After hearing the narrative of the middle-aged businessman, Cheng Jiang had a deeper understanding of the commercial system of the Zhao State. As the other party said, after listening to the other party's description of the commercial system of the Zhao State, he was also full of yearning for the north.

Subsequently, after the storm passed, Cheng Jiang moved the other party's goods to his three large ships and left this inland river estuary with the other party. As for the other party's merchant ship that was smaller than the Cheng River, it was directly abandoned by the river. Presumably, it won't be long before the waters subside, and he will become a place for children to play in the shallow water or on the river beach. The merchant ship, which eventually began to crack at the bottom, was no longer usable.

In the words of Li Changlin, a middle-aged businessman, this time it was a big deal, and he would definitely buy a bigger sea ship when he went back, but as for this, it was old and could no longer be used.

"By the way, isn't it true that you can't use gold and silver as circulating coins in the territory of your northern Zhao Kingdom, how can you ......" Thinking of the thank you gift that the other party had prepared for him earlier, Cheng Jiang asked with a smile.

Li Changlin said with a smile: "It can't be used as a circulating currency, and the circulating currency designated by the government is the Dazhao coin." I went south to Jiangzhou to trade this time, and exchanged all the Dazhao coins you like in my hand for gold and silver. When I turn back, and then exchange the Cityda Zhao coins, there will be a certain price difference. ”

In addition, merchants and civilians were encouraged to exchange gold and silver for the city's Dazhao coins. Therefore, these gold and silver were still very popular among merchants. Of course, the government did not strictly prohibit the circulation of gold and silver, but the government taxed money, not gold and silver. ”

As soon as Li Changlin said this, Cheng Jiang understood that the Dazhao coins had beautiful appearance, standard content, and wide circulation, so they naturally became the first choice of businessmen. And for the South, it's a rarity. Therefore, many southern merchants are willing to see gold and silver exchanged for Da Zhao coins, and even the King of Qi cannot stop this. In addition, the exchange of coins, of course, also has its profits.

On the sea, Cheng Jiang saw naval warships flying the flag of Zhao Jun patrolling back and forth, and from time to time there were navy warships dragging those seriously damaged sea ships to escort some merchant ships to the ports in the north and south. In addition, on some warships, Cheng Jiang also saw some ordinary sailors.

"This is a naval warship rescuing a shipwrecked ship, and those ordinary sailors on the warship are only some merchant sailors and some businessmen who have fallen overboard." Li Changlin explained to Cheng Jiang with a smile.

"Admiral? How could they still do these things? Cheng Jiang was a little surprised. In the south, those Qi soldiers who do not embarrass the people are good, and where will they help them. Of course, if you pay huge benefits, ordinary people and businessmen will not be able to enjoy it.

Li Changlin said proudly to Cheng Jiang: "In Zhao State, this is a very common thing. Even on weekdays, when they encounter shipwrecked ships, they will also help. Don't say that the naval officers, that is, the government armies and town soldiers on the land, will do this. Li Changlin's proud expression seemed to be telling Cheng Jiang from the south about his excellent performance.

Not long after Li Changlin finished speaking, a Zhao Jun naval warship approached and asked if there was any need for assistance. Seeing this, Cheng Jiang began to be more and more surprised and interested in Zhao Guo.

As he saw more and more people being dragged by naval warships, and more and more businessmen and sailors being rescued by warships, Cheng Jiang realized that this natural disaster was more serious than he thought.

The gale was slightly weaker, but it did not stop completely, and Cheng Jiang's sea ships transported a lot of goods, and they did not dare to move too fast. At the same time, he didn't dare to get too far from the coast, so he kept going north along the coastline, of course, Cheng Jiang also wanted to see the situation after the natural disaster.

All the way north, Cheng Jiang did not expect that this wind disaster would be so serious, and all the vegetation along the coast had been destroyed by the wind. As for the land along the coast, it is even more devastating and unbearable. There are hardly intact houses to be seen along the road, almost all of them are destroyed. From afar, you can see that the coastline and the coastal line are all traces of the tide backflow.

However, in the eastern part of Jiangdu Mansion, Cheng Jiang's sea ship was stopped by Zhao Military Officer's Mansion. Of course, it was not because they had done something illegal, but that their goods had been purchased by the government. The grain and medicinal herbs available on the ship were purchased by the government at market prices. In addition, the government also entrusted them to the north to transport grain for the government. After all, the rainstorm has just stopped, and the land route is not necessarily easy to walk, and the sea route is not as fast as the sea route.

Cheng Jiang accepted the government's request, but he himself did not act with the fleet anymore, but was ready to stay in the eastern region of Jiangdu Mansion to take a look, and as for the ship, it was handed over to the other members of the Cheng family on the ship. Almost all of his goods have been purchased by the government, and the rest have also been bought by Li Changlin. Cheng Jiang just wanted to take a look at the situation of Zhao Guo's governance at this moment, especially at this moment, he could see the true inside story of Zhao Guo.

Cheng Jiang went ashore with old sailors with experience in the north under the escort of several family members, and walked deeper, along the way were all kinds of remnants of the wind and waves, not far from the coast, Cheng Jiang saw a large number of victims under the organization of the government to build temporary shacks, divided into regional management. The food and medicine that had been taken from his ship were now being transported here and relieved to the refugees. Not far away, Cheng Jiang also saw some drowned corpses, all of which had been covered with straw mats by the government, waiting to be buried.

"You didn't go north with your fleet?" Just as Cheng Jiang was looking around, a hearty voice sounded in his ears, and Cheng Jiang looked up and saw that it was a local official who had purchased grain goods from him before.

"I've seen adults, Xiaomin is from Jiangzhou in the south, this is the first time to go north, and now I hear about natural disasters, and I have a heart. Adults, the small people obeyed the favor of King Zhao under Xuzhou, exempted from all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and exempted from three years of field tax. Xuzhou has had a bumper harvest in recent years, is there no grain in the place? ”

"Haha...... Do you know that the land of Xuzhou is building Chi Road and Shu Army River, and the use of various items is very large, even if a lot of food is purchased from the people, such a natural disaster, to treat the people, the materials needed are not a few. In addition, all the prefectures and counties in the eastern part of Xuzhou were affected by the disaster, and there were also many people who needed to be treated. And because of the rainfall, the road is difficult to travel, and even if it can be transported from various local governments, it is not an easy task. The official explained with a smile, not at all prejudiced because the other party was just an ordinary businessman. It is also because of this that Cheng Jiang dared to talk to these officials face to face, if he was in Jiangzhou, he would never ask so much.

After a pause, Cheng Jiang asked with a little solemnity: "However, the local government buys grain from the maritime merchants, and also entrusts the maritime merchants to transport large quantities of grain, so won't it ......?" he said, pointing to the sky.

The official smiled: "Naturally, I don't dare on weekdays, but this is a natural disaster, and it is regarded as the emergency right of the local government." In addition, if you act like this, you will also be supervised by the Jinyi Guard of the secret guard system and inspected by the inspector Yushi sent by the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so naturally there will be no surprises. ”

It was learned from the other party that the government had already dispatched local officials and county soldiers to inform the people in various places to avoid natural disasters when the weather changed greatly, and in addition, because of the timely assistance of the government, there were not many people who died from natural disasters along the coast. Compared with Jiangzhou, Cheng Jiang suddenly felt that compared with the Zhao State, the Qi army where he was located was one in the sky and the other in the ground.

Cheng Jiang even saw that in some places, it was not the government that was organizing disaster relief, but businessmen and big clans in some places. They brought food and clothing to help the people in need. Seeing this situation, Cheng Jiang felt a little surprised. You must know that openly organizing disaster relief without being an official is definitely a taboo thing, and it can even be charged with conspiracy. But here, without the permission of the government, they have organized people to treat refugees in various places. This is simply not possible in the south.

"It is no wonder that so many southern merchants have moved north one after another, quietly moving their family property out and into the territory of Zhao. It was the fair status of these merchants in the Zhao State with others that was enough to make people happy to settle here. It seems that my Cheng family should also think about whether to move elsewhere. Cheng Jiang saw many businessmen laughing and talking with local government officials and county soldiers, and he couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts in his heart.

Cheng Jiang knew that such a situation was impossible in Jiangzhou and in the entire Qi army. Now that Xuzhou has suffered a disaster, the losses suffered must be not small, but the casualties are certainly not many. In the South, this is simply impossible. In fact, he didn't know that the northern part of Yangzhou was also hit by this typhoon.

The situation of the disaster in the eastern part of Xuzhou naturally quickly spread to Luoyang and to Zhao Xun's ears. Zhao Xun immediately ordered the Xuzhou government to immediately pacify the people and rescue the victims. In addition, Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou and other surrounding areas of Xuzhou were ordered to help the Xuzhou government to help the victims.

In addition, the Jinyi Guard, the Flying Eagle Guard and the Shadow Guard among the secret guards were all dispatched to supervise the disaster relief situation in Xuzhou, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate also sent inspectors to supervise the disaster relief. In serious cases or troublemakers, they shall be summarily executed.

Zhao Xun also ordered that the merchants, landlords, clans and ordinary people who assisted the government in disaster relief this time would be given heavy rewards, and their names would be listed on the merit tablets in various parts of Xuzhou and remembered by the people.

In addition, Lu Ziliang, the right secretary of the central government, and Feng Ziming, the left capital, went to Xuzhou in person and were fully responsible for the disaster relief in Xuzhou. In the land of Xuzhou, disaster relief is the priority, and the rest are light.

Cheng Jiang walked around Xuzhou and watched it again, and was deeply surprised by the swiftness of the Zhao government's actions and the initiative to provide disaster relief. At this moment, he realized that the people in the south really knew too little about Zhao State. During these days, Cheng Jiang also saw other merchants and scholars from the south, most of whom also stayed here because of the disaster. Many merchants' goods were purchased directly by the local government, and merchant ships were also chartered by the government. Their understanding of Xuzhou also made many people decide to move their families north.

And those who read are ready to return to the south, and publicize the disaster relief situation in Xuzhou and the changes in Xuzhou this year from the mouths of the people of Xuzhou to the south, hoping that the southern Qi government will also make corresponding measures.

After his fleet transported grain and various supplies for Xuzhou once, Cheng Jiang decided to return and move the Cheng family business to the north. And most of the members of the Cheng family who accompanied him agreed with Cheng Jiang's views. They went north to Qingzhou this time, and in the experience of Qingzhou and the exchanges with other merchants of Zhao State, they got a lot of northern information, and they also thought that the territory of Zhao State was more suitable for them to survive.

Cheng Jiang, who turned back, didn't buy too many things, and of course, he couldn't conduct normal business in Xuzhou at the moment. However, he carried a lot of southern merchants and scholars who were ready to return.

However, Cheng Jiang and the accompanying passengers did not expect that the storm would have such a big impact, and the entire eastern region of Yangzhou also suffered natural disasters. The eastern coast of Yangzhou, like Xuzhou in the north, has long been damaged by the wind. The shores are devastated and unbearable. The villages along the coast could still be seen as they headed north, but after a few days of windstorms, they no longer existed.

In order to disembark the passengers on board, Cheng Jiang's sea vessels landed in Qiantang, a port in the eastern part of Yuhang Province, where the once prosperous port is now scattered, and a large number of refugees have gathered within a few dozen miles of the port north and south. Cheng Jiang and the others who were waiting on land, even on both sides of the road along the way, could see all kinds of scars and drowned corpses destroyed by the wind and waves, and the more they looked at it, the more chilling it became.

Looking at those refugees who were homeless, had no food to eat, and had blue faces, but had no officials to manage them, Cheng Jiang and the others all turned blue. In the north, such a situation is simply impossible to see.

One of the passengers, Jiang Ming, a scholar, is a person from a township dozens of miles north of Qiantang, and this time he invited Cheng Jiang and others to return home together and take a break. Jiang Ming's family is also a landlord's family, so he thought that his family would naturally be able to escape this difficulty, but after he returned home, everyone only found that there was a ruin here, and there was sludge and debris swept by the waves everywhere, and the former township no longer existed today.

With the help of everyone, on a slightly higher mound in the west of Qinglin Town, Jiang Ming and the others met the hundreds of people from Qinglin Town who had gathered there, that is, Jiang Ming's former neighbors. At this moment, they have all become refugees, and each hungry face is yellow and thin, and they shout that they should not be able to do it every day.

"Uncle Lin, what about the others? What about my parents? Jiang Ming looked at the fact that there were only more than 100 people here, and asked one of them in his forties.

"Jiang Ming? You're back! They were all washed in by the flood, they all died, and their bodies floated into the sea, and we were left with no idea if we would survive...... Your parents...... Your parents didn't escape either, only your younger brother Jiang Yun survived, and now he and the people from the town have gone to the county for help. The middle-aged man with unkempt hair also wanted to cry without tears, and said to Jiang Ming in a hoarse voice.

"Xiaohai, let someone get some food from the ship. Remember, don't let anyone see it! Cheng Jiang instructed the family next to him with a solemn face.

"Jiang Ming, mourn!" Others also comforted.

"That's all there is to a town? That's thousands! It's been almost ten days, hasn't the government been in charge? Jiang Ming asked with red eyes.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and said, "The government? Will the government take care of these? They will only stretch out their hands, and the south of the towns and villages around us will ask the government for help, and they will not pay attention to it at all. And the food distributed is simply not enough to help so many refugees. In just a few days, in the surrounding area of more than 100 miles, 20,000 or 30,000 people have died. ”

"Scourge! Ha ha...... Where is this just a natural disaster? Damn the government! It is quite simple to levy taxes and pay food every year, but why can't we simply help the victims? It's a human life! The government, what is the use of it? Jiang Ming roared angrily.

Cheng Jiang sighed and said to Jiang Ming: "The government here can't be counted on, I want to return south, Jiang Ming, you let these victims go south to Jiangzhou with my fleet." I just asked, the south side is much better than here, and it's not as serious......"

Jiang Ming said bitterly: "Then thank you Cheng Yuanwai!" It is also a coastal zone, and it is also a disaster-stricken area, why is the gap between the north and the south so big? Is the gap between the two governments so big? ”

Later, Jiang Ming's younger brother Jiang Yun and others also returned from the county seat, and as before, they went to ask for help but were not received by the government. For these victims, food is needed most now. After all, there is nothing else to say, and if there is nothing to eat, you will starve to death.

"I want the people of Yangzhou to know how the Zhao government in the north governs the locality, how it treats the victims, and how it treats the affected people." Seeing that the villagers in the past were rejoicing after seeing the food brought by Cheng Jiang's family, Jiang Ming looked coldly at the southern Qiantang County and said.

Seeing that no one else was paying attention, Cheng Jiang said in a deep voice: "Jiang Ming, just say it yourself, don't really do it." If the local government is informed, the consequences will be unimaginable. Otherwise, you will go south with me, and when I have arranged the affairs of the family, you will go north with me. You scholars are exactly the talents that Zhao Guo needs, and you will definitely be able to gain a foothold in Zhao State in the north. ”

"Thank you! I know what I'm supposed to do, and I know what we're going to do now! Jiang Ming said in a deep voice, he naturally knew that Cheng Jiang was worried that he would anger the local government by doing this, after all, spreading the gap between the two places would definitely make the people here even more dissatisfied, and maybe there would be a big mess. However, in just a few days, his family was ruined, and Jiang Ming had already made up his mind.

"I don't want to go against the government, but these dead refugees make me have to do this, and my dead parents and family need me to do the same. Since the Qi army is unwilling to pay attention to the lives of the people, someone needs to wake them up. If even the people under his rule can't be treated well, how can the Qi army be supported by the people, and how can it accept the people's taxes without guilt? ”