() Approaching the middle of November, Yunzhou's letter and the court's notice arrived almost at the same time, Liu Erye described the situation in detail in the letter, Yunzhou was also very critical at the beginning, and as a last resort, Liu Erye proposed to the Fuzun Lord Xu to sacrifice Xingxian County to protect Yunzhou, because the matter was heavy, Lord Xu couldn't make up his mind, and finally convened all the officials to discuss for a day and a night, when Lord Xu took off his official hat and put it on the table, it was because of his momentum of putting him to death that everyone was shocked, to make a decision together.

Xingxian was flooded, but finally Yunzhou and other surrounding counties and towns survived, for a whole month Liu Erye ate on the embankment, lived on the embankment, from the water rose to fall, he did not leave the embankment one step, not only him, almost all officials are like this, but also because of their leading role, Yunzhou from the government service soldiers down to the common people, as long as the body is strong, they are all standing on the front line, the entire Yunzhou can be said to be united, united, with their invincible fighting spirit to resist the biggest flood in a hundred years.

The flood receded, but things had just begun, Liu Erye came down from the embankment, and he didn't even have time to return home, and was sent to various counties and towns to inspect, although there was no large area flooded, but the loss was still very strict, the houses collapsed, the crops were destroyed, the roads were blocked, and the casualties were killed.

The most urgent thing is that several main roads leading to the north and south are damaged and completely impassable, and finally have to organize a large number of soldiers and civilians to spend more than 20 days to dredge the road.

At the same time of Yunzhou's self-help, Hengzhou can be said to be a mess of porridge, after the embankment burst, the first to be flooded were Huaxing and Heng'an County, and then gradually radiated to the surrounding areas, and Hengzhou was the first to bear the brunt, those who escaped in the flood, all the way to Hengzhou and further places, Hengzhou poured into many people, there were no officers and soldiers to stop, and no officials came out to appease, and finally I don't know who shouted: "Jinhu is delayed, and the officials have run away." ”

This is like stabbing a hornet's nest, angry people rushed into the government, smashed and looted, the street was instantly swept by this storm, the whole city was in chaos, rioted, the flood was ruthless, continued to roar and rush, everyone frantically crowded to the city gate, it can be said that Hengzhou was drowned by the flood a lot, but in this riot in Hengzhou, there are not a few who were killed and trampled to death.

When the three princes came to Hengzhou with the disaster relief team of the imperial court, what they saw was the real tragic scene of thousands of miles of corpses, those who survived were either trapped in the high places of the counties and towns, or gathered in a few towns and villages far away from Hanshui, except for some who fled to the south, these who stayed in Hengzhou were less than one-fifth of the total population of Hengzhou.

The biggest problem is not here, but the hatred of the people of Hengzhou towards the court and officials, and the raging anger has turned them all into real mobs, robbing grain trucks, smashing granaries, and confronting officers and soldiers, so that the relief of the court cannot continue at all. Unexpectedly, the seventeen-year-old third prince was a ruthless character, first using iron-fisted means to close these mobs, cutting them down, and after killing dozens of leaders, and then using Huairou means to appease, Hengzhou was finally completely stabilized.

At this time, the court's notice had been posted all over the major cities and towns in the south, and the court promised that all the victims of the disaster could return to their hometowns, and those who returned to their hometowns could receive land, grain, rice, seeds, and other materials according to their capitaries, and at the same time, the hard-hit areas would be exempted from taxation for three years, and other towns would be exempted from taxation for two years. The displaced people saw the notice and rushed to tell each other, all of them had the idea of returning to their hometowns, no matter what period of time they were people, their hometowns were the roots of the trees, and no one wanted to live a life of leaving their hometowns.

Wucheng began to organize the work of returning to the hometown of the victims in an orderly manner, and at this time it reflected the Su zhì of Master Liu as a benevolent official who loved the people like a son, he took the lead in donating a batch of old cotton clothes and money as the head of a city, and called on him in the city. The south city gate was opened, groups of displaced people embarked on the way home, but in more than ten days, the south city gate has been mostly merchants and Jia people, the market of the south street reopened, Wucheng has regained the bustle and prosperity of the past, if there are no temporary shacks left in the open space in front of the south city gate, the flood in the southeast is as if it has never happened.

The third prince Liu Ji made a lot of contributions in this disaster relief, and was praised by the members of the court, and was praised by the emperor, as for Lord Xu of Yunzhou and his colleagues, there were as many excerpts as the merit and impeachment, and finally the emperor ended a debate in the court with a sentence of merit and demerit, after receiving the report from the palace, he broke out in a cold sweat, and finally felt at ease, and his subordinates were unhappy for him, but Lord Xu knew in his heart that it was a blessing to be able to keep the head on his head. Several other states have also been rewarded by different Cheng dù, among which Master Liu is well placed, and his love for the people like a son has been praised by the emperor himself, of course, these are all later words.

But it was said that Liu Qin came back from Liu Erye's letter, and was released by the old lady a few days in advance, locked up for more than 20 days, once he could see the face of the sky, Liu Qin was really like a bird out of the cage, took a deep breath of the fresh and cold air outside with the fragrance of cold plums, and really praised it, why is the sky so blue, how is the tree so green, oh no, so vigorous, how the flowers are so red, how my heart is so happy.

In the upper room, there was a lot of laughter, this was the first time since the news of the flood spread that there was such a joyful atmosphere. The old lady leaned on the couch, and looked at the son's invitation in her hand, and the joy was overflowing, since the safety of the second child was unknown, the old lady had not slept well, did not eat a safe meal, and the mother was worried, not to mention that she knew that her son was in danger, it was like putting the mother's heart on the fire and drowning in water, if it could be replaced, she would rather be in danger of herself, and she would rather be in danger, and she would be herself who was threatened with death.

Now it's okay, my son is fine, the old lady put her mind at the same time, the tight string was also loosened, a wave of exhaustion came to her heart, she fainted on the spot, and everyone hurriedly poured some medicine and soup before she woke up.

Liu Qin jumped into the upper room, the old lady only cared about the anxious second son these times, ignoring the daughter, feeling guilty, busy beckoning, and did not let Liu Qin ask for peace, hugged in her arms, and loved her heart and liver for a long time, causing Cai Xinlan and all the girls to cover their mouths and snicker.

Liu Qin finally broke free from her mother's warm embrace, it's not that she doesn't want to be intimate with her mother, no way, the smell of medicine on her mother is too smoky, you must know that the old lady didn't drink medicine today, she has always been sick and crooked these times, and she takes medicine more than eating.

In the Wucheng Mansion, Master Liu and Uncle Liu were still discussing things, the two of them retreated, Uncle Liu closed the door, stood in front of Master Liu, and said with a solemn face: "Father, that matter has been investigated, it was done by the Fang family." ”

Old Man Liu's eyes suddenly froze, and he asked, "You mean that the raising of grain prices in the city was instigated by the Fang family behind the scenes?" ”

Uncle Liu nodded, did not speak again, and Master Liu also fell silent, his fingers tapped lightly on the table, his face was calm, and his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was in deep thought.