Chapter 186 Heavy losses
On the main road in and out of the village, the flood water receded to the ankles. For the farmers who dig for food in the soil, this little water is nothing.
Everyone worked together to move the sandbags at the entrance of the village down and moved them to the sides of the road to leave a passable intersection.
Every household with good fields flooded by the flood went out.
They rolled up their trousers and waded through the sewage to check their own seedlings.
Fan Jin and Ding Heli were among them.
Ding Heli had no fields, but he had been drying yam slices at Fan Jin's house every day these days, and he followed to check when he had nothing to do.
I thought the paddy fields would be harvested at most, but I didn't expect it to be worse than this!
Early in the morning, the men and women of Shanshui Village cried loudly on the dirt road on the ridge of the field.
Aunt Fan cried and howled: "Oh my God, how can people live like this"
"This life is unbearable"
Others were not much better, looking at their own rice fields and wiping tears frequently.
The old village chief was leaning on a cane and wearing straw sandals, with his trouser legs rolled up high. He did not go down to the ridge of the field, but just stood on the main road and looked far away.
His old eyes looked around everywhere, and he sighed from time to time.
There were still many old people in the village standing on the main road, all of them with sad faces and sighing uncontrollably.
"Old village chief, what do you say?" What Father Xu wanted to say turned into a sigh.
The heavy rain fell for five or six days, and the flood only receded today. The paddy fields have always been low, and they are prepared for the seedlings to be submerged in water, and they are also prepared for no harvest this season.
At worst, they can be more diligent at the end of the year and plant another season of winter wheat. It doesn't matter if the soil is not fertile enough. There is still a harvest of two or three hundred kilograms per mu. In addition, the court may reduce taxes due to floods. If there is some disaster relief food, the family can eat half full and survive.
As long as they can survive, life will gradually get better next year.
However, in the rice fields in front of me, the seedlings were not soaked in water, but all washed away with their roots and soil.
There were water plants, dead branches, broken trees, sand, stones and soil in the fields, but the original appearance was gone.
Uncle Wang took over the conversation: "The soil in the fields has been washed away, and the fertility is gone. It is all hard soil and winter wheat cannot be planted.
Not only can we not plant this year, but even if we plant rice next year, the harvest will be as small as it can be. Good fields rely on fertile soil for good harvests. Now it will take three to five years for the rice fields to recover to the harvest before the flood."
How can we live in these three to five years? There is no way.
"Wait for the government notice. The flood here is so serious that the court will definitely reduce taxes and allocate grain for disaster relief!" Fan Qiye said with a sharp look in his eyes.
"Will the court care about us?" Old Man Xu asked uncertainly.
"He will definitely take care of us! Don't you forget that the emperor had several princes executed a few months ago? The property of any of those princes could feed the people of the entire city.
The treasury is sufficient, how can the emperor ignore us people? Besides, the emperor must have executed those princes for the good of us people. Since it is for the good of the people, it is impossible for him to ignore the people." Fan Qiye said to others and to himself at the same time.
Ding Heli next to him had a gloomy face and pursed his lips without saying anything.
The others were filled with hope and agreed enthusiastically: "Yes! The emperor will definitely take care of us!"
"The flood is so serious that perhaps the officials for disaster relief are on their way."
"As long as the relief grain is allocated and the taxes are reduced for three years, we can get through it even if we eat less."
Fan Jin didn't know what the emperor was like, but he read the books of sages, and the books said that the court would definitely provide disaster relief to deal with natural disasters and floods.
He turned to look at Ding Heli who had remained silent, and sighed: "The court should allocate relief grain. It will be fine when the relief grain arrives."
The family has livestock, meat and eggs, and there is a clear market for food, so there is no need to worry. If things don't work out, there are potatoes, so the family can have enough food.
Before selling rice wine, brushes and Polygonum multiflorum, there was probably a few hundred taels of silver in savings. With the wooden box of gold leaves sent by Bai Manshan and Li Huyu, there was enough money to spend.
There are also medicinal herbs on the back mountain.
It's not a problem for my family.
But it's not the case for the people in the village. If there is no tax reduction and relief grain, they may not be able to survive.
"The court will allocate relief grain, but it is unknown how much will be in the hands of the victims." Ding Heli would not say a word about the court to others, but he still spoke to Fan Jin.
Fan Jin immediately understood.
He lowered his voice and asked, "Uncle Ding, do you mean there will be corruption? But these are life-saving food. If they are not distributed, many people will starve to death. Aren't you afraid that the emperor will know about it?
Besides, not having enough food will cause unrest. Are those officials not afraid that the emperor will blame them and their lives will be in danger?"
Ding Heli shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Officials protect each other. The fat meat is distributed layer by layer. Everyone has grease on their hands.
Not to mention other places, just in Guangning Prefecture, there are so many officials and yamen runners. Who will work if they are not fed?
But they still have family, relatives and friends. Relatives and friends also have family. Food must be given to their own family first.
Deceiving the superiors and hiding the truth from the subordinates and keeping warm together is what officials are best at. The emperor is a good person, but not necessarily a good emperor."
The emperor has a good temper, but kindness does not rule the army and justice does not rule the money. The good-tempered emperor is firmly controlled by his subordinates. Severe punishment cannot suppress those corrupt officials, let alone lifting them up and letting them down lightly.
The officials below are not afraid. No matter how much money and food they allocate, it is useless.
It will not reach the real victims.
Fan Jin looked at Uncle Ding, and always felt that his knowledge and ideas were not ordinary mountain herbalists.
However, Uncle Ding trusted him, so he would speak his mind, and he shouldn't ask too much.
The two of them spoke in low voices, and the excited crowd over there gradually calmed down. Everyone still had expectations for the court, but after being a little rational, they didn't dare to put too much expectation.
After all, the family needs to eat, and if the disaster relief food can't arrive, the whole family can't go hungry.
Years of experience have made them understand that the court is unreliable, no matter what the situation, they must rely on themselves first!
"Old village chief, do you have more potatoes? I will exchange corn flour with you, and I plan to plant a few more acres in August and September."
"Can you exchange some for me? I will also plant a few more acres!"
"I will exchange too!"
People in the distance heard it, pulled their legs out of the mud and ran to the main road, and also shouted to exchange.
For a time, all the people rushed to the old village chief and several people on the main road.
They regretted very much that they didn't plant potatoes in the last batch.
If we planted potatoes, we wouldn't have to worry about food for the whole family.
But if we missed the last season, we must not delay the next season, otherwise the whole family would really have to eat tree bark!
The old village chief looked at the crowd rushing to squeeze in, stretched out his hand to press down, and signaled quiet.
On the other side, Sun Jinhua signaled to Fan Qian, and the two quietly left.