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Chapter 307 Placement ()

Magistrate Cai spent half a day temporarily resettling all the hungry people. That night, they sent food according to the number of hungry people in each household. Even the rent for a pound of grain was given away.

There were more than 400 hungry people, with a total of 92 households. One village could not accommodate them, so they had to live in three villages.

Early the next morning, Magistrate Cai personally went to these three villages and visited each house one by one. First, praise the people who are willing to accept the hungry people to stay, and then comfort the hungry people who have just arrived and are panic-stricken.

In the eyes of all the county magistrates, Magistrate Cai was ugly and the best at flattering the princess. But in the eyes of the people, Magistrate Cai is the best magistrate in the world.

Which county magistrate is willing to put down his dignity and cherish the people as he cherishes his children?
The people of Li County never thought Magistrate Cai was ugly. In their eyes, their Lord Cai was very good-looking.

"Your name is Shi Dayong!" Magistrate Cai also has an ability that is difficult for ordinary people to achieve. He can remember a person's face and name after meeting him and saying a few words. When he arrived at Li Zheng's house, he opened his mouth and called out Shi Dayong's name.

Shi Dayong exclaimed excitedly, and reflexively wanted to kneel down again.

Magistrate Cai chuckled and stretched out his hand to stop him: "No need to kneel, just stand still. By the way, let me ask you, can you farm?"

Shi Dayong immediately straightened his back and replied: "Sir, I have been working in the fields since I was a child. One person can cultivate more than ten acres of land."

Farmers who know how to farm and are willing to work are great!
Magistrate Cai's eyes became more kind: "We have a lot of wasteland in Li County. You have to eat for a few days to build up your strength. When the time comes, I will ask people to send wooden plows and hoes. Food seeds will also be provided by the county government. You Don’t worry.”

Shi Dayong rubbed his hands in excitement: "I don't have to wait a few days, I can go to work today."

Stone Mother and Stone Wife on the side also said: "Although we are women, our strength is not small, and we can still go to the ground."

Magistrate Cai smiled and said, "If you can't do it, just rest for four or five days before doing anything else."

The two girls, Danni and Erni, who were so thin that they almost lost their looks, saw Magistrate Cai smiling, and they boldly interrupted: "Your Excellency, we can also work in the fields."

Magistrate Cai looked at the two yellow-haired girls with pity: "You two are too thin. Take good care of yourself. When you have strength, you can help your parents with some light work."

After a pause, he said to Shi Dayong: "No matter how hard it is, you still haven't left your two daughters behind. It's a good job!"

Magistrate Cai naturally understood what everyone could see. When registering the list yesterday, without exception, there were old people and children.

Shi Dayong's eyes turned red again, and he whispered: "To be honest, sir, on the way to escape from the desert, everyone was starving. Some people sold their children and daughters. If no one bought them, and they were so hungry, they took their own children and Replace it with someone else’s…”

What will happen after the replacement?
Shi Dayong couldn't talk anymore. Thinking of the terrible scenes he had seen on the way to escape, he cried in pain: "I don't want to change my daughter, and I don't want to eat meat from other people's pots."

"I thought at that time that if there was no way for the whole family to survive, we would go to hell together."

"On the way out, you can see dead people and bones everywhere. Many people fell down while walking and could never stand up again. Everyone really had nothing to eat, so they ate tree roots, grass, and some Guanyin soil. I ate until I was so full that I was stuffed to death.”

"Later on, more and more people ate the flesh of dead people. Some people were fine after eating it, and some people died after eating it. When I became hungry, I thought about just eating it. It's too difficult to live. , We couldn’t survive at all. If we hadn’t met Commander Qin by chance that day, our family of five would have starved to death.”

"Sir, why doesn't the court save us?"

Magistrate Cai could not answer this heavy question. The high-ranking officials in the court were fighting for power and profit at the critical moment of collecting grain to relieve the people.

The general from the left at the border asked for high military expenses. The military expenditures were withheld when they left the Ministry of Household Affairs, and when they arrived at the Ministry of War, they had to be less. Some of them had to be sent to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and finally they were sent to the military...

No one really cares about the poor people who are suffering from disaster and starving.

The cries of Shi Dayong's family echoed in our ears for a long time, which was heartbreaking.

After a busy day, Magistrate Cai returned to the county office in the evening and wrote a thick letter to the princess.

……

"...The drought in Bingzhou was the most severe. The people fled the famine one after another. The fields were starved to death, and the fields were bare for thousands of miles. The tragic situation of giving up children and eating them was everywhere. When I heard the hungry people talk about it, I felt unbearably angry. If the whole government was dedicated to providing relief, why would it be like this? ”

"In the eyes of superiors, what are common people? They are not even as good as cattle and horses."

"There is a ball of anger in my heart, which is really difficult to calm down. I know that the princess has nothing to do. No matter how rich Nanyang County is, it is only one county, and what it can do is limited. However, if you do it, it is better than nothing."

"The ninety-two families of hungry people sent by Commander Qin are all from Bingzhou. Commander Qin selected them because they have not left behind their wives, children, young and old, and are responsible and responsible. I will definitely settle them well and let them take root in Li County. "

"I know that my abilities are limited. I have no ability to take care of the affairs of the court, and I cannot save so many hungry people. At least, I can settle down all the hungry people sent by Commander Qin..."

This letter is six thick pages long.

Jiang Shaohua sat at the desk and read the letter slowly. After reading the letter, there was a long silence.

Chen Jinyu, who was accompanying him, saw that the princess looked unhappy, and her mood became heavy. He asked softly: "Princess, Magistrate Cai wrote a letter specifically. Could it be that he has encountered trouble in settling the hungry people?"

Jiang Shaohua shook his head: "That's not true. The hungry people recruited by Commander Qin were carefully selected, and they were all honest and responsible people. These hungry people just wanted to survive, and they were all peaceful and honest when they arrived in Li County. What a mess."

"It's Magistrate Cai. He heard the hungry people talk about the tragic situation after the drought in Bingzhou. He was so angry that he wrote to me specifically. After reading it, I felt bad."

With that said, he handed the letter to Chen Jinyu.

Chen Jinyu read the letter quickly, anger and injustice flashed in his black eyes: "Now the imperial court is busy increasing troops to fight and quell the Pingzhou rebellion. How can there be money and food to help the people who have suffered from drought."

Jiang Shaohua sighed softly: "Yes! If you want to do something, you must first take power. From this point of view, party struggle is simply unavoidable."

"I only hope that after His Royal Highness ascends the throne, he can quickly take control of the court." Chen Jinyu whispered: "The disaster of party strife will be eliminated as soon as possible."

Jiang Shaohua's mind flashed back to the prince's young face, and when he thought about the chaos in the capital when the new emperor died unexpectedly in his previous life, his heart became heavy.

"Sister Jinyu, I want to write a reply."

Chen Jinyu responded and went to study ink.