What Yinzuo said before was absolutely true. His current situation was extremely miserable. Not only did he have to sleep in the open air all the way, but his eyes were also hurt by the white snow all around him. Of course, Yinzhen's situation was not much better than Yinzuo's, but it had to be said that he was a ruthless man. Even with those red eyes, he still managed to rush on the road.
"Fourth brother, tie this on, otherwise I'm afraid we'll go blind before we even reach Lincheng."
Yinzuo's eyes have been unable to hold up for the past two days. At first, he was just a little afraid of the light and had tears in his eyes, but in the past two days, his eyelids have become red and swollen, and his eyes have been painful. There are no sunglasses or anything like that here, so Yinzuo had no choice but to ask someone to find some thin black gauze and make some eye masks to distribute to everyone. Although it looks a bit strange to wear this thing, it is nothing compared to the discomfort in his eyes.
"Thank you, Sixth Brother. If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have dragged you here. Now you've been hurt..."
Yinzhen's words weren't merely polite to Yinzuo; he truly regretted it. They'd only just left the capital, and the disaster here was already so severe. He feared the situation in Lincheng would be even more dire. His little six was about to suffer the most, the most he hadn't experienced in the past decade or so...
Yinzhen was extremely worried, but Yinzuo, the person being worried about, was very optimistic. Anyway, the current situation was just a matter of taking one step at a time and seeing what happened. When the time came, he could only deal with it as it came. There is a saying that even a living person can die from holding his urine.
Although Yinzuo had no choice but to come here because he was forced to do so, when he arrived outside Lincheng and saw the tens of thousands of disaster victims lying in the snow, Yinzuo no longer had the slightest reluctance in his heart. The situation here now seemed to be much more serious than they had imagined.
"Your humble servant, Sun Zhaojie, the magistrate of Lincheng County, greets the Fourth Prince and the Prince of Zhao."
Ever since he knew that the court had sent two princes to the city, Sun Zhaojie would bring people to guard the city gate for a while every day even if he was busy. Today was really a coincidence. He had just arrived for a while when someone came to report that the people sent from the capital had arrived. They were two princes. How could he dare to neglect them? He hurried out to greet them and happened to meet Yinzhen and others who entered the city.
Yinzhen had always been a man of action. The scene he had just seen outside the city made him have no intention of greeting County Magistrate Sun. He raised his hand to waive his greeting, and then asked people to go back to the county government office with him. He now wanted to know what the situation was in Lincheng.
As expected by Yinzhen, the situation in Lincheng was even more serious than they had imagined. There wasn't much food shortage for the people in the city. What they needed most was medicine to treat the cold, warm clothing, and shelter for the victims. As the year drew to a close, the weather was getting colder. Many people were freezing to death outside the city every day these days. If these problems weren't resolved, I'm afraid the tens of thousands of people outside the city...
"County Magistrate Sun, please tell me how you arranged the disaster relief work."
Ever since he learned about the situation in Lincheng, Yinzhen's brows have never relaxed. County Magistrate Sun was already a little nervous in front of them, and now seeing Yinzhen frowning, he couldn't help but become even more nervous. It was freezing and snowy outside, and although there was a brazier in the house, it was not very warm. However, even in such cold weather, Lord Sun actually had sweat on his forehead.
"My Lord, at the beginning of the snowstorm, I ordered people to build porridge stalls at the two city gates. Later, as more and more victims arrived, I added more porridge stalls outside the city. After that, many people fell ill inside and outside the city, so I ordered people to set up medicine stalls at the city gates. Every day, I would make some ginger soup and medicine for treating colds. If the victims needed it, they could go and get it themselves..."
Seeing County Magistrate Sun's sweaty, guilty look, Yin Zuo had initially thought he had done nothing. But now, looking at his arrangement, wasn't it a good one? So why was he so guilty?
"Apart from these? Have the people outside the city been living in the open air like this all these days?"
Well, Yinzuo now understood why Magistrate Sun felt guilty, but honestly, he couldn't blame him. Hadn't Kangxi and his men been worried about this same issue before? So many of them hadn't come up with a good solution, so how could you expect Magistrate Sun to solve it?
"Okay, Fourth Brother, stop scaring him. I understand now. The current situation in Lincheng is a lack of medical care and medicine, insufficient manpower, and no money. So, let's divide the work and cooperate. You will be responsible for getting money and supplies, and I will be responsible for organizing the manpower to build the dugouts and try to get these disaster victims moved in before the New Year."
Yinzhen had no objection to Yinzuo's division of labor, but he was very curious about where Yinzuo was going to get the people. Don't even mention the few people they brought. There were tens of thousands of disaster victims inside and outside the city. If they relied on the few people they brought, even if they worked day and night and worked themselves to death, it would be impossible to build this dugout in a short time.
"Xiao Liu, I agree with you. Dividing the work between us can indeed improve efficiency. But you have to know that neither I nor Magistrate Sun has anyone to help you. With your few guards, you won't be able to dig out this dugout in half a year, let alone before the New Year."
Yinzuo nodded, then stared at his fourth brother for a long time, until Yinzhen was almost anxious. He then stood up and said to his fourth brother, "I'm sorry." As soon as these words came out, Yinzhen was completely exhausted. No, how can I say sorry? What are you planning to do?
The reason why Yinzuo said sorry to Yinzhen was because if he said the next words, he would really rob Yinzhen of his future achievements. After all, as his fourth brother said, what could he do with the few people he brought with him? After he learned about Lincheng's current predicament, the only thing he could think of in his mind was the tactic his fourth brother had once promoted - work-for-relief.
"Fourth brother, here's what I'm thinking. Since we're short of workers, why not hire those disaster victims outside the city to work for us? Instead of just sitting there doing nothing every day, why not get them moving? As long as they're moving, they're no longer just disaster victims waiting for help. There's a saying, 'Work hard and you'll have enough food and clothing.'"
It's no wonder that Yinzhen has a sharp mind. He understood Yinzuo's simple explanation. At this time, the look in his eyes when he looked at Yinzuo was a little different. He stood up and walked to Yinzuo's side, raised his hand and patted his shoulder.
"Work-for-relief is a good idea. Sixth brother, just go for it. Fourth brother will fully cooperate with you."
What the hell? Who's cooperating with whom? Fourth brother, have you forgotten that you are the one in charge of this disaster relief?
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