The flooding in Nanyang City is gradually improving.
But more and more victims gathered at the city gate.
Master Lu, the prefect of Nanyang, arranged a porridge shed at the gate of the city to provide two meals of porridge a day, and also arranged for doctors to treat the people.
Everything seems to be in order.
But Mr. Lu was so anxious that his mouth was blistered. He probably hadn't slept for three to five days.
People below came to report one after another.
"Sir, there are only the last two thousand kilograms of grain left in the Nanyang granary. It can only last for three more days at most!"
"Sir, the city has run out of medicinal materials. Many people have prescriptions but cannot find medicine..."
"Sir, the people who went to Qing'an County to look for the Suigong people came back, but there was still no trace of the Suigong people..."
"Sir, what should we do next..."
Mr. Lu was running around anxiously.
The situation in Nanyang has been reported to the court, but it took at least ten days to get from the court to Nanyang at high speed. Even if the court sent relief food without saying anything, it would still be half a month later. Yuanshui rescued Can't get close to fire...
The prefects of several nearby cities all said that there was not much food left in the granary, so they just sent a thousand kilograms of food, which was of no use at all.
Food is not enough, medicinal materials are running out, and there is no news from the Suigong people...
"More than 10,000 victims, two thousand kilograms of grain..." Mr. Lu sighed, "In three days, the city will run out of food. If these victims become refugees and flee in all directions, I, the prefect, will be done..."
The master offered a suggestion: "Why don't you sprinkle some sand into the porridge? People who are not particularly hungry will not come to drink the porridge. Wouldn't this save some food..."
"Even if this method is really feasible, how much can be saved?" Mr. Lu shook his head, "Prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and I will write another letter to the governor, requesting him to order nearby cities to open warehouses to release grain... and , we must send more manpower to find the whereabouts of Sui Gongren..."
Sui Gongren was the first female court official of the Dayu Dynasty and had made countless contributions to the Dayu Dynasty. If she died in his Nanyang City, he would be blamed for his death.
At this moment, a yamen officer hurriedly came in and reported: "Sir, five large ships suddenly arrived at Nanyang City Pier, coming from Huzhou..."
Mr. Lu stood up suddenly: "Hurry and take a look."
Huzhou and Nanyang City are separated by a long canal, and it takes at least a day and night to go back and forth. Moreover, Huzhou and Nanyang are not in the same province, so he did not ask Huzhou for help.
But now, five large ships have arrived in Huzhou.
At this juncture, when everyone wants to escape, so many ships in Huzhou must be carrying food.
Mr. Lu was filled with excitement and led the people out of the city gate and rushed to Nanyang City Pier.
On the pier, there are five majestic ships, with the flags on them saying "Cao". These are the merchant ships of the Cao family in Hekou County.
Zhao Ergou stood at the bow of the boat. When he saw Mr. Lu coming, he immediately got off the boat and cupped his hands and said, "The common man Zhao Jingcheng has met the prefect."
Mr. Lu hurriedly helped him up: "Zhao Jingcheng...are you Sui Gong's son?"
Zhao Ergou nodded: "Three days ago, my mother arrived in Nanyang City to find the whereabouts of my eldest brother. I kept my mother's order in mind and returned to Huzhou to adjust food. Two of the ships were donated by the magistrate of Huzhou, and the other three ships were used A total of 200,000 kilograms and 10,000 kilograms of related medicinal materials were purchased in the name of my mother Sui Kyōto. Now that the food and medicinal materials have arrived, I wonder if my mother..."
"Sui Kyouto, she..."
Magistrate Lu looked ashamed.
He didn't expect that Sui Gongren would arrange for another son to collect grain before looking for his son.
Two hundred thousand kilograms of grain is not a small amount. With grain and medicinal materials, these victims can be saved...
However, he didn't even know the whereabouts of Sui Gongren.
"Three days ago, Mr. Suigong took eight government officials to Huaihua Village, Qing'an County. His whereabouts are still unknown... But Mr. Zhao, rest assured that I will do my best to find Mr. Suigong, even if it is a corpse. return……"
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhao Ergou's eyes were cracked, "It's impossible that something will happen to my mother. I want to go find my mother. Please ask the magistrate to arrange for someone to lead the way!"
Mr. Lu hurriedly said: "Mr. Zhao, I will go with you."
Now that the problems of food and medicinal materials have been solved, the most important thing now is to find the whereabouts of the Suigong people.
The group set off towards Huaihua Village in Qing'an County with a medium-sized boat.
Nanyang City was in a state of excitement because of the arrival of food.
"I heard from people on the dock that Huzhou sent 200,000 jins of grain. Oh my god, 200,000 jins!"
"The governor of Huzhou is too generous. We refugees can be saved."
"It's not that the prefect of Huzhou was generous. It's said that Suigong people spent their own money to purchase and send them."
"But didn't Sui Gongren go to Huaihua Village in Qing'an County and be drowned by the flood?"
In the past few days, the prefect arranged for several groups of people to go to Qing'an County to find the whereabouts of the Suigong people. The people in the city and the victims outside the city knew that something happened to the Suigong people.
"Ren Sui Gong went to Huaihua Village regardless of the danger to find his eldest son, Master Shi Zhao, the Commander-in-Chief. Who would have thought..."
"At this time, the people of Suigong have not forgotten us ordinary people, and they have levied 200,000 kilograms of grain. They are really living Bodhisattvas who save the suffering!"
"He is no longer a living Bodhisattva. He has been drowned in the flood. A good person is gone. Suigong's eldest son is probably... all because of our Nanyang City."
"After Nanyang has overcome this difficulty, we must set up longevity plaques for Suigong people..."
"..."
These sounds reached Zhao Ergou's ears, and his face suddenly darkened.
Mom promised him that nothing would happen!
Not only will nothing happen to my mother, but my eldest brother will also be safe. Their family must be in order!
The group of people walked out of Nanyang City for about half an hour when they saw the flood. The water was very gentle. According to this momentum, it would take at most three days to completely recede.
It was difficult for a medium-sized boat to move forward in shallow water. After walking for a long time, it finally reached deep water. At this time, the forward speed accelerated a lot.
After a while, we arrived in Qing'an County.
This is not the first time Mr. Lu has come here, but like every time before, it is an endless yellow flood, giving people boundless despair.
He said in a hoarse voice: "A little further ahead is Sophora Flower Village."
The ship continued to move forward, and the surrounding scenery did not change much... The muddy yellow water revealed some treetops, and floating corpses floated by from time to time...
There is no life here.
Everything seemed to have died in the flood.
Zhao Ergou clenched his fists tightly, looked forward, and tightened his lips into a straight line.
Soon, the boat entered Sophora Flower Village.
There was water all around... and nothing else alive.
In the water, a body of a woman wearing light-colored clothes floated over. Zhao Ergou glanced at it and immediately asked someone to fish the body out.
When that face appeared in front of him, his clenched heart suddenly relaxed... Wasn't he sure that his mother would be fine? Why did he think it was her body?
If he came here to look for traces of his elder brother, what would he do when he saw this vast ocean?
Zhao Ergou substituted himself into Cheng Wanwan and used Cheng Wanwan's thinking to think about things...
