Chapter 62

Zhao Yelan was so busy these days that he didn’t touch the ground. First, he put up notices, reminding the common people to save water, store water properly, stop waste, don’t panic, and don’t drive people away when they see refugees entering the city, guiding them to the shelter.

The charity house hadn’t been used for many years, so Zhao Yelan took the officers and soldiers of the government office to clean it up, specially drew water from a mountain spring, first stored the water, and sent many people to investigate the water source.

Zhao Yelan sent Xiao Gao out again: “After all, Kuang Sheng has slow legs and feet, so he can only check the situation in the nearby area, but further away, we still need someone to find out the most real situation. You can go to Quzhou and Longzhou to have a look. , If you find a disaster, report it to the local government office immediately. By the way, tell them not to reject refugees, but to resettle them properly.”

A day later, Kuang Sheng came back with the latest survey team. His complexion was darkened, his legs were still shaking when he sat down, and his expression was miserable: “The situation is not optimistic. The crops in the nearby area are all dry. There was no one there, and I don’t know where they went.”

“They will definitely come to places with water.” Zhao Yelan found a detailed map of Huaizhou, “Tell me, how many places are there?”

“Thirteen of the fourteen counties in Huaizhou are drought-stricken.” Kuang Sheng said, “The remaining one is almost dry.”

Zhao Yelan frowned, the only remaining place would probably be flooded with refugees from the surrounding area, which might cause disputes. It is obviously unrealistic to let all these refugees squeeze into Huaizhou.

Fortunately, Yan Mingting left enough manpower for him.

“We have to set up disaster relief sites as soon as possible.”

At this moment, Yin Pinglu also rushed back exhaustedly, filled half a pot of water as soon as he entered the house, and reported: “People in two counties have reported crops, but they were not taken seriously. I have already reprimanded those two county magistrates, and they expressed their willingness to take their crimes and make meritorious deeds and give up all their belongings to cooperate with the disaster relief, and the other counties have promised to cooperate with adults.”

“Thank you.” Zhao Yelan unfolded the map, “You are more familiar with Huaizhou, let’s see where it is more appropriate to set up disaster relief sites.”

Kuang Sheng divided five districts according to the distribution of rivers. On this basis, Yin Pinglu refined the population and finally determined six disaster relief sites.

Zhao Yelan took half of the disaster money and sent people to transport steamed buns and water to the six places respectively. And continue to expand outward to ensure that refugees can smoothly reach other places for refuge.

At night, many refugees suddenly poured in from outside the city. Zhao Yelan stood on the city wall and said, “Take these people to the charity house first, and register them in the register. Don’t miss any of them.”

The people in Huaizhou were quite obedient at first, but after seeing the refugees squeeze in in the next few days, they began to get emotional. The living resources that originally belonged to them are now taken away by these people. Who knows the next drought Could it be Huaizhou? Then how will they save themselves?

“My lord, it’s too bad, someone threw something into the dormitory!”

Zhao Yelan just came back from the outside, and before he could catch his breath, he rushed to Yishe without stopping.

Noisy sounds could be heard from a long distance away, and the outside was full of people, most of whom came to watch the excitement, but they invisibly fueled the flames of the perpetrators. Originally, it was just throwing an egg, and the people around applauded it, but gradually it turned into smashing stones inward. The people inside also began to insult loudly, and the two sides almost fought, and the officers and soldiers guarding the door could hardly control the scene.

“Stop it all!” Zhao Yelan roared, and the soldiers behind him rushed in immediately, and the people on both sides separated, but the scolding didn’t stop.

Just as Zhao Yelan walked to the door, a stone flew over and hit him on the forehead, and blood flowed down the eyebrows, reflecting his pale face.

“My lord! Are you okay?” Yin Pinglu stepped forward in panic, and hurriedly sent someone to find the doctor.

The crowd fell silent for an instant.

Zhao Yelan pressed his forehead, looked at the blood rubbed on his fingers, and sneered, “Very well, you are capable. First, you squeeze out foreigners, and then you murder court officials. You want to see the King of Hades sooner, right?”

Everyone was speechless, and after a long while, someone from the crowd replied: “Master Zhao, we didn’t mean to hit you.”

“Is it unintentional to hit them?” Zhao Yelan sternly said, “Whoever strikes first, come out!”

Everyone was silent.

“Okay, let’s cover each other, come on, and arrest them all!”

The crowd looked left and right in a panic, and finally, someone stood up: “A man who does the work and the other is responsible for it, I did it! If you want to kill or cut, you can do whatever you want!”

“He’s tall and big, so what’s wrong with him?” Zhao Yelan covered his forehead with a handkerchief, stepped forward and looked him around.

“My lord, don’t kill him. His wife passed away, and there are only a few children left in the family. How can the children live in this kind of life.” Someone said.

“Yeah, he was just impulsive, sir, just let him go, we will never mess around again in the future.”

Everyone, you helped me to plead for love one sentence at a time.

“Did I say I was going to kill him?” Although Zhao Yelan was very angry, it is easy to have extreme emotions when facing life and death, so he should not execute people lightly, so as not to arouse the negative emotions of the masses. He asked, “Would you like to join the Self-Defense Forces?”

The man was taken aback: “What is the Self-Defense Force?”

Just as Zhao Yelan was about to speak, he felt a headache and couldn’t speak while pressing the wound. Yin Pinglu stepped forward and said for him: “Master Zhao has been looking for ways for everyone these two days, and he found a relatively remote water source. The journey is a bit long, and it takes a day to go back and forth, so some manpower is needed to carry the water. But it’s not for nothing, the government will pay these people twice the wages.”

“Is there really such a good thing?” When the people around heard it, they all cheered up. This is a great opportunity to make money.

Yin Pinglu: “Yes, those who want to go come and register with me. Those who are strong and able to endure hardships and stand hard work are given priority.”

Soon Yin Pinglu was surrounded by the crowd.

The self-defense force is actually to evacuate the population pressure in the city, and transport young and middle-aged people outside to transport water sources. If it goes well, it can really bring back some needed water.

Zhao Yelan was escorted back to the government office first. The doctor had already arrived. While dressing up, he looked at Gao Tan who had just rushed back: “There is no obvious drought in Quzhou and Longzhou?”

“Yes, it is close to the Yellow River, and the crops have not been affected.” Xiao Gaohui reported.

Zhao Yelan finally breathed a sigh of relief: “The evacuation of the refugees can begin.”

But there is still a problem, the money is running out. The disaster silver originally sent to Huaizhou was only 38,000 taels, plus the silver originally stored in the warehouse, the total was about 40,000 taels.

These days, the supplies at the six disaster relief sites, including the shelter, are almost exhausted, and now that the additional expenses of the Self-Defense Force have been added, the money can barely last until tomorrow.

The height of the lake in the city has been reduced by half, the elegance of boating on the lake has been replaced by buckets, and all the teahouses have been closed. The street was so hot that everyone basically stayed at home and didn’t go out, and only came out at night to let the wind go.

And in the charity house, there is even more negative emotion of waiting to die in a group.

The disaster is terrible, but the loss of will is also terrible. So Zhao Yelan wanted to cheer up this group of people.

Most of the people who went to join the Self-Defense Force were natives of Huaizhou, and those refugees only wanted to have a stutter.

Zhao Yelan announced another message to the people in the dormitory, the next meals will only be semi-finished products, and those who are willing to help cook the fire will get double wages. The embroidery workshop is not yet closed, those who are handy can apply to join, and those who don’t know it will be given a certain amount of subsidies if they are willing to learn.

At this moment, many women and children found work. The charity house had steamed buns to eat, a floor to sleep on, and they could go to the embroidery room to learn crafts and earn some money. The negative emotions dissipated a lot. The shelter is no longer crowded with people, and the relationship between the refugees and the locals has eased a lot.

It’s just a pity that Zhao Yelan’s wallet, all the upside-down money was taken from his private treasury.

He looked at the last bank note on his body, and his heart was broken.

Originally, all these vain money was for the chic and indulgent after leaving the Xuan Dynasty, but now it is good, scattered to thousands of families.

Is it worth it just because of Yan Mingting’s sentence “There are thousands and thousands of Mengtings waiting for our Mengting to rescue”?

He smiled to himself.

At this time, a little girl’s voice sounded at the door: “Master Zhao, Master Zhao!”

He walked out curiously, and saw the officers and soldiers at the door blocking the girl who wanted to rush in, it was the girl named Mengting, and said, “Let her in.”

Meng Ting was dressed in rags, but her face was full of vigor, she ran up to him, touched the broken hair on her face, and asked, “Master Zhao, have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet, what’s the matter?” Zhao Yelan knelt down and looked at her, “What do you want from me?”

“I just passed by here, and I remembered that you lived here.” Mengting took out a steamed bun from her arms, held it in front of him, and said with a smile, “My mother made this in the Yishe, I want to give it to you .”

The steamed bun was carried by the little girl, and it had already smelt stale, and the skin was still stained with the little girl’s fingerprints. Zhao Yelan took it, took a bite, and said, “It’s delicious, your mother’s craftsmanship is good, but why are you Want to feed me?”

“Because you gave us steamed buns last time! We ate your steamed buns along the way, so we didn’t starve to death.” Mengting’s skin was a little tanned, but his teeth were abnormally white, and he smiled brilliantly, “And my mother said, You’re a really nice guy, so I don’t want you to go hungry.”

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows unexpectedly: “Am I a good person?”

“That’s right, everyone said that you are much better than the original Yin…Yin or something. If it weren’t for you, we people might have starved to death. I will go to the embroidery workshop with my mother later , I think embroidery is much more fun than growing crops, when I learn this in the future, I will knit you a dress, okay?”

Zhao Yelan took another bite of the steamed bun, and frowned, “Okay.”

Meng Ting stayed for a moment, then suddenly said: “Then I grow up, can I marry you?”

Zhao Yelan was taken aback for a moment, then laughed out loud: “This is not possible.”

“why?”

“Because…” Zhao Yelan thought for a while, regardless of whether the other party understood or not, he said, “I’ve already married.”

“Ah, what a pity!” Mengting pouted.

The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth curled up, and he divided the steamed bun into two halves, and returned the untouched half to her: “I’m full, these are for you to eat. Eat more, so you can grow up faster, I’ll wait for you new clothes.”

“Okay!” Mengting took it, opened her mouth and took a big bite, and when she looked at him, she smiled and narrowed her eyes again.

Zhao Yelan sent her to the gate of the yamen: “Let’s go find your mother.”

“Well, goodbye, Mr. Zhao!”

Zhao Yelan stood at the door and watched her leave. People passing by all around would subconsciously shout: “Master Zhao.”

“Master Zhao, have you eaten yet?”

“Master Zhao, when will the Self-Defense Forces come back? Nothing will happen to my stinking man, right?”

“Master Zhao seems to have lost weight, would you like to come to my house for dinner?”

The weather was hot, Zhao Yelan wiped the sweat from his forehead, felt his chest getting hotter inexplicably, smiled and looked at these people coming and going, and thought: It’s worth it.

Inexplicably, I miss Yan Mingting very much.

I want to talk to him about the current situation, talk about everything that happened these days, tell him everything in detail.

In the afternoon, Li Yucheng brought good news that his uncle was willing to provide five thousand taels for disaster relief.

“Is your uncle alone? Where are the other merchants?”

“Just convincing my uncle has already exhausted my whole life’s skills. I really can’t speak to other people. After all, those people see me as a prodigal son and don’t listen to my advice at all.”

“rational.”

“…”

“I’ll go meet them for a while.” Zhao Yelan told him to gather all the people in the chamber of commerce.

The merchants sat in the hall, and they could guess what was going on with their toes. One of them couldn’t help being a little bit indignant: “On weekdays, these officials look down on us businessmen the most. Asking them to do something is as difficult as going to heaven. They talk about scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen, and they step us down to the bottom. If something goes wrong, they will come and scrape us My skin, I’m really fed up with this anger!”

The others were also aroused and decided to unite the front, and they could not be persuaded even if they were killed.

Cheng Ying was not easy to answer, after all his brother-in-law was the prime minister, and he had already agreed to donate five thousand taels.

After a while, Zhao Yelan came, and there should be some words for the scene: “I have admired you for a long time, and you are all famous Confucian businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River. When I saw you today, you really deserve your reputation.”

“Master Zhao, you don’t need to say these polite words, just tell us what you want from us.” The speaker snorted coldly.

“Okay, then I’ll just say it straight, I hope the Chamber of Commerce can donate a little silver or materials.”

“We disagree.”

Zhao Yelan smiled and said, “I haven’t said the conditions yet.”

“What conditions can you have?” The speaker asked disdainfully.

“Everyone here is involved in a lot of industries, and there must be an embroidery workshop among them. There is nothing to say about the weaving skills in the south of the Yangtze River. It’s a pity that they were sent directly to the palace. The people in the capital only know their names, but they don’t see them or wear them at all. Ah. And the silk from the Western Regions is also unique. After the business, the common people love to buy cloth from the Western Regions. On the contrary, our products from Jiangnan can only be circulated in Jiangnan and the south, which is really a pity.” Zhao Yelan said.

Li Yucheng echoed: “That’s right, think about it, how many high-ranking officials and dignitaries are there in the capital? If they were sold in the capital, they would make a lot of money.”

These words hit the pain point of this group of businessmen, and said in a humane way: “We also want to sell into the capital, but in order to save the face of the royal family, the imperial court only allows us to be sent into the palace, and they are not allowed to sell to the common people at all.”

This is an old rule left by the former emperor. In order to show the superior status of the ladies in the harem, only clothes from Jiangnan are allowed to be paid tribute to the palace. And after Zhao Xuan came to the throne, there were not many empresses in the palace, and they didn’t notice the omissions in this aspect at all.

“Sooner or later, the whole country will know about the drought. If you all unite as one, help the common people to tide over the difficulties, and show your kindness, I can also intercede with the emperor on your behalf and allow you to distribute it to the northern market.”

“Just by opening your mouth, can the emperor agree?”

“If the emperor agrees, you will be able to make a lot of profits in the future. After all, this is originally for women. If it comes to the market, people will rush to buy it. If the emperor does not agree, you will be no different from now, nothing. Loss. The donated money will be regarded as buying your lives, and you will be sent away first when the people are evacuated. If the drought becomes more and more serious, will you be able to sit back and relax? Why not earn a good reputation now and start a business later Also have more credibility and ways to make money.”

Everyone looked at each other, and they were not as fiercely resisted as they were at the beginning, and they were faintly tempted.

Zhao Yelan gave Li Yucheng a wink, and Li Yucheng immediately said: “To tell you the truth, I came to Jiangnan this time to discuss scriptures with you, and I plan to start a small business after returning to the capital. Why don’t you cooperate with me? Send people to Jiangnan to transport your goods, such as tea, porcelain, cloth, rice, medicinal materials, etc. You don’t have to worry about the route and loss, and you don’t have to worry about slow sales. You can give me a 30% higher price. The only requirement is that within three years , you are not allowed to find someone in the capital to take responsibility.”

“High 30%? Then how do you plan to sell it?”

“I have my own way.” Li Yucheng said, “After all, none of you know the capital better than me. If it sells well, I will order more. Even if it is slow-moving, I will never trouble you.”

While everyone was weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Yelan took out the list and said, “The Cheng family donated four thousand taels. When I return to Beijing, I will be the first to report your kindness to the emperor. At that time, the emperor promises to allow silk to circulate on the market. You But the family is alone.”

How can a single family do it all! ?

This hit everyone’s lungs. They would rather hurt the enemy one thousand and lose eight hundred, and never want to see which one dominates. In an instant, everyone expressed their willingness to donate four thousand taels.

Cheng Ying rolled his eyes, paused for a moment on Zhao Yelan, and suddenly understood why Zhao Yelan only said that he donated four thousand, and said, “Then I will give five thousand.”

Zhao Yelan glanced at him with relief, but the others were anxious.

“I pay five thousand and five!”

“I’m six thousand!”

In the end, the speaker was cruel: “I pay eight thousand.”

Others: “…” You traitor!

“I also pay eight thousand!”

“Count me in!”

“I am eight thousand eight!”

“hiss-”

Seeing that the speculation is getting higher and higher, Zhao Yelan smiled slightly: “Well, for the sake of fairness, let’s unify the eight thousand taels, and then I will explain your loyalty to the emperor and strive for the best interests for you.”

“Master Zhao, please don’t slip up, everything depends on you.”

“It’s natural. I don’t dare to say this if I’m not sure. Go back early, everyone. I will send people to collect the silver at night, and I will inform the people of your donation.” Zhao Yelan said.

Everyone was really hurting, and at the same time they had to say words of gratitude.

Cheng Ying stayed at the end and left, sighing to Li Yucheng, “I agreed to five thousand, but in a blink of an eye I was taken away by three thousand.”

“Uncle, calm down.” Li Yucheng squeezed his shoulders and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I will return it to you when I earn it back.”

“You still? Do you think it’s so easy to make money?”

Li Yucheng smiled secretly: “Don’t forget, they have already signed an agreement with me, and all the goods in the capital will be handed over to me for distribution. When the emperor agrees to Zhao Yelan’s conditions, the silk must be sold first. From me, a steady stream of money will come rushing in.”

“But will this group of people agree?”

“I can give them a small profit, but I can’t do too much. Anyway, I can already sell a lot of money for them. It is already a profitable business. If I want more, there is no way. We have a contract to prove it. And We have only booked for three years, and it will be no problem if they want to go to the capital to do business by themselves.” Li Yucheng chuckled, “It’s just that Jiangnan silk is no longer a rare commodity at that time.”

Cheng Ying suddenly realized: “You boy, you are really a thief.”

“I’m just a little clever. The real thief is someone else.”

“You mean…” Cheng Ying asked in a low voice, “Master Zhao?”

“This is all his idea. I can be regarded as the second shopkeeper at most, but we are four or six, and he is four or six. After all, I will come forward to handle these things in the future.” Li Yucheng said proudly, “But I can be a Second shopkeeper, I feel that I am rich, and there will be many good days in the future.”

As a businessman, Cheng Ying couldn’t help admiring Zhao Yelan’s business acumen, and he suddenly realized another thing: “If the market in the capital city is really opened up, the demand will increase, and the original embroidered mother may be Not enough…”

“So now he pays out of his own pocket to let these troubled women and children go to the embroidery workshop to learn skills, which not only alleviates the current predicament, but also prepares for future business.” Li Yucheng gave a thumbs up sincerely, “Look at this vision…”

Cheng Ying was dumbfounded, and patted him heavily on the shoulder: “Uncle has nothing to teach you, you’d better go with Mr. Zhao, and there will be many better days in the future.”

In the evening, the doctor came to treat Zhao Yelan’s wound. The wound has scabbed over, and there is no need to wrap it with gauze.

Zhao Yelan went to count the 80,000 taels of relief money raised, and then summoned Yin Pinglu, Kuang Sheng, and the master to discuss the route to evacuate the refugees to Quzhou and Longzhou, and how to keep enough dry food and water on the way.

Several people sat around and discussed for a while, Xiao Gao suddenly ran in excitedly: “My lord, my lord! The general is back!”

Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then raised their heads and looked towards the door.

“There are a lot of people here, escorting the disaster money and the court’s supplies!” Xiao Gao said excitedly.

Everyone stood up in surprise to greet them. Zhao Yelan hurriedly walked, and didn’t even have time to put down the pen in his hand. When he was approaching the gate, he thought of something, and suddenly retreated, turned and ran into the backyard.

When everyone was wondering, Yan Mingting stepped into the gate in twos and twos, patrolled around, and after dealing with everyone’s greetings, he couldn’t wait to ask: “Where are the others?”

“My lord seems to have gone back to his room.”

Yan Mingting asked the master to go outside to pick up the team, as well as the new magistrate and the magistrate of Pi County, and then walked quickly to the backyard.

Seeing that he didn’t need his help outside, Yin Pinglu worriedly followed up to check the situation.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in the courtyard, he saw Yan Mingting knocking on the door: “I’m back, why don’t you come out to see me? Mengting, Mengting! I’ll count to three, if you don’t come out again I’ll knock on the door.”

“If you dare to smash the door, I will smash you.” The person inside said.

“Then you came out, why don’t you want to see me? Have you betrayed your promise? Have you taken a fancy to another man?”

The more he said the more outrageous, Yin Pinglu stepped forward and grabbed Yan Mingting, telling the truth: “Your Excellency, this is disfigured, I am sorry to see you.”