Chapter 205: Fleeing Famine

Zhongshan Town, Xinyang Prefecture, Runing District, Henan — it was already mid-spring, and the fields that should have been an unbroken expanse of green as far as the eye could see were instead a stretch of withered yellow. The soil had hardened and cracked, and here and there a few lone farmers could be seen setting down wooden buckets, dipping out water with wooden ladles and pouring it onto the ground drop by drop, then watching with despairing eyes as the murky water vanished swiftly, leaving only a faint gray-white trace beneath the wheat seedlings.

From the beginning of winter in the ninth year of Chongzhen until now, not a single rain or snow had fallen across the entire Xinyang Prefecture in nearly half a year. Though the winter wheat had been planted, given the present state of things, a large-scale reduction or total loss of the summer harvest was already a certainty.

Scattered groups of famine refugees had begun to appear on the main road, their destination the city of Xinyang twenty li away.

A squad of fast horses came galloping in from the east, and after the warhorses thundered past, the billowing dust they kicked up hung in the air for a long while before finally dispersing.

A family of five refugees a few hundred paces ahead heard the hoofbeats and hurriedly scrambled to the side of the road, huddling together and staring with terrified eyes at the dozen-odd warhorses bearing down from behind.

The rider on the lead horse, upon seeing this family, began to gently tighten his reins, and his mount gradually slowed. The dozen-odd riders behind him also eased their pace, and by the time they neared the family, the squad had gone from a gallop to a slow walk.

These riders were officers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard from the capital, dispatched to inspect Runing District, and the Centurion leading them was none other than Wang Ancheng — the man who, in the eighth year of Chongzhen, had taken in Da Niu and Niu Niu on the streets of Ji County, Weihui Prefecture.

Over the past two years and more, Wang Ancheng had traveled between the various prefectures and counties of Henan, gathering up more than three hundred women and children in total — the highest tally among all the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers involved in the operation — and for his accumulated merit he had been promoted to Centurion.

This time, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had departed the capital on imperial orders, splitting up to inspect the drought-stricken prefectures and counties of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong, with particular focus on investigating how well local officials were carrying out measures such as digging wells, repairing irrigation canals, and settling the people on military farmland. Because Wang Ancheng was familiar with conditions across the prefectures of Henan, he had been assigned to lead a team to inspect the various prefectures and counties of Runing District.

Wang Ancheng divided his men into several small teams, led by his deputy Centurion and several Platoon Leaders, to carry out their inspections separately, with orders to regroup at Ruyang and then compile and report their findings.

Having just completed his inspection of Luoshan County, Wang Ancheng led his team into Xinyang Prefecture, preparing to finish the last prefecture on his team's itinerary.

Wang Ancheng reined in his mount a few paces from the family, then swung down from the saddle and walked toward them.

Before Wang Ancheng could draw near, the three adults in the family had already dropped to their knees. Only the two children, around seven or eight years old, remained standing, watching the approaching Wang Ancheng with curious eyes.

The young woman who was evidently the mother hastily reached out, dragged the standing children down to their knees, then lowered her head and shrank to the ground like a quail.

Wang Ancheng came up close and spoke in a gentle tone: "Good folks, please rise. I am a man of the government, and I have questions to ask you!"

The young man of the family kowtowed and stammered in reply: "If the great lord has questions, ask away — we'll answer fine from our knees!"

Wang Ancheng sighed inwardly. His gentle tone abruptly turned stern: "Since you know I am a great lord, then I now order you to rise! Get up at once!"

Hearing the great lord's angry voice, the young man rose hesitantly and slowly, then reached out to help the old woman beside him to her feet. The young woman also pulled the two children up, but the adults still dared not raise their heads to look directly at Wang Ancheng.

"I ask you — what is your name? Where do you live? Why have you brought your family out? And where are you headed?"

Wang Ancheng asked with a cold, stern expression.

In these past years he had dealt with all manner of people and knew exactly how to handle the man before him.

Hearing Wang Ancheng's questions, the man's legs went weak with fright and he moved to kneel again, but Wang Ancheng immediately barked: "Answer me!"

"This... this humble one is called Wang Shuangui, from Zhongshan Town, Xinyang Prefecture... prefecture. Because the fields were dry and yielded nothing even last year, and there's no grain left in the house, I brought my family to the prefectural city to try to find a bowl of rice — otherwise my old mother and the little ones will starve to death!"

By the end, tears were brimming in Wang Shuangui's eyes. His son and daughter huddled behind their mother, clutching the hem of her clothes and stealing glances at Wang Ancheng and his men.

Wang Ancheng's heart ached at these words. Though he had grown accustomed to many similar scenes, each time he witnessed one, the pain in his chest was unbearable.

He turned and called out, and one of the officers jumped down from his horse, pulled a few pieces of white-flour steamed bread, a small sack of pickled vegetables, and a waterskin full of water from the saddlebag, and walked over to hand them to Wang Ancheng.

Wang Ancheng held the food and water out to the young woman and said gently: "Give a little to the children and the old one first — but not too much, mind that they don't get indigestion!"

The woman stared at the things before her, then looked up. The gentle expression on Wang Ancheng's face put her somewhat at ease.

Wang Ancheng pushed the food and water a little closer, and the woman quickly reached out to take them, then dropped to her knees and knocked her head hard against the ground: "Thank the great lord for saving our lives! Thank the great lord for saving our lives!"

Wang Shuangui and his mother also knelt and knocked their heads heavily to the ground in gratitude.

Their family had not eaten for a day, and these few pieces of steamed bread, rationed carefully, could sustain them for several days.

Wang Ancheng said gently: "Rise! Once I finish my questions I will head to the prefectural city, and I will surely find a place of refuge for your family!"

Of the more than three hundred women and children he had gathered, the ones who had left the deepest impression on him were Da Niu and Niu Niu.

The scene on the streets of Ji County, when Da Niu had held his sick little sister and wailed aloud, was etched into his memory forever.

Every time he returned to the capital from the provinces, Wang Ancheng would buy gifts and bring his five-year-old daughter to visit the pair of siblings. Da Niu and Niu Niu were now his adopted son and daughter.

Once Wang Shuangui's family had calmed somewhat, Wang Ancheng continued his questioning: "Let me ask you — in Zhongshan Town, are there many families in the same situation as yours? Has the government opened its granaries to relieve the people? Have they sent anyone to dig wells and repair canals in the villages and towns? Have the wealthy households of the town released any surplus grain to aid the common folk?"

Wang Ancheng's gift of food had set Wang Shuangui's heart at ease, and his words came more fluently now: "To answer the great lord — in our town, families in my situation are plenty, and many have already fled as refugees. I've seen neither the government nor the wealthy households release grain, nor have I seen anyone sent to dig wells or repair canals for us. If well water could be brought up, my few mu of fields would yield something, and with some wild vegetables and fruits mixed in, I wouldn't have to flee, and my father wouldn't have fallen ill and died of hunger!"

Listening to Wang Shuangui's words, anger began to rise in Wang Ancheng's heart.

The prefectures and counties his team was inspecting all lay in the southeastern part of Runing District, including Guang Prefecture, Guangshan County, Xi County, Luoshan County, and Xinyang Prefecture.

He had already completed his inspections of the first four. Though the drought was severe everywhere and the situation far from optimistic, the local governments had at least taken some action. The Prefects and County Magistrates, besides distributing relief grain from the official granaries, had also urged local officials and gentry to bring out their hoarded grain and set up porridge stations for disaster relief. Using silver allocated by the Emperor, they had organized men to dig wells, repair canals, and channel river water to irrigate the farmland, striving to mitigate the consequences of the drought. Apart from a small number who had fled, most of the people had been stabilized in place.

The Henan Governor's office and the Provincial Administration Commissioner's office had also dispatched officials and soldiers to transport grain from the official granaries to the hardest-hit prefectures of Runing, Nanyang, and Guide, to support the local governments in relieving the people under their charge.

From Wang Shuangui's words, it was clear that the Xinyang Prefecture government had done nothing whatsoever in the face of the disaster — they had not sent a single person to comfort the people, simply leaving the victims to fend for themselves.

If it were only Zhongshan Town that was in such a state, that would be one thing — but if his inspections continued and most other villages and towns proved to be the same, then this Prefect deserved to die ten thousand deaths.

With this thought, Wang Ancheng turned and strode toward his mount, barking orders as he went: "Ma Bao! Take eight men and investigate the nearby villages and towns separately, then meet me at the prefectural city! The rest of you, come with me! We're going to the city! Leave one bag of grain and water for them!"