Final Volume Chapter 121

Final Volume Chapter 121

Xiao Xiang followed Tang Yin and personally went to the disaster-stricken Linqiao County to provide relief. Although Tang Yin took the first step, Xiao Xiang led a cavalry team, which was much faster than Tang Yin's team.

When Tang Yin arrived at Heping County, it was already more than half a month later.

Jishui is the largest river in Zhendi. It runs from west to east, not only across Zhendi, but also through Sichuan, and also through the entire Sichuan, and finally merges into the sea in the east of Sichuan.

In Zhendi, it is called Jishui, while in Sichuan, it is called Tianjiang. The Tianshang Canal currently built in Sichuan is to connect it with Shangjiang, in order to divert the water from the Tianjiang River that has been flooding for many years and is gradually drying up. Shangjiang.

This season floods caused many places in Zhendi to be affected, and the two most serious counties were Heping County, which belonged to Feng, and Linqiao County, which was directly under the imperial court.

Even before Tang Yin entered Heping County, he could already feel the seriousness of the disaster. All he encountered along the way were people fleeing for their lives.

After entering Heping County, there were more people fleeing in groups, dragging their families with them. What is a little reassuring is that such a big disaster occurred in the local area, but there were no scenes of corpses everywhere. The people Although they were sallow and thin, no one was seen dying of hunger or even starving to death.

The county seat of Heping County is Xiucheng, which is now insurmountable. Xiucheng has long been flooded and turned into a water city. Currently, the only city in Heping County that has not been affected by the disaster is Zhengyang.

Zhengyang is located in the north of Heping County and has a relatively high terrain, so it has escaped this disaster. Almost all the officials of Heping County and even the entire county are gathered in Zhengyang City.

When Tang Yin came to Zhengyang with the grain team, the county chief Yao Li and his officials went out of the city to greet him.

Yao Li was from Zhen, and the officials below were also from Zhen. After the Feng Army occupied Heping County, they only annihilated the Zhen Army here. As for the local officials, they did not replace them immediately, or Feng State had not had time to respond. Local officials from Zhendi replaced him.

Although he knew that his position as head of the county was only temporary, Yao Li still respected Tang Yin. After all, Heping County now belongs to the Feng Kingdom, and the Feng King Tang Yin is also his king, and this time the Feng King can come in person. He came to provide disaster relief, which made Yao Li admire him greatly.

After seeing Tang Yin, the officials headed by Yao Li knelt down and kowtowed. Tang Yin got out of the carriage and looked outside. Well, there was a large area of ​​people kneeling down in front of him in darkness. He jumped off the carriage, walked up to Yao Li, and looked at him carefully first.

He had heard about Yao Li and knew that this person was very powerful. When the Zhen Kingdom was still there, he was the head of Heping County. After the Zhen Kingdom was annexed by the Sichuan Kingdom, he was dismissed from office. However, just over three months later, the Sichuan Kingdom re-employed him, but his position was just that. He was demoted one level, from county chief to deputy county chief. Later, Li Shu rebelled, drove away the Sichuan people, and restored the Zheng Kingdom. At that time, many county heads and county capitals in Zhendi were beheaded in public display, but Yao Li was not affected. Instead, he was promoted to the county head of Heping County. , and now, Li Shu has been destroyed, Heping County belongs to Feng State, and he is still the chief of Heping County. Speaking of which, Yao Li has experienced several dynasty changes, and he has always been firmly sitting in the position of the county head. From this, we can naturally see his excellence.

After looking at the legendary Yao Li for a while, Tang Yin said slowly: "Master Yao, get up and speak!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yao Li responded and stood up.

King? The call is quite smooth! In Yao Li, Tang Yin didn't see a trace of Zhenren's indomitable spirit. Based on this alone, Tang Yin had a very bad impression of Yao Li.

Heping County changed from Zhen to Sichuan, then back to Zhen, and then to Feng. After so many changes of dynasties, Yao Li was not affected at all, which shows that he is also a typical person. The grass on the wall falls on both sides.

After Yao Li stood up, Tang Yin asked casually: "I wonder how many years Lord Yao has been the county chief in Heping County?"

Yao Li was stunned for a moment, and then said cautiously: "Reporting to your Majesty, I have been the head of Heping County for thirteen years!"

"Thirteen years?!" Tang Yin looked at him in surprise. Yao Li was only in his forties. In this way, he was already the head of a county when he was in his twenties. But More than ten years have passed, and it is also interesting that he has not received any chance for promotion.

He asked again: "So how many floods has Heping County suffered in these thirteen years?"

Yao Li sighed secretly and said, "It happens every two or three years."

"There will be a disaster every two or three years, and Mr. Yao has been the head of the county for thirteen years. Has he never managed it once?" Tang Yin raised his eyebrows and said: "Thirteen years are not enough for Mr. Yao to be there." Is there a strong dike built along the Ji River?”

"Your Majesty, you don't know something!" Before Yao Li could speak, an official came forward, bowed his hands and saluted, and said: "There are no mountains in Heping County, the soil is loose, and there is nowhere to quarry. It is really impossible to build a dam."

Tang Yin glanced at the official who was speaking to Yao Li, sneered and said, "There are no mountains in Heping County, so there is nowhere to quarry. Is there no mountains in the entire Zhendi, so there is nowhere to quarry?"

The official frowned, lowered his head, and whispered: "To quarry stone in other counties, that also requires manpower and money!"

"What do you mean?" Although the official spoke softly, Tang Yin could still hear him clearly. His eyes gleamed and he stared at him coldly.

Yao Li secretly waved his hand to him, signaling him not to talk too much, but the official pretended not to notice, and said seriously to Tang Yin: "For a long time, no matter which country this county belongs to, the court only knows how to treat this county. The county asked for money and food, but never received any money or food. How much manpower, money and food would be needed to build a dam along the Ji River? How could one county be able to do it? What's more, the county was prone to many disasters. , has long been weak. If it were not for Mr. Yao's hard support in these years, all the people in Heping County would have died long ago, and Heping County would have become a barren land. Since the king claims to be a wise king, I hope you will! Can save hundreds of thousands of people in Heping County and the whole county..."

"Bold!" Before he finished speaking, Ah San and Ah Si, who were standing around Tang Yin, shouted in unison. Then, Ah San shouted to the guards behind him: "This person dares to be disrespectful to the king, take him down immediately!"

Just the four words "self-proclaimed Mingjun" were enough to make that official lose his head.

As soon as Ah San gave the order, the guards behind him immediately stepped forward and without any explanation, pushed the official directly to the ground.

Seeing this, Yao Li's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly explained to Tang Yin: "Your Majesty, Mr. Hu was just angry for a moment and made some rude remarks. Please forgive me!"

Although the official was held down by the guards, he showed no fear on his face and kept shouting: "A wise king will not kill loyal ministers, and a wise king will not kill loyal ministers indiscriminately——"

Tang Yin looked at Yao Li, then at the official, smiled indifferently, waved his hand slightly, then turned back to the carriage without saying anything.

Seeing Tang Yin's gesture, the guards let go of the official, and then all retreated to the carriage.

Yao Li on the side wiped his cold sweat, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He was about to step aside and let Tang Yin's carriage move forward. Tang Yin, who was already sitting in the carriage, suddenly said: "Master Yao, get in the carriage and take a seat. ”

Unexpectedly, Tang Yin would invite him to ride in the same carriage. Yao Li was surprised and flattered. He was stunned for a while before he came to his senses, and then hurriedly got on the carriage.

Tang Yin is the king, so his ride is naturally not comparable to an ordinary carriage. The space inside is very large, even if it can seat seven or eight people, it is more than enough.

On the way into the city, Tang Yin specifically asked about the current situation in Heping County. Yao Li answered one by one and told Tang Yin about the situation in Heping County in detail.

At present, most of Heping County has been submerged by floods. Only the higher areas in the north have not been affected by the floods for the time being. However, this depends on the situation in the upper reaches of the Ji River. If heavy rains continue, I am afraid that even Zhengyang City will not be able to If it is spared, not only the entire Heping County will suffer, but neighboring counties will also be affected.

After listening to Yao Li's introduction, Tang Yin frowned, pondered for a moment, and said: "Along the way, I did not see any people dying of starvation. It seems that Heping County has sufficient food reserves!? "

Yao Li smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, I have been unable to control the flooding of seasonal waters in recent years, so I can only work hard on grain storage. But this time, it is thanks to your Majesty that I came in time. Otherwise, I am afraid there will really be a large number of people in the future." The people were starved to death.”

Tang Yin nodded and asked, "How many grain reserves are there now?"

"There are no grains left." Yao Li lowered his head and replied, "After hearing the news that the king was approaching Heping County, the minister distributed the last grain in the granary."

After hearing this, Tang Yin burst into laughter and asked, "If my king had an accident on the road and was delayed for several days, wouldn't you, Mr. Yao, be hungry?"

"Wei Chen is the head of the county and the father-in-law of the people in the county. He should share the joys and sorrows with the people!" Yao Li replied seriously.

Tang Yin took a deep look at him, then changed the subject and asked, "How is the situation on the other side now?"

Yao Li was stunned for a moment before he realized that Tang Yin was asking about Linqiao County. He shook his head and said, "The disaster situation in Linqiao County is almost the same as this county. However, the relief food has not been transported for a long time. According to rumors, Linqiao County Many people have died of hunger within the territory.”

Tang Yin rubbed his chin and murmured: "The King of Sichuan should have ordered the transportation of grain from Sichuan..."

Yao Li sighed and said: "Your Majesty is right, King Sichuan has indeed ordered the transfer of grain from Sichuan for disaster relief. However, what Your Majesty and King Sichuan don't know is that it is difficult to transfer food from Sichuan!"

Tang Yin was stunned and looked at Yao Li in confusion. It is understandable that Zhendi is barren and there are not many grain reserves in various places, so it is impossible to mobilize food for disaster relief. However, Sichuan Land is fertile and its grain reserves are even greater than those in Feng Kingdom. How could it be possible that grain cannot be mobilized? ?

Seeing his doubts, Yao Li explained: "The last time the Zhen army invaded Sichuan, they burned, killed and looted all the way to Zhaoyang. They killed countless innocent Sichuan people along the way. The Zhen people hated the Sichuan people deeply. But now the Sichuan people also hate the Zhen people. Under this situation, it is not easy to levy food from Sichuan to save the Zhen people! , all the food was robbed and burned by the hateful Sichuan people along the way!"