Chapter 293 Signs of Natural Disaster

Chapter 293 Signs of Natural Disaster

Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang, of course, wouldn't let him talk to himself. They threw away all the letters he wrote and the things he sent.

The people sent by Jiang Tong couldn't even get a glimpse of the person in charge.

But if they are constantly and persistently harassed like this, wouldn't they get annoyed too?

Especially those with ulterior motives, and those who speak without understanding the situation, will jump out and say things like, "Parents are never wrong," "Parents' hearts are always full of love and worry," "How can children not acknowledge their own parents?" "Even His Majesty advocates governing the country through filial piety," and so on.

Blah blah blah, it's really annoying.

Normally, Xie Wanniang would have resolved this minor trouble without Jiang Yuan even needing to intervene. However, now, firstly, she was pregnant, and secondly, Baoding Prefecture and the neighboring Hejian Prefecture comprised three prefectures and seven counties, and from the beginning of last winter to the beginning of this spring, they had only experienced two very light snowfalls.

Experienced farmers, with their rich farming experience, had already begun to sigh and lament about this matter before the Lunar New Year.

As the old saying goes, a timely snowfall promises a bumper harvest. Even without considering how to plow and plant the fields the following spring if it doesn't snow or rain, just looking at the pests in the soil, without heavy snow, their numbers will be at least double that of previous years.

Because of this incident, the vast majority of people in these three prefectures and seven counties have been unable to feel cheerful even during the Lunar New Year.

Since arriving in this world, Xie Wanniang has experienced natural disasters before, but this is the first time that Baoding Prefecture has experienced a natural disaster since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty.

In the past few years, she had heard many stories of droughts, locust plagues, and floods in various places, but because the imperial court provided timely disaster relief and those places were relatively far from Baoding Prefecture, Xie Wanniang's daily life was not affected in any way.

This time was different; this natural disaster happened right next to her.

Considering the potentially severe consequences of the drought and insect infestation, Xie Wanniang made a decisive move. She took out all the money in her household and sent two teams to the surrounding areas of Baoding Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture, as well as several prosperous places between Hejian Prefecture and the capital, to purchase large quantities of grain, medicinal herbs, and other supplies.

Of course, before doing this, she did not forget to write a long letter to Madam Hou, Xie Daoheng, and Wang Xiaozhi and other people in Mingfu Village.

As for the other officials' wives with whom she had a good relationship, the employees in her shop, and the guards and servants they employed, she also reminded them to stock up on more food and medicine.

When asked if the news could be leaked, Xie Wanniang nodded in agreement without exception, only instructing them not to cause prices to rise in various places due to the procurement.

Some people didn't know which medicinal herbs to stock up on, so Xie Wanniang carefully compiled a list for them.

Of course, while doing these things, Xie Wanniang did not forget to make the unpleasant point clear beforehand: "This is just taking precautions, it does not mean that there will definitely be a drought or insect plague."

Those who received her reminders were all close to her, and those who could get along with her were unlikely to be unreasonable people. So everyone readily admitted that they were just taking precautions.

Xie Wanniang was very satisfied with everyone's attitude. Later, when she sent people to search for water sources everywhere and personally drew a map of the water source distribution, she also painstakingly made some copies.

Of course, apart from the two copies given to her adoptive father Xie Daoheng and the Lady Hou, the others received incomplete versions, which only showed the distribution of streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds in their area, as well as the distribution of water sources on the two best routes they might take if they were to travel to avoid drought and locust plagues.

Lady Hou, who never dreamed that Xie Wanniang had such abilities, immediately made three copies of the water source distribution map that Xie Wanniang had secretly sent, and gave them to her husband, son and the prefect of Baoding Prefecture respectively.

Xie Daoheng personally made two copies, one for his wife, Hu, and the other for one of his trusted attendants.

His trusted attendant, though nominally just a servant, was also one of his capable assistants in managing the academy.

If Tang County is indeed affected by the disaster, Xie Daoheng needs his assistance to organize the teachers and students of the academy to carry out disaster relief and bring peace to the people.

Although his wife, Madam Hu, was only a woman in the inner quarters, she was the one who basically helped manage the affairs of the Xie clan during the years he was busy with the affairs of the academy.

In Xie Daoheng's mind, he was more reliable and capable than his good-for-nothing second son.

If Tang County is indeed affected by the disaster, the Hu family will still have to step up and take charge on the Xie family's side.

As for Wang Xiaozhi, Chen Lizheng, and others from Mingfu Village, they were just ordinary people, so naturally they wouldn't react like Madam Hou and Xie Daoheng, whose first instinct was to provide disaster relief and reassure the people.

Chen Lizheng's first reaction was that he had to inform the villagers to stockpile grain, instruct Doctor Chen to stockpile medicine, and in the following period, he also had to have people keep an eye on the village's wells and the water level of the nearby Tang River.

Furthermore, if Heaven is truly determined not to treat the people of those three prefectures and seven counties well, he must also guard against the possibility that, after they have no way to survive, they might flock to other nearby places, such as their Tang County, and commit acts of burning, killing, and looting.

He needed to discuss with the village elders in advance whether to stay and defend the village or to flee as a group. If they stayed, how many able-bodied men would each family contribute to protect the village? If they couldn't contribute that many men, how much would they have to give in return? And if they had to flee, which direction would they go, and at what point would they set off? How would they divide the work and cooperate along the way?

As for Wang Xiaozhi's family, although Xie Wanniang told them in the letter to go to Yi County or Zijing Pass, and said that she would send someone to escort them, Wang Xiaozhi and her husband decided to stay with the other villagers after discussing it.

It wasn't that they were embarrassed to trouble Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, but Chen Zhao was not only Wang Xiaozhi's husband and the father of their children, but also the son of his parents and the blood-related brother of his brothers.

He couldn't possibly abandon his parents and brothers, leaving with only Wang Xiaozhi and the children. Nor could he bring himself to drag his parents and twenty or thirty brothers' families along to Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan's house.

Not to mention that his brothers all have their own in-laws, and his parents also have their own brothers, nephews, sisters, and cousins.

He couldn't bear to part with his parents, and his parents couldn't bear to part with their other children, grandchildren, and other close relatives. Their other children, grandchildren, and other close relatives each had their own people they couldn't bear to part with. This chain of relationships would eventually involve countless other relatives.