Chapter 874 Chapter 874, Helper
The food arrived, and Daohua and Xiao Yeyang both breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiao Yeyang sent a letter to the border military camp that day, asking Cao Dan to come and collect food the next day.
After receiving the letter, Cao Dan was stunned for a long time, especially when he saw Xiao Yeyang said in the letter that the soldiers on the frontier must not compromise their health, and must ensure that every soldier has enough to eat, and that sufficient food and wages will be delivered in the future. These are obviously what should be done, but he couldn't help but feel moved.
In fact, everyone knows that as long as 50% or 60% of the military salary is distributed, the superiors will be considered a rare and good official. He has never received the full share after so many years of serving in the army.
With food, the border troops felt at ease, and so did the refugees outside the city.
Xiao Yeyang selected a thousand young and strong soldiers with good physical fitness from the garrison and trained them personally.
In the past two days, everyone saw these soldiers working like dogs every day and laughed at them a lot. But when the food arrived, they were envious and jealous of them because they saw that they ate twice as much as they did at every meal.
The day before the Lantern Festival, when Xiao Yeyang was busy training his troops, Daohua also walked out of the Xiao Mansion.
It has been almost a month since she came to Ganzhou City. Due to the cold weather and the many things to deal with, she has not yet had a good time exploring the city.
Compared to the towns they passed along the way, Ganzhouwei was a little more lively, but the economy was still very sluggish. The shops on the street sold a limited variety of goods and there were not many customers.
Daohua walked around the two main streets and had a pretty good idea of the city's situation. Then he said to Yan Shouhou, who was following him, "How's your inquiry going on about the shop?"
Yan Shouhou quickly replied, "Miss, it's very easy to buy shops in Ganzhou City. Business is tough here, and many shops close every year. I've picked a few that are in good locations and sizes. Do you want to go take a look today?"
Daohua nodded. Since it wasn’t snowing today, she also wanted to walk around more.
The shops Yan Shouhou looked at were all on the main street, so he didn't walk far. He looked at every shop and finally bought five of them.
"Open two food stores, one fruit and vegetable store, and two pharmacies. Hurry up and set them up."
Having said that, he paused.
"Pharmacies and fruit and vegetable stores are not in a hurry, but food stores need to be stocked quickly."
"Qin Xiaoliu should be delivering the grain by the end of the month or the beginning of February, and then the grain shop will have to open."
It was the turn of late winter and early spring, a time of food shortage, and she didn't want more and more refugees to gather outside the city.
Although she was not short of food, she would not be able to bear the porridge if she continued to give it out for a long time.
Thinking of the refugees, Daohua glanced towards the city gate and said, "Let's go and take another look at the city wall."
Outside the gate of Ganzhou, the number of refugees has reached nearly 50,000.
The porridge shed has already provided breakfast porridge, and now the refugees are huddled together in the straw huts, keeping each other warm.
Daohua stood on the city wall, looking at the refugees shivering in the straw huts, feeling a little uncomfortable. No matter what time, it is always the people who suffer.
Since the porridge distribution began, Zhang Da has been guarding the city gate almost all the time. He goes to the warehouse every day to count the grain and calculate the remaining food. As soon as he comes out of the warehouse, he sees the rice flowers standing on the city wall.
Zhang Da trotted up the city wall and stopped two meters away from Daohua. He saluted and said, "Your humble servant greets Madam Xiao."
Daohua turned around and looked over: "Are you Mr. Zhang who gives out porridge?"
Zhang Da was surprised that Daohua knew him and was a little flattered: "It is my humble servant."
Daohua smiled and said, "The matter of distributing porridge is of great importance. Master Zhang has worked hard during this period."
Zhang Da quickly shook his head. "I'm just running errands. It's not hard work. The ones who are really working hard are Master and Madam Xiao. If you hadn't collected so much food, the refugees outside the city would probably not survive. Once again, I thank you Master and Madam for saving their lives."
Daohua looked at Zhang Da through the veil. Seeing his sincere words and a face full of emotion, she smiled and shook her head, "Master Zhang, you are serious. Since you have taken over the Ganzhou Guard, you will naturally not ignore the refugees outside the city."
"By the way, we're already halfway through the first lunar month, and February is almost here. Winter is almost over. How have you made arrangements for the refugees in the past?"
Zhang Da looked embarrassed. "Madam, in the past, the garrison had limited capacity. If refugees gathered outside the city, they would usually be driven away."
Daohua asked again, "Are these refugees homeless?"
Zhang Da: "Most of them, yes." He paused, "A small number of them may be from families that are not well off, and they just come here to eat the porridge."
Daohua nodded, glanced at the refugees outside the city again, and then turned around: "We won't delay Master Zhang any longer. We'll take our leave now."
"Madam, take care!"
Zhang Da watched Daohua get on the carriage, then he looked away.
"Sir, is that Sir Xiao's wife?" the officers and soldiers on the city wall asked curiously.
Zhang Da nodded and said with a smile, "The mutton we ate on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day was sent by Madam Xiao."
One officer said, "She's not what I imagined. I thought families from the capital were all arrogant and looked down on others, but that lady doesn't seem to have any airs at all."
Zhang Da laughed: "Okay, don't gather together, just do your job properly."
That evening, Xiao Yeyang returned from military training at the garrison. While changing his clothes, Daohua asked him, "What are you going to do with the refugees outside the city?"
Xiao Yeyang looked at Daohua: "Why do you suddenly ask this?"
Daohua: "I went to the city wall to take a look today."
Xiao Yeyang rubbed his head and sat down. He was very dissatisfied with the Ganzhou Wei Civil Affairs Bureau.
During this period, he secretly got to know all the officials in the garrison and found that most of them had little knowledge and could only recognize a few words, and had no management skills at all.
Ganzhou Wei’s defense was weak, and the Western Liao people were eyeing it covetously, and he didn’t know when they would launch a war, so he didn’t dare to take it lightly at all.
The physical fitness and combat capabilities of the border troops and the military households in the garrisons were not good enough, so he had to focus on training and patrolling. He simply could not handle the civil affairs himself.
Xiao Yeyang felt that there was no one available, but he soon thought of Dong Yuanxuan who was exiled to Xiliang.
"Ganzhouwei is closest to Western Liao and is often harassed by Western Liao people, so the population here has always been small. Therefore, I want to keep all those refugees here."
"Resettling refugees is not an easy task. I'm also busy with military affairs, so I need to find someone I can trust and who has governance skills to help me."
"Yuan Xuan is in Xiliang, I want to transfer him here."
Daohua nodded in agreement: "Brother Dong is well-educated and was once your study partner. You two are familiar with each other and will definitely be able to cooperate well with you on official business."
"Besides, Uncle Dong was previously the Governor of Zhongzhou. He is very familiar with civil affairs. If you encounter any problems, you can consult him."
Xiao Yeyang nodded: "I think so too."
Daohua asked, "Which garrison were Brother Dong and the others exiled to?"
Xiao Yeyang: "Golden Guardian."
Daohua: "Can you transfer them over here?"
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, "The commander of the Jinwei Guards still has to give me this favor." After thinking for a while, he said, "Please prepare a gift later. I will give in and make a trip to the Jinwei Guards tomorrow."
Daohua nodded: "Okay."
(End of this chapter)
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