Early the next morning, officials from Kunshan County posted notices at Shenming Pavilion and in other densely populated areas of the city.

People gathered in the rain to watch, and those who could read read aloud:

"The newly appointed Kunshan County Magistrate Zhao urgently informs all the elders of the county - since the beginning of the plum rain season in May, it has rained continuously for months, and the Taihu Lake has risen sharply. The flood situation has not been seen in years. The north of Kunshan has become a swamp, and the Wusong River embankment is in danger.

Once the river embankment was breached, the entire county would be submerged, houses would collapse, crops would be lost, and countless people would starve to death or drown!

My colleagues and I cannot bear to see the people suffer this disaster, so we swear to defend the dike for Kunshan to the end. We will not leave the river dike until the flood recedes!

Alas, Kunshan belongs to the people. Everyone has the responsibility to defend the land. As long as we are united, the flood cannot invade!

As of today, the county has entered a state of emergency. In order to unite and fight the flood with all our strength, we hereby issue nine prohibitions for your information:

First, it is forbidden to drive up prices and hoard goods! Second, it is forbidden to spread rumors and mislead people! Third, it is forbidden to fight and sue at will!

Fourth, it is forbidden to steal, defraud, and loot supplies! Fifth, it is forbidden to know and not report, and collude! Sixth, it is forbidden to leave the post without permission and be careless!

Seventh, shirking responsibility, shirking duties! Eighth, extortion, corruption and bribery! Nine, disobeying orders, deserting the battlefield!

Anyone who violates these nine prohibitions, regardless of whether they are officials or civilians, will be shackled for ten days, and a monument of shame will be erected inside Chaoyang Gate, to be despised by all generations!

Kunshan County Magistrate Zhao Shouzheng; County Magistrate He Wenwei; Chief Clerk Bai Shouli; and Dianshi Xiong Xiasheng jointly signed the document.

This stern and resolute notice, like a manifesto, immediately caused an uproar in Kunshan County, where the people were already in a panic.

The people in the county town were finally awakened from their paralyzed state and began to discuss the matter anxiously.

"So cruel? How can we live like this?"

"Yes, with the shackles and the monument of shame, don't show up in Kunshan anymore."

“Is the flood this year so severe?”

"Of course, the people from the south have fled into the city so early."

"Didn't you see that all four masters signed their names? Otherwise, they can do something serious?"

"Yesterday, the first day the county magistrate took office, he took Master Gu and Master Zheng to inspect the dike. Today, he brought the disaster victims and villagers to repair the dike."

"We are almost there too. Our village chief has issued a notice to go to the dike tomorrow."

"What should we do now..." Many people can't help but think of the flood ten years ago.

Although people were not drowned thanks to the protection of the county town, they were trapped in the city like an isolated island for two months, and countless people starved to death.

There was even a doomsday scene where people ate each other...

Fear welled up from the bottom of their hearts and could not be controlled. Some people ran back home, picked up their hoes and winnowing baskets, and went to help repair the embankment.

Some people went home to pack their things and prepare to flee to Suzhou City for refuge.

Some people rushed to the shops on the street to buy food, firewood, tea, salt, etc., preparing to stockpile them in case of famine...

~~

However, Young Master Zhao could no longer see the chaotic scene in the city.

Early in the morning, under the protection of Gao Wu and twenty men from Caijia Lane, he quietly left Kunshan County by boat, and went downstream along the Lou River, embarking on the journey of begging for alms.

Zhao Shouzheng and his assistants actually lived on the dike last night and started the intensive flood prevention work this morning. Naturally, they could not see or take care of the county town.

The people who have the final say in Kunshan County today are actually two people serving their sentences outside prison - Xu Wei and Wu Cheng'en.

Standing inside the gate with an umbrella and looking at the chaos on Yaqian Street, the mature and steady writer felt a headache.

"Hey, you too." The writer glared at the painter and said, "Instead of advising the young master with me, you supported him in posting the notice. Is it necessary to let the people know the truth?"

"Hundreds of thousands of disaster victims have entered the city, and today tens of thousands more are working on the dikes. How could they not know the truth?" the painter asked in return.

"Maybe many people don't want to know." Wu Cheng'en sighed and said, "Ignorance is also a kind of happiness."

"Pretending to be ignorant is shameless!" Xu Wei sneered and said, "I can't stand those shameless faces who pretend to be ignorant when they know the truth. Of course, we must make sure they can't pretend anymore. This notice is the magic mirror of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. All the evil spirits will be exposed when it is reflected."

"Oh, this will cause trouble." The writer sighed again. "If this gets out of hand, someone will probably use our identities to attack the boss."

"What are you afraid of? If something goes wrong, we can just flatten it." The unruly and lonely painter said calmly: "Before the real flood comes, we should kill all the monsters that pop up, so that we can unite to fight the flood."

"What if it can't be leveled?" Wu Chengen asked in a muffled voice.

"It's just a small, shabby county town. What problems can't be solved?" Xu Wei sneered and turned to walk into the county government office.

"Oh, this guy." Wu Chengen shook his head helplessly.

The scene that happened when he entered the city the day before yesterday, and the reminder given by County Magistrate Feng before leaving, made Wu Cheng'en deeply worried.

I'm afraid those lackeys of the Xu family will not let go of this great opportunity...

~~

Although Yaqian Street was prosperous, it was somewhat deformed because the entire street was built on the county government office. It was full of service industries such as teahouses, restaurants, hotels, clinics, drug stores, and bathhouses.

If you want to do some serious shopping, you still have to go to the Banshan Bridge area.

Dongtang Street and Xitang Street on both sides of the bridge are lined with shops and the market is prosperous.

It is raining today, but there are far more people on Dongtang Street than usual.

Especially in front of the grain stores, people were crowded together, scrambling to buy rice, and the long queues stretched all the way to the bridge.

"I want one stone!"

"Ala Badou!"

"One stone and five!"

The customers shouted loudly, banged on the counter, and urged the busy shopkeeper and waiters to come.

The unscrupulous store owners naturally took the opportunity to keep raising prices.

It is the season when there is a shortage of food, and last year's old rice could be sold for one tael, seven or eighty-one dan.

I didn't get any rice yesterday, but as soon as I opened this morning, several rice shops raised the price to two taels per dan.

After seeing the notice, he erased today's quotation and instantly changed it to two taels and five cents.

At this moment, when the rush to buy started, they simply didn't want to wipe it anymore and directly added a horizontal line on top of the number two, making it three taels, five and one stone!

But the more the price kept rising, the more customers wanted to buy. They were afraid that if the price went back up to five taels per stone, they would really starve to death.

Seeing the common people scrambling to buy rice, the rice merchants who made a fortune were grinning from ear to ear.

In fact, there was no need for ordinary people to rush to buy rice. Seeing that the plum rain season had arrived early this year, these rice merchants had already expected that southern Kunming would be flooded.

Therefore, they all tried their best to replenish their stocks. The cargo ships delivering rice coming down the overpass were connected end to end, blocking the traffic to Hetang.

Although we didn't get any rice yesterday, the store still has sufficient stock, so people can go and buy some.

~~

On Dongtang Street, on the second floor of a restaurant called "Xinghuahong".

In the elegant seats facing the street, several men in brocade robes were drinking wine while watching the chaotic scene of people scrambling for rice downstairs.

"You Kunshan people are not strong enough." An old man with a gray goatee picked up a piece of roast duck and tasted it carefully. "All this robbing is just giving money to the rice sellers."

“Didn’t they just post a notice?” The middle-aged man with a big mole on his cheek smiled and said, “Maybe everyone is a little scared.”

"How can that be done?" Goatbeard spat the duck bones out of the window and ordered, "Go, light a fire for them."

ps. The fifth update is here, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~