Chapter 434: Gathering the Victims
Yanmen
Due to the heavy snow, many houses collapsed. Even if they didn't collapse, the roofs were basically gone.
There were porridge distribution points in the four districts of the city, southeast, northwest, and northeast. It was past the time and no one was there. It was too cold and no one wanted to stay outside.
Many places were celebrating the New Year, but in Yanmen, there was no New Year atmosphere at all.
In a dilapidated house, seven or eight people were roasting around a fire, and everyone was pale and shivering.
Looking at the snowflakes still falling outside, some people couldn't help cursing.
"I don't know when this snow will stop. Damn God, there is really no way for us to survive!"
"We Yanmen people are unlucky."
"Yes, there are capable people to deal with the flood in the south. There are also capable officials to deal with the earthquake in Nanyang. Only our Yanmen snow disaster is not taken care of by anyone."
"We have people to take care of us. Didn't the court send an imperial envoy?"
"What can the imperial envoy do? There is no food, no charcoal, no winter clothes, no medicine, nothing."
This complaint is actually a bit biased. There are still disaster relief supplies, but the quantity is not enough.
"My neighbors have left Yanmen."
There was a moment of silence in the crowd. It was hard to tell whether it was better to leave or stay in Yanmen.
"It's better to leave. At least it's a way out."
Outside the house, it was icy and snowy, everything was silent, and occasionally a few black spots could be seen moving.
The girl from the Luo family held her brother's hand with a big bag on her shoulder, "Mom and Dad, where are we going next?" The north wind was blowing, and snowflakes were falling. Looking around, the whole world was white.
Mrs. Luo glanced at her husband and whispered, "You have to ask your father about this."
"Dad?"
"To Liaodong County."
After hearing this, the family members all showed surprised expressions. Why choose where to go?
"I said last time that I would follow the grain team of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce, but you insisted that I had relatives in Yanmen, Bingzhou." Luo Da said depressedly.
They did have relatives in Yanmen, and after they came to Yanmen, the other party took good care of them. But he still felt that he came in the wrong place.
Mrs. Luo didn't say anything. She was not surprised at her husband's decision at all. After Yanmen suffered a snowstorm, her husband kept saying that he should have gone last time.
Old man Luo finally made the decision, "Then let's go out of the city and go to Liaodong County!"
...
Disaster relief is like putting out a fire.
After receiving the letter from Liaodong, Wu Ren and Young Master Ji gathered supplies and rushed to Yanmen.
On the way, they met a few refugees who had fled.
They gave some help to these people.
They came to provide disaster relief, and they would save any refugees.
They even asked the refugees one by one about their intentions. Wu Ren gathered those who were willing to settle in Pingzhou.
His master said in the letter that the Sixth Master would bring troops to pick them up and train them. They only needed to gather people.
Those who didn't want to go had their own ideas about where to go. Wu Ren made the decision, gave them some necessary help, and let them leave.
Not at all reluctant. A forced melon is not sweet, and what they said in Pingzhou was a willingness.
After all, only a few of the refugees who met the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's disaster relief team were willing to leave.
Most of these refugees who chose to leave Yanmen to make a living at the first time were smart and courageous. The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce came to provide disaster relief, so they obviously had enough food and drink. Isn't this the way to make a living that they were looking for? If they had found a way to make a living, why would they leave?
So before their relief team arrived at Yanmen, they had already gathered a lot of people.
As soon as they arrived at Yanmen, the government wanted to take over their relief supplies, saying that it would be convenient for allocation.
How could Wu Ren and Young Master Ji agree to this, even if Prince Gong had a relationship with their Lord Lu.
In the end, they chose the North City, which the government was least willing to manage, and set up a stall there to distribute porridge.
The victims of the Yanmen snow disaster looked much more miserable than the victims of the flood in the south and the earthquake in Nanyang.
During this period, they also arranged for people to visit the poor households one by one and deliver some food and charcoal.
During the disaster relief period, Wu Ren, Young Master Ji and their group greeted the government and chose an empty house with three entrances as their place of residence.
A-choo--A-choo--
Tao Xun sneezed twice in a row, and quickly wrapped his cloak tightly around him, "I'm really crazy. I'm not at home during the New Year, and I'm here with you two to Yanmen!" It was really cold.
Wu Ren and Young Master Ji were busy counting the remaining relief supplies.
Wu Ren was busy, and he replied, "Don't say that, what's the point of staying at home for the New Year every year?"
Young Master Ji took over the conversation, "That's right, when you are old, you may not remember how you spent the first year of Tianhe, but you will definitely remember how we spent the second year of Tianhe in Yanmen."
Tao Xun thought about it and it was true. He would still remember the first year of Tianhe. After all, it was such a special year. How we spent the first five or six years was indeed a bit vague.
He muttered, "How can I not remember it when I came to Yanmen to spend the winter and drank the northwest wind every day?" It must be impressive!
"How come you Liaodong Chamber of Commerce are so eloquent?" Tao Xun wondered.
Hahaha——
Wu Ren and Young Master Ji smiled at each other. This was just the beginning. He had never seen anyone who was truly eloquent.
Wu Ren looked at the tallied bill and said, "Only a quarter of the relief supplies we brought are left."
"We can leave in three days at most." Young Master Ji stood up, shook his hands and kicked his legs to stretch his body.
Wu Ren and Young Master Ji had another task, which was to pick up people.
Wu Ren and others did not pick up people in Yanmen City. They still had basic moral qualities.
They just arranged people to pick up people outside the city. Anyway, the disaster victims who left the city at this time all wanted to make a living in other places.
They accepted these disaster victims with a smile. After all, Pingzhou also belongs to other places, right?
But there is no wall that is impenetrable.
After all, no one in this world is alone, and everyone has relatives and friends. Now they have found a way to survive, and their relatives and friends who are separated by a wall are still suffering in Yanmen City.
This is not difficult for them.
So, some individual families in the city inexplicably received a mysterious letter. After reading it, the families who were originally hesitant immediately packed their luggage, sold their properties and left the city.
Now, more people left.
The governor of Yanmen County felt something was wrong. After checking, he found that it was the people of Liaodong Chamber of Commerce who were secretly gathering the victims.
The governor of Yanmen County was so angry about this that he went to complain to the imperial envoy.
Prince Gong was open-minded. These common people had to pay taxes if they stayed in Yanmen, and they had to pay taxes if they went to Pingzhou, right? For the court, it was just a matter of running from the left pocket to the right pocket.
He also persuaded the governor of Yanmen County, saying that it was good for these people to leave, so that he, the governor, could be relieved of the pressure of disaster relief. Otherwise, too many people died in this snow disaster, and it would not look good on his resume, right?
Wu Ren and Young Master Ji didn't care what they thought. After the relief supplies were distributed, they slowly retreated.