When the county magistrate saw his menacing approach, his expression suddenly changed and he panicked and replied: "There are really few people in this county..."
"How can there be such truth!" How could people from Hunan believe his perfunctory words, "Kaocheng is not a small place, how can it be that all the houses in the city are empty? If there is a disaster, just talk about the disaster. If you still try to cover it up, I will be responsible for it. I ask you about your grave sin!”
The county magistrate was so frightened that he knelt down and kowtowed, "This is the last resort at the moment... I don't dare to deceive a good prince."
"What's going on?" Xiangren asked next.
The county magistrate wiped the sweat from his forehead, gritted his teeth, and had no choice but to tell him the truth: "Kaocheng, where I am, is located on the border of our province. Many refugees do not want to leave the country, so many of them flee and gather here. The situation cannot be dealt with for a while. The difference is still there." I have repeatedly sent people to question me, asking me to take care of the refugees within a time limit, and not to let anyone cross the border, otherwise I will take off my official uniform and take my official seal... But I am unable to do what I want, and it is really difficult to provide relief. I am afraid that outsiders will see it, so I send all the people to the village In order to avoid hearing and seeing, we can help according to our ability." After saying that, he lowered his face and started sobbing.
"It seems that it is not easy for the county magistrate," Xiang people naturally couldn't curse after hearing what he said. "I won't be harsh on you. Please take me to the village to have a look."
"Yes..." The county magistrate gestured to the Hunan people to go first. When they were a little further away, he whispered to the officials: "What is this person's name?"
The officer replied: "My surname is Guo, my name is from Xiang, and I am a Marquis personally conferred by the emperor."
"I seem to have heard of it..." The county magistrate cast his eyes on his back.
The county then prepared horses for the Hunan people, and the two rode side by side, taking three or four officials behind them. They left the city and walked to a ditch together toward the village.
A few people gradually walked to a flat dirt road. The Xiang man reined in his horse. From a distance, he saw that there were countless straw huts set up everywhere. Some of them even collapsed half of them and were still unrepaired. When he jumped off the horse and stopped to look carefully, he saw that I saw a bunch of people gathered in the low walls on both sides. Most of them were naked and skinny. They were collecting porridge in front of the dilapidated house with their families in tow.
"How many refugees are there... coexisting here?" The people from Hunan felt sick to their stomachs as they smelled the fishy smell in the air.
"Including those behind, there are more than 20,000 people in total. They are all extremely poor people and have nowhere to live." The county magistrate lowered his head heavily.
Walking further, we reached an open area, with endless fields in front of us. The dry land was full of people. The porridge shacks were built close to each other for seven or eight miles. The densely packed teams were like dozens of long snakes, surging out. The moving heads almost obscured the sky.
The Hunanese had never seen such a miserable scene. He could not imagine that yesterday he was looking up at the gorgeous palace and walking through the bustling Taiping Street, and today he was among the poor refugees in the mountains and plains - the prosperity of the prosperous times in his memory, Everything is erased.
"Good Lord," the county magistrate noticed that his face turned pale, "these are the people of our county."
The shock of the Xiang people was not over yet. Without saying a word, he slowly walked up the field to visit the porridge shed.
Suddenly, a farmer with shriveled flesh rushed over like crazy, bumped the Xiang man with his dark shoulder, and almost knocked the latter to the ground.
The Xiang man stood up straight, patted his clothes, and saw the man coming to a bare tree, holding the wood and chewing randomly.
"What the hell are you doing!" Several soldiers ran over quickly, held down his shoulders, and dragged him away forcefully, "How dare you charge a good prince!"
The farmer refused to let go. As a result, two yellow teeth were chipped. There was blood at the corners of his mouth. His nose and tears kept flowing. He was whimpering and could not speak clearly.
"Stop!" the county magistrate shouted, "Explain first, what happened to him...?"
"Alas," a soldier stamped his foot fiercely, "he came from Kaifeng Mansion. At first he brought his wife and three children with him. He stayed here to raise them for a few days. All three children died and his wife was also dying. A Li When it seemed that he couldn't be saved, he told us not to take care of him. So his wife died and he barely survived for two days by eating tree bark."
"That district chief? Find him and hold him accountable!" The county magistrate suddenly became furious, "You are really working for the tiger! Why do you starve the people to death in vain and don't give any relief?"
"There are too many refugees fleeing here. It is useless to save these half-dead people. It is better to save the porridge and rice to give to others. There is nothing you can do about one thing and the other. Besides..."
"Besides what?"
"Besides, you said before, 'Those who can't survive should be left to fend for themselves'..."
The county magistrate looked ashamed and quickly dismissed the soldiers, ignoring the heart-wrenching cries of the refugees.
"Keep walking." Xiangren said this in a low voice.
"Are there any cases of refugees being dispersed in Kaocheng?" He observed the driven people at the edge of the porridge shed.
"The governor's death order, the subordinates dare not neglect at all, they are all kept locally and cannot be transported to other states, which will only increase the disaster."
Listening to his report, the people of Hunan saw many soldiers carrying corpses coming and going in front of them, and some even had only bones left.
"So, you let them all die here?" he asked coldly.
"You...I..." The county magistrate was panicked and couldn't hold his tongue, "How can I disobey my superior?"
The Xiang people shook their heads and could only ignore the matter and asked something else: "Are there any refugees who escaped from Henan in other prefectures and counties?"
"I only know that in Weihui Mansion," the county magistrate said, "there are indeed some victims who took advantage of the chaos to escape. The prefect Ju said that many of them fled to the north."
'North, that's where the capital is...' Xiang people secretly remembered. But he knew that this could be postponed for the time being. The first thing to do was to stabilize the situation in Kaocheng. Otherwise, if he allowed this parent official to continue, trouble would sooner or later occur.
"Find an empty room!" The Xiang people immediately stood up, walked through the crowd receiving porridge, and greeted the soldiers, "Call all the village guards and district chiefs over, and we will discuss a relief plan together!"
"Yes!" Several soldiers followed the order.
"Wait a minute," the county magistrate hurriedly came over and grabbed the Xiang man's arm, "What do you mean?"
"I want to change my ways." Xiangren glanced at him and walked away from him.
After a while, the officers and soldiers vacated a room for the adults, moved out three benches, and asked everyone to sit down.
"Let me introduce, this is Chief Hongli, and that's Chief Daili over there," the county magistrate pointed at the security chiefs and named them one by one.
"I found that your relief work is just a step-by-step plan, without any plan," Xiang people just started to speak, and then he expressed his full complaints, "Do you know where these refugees come from?"
"Actually, I don't even know." Hong Lichang said with a smile.
"Then each village will re-examine the households," the Hunan people decided, slamming the table. "Your security chief will compile a directory in your village and ask the refugees to fill it out one by one. It will be completed within three days. No delay!"
