Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 442 The Power of the New Deal ([-])
He Liu and Wang Xijue entered the city. It turned out that the victims of the disaster were all put into the city by the Wanping county magistrate.

In the great disasters of the past dynasties, local officials would issue strict orders not to allow the victims to enter the city.Because the local officials were afraid that the victims would make trouble in the city and rob the gentry and rich families of food.

The magistrate of Wanping did the opposite and let the victims into the city.He Liu thought to himself: It seems that the county magistrate of Wanping is a good official with a heart for the poor.

The two came to the gate of the county government office.There was a group of people around the door.

He Liu and Wang Xijue squeezed over to have a look.I saw an official wearing a seventh-grade uniform, hugging an old woman who was seven or eighty years old.The old woman was dressed in rags and was dying. At first glance, she looked like a hungry person who had gone to the county town to hide from the disaster.

The seventh-rank official is Lin Maoquan, the county magistrate of Wanping.

While hugging the old woman, County Magistrate Lin shouted hysterically at the yamen servant: "Let you take rice soup! Who told you to take thick porridge! Can you feed this aunt down with thick porridge?"

The yamen servant said helplessly: "Master Xian, these past few days, haven't you been telling us to cook thick porridge that cannot be poured with chopsticks? At this moment, it's too late to make thin rice soup!"

County magistrate Lin was furious: "Is your brain lacking a root string? Get some boiling water, soak some thick porridge, isn't it just thin rice soup! Go! If this aunt dies at the gate of our county government office, I will pick up your Skin!"

The yamen servant took the order to go, and after a while, he brought out a bowl of rice soup from the county yamen.County magistrate Lin opened the old woman's mouth in person, and poured the rice soup into the old woman's mouth drop by drop.

Half a bowl of rice soup was eaten, and the old woman's life was suspended.The old woman weakly opened her eyes.

County magistrate Lin hurriedly said: "Ma'am, don't suffer from the cold here! Go into the county office to warm up by the fire. When you get warmer, have a nice bowl of thick porridge! Come here and bring aunt into the county office."

The yamen servant helped the old woman into the county yamen.

County magistrate Lin got up, looked up, and saw He Liu and Wang Xijue.

He Liu was wearing a flying fish suit, and Wang Xijue was wearing a fourth-rank scarlet official uniform.County magistrate Lin knew that this was the arrival of the imperial envoy!He hastily kowtowed: "Your Excellency, Lin Maoquan, magistrate of Wanping County, respectfully invites Sheng An."

He Liudao: "Saint Gong'an! County Magistrate Lin please get up quickly."

County magistrate Lin got up: "The two imperial envoys are here, and the officials are far away from welcoming you. I hope you will forgive me."

He Liu said quite generously: "Forget about that set of formalities! You just saved the life of a disaster victim, and you must go out of the city to welcome us ten times, one hundred times."

Wang Xijue asked from the side: "How many disaster victims have gone to the county to hide?"

County magistrate Lin said: "There are more than 6 people in total. It is about this number, and there will be a difference of one hundred."

He Liu was surprised and said, "With so many victims, have you resettled them all in the county? Can Wanping County hold so many people?"

County magistrate Lin replied loudly: "If you go back to the job! If you can't pretend, you have to pretend! As a county parent, I can't just watch the victims freeze to death outside the city! I put the hall in the county office, the back The yamen, the sixth room, and the third class of yamen servants have all been vacated, and all of them are for the victims to live in."

He Liu asked: "I'm afraid it's still not enough for the 6 victims."

County magistrate Lin said: "It's not just the county government. The county school, the ancestral halls of the wealthy households, and the mansions of the squires are all requisitioned by me! Let the victims of the disaster live in them all."

He Liudao: "Will those gentry and wealthy households be happy if you do this?"

County magistrate Lin said: "I'm sure not happy. But the officials have posted a notice. If you don't let the disaster victims live in your home, I will let you live in the county government prison. Once the notice is issued, the gentry and wealthy households can only obey orders." .”

Wang Xijue asked: "Has the grain and rice allocated by the household department arrived in your county?"

County Magistrate Lin said: "All have arrived."

He Liu hurriedly asked: "Is there any embezzlement in your superior's office?"

County magistrate Lin shook his head: "Cough, I'm on a job. Who dares to deduct money! The emperor ordered that anyone who deducts 60 taels of food for disaster relief will be killed! There are elders in every prefecture to watch, and there are Jinyiwei in every county. He and the officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Officials stared at him. No one dared to take food from the victims! The Ministry of Household Affairs granted Wanping 20 dans of grain, which was not bad, and all of it was shipped to our county.”

Wang Xijue asked, "Where is your disaster relief porridge store located?"

County magistrate Lin said: "There are 96 porridge farms in this county. They are located near the places where the victims live. For example, in my county government office, there are three porridge farms in total. One in the back office, one outside the third-shift duty room, and six One outside the room."

He Liudao: "Oh? Alright, then you lead us into the county government office. Let's see how your porridge shop is doing."

County magistrate Lin led He Liu and Wang Xijue into the back of the county government office.

The more than forty houses in Houya were full of disaster victims.In the backyard, there is a big pot.The cauldron was steaming hot, cooking porridge.Hundreds of people are queuing up, waiting to receive porridge.Several yamen servants were beside the team, maintaining order.

The three of them strolled to the cauldron.

County magistrate Lin picked up a pair of chopsticks and handed them to He Liu: "On business, there are rules for disaster relief at the Daming Congee Farm. The porridge should be thick so you can insert chopsticks. If the chopsticks fall over, the heads of the porridge farm officials will fall to the ground! Please check the porridge relief!"

He Liu picked up the chopsticks and threw them into the pot. All the chopsticks stood upright on the thick porridge, and none of them fell over.

He Liu nodded with satisfaction: "Okay! Only this kind of porridge can save the lives of the victims! Magistrate Lin, you did a good job."

At this time, Wang Xijue discovered a strange thing.Every victim received a bowl of porridge.Next to the cauldron was a man dressed as a scribe, writing a stroke on a booklet.The booklet was full of the word "正".

Wang Xijue pointed to the scribe, and asked County Magistrate Lin, "Magistrate Lin, what is this?"

County magistrate Lin explained: "Every grain of the grain and rice that the imperial court allocates to us in Wanping must be delivered to the mouths of the victims! Every time the people receive a bowl of porridge, I will have someone account for it. To save the disaster from passing, the relief food The account of the payment is unclear!"

He Liuqing couldn't help but patted Magistrate Lin on the shoulder: "County Lin! You really have a way!"

County magistrate Lin said again: "Zhang Shoufu issued a military order in front of the queen mother. 300 people died of starvation, and the five cabinet elders were collectively dismissed. I asked my subordinates to issue a military order for me. If Wanping dies of starvation, The county magistrate, chief secretary, educational edict, patrol inspector, and the third shift leader, all go home and pick up their children!"

He Liu and Wang Xijue drove for a long time, and Shui Mi didn't grit his teeth.The stomachs of the two unexpectedly "cuckoo" sounded.

Seeing this, County Magistrate Lin hurriedly said: "It's almost noon, and my subordinates will prepare a little wine for the two of you."

He Liu frowned: "Receive the wind? The hungry people are waiting to be fed. Don't be extravagant!"

County Magistrate Lin replied with a smile, "Don't worry, the superior officer. Even if the inferior officer has 1 guts, he doesn't dare to waste it at this time."

After finishing speaking, County Magistrate Lin led He Liu and Wang Xijue into the county government hall.In the lobby, there are many women, children and old people lying here and there.

On the question and answer table in the lobby, there is indeed a table of "Bojiu"!
Three bowls of porridge, three white steamed buns, three yellow corn buns, one dish of green vegetables, and one dish of tofu.Plus a jug of water wine.This is the reception banquet prepared by County Magistrate Lin for the two imperial envoys.

The three sat down.County magistrate Lin said apologetically: "It's a catastrophe. I asked people to search the entire county government's back kitchen, but they didn't find a piece of meat. Only this tofu and vegetables are for dinner. I also invite you two to send me Haihan."

He Liu raised his glass and said, "In the year of the catastrophe, it's not bad to have vegetables and tofu! Magistrate Lin, please!"

While the three of them were eating, County Magistrate Lin reported the disaster relief matters to He Liu and Wang Xijue: "You two are on a mission. Everything is done if it is forewarned, and if it is not forewarned, it will be abandoned. After a catastrophe, there will be a catastrophe. I have allocated money to Various medicine stores in the county buy medicinal materials. After brewing, they are distributed to the victims of the disaster. We must not let one person die of illness."

"I have already prepared the seed grain for next spring. After this difficult winter, I will distribute it to the victims and let them go back to their hometowns to sow seeds."

County magistrate Lin said seven or eight things in a row, and he handled everything properly.

After drinking this "bottle wine", in the afternoon, He Liu and Wang Xijue went to various porridge places in the county.

Night fell.He Liu and Wang Xijue were always imperial envoys with distinguished status.You can't go to the lobby of the county government office and sleep with the government servants, scribes, and disaster victims.County magistrate Lin vacated a special room and placed a charcoal basin in the room for the two imperial envoys to spend the night.

The night was long, He Liu and Wang Xijue couldn't sleep, so they chatted.

He Liudao: "This county magistrate Lin is worthy of the word 'good official'! It's really rare for him to be able to arrange more than 6 disaster victims in a county so properly in such a big snow disaster."

Wang Xijue said with a smile: "Master Liu, I have been working in the Ministry of Officials for five or six years. In the fifth year of Longqing, I was still in charge of the Wenxuan Cleaning Department. At the end of that year, I went to Wanping County to inspect the achievements of the county magistrate Lin Maoquan. At that time, Lin Maoquan was a mediocre and mediocre official. Although he was not greedy for ink, he was like a monk hitting the clock for a day, and he would shirk when he could. "

He Liudao: "It shouldn't be. Today I saw that he is shrewd and capable. He doesn't look like a mediocre official at all."

Wang Xijue said: "Six Lords have learned! The reason why Lin County Magistrate has changed from mediocre to smart and capable is all due to Zhang Shoufu's implementation of the test method in the two capitals and thirteen provinces! Scholars have been poor for ten years, and they have been in high school for ten years. Is it the black hats on their heads? If they continue to be mediocre officials, stupid officials, or even corrupt officials, they will cut off the black hats on their heads without hesitation! For their official positions, they must be down-to-earth Do things for the court and the people!"

He Liu sighed: "In the winter of Jiajing 44, during the snowstorm in Beizhili, I came to Wanping to supervise the disaster relief. At that time and now, the situation is different. The officials regard the lives of the people as worthless. The people suffer from hunger and cold, cold and hungry. And there were no less than 4000 dead. I taught Brother Paoze of Jinyiwei all day to protect the New Deal. Today, we really saw the benefits of the New Deal!"

Wang Xijue said: "Sixth Master, I dare say that as long as the New Deal can be implemented for ten years, we will see the prosperous and peaceful scene of the Zhenguan Reign!"

He Liuxin said: For the sake of the New Deal, I punished a vassal and a son-in-law.Offended the royal relatives all over the world.It seems that it's all worth it!
(End of this chapter)