Chapter 353: First Volume_Chapter 353: Natural Disasters Spread Like Plague

First Volume_Chapter 353: Natural Disasters Spread Like Plague

Qin Feng looked the man up and down without speaking. After a few sweeping glances, the man could hold out no longer. He cupped his hands in a bow, bending his body to a full ninety degrees, and offered a grand salute.

"Young Master Qin, see clearly. My master has been diligent and cautious his whole life, and has absolutely no intention of making an enemy of you. It's only that the Lin Family is far too domineering — they have blocked every county official of Changping County inside the County Yamen. Even though we wished to welcome Young Master Qin's arrival, we were truly unable to take a single step."

"This time the Lin Family people came to Changping County and brought three or four hundred retainers with them, all lying low in the city, waiting for their chance. The suffering Changping County endures today was bestowed by the Lin Family alone."

Seeing the man pour everything out like beans from a bamboo tube, laying his heart bare in one go.

Qin Feng, who never struck a smiling face either, patted the man on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Explain it clearly. Why is Changping County's suffering today the Lin Family's doing? The Lin Family holds the prosperous lands of Jiangnan, and has a Grand Tutor and an Imperial Consort backing them in the capital — why would they need to stretch their hand into a tiny county like Changping?"

The man's heart gave a sudden lurch.

The Qin Feng before him looked barely twenty years old, yet his entire being radiated a strange, oppressive pressure.

Especially those eyes — at first glance they seemed brash and frivolous, no different from any ordinary Wastrel.

But the moment one's gaze met them, one felt a chill run down the spine, as if every secret in one's heart could not escape this man's sight!

No wonder this man, by his own strength alone, could maneuver between the Imperial Court of Jingdu and the Northern Border Front Line…

The County Magistrate and the County Assistant Magistrate's decision was truly wise.

Whoever you provoke, you must never provoke a man like this — otherwise you won't even know how you died.

How could the man dare hesitate for a moment? He hurriedly explained: "Setting aside man-made disasters, natural disasters alone are like a plague. If not dealt with in time, one passes to two, two to three, and in the end it becomes a situation no one can clean up."

"When all is said and done, our Changping County is also a victim."

"This disaster already planted its roots five years ago."

According to the man's account.

Although Changping County was not wealthy, it could barely be called a place of peace and contentment. Droughts did occur from time to time, but they were never severe — the county's own granaries alone were enough to relieve the local victims.

The problem lay in Jiangnan!

Compared to Changping County's scattered mild-to-moderate droughts, Jiangnan's floods were the truly terrifying ones! When they struck, they struck like the end of days.

A great flood five years ago left several hundred thousand people homeless.

Because Jiangnan's water conservancy was poorly managed, and because certain prefectures and counties kept yielding profits to the Lin Family, their finances were hollowed out and they had no strength to repair the waterways. Relieving the victims required money — the yamen had to purchase Relief Grain at low prices, but doing so would affect Grain Prices and threaten the Lin Family's interests.

On the contrary, under the Lin Family's influence, Grain Prices kept climbing instead, letting them rake in fortunes from the nation's calamity, leaving the yamen even less able to purchase grain — a vicious cycle.

The Northern Border of Jiangnan suffered especially severely.

Floodwaters came quickly but receded slowly. Fields and villages sat submerged, soaking for a month or two at a stretch. Once the water drained away, the silt and debris were hard to clear and channel. The victims of Jiangnan's Northern Border had no choice but to abandon their homes and migrate northward to higher Terrain, and Changping County, as the southernmost County City in Ben Zhou, naturally bore the brunt of it.

What evil thoughts could the victims possibly have? They only wanted to build new homes in Changping County.

But Changping County's capacity to absorb them was only so large. It still had to guard against the risk of occasional droughts on its own. With the victims flooding in, and added to that a minor drought, the great disaster that swept the entire county was triggered.

Liu Leng opened the granaries and released grain at the first moment, but alas, the County Yamen's stored grain was nothing more than a drop in the bucket for the county's entire population.

Not to mention Jiangnan — taking Jiangnan as the center and spreading outward for over a Hundred Li, everyone lived under the Lin Family's shadow. No one dared to touch the Lin Family's interests for the sake of relieving the victims.

At this point, the man grew indignant: "Young Master Qin, the year before last my master even organized a Merchant Caravan to go to Jiangnan to purchase Relief Grain. He never tried to push the price down — he only bought at fair price — yet he didn't get back a single grain. The Lin Family people even sent my master a message."

Qin Feng's brow had already furrowed deeply. He asked in a low voice: "What message?"

The man drew a deep breath, his eyes full of fury: "Some people are in the marketplace to make money, some people are in officialdom to become officials. The business world needs Authority to support it, officialdom needs economic backing. Officials support your business, businessmen support my officialdom. My official position grows ever higher, your money grows ever more. My Lin Family has merely taken both commerce and politics into its own hands, supporting itself — nothing more."

Say what you will, this twisted argument actually carried a perverse sort of "philosophy."

Qin Feng nodded, indicating he already had a clear picture in his mind.

All subjects of Shedynasty are one body — under natural and man-made disasters alike, who could remain untouched?

The Lin Family oppressed the people of Jiangnan, driving Jiangnan's victims to flood into Changping County, and Changping County's starving people in turn flooded into Beixi County.

Just as the man before him had said.

Famine spreads like a plague.

When it spreads to a certain point and crosses the final threshold, raising the banner in revolt becomes inevitable.

Jiangnan, that land of fish and rice, has always held an important position in Shedynasty's grain output, and its voice over grain has always been impossible to ignore.

Yet such an important place, held in the Lin Family's grip, naturally suffered disaster after disaster.

Shedynasty has so many afflictions — the病灶 lies in a single word: Lin.

Qin Feng secretly resolved in his heart: since this matter was to be handled, it would be handled thoroughly!

Publicly, Qin Feng needed to create a fine environment for doing business, so certain tumors had to be cut out.

Privately, the Qin Family and the Lin Family had long-standing grievances. Since conflict was unavoidable, he would take the Offensive Action!

Qin Feng whispered a few instructions to the man, then sent him on his way.

Then he summoned Zhao Yulong, Wu Wei, and Li Lang before him, a flash of resolve passing through his eyes.

"At midnight, we begin the Military Siege!"

Hearing this, Wu Wei's gaze grew solemn: "Young Master, we have no men at hand. Those Rascals and Idle Men may be good at brawling and showing off, but if it really comes to fighting for their lives, they're nothing but a rabble. And there are three or four hundred ambush troops in the city — a rash assault would likely be to our disadvantage."

Qin Feng merely waved his hand, his face full of unconcern: "Who said I intend to recruit those Rascals and Idle Men?"

"How many of us are there in total?"

Wu Wei blurted out: "Four people — and that includes the Fourth Miss."

Qin Feng asked again: "How many people are in the city?"

Wu Wei answered in a low voice: "In the most optimistic case, Three Hundred. In the worst case, four hundred — five hundred is even possible. After all, whether the county's garrison soldiers and Yamen Runners have been bought off by the Lin Family, no one knows."

Qin Feng nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, brimming with confidence: "Let's say there are four hundred in the city. Four against four hundred — our odds are very good!"

………