Chapter 075: I will be promoted next year

 After lunch, Shen Zhiqing got on the carriage and left Hujia Village.

  The seven carriages also contained thirty or forty men from Hujia Village, half of whom were young and half of whom were middle-aged. They were divided into two teams .

  One team went to Shen Zhiqing's grain and oil store in Dahe County to buy grain, and the other team went to buy tiles.

  Shen Zhiqing gave them seven carriages to transport grain and tiles, because there were only seven days left until the 12th. When the weather drops below zero and the roads become icy, it is difficult to go out of the county to buy food. Even buying tiles   in Hujia

  Village, he helps find sellers and get the cheapest prices.

I was so moved. When

  Shen Zhiqing got free time, he went to visit Magistrate Zhang of Dahe County at noon the next day.

  He boldly told the news about the freezing weather and snow damage that covered several hundred kilometers of Dahe County in December . Magistrate Zhang.

  The two have known each other for half a month, and they are quite familiar with each other.

  After all, they meet every day, watch operas and listen to books

  . It's a very simple thing.

  Magistrate Zhang, you also know that there were floods in several cities in the south in July and August this year. It was the master who predicted it, so my father sent my third and fourth brothers to provide relief."

  See Zhang . The county magistrate was a little suspicious. Shen Zhiqing brought up the incident about his father and the flood in the south.

  Magistrate Zhang asked, thinking that there would be such a serious snow disaster in the area under his jurisdiction, and tens of thousands of people would die. How could he not be afraid?

  "Magistrate Zhang, are you afraid? Seeing that I came to this place to sell grain at a price that is one or two copper coins lower than others, and I often donate grain, you can probably guess what I want to do."

  Shen Zhiqing elaborated.

  Magistrate Zhang nodded.

  "I will. I don't want you to spend too much money to do things. As long as you take precautions against snow disasters, prepare food, wood and medicine in advance, and ensure the safety of your house, you can basically survive the snowstorm smoothly.

  You only need to make arrangements for beggars, orphans, lonely elderly people, and poor families . , I will take care of the supplies."

  Shen Zhiqing looked serious. After all, he didn't have much time left for himself. He had to leave the south before the snowstorm got serious and return to the capital to spend the Spring Festival with his family.

  "There is a Salesian Bureau in the county . , nursing homes and almshouses. I will arrange for the needy and homeless people to move in. As for the houses of poor families, if they are not stable, I will send people to help repair them.

  This is the only thing I can do in terms of supplies. Mr. Shen is so generous."

  Magistrate Zhang sighed. He had been in Dahe County for seven years and nothing good happened. As a result, he encountered a snow disaster this year.

  Once the death toll was too high and the court was alarmed, he would

  "Mr. Zhang, I hope you can pay more attention to it. Maybe if you perform well, you can be promoted next year."

  Shen Zhiqing was a little dissatisfied with Magistrate Zhang's selfishness and indifference. "Master Shen, it's not that

  I don't want to. " Try your best, but this county is poor, everyone is poor, and the people are even poorer. Even the official's salary is only enough for food and clothing. He can't do business, and he can't curry favor with his boss

  . The Jiyuan needs several thousand taels of silver every year to maintain its operation, and the money allocated by the court is simply not enough. Half of my salary is posted in it."

  Magistrate Zhang shook his head helplessly. He is stupid and can only read rote books. He can't do anything. That's all.

  Shen Zhiqing thought about the situation in the county, which was roughly the same as what County Magistrate Zhang said.

  "I still have more than one million jins of grain, 50,000 jins of firewood and charcoal, and a lot of cotton cloth and quilts. Master Zhang will count the number of people today and distribute them tomorrow.

  I have been to more than a dozen nearby villages. I gave hundreds of kilograms of grain and cotton quilts to every poor family." "Mr. Zhang, you are responsible for checking the people's houses. If there are problems, they must be repaired. Otherwise, it will be useless no matter how much food or firewood there is   , there will be heavy rains in December

  .

A heavy snowfall is enough to destroy many houses.

  If you are short of silver, I can provide you with three thousand taels."

  Shen Zhiqing's words made County Magistrate Zhang's eyes sparkle. He had supplies and money. What else was he afraid of?

  Be bold.

  Magistrate Zhang immediately found the county magistrate, and the two of them personally went to every street in the county to bring all the beggars, lonely old people, and orphans into the Salesian Bureau and the Almshouse.     Organize the data and package it to Shen Zhiqing overnight.

  At noon the next day,

  Shen Zhiqing and his men took the supplies to several places in the Salesian Bureau and distributed them according to the number of people, no more, no less.

  Two people are also arranged to manage materials, one in charge and one in charge out.

  It must be signed and stamped by the person in charge and Magistrate Zhang before you can receive large amounts of supplies in the future.

  In the afternoon, Magistrate Zhang sent several detectives to inspect people's houses in the county seat and register those with major problems. For houses with minor problems, the owners were asked to repair them to prevent snow disaster landslides.

  Many people don't believe it and think it won't snow heavily, let alone destroy their houses.

  Magistrate Zhang issued a death order. If anyone failed to repair their house, he would inspect it a few days later and fine anyone caught a dozen taels of silver.

  Only then did the naysayers shut up.

  The police beat gongs and drums to spread the news to the county town next to the bed, as well as several surrounding towns and more than a dozen villages.

  Shen Zhiqing asked Magistrate Zhang to take him to the county next door and followed the same pattern, asking the magistrate next door to arrange measures to prevent snow disasters.

  He also left a large amount of supplies worth tens of thousands taels to the local Salesian Bureau and the Almshouse.

  For five consecutive days, we visited five counties and donated countless supplies.

  He doesn't have much supplies left, and the grain and oil store is closed. The remaining supplies will be given to those who need them more.

  And this time it was already the third day of December.

  The weather was getting colder day by day, and it started to rain lightly at night.

  People couldn't bear the cold even if they wore four winter coats, so they thought they could keep warm by lying on the bed.

  As a result, it rained for six or seven days, and it was so cold that people had to burn firewood and charcoal to stay warm.

  The rain stopped for a day. People thought the weather had improved and it would no longer be cold, so they went out to play one after another. Unexpectedly, snowflakes were falling the next day.

  On the third day, it turned into heavy snow, which lasted for three days and nights. The snow covered the roofs, blocked the roads, and the snow was one meter thick.

  The heavy snow has stopped, but dark clouds cover the sun and it is gray all day long.

  People came out to shovel the snow, trying to get rid of the cold.

  But within two days, it suddenly snowed and rained again.

  The temperature seems to have dropped a few degrees again, so cold that even if you wear five winter coats and burn charcoal for warmth, you won't feel any warmth.

  Shen Zhiqing lives in the best house in the county. The charcoal he burns is all silver carbon without any smoke.

  He was also wearing a mink coat, and he still felt a bit cold.

  Today is December 15th, and he will leave the south on this day.

  "Sir, we have to set off. It's snowing and raining outside. Once the road freezes, it will be difficult for us to leave here."

  Wangyou was very worried and urged him several times early in the morning.

  "Sir, County Magistrate Zhang is here." The boy walked in and reported.

  Shen Zhiqing walked to the gate and saw Magistrate Zhang and several police officers.

  "Mr. Shen, we are here to see you off. I wish you a safe journey and get home safely."