Chapter 97: Work-for-relief
There is no need to say which one He Xi will choose between these two choices.
Not to mention that Beijing will definitely gather a large population in the future. Even if the current talent gap in Beijing has already affected the development of Beijing.
Building the city, streets and houses in Beijing is actually very simple. But what He Xi wants is not an empty Beijing, but the number one industrial city in the north. This is more difficult. But crises are also opportunities.
Hundreds of thousands of people were affected in Shandong, Henan and Hebei. The cost of moving people during ordinary times is very high. In this era, moving people only requires a mouthful of food.
What's more, the grain utilization rate will be very high.
Where in the whole north has the most food?
Beijing City, Beiping City to be precise.
This has always been an important military supply center in the north of the Ming Dynasty, supporting the entire northern front. A large amount of grain is stored here every year. Although the grain output in Beijing is not high, the grain reserves here amount to millions of stones.
In addition to supplying military supplies, there is also a large surplus.
The fastest way to provide disaster relief is to transfer food from Beijing and distribute it to the disaster areas. In this way, the food used for disaster relief can only maintain the production of the victims, and can do nothing else. The land soaked in water naturally cannot do anything.
But after arriving in Beijing, he was able to make a lot of contributions.
Not to mention, transportation is also a problem. If you transport food from Beijing, it will be empty when you return. This is a waste of transportation capacity. On the return trip, bringing people back to Beijing not only utilizes transportation capacity, but also reduces food transportation waste.
After all, even in Hejian Prefecture, which was the most serious, most counties were not flooded. The people outside the city who were really severely affected and unable to live were the people outside the city.
Transport some away and leave some behind.
Overall, the most efficient.
After He Xi made up his mind, he did not enter Hejian Mansion at all. He summoned the Hejian Magistrate on the boat and finalized the strategy. At the same time, he sent envoys to inform various places that all disaster-stricken areas would follow this method.
Of course, the principle shall prevail.
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In Cangzhou City, a big man helped an old woman and a little girl sit down on the street corner. At this moment, in Cangzhou City, people were sitting densely in the streets and alleys.
Many people think that floods are like overwhelming mountains and seas, roaring in, and houses collapsing wherever they pass. This happens sometimes, but not many. What does a real flood look like? It rains continuously and the water surface rises little by little, from an inch to no feet, then no legs. Finally, the whole house is submerged in the water. At this time, there is actually nothing wrong with people hiding on top of the house. question.
As for the adobe house that has been in the water for a long time, it will make a crash, submerge under the water, and let out a final scream.
It seems that it is neither fast nor slow, but in fact it does not give people a way to survive at all.
Therefore, although many people were unable to escape in time, most of them were trapped somewhere, or they underestimated the rising trend of the floods and were trying to escape, but were swept away by the floods.
But most people can still escape.
However, the disaster caused by floods has never been enough to avoid being submerged by floods.
Natural disasters and man-made disasters coexist, and there is never no reason.
For example, today's Cangzhou City, which was originally a small town, has so many people crammed into it all at once. Almost every piece of land that is not exposed to rain is occupied by people.
Moreover, when many people escaped, they took only very little food and money with them. It was okay at the beginning, but as time went on, it became difficult.
Just like this family.
The big man's name is Zhang Ming. His ancestor is never said. Zhang Ming's father is good at martial arts. Knowledgeable people say that Zhang Ming's father must have been on the battlefield. However, this is normal. During the Hongwu period, there was only a few years of peace, so it was not unusual for people to go to the battlefield.
After settling in Cangzhou, no one paid much attention. After all, during the great migration during the Hongwu period, people from many places in Hebei and Henan had migrated here and were not locals themselves. The Zhang family was just one of them.
Zhang Ming practiced martial arts since he was a child and was a good player. After his father died, he stayed at home and farmed. Because of his good martial arts skills, he also lived well. After all, the logic is completely different in the countryside and in the county. Having strength and being able to fight are actually great advantages.
No one dares to bully.
Just like today, everyone fled to the city, but Zhang Ming could grab a roof for his mother and sister. At least the floor is clean. Instead of sitting in the mud and water, with others watching helplessly and not daring to fight, if it was just the mother and daughter, let's see what the outcome would be.
However, even so, Zhang Ming cannot solve the problem here.
That's the question of rations.
When he came out of his home, Zhang Ming only had time to carry a bag of grain and left.
There is no way around this. The city is dozens of miles away from home. There is no light cargo for a long journey, not to mention, he has to bring more than just food. Although a bag of grain is a lot, a family of three has no other source of livelihood. Eat a little less.
Now there's only half a bag left.
Mother Zhang refused to let her little sister eat it. Only let Zhang Ming eat enough. As for herself, she hadn't eaten a bite for several days.
The reason is very simple. Only when Zhang Ming is full can he fight against the vague malice in the eyes of many people. If Zhang Ming is weak and unable to exert his strength, don't talk about a clean place. Even their mother and daughter may not be able to Stay alive.
It should be noted that there are countless corpses outside the city that have not been recovered from the water. If there are two or three more, no one will really pursue them.
It’s just that Zhang Ming looked at his little sister who was so hungry that she watched Zhang Ming eat. Extremely distressed.
Zhang Ming gritted his teeth and said, "Mom, I'm going to get food."
Zhang’s mother said, “Where are you going to get food?”
Zhang Ming waved his hand and said: "Don't worry about it, I will definitely get the food."
How could Zhang's mother not know that food is the most valuable thing in the city today, and they are actually doing pretty well. Many people ran into the city empty-handed, without any food at all. If they went around the streets, they would be all They are selling their sons and daughters.
Now if you sell it to rich people in the city, you may still be able to keep your children alive. If the situation worsens, it will probably be the end of exchanging children for food.
Food cannot be obtained using normal methods.
Zhang Ming has only one way to get food, and that is to use evil hands. kill.
In fact, many people are like this. At this time, it is normal for several people to die just for a bite of food.
Zhang's mother said: "My son, I won't stop you from doing what you want to do, but just wait. The court will not ignore it. Secondly, wait until I die. It won't be too late for you to do it again."
Zhang Ming immediately knelt down and said, "My child doesn't dare."
Zhang's mother weakly stretched out her hand, touched Zhang Ming's face, and said: "My son, I am not forcing you to stop doing it, but telling the truth. I am old, and I will die when I die. I know you have to do it. What? If you are an unfilial person, I won’t talk about this. It’s because you are a filial person. If you commit a crime and someone catches me, you won’t run away. You wait, wait for the court’s relief, wait. When will I die?"
"You won't be tied down."
Zhang Ming gritted his teeth and just shed tears. Don't know what to say.
Because what Zhang’s mother said is truly the truth.
Suddenly, the sound of gongs was heard outside, saying: "The imperial court has released grain, the imperial court has released grain."
As soon as this sound was heard, the entire Cangzhou City was boiling.
Everyone struggled to get up, and in an instant, the people hiding in the corner of the street rushed out like zombies and rushed towards the county government office.
Zhang Ming was also ready to rush over.
Zhang's mother grabbed Zhang Ming, took out two pancakes from her arms, stuffed one into Zhang Ming, and stuffed the other into Zhang Xiaomei, and said: "There are so many people, eat something first, otherwise you won't be able to grab others later."
At this moment, there is no order at all in the city. Even though the government officials try hard to maintain order, people are crowded and beaten. All kinds of martial arts are going on everywhere, people are extremely hungry, and they are only a hair's breadth away from the beasts.
Fortunately, He Xi's timely relief efforts pulled many people away from the edge of the beast.
It's just that many things are not as He Xi expected.
