Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 88 What sins has this old man committed?!

Watching the figures of Chang Yuchun and his personal guards and laborers disappear completely in the distance, Lame Wu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Brilliant! The county magistrate is truly brilliant," the lame man said with a broad smile, giving a thumbs up. "I only now understand why the county magistrate stored the canned goods and salted duck eggs separately."

Yang Shaofeng chuckled with a hint of smugness.

Last time, when Xu Da sent his personal guards to Ningyang County to escort male prisoners from Liu Hongchang's and Master Geng's families, Magistrate Yang specially ordered Lame Wu to bring canned food to entertain those so-called personal guards.

Then, Magistrate Yang confirmed several things based on the behavior of those so-called personal guards when they ate canned food.

First, there's no need to guess anymore about the true identity of that Master Ma Baoguo; it's completely certain that he is Zhu Chongba, the Emperor Zhu, who is also a scarecrow figurine enthusiast.

The second thing is that the soldiers sent to escort the prisoners were Chang Yuchun's personal guards, not Xu Da's personal guards, otherwise they wouldn't have looked like they had never eaten or even seen canned food before.

The third thing is that Emperor Zhu Chongba is currently in Chang Yuchun's army, escorting male prisoners from Liu Hongchang and Master Geng's families to Ningyang County as revenge for his previous ruthless attack on him.

Otherwise, how audacious would Xu Da have been to exile all the families of more than a dozen local gentry without going through the Ministry of Justice's review?

Then, Magistrate Yang knew that Chang Yuchun would most likely come to Ningyang County to snatch the canned food himself—whether it was because Lame Wu had let Emperor Zhu Chongba eat the canned food, or because those guards told Chang Yuchun after they returned, Chang Yuchun would definitely know about the canned food.

As a high-ranking official who came from a bandit's den, and Yang Shaofeng was a conscript he personally captured, what will Chang Yuchun do after he learns about the canned food?

Of course, the purpose was to bring troops to Ningyang County to seize canned goods and, incidentally, to annoy that old scoundrel Xu Da.

Just in case, after sending off the soldiers escorting the prisoners, Magistrate Yang instructed Lame Wu to store all the canned goods, salted duck eggs, spicy pickled vegetables, and the like separately.

Magistrate Yang smiled smugly and instructed Lame Wu, "Have someone go to the surrounding prefectures and counties to buy more pigs. Our pig farm has piglets..."

Before he could finish speaking, Magistrate Yang suddenly felt that the sky seemed to have darkened. Just as Magistrate Yang was about to turn around to see what was going on, Lame Five tugged at Yang Shaofeng's clothes with a look of fear on his face and pointed to the southeast, saying, "Magistrate, Magistrate, it's cloudy!"

Yang Shaofeng turned his head and glanced in the direction of the lame five fingers. He was terrified at just one glance and hurriedly ran towards the county government office.

"Quickly! Send people to inform all villages and communities to hurry up and harvest the beans. Put everything else aside!"

"Have people open all the empty warehouses in the county government office, and have people go to the villages and open all the courtyards of the local gentry!"

"Tell the people to store the harvested beans wherever they are closest to the county granary. If they are close to the county granary, store them there. If they are close to the gentry's courtyards, store them in the gentry's houses first!"

As Magistrate Yang ran towards the county government office, he kept giving orders to Lame Wu: "Have someone ride a fast horse there. Even if the horse dies, I won't care!"

"Especially in Heshan, where there are many mountains. If there's no time to harvest the beans, then don't harvest them. Evacuate the people first before thinking about anything else!"

"Have someone stop the waterwheels in the Dawen River immediately! We can't draw any more water!"

"Damn it! The drought hasn't even ended and we're already expecting torrential rain!"

"..."

Magistrate Yang kept issuing orders, and Lame Wu kept responding. After arriving at the county office, Lame Wu immediately summoned a group of yamen runners and began assigning tasks to each of them.

Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, stood at the entrance of the county government office, looking up at the darkening sky in the southeast, his heart growing increasingly anxious.

If there is a major flood next year, Yang Shaofeng is not too worried, since it is a matter for next year and he has more than half a year to prepare.

But what if a heavy rain suddenly comes before the drought has even ended...

Damn it, apart from the four or five light rains after the beginning of spring, Ningyang County hasn't seen a drop of rain for more than two months. Now, suddenly the sky is overcast, and it's as overcast as a thick sheet of lead. It's impossible to tell how much rain this time will bring.

If the beans are small, that's fine. Anyway, the bean pods inside the beans are almost ripe. Even if we harvest them, we will lose some of the harvest, but it will still be enough for the people to eat until next year.

If the rain is too heavy, it's not just a matter of the beans potentially being knocked to the ground. The land after a severe drought doesn't absorb much water, and the threshing grounds that people use to dry wheat and soybeans become soaked due to the presence of straw and other debris in the soil. Once a heavy rain hits the ground, the entire threshing ground will be completely soaked, and it won't dry for at least ten days to two weeks. By then, the soybeans that have been harvested will have nowhere to be threshed and dried, and with the rain, all the beans for the year could potentially mold!

Magistrate Yang's hands and feet were ice-cold. He muttered under his breath, "Damn it, what sins have the common people committed to deserve this treatment from Heaven!"

Having just finished assigning tasks to the constables, Limpy Wu, who had returned to stand beside Yang Shaofeng, lowered his head slightly upon hearing this and whispered, "Your Excellency, there's no need to worry so much. Our Ningyang County is not short of food right now, and the people will not go hungry no matter what. This is already a great thing."

Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement, watching the dark clouds in the distance gradually approach Ningyang County, and could only sigh helplessly in the end.

After a long silence, Yang Shaofeng suddenly asked, "Does Chang Pingzhang's army have doctors? Could we invite them to stay in Ningyang County for a couple of days?"

Limpy Wu paused slightly, and Yang Shaofeng continued, "The people are working themselves to the bone to harvest, and some of them will definitely get caught in the rain. I would like to ask Chang Pingzhang to send two doctors over to help prepare some herbs that can help resist the cold."

Limping Five shook his head slightly, "Your Excellency, there are not many doctors in Changpingzhang's army. Even if there were, it is a critical moment to prepare for the Northern Expedition, and Changpingzhang would not send them here."

After a slight pause, Limpy Five added, "Even if Chang Pingzhang were willing, our county doesn't even have a single pharmacy..."

Upon hearing Limpy Wu's words, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng felt even more frustrated and distressed.

After pacing back and forth a few times, Yang Shaofeng said in a deep voice, "Have someone go to the steamed bun shop and tell the women to prepare more ginger soup and cook it in a large pot. If they don't have enough ginger, they should ask the villagers for some. Just say that I said that, apart from keeping some for their own ginger soup, the rest should be collected at the steamed bun shop."

"Have someone boil more hot water and prepare more dry clothes. When the brothers who were just sent out return, let them wipe themselves with hot water and change into dry clothes."