It's still dark, and the lanterns in the corridors and under the eaves of the posthouse are still lit.
A group of scholar-like scholars gathered in the courtyard of Sihe.
They got up early before Mao's hour, and came here to wait for Zhan Muchun to get up. They felt like having some Mao, and it could be said that they took themselves seriously.
Normally they rarely get up so early.
These scholars were all scholars in Shangwan Prefecture. They gathered because they admired the Number One Scholar, and they also gathered because of the summons of the Number One Scholar.
Again, Duke Xuan killed corrupt officials so ruthlessly that he didn't even have enough officials for disaster relief. Even officials from the capital and county such as Zhan Muchun were temporarily retained. It's easy to imagine the shortage of available manpower.
It happened that this group of scholars admired Zhuangyuan Lang and regarded him as a role model for scholars. When they came to pay a visit, they were bumped into by the new eunuch.
The prefect then took the idea of this group of people and instructed Zhan Muchun to gather them and use them.
In a city during a disaster, if you want to maintain stability and straighten out all aspects, it is extraordinary and requires the coordination of all parties.
Most of the scholars these days have some background, and most of them have some reputation in the local area. If there is the help of this group of scholars distributed in various streets, the good management situation in the city will naturally be much better. The newly appointed governor tried his best to survive this disaster.
So Zhan Muchun, under the banner of his title of No. 1 Scholar, gathered these scholars together to serve as his boss, preached a lot of great principles, and assigned work to the scholars every day.
Zhan Muchun, who hurried out, saw them and found that the commotion did not come from their whispers, but from outside.
Before the scholars could pay their respects, he asked first, "What's going on with the commotion outside?"
A group of scholars immediately gathered over, and one said: "Master Zhan, the victims of the disaster have entered the city."
"Ah?" Zhan Muchun was shocked and immediately left them and hurried to the gate of the post house.
Standing on the steps, looking to the left and right of the aisle, I found that there were many ragged people sitting on both sides of the street. Some were holding food and devouring food, some were sleeping against the wall, and some were just lying on the corner of the street and sleeping soundly. , obviously exhausted.
On the streets, there were still ragged victims walking by, eating and looking around, seemingly looking for a suitable place to rest.
The commotion comes from these victims.
The surprise on Zhan Muchun's face could not go away. He could make these victims sleep peacefully and be so stable. It was obvious that they had eaten. Only when they had food in their stomachs could they not panic.
"What's going on?" he hurriedly asked the scholars who followed him.
A scholar said: "Sir, I heard that a great philanthropist has appeared outside the city and is distributing money to the victims outside the city."
"It's true. My family lives near the city gate over there. When I came over, I took a look at the city gate. Someone was indeed handing out money to the victims. Five taels per person. It seems that they started giving out money at Xu time last night and have been paying it till now. , it’s almost dawn, and it’s still happening.”
"Yes, we were just talking about how much money we would have to pay after a whole night."
"I heard something from the guard on duty at the city gate before, saying that at least 20,000 people had come in, and that the victims gathered under the city wall were almost cleared out."
"I don't know who could be so merciful. This must have cost at least one hundred thousand taels of silver. It's truly a generous act!"
Listening to the discussions of the scholars, Zhan Muchun looked around at the victims who were eating, sleeping and settled down on the street. He was a little confused. Who could rescue people like this at this time? Suddenly a figure of a person flashed in his mind.
The lonely figure, covered in mud and carrying a big bag, leads the victims forward!
His expression was suddenly shocked, and he suddenly jumped down the steps, ran away, and headed straight for the city gate, without even bothering to wash up.
"Master Zhan..."
"grown ups…"
A group of scholars didn't know why he was so out of sorts, or why he was there. He hadn't assigned any work to everyone yet. Maybe there was something wrong?
I didn't know if I wanted their help, so the scholars looked at each other and followed them one after another...
The victims outside the city have indeed been almost cleared away, at least they are basically invisible outside the city. Looking around, there are only eight left in front of the suspension bridge.
"five"
"Four"
"three"
"two"
"one"
The man holding the ink pad kept counting, and the man stamping the seal stopped after stamping the seal on the back of a victim's hand.
The disaster victim "One" walked onto the suspension bridge and passed over.
There were three left, and three nervous victims looked at Yu Qing eagerly because Yu Qing stopped taking out money.
The bank manager and two clerks were also staring at Yu Qing.
The guard general and other guards were also staring at Yu Qing.
It's a bit strange that after so many people have been rescued, why are the last three still hesitant?
Yu Qing looked around with red eyes and wanted to yell at them, why are you all staring at me? Do I owe you anything?
Wow! He opened the mouth of the big leather bag completely. When it was not enough, he turned the whole big leather bag completely over, turned the inside out, shook it hard for them to see, and let out a silent roar, I have no money!
Got it, the guard and the bankers looked at each other.
Yu Qing was so angry that he suddenly pointed at the nose of the bank manager and cursed, "Damn it, I gave you so much money, and you are still guarding a bank. Are you not willing to give money to these three people?"
The shopkeeper's face turned bitter, "Brother, it's not that I won't give it, but the bank has its own rules. You can't touch a penny. It's a trouble even if you don't pay even one penny. No one can open a bank alone." , there are noble people who have invested in it, and you can’t spend money without permission. I’m just a counter clerk, and I also work for others, so I really can’t be the master.”
"It's just about fifteen taels of silver. In exchange for your nonsense, shut up!" Yu Qing cursed loudly and turned to ask the guard again, "There are only three people, can't you let them in?"
The guard looked bitter and said, "Brother, everything is strict during a disaster. No one dares to disobey the laws. If I resist, I can't bear it. It's easy to let them in. If they don't have money, they can go into the city to stutter." If you have to steal, you have to rob, and if you are caught, you will be beaten to death."
When they saw that they really had no money, the three victims were completely panicked and fell to their knees.
This time they all spoke up, because there were only three of them left.
"Good man, please save me!"
"A great virtuous man cannot survive outside the city!"
"Please!"
They didn't expect anyone else, so they kowtowed to Yu Qing and begged.
"Damn it..." Yu Qing, who was already red-eyed, kept swearing. He reached into his clothes and took out a handful of broken silver, mixed with seven or eight copper coins, which added up to less than three taels of silver. The light in his palm was shown to the guard and others, "The rest is up to you!"
Then he turned around and quickly distributed the change of less than three taels to the last three victims roughly equally, and yelled at them, "Don't kowtow to me, I can't bear it. I only have this little money, and I don't even have a hair on my head." The rest is all for you!" He waved his hand and pointed at the guard and the banker, "Knock them down and beg them to go!"
This is not a lie, he really doesn't even have a penny now and is going crazy!
More than 160,000 taels of silver have been given away, what else does he want to do with these scraps of silver, to keep it sad?
No more, not even a copper plate. Even if you give him another ingot of gold, he will throw it away as stinking shit.
No more, no more, my mentality is broken!
The three victims listened to him and immediately kowtowed and begged.
Those few people were immediately embarrassed.
Yu Qing threw the big leather bag containing the banknotes at the guard's feet, "You see how much this is worth, take it and exchange it for money! Look at me again, take whatever you think is valuable, I will The one who is half reluctant to leave is your grandson!" He opened his arms and roared, his eyes were red with anger, and his voice was hoarse, as he allowed himself to be searched.
The guard looked so helpless and wanted to tell him, what's the use of getting angry with me? Now that the disaster has struck, prices have skyrocketed, and many of the soldiers below can only make ends meet to support their families. This is why the four major families dare not starve the defenders.
Anyone who understands knows that under this disaster, the wealth in this city will be concentrated in the hands of a few people. For some people, the disaster is a good opportunity to make a fortune, while many ordinary people have to rely on high-interest debt to make a fortune. To survive, I don’t know how many people have to sell their children, daughters, and real estate after the disaster.
It's also human trafficking, but their methods are much smarter than those of human traffickers outside. You don't have to bear any moral stigma by sitting at home and waiting for people to take the initiative to deliver your wife and daughter to your door.
"Shopkeeper, take the three of them down to collect the money. The remaining money will be on me!"
The guard waved helplessly.
In fact, he couldn't do such a thing in public. Faced with such a disaster, he couldn't even take care of his own soldiers, so how could he take care of outsiders?
However, he had no choice but to be forced into this by Yu Qing.
After this night, he really lost his temper with Yu Qing and surrendered!
"Hey!" The shopkeeper agreed and immediately asked two waiters to lead the three victims and leave.
The three victims could do nothing but kowtow and express their gratitude.
"Grass!" The guard suddenly looked into the distance and sighed: "Here comes another batch!"
Yu Qing turned around and looked around. Under the hazy light, he saw another group of people approaching vaguely. They were walking very slowly. He could guess that they were victims of the disaster. He didn't know where they were fleeing from. There must be a number of them. Looks like a hundred people.
A strong wind blew, causing the torches on the wall to flicker and the bonfires under the city to be blazing with flames, causing sparks to fly in all directions.
Seeing the reappearance of the victims, Yu Qing's eyes were filled with confusion. He smelled the smell of blood after killing himself, and felt the solid grip of the blood when the wind blew on his face.
He was really at a loss, and suddenly realized his own insignificance, and realized that even if he kissed the blood, he couldn't save everyone...
Guard: "No, I have to order the suspension bridge to be closed, otherwise I will have to order the massacre of these refugees if they go crazy. Brother, you have stayed up all night, so go to the city and rest, I will treat you to a drink."
Yu Qing turned around and spread his hands, "I have no money, can I go in?"
"Uh..." The guard couldn't laugh or cry, "You are in a special situation, so I can protect you."
Yu Qing sneered: "Forget it, I am too poor to have the guts to make it difficult for you!"
He was very harsh and turned around to leave.
Why go to town?
This is his sad city. He never wants to see this broken city again in his life. He would rather stay in the flood-stricken areas than go into the city and see the refugees on the street spending his money.
"Where can you go in this flooded place? Hey, brother, I haven't asked for your name yet!"
"Idiot!"
