As a result, Lord Yang from the prefecture government actually resorted to clichés to persuade Li Hezhen: "My dear nephew, there is nothing we can do. Wuzhou is suffering from the severe snowstorm right now, and the court has not issued any decree. We cannot easily open the granaries to release grain."
"Do we have to wait for a month, two months, or even three months for the court to reply before Wuzhou starts disaster relief? Is it just like Yuzhou in the past, deceiving the superiors and the subordinates, which ultimately caused the deaths of a large number of people?" Li Hezhen learned the truth about the disaster in Yuzhou from Chu San and others. At that time, he felt that those officials deserved to die and had a complete disregard for human lives. Now, hearing that Lord Yang was just lying, he became angry instantly and spoke his true feelings.
As soon as these words were spoken, Lord Yang's expression instantly darkened, and his gaze towards Li Hezhen became even colder. "My dear nephew, you are wrong. As the local official, I cannot watch them die. Moreover, refugees should not leave their registered places of residence, as it would be inconvenient to manage them."
His words could be considered a veiled warning.
"Besides, I sealed the city gates this time for the sake of the people inside. Does my nephew think that the people outside the city are citizens, but the people inside are not?"
"I..." Li Hezhen felt that what he said was an excuse and subconsciously wanted to refute. When he saw the cold look in Lord Yang's eyes, he suddenly realized that he had overstepped his bounds. Even if he felt that the other party was wrong, he should not say it directly. The other party was the governor of a prefecture, a fifth-rank official. How could he indulge him in losing face? He was too anxious and lost his sense of proportion.
Li Hezhen's expression suddenly turned ugly. He cupped his hands and said, "Master Yang, what you said makes sense. I was just thinking too simply."
Lord Yang's expression brightened slightly, but he wasn't as friendly to him as before. He raised his chin slightly and said, "Since everything is fine, my nephew can go back first."
He didn't even ask when the city gates would be opened to let him leave.
When Li Hezhen walked out of the prefectural government, his face instantly darkened. He walked around outside and found that there were two different situations in the city. The rich families were still singing and dancing, while the poor areas were full of wailing. There were also many patrolling yamen runners on the road.
"Sir, our house collapsed and all our family members died. Could you please send someone to arrange accommodation for us..." Many people in tattered clothes with frozen blood marks on their bodies had confused, desperate and sad eyes.
"Go away, can't you find some relatives to stay with you?" The yamen runners actually reached out and pushed the group back into the alley, sternly warning them, "The Lord has ordered that those whose houses have collapsed must not cause any disturbances, or they will be expelled from the city."
"But not only do we have no food, we also have no place to live."
"Everything has to be arranged by the Lord, so what use are you?" The yamen runner finished scolding, then softened and said, "The Lord has no choice. There are no orders from the court, and no relief money has been sent. We can only wait!"
"But my relative is not dead yet, he is trapped under the eaves. Please go and save him..." A woman covered in blood cried.
The yamen runners were cold-blooded and unconcerned: "If you want to blame you, blame the court."
"Everyone retreat! If anyone dares to cause trouble, they will be killed without mercy!"
All the affected people were blocked and sent back. Not only did they not receive any assistance from the government, but even the price of food in the city skyrocketed. Some people sat under the eaves of houses full of corpses, watching numbly, with no desire to survive.
Some people tried hard to survive. They took out food from under other people's eaves and stuffed it into their mouths without even cooking it.
In just less than a month, people's lives have undergone tremendous changes.
Many more people wanted to save their loved ones.
Stretchers carrying patients to the clinic were everywhere, but angry curses were heard from the door of the clinic.
"You're talking about saving the world and helping the poor. You're just seeking fame and reputation. You're so cruel and ruthless. You could have saved my son, so why didn't you?" A strong man pulled the doctor and yelled.
The doctor was so angry that he jumped up and down: "Look at this entire state capital. Apart from my Baishantang, where else is there a business? These medicinal materials are difficult to transport in. Isn't it normal for them to be more expensive? If you can't pay for it yourself, you can't use the medicine."
"My son is in danger. Even if I die, I can't find thirty taels of silver in an instant. You clearly want to kill my son!" The big man was so angry that his eyes turned red.
"I already said I'm willing to write the IOU."
"Don't even come to my clinic to write an IOU. Go to the bank instead." The doctor rolled his eyes and, after being rescued by the guards beside him, patted his collar in disdain. "Bah, what a jerk! You come to see a doctor when you have no money. Your life is worthless. If you die, you die."
The big man was so frightened that he rushed forward and wanted to snatch the herbs directly, but he was stopped and beaten by the guards who had been prepared by the clinic.
The people who came nearby to seek medical treatment started to make a fuss when they saw this scene, and everyone was very angry.
Li Hezhen grabbed one of the people and asked, "What's going on?"
"Didn't you see? This Baishan Hall isn't being kind at all. They're clearly deliberately making things difficult for us. This medicine, which normally only costs a few hundred coins, is now charging thirty taels!"
"You still call us poor. If we had money, wouldn't it be better for us to just sit at home and enjoy ourselves like those rich people? God wants to kill us. It's snowing so heavily." The old man muttered to himself, his eyes full of despair.
Although Li Hezhen knew that these people would make a fortune from the national crisis, he was still very angry when he saw that the prices had risen so high that they were simply taking the lives of ordinary people. He clenched his fists and wanted to rush up and punch those doctors in the face for their arrogant faces, but he knew he couldn't. Once he did so, not only would he not be able to help the people, but he would also end up in jail.
"Didn't the doctor say that we could go to the bank to borrow money?" Li Hezhen asked after taking a deep breath.
"If we borrow thirty taels of silver from that bank, it will grow to one hundred taels in less than six months, and two hundred taels in a year. Now that everyone has suffered so severely from the disaster, even if we sell ourselves, we can't get thirty taels of silver, let alone one hundred taels. Two hundred taels is clearly a threat to our lives!"
The people nearby wept bitterly.
"Mom, don't treat me anymore. You and your wife and children should take good care of yourself. I would rather die than burden you."
Not far away, a man who was frozen unconscious was about to die. He said breathlessly, tightly grasped the hands of his wife, children and mother, and used up his last bit of strength to hit the wall and died.
The scene was bloody and messy, but this incident did not cause much stir. Only the man's family members held his body and cried with all their might, trying to save him, but they knew it was too late.
Heavy snow fell.
Cover up all the bloodstains, as if these lost lives had never existed, there are countless poor old people and children.
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