. I was his servant, and out of greed, I impersonated him."
What the hell?
Listen, is this human language?
Niu Jin was shocked: "No one noticed?"
"I'm such a jerk and I don't usually take care of things, who would notice me?"
Niu Jin wiped his face and asked, "Didn't the original owner's family come to you for help?"
"My brother-in-law came before, but I sent him away with a hundred taels of silver. The original owner was born in a poor family, and he was the only official in his family. If they didn't expose me, their family would still have a county magistrate, which was enough for them to show off their power in their hometown. If they exposed me, they would get nothing."
Niu Jinyi didn't know whether to praise the man in front of him for his courage, or to say that he was so daring. It would have been fine for him to be a fake county magistrate, but he even dared to lead the entire county to join Duke Yun!
"You! You've got into big trouble!"
Niu Jinyi felt as if he had eaten Coptis chinensis in his mouth, which was extremely bitter. Without saying a word, he hurried to find Gu Nanxi.
Originally, because of this sudden flood, Gu Nanxi and the Great Zhou court had tacitly agreed to stop their confrontation and concentrate their efforts on disaster relief.
When everyone received the letter from the Pingyang County Magistrate, they were a little hesitant, fearing that this incident would become the fuse for a war between the two sides.
It’s not that Yunzhou is afraid of war, but the timing is really not good.
The power of the imperial court has been damaged, and so has that of Yunzhou. There is also a group of hungry wolves outside, eyeing them covetously.
If a war really breaks out on a large scale, it will probably turn into a mess.
Such a scene of devastation was something Gu Nanxi didn't want to see.
In the end, it was Duke Yun who made the final decision to devote all his efforts to disaster relief. After all, it was the Pingyang County Magistrate who took the initiative to surrender, so it couldn't be considered that Yunzhou had taken the initiative to provoke trouble.
This can also be considered an explanation to the court.
But the county magistrate is fake!
If the imperial court knew about this, they would definitely think that it was instigated by Duke Yun.
Isn't war imminent?
After listening to Niu Jinyi's report, Gu Nanxi's first reaction was that they all chose to give up. The Pingyang County Magistrate had lived in peace and stability for so many years, but he was put on the battlefield!
"What a talent. What's his real name?"
"Big plum."
What a simple and unpretentious name.
Gu Nanxi: "He will be Cheng Yan from now on."
The name of the Pingyang County magistrate is Cheng Yan. Gu Nanxi meant to let Da Lizi continue to impersonate.
Niu Jinyi said worriedly: "Cheng Yan's family all know that Cheng Yan is dead. If the court investigates further and wants to confront us, what should we do then?"
Gu Nanxi smiled and said, "If they ask, do we have to answer?! What are you afraid of? Give them face. If they don't want it and want to fight, we will fight. One hundred thousand Yunzhou soldiers are fearless!"
When Niu Jin raised his head, stars appeared in his eyes!
That’s right, fight if you want, who’s afraid of who? !
The military strength and territory of the Great Zhou far exceed those of Yunzhou, but so what?
The Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun have been taken, and the Tartars have been driven away. Why should we still be afraid of them? !
"Yes, sir!"
…
In Kyoto, as the weather cleared up, the river water that had flooded the streets finally slowly receded.
The streets were covered with mud from the river, dead fish and shrimp, and the air was filled with the fishy smell of the river.
On the streets, people from each neighborhood were spreading quicklime on the ground to carry out disinfection work.
It is said that this is the measure taken by Yunzhou.
The emperor originally disdained it, but it was Grand Tutor Tong who insisted on having his own way and gave the order directly.
When the water level of the Bian River dropped to a certain level, the emperor and civil and military officials held several court meetings and defined the disaster as a "great famine."
The governors of each state submitted memorials, which were reviewed by the three departments. The government then issued an edict to the disaster relief departments such as the Transportation Department, the Shipping Department and the Grain and Oil Department.
The food and fodder that had been gathered in Kyoto could finally be distributed to various places through water transport.
At the same time, facing the refugees gathering outside the city, the Zhou court ordered the state officials to recruit young and strong men as soldiers.
The elderly and weak were given symbolic porridge. Anyway, without the young and strong, these refugees could not cause trouble.
Of course, all these disaster relief measures excluded Yunzhou and Shuozhou.
In the court, all the civil and military officials tacitly avoided mentioning this matter.
But it all seems a little late.
"Your Majesty, the people of the mountains in the Nanjun area have joined forces with Pharmacist Dong to start a riot."
"Your Majesty, Japanese ships are appearing along the coast, and coastal villages are repeatedly harassed by Japanese pirates."
"Your Majesty, the death toll in the Southeast Road has exceeded one million. The situation is horrific and all who witnessed it shed tears."
"Your Majesty, Tubo has sent a thousand soldiers to test the city of Songzhou."
There were dark circles under the young emperor's eyes.
Why did it suddenly become like this?
"Didn't Huang Qian say that the earthquake damage wasn't serious?"
The Minister of Revenue frowned and said, "Lord Zhu wrote to me that the disaster was serious and Huang Qian did not report it truthfully."
"How come I don't know?!" As soon as the young emperor said this, the whole court fell silent.
After a long while, the young emperor remembered that he had not read Lord Zhu's memorials for a long time because Lord Zhu had always spoken in Gu Nanxi's favor.
The news from Hezhong County made the entire court silent.
"In order to protect Hezhong Prefecture, the governor of Hezhong County broke the dike and released the flood, causing Pingyang County to become a vast ocean."
"The magistrate of Pingyang County handed over the entire Pingyang County to Duke Yun."
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