Because of the trip to the female dependents, Huo Bao prepared for several days.

When Aunt Huo heard the news, she was first happy and then sad.

The joy is that you can return to your hometown, and the sad thing is that your relatives have no luck, as long as you survive the epidemic of the previous year and the war disaster of last year, you will have a world.

I want to worship my in-laws and my deceased husband, and I have to worship my mother's father.

Aunt Huo Liu prepared a box, all of which were tin foil ingots and the like.

In addition to worshipping, she also had to take Huo Ying to "recognize her relatives".

Dead loved ones are also loved ones.

Huo Ying is not only the heir of their four rooms, but also the heir recognized by her nephew Huo Baisui.

Now that he has a name, he has to let Huo Ying, the "son", go to the grave of Huo Bai to pay respects.

Xiuxiu was overjoyed.

She is already lively, and after learning the rules and needlework for three months, she has long been in a panic.

In the past year, she has also been a person who has "walked through the south and crossed the north".

Before, from Quyang to Chuzhou Prefecture, then from Chuzhou Prefecture to Jinling, and from Jinling to Yangzhou, from Yangzhou back to Jinling.

Now from Jinling to Quyang, it is close.

It's Niuniu, the little girl knows that she wants to return to her hometown, and her expression is in a trance.

She's eight years old this year, and she was seven years old last year, which is also the age of memory.

In addition, Niuniu's father and mother died tragically, Niuniu witnessed it with her own eyes, and she couldn't forget it if she wanted to.

It's just that the little girl is sensible, she hides her sadness and fear in her heart, and she is a smiling face in front of her, and she doesn't dare to remind herself of the picture at that time.

Within two days, Niuniu fell ill, her little face was thin, and her eyes were down.

When Aunt Huo Liusaw it, she couldn't help but feel distressed, and discussed with Huo Bao in private: "Otherwise, forget it this time, and we'll go back and see ...... when Niuniu is older in a few years."

Even if you think about the dead, the living are the most important.

Aunt Huo and Niuniu, one is a widow with no children and no daughters, and the other is an orphan girl whose father and mother are both mourned, they have been dependent on each other for more than a year, and their relationship is the deepest.

Huo Bao also regretted that he was not thoughtful.

Being able to go back to Nanshan Village to worship is an unforgettable wish for Aunt Huo Liu; For Niuniu, it is tantamount to a nightmare reappearing, and it is normal for a little girl to be afraid.

Xiuxiu is ready on her side, and there are Guo family in her peers, and it's nothing if Aunt Huo Liu's side doesn't go.

*

On May 15, Huo Bao, Shui Jin, Du Laoba, Song Lin, Master Zhiran and others left Jinling and crossed the river to Binjiang.

Binjiang County is only a small county seat, but it is the first territory of Huo Wu, the lord of the Chuzhou army.

There is the ancestral tomb of the fifth family and the Huo family.

As early as May last year, after Huo Wu got the riverside, he built a warehouse and a camp here.

The warehouse was a transit for grain, iron, and salt, and the big battalion was later prepared for the state of Dahe.

At that time, before the state was hit, Binjiang County was used as the rear battalion.

Deng Jian, Du Laoba, Tang Guang, Shui Jin and others came out of Binjiang and took Hezhou.

Before Binjiang County Lieutenant was Zhu Gang and Zhu Qiang's father, Binjiang County Governor was Huo Lin.

Zhu County Lieutenant was later promoted to Lieutenant and now guards Changzhou.

Huo Lin also re-passed the official test, and also went through the study of last year's Layue, and was promoted to Songjiang Mansion in March.

Today's Binjiang Zhixian is a native of Luzhou, which is a member of the state government, and the Luzhou official tried out in September last year, and was assigned to Binjiang as a clerk before.

Because of his outstanding deeds and meritorious achievements, he went from clerk to county magistrate in less than a year, and was later promoted to the magistrate after Huo Lin left.

From the uninfluential paperwork to the parents in one place, not one or two.

The Chuzhou Army is in short supply of talents, and those who initially joined the Chuzhou Army have all been trained.

In addition to the people in Chuzhou, the people who use it the most are people from Hezhou and Luzhou.

These two places were the earliest, among which Hezhou was peacefully merged, that is, on the Luzhou side, the Chuzhou army was against the Qichun army hidden behind the Anqing Water Division, not the Luzhou gentry.

Binjiang Zhixian is in his thirties, with a red face, and he doesn't look like Zhixian, but more like an old farmer working in the field.

"This spring's drought ......"

Seeing that all the people who came were the famous figures in the Chuzhou army, "Young Master" Huo Bao, "Generalissimo Jiangxi" Shui Jin, "Generalissimo Jiangzhong" Du Fei, Song Lin, deputy chief of the Taiwei Mansion, and Master Zhiran, director of the Supervision Department.

"The canal has been dredged, and it can be drained from the boundary of the river, but the boundary far from the river is still impossible, and it has rained since the beginning of spring......

When everyone heard this, they were all solemn.

The people take food as the sky, and now it is the middle of May, and the summer harvest will be more than a month away.

The spring drought is so severe that the summer harvest will fail.

This is true even in Binjiang County, where there are many canals, not to mention the other three counties in Chuzhou.

"How much grain is stored in the official warehouse?"

Huo Bao asked.

"Three Thousand Stone ......"

Binjiang Zhixian Road.

There are tens of thousands of people in Binjiang County, and when they really need relief, 3,000 stone can be held for a while, and they have time to transfer grain from other places.

Hearing is false, seeing is believing.

After listening to the Binjiang magistrate, everyone also went out to investigate.

The cultivated fields under the entire Binjiang County are divided into two large pieces.

In the paddy fields and the dry land near the river, the crops look to be growing quite well.

The dry land in the northern half of the river, which is not close to the river, is cracked in the ground, and the wheat grows thinly.

"It's been a big drought for three years, and Chuzhou is really full of disasters!"

Song Lin touched his beard and sighed.

The year before last, Chuzhou first had a major drought, then an epidemic, and then a military disaster.

Huo Bao also remembered the epidemic the year before last.

Speaking of the epidemic preparations of the year before last, it was not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster.

After the drought, more people starved to death, and the corpses were left undisposed of, and after decomposing, they polluted the water source and spread, forming a disease.

Master Zhiran squatted down, pulled out an ear of wheat, and twisted it with his hand, and the grout was less than thirty percent.

The best of these crops is 30%, but in fact, if it doesn't rain before the summer harvest, these may not even be able to harvest 30%.

Du Laoba touched his stomach, although he was not as hungry as the people under the mountain during the drought the year before last, he also knew that the food in the village was not rich.

If it weren't for Xue Biao's help, he sent food up the mountain, and the mountain would have run out of cooking.

Shui Jin glanced at Huo Bao.

After taking Hezhou and Luzhou last year, it was Huo Bao who strongly advocated Tuntian in the two places.

Isn't that to prepare for military rations, but to prepare for this year's drought?

Not to mention that Chuzhou is still in a big drought this year, it is a big drought in the entire Huainan Province, which is nothing to the Chuzhou army.

Jiangnan Taiping Mansion, Suzhou Mansion, and Songjiang Mansion are all places where grain is produced.

It is the Huainan Road, along the river in Hezhou, and the Chaohu Lake in Luzhou Mansion, the waterways are vertical and horizontal, and they are not afraid of drought.

However, Huo Bao's face was still heavy.

Shui Jin wondered in his heart, and looked at Song Lin and Master Zhiran, both of whom also frowned.

It wasn't until they returned to the county government that everyone went to inspect the county barracks again, and Shui Jin was free, and asked Huo Bao in a low voice: "We are not short of food, what else is Xiaobao worried about?" ”

looks weird and scary, is it to scare the magistrate?

But this magistrate looks really good.

Huo Bao smiled bitterly: "The drought in Chuzhou is like this, what about Bozhou and Chuzhou?" What about Taizhou and Huai'an? ”

The drought that began the year before was not Huainan alone, but a natural disaster that swept most of the state capitals in Huanghuai.

Now there are signs of drought in Binjiang County.

In the territory occupied by the Chuzhou army, the entire territory of Chuzhou, Hezhou and individual counties in Yangzhou will have an impact, and the Chuzhou army can solve it by itself, which is not a big deal.

However, for the Bozhou White Shirts and Taizhou White Shirts, they are in drought throughout the territory, and there is no such backhand as the Chuzhou Army.

When the time comes, the only way out is to buy food from the Chuzhou army.

But how much is enough to buy then?

As long as the food and grass of the White Shirts are provided, the rest of the people will not care?

Even if it is to stabilize the power and buy people's hearts, they will not abandon the people.

When the time comes, how much grain will you buy?

The Chuzhou army is now self-sufficient, a little rich, but not rich.

What is the basis for supplying food to the people in the two places?

But if it is not supplied, it will be resented by the people, and then it will not be human inside and outside.

Even if the Chuzhou army is willing to sell, will Bozhou white shirts and Taizhou white shirts be willing to buy?

Won't grab?

Jiangbei's defense should not be underestimated.

The battle between the Chuzhou army and the white-shirted forces of Jiangbei will be earlier than I imagined.