Chapter 126
It was snowing again and there was wind outside. The moment Lu Yuechuan came in, the wind blew the snowflakes in. He rubbed his hands vigorously, shook off the snowflakes on his shoulders, and quickly ran to the stove to warm himself up.
This stove was made by Lin Shuge with the help of Sang Xing. It looks similar to stoves of later generations, but is smaller.
"The weather is getting colder. I wonder when the snow will stop." Lu Yuechuan said worriedly as he changed hands to warm the fire.
"I have sent Yang Yan with runners to contact those grassroots officials. The village heads have also passed the message, asking them to pay more attention on weekdays. If any civilians' houses are crushed by snow, they should help repair them as soon as possible." Lin Shuge replied.
"Help? Are there not enough officers?" Lu Yuechuan warmed himself by the fire and immediately felt his whole body warm. He took off his cloak and began to deal with important matters before the end of the year.
"It's indeed not enough. I've told Zhongxuan that if there are not enough people, let him send some soldiers to help." Lin Shuge looked at the evaluation forms of the county officials and raised his head to reply.
Lu Yuechuan looked at Lin Shuge in surprise, "I have never heard of soldiers and civilians getting along like this."
Lin Shuge smiled and said, "It is the duty of the soldiers to guard the border and defend the country. Isn't guarding the border to ensure the safety of the people? Isn't helping the people repair their houses also for their safety? No matter how big or small the task is, just do it."
Lu Yuechuan understood his unfinished meaning, "Sir, is this the mass line you mentioned before?"
"Yes, the people who came to help us defend the city that day can prove this truth. If there is any war in the future, the people will naturally share the same hatred with us. But these are all later stories. Now I am just helping the people get through this winter." Lin Shuge said lightly.
Lu Yuechuan looked respectful, "So the Jishan Hall built by you is also like this?"
When building the fortifications, Lin Shuge specially asked the workers to build several Jishan Halls in the county, which were similar to the orphanages and nursing homes in later generations. During the construction, the news was also spread to the merchants that if they donated money and materials, not only would the inscriptions in front of the Jishan Hall be recorded in history, but the Wei envoy would also give them a favor.
When this was said, the merchants in the county were naturally happy and said, "Isn't it just spending some money?" The brick kiln house and cement recipe that Lord Lin gave them could have been earned back long ago.
"I heard that after reading your letter, Envoy Wei reported the matter to the court. When those bigwigs saw this, they didn't want you to have all the glory, so they built a number of charity halls in Yandu. All of a sudden, officials from all over Dayan followed suit." Lu Yuechuan thought of the letter from home. The old man praised Lin Shuge in various ways in the letter, and he finally got some credit and got a nice compliment.
"Really? This is good. Envoy Wei hasn't written to tell me yet, but he promised me to reward those merchants. If he doesn't write to me again, I'll urge him to do it." Lin Shuge smiled faintly. Although there are many tricks involved and some people may take advantage of this to make money, if more people do it, it will always be beneficial to the people.
There was a strong wind outside, and Lin Shuge quickly got up to check the window. He looked at the heavy snow falling outside and felt quite worried.
At this moment, there was a sound of anxious footsteps outside the door, and a soldier walked in: "Sir, the snow in Nanyuan Township is too heavy, and several houses have collapsed. More than a dozen families are trapped in them. County Lieutenant Yang is leading his brothers to rescue them..."
Lin Shuge's heart tightened, and he picked up the cloak hanging beside him, and said as he walked: "Send someone to Pingxiang to inform the Wei Xiaowei. Ah Chuan, call the county doctor, and we will go there immediately."
Lu Yuechuan responded hastily, put on his clothes and followed.
It was snowing hard and windy, and the group went through untold hardships before reaching Nanyuan Township. Lin Shuge and Lu Yuechuan supported each other until they reached Lijia Village. There were only a few dozen households in the village, but at a glance several houses had been collapsed by the snow.
Yang Yan was leading some officers and villagers to rescue the people trapped in the collapsed house. Chu Xu was directing the remaining officers to move the rescued people to a safe house. There was a fire next to the house, and a small pot was hanging over the fire. There was steaming porridge in it, and some people were drinking the porridge wrapped in quilts.
"Sir, the roads are slippery in the snow. Why are you here?" Yang Yan saw Lin Shuge and hurried over to ask.
"I'll come and see what's going on." Lin Shuge saw the officer moving the fallen wood and stepped forward to help. The officer looked at Yang Yan in fear, but Lin Shuge waved his hand to stop him, "It's okay, I'll help you move it."
"I have asked a doctor to come over and treat the injured people first." Lin Shuge asked the doctor to follow Chu Xu to check on the injured people.
Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hooves. Lin Shuge looked over and saw horses neighing and snow flying in the air. Amidst the vast expanse of white, there was only a hint of red approaching. Xie Chen pulled the reins and got off the horse.
"Everyone go and help." Xie Chen said.
Before Old Zhang had the chance to greet Lin Shuge, He Xin pulled him away to help.
"Brother, we are here." Xie Chen walked over and said.
Lin Shuge nodded and called Xie Chen to help. As expected, more people could work faster. The servants and soldiers worked together to clear the collapsed houses, and the injured people were moved to safe houses one by one.
The weather was getting colder and colder. Lin Shuge exhaled into his palms, and his frozen hands felt a little warm. The next moment, his hands were grabbed by a big hand. Xie Chen put his hand in his arms to warm it for a while, "Brother, you and County Magistrate Lu go to the house to take care of the wounded, there are enough people here."
Before Lin Shuge could speak, he said, "Brother, be obedient. The weather is too cold."
Lin Shuge glanced around and saw that the officers, soldiers and local people were carrying out the rescue in an orderly manner, so he and Lu Yuechuan went into the house to look after the injured people.
As soon as he entered the house, he could hear wailing. A civilian's leg was injured by the beam of the house. The doctor was bandaging his wound. There were several women cooking nearby. When they saw Lin Shuge coming in, they said cautiously, "My two lords, drink some ginger soup to warm your bodies first."
Lin Shuge and Lu Yuechuan took it, said thank you, warmed their hands with the edge of the bowl first, then blew on it slowly to cool it down and took a sip. After drinking a bowl of ginger soup, they felt like they were alive again.
Lin Shuge immediately helped the doctor bandage the wounds of the injured, and Lu Yuechuan also helped apply medicine to them. A woman came over and said, "Sir, I have learned some medical skills before, let me do it."
The doctor who was busy treating the wound said, "This lady is really good at it. Let her help. Sir, I'll prescribe some medicine. I need you to send someone to get the medicine and boil it."
Lin Shuge hurriedly called out, and it turned out to be Xie Chen who came in, "Brother, what's wrong?"
"Doctor Liu said he needed someone to get some medicine. Why did you come in?"
Xie Chen didn't say anything. He touched his hand, and when he felt that his hand was no longer cold, he turned and left.
The wind was cold and the snow had gradually stopped. Lin Shuge listened to the noise outside and walked out. The collapsed houses outside had been cleared and some soldiers had even repaired the tiles. Li was talking to Xie Chen nearby. Although Xie Chen had no expression on his face, he still responded a few times.
"Master Lin, thank you all so much. We, the villagers, have no way to repay you. Please accept it." As soon as the head of the village said this, the people around him stuffed the things in their hands into the hands of the soldiers and runners who had finished their work.
Lin Shuge was stuffed with a basket of pancakes before he could react. They felt hot to the touch, so they must have been freshly baked. Lin Shuge returned the pancakes to the head of the village with a helpless look on his face.
"Fellow villagers whose houses have been repaired can move in first. If the houses are seriously damaged, you can report it to the grassroots officials. After the officials and the head of the village have inspected and confirmed that they are indeed uninhabitable, the county government will allocate another batch of money to repair the houses of the affected people. It's getting dark, everyone should go back." Lin Shuge said to the people gathered around.
"Village head, ask the villagers to be more careful these days. If there is another snowstorm, send someone to inform me immediately." Lin Shuge instructed the village head again.
"Yes, sir." The head of the village replied.
Lin Shuge waved to everyone, then mounted his horse with Xie Chen and prepared to go back. The northwest wind was like a knife, hurting his face. He buried his face in Xie Chen's arms. Xie Chen had a smile on his lips and wrapped him more tightly with his cloak.
Lao Zhang and Lu Yuechuan were chatting happily. "This is the first time I've received gifts from ordinary people. Although it's cold and tiring, why am I so happy?"
Lu Yuechuan said, "Of course, you are good to the people, and the people will return the favor. You have helped the people a lot today, so of course they feel bad. Look at the pancake in your hand, I guess it is the best food in their family."
Lao Zhang didn't say anything for a long time. After a while, he said, "I only took one. If you said that, I wouldn't have taken any."
He Xin patted his shoulder and said, "Let's go back to the barracks."
The wilderness gradually became silent, leaving only the whistling wind and a trail of footprints.
Xie Chen protected Lin Shuge all the way to the county government office, "Brother, we're here." He helped Lin Shuge down, and seeing that he was shivering with cold, he hurriedly pulled him into the house.
"Zhongxuan, I'm fine."
Xie Chen ignored him, entered the house, helped him take off his cloak and outer robe, and tucked him into bed.
"Brother, keep it warm first, I'll go to the kitchen to check."
Lin Shuge nodded while hugging the quilt. The quilt was really warm. He felt sleepy after lying there for a while. He closed his eyes and gradually fell asleep.
He didn't know how long it had been before he heard Xie Chen's voice in his sleep. It seemed like he was going to give him some medicine. He was still a little dazed and called out to Xie Chen.
"Brother is awake, get up quickly and take medicine to prevent colds." Xie Chen came over with the medicine. Lin Shuge slowly sat up. Just as he was about to speak, he felt his throat itchy. It seemed that he had caught a cold from the wind. He took the medicine from Xie Chen and drank it.
Seeing that he had finished drinking, Xie Chen stuffed him a candy and said, "If something like this happens next time, just send someone to tell me. You don't have to go there in person."
Lin Shuge bit the candy, and seeing Xie Chen's face was a little dark, he smiled and said, "Okay, okay, just this time, there will be no next time."
Xie Chen looked at him helplessly, "Brother, I'm serious."
"I got it. I'll be on vacation after I finish dealing with some things at the county government these days. Zhongxuan, we can celebrate the New Year together this year." Lin Shuge smiled, which made Xie Chen's heart soften. He leaned over and kissed the corner of his lips.
Although it was freezing cold outside, the lights were bright inside the house and the whole room was filled with warmth.
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