Chapter 434 Gathering the Victims
Yanmen
Because of the heavy snow, many houses collapsed, and even if they didn’t collapse, the roofs were basically gone.
There were soup kitchens in the city's four districts, east, west, and north, but it was past their scheduled time and no one was there. It was too cold, and no one wanted to stay outside.
Many places are celebrating the New Year, but here in Yanmen, there is no New Year atmosphere at all.
In a dilapidated house, seven or eight people were sitting around a fire, their faces pale and they were shivering.
Looking at the snowflakes still falling outside the house, some people couldn't help cursing.
"I don't know how long this snow will stop falling! Damn it, God, there's really no way for us to survive!"
"We Yanmen people have bad luck."
"Yes, there are capable people to deal with the floods in the south. There are also capable officials to deal with the earthquakes in Nanyang. Only our Yanmen snow disaster has no one to deal with it."
"We have someone to look after us. Didn't the imperial court send an imperial envoy?"
"What can we do if the imperial envoy comes? We have no food, no charcoal, no winter clothes, no medicine, nothing."
This complaint is actually a bit biased. There are still disaster relief supplies, but the quantity is insufficient.
"My neighbor has already left Yanmen."
There was a moment of silence among the crowd, and it was unclear whether it was better to leave or stay in Yanmen and endure it.
"It's better to leave. At least it's a way out."
Outside the house, there was ice and snow, and everything was silent. Occasionally, a few black spots could be seen moving.
The girl from the Luo family held her brother's hand with one hand and carried a big bag on her shoulder, "Mom and Dad, where should we go next?" The north wind was blowing, and snowflakes were falling. Looking around, the whole world was white.
Mrs. Luo glanced at her husband and whispered, "You'll have to ask your father about that."
"father?"
"Go to Liaodong County."
After hearing this, the family members all showed surprised expressions. Why choose to go there?
"Last time I said I wanted to follow the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's grain team, but you insisted on saying that you have relatives in Yanmen, Bingzhou." Luo Da said depressedly.
They did have relatives in Yanmen, and after they arrived in Yanmen, they took good care of them. But he still felt that he had come to the wrong place.
Mrs. Luo said nothing. She was not surprised at her husband's decision. After the snowstorm in Yanmen, her husband had been saying that he should have gone there last time.
Old Man Luo finally made the decision, "Then let's leave the city and go to Liaodong County!"
…
Disaster relief is like putting out a fire.
After receiving the letter from Liaodong, Wu Ren and Ji Dashao gathered supplies and rushed to Yanmen.
On the way, they met a small number of fleeing disaster victims.
They provided some help to these people.
They are here to provide disaster relief, and they will save any victims.
They even asked each of the fleeing victims what they wanted to do. Wu Ren gathered together those who were willing to settle in Pingzhou.
His master had said in the letter that Sixth Master would lead his troops to pick them up and train them at the same time. All they had to do was gather the troops.
Those who were unwilling to go had their own ideas about where to go. Wu Ren took charge, gave them some necessary help, and let them go.
There is no compulsion at all. A forced melon is not sweet. What they in Pingzhou believe in is a voluntary one.
After all, only a few of the victims who encountered the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's disaster relief team were willing to leave.
Most of the victims who chose to leave Yanmen immediately to seek a livelihood were smart and courageous. The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce came to provide disaster relief, so they clearly had plenty of food and drink. Isn't that the livelihood they were looking for? Having already found a way to make a living, why would they leave?
So their disaster relief team gathered a lot of people before they even reached Yanmen.
As soon as they arrived in Yanmen, the government wanted to take over their disaster relief supplies, saying it would make allocation easier.
How could Wu Ren and Young Master Ji agree to this, even if Prince Gong had a good relationship with their Lord Lu?
Finally, they chose the North City, which the government was least willing to care about, and set up stalls there to distribute porridge.
The victims of the Yanmen snow disaster seem to be much more miserable than those of the previous floods in the south and the earthquake in Nanyang.
During this period, they also arranged for people to visit the needy households one by one and deliver some food and charcoal.
During the disaster relief work, Young Master Wu Renji and his entourage greeted the government and chose an empty house with three courtyards as their place to stay.
A-choo—A-choo—
After sneezing twice, Tao Xun quickly wrapped his cloak tightly around himself and said, "I'm really crazy. I'm not at home during the New Year and I'm here with you two to Yanmen!" It was really cold.
Wu Ren and Ji Dashao were busy counting the remaining relief supplies.
Wu Ren was busy as he replied, "Don't say that. What's the point of staying home for the New Year every year?"
Young Master Ji took over the conversation, "That's right, when you're old, you may not remember how you spent the first year of Tianhe, but you will definitely remember how we spent the second year of Tianhe in Yanmen."
Tao Xun thought about it and agreed. He would still remember the first year of Tianhe. After all, it was such a special year. How he celebrated the previous five or six years was indeed a bit vague.
He muttered, "How can I not remember how I spent the winter in Yanmen and had to endure the cold wind every day?" It must be very memorable!
"Why are all of you from the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce so eloquent?" Tao Xun wondered.
Hahaha--
Wu Ren and Young Master Ji looked at each other and smiled. This was just the beginning. He had never seen anyone who was truly eloquent.
Wu Ren looked at the tallied bill and said, "Only a quarter of the relief supplies we brought are left."
"We can leave in three days at most." Young Master Ji stood up, shook his hands and kicked his legs to stretch his body.
Wu Ren and Ji Dashao have another task, which is to pick up people.
Wu Ren and others did not pick up anyone in Yanmen City, so they still have basic moral qualities.
They just arranged people to pick up people outside the city. Anyway, the victims who left the city at this time all wanted to make a living elsewhere.
They gladly accepted these disaster victims. After all, Pingzhou was also an outsider, right?
But there is no wall that is completely airtight.
After all, no one in this world is alone, everyone has friends and family. Now that they have found a way out, their friends and family just across the wall are still suffering in Yanmen City.
This is not a problem for them.
Then, some families in the city inexplicably received a mysterious letter. After reading it, some families who were originally hesitant immediately packed up their bags, sold their property and left the city.
This time, more people left.
The prefect of Yanmen County felt something was wrong. Upon investigation, he discovered that it was the people from the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce who were secretly gathering the victims?
The prefect of Yanmen County was so angry about this that he ran to complain to the imperial envoy.
Prince Gong was quite open-minded. These common people had to pay taxes if they stayed in Yanmen, and they would have to pay taxes if they went to Pingzhou, right? For the court, it was just a matter of running from the left pocket to the right pocket.
He even persuaded the Yanmen County Magistrate that it was better for these people to leave, as it would relieve him of the pressure of disaster relief. Otherwise, if there were too many deaths in this snowstorm, it would not look good on his resume, right?
Wu Ren and Young Master Ji didn't care what they thought. After distributing the relief supplies, they slowly retreated.
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