Chapter 271: Responsibility

"In that case, let's go back." After being silent, Chu Zhi said lightly, what should be done is done, even if he is unwilling, but Chu Zhen also consciously has a clear conscience, and naturally has no feeling of remorse.

Liu Renzhi nodded silently, there is nothing to say at this time, people avoid it, obviously they don't want to help, what else can they do, they can't coerce Ming to rob it in order to achieve their goals, not to mention the impeachment of the imperial history, you must know that those grain merchants are not like ordinary people, and they have more or less background behind them, and they can't move if they want to.

In ancient society, generally speaking, grain merchants without background did not do much business, they were all small merchants and hawkers, and when they saw local officials coming to ask for food, even if they were reluctant, they did not have the courage to refuse, of course, Chu Zhen and Liu Renzhi would not do something to deceive their superiors and subordinates and fill their own pockets, and they would pay people as much silver as they got from others, and they would give it at market price, so those merchants could still accept it.

It's just that according to the law of common sense, most of the rice and grain in the city are concentrated in the hands of a few big merchants, and no matter how many small merchants and hawkers there are, they only account for more than one percent of their total.

At this time, it was almost noon, the sun was scorching, the stone slabs of the street were hot, even sitting in the sedan chair without direct sunlight, the fan was cool, Chu Zhi felt extremely hot, took out a silk scarf to wipe off the fine sweat stains on his forehead, gently opened the sedan curtain to breathe, and then the sedan chair had walked to the north gate of Hangzhou.

Chu Zhen looked out, only to see people coming and going near the city gate, vehicles and pedestrians were flowing endlessly, and the shopkeepers of the shops on both sides of the street and the small merchants and hawkers who came back to shuttle through the streets and alleys shouted loudly from time to time to solicit business, and it seemed that it was not affected by the drought disaster, and it was still a lively and prosperous scene.

Through the tall and majestic city gate, you can vaguely see the lush lawns and rolling mountains outside the city, and after glancing lightly, Chu Zhi's mind suddenly moved, and he suddenly shouted: "Stop." ”

The voice fell, and the sedan chair drivers took a few steps forward, slowly stopped, and did not put down the sedan chair, only to see a servant walk to the sedan window from the front, and said softly: "What do you command?" ”

"Diversion, a place to settle displaced people outside the city." Chu Zhen said.

Since Fan Zhongyan saw the resettlement site designed and built by Chu Zhen, he simply handed over all the displaced people gathered outside Hangzhou to the Qiantang County Government for unified arrangement, and Chu Zhen did not disappoint Fan Zhongyan, and with the help of a group of scribes and officials, many displaced people were placed in open places outside the city in an orderly manner.

There are too many displaced people, of course, it is impossible to gather together, so it is too crowded, and it is not easy to manage, so there is only scattered in various places, but the sheds built in each resettlement site, as well as various treatments, and the scale are roughly the same, after all, there is a lesson of unevenness in the front, in order to appease the restless people, Chu Zhen naturally has to be as fair and just as possible, so as not to make some displaced people feel unfair and find excuses to breed trouble.

The sedan chair went out of the north city gate, and there were still ten minutes away from the nearest settlement point for displaced people, or because the suburbs were empty and the trees and grass were luxuriant, the sedan curtain was hung, Chu Zhen always felt that it was much more comfortable now than in the city, and it seemed that he still felt a slight breeze blowing from time to time, and he didn't know if it was an illusion, anyway, Chu Zhen didn't feel so stuffy, and he no longer sweated on his forehead.

It didn't take long for the sedan chair to arrive at the destination leisurely, and the clerks stationed at the resettlement point also rushed over with a group of people, and when they saw that it was Chu Zhi and Liu Renzhi, they hurriedly bowed and said: "I have seen Chu Zhixian and Liu Zhubo." ”

Chu Zhen smiled, nodded slightly, and walked out of the sedan chair, his eyes patrolling the surrounding environment.

There are about nearly 1,000 people in a resettlement site, some of whom are in charge of their families, and some of whom have fled alone, and a simple grass shed can accommodate about ten people, so there are probably more than 100 sheds here, because the terrain is quite flat, so the grass shed is built in a staggered and orderly manner.

Of course, Chu Zhen also understands what is called gold and jade, and it is ruined, although I don't know if there is an image project in ancient times, Chu Zhen doesn't want these sheds to be made for people to see, so when the buildings of each resettlement site are completed, he has to carefully inspect them to prevent anyone from coping with things.

Fortunately, the ancient craftsmen may not be able to build skyscrapers, but they are still very conscientious, and the workers who build the sheds are recruited from the homeless, which further prevents the occurrence of cutting corners.

During this time, Chu Zhen has been wandering around various resettlement points, so he is naturally no stranger here, and the homeless people are also very familiar with this Qingtian Lord, knowing that this county magistrate is not a heavy official, and he treats people as warm as spring, and he is a good official who can be the master of the people, so after saluting, when facing Chu Qian, he is restrained but not afraid, and some eyes are full of gratitude.

Knowing that Chu Zhi didn't like everyone to follow, Liu Renzhi gave a slight gesture, and the people who came in also dispersed, leaving only a few officials and scribes to accompany the inspection, and walked a few steps, Chu Zhen found that the grass shed here was of course in an orderly manner, but compared with weekdays, it seemed to be a little empty, and I couldn't help but feel a little strange, Chu Zhi naturally knew about the young and strong people who entered the city to help, but the old people, women and children who stayed behind should not be so few.

There are only twenty or thirty people left, and at this time on weekdays, it is also time for dinner, but now there is no smoke everywhere, it is indeed a little abnormal, and the heart is confused, Chu Zhen is about to recruit the officials to ask what is going on, but he finds that a group of people gathered next to the river in the distance, about two hundred people, around a platform made of wood, a little far away, I can't see clearly, and I don't know what they are doing.

Seeing that the adults stopped their steps and looked somewhere, as a subordinate, a scribe immediately cleverly explained his confusion and said, "My lord, they are begging for rain." ”

Rain? Blinking his eyes, Chu Zhen also knew a little in his heart, in ancient times, people did not have enough understanding of nature, and believed in the existence of gods, Buddhas and immortals, which Chu Zhen also knew, but on weekdays, he was in contact with some literati and Confucianism, because Confucius did not say anything strange and chaotic, so they rarely talked about this matter, and almost forgot that they were already in a feudal superstitious society with all kinds of evil.

If it is useful to ask for rain from the heavens, then there are so many droughts in the world, but Chu Zhen is not interested in being a revolutionary pioneer and contributing his own strength to breaking superstition, so he slightly turned his pace and walked to the other side, planning to wait for the people to finish the rain prayer ceremony, and then ask them to understand the situation in recent days.

In fact, Chu Zhen mainly wanted to know whether the rumors in the city had any impact on the displaced people, you must know that because the news of the lack of food in the official warehouse was flying all over the sky, even the people in the city rushed to buy food just in case, and the displaced people all fled here, and their emotions were not very stable.

However, Chu Zhi had the intention to avoid it, but the people who were ready to ask for rain heard that the county officials were coming to inspect, and several respected old men stood up from the altar, hurriedly walked over, and saw a few gray-haired old men coming to salute, but Chu Zhen did not slack off, under their warm invitation, Chu Zhen was even more difficult to refuse, and slowly came to the side of the altar to ask for rain.

It is said that it is an altar, in fact, it is built with some wood, and it is worshiped that China is the rain god dragon king with local characteristics, which makes Chu Zhen feel surprised that under such difficult conditions, the displaced people still rely on the rice grain regularly distributed by the official government to survive, but the dragon king is not only clothed in red and green, but also painted with a layer of gold paint (copper), so that Chu Zhen does not know whether to sigh the piety of their surname, or should feel sad.

In fact, Chu Zhen also understands the psychology of everyone, it is only autumn now, if there are a few rains in the sky, it can not only alleviate the drought situation, but also maybe keep the harvest in the field, this is of course a little wishful thinking, but there is only a glimmer of hope, and the people will not give up.

Not giving up is a good thing, and there is hope to be the motivation to live, Chu Zhen sighed lightly in his heart, smiled and politely refused the people's request to ask him to preside over the sacrifice, and retreated to the side of the river with a few officials and scribes.

Watching the people worship at the golden Dragon King Altar, Chu Zhen couldn't tell what his mood was like now, anyway, he didn't feel very comfortable.

Of course, Chu Zhen will not blame the people for their ignorance and backwardness, nor will they feel that they are ignorant, believe in the existence of gods, and have a sour feeling in his heart, Chu Zhen knows that if the people live a stable life and have no worries about food and clothing, there is not much market for any religion, immortals and Buddhas, and once a disaster comes, the ethereal gods will naturally become the sustenance in the hearts of the people.

Or it was influenced by the education of his previous life, and subtly, it was impossible for Chu Zhen to ignore the people-oriented concept in his heart, he didn't have that ability and power before, or he could still ignore it indifferently, pretending not to know what to do, but now that he is in his position, he naturally wants to seek his own government.

Whether it is out of the duty of knowing the county to guard the people and the country, or because of the compassion in nature, Chu Zhen can't turn a blind eye to the hardships and hardships of the people, otherwise with Chu Qian's lazy temperament before, he has long been tired and tired of running around for days, how can he always not forget to observe the people's feelings, think about it, unconsciously, Chu Zhen has been more thoroughly integrated into the Song Dynasty society, and also understands what is called responsibility and commitment.

Liu Renzhi and the government clerk naturally didn't know what Chu Zhen was thinking, but they also kept silent, so as not to disturb the interest of the magistrate, but at this moment, a merchant ship suddenly sailed at the end of the river.

Hearing the movement on the river, Chu Zhen suddenly came back to his senses from his contemplation, looked at the approaching merchant ships, and suddenly flashed in his mind, as if he had cleared the layers of fog, and finally saw the long-lost sunshine, and a bright smile quietly appeared on the corner of his mouth.