Zhen discovered something strange.
Xie Lingjiang actually started calling Tan Lang "senior brother".
It was quite sudden. Remember, didn’t you always call me Brother Lianghan before? Tanlang, on the other hand, called her "Brother Lingjiang" and "Little Junior Sister" in a mixed manner, speaking casually and smoothly.
In the Meiluxuan hall, Ms. Zhen, who was wearing a green skirt and a green belt over her shoulders, turned to look at the two people walking by her who were talking and laughing, with a suspicious look on her face.
When this somewhat arrogant lady of the Xie family came to ask her about Tan Lang's whereabouts in the afternoon, didn't she call her Brother Lianghan with a straight face? Why did she change her words when she came back in the evening?
Could it be that Tan Lang was playing hard to get, deliberately neglecting the girl for a few days, and then suddenly giving her some warmth? Just like how she usually trains the maid... the woman in the skirt is secretly doing it.
Finally enlightened?
Zhen took the opportunity to pull Ouyang Rong outside the door and asked:
"Why are you all dirty again? What are you doing, Tanlang? Hurry up and take a shower before serving the table. Pay attention to your appearance. I'll let Banxi boil the water..."
Ouyang Rong shook his head, "No need for now, I'm just going back to Luming Street to get a copy of the official documents from the Yamen, and I'll bring my junior sister over for a meal. I have to go to the outskirts of the city to deal with some things in the evening, and I might be back very late. Auntie, go to bed early, don't waited."
Mrs. Zhen: "You..."
"That's right." Ouyang Rong turned around and handed her a small jar of pickled radish, "Serve it on the table for my junior sister to try."
"So she likes to eat this?" The woman's attention was diverted, she lowered her head and sniffed it, and said happily: "Okay, okay, okay."
Ouyang Rong was a little worried and reminded: "Don't put everything on the plate, leave some for me."
"Really, men should be more generous."
"..."
During dinner at Meiluyuan, Ouyang Rong called Yan Liulang over. The latter hurried over midway, nodded to Ouyang Rong, Xie Lingjiang and Zhen, then sat down directly and grabbed a bowl to eat.
It is similar to Ouyang Rong when it was first served, looking like a starving ghost.
In the past few days, Ouyang Rong had sent him to lead the county government agents to maintain public order in more than a dozen disaster relief camps on the outskirts of the city. He ran here and there every day to catch thieves and arrest thieves. Tens of thousands of floating people gathered inside and outside the city. It was a trivial matter. There are a lot of them, and it’s really hard not to have your butt touch the stool for a moment.
What's more, the territory of Longcheng has belonged to Wuyue since ancient times, and the children of Wuyue have strong grudges, and they value promises and neglect death.
This is not to say that the people here are barbaric. On the contrary, after Ouyang Rong came to govern these days, he found that the people were simple and honest, and the people were very dull and honest.
But honest people are the strongest, as long as they are ignited.
"What I'm busy with isn't some hard-fought case, it's just a lot of grudges and grudges. I really don't know where they hid so many swords. The disputes left by my fathers more than ten years ago, now that I have the opportunity, my sons and grandsons will Go back and turn over your sword and come out to take revenge."
Yan Liulang wiped his mouth and sighed: "With this flood, I can hardly afford to eat, and I am still thinking about these grudges."
Xie Lingjiang picked up a piece of pickled radish and nodded: "Yan and Zhao in the north have many generous and tragic people, while Wu and Yue in the south are the land of revenge and hatred, not a place of evil and evil. Looking through the history of Qing Dynasty, both places are rich in small and broad-minded people. Dead Assassin.”
"It's a good thing to have blood." Ouyang Rong muttered while eating.
Yan Liulang put down the bowl and asked: "Mingtang, the work-for-relief these days has indeed reduced the number of refugees and thieves, and the security in the city has also improved a lot, but will anything happen if we gather so many refugees on the outskirts of the city?"
"Are you talking about a plague or a rebellion?" Ouyang Rong didn't even raise his head.
The words that were too direct made Yan Liulang almost choke.
"Well, Mingtang, the main reason is that I feel a little uneasy. No county magistrate has ever done this before. I must be afraid that it will be difficult to manage when there are too many people."
"It's not like you thought about it. Your father told you?"
"Yes, he is worried too."
"Yan County Lieutenant has thought about these things. It seems that he has good energy. Why don't you cancel your leave and go back to the Yamen for duty?"
"I don't know. He said that he was going to retire as he got older, and he asked me to take over the catching squad for him this year."
Ouyang Rong nodded, glanced in the direction of the city suburbs, and whispered:
"Rokuro, don't worry. I will go to the disaster relief camp every day. Nothing will happen to me as long as I am here. And if even I, the county magistrate, can't do the job and make up for some gaps, then even if they are all dispersed, what should I do?" It can still be concluded."
Xie Lingjiang also nodded, "That's right. And our Zhou Dynasty is not like the situation at the end of Qin and Sui Mo. Gathering the people to build a flood in the Yellow River will cause anger and resentment."
Ouyang Rong said again: "Besides, everyone just wants to have enough to eat. What can be wrong with this? This is what the Zhou court and our place should do, and it is not difficult. Now there are no strong enemies outside and no war at the border. Luoyang, Chang'an and all countries Come and sing and dance to bring peace, don't all the princes in the Zhou Dynasty say that this is a peaceful and prosperous time, there are so many surplus grains in charity warehouses in various places, and if we work together, the flood will be cured."
He felt full of energy again, so he buried the bowl and took two bites of rice. Mrs. Zhen on the side quietly served him some food.
"Senior brother is right." Xie Lingjiang's eyes burned and he nodded seriously.
She still had in her mind the scene of hard work and vitality she had seen in the afternoon.
Yan Liulang couldn't help but glance at this girl from the Xie family who usually wasn't very active when chatting with others.
Without thinking much, he smiled and warned: "Okay, then I have to lead the team to deal with security matters. I can't stay with Mingtang all the time, so I'll ask Miss Xie to take care of me on my behalf."
"good."
Everyone was in a good mood after dinner. After finishing the last bite of the meal, Ouyang Rong took Xie Lingjiang and Yan Liulang out without stopping.
Tonight he has to go to the newly built Shuangjiang Camp to inspect. In addition, he also has to deal with the medical care of some refugees. The number of doctors recruited by the county is not enough. He is considering whether to go to Xia Donglin Temple... Ouyang Rong is now the queen. Later I discovered that the Donglin Temple of the "Green Lantern Ancient Buddha" was really damn rich.
Before leaving Meiluyuan, Madam Zhen asked Banxi to grab a handful of candied fruits and stuff them into Ouyang Rong's pocket for him to fill his stomach at night. However, Yan Liulang beside him knew that his Mingtang, which he had silently put away, would be filled with sweets every time he returned to the camp entrance. Give it to homeless children.
The three of them walked out of Meiluyuan and first went to the Longcheng County Government Office. Ouyang Rong approved some documents in the temporary office, stamped them with his official seal and handed them to the clerk. He met with Xie Yan and the two people waiting outside the door to prepare. Leave.
But at this moment, the flustered Diao County Prime Minister and two men dressed as post officials rushed into the county government gate in a hurry, waving a few thin pieces of letter paper in their hands.
Before they arrived, Ouyang Rong and the others heard:
"Mingtang Mingtang, it's not good, it's not good! News came from Jiangzhou that the Jimin warehouse prepared for disaster relief was opened three days ago according to the imperial decree. However, the hundreds of thousands of stones of rice stored in it disappeared, and only the Jimin warehouse was left. Less than a quarter full!”
There was a sudden silence inside and outside the county government office.
Whether it was the government servants passing by after get off work or the clerks in the public office picking up their pens and preparing to write down the words, they were all stopped as if the pause button had been pressed, with expressions of astonishment on their faces.
In the open space outside the main hall of the court, the three young men who were closest to Diao County Magistrate who reported the news, including the two standing on the left and right, were so shocked that they couldn't help turning their heads to look at the young magistrate in the middle. .
"You...say it again."
The calm tone of the man who happened to be standing in the shadow of a tree made Diao Xian Cheng take a step back subconsciously, but when the matter came to pass, he could only bite the bullet and repeat it again, and then hurriedly said:
"Now the whole Jiangzhou City is in chaos. The social secretary of Jimincang hanged himself in fear of crime. A large number of officials below the governor of Jiangzhou have been suspended from their posts. The Jiangnan Supervisory Envoy who was sent to supervise the disaster relief has also been stationed in Jiangzhou City. One person has been investigated and imprisoned. One hundred and thirty people..."
"Stop talking about this." The young county magistrate suddenly said: "You only need to tell me how much food is left in Jimincang? How much of the promised disaster relief food can be allocated within three months?"
"There are only more than 70,000 stones left in Jimincang, but if we have to share it with Jiangzhou City and several surrounding disaster-stricken counties, we can only give us...three thousand stones."
"Three thousand... stones?" the young county magistrate lowered his head and muttered to himself.
"In addition..." Diao Xiancheng hesitated, "Now that the disaster is urgent, and there is such a big case in Jiangzhou, all localities have no time to take care of themselves. The higher authorities have asked the county magistrates to be responsible for local disaster relief and flood control..."
"How can we provide relief if we have no food or money?" was Xie Lingjiang's cold voice.
"It said that the county magistrate should think of some ways. If there is not enough money and food, he can call on local landowners and wealthy households to donate surplus food, or collect food from temples and Taoist temples... It will be fine. It can share the worries of the state and county and tide over the difficulties. After the disaster is over, we can give them some welfare policies, tax exemptions, etc. These can be decided by the county magistrate on his own. You can even borrow some grain from the squires and landlords now, and you can naturally pay it back when the disaster relief grain arrives..."
"Just let us fend for ourselves." Xie Lingjiang nodded. Someone is silent.
Diao Xiancheng said helplessly: "That's what the above said, this is an official document to Mingtang... and the most important thing is also told by the above, that is, the order at the bottom must be stabilized during disaster relief, especially... Refugees, we must not allow mistakes in this regard. This is the bottom line of the imperial court and the most important aspect of post-disaster supervision and assessment. In addition, any mistakes in other places can be appropriately forgiven."
After Diao Xiancheng finished speaking, the whole place fell into silence.
No one spoke, and no one dared to speak first, because there was one person who was silent.
Xie Ling Jiang Muran turned his head.
In the open space of the county government compound, the vegetation behind everyone just blocked the candlelight from the court hall. Most of the young county magistrate's body melted into the shadows. Xie Lingjiang couldn't see clearly what he was doing at this moment. From his expression, he could only see a pair of eyes staring at the ground.
"Mingtang, do you want to take another look?" Diao Xiancheng took out an official document and handed it over.
Seeing that the man beside him had not moved for a long time, Xie Lingjiang was about to reach out to pick it up, but in the next second, he was suddenly snatched away by a cold palm. The speed was so fast that he touched the back of her hand, so she knew that his palm was cold. It was cold and a little painful.
Ouyang Rong held the official document between his fingers, flicked it, and said with a curious expression: "You mean, in three months, I and 12,981 victims only had this official document and less than one Twelve thousand shi of food?"
Diao Xian Cheng didn't know how to answer, so he mumbled, "Yes... it should be."
Ouyang Rong suddenly wanted to ask, if the court does not provide disaster relief in disaster years, why does it still need this court? Ornaments provided by the common people? Like those pagodas in temples? But if you donate a pagoda to a temple, you can at least have a few fast meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
But when the words came to his lips, they only turned into a shout of approval:
"Jimincang, the name is so well chosen."
Ouyang Rong held the official document in his hand and left the county government office with a chuckle, leaving everyone there looking at each other.
