The next year in the thirteenth year of Wanli was not very good. The severe drought in Shanxi continued in winter. The porridge sheds set up in various counties have become the lifeline for the victims. Disaster and relief have formed a dangerous balance in the porridge sheds, and the government has no spare power to save one more person.
The emperor's edict has already reached the desk of Liang Wenmeng, the newly appointed governor of Shanxi Province, asking him to mobilize all efforts to allow the victims to spend the winter safely. Liang Wenmeng, an old official who had been working hard to save his head for more than half a year, was now exhausted. Exhausted, he could only smile bitterly in the face of the emperor's edicts and political affairs.
Liang Xun stroked his thin cheeks, tugged on his face that was drooping due to rapid weight loss, and asked his staff: "Mr. Meng, tell me, what can we do to resolve this situation now?"
Master Meng, like his boss, lost ten pounds of meat in most of the year. Hearing this, he smiled bitterly and said: "Dong Weng, Shanxi has been experiencing severe drought for two consecutive years. This is a tragedy that has not been seen in a hundred years! Today, all the potential has been exhausted - it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, it is difficult!"
Liang Wenmeng sipped his teeth when he heard this, and cupped his hands to the north and said: "Now there is an endless supply of food and cotton. You said that it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. I cannot explain it to the emperor."
After hearing this, Master Meng continued to smile bitterly and said: "Can we still distribute food and cotton to the victims? It is difficult to maintain the porridge factory and distribute winter clothes. Dong Weng, these people have to feed them until next autumn harvest! We are not that rich!"
"But if we don't organize them to return home, they will freeze to death in various prefectures and counties - my head will still be hanging!"
Looking at Governor Liang's bitter face, Master Meng's eyes lost focus. After a long time, he sighed and came up with a harmless idea: "For the current plan, we have to ask the imperial court to help find a way. Sir, don't think about holding this hot charcoal in the palm of your hand. Now that the Prime Minister is from Jin, you'd better make use of this relationship!"
...
In order to preserve the land left by their ancestors, Mrs. Tian's family fled to the county town with the title deeds and struggled for six months in the county town of Mayi. Although Shanxi has launched many relief-for-work projects, after entering the twelfth lunar month, all construction sites stopped working, and most of the hungry people were once again trapped in poverty.
While the emperor and the empress were enjoying themselves in the palace, Tian Wenshan, the backbone of the Tian family, fell ill and was suffering from cold and heat in the shacks of the victims. The hungry people who had been lacking nutrition for a long time could not withstand the invasion of viruses and bacteria. In the cold winter, Due to lack of medical treatment, they died of illness in large numbers, and their lives here were as humble as a grain of dust.
The three children were not sick, but this was because Tian Wenshan gave the food in his mouth to the children. In the summer, Sister-in-law Tian went to work at Mr. Li's house, and Tian Wenshan worked at the construction site. In autumn, their family even saved two silver dollars. Tian Wenshan thought about whether it would rain tomorrow in the spring or if there would be some heavy snow this winter. , this money can be used to buy some grain seeds, which is the capital for Lao Tian's family to turn around.
However, after entering the winter months, Mr. Li and his family could not stand the boring life in Mayi County, so they moved to Fucheng. Sister Tian lost her job first. Immediately following the shutdown of the construction site, Lao Tian's family once again entered a state of eating porridge to survive.
In order to keep these two silver coins, Tian Wenshan drank water desperately when he caught a cold, hoping that he could survive it. But he overestimated his resistance, and soon developed from a cold to fever and chills like malaria - minor cold complications easily knocked him down. When it became difficult to breathe, Mrs. Tian ignored his firm objection and asked for help. Here comes the doctor.
"The patient suffers from a combination of wind and cold attacking the lungs and a combination of Qi and Yin deficiency," said the doctor in his fifties, stroking his beard and looking at Sister-in-law Tian with a serious face: "San'ao Decoction with the addition of mulberry and chrysanthemum can only treat one kind of disease. Qi and Yin deficiency will be treated this way. We need refills – refills are expensive, and the county’s relief pharmacy doesn’t have refills.”
Sister-in-law Tian gritted her teeth and said, "Sir, please give me a prescription. The one who heads the house is the God of our family of five. Even if I sell myself, I still have to save him."
The gentleman looked at Mrs. Tian again and sighed: "Poor! The world today is said to be prosperous, but look at what Mayi has become!" He took out a pen and paper, wrote a prescription, handed it to Mrs. Tian and said: "The disease you have is not a difficult disease, but you can only buy one prescription for one yuan. Nowadays, if you want to cure your body, you need to take six or seven prescriptions."
Mrs. Tian made a growl in her throat and turned pale. She looked back at her husband, her eye circles suddenly turned red, and she said in a trembling voice, "Is the tonic so expensive?"
The doctor didn't answer. He glanced at the neatly packed shack and said, "How can we withstand the cold wind here? Eating porridge every day, coupled with the cold, even a good person can't stand it, let alone him." patient."
Sister-in-law Tian couldn't suppress the misery in her heart, and choked up: "We do have a home, but it's hard to go back... Without this porridge, we would all starve to death... Ugh... ..." After more than half a year of depression and fatigue, this woman finally collapsed. She lowered her head, tears rolling down her clothes where the original color could no longer be seen.
Although the old doctor was already familiar with the suffering of these victims, the sudden collapse of this strong-tempered woman in front of him still made his heart churn.
He looked up at the dark sky and said with a wry smile: "Oh! I don't know whether I'm looking forward to heavy snow or not to snow. Snow can relieve the drought, but when it does come, you five people will be in the shack. ....."
As he spoke, he stood up, packed up his pen and paper, and put them in the cloth bag behind him. Mrs. Tian quickly stood up and wiped her tears and said, "Sir, wait a minute, I'll get you the consultation fee."
"Forget it! Although I am not rich, I still have a stutter. You can keep the medical fee to buy medicine." The old man wiped his face and smiled bitterly: "When I go back, I can at most let my daughter and son-in-law nag a few words. That’s all.”
Sister-in-law Tian, who has always wanted to be strong, rolled the words "I must pay for the diagnosis" on the tip of her tongue, and then silently swallowed it back in her stomach. She remained silent, just bent her waist, and gave the doctor a nondescript blessing ceremony.
The old man nodded and saluted, beckoned the boy next to Mrs. Tian over, took out a small bag of candied fruits from his sleeve, put it in his hand and said, "This is for you." The boy's face was red. Refusing, he turned to look at his mother.
Sister-in-law Tian hurriedly stepped forward, reaching out to stop the doctor's kindness. The old lieutenant general raised his hand and stopped him: "Men and women are not intimate, so don't come over!" Mrs. Tian's face was also flushed, and she was anxious to say something.
The old doctor stretched out his hand again to signal her to stop talking. He smiled first, then sighed and said, "Is it hard for us people to earn a living? It's hard!"
"But when you are suffering, you have to relieve yourself. Sometimes you have to let your mouth taste a little sweet! Remember, if you get through all the suffering, you will be blessed one day!"
