It had been raining heavily in Yangzhou for a month.
The entire Jiangnan area, especially the Jianghuai area, was flooded.
Now, the storm had finally passed.
What was left was mud. The food in the ground was completely wasted, and what was left was mud.
What followed was a large-scale famine.
There was no more food.
The storm lasted for a month, and there was no time to save on food.
For most farmers.
They did not have any extra food.
At this moment, a huge group of refugees had formed, searching everywhere for food to fill their stomachs.
Outside Yangzhou City, a large number of refugees had already gathered.
They were waiting for the imperial court to distribute food for disaster relief.
However, most of the refugees would never have thought that the imperial court would run out of money.
Ever since Kangxi ascended the throne, the court had never stopped fighting.
Conquering the south and fighting the north.
War required money.
There was no silver left in the national treasury.
The number of disaster victims outside the city was definitely not a small number.
However, on the other side.
The city was not much better. A large number of buildings had collapsed. In addition, the weather was gradually turning cold, and more people were naked.
However, Jiangnan quickly arranged for many soldiers.
The Green Army had already mobilized a battalion of soldiers, numbering around a thousand.
Other than that, there were also young men organized by Yangzhou's squires to maintain order.
With soldiers, there was order.
Previously, Zhang Mu's father, Wind Howl, had risen in revolt, causing the entire Yangzhou City to be on high alert.
On this dilapidated street, there would always be teams of patrolling soldiers carrying spears.
The soldiers looked a little tired.
Last night, a group of refugees tried to break into the city. They quickly organized themselves and prohibited the refugees from entering the city. Now, they had finally blocked the tens of thousands of refugees outside the city.
However, they had to patrol the streets today to prevent riots in the city and snatch food.
The city was in a mess, and a riot could happen at any time. Outside the city, there were many cold and hungry refugees, and they could erupt at any time.
This was a powder keg.
These people were either from the neighboring counties that had been hit hard by the flood or from the nearby suburbs. After the flood, their families were separated and they had no choice but to find a way to survive.
However, the Yangzhou magistrate had closed the city gates, so the refugees could not enter. They could only settle down in the suburbs.
Yangzhou Prefecture Magistrate Che Ming had his own considerations for doing this. There was only so much grain in the treasury, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were not enough. If the refugees were to flood in, what would happen? Moreover, if the refugees entered the city and were to become hungry, they would not be able to defend against any sudden changes.
Speaking of this, Che Ming was extremely unhappy in his heart.
The imperial court said that they were here to relieve the disaster.
In the end, he arranged for two brothers to come over.
One was the fourth prince, Yinzhen, and the other was the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang.
Disaster relief is disaster relief. You didn't bring money or food. Instead, you asked these merchants to donate money to help the Qing Dynasty tide over the crisis.
It was special.
Could these merchants donate?
Donate my ass.
Who was his immediate superior?
Jiangnan patrol salt road Ren Bo 'an.
Being in charge of the salt industry, this was a very lucrative job.
This position was extremely lucrative.
In the entire Qing Dynasty, there were only two positions with such standards. One was the Tianfu Salt Tea Ceremony, and the other was the Lianghuai Transport Commissioner.
In this position, one could even earn more than a million taels of silver every year.
Of course, because this position was very important, without a strong backer in the court, it was destined that it would not last long. Ren Boan was the disciple of the ninth prince, so he naturally received the support of the eighth prince.
Ren Bo 'an was known as the god of fortune of the Eighth Group. As long as the Eighth Group needed money, it would ask Yangzhou for it.
Ren Bo 'an's younger brother, Ren Ji' an, was also a big salt merchant.
So what if Fourth Brother and Thirteenth Brother joined forces? Their immediate superior was the Eighth Master's faction.
"You have to look at the owner to beat the dog."
Therefore, Ren Bo 'an's position and identity were his best protective talismans.
As long as Ren Ji 'an didn't pay, no one else would.
As soon as he arrived, the fourth prince, Yinzhen, had his official robes taken off and let the f * cking Tian Wenjing act as the governor of Yangzhou.
So be it.
I want to see what you can do.
Che Ming didn't care about anything.
Instead, Tian Wenjing started to set up a porridge shop to help the victims.
However, Che Ming was also well aware of the exact situation. How much food could Yang Zhou City have?
It wasn't like they didn't have food.
However, they couldn't touch it easily. The food that entered the granary was life-saving food.
Without the Imperial Court's suspicion, they could not move.
However, Che Ming understood that there wasn't much food in this granary.
Especially after the flood, the price of grain skyrocketed. How much grain went into private granaries to be sold at a good price?
It would be strange if Tian Wenjing could resolve this matter.
Food would be used up sooner or later.
There were ways to deal with these disaster victims.
It would be good if they starved to death.
If the disaster victims were not allowed to enter the city, the refugees outside the city would not be able to live for long without food. In addition, the weather was getting colder and colder. The refugees who were not fully clothed would definitely not be able to hold on for long. They would either starve to death or freeze to death.
As long as they died, there would be no danger.
No matter what, this debt could not be placed on Che Ming's head.
This was Tian Wenjing's doing, and this was Fourth and Thirteenth's doing. What did it have to do with him, Che Ming?
Che Ming was really out of power now. He could only watch Yinzhen, Yinxiang, and Tian Wenjing do whatever they wanted.
At present, the Yangzhou Prefecture was already filled with sorrow, but the rice shops were booming at this time. The biggest rice shop was none other than the Ren Warehouse.
The people outside the city could not enter, but the people in the city still had to eat. Although the government had given them some porridge, how could they fill their stomachs?
Especially since Tian Wenjing also thought that there were people in the city who were rich and had enough food to eat, so there was no need for him to help the victims. He still placed the porridge shop outside the city and appeased the refugees first.
The commoners in the city were already complaining. It was already getting cold in autumn, and there were not many grains of rice in their stomachs. It was difficult to bear.
Therefore, although the price of grain had risen to two strings per bushel, there was still an endless stream of people buying rice.
Ren Boan naturally had to take care of his own business. He arranged for two teams of Green Army soldiers to stand guard and pretend that there were criminals coming to rob them.
With soldiers guarding the door, the rice shop became more orderly.
Every morning, when the door of the rice shop was removed, a long line of people would be seen.
They were quite wealthy, but in this famine, they had no choice but to save up all the money they had saved over the years, hoping to exchange it for a few buckets of rice.
Most of the people had lifeless eyes.
He could only exchange the money he had saved for rice and save as much as he could when he returned home.
However, there were also complaints.
Suddenly, a brawny man shouted in the crowd,""It's fine if it's old rice. A few days ago, the rice was only mixed with 20% sand. Why is there 20% rice in the sand today? Two strings and three hundred wen per bushel to buy your sand?”
As soon as this person shouted, many people began to feel uneasy.
However, a waiter from the rice shop came out and said a few words to the soldiers outside.
Then, the soldiers walked over and pressed the burly man to the ground. Without a word, they punched and kicked him.
The burly man cried out pitifully.
Gradually, there was no sound.
The commoners who were queuing up to buy rice all looked at everything in fear.
In this world, there were two things that were domineering. One was a knife, and the other was rice. With rice, people would not starve to death, and with a knife, people would be afraid.
The Ren family happened to have these two things.
Behind him was the Myna Faction.
Even if the imperial envoy came, it wouldn't work.
These people who were queuing up outside might have had a small family or a good business in the past, but now it was the same. The price of food had risen to the sky, and they also wanted to exchange for food.
This was inside the city. Outside the city, it was already a tragedy.
Even though Tian Wenjing had opened a porridge shop, he was still unable to maintain order.
Some sold their children and wives.
A young girl was worth five strings of coins. If she was prettier, she might be able to double the price, but a boy was cheap. It was already a sky-high price to be able to sell him for five strings of coins.
Outside the City Porridge Shop
The porridge was getting thinner and thinner.
Although Tian Wenjing requested for congee, no food was no food.
"Open the door and let us enter the city!"
"Please, let us enter the city!”
"The porridge outside the city is not enough to eat at all. We want to enter the city. I beg you, let us enter the city to beg.”
No entry into the city!
The officer guarding the city said coldly,""Go find a porridge stall. Lord Tian said that if there's food for you, there's food for you.”
The officer guarding the city was naturally extremely rude.
It was at this moment that an arrow suddenly shot out and pierced the officer's head almost instantly.
In an instant, the officer was shot dead on the spot.
"Charge, kill!"
A loud voice erupted from the disaster victims.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。