Chapter 297 Crazy Idea

Chapter 297 Crazy Idea

They absolutely couldn't sell the land and houses; without the little bit of wealth left by their parents, they would have no choice but to work as long-term laborers for landlords.

They complained endlessly about how they could only tend to their own fields sporadically, so naturally they were even less willing to do hard labor for the landlords.

Since they couldn't sell their land, houses, wives, or children, they naturally became even more reluctant to give up the money in the village's public account.

Some impulsive individuals directly incited villagers who were either brainless or greedy and stupid, leading them to cause trouble for Chen Lizheng.

Those with more ulterior motives chose a roundabout approach, shamelessly going to village elders who were closely related to them by blood to plead poverty.

The village elders were elected as village elders in a village like Mingfu Village, which has a relatively upright atmosphere. Their character, temperament, ability, and sense of responsibility are undoubtedly excellent. But precisely because of this, they will not help these lazy people to enrich themselves at the expense of the public just because they are their own people.

Let alone Chen Lizheng, even those of them who were closely related to those lazybones by blood only felt disgust towards them, with absolutely no affection or sympathy.

If these lazybones didn't have elderly mothers, wives, and children at home, and if they didn't have the heart to see those people suffer misfortune because of these lazybones, these lazybones wouldn't have the right to cry in front of them. The moment they started wailing, they would have had their children and grandchildren kick these lazybones out.

But now, they can only endure their impatience and listen to those lazy good-for-nothings making empty threats and wailing.

Of course, while they may listen, they still cannot agree to unreasonable demands. In fact, if they become too impatient, they might even pick up their canes, cursing and hitting the lazybones to teach them a lesson.

Those lazybones certainly don't want to be beaten or scolded. The reason they can be idle and lazy is ultimately because their parents or grandparents spoiled them into this state.

Even their own parents and grandparents never hit them. If those lazybones weren't after something, why would they willingly offer themselves up to be beaten and scolded by the elders of the clan?

So when those who went to cause trouble for Chen Lizheng, only to be scolded by him and almost beaten up by his sons and nephews, returned home dejectedly and looking gloomy, those who went to find their uncles or even great-uncles all brought back some grain.

Yes, although they were beaten and scolded, they got what they wanted from the elders of their clan who had beaten and scolded them.

As for crying and wailing and asking their elders to go find Chen Lizheng, that's just a pretense. Do they not know that their elders also approve of Chen Lizheng's actions?

These scheming lazybones are thinking that since you also support Chen Lizheng using public funds to buy medicine, now that your impoverished nephew/grandnephew can't survive, shouldn't you also take some responsibility?

Those who can serve as village elders are generally not poor. I dare not say more, but if you give them a hundred or two hundred catties of grain to get rid of them and tell them not to continue to linger in your house, those old guys can still manage to do it.

As for whether those old guys' families will dislike them because of this, who cares? They survive by eating, not by being shameless.

As long as they have food to eat and don't have to work hard, they don't care whether others like them or hate them.

Those who had profited from the situation temporarily ceased their activities, and most of the villagers had great faith in Chen Lizheng's vision and decisiveness. They had no objection to his suggestion to stockpile some medicinal herbs in advance.

Anyway, if, unfortunately, a plague does break out, those medicinal herbs will eventually be used on the villagers. And if God suddenly takes a good turn and sends down rain to avert the disaster, Chen Lizheng will surely sell those medicinal herbs again.

At most, their village will lose a little money, which is insignificant compared to the lives and safety of all the villagers.

So only a very small number of people who had been scolded by Chen Lizheng remained, hiding in their homes every day, secretly cursing and swearing.

They didn't think Chen Lizheng was doing this for the good of the whole village; selfish and greedy people always have their own set of logic.

In their view, Chen Lizheng should have distributed the money to the poor villagers, including themselves. As for buying and hoarding medicine, shouldn't that have been Dr. Chen's responsibility?

It was fortunate that they still had a shred of sense and didn't say these words to Dr. Chen, otherwise Dr. Chen's wife and children and grandchildren would not have let them off easily.

While Mingfu Village was making orderly preparations to prevent possible drought and plague, Xie Wanniang, after receiving their letter and knowing that they did not intend to come to her for refuge, sent a ten-person guard team to Mingfu Village after careful consideration.

These ten people not only brought money and provisions with them, but they would also stay there to protect Wang Xiaozhi, Chen Lizheng, Doctor Chen, and others who were close to Xie Wanniang, as well as Xie Wanniang's subordinates who ran a martial arts school in Mingfu Village.

If the situation here worsens with the influx of refugees, they will also be responsible for leading everyone to a safe area.

In addition to Mingfu Village, Xie Wanniang also sent another team to the Xie clan's territory.

It was also a ten-person team carrying money and provisions, and they were also responsible for protecting those who were close to Xie Wanniang, and for leading them to a safe area in critical moments.

As for the medicinal herb gardens, farms, and shops she operates outside of Yi County and Tang County, none of them are located in arid areas, so they are all currently operating normally and in an orderly manner.

Of course, in order to keep a close eye on the situation and respond accordingly, Xie Wanniang had her decision communicated to someone in advance.

After doing all this, Xie Wanniang began to systematically allocate a portion of the profits from her shop. She planned to use this money to purchase horses, vehicles, pottery jars, pottery pots, and other items.

Jiang Yuan, who had been assigned the task of buying horses, asked curiously, "What are you going to do with these?"

Xie Wanniang didn't hide anything from him, "If a drought really breaks out, I plan to have people transport water, food, medicine and other necessities to sell along the way."

Jiang Yuan's eyes widened, a rare look of confusion and shock on his face. "This is very dangerous, isn't it?"

Based on Xie Wanniang's past behavior, Jiang Yuan wouldn't suspect that she wanted to profit from the disaster, but even so, Xie Wanniang's idea was crazy enough.

Leaving aside how terrifying those starving and thirsty refugees are, just consider those powerful officials, wealthy merchants, and tycoons who want to take advantage of the disaster to make a fortune. Which of those people is easy to deal with?