"What?" Yang Chen's complexion suddenly sank, but his heart followed suit: "Is there only such a little food in the official warehouse?" Although he knew that the government did not have much available food on hand after removing the grain that was often closed, he did not expect that the food would be in such a situation. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Originally, the food in the official warehouse was not prepared for the relief of the victims, but the public food in the county, so there was no need to prepare too much at all." Jiang Chong said with a bitter face: "Now, there are suddenly tens of thousands of mouths, even if there is more food, I can't stand eating like this." This is still the premise that the people in the county still have surplus food available, and if they run out of food in a few days, the situation will only get worse. ”

"My lord, we must get food as soon as possible, otherwise we will ......," Zhao Bangfu also said with a heavy face.

"At this time, where did he ask the official to get food? Is it really only going to last three or five days? ”

"If you want to survive a few more days, it's to reduce the food rations for each refugee. In addition, it means mobilizing large households to provide food relief. Although my Zhuji County is not wealthy, there are dozens of large households, and they must have a lot of grain in their warehouses......," Jiang Chong proposed. He is an official who has been in the county for many years, and he still knows the situation here very well.

This is also the reason why Yang Chen still wants to win him over at this moment, as long as Jiang Chong does not follow the Li family, with his qualifications and ability, he is enough to assist Yang Chen in governing the county seat.

Yang Chen pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then all of this will be up to Master Lao Jiang for you to talk to them." ”

Unexpectedly, this time Jiang Chong did not accept the task, only to see him shake his head decisively: "Please also ask for forgiveness, I'm afraid that the officials will not be able to do it." ”

"Huh? Why? Haven't you been an official in the county for many years, why can't you come forward? Yang Chen said curiously.

"Because...... In their eyes, Xia Guan is still a member of the Li family. Jiang Cong's old face turned red and said: "As long as the Li family doesn't produce food, they will definitely not give food according to my request." ”

Yang Chen understood what he meant as soon as he heard it, it was obvious that those big families in Zhuji County were watching the actions of the Xuanli family, if the Li family, which started in the grain business, refused to take out food to help the refugees, then why did the other big families do it? What's more, Jiang Chong is hanging a sign under the Li family, so it is even more impossible to persuade them.

After sighing, Yang Chen had no choice but to say, "Then let this official go and talk to them." Then gather them together in the county office, and ask them for food together. ”

"Yes, then the lower official will send someone to arrange it." Jiang Chong was a little ashamed that he failed to do what Yang Chen commanded, and immediately took over the errand task in his hands.

After he left, Zhao Bangfu suddenly said: "My lord, this can only solve a temporary urgent need, but it can't cure the root cause." Food shortages in our county still exist. ”

"I know that." Yang Chen nodded heavily: "Unless we can get the grain from the Li family, the grain stored by those ordinary big households can only buy us three or five days at most." I don't know Zhao Xiancheng, what do you think about this? ”

"Gao Jian didn't dare to be, Xia Guan just thought of a way that might work." Zhao Bangfu said that he was stunned. Because of this incident, he was already convinced by Yang Chen's county order, so he no longer came to Cao Ying without saying a word as before, but took the initiative to put forward his own opinions: "It is obviously impossible to solve the food problem by relying only on our own in Zhuji County." We'll have to ask for help. ”

"Do you want to ask Shaoxing Mansion for help?" Yang Chen groaned slightly, and his eyes lit up. In the end, he was not used to being an official of this era, and when he encountered problems, he completely ignored the method of asking his superiors for help. It wasn't until his subordinates reminded him that he happily said, "Not bad." Shaoxing is much richer than our small county. Moreover, they have not yet encountered such a situation, and they can indeed ask the prefect yamen for help. ”

"But ......" Zhao Bangfu hesitated for a moment, but still said truthfully: "In this way, you will inevitably be reprimanded by the prefect." After all, this time it's ......"

Yang Chen didn't pay much attention to this, and waved his hand and said, "As long as I can let the people in the county survive this catastrophe, what is it if I am reprimanded?" However, now that the county seat has changed like this, I can't leave as a county magistrate. Otherwise, this matter will be handed over to Zhao County, how about you go to Shaoxing Mansion? ”

"Me?" Zhao Bangfu pointed to his nose and said a little uneasily.

"What? Are you worried that I will tell you to carry this black cauldron? This is not necessary, I will write to the prefect and the yamen to ask for guilt, you just take it and ask for food. ”

Seeing that Yang Chen understood what he meant, Zhao Bangfu waved his hand again and again: "My lord, you misunderstood." I'm not afraid of being blamed by Shangguan, but this fact is not small, will it be too casual for me to go to ask for food in a county? If the lower officials guess correctly, this heavy rain has not only caused disaster to my Zhuji, but I am afraid that the situation in other prefectures and counties in Shaoxing will not be too good. I'm afraid that there will be no fewer people who go to the government to fight the autumn breeze this time. ”

Only then did Yang Chen know that things were difficult, and he frowned again, as if he was thinking about something. But soon, he made another decision: "It's better to do what I want, after all, Zhuji County must maintain stability." As for asking for food, as long as you can ask for half a month's worth of food from the government office, plus what we have on hand, it may be enough. ”

"Huh? Can this alone really cope with the situation at hand? ”

"As long as it lasts until late March, I have my own way." Yang Chen said without the slightest hesitation.

"Then the lower official will do his best." Since the county magistrate didn't want much, Zhao Bangfu felt that the pressure on his shoulders was much less, and it was not so burdensome to take the order to Shaoxing.

Yang Chen looked at the sun that was already gradually setting westward, and said, "Then you can prepare, and take the official's letter of guilt early tomorrow morning and go on the road." ”

"Yes!" Zhao Bangfu gave up his hand.

When Yang Chen felt a headache about the food shortage in the city, Yang Zhen, as his brother, also felt a headache. It's just that he didn't because of the food problem, but to track down the clues of the fire in Changping.

Yang Zhen is a very self-aware person, and he knows his strengths and weaknesses very well. Fighting with people, charging into battle and everything else is what he is good at, but pacifying the people and doing a good job of logistics is not his forte. Therefore, after the authorities stabilized a little, and the work of relocating refugees and coordinating the relations between the people in the city became the first priority, Yang Zhen automatically asked Ying to investigate the fire case of Chang Ping.

He did this, not only because he knew that he could not help in settling the people, but also because he knew that the matter of Chang Liquidation was related to the stability of Zhuji County, and only by finding clues as soon as possible, and even catching the arsonist, could new problems be avoided. Moreover, he also knew that with the continuous influx of refugees, Chang Ping's place would soon be crowded by people and destroy the scene, so he had to see things clearly before that.

After taking Cai Yingyang around the original site of Changping, which has become a ruin, several times, Yang Zhen's brows furrowed even deeper, and he looked worried: "This thing is really strange." ”

"Second brother, do you see what's wrong?" Cai Yingyang's mind is not comparable to Yang Zhen, and he just came to help carry things and exert his strength. Seeing Yang Zhen like this at this moment, he asked curiously.

Yang Zhen nodded and said, "Judging from the current situation, my previous judgment seems to be wrong. This fire, I'm afraid, is not as simple as we thought. ”

Cai Yingyang naturally knew that what he said before judgment meant that he thought that this fire was set by the people of the Li family, so he couldn't help but wonder: "How did you see it?" ”

"Because the fire was burning from inside the warehouse." Yang Zhen said, and pointed to a charcoal-like area not far from them, "This is the blackest in the entire warehouse area, obviously because it burns the longest here." This is clearly where the fire started. ”

"Huh? Second brother, can you even see this? Cai Yingyang's eyes were full of surprise, with some reverence.

"In fact, as long as you are careful, nothing can escape our observation. You just don't know something, but if you learn it for a long time, you can do the same. Yang Zhen said casually. After a pause, he continued: "And this is the crux of the matter, since the face of the Li family and the eldest brother has been torn apart, as long as it is related to his family, we don't dare to put them in such an important place as Chang Ping, how can they put this fire from it?" ”

"This ...... Could it be that they snuck in? Cai Yingyang guessed.

"No, as long as you are well prepared, lighting a fire outside is about the same as lighting a fire here. And, don't forget, there are people guarding this warehouse, so why would they take the risk? Not to mention that once the fire starts, it is always easier to get out of it by setting a fire outside. Yang Zhen quickly gave these reasons, but this also made him feel even more confused in his heart.

If it was really as he deduced, I am afraid that this fire was not arranged by the people of the Li family. So the question is, who else would do such a thing?

There is always a purpose for people to commit crimes, especially the crime of setting fire to the granary, which must be caused by the other party's dissatisfaction with the county government. But Yang Zhen really couldn't think of anyone else in the county town who would do this, could it be the Xuan family? At the same time, another question that bothered him was, who would that arsonist be? Is it the guards in the warehouse? Is any of them enmity against his brother?

After thinking about it for a long time, Yang Zhen still didn't have a clue. However, Yang Zhen is sure of one thing, that is, the current Zhuji County is by no means peaceful, and they want to get through the current predicament, not only the two problems of food and the Li family, but also some other people or forces hidden in the shadows are even more frightening.