The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 380 The End of the World
A large number of disaster victims poured into Datong from Shaanxi. The prefect was in a state of panic, unable to even save himself. County magistrates ordered the expulsion of the disaster victims.

The disaster victims, along with their families, were emaciated and looked like ghosts.

The petty theft, even murder and robbery, quickly aroused the anger of the locals, who were extremely disgusted with the outsider disaster victims.

"Please give me something to eat, please have mercy."

The woman, accompanied by two children, went around begging, saying kind words, "Good people are rewarded, and the Bodhisattva protects good people."

"Go away."

The man cursed and dodged the filthy mother and her two children as if they were plague gods.

A man who had been watching for a while approached the mother and child when they reached a less crowded area. He called out to the woman, "How about I sell you two liters of rice?"

The child being pointed at was the youngest, only four or five years old. Fear prompted him to instinctively cling to his mother, while the older children bravely stepped forward, revealing fierce eyes.

The woman asked warily, "What do you want with my child?"

“I’m the caravan manager. I think your son is quite clever. I’ll buy him as an apprentice. In three to five years, he can be working as a waiter. Don’t be ungrateful. If you don’t want to, then forget it.”

The man spoke as he lifted his leg as if to leave.

The woman quickly stopped the man, hesitatingly saying, "Two liters of rice is too little."

"Just two liters. If you agree, I'll take the child; if not, I'm leaving anyway." The man showed no sign of backing down and was starting to get impatient.

After only a moment's hesitation, the woman hardened her heart, pushed the child she was holding towards the man, and said, "Following this uncle will ensure you have food to eat." Then she curtsied to the man and asked in a low voice, "Do you know which business this is?"

"What? You're still trying to take advantage of me?" The man said, then walked away. "I don't want it anymore."

"Don't go!" the woman pleaded, tears streaming down her face, as she handed the child over to him.

Which child who's still alive today doesn't understand things?
The little boy followed obediently with his head down, turning back every step of the way, tears streaming down his face every three steps. The woman felt heartbroken at the sight. The older child beside him, holding his hand, looked intently at his younger brother, knowing he might never see him again.

"hurry up."

The man scolded, and the child, unable to see his mother and separated from his older brother, was afraid but dared not cry, and tried to follow with his head down.

As if afraid of being chased, the man quickly left with the child in his hand, wanting to leave the city.

"stop!"

As they turned the corner and were about to reach the main street, a dozen soldiers surrounded them.

The sharp tip of the spear was only inches from the man, who dared not move and cried out in fright, "Sir, you've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not a bad person."

"hehe."

The military leader sneered, "We brothers have been following this mother and child for days, waiting anxiously, only to find you here."

In order to crack down on criminals, their entire Class A battalion was mobilized, and each team secretly competed to see who could catch the criminals first and catch the most criminals.

Who says catching criminals isn't fighting a war?

Both are military achievements.

Hearing the other person's words, a hint of despair flashed in the man's eyes. He wanted to argue, but the other person didn't give him a chance. "Tie him up and take him back. We're not afraid he won't talk."

The man dared not stay and wanted to resist.

But the sergeant's spear only needed to exert force to pierce the flesh, leaving the man no chance at all.

The child had no idea what was happening.

"You're lucky to have met us, kid," a soldier said with a smile, patting the child on the head.

The child was too afraid to speak.

"What kind of martial arts sect is this? Nothing special." The soldier was ruthless and shoved the man hard. The man was bound hand and foot and had difficulty walking. He staggered a few steps and almost fell. Although he kept explaining, the closer he got to the governor's mansion, the more desperate he felt.

"If you want to manage something, what kind of people, from all walks of life, can't you control?"

The military leader struck the man hard with the shaft of his spear. Who wouldn't hate such a villain who abducts, kills, and mutilates children? However, since there hadn't been any investigation yet, it wasn't wise to go too far.

He cursed, "How dare you come to Datong and look down on us brothers?"

The military leader walked around, knocking on the door as he went, and cursed, "Your tricks are nothing more than the officials being too lazy to care, unwilling to care, or even colluding with you. If the higher-ups really wanted to deal with you, they wouldn't be afraid of not being able to find evidence of your crimes."

soon.

The man was locked up and will be interrogated soon.

Once it's confirmed that the perpetrators are responsible for mutilating and dismembering animals, their accomplices and family members must also be identified.

A public trial will then be scheduled for a later date.

After the trial, the criminal was executed by slow slicing, and his parents, wife, and children were exiled to the borderlands to serve as servants.

As more and more disaster victims poured into Datong, Wang Xin's abilities were limited. Although he did not provide food relief, he sent out soldiers from the city to be specifically responsible for maintaining order and cracking down on all petty criminals.

"Xia Mi Zhuang has opened a soup kitchen."

Someone shouted.

The disaster victims in the city quickly left and headed to Xiamizhuang outside the city.

The Datong Association would set up soup kitchens in various places from time to time, and the disaster victims had to go there on their own, otherwise there would be none left.

In their haste to get a bowl of porridge, many elderly and frail disaster victims collapsed on the road.

Corpses could often be seen on both sides of the road. Soldiers from the city would come out to collect the bodies, driving mule carts along the road. Once the carts were full of corpses, they would transport them to the wilderness and bury them in large pits that had been prepared in advance.

The pit was dug by the army; it was very deep, and wild dogs couldn't dig it out.

The soup kitchen in Xiamizhuang was packed with people, a sight that made one's heart ache.

"Don't push!"

"If you push any further, I'll arrest you!"

The fully armed sergeant shouted threats.

The second-class battalion mobilized more than 400 people to maintain order. There were no fewer than 10,000 disaster victims present. The number of people had exceeded 10,000 and was boundless. Xiamizhuang was packed with people, and disaster victims continued to arrive from further away.

The officers and soldiers felt a chill run down their spines.

"boom!"

In the distance, someone fired a gun.

Many soldiers rushed over and, with a mix of beatings and curses, forced their way through.

At the intersection, there is a sign that reads "Registration Office for Craftsmen and Doctors" in large characters.

"Can a scholar do it?"

An old man asked confidently.

"I'm sorry, but I only need craftsmen and doctors. Veterinarians are also fine. Do you know how to forge iron?"

The old man left in disappointment, muttering, "The world is going to the dogs."

He doesn't want to die.

Finally, unable to walk any further, he sat down by the roadside. He sat there for a long time and then couldn't get up anymore, as if he had fallen asleep.

"I can forge iron."

Because he couldn't read, he almost missed it, but the man who overheard the conversation quickly ran over.

"Name, place of origin, number of years you've been a blacksmith, what skills do you have?" The man gave him a form, but the other person couldn't write and was very disappointed, but still helped him register.

The man was almost in tears. Sensing the other's disgust, he nervously asked, "I have a wife and children over there. Can I bring them with me?"

Skilled people among the disaster victims will be selected.

Even if the military governor's office didn't need that many people, they would still feed them plain porridge first, for fear that the other party wouldn't accept them.

"Consider yourself lucky that you can bring your family, but let me tell you, you won't get a full meal. You'll still go hungry, at best you won't starve to death. If you want to eat your fill, you'll have to find a job."

"As long as we don't starve to death, that's fine."

The man was so hungry that he hadn't eaten for several days.

After the start of spring, it didn't rain for several months.

From outside the pass to inside the pass, except for areas with abundant water resources where irrigation is still possible, other farmland has been abandoned. In Datong, 40% of the original farmland has been completely abandoned, and half of the remaining farmland has been affected.

What's even more despairing is that it seems like the whole world is suffering from drought.

News brought by outsiders indicated that drought was occurring everywhere.

In Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, the Beijing area, Sichuan, and even in the water-rich Hubei and Hunan provinces and Nanjing and Zhejiang, some lakes have dried up.

More than half of the pasture grass in the original pastures outside the pass has withered.

It would take several times more pasture to support the original cattle, sheep and horses.

Many herders sold their cattle, sheep, and horses at low prices, which were then bought by merchants in Daning, where there was an urgent need for cattle, sheep, and horses. This alleviated the disaster situation outside the pass, but what about the disaster situation inside the pass?

The farmland that was cleared last year.

There are a total of 30,000 mu of farmland around Guihua City and more than 40,000 mu elsewhere. They were originally hoping for a bumper harvest this year, but now, they would be lucky to get even 30% of the harvest.

Many people carried water on their shoulders to the river to irrigate their fields, risking their lives to save others.

The Jiedushi government was under immense pressure.

Zeng Zhi, with blisters on the corners of his mouth, reported the results of the accounting to Wang Xin.

"After calculation, the cost of renting military horses by various merchants was approximately 160,000 taels. However, Juzhongchang's business has declined sharply this year. Not only Juzhongchang, but all businesses have seen a sharp decline in business this year, including the two Xue family businesses. On the other hand, the arquebus and cannon factories have maintained their business at the same level, but the profit is not large. In total, the income is 317,400 taels."

"The current expenditure of the entire army is more than 725,600 taels, but the imperial court has only allocated less than 200,000 taels for military expenses, leaving a shortfall of more than 260,000 taels."

Zeng Zhi looked terrified.

"If it weren't for the move by the military commander last year to allow merchants to free up the army from mercenary duties, which not only reduced military spending but also generated profits, the shortfall would not have been 260,000 taels, but 700,000 taels."

Merchants support the army; one is a positive factor, the other a negative, and the difference is astonishing.

The merchants not only supported more than 10,000 soldiers, but also paid more than double the military pay, saving more than 288,000 taels of silver, and provided more than 160,000 taels of profit.

That adds up to over 448,000 taels.

The shortfall of 260,000 taels was enough to cause a great deal of trouble, but if nearly 450,000 taels of silver were added, Zeng Zhi could be said to be completely desperate; just thinking about it was suffocating.

"If only we had spent less money last year."

Yan Zhongzheng knew that what he said was wrong, but he still expressed his feelings in front of everyone.

Nobody knew the situation this year would be so serious.

Last year, the government spent over 300,000 taels of silver on buying cattle, recruiting a large number of craftsmen and doctors, and providing disaster relief to the victims, which depleted the treasury of the Marshal's Mansion.

Wang Xin ignored Yan Zhongzheng's complaints and calmly asked, "How much silver is left in the treasury?"

Zeng Zhi was unable to remain calm in front of the commander.

To be honest, Zeng Zhi admired this composure immensely. In any case, he was not at all relaxed in the face of the current situation. He immediately replied, "More than 54,800 taels, but the food rations are more than 164,000 shi and the fodder is more than 287,000 shi."

Wang Xin neither competed for grain nor sold it.

Of the 55,000 soldiers, more than 12,000 were from the merchants, but they still needed to prepare enough food for the entire army to last for seven months.

There was not enough fodder; it was only enough to feed all the horses and livestock in the army for one month.

However, there are still areas beyond the pass, but going further afield will increase the injury and illness rate of horses and livestock.

Zeng Zhi had to remind Wang Xin of something, and solemnly said, "The number of disaster victims pouring into Datong is at least 50,000."

Datong was a border region; were people fleeing famine and heading to the mountains? Yet, Datong's reputation spread far and wide.

That's 50,000 mouths.

"Although the military governor only provides five he (half a liter) of rice per day, there are too many people. I'm afraid the disaster won't end this year. Are we going to feed them for a whole year? Even if it's just one bowl of porridge a day, it would still amount to 60,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) a year."

Zeng Zhi was waiting for Wang Xin's decision.

The army's rations are only enough for seven months. Now that grain prices are skyrocketing, many grain shops have stopped selling rice. The imperial court has been in arrears for several months, and who knows when next month's military pay will be issued.

"Do you think the Prince of Dongping will rebel?"

Yan Zhongzheng felt dizzy listening to Zeng Zhi's accounts and made corrections in his own book.

Everyone was stunned and turned to look at Yan Zhongzheng.

"Why?" Wang Xin couldn't figure out how Yan Zhongzheng came to the conclusion that the Prince of Dongping was going to rebel.

“The military garrisons have been in arrears with their pay for more than twenty months. Although some has finally been paid this year, the price of grain has risen so high that it’s as good as nothing. The military officers are just temporary officials, and no one is willing to rebel.”

Yan Zhongzheng sat up straighter and straighter as he spoke, returning to his own domain and becoming more and more confident. "But the Prince of Dongping will definitely not sit idly by and wait for death, just like us. Are we going to just watch our soldiers go hungry?"

The Prince of Dongping was a prince with a real title, and naturally he was responsible for the soldiers under his command.

This was also the cornerstone of the power of the Prince of Dongping.

Similarly, if it weren't for the support of the Western Army soldiers, would he have been able to return to Datong and become a military governor?

If the soldiers in Datong are starving, who will support their military governor? What difference will there be between Datong and other military towns?
A promise is as good as gold; it is never given out of thin air.

“It shouldn’t be to the point of creating a reaction.” Zeng Zhi opened his mind and did not deny Yan Zhongzheng’s speculation. As a son of a wealthy family in Liaodong, he was more familiar with Liaodong. In a flash of inspiration, he blurted out, “But they will target the Liaodong Military Command.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zeng Zhi broke out in a cold sweat.

Why did they target the Liaodong Military Command and seize control of Liaodong?
For the sake of food.

Wealthy households still have grain reserves, like the military governor's mansion, which has a deep-rooted foundation and must have grain in its granaries.

Besides, which wealthy family doesn't accumulate several years' worth of grain?

Their family was a prominent household in Liaodong, and they seemed to see the danger of their entire family being wiped out.

Wang Xin fell silent.

Distributing grain to wealthy households was at least the right approach.

However, attacking the powerful families would completely disrupt the order. There was no turning back once the arrow was released. By taking this step, the Prince of Dongping was now locked in a life-or-death struggle with the powerful families of Liaodong, which would inevitably affect the court's attitude towards him.

What about yourself?

What choice should I make?

Natural and man-made disasters.

This is only the second year; there are still five years to go. Even after five years, it won't be completely over; it will just be lessened and begin to recover.

If we add man-made disasters to that.

Just as the original text of Dream of the Red Chamber foreshadowed, the Great Zhou Dynasty was indeed a vast expanse of white, a truly clean land.

What a hopeless apocalypse.

Wang Xin did not believe that Zhou Jifu could solve the current natural disaster, nor did he believe that he could reverse the prophecy in the original text.

He is not a savior.

So how should we protect our country?

(End of this chapter)