The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

The victims saw the county magistrate leading a young man who looked richer than them up the mountain, and they also saw several guards with swords following him, who also looked rich. They all stood up and looked at them expectantly.

Dai Rong happily introduced them: "This is Lord Xue, the Inspector of Jiangnan. Lord Xue will go to the capital to meet His Majesty on our behalf and ask for relief grain on our behalf."

When the people heard this, they all knelt on the ground. Soon, the whole mountain was filled with people kneeling.

Xue Shao tried to help the leader, but he couldn't do it at all. He could only lift up his robe and kneel down in front of them, solemnly promising: "Xue will do his best."

At night, Xue Shao and his companions, along with Dai Rong, camped at the foot of the mountain.

Dai Rong's old mother was placed on the top of the mountain by him, while his wife and children lived with him at the foot of the mountain. He handed a bowl of tea to Xue Shao and said with a smile: "I don't have any rice or even tea leaves here, so I can only treat you to tree branch soup."

Xue Shao sniffed it and said with a smile: "Plantain, Brother Dai, have you been coughing recently?"

Dai Rong smiled and said, "For epidemic prevention, if there is not enough Atractylodes, we can only use Plantain instead. This thing is everywhere."

Xue Shao sipped the drink and looked at Mrs. Dai. Seeing that she had just gently coaxed the child to sleep and put him on the blanket, he retracted his gaze and asked, "Why don't you send them to the top of the mountain?"

Dai Rong: "Several officials from the county government were washed away during the disaster relief work, and there are not many left. They live with me at the foot of the mountain, and the people feel at ease. When they feel at ease, they can avoid many problems."

Xue Shao: "Now that the flood has subsided, we can pack up the county and move back."

Dai Rong frowned: "Without food, we will get hungry easily if we move, so it is better to stay still than to move."

"Idleness breeds distracting thoughts, and distracting thoughts breed trouble," Xue Shao said, "Let them work, let them be tired, and it will also give them hope."

"Master Dai, using your family as hostages will only bring temporary peace. Such an exchange of interests can be easily broken. It is better to let everyone struggle to find a way out," Xue Shao whispered, "You must believe in the people and believe that people's will to survive can overcome many disasters in the world."

Dai Rong became nervous: "Master Xue, our relief grain..."

Xue Shao raised his hand to stop him from speaking, and said softly: "I will try my best to beg, but you must be prepared for the worst."

Dai Rong opened his mouth wide, completely stunned.

Xue Shao ignored him and waved to Xi Jin: "Open the bundle, I want to write a memorial."

Xijin quickly agreed, opened the bag, and laid out the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

This was the third letter Xue Shao wrote after landing.

The first letter was a letter of apology, and the second letter reported the situation of the Japanese entourage, requesting the court to lift the maritime ban and send troops to Japan to protect the Ming fishermen.

Xue Shao wrote in detail what he saw and heard on his way from Fujian through Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Nanzhili, and asked the emperor to send people to provide disaster relief and comfort the people as soon as possible...

Xue Shao wrote for a long time by the firelight, and the Jinyiwei guards who were guarding him fell asleep with their swords in their arms.

Dai Rong was still sitting by the fire in a daze. He wanted to question Xue Shao, but he didn't dare to open his mouth in front of the people all over the mountain.

He is afraid.

I was afraid that the people would know that there was no news from the capital, and that they might not have any relief grain from the capital...

He thought that he had to find a good time and a suitable place to carefully ask Xue Shao what he meant by what he had just said.
Doesn't everything he said while kneeling on the ground and talking to the people on the mountain just now count?
Many questions popped up in his mind, his emotions were in turmoil, and Dai Rong had a splitting headache, but he was very alert and not sleepy at all.

Xue Shao put away the memorial and the writing brush, walked over to him, patted his shoulder, and said gently, "Go to sleep, it's almost dawn."

Dai Rong looked at him with red eyes. He opened his mouth to speak when he noticed something extra in his sleeve.

He looked down and saw from the exposed corner that it was a folded book.

He was stunned.

Xue Shao was already lying down beside him with his clothes on.

Dai Rong wanted to ask, but then he saw several people who had their eyes closed opened their eyes and looked at him intently.

He immediately swallowed his words and lay down with his clothes on.

Others thought they were guards, but he knew that they were the Imperial Guards.

He realized belatedly that Xue Shao's situation didn't seem to be very good.

Dai Rong covered his face with his hands, tears flowing out from between his fingers. He regretted deeply. If he had known this would happen, he should have written a letter to report Xue Shao and prevented him from going out to sea. Now at least he had a helper.

He slapped himself in the face and cursed himself in his heart, telling himself that you were gloating over other people's misfortune, and that you stood by and watched, and now the arrow is coming back at you, right?
The next morning, Xue Shao did not eat and set off at dawn.

Dai Rong silently sent him three miles away. Neither of them spoke much. They just said "take care" to each other and then parted.

Dai Rong had a lot to say, but the Jinyiwei was following him. He now regretted having said too much last night.

I don't know if those Jinyiwei heard what he said about his plan to seize Changping Warehouse.

Dai Rong watched them walk away, sighed, and lowered his hands. Then he remembered the letter in his sleeve and quickly took it out to look at it.

At first glance, he was stunned, and then tears came out.

"Sir, what's wrong with you?" the captain asked anxiously.

Dai Rong snapped the letter shut, wiped the tears from his face, and choked up, "It's okay, let's go back to the mountain. I'll serve porridge to everyone for breakfast today. After we finish eating, I'll take everyone back to clean up the houses and the county town. We're moving back!"

Dai Rong hid the memorial in his arms. On it was Xue Shao's order to him to open the Changping Warehouse to help the people, and at the end was his official seal.

As an inspector, Xue Shao does have the power to act in an emergency, but...

The probability of being held accountable is as high as 80%. But in this case, Dai Rong's responsibility will be much lighter. At most, he will be dismissed from office, but at least he will not lose his life and can also save his family.

Dai Rong walked back crying. The attendant following behind him felt helpless, as their master seemed to like crying a lot lately.

Xue Shao quickened his pace and rode as fast as he could, but he would still enter the city as soon as he passed it. Even at night, he would knock on the city gate and stay in the homes of ordinary people to inquire about the local disaster situation.

As they walked along, he had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Southern Zhili and other places each suffered losses, but not every place was affected.

Fujian and Zhejiang were mostly hit by strong winds and heavy rains, but they stopped quickly, and combined with last year's Japanese invasion, the disaster seemed serious;
The same is true in Jiangxi, but its greater disaster now is civil unrest.

Xue Shao had not been to Yushan County and did not know the specific situation, but he was roughly certain that due to the strong winds and heavy rains this summer, the areas worst hit were Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture.

These two places are both important grain-producing areas and a land of fish and rice. Xue Shao can already imagine how grain prices in the Jiangnan area will rise this year, and the surrounding areas will also be affected.

If the imperial court cannot exempt taxes, I am afraid that civil unrest will spread from Fujian and Jiangxi.

Farmers are extremely patient. When they are bullied, they will not resist immediately. They will endure, endure, and endure again.

They will only rise up in anger when they can no longer tolerate it.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, they learned to resist;

After Emperor Taizu founded the country, some of them developed ambitions;

But after the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Emperor Taizu's founding of the country, some people still did not learn to treat farmers well, nor did they learn to know when to stop.

Xue Shao kicked the horse's belly, his body half hanging, and increased his speed.

After returning to Sanqing Mountain, Pan Yun and his three companions searched the entire mountain but could not find Wang Feiyin. Even in Fenshui Village at the foot of the mountain, there was no one there.

The four of them came down from the mountain and stood at the entrance of the village, looking at the empty village. They realized belatedly: "It's over~~ Who in the village joined the rebellion?"

The four of them turned around and flew towards the county town.

When we arrived at the city gate, it was exactly noon and the sky was bright.

Yushan County, whose city gates should have been wide open, had them tightly closed. More than a dozen flags were erected on the city walls, and teams of soldiers were patrolling on the walls.

The four of them stopped and looked up at the city wall of Yushan County together.

To be honest, after coming to the county so many times, this was the first time they saw such a solemn Yushan County.

It turns out that the gates of Yushan County can really keep the enemy out;
It turns out that the city wall of Yushan County could really accommodate so many soldiers;

It turns out that there are indeed troops stationed in Yushan County...

The four of them stood there in a daze for a long time.

Tao Yanbai asked worriedly: "Master Junior, if we ask them to open the door, will they open it?"

Pan Yun: "Unless we really become gods, otherwise it won't happen."

Who would believe these four little Taoist priests?

Miaohe: "Why do we have to go in through the city gate? Can't we just fly in?"

Pan Yun: “That’s right!”

After saying this, the four of them turned around and left at the same time, starting to quietly touch the city wall.

The soldier patrolling on the tower frowned, pointed at the road and asked, "Who are those four people? Why are they walking so far away?"

The person next to him took a quick look and said, "Are you villagers? You came to the market, but found that the city gate was not open, so you left?"

"There's a rebellion in the county, how dare the villagers come here?"

"It's normal for villagers to not know about the news delayed in mountain villages. Even if they do know, there are still many who don't understand the seriousness of the situation. It's OK if they leave. Don't worry about it."

Pan Yun and his companions touched a side wall, stuck to it and listened carefully. After confirming that there was no one on the other side, the four of them grabbed the wall like geckos and climbed up, then jumped down.

The four of them climbed over the city wall one after another and landed on the ground. When they looked up, they found that this was still a familiar place.

Grandma Yu and Xiaoliu, who are sponsored by Pan Yun, live in this area.

The four of them hurried over, but saw that the door of the house that Pan Yun had paid for Grandma Yu to build was ajar. It was quiet inside and the surrounding area was quiet too.

Pan Yun's heart sank slightly, and he reached out and pushed the door open.

The yard was in a mess, with shelves collapsed to the ground, dustpans scattered around, nearly one-third of the roof tiles fallen off, and an osmanthus tree uprooted in the corner of the yard.

The leaves of the osmanthus tree are still green, but they have no luster. When I reached out to touch them, most of the leaves had fallen off, obviously they had been away from the soil for a long time.

Miao Zhen took a look at the traces and said, "It should have been pulled up by the strong wind. I heard that Yushan County was also hit by strong winds and heavy rains. It seems that the damage was not light."

Pan Yun stood in the middle of the yard, looking at the empty yard, and couldn't help muttering: "Where are all the people?"

Pan Xiaohei suddenly raised his head and meowed towards a room.

Pan Yun also noticed something different and went back into the house. She pushed open a cabinet, lifted the quilt piled behind it, and saw a child about five years old lying inside. (End of this chapter)