Chapter 137： Disaster

Jia Pengju originally wanted to make space for Xu Chun, let the beauty serve him first, and wait until Xu Chun felt comfortable before showing up. Unexpectedly, things did not develop as he thought, "Mr. Xu, what's wrong with you? Is the person below too much? Isn’t your service good? I’ll send you another group of people.”

"Come on! What a mess! Where is Mr. Huang? Where does he live?" Xu Chun became impatient.

Jia Pengju had no choice but to honestly tell Huang Zhengyang where he was going.

Without saying a word, Xu Chun rushed out of the office like the wind.

At this time, the graceful woman in the room came out, wearing only a bellyband on her upper body. She looked at Jia Pengju affectionately, and said coquettishly: "Sir, even an **** has to look twice at the slave. He is simply If he is not a man, he will avoid him like a snake or a scorpion, and abandon him like a pair of worn-out shoes.”

The woman suffered a setback from Xu Chun and immediately approached Jia Pengju.

Jia Pengju was already extremely irritable, but after being teased by her for a few times, he couldn't stand it any longer. His sperm got to the point where even Xu Chun didn't care.

 Xu Chun cursed all the way to Huang Zhengyang's villa. As soon as he entered the door, he complained wildly. When his mouth was dry, he asked: "Is there anything to eat? I want something lighter."

Tian Feng hurried out to prepare.

 Huang Zhengyang looked at him with disgust, "I heard that the prefect hosted a banquet. If you don't enjoy it over there, why are you here?"

"What are you talking nonsense about? Am I that kind of person? It's a fine wine and a beautiful woman. That turtle son obviously has bad intentions. I think he has a guilty conscience. The bursting of the Wei River's embankment may have something to do with him!" Xu Chunyue The more he said, the more he felt his guess was reasonable.

Huang Zhengyang curled up his lips and said, "We'll find out if we go there! Let's go to Huai'an County first!"

"Then what are you waiting for! Let's go!" Xu Chun was a little anxious, as if he was trying to show off something.

The group had just entered Huai'an County, which was full of dilapidated houses. There were also many people setting up thatched huts on the outskirts of the county town to wait for the city to provide porridge. The fields were desolate. This scene made people feel sad and heavy.

Huai'an County Magistrate Li He received the news and led a group of officials out to greet him. As soon as he saw Huang Zhengyang, he immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please save the people of Huai'an County. I will kowtow to you!"

Li He was over fifty, and he felt a little overwhelmed after just kowtowing twice.

Huang Zhengyang hurriedly asked someone to help him up, "Magistrate Li, tell me about the disaster in Huai'an County."

Mr. Li He burst into tears and was heartbroken, "More than 80% of the fields in Huai'an County were flooded by floods, and the crops that the people had worked hard to plant were destroyed. The floods also submerged their grain reserves, washed away their houses, and destroyed everything. No more. Officials ordered people to make statistics and found that the total number of people affected by the disaster in the county was 50,000. Before, everyone could barely survive by relying on the wild vegetables and fruits in the mountains.

Seeing that the weather is getting colder and colder, there are still many refugees who are displaced and cannot find food. If this continues, even the lower officials would not dare to think about it! "

Huang Zhengyang ordered the people around him to go out to verify and comforted Li He: "Don't worry, Magistrate Li. Since I have been ordered to come to provide disaster relief, I will never let such a tragic situation happen in Huai'an County."

Li He was overjoyed and quickly straightened his official hat, revealing his frosty white hair on his temples. Huang Zhengyang felt very uncomfortable when he saw this.

The group stayed in Huai'an County for three days. After verification, Huang Zhengyang allocated 30,000 taels of silver and 2,000 tons of grain to Li He, and posted a notice in Huai'an County.

As soon as Li He got the things, he sent someone to notify him. Before Huang Zhengyang and his party left, all the people affected by the disaster had already rushed to the county town.

Out of Huai'an County, Xu Chun asked calmly: "Do you trust Li He so much?"

Huang Zhengyang smiled and said decisively: "He is a good official, but he is a bit pedantic in his old age. There is nothing wrong with him. Why should I worry about leaving it to him?"

Xu Chun was happy.

The next group of people went to Ping'an County.

 During this period, Xie Yucheng has been running around in various villages, busy counting taro production, and has no time to wait for the imperial envoy.

Hearing that Huang Zhengyang and his party arrived at the county government office, he hurried back with mud still covering his trousers and shoes. “Meet the Imperial Envoy!”

Huang Zhengyang stared at his shoes and asked curiously: "Where did Magistrate Xie come from?"

Xie Yucheng was a little embarrassed, "I happened to be in Gaojiazhuang today, which is relatively close to the county seat."

“Are you farming?” Xu Chun asked in disbelief.

Xie Yucheng did not refute.

Xu Chun was even more confused.

Huang Zhengyang did not ask further questions, but directly brought up the business, "Thank you, magistrate, I have been ordered to provide disaster relief. Please tell me the disaster situation in Ping'an County in detail."

Xie Yucheng was stunned for a moment and hesitated for a long time without saying anything.

Huang Zhengyang and Xu Chun both frowned.

"Thank you, magistrate. If you have anything to say, you might as well say it directly. The imperial envoy is here, and not even the prefect can do anything to you!" Xu Chun said as if he is the boss and I will protect you.

Xie Yucheng's mouth twitched slightly, and he pondered for a while before speaking slowly: "At the beginning, we counted 48,000 people affected by the disaster, 80% of the houses were damaged, and 60% to 70% of the crops were damaged."

 Huang Zhengyang and Xu Chun looked at each other with heavy hearts, "It seems that Ping'an County is only a little better than Huai'an County. Why is there so many refugees in Huai'an County, but there is no such situation in Ping'an County."

Based on his investigation of Xie Yucheng, this person does not seem to be someone who would drive away refugees. Moreover, with so many refugees, even if Xie Yucheng is given an army, he may not be able to clean up Ping'an County so "cleanly".

Xie Yucheng chuckled and said, "Of course it's because it temporarily alleviates the urgent need."

“What do you mean by this?” Huang Zhengyang and Xu Chun both straightened their backs and leaned forward to listen carefully.

Xie Yucheng waved his hand and told Dong Ze: "Go and cook two taros for the imperial envoy to taste."

Dong Ze was very fast, and soon a pot of soft, glutinous and sweet taro was on the table.

Huang Zhengyang and Huang Zhengyang looked closely for a while but couldn't figure out why. "Xie County Magistrate, what is this?"

"This is a fragrant taro. It was accidentally discovered by a woman in Ping'an County. It is sweet and delicious, can fill the stomach, and can be used as a temporary substitute for food. The most important thing is that it is easy to feed. You don't need to pick up the land, even the wasteland can be cleaned up casually. Both can be grown, and the yield is high. The yield per acre is two and a half to three tons. The taro harvested from one acre of land is enough for the whole family to last until the summer of next year.

The official was about to write a note and submit it, but he was worried. Now that the imperial envoy has arrived, he can just ask the imperial envoy to report to the emperor! "Xie Yucheng told this matter with excitement.

Huang Zhengyang and Xu Chun were stunned.

It took Huang Zhengyang a long time to come back to his senses and said extremely seriously: "Xie County Magistrate, do you know that it is a serious crime to deceive the emperor?"

"I don't dare!" Xie Yucheng hurriedly knelt down. "It's not that I didn't hide it, but that woman only started to test the seeds in March this year. After the Wei River burst its embankment, the people in the county collapsed and despaired. Their village The villagers wiped away tears every day. When the official came over and mentioned the matter, she realized it.

The taro was dug in front of the official, but it was the first time the official heard about it at that time. He didn't even know what it was, whether it could be promoted, or the yield per mu. He really didn't dare to report it, so he had to hide it from the prefect. Your Majesty ordered the people of Ping'an County to be planted.

To be honest, at that time, the lower officials did not dare to say that this thing could be used as food. They only said that it could temporarily fill the belly and bear fruit before winter, so everyone sown it on a large scale.

Now is the time for the taro harvest, and Xiaguan goes to various villages every day just to collect statistics and report them to the court. "