The madman had sunken eyes and was as thin as a stick. Hunger had driven him mad. Li Haoran and the others seemed to be air in his eyes, and he did not stop fishing for meat in the pot.
"Stop!" Li Haoran tried hard to hold back his vomiting and pointed at him angrily.
The man's hand, which was stretched out like a dry stick, paused for a moment, then he quickly picked up a piece of meat from the pot and put it in his mouth to chew.
Chewing like a wild beast, with a gurgling sound coming from his mouth, Lu Asan finally couldn't help but hold his stomach and vomited.
Gao Er glanced at Li Haoran, Li Haoran nodded, and Gao Er rushed forward with a knife in hand.
It was impossible to arrest him because the county government had no food to supply these prisoners. In fact, all the prisoners in the cell had been dismissed by Li Haoran, and the government could not afford to support them.
Gao Er raised his knife and knocked the meat out of the man's hand. The man pounced on the ground like a mad tiger to grab the piece of meat. Gao Er swung the back of his knife and hit the madman hard on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
Li Haoran tried hard to hold back his vomiting. The three of them poured the peasant woman's body on the ground and the meat in the pot into a big pit and buried them with soil.
"What should we do with this person?" Gao Er asked.
Li Haoran sighed: "Let him fend for himself."
Lu Asan kicked the madman angrily, but he didn't expect that the man's body became stiff and he died.
As the three of them walked back along the road, Li Haoran saw that the farmer he had just met in the alley had committed suicide with a knife. Living without humanity, death was a relief.
Li Haoran and his companions walked all night, finally reaching the Langya County government office at dawn. The three of them were already exhausted, their hunger making them no better than the starving civilians.
Fortunately, there was still half a bowl of brown rice left in the rice jar, and the three of them made some porridge and finally managed to get through. The remaining yamen runners had long since dispersed, leaving only these three people guarding this county yamen that existed in name only.
Li Haoran straightened his clothes and changed into the uniform of the county magistrate. He adjusted his official uniform under the bronze mirror. This government office seemed more like a mockery. The area outside Langya County was still crowded with fleeing civilians.
"Sir, what are you doing?" Lu Asan couldn't help but ask.
Li Haoran said, "Go to the wealthy families in the county and ask for food!"
Lu Asan and Gao Er exchanged a glance, both looking distraught. Li Haoran had visited over a dozen wealthy families in Langya County, but no matter how hard he pleaded, they refused to lend him grain.
This can't be entirely blamed on these wealthy families. If the court didn't allocate grain, relying solely on these dozen wealthy families in the county would be nothing more than a drop in the bucket. Besides, these wealthy families had also set up porridge stalls to provide relief to the victims, but there were too many victims, and the court's relief grain was not even a drop in the bucket.
Li Haoran first came to Mr. Zhang's house. He left Lu Asan at the government office and only took Gao Er with him. In some ways, Gao Er was much smarter than Lu Asan.
Zhang Yuanwai was considered the richest man in Langya County. When Langya County was hit by a disaster, his family was the first to set up a porridge stall to provide disaster relief. However, a large number of starving people ate up all the food in the porridge stall, and also ate up Zhang Yuanwai's enthusiasm. From then on, the Zhang family closed their doors and refused to give alms anymore.
Li Haoran knocked on the door, but no one answered. He knocked for a long time, and finally a servant came to open the door. When the servant saw that it was Li Haoran, he said impatiently, "Sir, County Magistrate, it's not that my master is unwilling to give alms. Look, the Zhang family has even dismissed the servants, leaving only an old man like me. The Zhang family is really without rice and food." With that, the servant opened the door.
Li Haoran said cautiously: "I know, but there are so many disaster victims inside and outside the city. If we don't find a solution, I'm afraid it will cause a riot."
He was right. If they didn't release food, these hungry people would definitely riot. But the county government's granary didn't have a single grain of rice, so where would they get the food to distribute? If the hungry people couldn't find food, they would definitely target these wealthy families.
As expected, the man was startled: "Master Li, please come in."
Mr. Zhang was sitting in his room, gathering his servants and giving them a lecture. "The current disaster in Langya County is not due to my cruelty. It's simply that my Zhang family can no longer afford to support you. Here are twenty taels of silver per person. Go and fend for yourselves."
"Master!" All the servants knelt down.
"Please, sir, have mercy on us and don't chase us away. There are disaster victims everywhere outside. We will die if we go out."
"That's right, sir, you can't drive us away!"
Zhang Yuanwai sighed, "Langya County is a barren wasteland for thousands of miles. The Zhang family is helpless. Steward Qian, there is no need to hide how much grain is left in the warehouse. Tell everyone everything."
The servant's surname was Qian. He came out and said, "Master, the food in the warehouse can't feed so many people. In less than a month, we will be as helpless as the disaster victims outside."
Mr. Zhang slammed the table and said, "Listen, listen to this, everyone. It's not that I, Zhang Qirui, am unkind. You are all elders of the Zhang family. Here is twenty taels of silver each. Take it and divide it among you."
It didn't seem like Mr. Zhang said this on purpose for Li Haoran to hear. It seemed that the Zhang family was indeed reaching the end of its rope.
Li Haoran stood there and swallowed back what he wanted to say.
"Sir, sir, something bad has happened! The victims are robbing the county government office!" Lu Asan ran in breathlessly and said.
Li Haoran was shocked: "Quick! Go back to the government office!"
It seemed to be expected that the disaster victims would loot the county government office. But even if they did, it would be useless because the office was already empty.
When they arrived outside the county government office, they saw countless victims surrounding the office. These hungry people came for one thing: food.
When they discovered the county government office was empty, the victims began to smash and destroy it. They vented their anger on the imperial court, smashing the entire office to smithereens, even ripping the cowhide drum outside. The cowhide covering had long since vanished, perhaps because one of the victims had thought it would be enough to feed him.
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