What the coachman said was true. An hour later, Hai Rui arrived in Hangzhou City. After settling his wife down, he rushed to the Governor's Mansion to report on his duties.
"Stop, stop, stop, what do you do?"
As soon as Hai Rui approached the Governor's Mansion, he was stopped by an official.
"I am Hai Rui, the new magistrate of Chun'an County. Please come in and inform me." Hai Rui was not angry and looked calm.
"Master Magistrate, please wait a moment. I'll go in and report it right now." When the officer who stopped Hai Rui saw that the new Magistrate of Chun'an was in front of him, he immediately put on a flattering look and said, then trotted away. Ran into the Governor's Palace.
"The new Chun'an magistrate is so shabbily dressed that I almost offended him. Not bad, not bad." The officer who went to report the news thought so in his heart, and felt a burst of joy in his heart.
"Your Excellency, the new magistrate of Chun'an, Hai Rui, is waiting outside." As soon as the official entered the hall, he knelt on the ground and reported respectfully.
When Zheng Michang heard this, he couldn't help but look happy. Finally, someone came to take over the affairs of Chun'an County, and his burden could be lightened a little.
With such a mood, Zheng Michang said quickly: "What are you still doing? Let him in quickly!"
"Yes, yes, my subordinates will go ahead immediately." The officer left in fear.
"Master Magistrate, please come in quickly."
"Yes." Hai Rui nodded and walked into the Governor's Mansion.
"Sir, Hai Rui, the new magistrate of Chun'an County, is here to report on his duties."
Hai Rui entered the hall and bowed to Zheng Michang.
"I am Zheng Michang, the Chief Envoy of Zhejiang Province. Do you have the fish charm and the Gao Shen (note: items used to check the official's identity, as well as the letter of appointment) with you?"
"My lord, I have it all with me." Hai Rui said, taking it out of his arms and handing it to Zheng Michang.
Zheng Michang took the fish talisman and Gao Shen, and after checking them carefully, he ordered his men to bring them the Four Treasures of the Study, and said, "We still need the monogram."
Then Hairui picked up the pen and wrote his name on the white paper. Zheng Michang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the handwriting was almost the same as what was recorded on the document.
"Since the verification is correct, you should go to Chun'an County to take up the post as soon as possible. Since you are new here, I will give you a few words of advice." Zheng Michang said, picking up the teacup, taking a sip, and then slowly He spoke.
"I sincerely follow your teachings." Hai Rui quickly bowed and saluted with a respectful expression.
"Recently, the dam collapsed, and Chun'an and Jiande counties were the most severely affected. In Chun'an County, where you took office, a total of more than 10,000 people were affected by the disaster. The specific casualties have not yet been calculated. Now the government has opened various Porridge shed, actively providing relief.”
"In addition, since you have not yet taken office, the disaster relief materials distributed by the government to Chun'an County are temporarily kept by Wang Yonghe, the magistrate of Jiande County next door. You can ask him for it yourself! As for the rest, remember In this booklet, you can go back to the county office and read it yourself."
"Thank you for your advice, sir. I will never forget it."
"Okay, go down and do your work. You have a lot to do next."
"Yes." After Hai Rui bowed and saluted, he rushed to the Chun'an County government office without stopping, with a look of eagerness on his face.
…
At this time, Ma Ningyuan and Gao Hanwen were in the most severely affected areas, supervising the government's porridge delivery to prevent anyone from deducting money.
"Oh, these people are really suffering!" Gao Hanwen couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the long queue of victims lining up in front of the government-run porridge shed.
These victims were in ragged clothes, and all their attention was focused on the big pot set up in the government soup kitchen. They looked directly at the people in front of them who had finished receiving the porridge, looking anxious, for fear that when it was their turn, the porridge would be gone. Gone.
Therefore, from time to time, people at the back of the queue were anxious and wanted to jump in line. As a result, they were pulled out of the queue by the officers responsible for maintaining order, and after being beaten severely, they were pushed to the back of the queue.
When I got closer to the big pot, I saw what kind of porridge it was. It was clearly a big pot of hot water with some rice grains floating in it!
"Next one, next one."
The clerk in charge of giving out porridge held a spoon and looked at the victims queuing up to receive the porridge in front of him with a dull expression, like a robot. Every time a person came to him, he would scoop out a small spoonful with a spoon.
When those victims came to the queue, they all begged the clerk to give them more. The clerk didn't say anything and just scooped up a small spoonful of porridge silently. Those victims who received the porridge ran to the side as quickly as possible and drank the porridge in the broken bowl. Perhaps because they felt that they were still satisfied, they also licked the bottom of the bowl clean.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion in the previously orderly team. Ma Ningyuan and Gao Hanwen on the side saw this and quickly stepped forward to find out what happened.
"Please give me one more spoonful, I have a child!"
In the crowd, a slender woman with a sallow complexion was kneeling on the ground begging, holding a baby who had just turned one month old tightly in her arms.
"Go away, I'll give you one more spoonful, and the others will have one less spoonful! You're a cunning person, if you keep messing around like this, I won't even give you a spoonful! Drag her away."
The official responsible for serving porridge said this, and then ordered the official responsible for maintaining order to drag the woman away. During the pushing, the broken bowl used by the woman to serve porridge was smashed to pieces, and the porridge in the bowl spilled on the floor, attracting people. There was a rush of looting.
"What happened? Why is it so noisy?" Ma Ningyuan walked forward with a frown and asked the official who was serving porridge.
"Your Majesty, this unruly Mintian shamelessly wants to ask for an extra spoonful of porridge, but there is only so much porridge. If she eats an extra spoonful, the others will eat less! There is no other way. Only when I am lowered to the official position..."
After Ma Ningyuan heard this, he turned his gaze to the woman kneeling on the ground and said coldly: "Is that so?"
"Sir, the daughter of the people has no choice. I still have a child who is just one month old to feed! The child's father died in the flood in order to save our mother and daughter! Before he died, his biggest wish was that I would Raise this child to adulthood." The woman said, hugging the child tightly in her arms and crying.
After listening to the woman's cry, Ma Ningyuan was silent for a long time, and then turned his eyes to the other victims who looked dull. His Adam's apple moved up and down, but he was speechless.
"There is only so much porridge here. If you eat an extra spoonful, others will eat less. This is not fair to others! If everyone was like you, there would be no need to open this porridge shed. Let's go. "Gao Hanwen gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice.
"Sir..." Gao Hanwen's words hit the woman hard, and then she left the scene in despair with the child in her arms tightly.
After this small episode, the order at the scene was restored, and the crowd lined up again, one by one, waiting for the government's soup kitchen.
"Brother Ma, I will leave it to you to take care of the order here for the time being. I still have some things to do!" Gao Hanwen said, taking a few things from the guards on the side and leaving in a hurry.
"Wait..." Before Ma Ningyuan finished speaking, Gao Hanwen disappeared.
"Huhuhu~ I finally caught up with you." Gao Hanwen gasped and said.
In the corner of an alley, Gao Hanwen saw the woman from before. She was holding her child in her arms and sitting quietly in the corner.
"My lord, what is this?" Seeing Gao Hanwen's appearance, the woman from before asked in confusion.
Gao Hanwen took out a few pieces of cake and handed them to the woman: "I am from the north and I am used to eating cakes. I don't know if you are used to it."
"Thank you for your grace, sir. Your kindness will be unforgettable to my family. I will definitely repay you in the next life!"
After the woman finished speaking, she put the child aside and kowtowed to Gao Hanwen several times.
"Eat, there is still some money here, it should be enough to fill your stomach, but be careful." Gao Hanwen said, and took out some broken silver from his arms.
Gao Hanwen knew that if he gave a woman too much money, it would harm her, so the money was only enough to eat and reduce his covetousness.
"Sir, no! Please forgive me for not accepting it! What you can give me a bite to eat is already a great favor. How dare you ask for more?"
"Take it, raise the child well, and don't let down your husband's expectations." Gao Hanwen looked at the child in the woman's arms and said softly.
"Thank you, sir." After much hesitation, the woman accepted the money.
