Chapter 26: 26. You All Understand How to Save the People

26. You All Understand How to Save the People

Zhen Shi discovered something strange.

Xie Lingjiang had actually started calling Tan Lang "Ru Shixiong."

It was quite sudden. She remembered that before, hadn't she always called him something like Brother Lianghan? As for Tan Lang, he called her "Brother Lingjiang" and "Xiao Shimei" interchangeably, whatever felt casual and smooth to say.

Inside the main hall of the Meilu Pavilion, Zhen Shi, dressed in a green skirt with a green cape draped over her shoulders, turned her head to look at the two people walking past her, chatting and laughing, her expression suspicious.

When this somewhat arrogant noble girl of the Xie clan came to find her this afternoon to ask about Tan Lang's whereabouts, hadn't she been calling him Brother Lianghan with a straight face? How did she change her tune by the time she came back in the evening?

Could this be Tan Lang's technique of "playing hard to get"? Deliberately giving the little girl the cold shoulder for a few days, then suddenly offering a bit of warmth. Just like how she usually disciplined her maidservants... the woman in the patterned skirt pondered to herself.

Had he finally figured it out?

Zhen Shi took the opportunity to pull Ouyang Rong outside the door and asked:

"How did you get covered in dirt again? What is dear son busy with? Hurry up and take a bath before coming to the table. Pay attention to your image. I'll have Banxi go boil some water..."

Ouyang Rong shook his head. "No need for now. I just returned to Luming Street to pick up some official documents from the government office, and brought Xiao Shimei along to have a meal. I still have to go to the outskirts of the city tonight to handle some matters. I might be back quite late. Aunt, please rest early and don't wait up."

Zhen Shi: "You..."

"Oh, right." Ouyang Rong turned his head and stuffed a small jar of pickled radishes into her hands. "Put some on the table for Xiao Shimei to taste."

"She actually likes eating this?" The woman's attention was diverted. She lowered her head to sniff it, her expression delighted as she said, "Fine, fine, fine."

Ouyang Rong was a bit worried and reminded her, "Don't put it all on the plate. Save some for me."

"Honestly, a man should be more generous."

"..."

At the Meilu Pavilion dinner, Ouyang Rong also called Yan Liulang over. The latter rushed over halfway through, nodded to Ouyang Rong, Xie Lingjiang, and Zhen Shi, then sat down directly and started shoveling rice into his bowl.

He was much like Ouyang Rong when he first sat at the table, looking like a starving ghost devouring everything in sight.

For the past few days, Ouyang Rong had sent him to lead the government office constables in maintaining order at the dozen or so disaster relief camps on the outskirts of the city. Every day, he was running around catching thieves and bandits. With tens of thousands of mobile people gathered inside and outside the city, there were piles of trivial matters, and he hadn't been able to sit down for a moment. It was indeed exhausting.

Furthermore, the Longcheng region had belonged to Wu Yue since ancient times. The sons and daughters of Wu Yue were inherently fierce in their gratitude and grudges, valuing promises over life.

This didn't mean the local customs were barbaric. On the contrary, after Ouyang Rong had governed for these days, he found the customs to be simple and honest, and the common people to be very dull and sincere.

But honest people were the most explosive, once ignited.

"What I'm busy with aren't cases of fighting for dominance, but muddled accounts of hatred and resentment. I really don't know where they hide so many swords. Disputes left behind by their fathers' generation over a dozen years ago—whenever there's a chance, the sons and grandsons will dig out a sword to take revenge."

Yan Liulang wiped his mouth and sighed, "The flood is so bad we can barely afford to eat, yet they're still obsessed with these grudges."

Xie Lingjiang picked up a piece of pickled radish and nodded. "In the north, Yan and Zhao are full of people who sing generous and tragic songs, while in the south, Wu Yue are lands of revenge and settling scores, not places that harbor filth. If you flip through history, both places have always produced assassins and death-sworn men who use the small to defeat the large."

"Having spirit is a good thing," Ouyang Rong muttered while shoveling rice.

Yan Liulang put down his bowl and asked, "Magistrate, using labor as relief these days has indeed reduced the number of refugees and bandits, and the order within the city has improved a lot. But will gathering so many refugees on the outskirts of the city cause any trouble?"

"Are you talking about a plague or a rebellion?" Ouyang Rong didn't even lift his head.

The overly direct words almost made Yan Liulang choke.

"Uh, Magistrate, it's mainly just feeling a bit uneasy. No magistrate has ever done this before. It should also be because they were afraid it would be hard to manage once there were too many people."

"This doesn't sound like something you considered. Did your father tell you this?"

"That's right. He's worried too."

"Since County Lieutenant Yan has the heart to consider these things, it seems his energy is quite good. Why hasn't he canceled his leave and returned to the government office to take up his post?"

"I don't know. He said he's getting old and wants to retire. This year, he wants me to take over the capture squad for him."

Ouyang Rong nodded, glanced toward the outskirts of the city, and said softly:

"Liulang, don't worry. I go to the disaster relief camps every day. With me there, nothing will happen. And if even I, the magistrate, cannot handle things and cannot bridge certain gaps, then even if we dispersed them all, the trouble that should happen would still happen."

Xie Lingjiang also nodded. "That's right. Besides, our Great Zhou Dynasty isn't in the same situation as the end of the Qin or Sui dynasties, where gathering the people to fix the Yellow River flood would cause heaven's wrath and people's resentment, leading to an uprising."

Ouyang Rong added, "Moreover, everyone just wants to eat their fill. What could be wrong with that? This is what the Great Zhou imperial court and our local government should be doing, and it's not difficult. Now, there are no strong enemies outside, no wars on the borders, and Luoyang and Chang'an have ten thousand nations coming to pay tribute in a scene of peace and prosperity. Don't the lords of the Zhou court all say this is a golden age? There is so much surplus grain in the righteous granaries everywhere. If we work together, the flood will be cured."

Feeling full of energy again, he buried his head and shoveled two more mouthfuls of rice. Zhen Shi, at his side, quietly picked food for him.

"Ru Shixiong is right." Xie Lingjiang's eyes were burning, and she nodded earnestly.

Her mind was still filled with the scene of industrious vitality she had seen that afternoon.

Yan Liulang couldn't help but glance at this Xie family girl, who usually wasn't very active when the few of them chatted.

Without thinking too much, he smiled and urged, "Alright then. Next, I have to lead the team to handle security matters and can't stay by the Magistrate's side all the time. I'll have to trouble Miss Xie to look after him on my behalf."

"Okay."

Everyone was in a good mood at dinner. After finishing the last mouthful of rice, Ouyang Rong didn't stop for a moment and took Xie Lingjiang and Yan Liulang out the door.

Tonight, he had to go inspect the newly built Frostfall Camp. In addition, he had to handle some medical care issues for the refugees. The physicians recruited in the county weren't enough, and he was considering whether to go find the Donglin Temple... Ouyang Rong only now realized, belatedly, that this "green lamp and ancient Buddha" Donglin Temple was truly rich enough to drip oil.

Before leaving the Meilu Pavilion, Zhen Shi even had Banxi grab a handful of candied fruit and stuff it into Ouyang Rong's pocket so he could fill his stomach at night. However, Yan Sixth Young Master, at his side, knew that his own Magistrate, who silently put them away, would distribute them to the refugee children every time he reached the camp gate.

The three of them walked out of the Meilu Pavilion and first went to the Longcheng County government office. Ouyang Rong approved some documents in the temporarily built office, stamped them with the official seal, and handed them to the clerks. He then gathered with Xie and Yan, who were waiting outside the door, and prepared to leave.

But just at this moment, County Assistant Diao, with a panicked expression, rushed into the county government office gate with two men dressed as post-station clerks, waving a few thin sheets of letter paper in his hand.

Before they even reached him, the three of them heard:

"Magistrate, Magistrate, it's bad, it's bad! News has come from Jiangzhou. The Jiemin Granary, which was prepared for disaster relief, opened its doors three days ago by imperial decree, but the hundreds of thousands of shi of rice stored inside have vanished into thin air! The entire Jiemin Granary is less than a quarter full!"

Inside and outside the county government office, there was suddenly dead silence.

Whether it was the government office runners passing by after work or the clerks in the public office holding brushes and preparing to write, everyone froze as if a pause button had been pressed, all of them wearing expressions of astonishment.

And on the open ground outside the main hall, of the three young people closest to County Assistant Diao who was reporting the news, the two standing on the left and right couldn't help but turn their heads in shock to look at the young magistrate in the middle.

"You... say that again."

The calm tone of the man standing in the shadow of a tree made County Assistant Diao subconsciously take a step back. However, since things had come to this, he could only brace himself and repeat it once more, then hurriedly said:

"Now the entire Jiangzhou city is in chaos. The granary official of the Jiemin Granary committed suicide out of fear of punishment. A large group of officials below the Jiangzhou Inspector have been suspended from their duties. The Jiang Nan Inspection Envoy sent to supervise the disaster relief has already entered Jiangzhou city, and 130 people have been investigated and imprisoned..."

"Don't say any more of this." The young magistrate suddenly spoke: "You only need to tell me how much grain is left in the Jiemin Granary? How much of the promised disaster relief grain can still be allocated within three months?"

"The Jiemin Granary only has 70,000-plus shi left. But it has to be shared with Jiangzhou city and several surrounding disaster-stricken counties. What can be allocated to us is only... 3,000 shi."

"3,000... shi, is it." The young magistrate lowered his head and muttered to himself.

"In addition..." County Assistant Diao hesitated for a moment, "The disaster situation is urgent now, and such a big case has occurred in Jiangzhou. Everywhere is too busy to look after others. The higher-ups have ordered the county magistrates to be responsible for the local disaster relief and water control themselves..."

"How can we provide relief without grain or money?" It was Xie Lingjiang's cold voice.

"The higher-ups said to let the magistrate think of more ways. If there isn't enough money and grain, then gather more donations of surplus grain from local landlords and wealthy families, or collect grain from temples and Daoist monasteries... anything works. Share the worries of the prefecture and county, and get through the difficult times together. After the disaster passes, they can be given some welfare policies, such as tax exemptions. These can all be decided by the magistrate himself. Even borrowing some grain from local gentry and landlords now is fine. It can naturally be repaid when the disaster relief grain arrives..."

"So they're just letting us fend for ourselves." Xie Lingjiang nodded and said. Someone remained silent.

County Assistant Diao said helplessly: "That's what the higher-ups ordered. This is the official document for the Magistrate... And the higher-ups also ordered one most important thing: that is, during disaster relief, one must absolutely, absolutely stabilize the order of the lower classes, especially... the refugees. Absolutely no mistakes are allowed in this aspect. This is the bottom line of the imperial court, and also the most important item in the post-disaster inspection and assessment. Apart from this, it's fine if things are done poorly in other areas; it can be appropriately understood."

After County Assistant Diao finished speaking, the whole scene was silent.

No one made a sound, and no one dared to be the first to make a sound, because one person was silent.

Xie Lingjiang turned her head silently.

On the open ground of the county government office courtyard, the vegetation behind the crowd just happened to block the candlelight cast from the main hall. The young magistrate's body was mostly melted into a shadow. Xie Lingjiang couldn't see his expression clearly at this moment for a while, and could only see a pair of eyes staring at the ground.

"Magistrate, would you like to take another look?" County Assistant Diao took out an official document and handed it up.

Seeing that the man beside her hadn't moved for a long time, Xie Lingjiang prepared to reach out to take it. But the next second, it was suddenly snatched away by a cold palm. The speed was so fast that it even touched the back of her hand, so she knew his palm was icy cold and even a bit painful.

Ouyang Rong held the official document with two fingers, flicked it, and said with a curious expression: "You mean, within three months, I, along with 12,981 disaster victims, only have this one piece of paper and less than 12,000 shi of grain?"

County Assistant Diao didn't know how to answer and stammered, "Sh... should be."

Ouyang Rong suddenly really wanted to ask, if the imperial court doesn't provide disaster relief in a disaster year, then what is the use of this imperial court? Are they decorations supported by the common people? Like those pagodas in the temples? But at least donating a pagoda in a temple gets you a few vegetarian meals in the morning, noon, and night.

But the words reached his lips and finally only turned into a word of praise:

"Jiemin Granary, the name is truly well-chosen."

Ouyang Rong pinched the official document and left the county government office with a light laugh, leaving everyone behind looking at each other in dismay. ===== CHAPTER 27 =====