Wanli Xinming

Chapter 333 Disaster Relief

"Mom, I'm hungry."

"Mom, I'm hungry too."

When the woman opened the lid of her wooden pot, there were already three children surrounded by the stove, a half-old boy with two little girls.

The half-eldest boy glanced at the four multi-grain pancakes in the pot, which were mixed with most of the bran.No matter how hot or cold, the two little ones grabbed the cake that was just out of the pan in their hands, turned their left hand over their right hand, and stuffed it into their mouths while blowing.

The woman grabbed one and handed it to the boy and said, "This is for you." The half-eldest boy broke off half, and the other half handed it back: "Mother, this half is for you, and Dad keeps the rest."

After he finished speaking, he took out another skinny dead mouse from his arms and handed it to his mother: "Mother, I caught this in the ground, this beast couldn't run because of hunger, and was caught by me. already."

The woman blushed, took over her son's filial piety, and took it to the chopping board to wash and peel it off.At this time, there was a sound in the yard, and a shout was heard: "Is the master of Tian there?"

The woman looked out of the wooden window in front of the stove, pouted her lips, wiped her hand on the apron, and replied, "Second brother, why did you come here so free?" Come out laughing.

The man surnamed Gou who entered the yard had big ears and a shiny face.Seeing the woman coming out, she bowed with a smile on her face and said, "Sister-in-law, Gou Er is polite, is Brother Tian at home?"

Sister-in-law Tian returned the salute and said with a smile, "I went out to borrow food, but I haven't returned yet."

Gou Er said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, now Tongmayi County can still find food? Where can I borrow it? I still want to go."

Sister-in-law Tian shook her head and said nothing.Gou Er took a step closer and said, "Sister-in-law, please persuade the eldest brother. Now that your three little ones want to feed, can you survive? The Wang family took a fancy to the river beach and let the eldest brother let go."

Sister-in-law Tian shook her head and smiled bitterly: "I'm my mother-in-law. You should tell your elder brother about this important matter."

Gou Er listened and shook his head: "Who in this castle doesn't know that the elder sister-in-law is in charge! The elder brother doesn't listen to you? Even though you are a woman, you can run horses on your arms, one spit and one nail!"

Sister-in-law Tian just shook her head.Gou Er bent and said in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, listen to my advice. I just came from Mr. Wang's house, and he said it would be worthwhile to take twenty acres of your family's land. Exchange sixty acres of land on Dongshan, and the other Give your family three hundred catties of wheat and one hundred catties of sorghum!"

"With these [-] catties of grain, I will survive the famine, and I will slowly save for the rest of the day. Now that there is no grain, can your family make a living this year?"

A look of determination suddenly appeared on Mrs. Tian's thin face, and she said with a straight waist: "I also plan to take the land deed to escape the desert! Can I survive the winter, and will it be dry next year? By then, my land will be able to top the mountain. One hundred acres!"

When Gou Er heard this, his face slumped, and he turned around and sneered: "Master Wang said, now there is no food in Shanxi - where can you escape?"

After speaking, he looked at the woman up and down, and said contemptuously, "The old sister-in-law is so strong, and now there is a handful of bones left. Do you think you can get out of this Mayi County?"

Sister-in-law Tian ate this sentence, her face was also ugly, and the yard fell into silence for a while.Gou Er licked his lips, and had to persuade him again, he heard someone say outside the low wall of the courtyard: "Gou Er, why are you coming to my house?"

Gou Er turned his head to look, hurriedly bent over and cupped his hands and said, "Big brother is back. I'm fine with that, I just came from Wang Xiangshen's house—"

Before he could finish speaking, the owner of the Tian family, who was at the gate, interrupted: "Don't talk about it! Even if I die of starvation, the land will not be sold! There are ancestors buried there, who can sell the land left by the ancestors? go!"

Gou Er listened to these resolute words, swallowed his saliva, bowed his hands and left Tian's house.The woman looked at her man, saw that his hand was empty, and the flame of hope in her eyes flickered and went out.

Seeing his father walking away sweating profusely, the boy in the family handed him a water ladle filled with thick threads, and the man drank the water in the ladle in one go.

After taking a deep breath, he said to Mrs. Tian, ​​"There is a way!"

When Mrs. Tian heard this, her face suddenly glowed, and she asked, "What's the way?"

The man said: "I heard the sixth brother of the uncle's family say that there is porridge in the county! Let's pack our luggage and go to the county town. The sixth brother said that the emperor's envoy was watching. chopsticks, if the chopsticks fall, he will kill his head!"

After hearing this, Mrs. Tian glanced at her children, and smiled bitterly: "Can the imperial court take care of us until next fall? Last year, there was a drought for a year, and the food was exhausted, but there is nothing left at home."

The man said: "Take a step and see a step! Eat porridge to survive first! Look at the baby's stomach, eat bran, can't pull it out, how big it is! Your legs and feet are swollen? If you continue to boil, we will not be able to protect the land! "

Brother Tian's words are reasonable, and Sister Tian, ​​who loves her family, can only make dry food with the last bit of Chenliang in her family with tears.

For thousands of years, the ancestors on this land have been reincarnated like this.They face the loess, endure pain, and seek only the humblest pleasure of satiation.In the event of natural disasters and man-made disasters, they do not blame the heavens and others, they just want to struggle to find a way to survive.

In June of the 13th year of Wanli, Zhang Siwei confirmed that most of his hometown had suffered a severe drought that had not happened in decades.

The three counties of Guangling, Naoxian, and Shuoping rank among the top three for severe drought in Shanxi. It is a typical continuous drought in spring and summer, and there is no rain in the three places for more than 100 days.There are thousands of miles of red land, no grass and trees in the wild, and the governor of Shanxi said to Zhao Shangzuo: "There was no snow last winter, and no rain has fallen in May this year. The wheat fields are exhausted. Raoji's family can only make ends meet. There are people who die in the morning and evening. Turning ravines and scattered in all directions is invincible, especially in the famine years."

Since the beginning of June, Shanxi officials have begun to distribute porridge and food in an all-round way, and urgently requested the court to allocate food and relief.

Although the drought situation in Northern Zhili has eased, the harvest will not be lost, but the large-scale production reduction is certain.Coupled with the fact that Shanxi was almost completely dead, it shook the government and the opposition.

Shanxi disaster memorials and letters appeared like snowflakes, and Zhang Siwei was no longer in a good mood to reach the top of a civil servant.There is only one thought in his mind every day, to transport food!

Food is there.Soybeans and sorghum in the northeast are full of government treasuries, and in the southern Zhili and Huguang regions there is enough rice to support three years of famine.However, because Shanxi had already released grain due to drought last year, it was difficult to support it at this time. If it wanted to keep the people from changing, the only way was to transport the grain quickly.

Zhu Yijun had already ordered Hou Yuzhao to be dismissed and investigated - he had already released food last year, but this guy did not try his best to replenish the warehouse, which finally caused a huge disaster.There has been a tragedy of "smearing the corpse and cutting the flesh to eat" in the worst-hit Nang County. This news has swelled the face of Zhu Yijun, the transmigrator, and made him even more angry.

Since ancient times, Sanjin has been a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is located on a plateau with mixed basins.Surrounded by mountains and waters, Taihang in the east and Luliang in the west, there are only a few Xingdao roads connecting with the Central Plains and the capital.

Due to the severe drought, the Shanxi section of the Yellow River is almost at a loss, making it difficult to travel by large boats, and it is not urgent to rely on small boats to transport grain.What's more, the food unloaded from Mengjindu still needs to be transported into the disaster area through Taihangxing and Chiguanxing.

On one side are the mountains of food piled up outside the province, and on the other side are the hungry people in the province waiting to be fed, not to mention the sour taste of the emperor and the officials.Zhu Yijun held court meetings and allocated millions of internal funds to lure merchants and civilians from all over the country to transport grain into Jin.

The grain tax exemption was also intended, but it was exempted last year, and the surplus grain left for the common people had been exhausted by the turn of the summer - Mrs. Tian's family is a typical example.Fortunately, there has been some success in the promotion of sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other crops in recent years, otherwise this spring will be starved to death.

For a time, both the court and the opposition were caught by the disaster in Shanxi, and the emperor sighed in the inner palace every day, worrying about how to transport grain into Jin.Zhang Siwei was already weak, but at this moment, he was trying to support the sick body to work. In less than half a month, a blister appeared on his mouth.

(End of this chapter)