shock!Little Orphan, she made the perfume world cry

Chapter 245 Disaster
Just after Shen Shi, the sky was completely dark.The north wind blew so that the palace people shrank their necks, fearing that if they showed a little flesh, they would be frozen.

This year's winter is colder and earlier than ever.The Zishui River in Xinzi County in the east has completely frozen over.

Zishui originates from the northern end of Guanyun County in the east and extends southwest to Chaozhou.When there is abundant rain in July and August, floods often occur in these three places along the Zishui River.Because the dispersal is under the jurisdiction of two government offices, and there is no unified management and coordination department, the flood drainage ditches in the surrounding area of ​​the Zishui River cannot be dredged in time, and the flood has to be unscrupulous in the downstream villages and farmland due to the silting of the river channel. flooding.In order to keep their homes, the villagers in the lower reaches had to build dikes and dams to prevent the water from flowing down.However, after the dam is built, on the one hand, it will block the way of the flood, and on the other hand, the flood will be forced to accumulate upstream of the dam.Therefore, in order to keep their houses and farmland from being flooded, the residents in the upper reaches will unanimously bring shovels and flock to the earth dam to smooth the water.Therefore, embankment builders and embankment pickers often stand in a stalemate on both sides of the embankment, and fighting with weapons occurs from time to time.

This time, the imperial court allocated funds and sent imperial envoys to supervise the construction of the canal. This canal happened to pass through Guanyun, Xinzi and the entire Chaozhou. Flood drainage ditches, with the help of the canal's functions of flood control and drainage, water supply and shipping, can change the original poverty situation here.

This was originally a good thing, but the bad thing is that this year's weather is too wicked.

Xinzi and Chaozhou, which are inland, have been frozen, but there is not even a shadow of ice and snow on Guanyun, which is close to the sea.Therefore, the canal section in Guanyun County was the first to start construction after the people, property and property were in place.Gong Deyao, the county magistrate of Guanyun County, worked very seriously and personally supervised and supervised it day and night, so this section of the project went very smoothly.

The imperial envoys sent by the Ministry of Industry originally planned to write a memorial to announce the good news to the emperor, but at this moment, an accident happened. I don’t know if it was because of the impact of the canal being dug. The eastern water source of Zishui seems to be much more abundant than in previous years. , They walked downstream along the river, and the downstream was already frozen, raising the riverbed invisibly, so the flood was like a beast, destroying the houses and fertile fields in Xinzi area, because there were many excavators around the area. Migrant workers in the canal, so at least tens of thousands of people were affected.

The flood this time was actually neither mountain torrents nor rain floods, but ice floods. The local people believed that this was caused by the digging of canals. .

The gate of the Palace of Compassion and Ning was closed, but the howling of the north wind outside could still be heard clearly. Mrs. Fan had just finished listening to Xu Shangshu's report from the Ministry of Industry, and her heart seemed to be torn apart by the wind.

"Emperor, when the Ai family did not agree to build the canal, it was not only time-consuming, labor-intensive, and money-consuming, but more importantly, the project was too complicated and there would be many uncontrollable factors. Look, in this way, even the common people I won't agree either!" Fan Shi looked at Mu Junyan, and the blame in his words was already very obvious.

"Mother, the people can be successful, but they can't start with worries. It has been the same since ancient times." Mu Junyan was not willing to admit that there was something wrong with his decision-making. He plausibly said: "The canal is a matter of merit in the present and benefits in the future. The common people don't understand for a while, it can't be the reason for my inaction."

Looking at her son, Fan felt that what he said was not unreasonable, and felt a little relieved in her heart.She didn't refute, but looked at Xu Zhizhong and said, "How to deal with it now?"

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the most urgent task at the moment is to do our best to rescue the disaster, so that the surrounding people can see hope, so as not to cause unnecessary disputes." Xu Zhizhong said very tactfully and carefully.If the cause of this flood is investigated, the Ministry of Industry cannot escape the responsibility.Because the excavation was carried out without a good prediction, which caused floods, this is the responsibility that the Ministry of Industry cannot escape.Of course, it would be fine if it was just a flood. At present, Gong Deyao, the county magistrate of Xinzi and local officials are already doing their best to rescue them.What Xu Zhizhong is afraid of is that if it is not handled properly, the victims will gather and cause riots, and the consequences will be disastrous.You know, all the people gathered around that area are young laborers who are digging canals.

To put all our efforts in disaster relief, to put it bluntly, we need money.Relief workers need subsidies, victims need food and comfort, and the crops and farmhouses along the coast are destroyed and need to be rebuilt. Every piece of money is inseparable from money, but now, the money he can transfer is very scarce.

Of course, Fan understood the meaning of this, and could not help but frowned and said, "Xu Shangshu, a while ago I allocated a lot of money for you to build the canal, you haven't used up all of it, have you?"

Xu Zhizhong said: "The first batch of funds is mainly used for personnel recruitment and preparations for the construction of facilities. Indeed, there is not much left. Xinzi and the county magistrate of Guanyun County have even provided their own salaries for the preparation of disaster relief materials. Emergency, but still stretched."

The Empress Dowager was a little moved when she heard the words, and suddenly remembered something, she turned her head and asked Mu Junyan, "This Guanyun county magistrate, is Concubine Yun's father?"

Mu Junyan nodded in agreement.The queen mother sighed and said, "It's not his county that was affected by the disaster, but he is still responsible." Then she asked Xu Zhizhong, "How much more money do you need?"

"Probably... about 10 taels." Xu Zhizhong lowered his head and said the figure that he had been calculating for a long time, but he did not dare to look into the eyes of the Queen Mother and the Emperor.

The empress dowager and the emperor were obviously taken aback. They looked at each other, and Mu Junyan asked: "According to your previous report, the number of people affected by the disaster in Xinzi was only 1. How can we need so much money? This 10 liang It’s enough for their income for several years!”

This is what Xu Zhizhong was most afraid of explaining, but he had to say it, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Reporting to the emperor, if the disaster relief only needs to distribute money to the victims, it would be very easy to handle, but in fact it is not the case. At present The flood has not stopped, and the disaster situation is still severe. On the one hand, the local area needs manpower to dredge the river and carry out rescue; Good aftermath, such as burying unclaimed dead bodies, etc. All these things need money to open the way."

After hearing Xu Zhizhong's explanation, Mu Junyan had nothing to say for a moment, but felt that 10 taels of silver was too much.He looked at Fan Shi, and Fan Shi was also inexperienced in these expenses, so he had no choice but to ask him to record every account for future investigation.

Xu Zhizhong took the order with a sigh of relief, and Fan felt a little uncomfortable.Thinking of the gold, silver and jewels given to the Qu family just now, I immediately felt a little too generous.

(End of this chapter)