Chapter 75
Ganzhou County Government Office.
Lin Shuge was sorting out the information about the victims' hometowns in the official residence when he suddenly heard someone come to say, "Sir, the county magistrate wants you to come over. He said he has something urgent to discuss with you."
Lin Shuge was puzzled. All the victims had been resettled. Many had gone to the paper mill, and a group had been sent back to their original places. Why was there another urgent matter?
As he was thinking, he walked towards the lobby and saw Magistrate Li pacing back and forth. When he saw him, he strode over and said, "Shuge, there is a letter from the county governor's office saying that an angel has arrived and ordered Ganzhou to receive him first."
"Angel? Could it be the messenger sent by Yandu to Weijun to provide disaster relief? Why did he come here?" Lin Shuge thought about the promise made by Marquis Jingyuan that day and said anxiously.
"Envoy Wei did not say it explicitly, but I guess he is here to buy grain. The person sent by Yandu to provide disaster relief this time is Lord Ruan, the Grand Master of Ceremonies. It is said that he is an honest official and is highly valued by Your Majesty." Magistrate Li said solemnly.
Guanglu Dafu is in charge of imperial edicts and is a close minister to the emperor. It seems that Your Majesty attaches great importance to the famine that occurred in the first year of his reign and actually sent this gentleman.
"But Ganzhou has just accepted a lot of disaster victims, and I'm afraid there won't be enough food now."
"If not Ganzhou, there are other counties. Dingyuan has a good harvest this year, and even the Duwei Mansion has harvested a lot of grain from its military farms. This place is the closest to Wei County, so naturally people would think of here." County Magistrate Li pondered.
They were both lost in thought.
"Sir, news has come from outside the city that the angel is less than twenty miles away from Ganzhou."
Lin Shuge and Magistrate Li looked at each other and immediately summoned the county officials to go and greet them.
Outside Ganzhou City, Ruan Qingyun looked at the Ganzhou officials kneeling on the ground. They were all full of energy, with a clear look between their brows. They were a far cry from the corrupt officials he had captured personally.
Especially the one who claimed to be the local county magistrate, he was extremely good-looking, and his speech and behavior were flawless.
He followed the officials of Ganzhou into the city. The city was bustling with activity. He was used to seeing people half-naked along the way, but this was the first time he had seen such a situation.
The streets in the county are clean and full of pedestrians. Although men, women, young and old are not dressed expensively, they are clean and decent. The street stalls are neatly arranged, and the things they sell are also dazzling. The legendary books that are rarely seen in Yandu are actually being sold on the stalls here.
The further we walked in, the more prosperous it became. The shops along the street were doing a booming business. There was a restaurant where we could hardly squeeze in. We could only hear the sound of storytelling inside.
Ganzhou is indeed different.
When they arrived at the county government office, Ruan Qingyun directly explained his purpose. County Magistrate Li said, "Your Excellency, you may not know that there are many refugees from Ganzhou. The county has spent a lot of food to help these people. The amount you want is really not enough."
"Are there also disaster victims here? Where are they now?" Ruan Qingyun asked.
"Yes, sir. The county has resettled a group of victims in the west of the city. They usually work in the county's workshops and have temporarily settled in Ganzhou. Another group of people have returned home after being given money and food by the county."
Ruan Qingyun was truly shocked.
"How did you resettle the victims? Tell me in detail."
Lin Shuge glanced at Magistrate Li, who nodded to him. He then explained in detail how to raise grain to provide porridge to the victims, how to comfort the people, how to prevent epidemics after the famine in advance, how to resettle the victims, how to let them work in exchange for relief, and how to settle down after earning money.
The more Gu Qingyun listened, the more frightened he became. "Are you saying that timely prevention can prevent the disease?"
Lin Shuge pondered for a moment and said, "We can only take precautions. The county government will isolate the disaster victims who come to Ganzhou in batches to minimize contact. They also drink boiled water for daily use. In addition, the county government will distribute medicine to prevent epidemics on weekdays. Mugwort will be smoked every day in various places in the county, especially where the disaster victims are staying. Although this cannot guarantee that the epidemic will be completely prevented, it is always effective."
Ruan Qingyun looked at Lin Shuge carefully with a stern look in his eyes.
He came from Wei County. The epidemic after the famine was terrifying. He used drastic measures to curb the spread of the epidemic. I wonder what those nobles in Yandu would say about him?
Cruel and merciless or indifferent to human life?
Ruan Qingyun smiled self-deprecatingly. Having chosen this path, he had no choice but to go on. However, the County Magistrate Lin in front of him should not be underestimated. Such a talented person should not be confined to a small frontier county.
He then asked, "What is work-for-relief?"
"The refugees often had no money or place to stay, and they would even cause trouble when they gathered together. However, the common people just wanted to have enough food to eat, so the county government asked them to work and reclaim wasteland, and then paid them. With money and land in hand, many disaster victims even chose to stay in Ganzhou. This method was called work-for-relief, and in fact, some dynasties used this method to help disaster victims."
Ruan Qingyun nodded. There were similar statements in the "Guan Zi". It was just to let the people build palaces and towers. Ganzhou was a small border county, not an important place like Yandu. Where did such "work" come from?
County Magistrate Li said at the right time: "There are some workshops in Ganzhou, and the county government asked merchants to recruit them to work."
Ruan Qingyun understood.
"Our dynasty is fortunate to have two such talented people." In just a short period of time, the victims were resettled in an orderly manner, and Ganzhou was not affected. What he saw and heard in Ganzhou County today was different from that in other counties.
Ruan Qingyun looked at Lin Shuge, perhaps this person could help His Majesty fulfill his ambition.
…
Ganzhou County Post Station.
Gu Qingyun was eating dinner when the door creaked and someone came in.
"Qin Jian, come over and have dinner first. Try the food in Ganzhou. It's really good." Gu Qingyun said.
"Yes, sir." Qin Jian sat down and tasted a bite. He praised it a few times before eating it. "Sir, is the chef at the post station so skilled?"
Gu Qingyun smiled and said, "It was sent by County Magistrate Lin."
Qin Jian thought for a moment, and without thinking too much, he began to report to Gu Qingyun, "Sir, Ganzhou is indeed different. I went around today, the streets are prosperous, the people are living well, and they have spare money to watch plays and listen to storytellers. The plays are really good, and the storytellers are also good..."
"You listened to it, didn't you?" Gu Qingyun said with a smile.
Qin Jian touched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
"I also went to the workshops they mentioned, including the papermaking workshop, the printing workshop, and the cashmere workshop. The craftsmen were skilled and all the employees were from Ganzhou. I asked the craftsmen privately and they were told that the monthly wages were quite high. His wife also knew how to weave cashmere, so the two of them could earn enough to support the family."
"By the way, I also heard that there are disaster victims from Wei County working there. They reclaimed wasteland some time ago and have income from the workshop. Now they are determined to stay in Ganzhou."
Gu Qingyun stood by the window, "It seems that they are not exaggerating. It can be seen that they have real talents and knowledge."
On the street outside the window, a vendor was hawking his wares. A passerby stopped him to buy something, and the two of them bargained, looking very skilled.
Gu Qingyun added: "Send a message to Qin Yi, asking him to buy the grain and immediately ship it to Wei County. I have to stay in Ganzhou for a few more days."
"Yes, sir, but aren't you worried about the bad things that Ding might do?"
"Ding Wenhong has great ambitions but little talent, so Qin Yi can handle him. By the way, His Majesty asked me to inspect the border before leaving. You go and make arrangements and inform Captain Zhao." Gu Qingyun lowered his head and said while looking at the ring on his hand.
"So that's why you came to Dingyuan County?" Qin Jian asked what was on his mind. He hadn't heard his master speak for a long time. When he looked up, he saw that he was absent-minded, as if his mind was wandering.
"grown ups."
Ruan Qingyun was awakened, "Nothing, go and do it first."
Qin Jian had a puzzled look on his face, but he didn't dare to ask anything.
Lin Shuge had been accompanying the envoy from Yandu on a tour these past few days. This gentleman had a gentle personality and was knowledgeable, and he benefited a lot from chatting with him along the way. The two of them had a very pleasant conversation.
When Ruan Qingyun finally had his fill and went to inspect the Duwei Mansion, Lin Shuge had some free time to deal with the backlog of official documents during this period. He then took his younger brother and sister-in-law back to Qingxi Town during his day off.
Lin Qingyuan and Lin Xuan were of course very happy. They had been worried about their brother's safety for some time. Now that they saw that he was safe and the family could go home and stay for a few days, they were naturally extremely happy.
Lin Shuge paid someone to clean up the house and yard early in the morning, so the three siblings only had to do a simple sweeping and could move in.
Lin Qingyuan returned to the familiar place, full of interest. He took Lin Xuan to reminisce about their youth, and then went out to pick up a basket of wild vegetables and brought back, saying that he would cook them for dinner tonight.
Lin Shuge couldn't do anything with him so he could only let him have fun. After all, this was like summer vacation.
He rolled up his sleeves and was wiping the table when Lin Xuan exclaimed. He put down the rag and looked back, and saw Lin Xuan holding a small bow, but it had not been repaired for a long time and was a little rotten. When Lin Xuan was cleaning it up, she accidentally knocked it to the ground, causing a crack on the bow.
"Oh, this seems to be Erlang's bow. He bought it after hunting. But he didn't use it much afterwards. Why didn't he take it with him when he moved?" Lin Xuan said regretfully while holding the bow.
"Oh, yes. The bow he often used later was given by you, big brother. He took it to the Tunnel of the Endless. This one was left here, but it was unfortunately broken by me just now."
"It's okay, I'll take it to get it repaired, maybe it can still be used." Lin Shuge took the bow from her hand, wiped it with a handkerchief, and put it away.
After the three of them cleaned up the house, they sat together to eat. Lin Qingyuan was in high spirits today and talked non-stop, which made Lin Xuan pick up a bunch of dishes for him and told him to eat more and talk less.
As Lin Qingyuan was talking, he suddenly remembered, "Brother, when the disaster victims from Wei County poured into Ganzhou some time ago, Erlang wrote to ask if I was safe. I left the letter on the desk in your room. Did you see it?"
"You finally remembered, right?" Lin Xuan glanced at him sideways. What a stupid guy! How could her elder brother not have seen it?
"I have seen it and have already written him back."
"That's good." After Lin Qingyuan finished speaking, he buried his head in eating and didn't notice the worry in Lin Shuge's eyes.
But the Erlang they were talking about was confused at the moment. He had been busy all day today. A new batch of soldiers had arrived at Zhonggu Tunnel and he needed to train them in riding and archery. Some soldiers were not talented enough and they forgot about time during the training. They were not allowed to rest until the evening.
He had just finished training his troops and washed up, preparing to go inspecting the camp when a soldier came to report that Captain Zhao had asked him to receive a distinguished guest.
He wondered who wanted this? Captain Zhao even sent someone to explain the situation personally, and walked towards the tent while considering the candidates.
However, there was no one outside the tent, the soldiers who were usually on duty were nowhere to be seen, but candles were burning inside the tent.
His heart tightened, and he gently lifted the curtain and sneaked in quietly.
A man stood with his back to him and his hands behind his back. When he saw that he didn't move for a long time, he turned around.
Xie Chen was shocked.
I only heard that person say: "I haven't seen you for many years. You have grown up."
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