When Li Wei was busy making friction in Hongnong, Liu He had already left Yecheng, he changed into a simple Ge cloth shirt, and only took some agile guards, went deep into every village in Jizhou, and personally inspected the implementation of Jizhou's civil disaster relief.

Recently, the news from all over the country is not optimistic, although the grain transported from Youzhou and Liaozhou has solved the problem of eating for the victims near Jizhou, but God seems to have made up his mind not to let the people's life be better, the continuous drought has been eight months, and many places have not dropped a drop of water so far, even if the people in these places have surplus food, but because drinking water has become a problem, they have to drag their families to move to places with water sources.

On this day, Liu He and his entourage came to the side of Jizhou's largest water, that is, the mainland.

The mainland has a long history, and the Yellow River has flowed through the mainland several times. It is located in the western part of the central Hebei Plain Taihang Mountain alluvial fan and the Yellow River old road junction depression, for the confluence of Zhangbei, Lunan water, the water surface is vast, there is a radius of forty or fifty miles wide. Because of the dense rivers around the mainland, the surrounding counties such as Renxian, Nanhe, and Pingxiang can produce abundant grain in normal years, which is much more abundant than other places.

Liu He wore a pair of straw sandals, walking in a heavy mood on the bottom of the Ze that had dried up for months, and from time to time he had to jump over too wide and deep cracks.

"Zitai, with your eyes, how wide is there left on the surface of this continent?"

Tian Chou, who was accompanying Liu He, replied in a deep voice: "It's only seventeen or eighteen miles wide, compared with when the rain is sufficient, I'm afraid it has shrunk by more than seventy percent." ”

Liu He squatted down, pulled the dark brown soil with his hands, and after a while, he actually turned out a few lake mussel shells that had long been dried out of the mud.

"Alas, I think I haven't done anything bad in these years, why did I just go to Yecheng this time, and the people of Jizhou have to manage the drought so strictly?" Liu He casually fiddled with the shells of the lake mussels, and muttered to himself a little depressedly.

Tian Chou comforted Liu He and said: "Why should the son blame himself, this once-in-a-century drought has not only endangered Jizhou. Nowadays, except for some places in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, there is abundant rain, and the entire Han seems to be roasted on top of the fire, how can the people of Jizhou blame you. ”

"It is said that we still have food to help the hungry people from all over the country, but once the food is exhausted and the disaster is still not abated, it will really be a cocoon and self-restraint at that time. Millions of displaced people...... It is enough to destroy the order that we have managed to operate in Youzhou and Jizhou. I don't believe that people talk about order and rules when they are hungry, and it is terrible when people can eat their own kind......"

Liu He shook his head. Trying to drive the horrific picture of cannibalism out of mind.

"Childe, in order to prevent and respond to the continued deterioration of the disaster situation, have you ordered all localities to suspend grain shipments just in case?"

"No need. The people who poured to Jizhou and Youzhou from all over the country came for the reputation of my Liu He, and now that there is still food, we can't let these victims run out of food. If these didn't die on the road, but starved to death on my Liu He's territory, wouldn't it make the world's heroes laugh off their big teeth! ”

Tian Chou saw that the corners of Liu He's mouth were blistering when he was anxious about disaster relief, and he couldn't bear it in his heart. So he turned his heart sideways, and said: "Childe, in fact, Youzhou and Jizhou can still squeeze out millions of stone of grain, but it takes some hands and feet. It's even going to be done by cutting off some heads. ”

Liu He was no longer the reckless hairy young man he was back then, and he immediately heard the true meaning from Tian Chou's vague words. "Zitai, do you mean to let me attack the big landlords in Youzhou and Jizhou?"

Tian Chou said hatefully: "Since they are unwilling to share their worries for their son, then why should they accommodate? They would rather sit idly by and watch the poor people sell their sons and daughters. But hoarding food and not selling it is obviously extreme selfishness, so why should the son pity them? Anyway, these big households are like leeks in the field. Cut off a stubble this year, and it won't be long before another stubble pops up. ”

Listening to Tian Chou's words, Liu He was silent, but in his mind, he remembered the great man who relied on the peasant movement to build a new country in later generations. In that great land movement, eventually all land was nationalized, the landlord class was completely wiped out, and many wealthy families fell into bad luck because the amount of land reached the standard of rich peasants.

Could it be that he really wants to follow the practice of the great man and take advantage of this huge crisis to launch a huge campaign to fight local tyrants and distribute grain in Liaozhou, Youzhou and Jizhou?

Liu He suddenly thought that when the natural disasters occurred in the next three years, the landlord class had been wiped out at that time, but the number of people dying unnaturally due to hunger in many counties and townships across the country had reached an astonishing 30 percent.

Liu He secretly reminded himself in his heart that the era he lived in was only the early stage of feudalism, and it was completely different from the country that had undergone the transformation of new democracy in later generations.

Tian Chou stood silently beside Liu He, quietly waiting for Liu He to make a decision. Guo Jia's body has always been relatively weak, this time Weifu did not take him with him in a private visit to Liu He, Tian Chou can be civil and martial, and he is also an intelligence chief, so this time he is personally responsible for Liu He's security work, and at the same time acts as Liu He's secretary and assistant on the way.

Liu He was tired of squatting, got up and stretched, and then said to Tian Chou: "Pass my order, within three days, the county orders of Nanhe County, Pingxiang County, and Ren County, and the patriarchs of the big clans with more than 3,000 people in the county, go to Boluojin to discuss matters, and those who fail to arrive within the time limit will bear the consequences!" ”

Liu He's sentence of "bear the consequences" is not a joke, now north of the Yellow River, he is a veritable "Emperor of the Soil", holding hundreds of thousands of murderous tigers in his hands, if anyone makes Liu He unhappy, I am afraid that it will be the end of the death of the clan in an instant.

Tian Chou sent his subordinates to quickly send Liu He's intentions to the three counties, and the county orders of these counties immediately sent all the officials in the county to the countryside, and notified the qualified big households to immediately send real people to Bo Luojin.

Boluojin is located on the southeast corner of the mainland, and the Zhangshui flows from south to north from here, and across the river is the Jingxian of Anping State. Liu He was still north of Ren County when he made his decision that day, and he set a time three days later, which was calculated that he could arrive in Boluojin all the way to Boluojin after three days.

Three days later, Liu He drove to Boluojin, and the relevant personnel waited in Jinkou in advance, but none of them were left behind.

Liu He endured the scorching heat, changed into the clothes of a majestic and domineering hussar general, walked to a temporary erection of an earthen platform three feet above the ground, and then said solemnly to the more than 100 heads of households who came to discuss the matter: "Everyone, I will recruit everyone here today just for one thing, that is, to borrow grain!" Maybe you will think that I am a hypocrisy, obviously coercing everyone to come here, but I still have to play the slogan of borrowing food. General Ben doesn't like to beat around the bush when he speaks, so today I simply opened the skylight and said something bright, and after I finished speaking, you will make a decision. ”

"First of all, I would like to explain to you why I borrowed food this time. The people who can come here today are all big families, and in recent years, they have paid their food on time in accordance with the requirements of the local government, and have not done anything angry and resentful. It stands to reason that I should not have opened my mouth and asked you to borrow food, after all, there are thousands of mouths behind you to eat and drink, and if you lend me food, then your people will be hungry. It's just that everyone also has to understand the relationship between a small family and everyone, the family behind you is a small family in my opinion, and this Julu County, this Jizhou is everyone, there is a way that the small river is full of water and the big river, on the other hand, when the big river has no water, the small river will be dry! You can look at the Zhangshui in front of you, now the river is not more than ten zhang wide, the water depth is only a few feet, and in the rainy years, this river is nearly 100 zhang wide and several zhang deep! ”

"This drought lasted for a long time, rare for a hundred years, this general has mobilized a large number of grain from Youzhou and Liaozhou to the south, but the road is far away, it takes too long, and the consumption on the road is also heavy, so I wonder if I should borrow a batch of grain from your clan to use it first, and then send it back to you after the grain from the north is transported. General Ben hereby promises that the grain borrowed from you will not only be returned in full, but will also increase the interest by 10% for each year of arrears, in short, you will definitely not suffer in vain. ”

"This time to borrow grain, I don't want to force you to bankrupt, as long as you go back, you can take out forty percent of the food stored at home, and the sergeant who came to collect the grain will hold an IOU written by the general himself, as long as you get the IOU, you can put your heart in your stomach, don't worry that I will repay the debt!"

"That's all I say, if I have more words, General Ben won't say anything, I still have to go to Anping to borrow food all the way, you should hurry up and go back to prepare, it won't be long before soldiers come to the door to borrow food from you."

After Liu He said this, he turned around and left, leaving a group of silent squires stunned in place.

In Nanhe County, in the largest Xujiawu Fort, the head of the Xu family has just returned from Boluojin.

"What, you want us to hand over forty percent of the grain? Liu Shiren is really shameless, seeing that this drought doesn't know when it will end, if we hand over the grain at this time, what will the clansmen eat at that time? An old clan elder roared.

"Where is this borrowing grain, it is clearly a snatching of grain without a knife! Our Xujiawu Fort has been in business for decades, and it is strong inside and out, so it is difficult to be afraid of the officers and soldiers! We can't give this food! Another Xu family elder also shouted.

"Let's go and contact a few other families in the county, and secretly agree to fight the grain together, I don't believe that Liu He dares to offend the public!"

"Shut up! A group of rat-eyed guys, if you really do what you say, the Xu family will be in a catastrophe in an instant! Have you forgotten how Liu Shiren's subordinates collected grain in Youzhou a few years ago? Zhao Jiabao was slaughtered after being broken by Zhao Zilong! The old patriarch overrode the public opinion and decided to grit his teeth and borrow food. (To be continued......)