Wu Fu finally breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the reward, and when Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, negotiated relief with him, the other party said a lot of difficulties in relief work. Hong Chengchou said that the sergeants in Yansui Town routinely received two buckets of grain per month, plus five coins and six cents of silver. (Note 1)

However, because of the difficulty in transporting grain, the price of grain has risen to six yuan of silver for a bucket of rice. After the grinding process, only eight liters of grain can be obtained, which means that the actual price of grain is seven dollars per bucket.

The grain of the soldiers in Yansui Town has been converted into three coins of silver, and according to such a grain price, three cents can barely be exchanged for five liters of grain, and the monthly salary of five coins and six cents cannot be exchanged for a bucket. A bucket of five liters of food is only a soldier's ration for ten days, how can it meet the expenses of a soldier and his family in Yansui Town for a month. (Note 2)

And this is only the border soldiers who can receive salaries, and the situation of other military remnants and civilians who cannot receive salaries is even worse. Although it has finally started to rain, it will take a long time for the grain to grow, and the problem of high food prices needs to be solved urgently by the government. (Note 3)

In order to cut off the connection between thieves in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, the imperial court blocked the road for grain transportation, causing the price of grain in Yansui Town to rise. Wu Fu thought that this matter would not help the imperial court to suppress the thieves, but would only make more border soldiers join the thieves, so he asked for a decree to restore the grain transportation channel.

Now that food prices have finally fallen, the situation has finally eased. It's just that Wu Fu was still a little worried, so he asked his subordinates: "What is the situation on the West Road now, and has the decline in grain prices played a role in stabilizing people's hearts?" ”

Yansui West Road is farther away from Shanxi, and the natural environment is more harsh, so the situation here has always been something that Wu Fu is more worried about. Moreover, the Shenyi Kui tribe who was appeased and installed before was placed around Ningsai on Yansui West Road. If food prices remain high, it will make the situation on the western road dangerous again.

"Some grain has already been transported into the West Road, and although the price of grain in Gaoju is not falling as fast as in other places, it has been declining, and people's hearts have generally stabilized. Moreover, under the suppression of several leaders such as Shen Yikui, there is no big problem at present. Among them, Zhang Mengjin's department in Duhe Fort had the best discipline, and he did not commit any offense against the people around him. The subordinates knew what Wu Fu was worried about, so they said the information they had found in one breath.

Wu Fu was relieved to hear that the descendants had not risen up to make trouble again. It seems that the group of thieves appeased by Yang He, the governor of the three sides, is quite reliable, and before the rain in Yansui Town in mid-May, they reported a successful interception of the Mongols, and now they have been quite stable, it seems that these people do have some loyalty.

Now that the situation on Yansui West Road is gradually stabilizing, Wu Fu will be able to focus more on other areas that need relief. Therefore, after asking some more things, Wu Fu asked about the situation of Baoan County in order: "What is the current situation in Baoan County, and whether the people have started farming again after the thieves' rebellion." ”

"Strange to say, according to the news that came out, Baoan County is currently the calmest place in Yan'an Prefecture. The hungry people who returned home were busy with farming, and the local security was better than in other prefectures and counties in Yan'an Province. There are almost no thieves in the local area, as soon as there are thieves, they will be quickly exterminated by the local townspeople and the border army in the north. In this report, Wu Fu's subordinates also showed some surprised expressions.

Wu Fu also thought it was very interesting, the security guards who had been captured by the thieves before were now the calmest, and there were even Xiangyong who spontaneously exterminated the thieves, so he asked with some curiosity: "What's going on, who are the people who led those Xiangyong, and who are the border troops in the north, who actually reacted so quickly." ”

"It is reported that these Xiangyong are mainly from Jindingshan, and they are also the most hard-working group of people in the current garrison, and the border army in the north seems to be part of the men and horses under Zhang Mengjin of Duhe Fort. There is news that Jinding Mountain is actually where the Zhang Mengjin people live, and those Xiangyong seem to be led by Zhang Mengjin's younger brother. "These news have not been further confirmed, so Wu Fu's subordinates are also a little uncertain.

After Wu Fu got the reply, he was immediately interested in Zhang Mengjin, the name of Ding Ding. Because of the previous interception of the Mongols' Tang Bao, Zhang Mengjin and his gang's report was more outstanding, and I didn't expect that this person would also have a great impact on the security situation in Baoan County.

At this time, the wind suddenly blew, and after the air blew across Wu Fu's face, the new governor of Shaanxi felt a breath of moisture. It seems that it is going to rain again, which is good news for the relief work in Yan'an Mansion in the future. As long as farming resumes as soon as possible, the people will be able to usher in a good year.

Although Wu Fu was happy that God continued to rain, he didn't want to let himself become a soup chicken. So he immediately ordered his entourage and subordinates to go back to the office to take shelter from the rain.

On the way to their trip, many people in Yan'an Mansion also looked at God above their heads excitedly. Some people even cheered happily, because the previous relief from the imperial court and the drop in food prices had given them a lot of encouragement for their future life. Now that God's grace continues to rain, as long as they grit their teeth and endure it again, they may be able to have a long-lost harvest.

And I heard that many thieves were appeased and pacified by the government, and even Du Wenhuan, who did murder from time to time, showed no signs of appearing again. Therefore, the people who have received good news in a row really feel that they should be bitter and happy this time.

Wu Fu also felt very relieved to see the heartfelt laughter of these people. Although there are still many thieves in Shaanxi who have not yet been settled, the situation in Shaanxi has taken a visible turn for the better, and the peaceful days that the people are looking forward to should really be coming soon.

"My lord, good news, good news from Shanxi. The fugitive thief king Jiayin finally took his head more than ten days ago, and Cao Wenzhao did it beautifully, hahaha. When Wu Fu came to the door of the office, a junior official who stayed here reported another good news.

"It's really good news, what's going on with the remnants of the thief, why did the news come at this time?" Knowing that Wang Jiayin was dead, Wu Fu was also very happy. It's just that this news was actually more than ten days ago, and as the governor of Shaanxi, he wondered if the thieves were still wandering around, affecting the transmission of the news.

"It is true that because of the thieves in Shanxi and Shaanxi, the post station is a little lagging in delivering news. However, it should be recovered as soon as possible, General Cao inflicted heavy losses on Wang Jiayin's troops, and the thief Bai Yuzhu surrendered, leaving only one Zijin Liang with the rest of the party on the run. "The lower-level officials saw it very openly, and now that God is in a hurry, and Wang Jiayin is also dead, there should be no more influential thieves in Shaanxi to make trouble again.

When Wu Fu heard that there were still the remnants of the king thief on the run, he felt a little regretful in his heart. It's just that this is really good news, and for the subordinates who have been nervous because they have been busy with relief for a while, it can indeed make them relax for a while. Wu Fu knew everyone's fatigue, so he put up his superiors and said some cold words.

"Good news, good news, good news from the West Road. Ningsai donkey dung slope came a great victory, the general Wu Hongqi and the garrison Shen Yikui led the troops to fight to intercept Dazi successfully, and the Duhe Fort Conduct Zhang Mengjin led the troops to respond, and the officers and soldiers captured a total of 87 prisoners who invaded Ningsai. At this time, another subordinate walked up to Wu Fu with the newly received good news and reported the good news to the inspector according to the imperial history.

Wu Fu, who got the Tang newspaper, may have been very calm at this time because he had received too much good news. After he opened the Tang newspaper and began to read it, he learned that in addition to capturing and beheading many Mongols, the officers and soldiers also paid a certain number of casualties. Moreover, according to Wu Hongqi's report, the soldiers were the main contributors to the battle and casualties in this battle.

In addition to the Tang newspaper of General Ningsai, there is also an official document reported by the West Road Bingbei Road, which also confirms the authenticity of Ningsai's good news. However, in the official document of the military preparation, there is a smell of asking the superiors to send a reward as soon as possible.

Wu Fu, who has not been observing rookies for a long time, naturally saw the meaning. He silently calculated in his heart the amount of silver bounty and the amount of pension money that should be distributed, which was a huge burden for the limited and valuable funds of Yansui Town.

After Wu Fuxin calculated the results, he suddenly had a question in his heart, will this good news really be good news for today's northern Shaanxi?

Suddenly a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a loud roar of thunder, followed by a torrential downpour from the nine heavens. The entourage and subordinate officials in the office were all excited by God's continued kindness, and several local officials even shed tears of excitement.

Wu Fu looked at the subordinates around him, and then looked at the people outside the office who were cheering with their hands to the raindrops, and he said to himself in a voice that no one around him could hear: "I hope this will always be good news." ”

PS: Note 1: The income of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty is generally a mixture of grain and silver money, and the data here is not made up by the author, but from the record in the eighth volume of the "Chai An Shuji". It can be seen from this that even if the soldiers in Yansui Town do not owe salaries, it is difficult to support themselves and their families at the same time.

Note 2: Although there were many records of soldiers' daily food expenditure of one liter in the early Ming Dynasty, more documents such as the "Emperor Ming Jing Shiwen Compilation" show that the daily ration of Ming soldiers or Ding Zhuang was one liter of five he, which was one bucket of five liters of grain for ten days.

Note 3: According to Wu Fu's Shuji, Chongzhen did not rain for a period of time from April to mid-May, and Wu Fu's anxious organization of people to set up an altar to pray for rain still could not succeed. However, on May 21, after Wu Fu finished the relief of the Third Route Military Fort in Yansui Town, that is, on the 24th, God finally began to rain Ze Dapei.