Recently, the governor of Tai Ping County has been in deep water, due to its unfavourable flood control, the people in its jurisdiction have been killed and injured, especially the villages near Xiangxi, Maichuan River and Suxi River, which were the most affected, with a total of fifty-six villages razed to the ground in one night, with only a few survivors from each of them, and other townships are no better, with the bones of the victims being discarded in the wild, and the whole territory of Tai Ping County is full of white streamers, with more than ninety percent of the people being starved and cold.More than 90 per cent of the people have been turned into victims, starving and freezing, and it is a tragedy on earth.
If other counties had been affected in the same way, the governor of Taiping County might have been in a better position.
However, Jingnan County, which was the closest to Taiping County and had the most interactions, was a different scene.
Because Zhu Pingan, the governor of Jingnan County, had taken precautions before the flood, although Jingnan was not spared from the flood, Jingnan County did not lose a single person in this once-in-a-century flood.
On the one hand, there were countless deaths and injuries, and white bones in the field, on the other hand, there was no loss of a person, the contrast result is sharp! Highlighting the incompetence of this Taiping governor! It also set off Zhu Pingan, a colleague whom he disliked and hated with envy, as being incomparably superior!
As a result, the surviving people in Taiping County were full of grievances and curses against him!
In particular, when word got out that Zhu Pingan, the governor of Jingnan, had sent a letter to Taiping County reminding them of flood prevention and control a few days before the flood, but it was shredded and thrown away by their “good” governor as rubbish, the people of Taiping County cursed Taiping County even more severely.
In the past, people used to call people stupid pigs and dogs, but now they used the name of Taiping County instead of pigs and dogs.
The people of Taiping County were displaced from their homes, and the shelter they gathered in the middle of nowhere was called “Taiping Zhixian Village”, the haystacks they slept on were called “Taiping Zhixian Beds”, and the wild vegetables they ate to feed themselves were called “Taiping Zhixian Delicacies”, and the food they ate to improve their diet was called “Taiping Zhixian Cuisine”.The wild vegetables they ate to satisfy their hunger were called “Taiping Zhixian Delicacies”, and the grasshoppers and other insects they ate to improve their food were called “Taiping Zhixian Meat”. ……
In short, in Taiping County, Taiping governor is synonymous with a series of words such as “stupid” and “incompetent”.
“Since the flood, I have been doing my best to organise relief work, and I have never had a day off, so why can’t they see it? Everyone is looking at this official sideways and cursing this official before and after ……”
The governor of Taiping walked round the county office with his hands behind his back, his brows were all annoyed, resentful and angry, said.
“Foolish people people are the most short-sighted, a leaf blind not see Dongweng hard, they can have today’s life, are not all rely on Dongweng hard. Please don’t be angry with Dongweng, take care of your health, we can’t leave Taiping County without Dongweng.”
The handlers softly persuaded.
“Alas ……If everyone could understand the hard work of this official like you do, then this official would be better off.”
Governor Taiping sighed and reached out to pat the staffer’s shoulder, taking the staffer’s persuasion in stride.
“Alas, let’s not talk about that, how is the construction of the disaster victims’ resettlement area going?”Taiping Magistrate asked the Shogun.
Although Taiping Magistrate never said regret on his lips, but in his heart, he regretted his intestines, regretted that he didn’t listen to what Zhu Ping An said at that time, so these days, he has been sending people to pay close attention to the neighbouring counties Zhu Ping An’s doings, and secretly learn from Zhu Ping An’s ways and means to save the disaster, for example, this disaster victims’ resettlement area is the flood avoidance area in Jingnan that he stole from his master. However, the governor of Taiping renamed the flood shelter area as the disaster victims resettlement area for some ulterior motives.
“Back to Dongweng, we came back from the victims’ resettlement area, and now the site of the resettlement area has been levelled. The transport of wood and thatch is being coordinated, and it is estimated that we will be able to start building the shanties for resettling the victims in the afternoon.”
The staffer returned.
“How come the site has only been levelled, the progress is too slow, didn’t we start levelling the site three days ago? Jingnan built the flood shelter but it only took a day or two to do it all, including levelling the ground to erecting the shanties.”
Governor Taiping said with dissatisfaction.
“Back to Dongweng, the people below were sneaky and the victims refused to contribute, this is still the result of me keeping an eye on it, otherwise I’m afraid that I won’t be able to finish levelling the site in another three to five days.”The staffer wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly as he returned.
There are some words he did not say, Dongweng did not go to the resettlement area of the disaster victims, do not know the situation of the site, no silver, grain and grass supply, just a single administrative order, forcing the people below and the disaster victims to sell their efforts, and how to get up quickly, besides the prestige of the county government office in the people is also less and less day by day.
“This group of unruly people, this official so hard to build flood avoidance, no, disaster victims resettlement area are for who ah! Surprisingly even a handful of strength are not willing to give up, really outrageous ……..They deserve this!”Governor Taiping sniffed and couldn’t help but curse out, after cursing he turned his head and asked his staff, “Right, I asked you to keep an eye on Jingnan, has there been any new action over there recently?”
“What’s wrong, did he come up with any brilliant ideas again?”
After Governor Taiping asked, he saw a strange expression emerge on his staff’s face, and immediately asked nervously.
On the one hand, he hoped that Zhu Pingan would come up with some good strategies so that he could steal them; on the other hand, he was worried that Zhu Pingan would come up with some more good strategies, or else, when comparing Taiping and Jingnan counties, he would be playing the role of a counterpoint to Zhu Pingan!
“Dongweng, Lord Zhu, he ……”The curator shook his head at his words and said with a complicated expression.
“What’s wrong with him? You’re quick to say.”Governor Taiping couldn’t help but urge.
“Dongweng, Lord Zhu, he has issued an official document throughout Jingnan, which defines the price of grain throughout Jingnan as 2,500 Wen per stone.”The shogun spoke up with an expression of disbelief lingering on his face.
“What? Two thousand and five hundred texts per stone?!”Governor Taiping’s face changed in shock as he heard this.
“Dongweng, although it’s unbelievable, it’s true. I also specially rode to Jingnan to verify it and saw the official document with my own eyes, which was also stamped with the bright red Jingnan Magistrate Seal! Grain shops all over Jingnan have also indeed raised the price of grain to 2,500 Wen per stone.”The staffer said.
“Has he, Zhu Pingan, gone mad? At the current time of the flood, from the Prefecture downwards, those grain merchants who had inflated prices, either by beheading them or imprisoning them, were lowering grain prices by thunderous means! How dare he go against the grain prices and raise them so high? What good does this do him?!”
Governor Taiping sucked in a breath of cool air, incredulous that Zhu Pingan had made such a policy.
“What good does it do to him? Ahem, the county governor heard that grain merchants from all over Jingnan are lining up to send thank you gifts to Zhu Pingan, and Zhu Pingan is receiving gifts hand over fist ……There are also a number of foreign grain merchants who have heard of the news and rushed to Jingnan to make a fortune, Zhu Ping An has also sent people in the name of ‘fundraising’, so it’s good to play an autumn wind! According to the grapevine, Zhu Ping’an had to receive this much in gifts alone.”The staffer sneered and gestured.
“Eight thousand taels? That much!”Governor Taiping’s mouth opened wide in shock.
“It’s eighty thousand taels!”The shogun corrected.
“What, eighty thousand taels?!!!”When Governor Taiping heard this, his eyes were about to glaze over, not only protruding, but also red-eyed as if they were congested, “Zhu Pingan’s ability to cradle money is also a fucking Scholar’s talent!!!”
After being shocked and red-eyed, Governor Taiping turned around twice with his hands behind his back and couldn’t help but curse inside his mouth!
How the hell can I steal from you?
If I were to steal a lesson from you again, my family’s ancestral grave would still be dug up by the angry people of Taiping County!
Zhu Pingan, I didn’t expect you to be such a person!
During the time of the flood, I’ve put aside my former suspicions and gone out of my way to learn from you! I didn’t expect you to become a corrupt official instead!
However, this is good, after Taiping Magistrate cursed a few times, a smile suddenly appeared on his face again, he beckoned to his staff and instructed him, ”Quickly have someone spread this news out! The wider the spread, the better, the further away the better! Hmph, let those foolish people see what kind of face the person their hearts and mouths are praising has! By the way, later on, you will draft another official document for me, I want to expose and impeach Zhu Pingan to the Prefectural Governor.”
