The steamer started moving again, and the victims on the shore shivered in fear when they saw the monster that was spitting fire and smoke.
By this time, it was completely dark.
A squadron of cavalry and cooking squads were left on the shore. A steamer and a tugboat remained. The tugboat was loaded with 200 tons of rice. These rice are the military rations for this expedition. I originally planned to prepare food for three months, but I didn't expect to come back in half a month. The food was then shipped back.
200 tons of rice is about 400,000 pounds. If a person wants to eat enough, he needs at least one kilogram of grain a day without fat and non-staple food. But now it’s disaster relief, giving out porridge three times a day. Each person can get about one or two rice porridge for one meal.
There is salt in the porridge, but not in the porridge vegetables. In order to make the gruel look thicker, the cooking team added a lot of starch juice mixed with water into it. These starches are used by the army to make vegetable soup. This time there was nothing left. Simply used for disaster relief.
Yang Fan had no choice. There were too many victims, and more than 20,000 people had gathered in just one afternoon. It is estimated that 100,000 people will gather within a few days.
By then, 30,000 kilograms of grain will be needed a day. This shipment of food is enough for half a month. Yang Fan hopes to see the emperor this time and urges the court to find ways to provide disaster relief. Let them live first and wait for the court's arrangements.
Yang Fan's soldiers were already very experienced in gathering and relieving hungry people. It's basically better than using Yang Fan to deploy, they know what to do themselves. Because they were rescued by the master just like these hungry people back then.
These officers and soldiers were very sympathetic to these hungry people like themselves back then, and they treated them with all their heart.
Han Qi was left behind by Yang Fan, and he immediately began to organize the screening of victims. They are classified according to the standards of towns and villages. Captains and Minzhuang are elected to maintain law and order. Prevent criminal situations from occurring.
Use barbed wire to separate areas for victims to rest. Organize people to dig holes and build toilets to prevent open defecation and prevent the spread of epidemics. Victims who become ill will be moved to quarantine areas for diagnosis and treatment by doctors accompanying the army. Even if it cannot be cured, it must be isolated.
The soldiers moved the marching pots off the boat, boiled water in each camp, and prohibited the victims from drinking raw water. Distribute small stainless steel basins and spoons to the victims to use as tableware.
Set up tents and dig drainage ditches to drain rainwater from the camp area. Although it is still warm inside the pass, it has already entered autumn. An autumn rain and a cold. Among these ragged victims were many frail old people, women and children.
If no measures are taken, people will fall ill on a large scale due to the cold autumn rain. Infectious diseases can also become prevalent.
By night, when Yang Fan was about to sail away, the entire camp had been set up. Very orderly. The victims have calmed down in panic. They didn't know what the purpose of these soldiers was. But there was food here and tents to shelter them from the wind and rain, so they felt at ease.
Of course, these soldiers have no restrictions on their freedom and are free to leave. But no one left. They had been fleeing for half a month, and there were dead bodies along the way. Wild dogs and crows pecked at the carcasses.
Wherever I go, there is a scene of devastation, and no place is as good as here.
The steamer turned on its forward spotlight. In the dark night, it is like a pair of huge eyes, scanning the river in front. Behind the steamer came a section of tugboats. Like a giant centipede, it meanders forward in the canal.
Other merchant ships along the way had to pull fibers to go upstream. Seeing this ship that was spitting fire, they all moved to the shore in fear to avoid being knocked over by the ship going upstream at high speed.
Yang Fan's neat boat has already started sailing on the Ji Canal, Bei Canal, and Luanhe River. The more you see, the less likely you will be afraid. Many merchant ships have begun to accept Master Yang's steamships.
Yang Fan looked out the window and didn't speak for a long time.
A steamer with ten tugboats towing behind it. Yang Fan's passenger ship was preceded and followed by warships. The carbide lamp searchlight above shoots in all directions, making it easier for the guards to observe the surrounding situation.
The beams of searchlights swept across the road, and there was a depression along the way. There were farmlands abandoned by farmers who fled because they could not afford taxes and could not bear the torture of government servants to force taxes.
Zunhua City seems to be a dividing line. Go east to Beitangkou, go southeast to Tianjinwei and Dagukou, and go south to Hejianfu. They are all filled with mourning. Only east of Zunhua, Yang Fan's territory and the area under the jurisdiction of Hexi Shouyu Qianhu are full of vitality.
Tu Shanyue put the coat on Yang Fan and said softly: "Master, the wind is cold at night and the dew is heavy. Don't catch a cold. Eat early. After eating, go to bed early. You are also exhausted during this period."
Yang Fan has been highly nervous since he sent out troops. The work is also fully arranged. After all, war is no small matter and must be taken seriously. After the victory, Duolun's army chiefs all followed their own instructions and governed under military control.
There were so many problems, and it took Yang Fan half a month to completely sort them out. I haven't gotten a good rest, and I have obviously lost weight.
Yang Fan looked at these victims and the abandoned land, and really had no appetite for food. However, Yang Fan will not bring his emotions into work, nor into his family. He nodded, turned around and sat down to eat with the two ladies.
The floor was covered with a two-meter-square Persian rug. There is a small kang table in the middle. Yang Fan sat in the main seat. On the left is Xiao Niangpi, and on the right is Lin Yueru.
"Master, this is the pigeon soup I stewed by myself. It contains ginseng and wolfberry. Please drink more." Lin Yueru said softly while serving Yang Fan the soup.
Yang Fan was stunned when he heard it was pigeon soup. The pigeons in the army are all homing pigeons, so how can they be used to make soup?
Seeing Yang Fan frowning, Xiao Niangpi said: "A pigeon was injured and died today. I'm the one who made the decision. Let Yueru make soup for you to replenish your health."
Yang Fan breathed a sigh of relief, it would have been better if he didn't just kill the carrier pigeon. Training homing pigeons is not easy, and it is all the hard work of the officers and soldiers of Homing Pigeon Xiaoqi. I can't bear to kill and eat them.
"Master, you don't have to worry. Just look at the court's arrangements. After all, this is the capital of the capital. It's not fun for the refugees to cause chaos. Food will be distributed to some extent for disaster relief." Xiao Niangpi persuaded.
"Humph, the imperial court, as efficient as the imperial court is, by the time of the disaster relief, these victims would have already starved to death. This year's drought is particularly severe, and the entire north has been affected, especially the northwest. The information coming from over there is that the bark of the trees has been chewed. It’s all gone. I really don’t know where the imperial court will find food for disaster relief.” Lin Yueru said disdainfully.
Yang Fan knew that Lin Yueru and the court had opinions, but what she said was the truth.
Yang Fan couldn't help but sigh.
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561. Free reading in refugee camps.
