Xie Ming

Chapter 527 Ying Yuan's Heart

Chapter 527 Ying Yuan's Heart
During a conversation at Yan Yingyuan's home, Xiao and Yan talked about the affairs of Changzhou, tested each other and made their feelings clear.

Compared to this, Yan Yingyuan looked emotional, trying to relieve the burden in his heart and told the whole story.

At this time, Xiao Lang also listened attentively, which was very thoughtful.

"hehe."

"Very good! Very good."

"With the Duke's words as a foundation, I think what I will say next will be easy to say!"

While reciting the poem, Ying Yuan could not help but sit up straight, looking solemn and focused.

"Changzhou is a city surrounded by three rivers. The waterways are well developed. In the old days, floods were very common."

"This is the result of natural selection, so I think it's understandable."

"However, according to the county annals, floods have occurred from time to time in previous years, but the scale is not as serious as in the past, and the impact on the affected land is also very limited."

"Until the autumn flood season last year, the dike at the northeast fork of the river had been out of repair for a long time, so the river mouth broke its dike and flooded half of Changzhou's land."

"The local area has suffered a disaster. For this reason, the court has allocated funds before November and ordered the prefectures and counties below to repair and reinforce the site on their own!"

"Humph!"

"But what can we do? There are policies from above and countermeasures from below."

"Government offices at all levels, from prefectures to counties, were exploiting the people. They took away all the money allocated by the court for disaster relief, including the money for repairing the river embankment, without leaving anything behind!"

"When the Changzhou County Treasury collected the money, there was only less than 500 taels left of the 50,000 taels originally allocated for disaster relief!"

"The glorious Ming Dynasty, the bright and clear world!"

"Don't you think this is ridiculous?!"

"This is the most ridiculous thing in the world!"

"It's unbelievable, all kinds of corruption, outrageous!"

"But even so, no one is willing to point out and hold anyone accountable!"

"The people of Changzhou really have no other options. They can't rely on the officials, so they have to figure out a solution themselves."

"After all, if the river mouth bursts and the water can't be shut off, the local people will be the ones who suffer next year."

"There's nothing I can do about it!"

"These local people can only raise funds on their own, led by the county, to repair the bridge."

"The river supervisor has gone to Zhenjiang to take a break. From beginning to end, he has never shown up to take care of the situation."

"And so, after emptying the pockets of the common people of what little money they had, we were able to finally build the dike."

"But if this happens, every household will have no money or food, and will not be able to pay the additional military rations and taxes levied by the court."

"At the beginning of this year, the new dynasty was established in Nanjing."

"This is actually good news for the people of Jiangnan."

"After all, with the emperor near, whether it's passing the imperial examinations or doing business, things will be better than in previous years."

"At the very least, everyone feels that there is no need to transfer grain from the south to the north, or to transport taxes from the south to the north!"

"If we establish the capital in Nanjing, the losses of the big guys will be relatively less."

"In the past, when a new dynasty first began, it was always willing to be kind to the people and reduce taxes. I hope that will happen soon."

"But what is the reality?!"

“Everyone has seen it.”

"The northern border was lost, and the prince fled south. He was desperate, thinking that he would use the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to protect half of the southern part of the country."

"I, Yan Yingyuan, am a salary-earner of the imperial court. I have been an official for a long time. The country is in danger. In such a situation of suppressing the rebellion, the imperial court is in a time of war."

"If we don't raise troops and march north, it will be even more difficult to defend the Southern Court!"

"You, the Duke, understand these principles. I am just a county magistrate, a small official, so I also understand them."

"But the common people may not think so."

"The heavy taxes and levies are endless. In order to raise troops for the Northern Expedition, they are even more severe and exploitative!"

"In the Jiangnan area, there are many officials, gentry, wealthy families, and businessmen."

"But these people can come up with all kinds of excuses and not take a penny!"

"In the end, the imperial treasury was in deficit, and it had reached its limit, yet they still wanted to make the people suffer!" "I just don't understand."

"Don't the higher-ups see this imbalance between the rich and the poor and the abuse of power for personal gain?!"

As Yan Yingyuan said this, his tone gradually became more intense.

At this moment, Chang Ting, who was standing by the side, was able to boil some water and find some stale tea foam on the stove, and managed to make a few bowls of tea. Then, quietly without disturbing anyone, he tiptoed and brought the tea to the small bamboo table between the people.

At this moment, Ying Yuan was so excited and angry that he didn't pay any attention to it.

Xiao glanced at Changting and said nothing more.

Chang Ting understood and went to boil two more pots of water, hoping that all the cavalry brothers outside the yard could get at least a bowl of hot water to warm themselves up.

"Let's get back to the disaster in Changzhou."

"You say this is a natural disaster, but in fact, according to my judgment, it may also be caused by man-made disasters."

"After all, how can a project like this, which was built by the people at the end of last year with their own efforts and in a haphazard way, be of any use?"

"This year, during the transition from summer to autumn, the amount of rain before the autumn flood season was much higher than in previous years."

"It is not difficult to foresee that the riverbank will be breached again."

"It is difficult to escape the consequences."

"Right now, Changzhou is suffering from a severe disaster. I think the imperial court should find a way to provide relief and comfort the victims?!"

"But the events in Changzhou and Danyang have been going on for almost half a month."

"Money and food have not been delivered to any place in accordance with the law."

"The people are displaced, without a roof over their heads or food to keep themselves alive!"

"That's 20,000 living people!"

"Twenty thousand mouths are waiting for food to save their lives and medicine to prevent the epidemic!"

"I volunteered to come here and serve as the governor of this disaster-stricken county. My original intention was to save as many lives as possible!"

"But now that I'm here, I understand better."

"The provincial governor had promised to deliver all the supplies, but he had no intention of delivering them at all."

"I, Yan Yingyuan, have repeatedly written to the prefecture government to request food, silver, and medical supplies for the disaster victims in Changzhou."

"But every time they find various excuses to get away with it."

"I can't help it!"

"For the hundred or so stones of corn and bran, I had to beg and plead with my father and mother, and I was shameless enough to get my former post in Jiangyin County to be temporarily transferred here for emergency use."

"Ah!"

“The government forces the people to rebel!”

"There was a riot in Changzhou a few days ago, and Liu Zeqing's troops were dispatched from nearby to help suppress it."

"Hundreds of heads were chopped off, and the number of dead heads kept rolling!"

"But why would the people rebel?!"

"Floods, plague, no food or food to eat!"

"If I don't fight, will I just starve to death?!"

"I, Yan Yingyuan, look at everything in front of me, and my heart sank!"

In the lyrics, Ying Yuan's expression of regret is evident, and his sorrow and resentment are profound.
"Ugh"

"I'm afraid it won't take long."

"If the Duke is willing to believe me today!"

"Based on the current situation in Changzhou."