Volume 1 The Wind Rises Chapter 26 Little Yama
Luo Youdu looked at Cui Yan's hesitation and knew that he was worried about being blamed . The older he got, the more evil he became. When faced with something that was about to happen, he usually preferred to wait until it happened before making a move. Then, if the situation became difficult to deal with, it would not be him who would be blamed, but the people in charge of disaster relief, or perhaps even himself, the military officer of Kaifeng Prefecture.
If these refugees start an uprising, Kaifeng Prefecture will probably be in chaos. Luo Youdu has no confidence in handling the people's livelihood issues in Kaifeng Prefecture under such circumstances.
Faced with refugees starving to the bone, a wrong decision could lead to a war.
I have worked hard for more than a month and my resume is quite impressive, but I don't want to leave a stain on it because of a natural disaster.
After a slight hesitation, Luo Youdu said loudly: "Master, scholars like us should worry about the world before we worry about ourselves, and be happy after we are happy. How can we look ahead and behind?"
Without hesitation, he recited the famous warning words of Fan Zhongyan, a famous prime minister in later generations.
“Before you worry about the world, be the last one to be happy.”
Cui Yan muttered to himself, and felt his body getting slightly hot, with a hint of his youthful spirit flashing in his eyes.
We are all scholars, who hasn’t been young before?
Wen Zhenggong's words have a great influence.
"Let's go! I'll take you to see the official."
Cui Yan immediately made up his mind and took Luo Youdu into the palace.
Of course, with Luo Youdu's rank, he still couldn't meet the emperor in person, so he had to wait outside like he did last time.
After a while, a guard came to report.
"General Luo, the emperor invites you in for a chat."
When Luo Youdu saw Guo Rong again, the Great Zhou emperor's eyes were bloodshot and he looked as if he had been overworked for a long time.
In addition to Cui Yan, there were two other people in the hall whom Luo Youdu did not know.
Guo Rong did not exchange pleasantries with Luo Youdu and asked bluntly, "Are there really refugees gathering in Kaifeng?"
Luo Youdu bowed and replied, "There have been two cases in Kaifeng today, and there are probably more that have not been reported. I sent people to Kaifeng Wharf to inquire about the situation, and many merchant ships that were evacuated from the Yellow River flood also received corresponding answers. However, there are groups of refugees who support each other and go south along the Bian River to Kaifeng. What they saw should be only a small part. In ten days at most, Kaifeng will gather a large number of refugees."
When Guo Rong heard this, he looked at the other two people in the hall and said, "Wen Su, Qi Wu, what do you think?"
Only then did Luo Youdu realize that the two people in the hall were the Prime Ministers of the Great Zhou, Fan Zhi, Fan Wensu and Wang Pu and Wang Qiwu.
Fan Zhi's greatest strength is his erudition. He has an amazing memory. He has all the legal regulations on personnel transfers, as well as the money, grain and population stored in the Ministry of Revenue in his mind. He can speak without thinking. After a little thought, he sighed and said, "I'm afraid it is true. We have ignored the problem of refugee flows. Fortunately, Luo Canjun has foresight and prevented us from being caught off guard."
Wang Pu was kind-hearted and sympathetic to the people. He said, "We should immediately prepare porridge stalls, clean up the houses, and strictly control the refugees so as not to disrupt the people's livelihood in Kaifeng."
Fan Zhi added: "We need to prepare medicinal materials and clean water in advance. Plague is most likely to break out in places where refugees gather. We need to arrange for refugees to wash more often to avoid this disaster."
Wang Pu added: "It just so happens that all the people of Kaifeng have gathered in the north of the city, making it too crowded, while the south of the city is mostly desolate and defeated. We can directly recruit them to clear the south of the city for the purpose of expanding Kaifeng in the future."
Luo Youdu looked at Fan Zhi and Wang Pu in amazement, and admired them in his heart. They were able to hold the position of prime minister and they really possessed extraordinary abilities. With a few words from them, the general process of receiving and settling the people was arranged.
Guo Rong kept nodding his head and felt much more at ease.
Thanks to Guo Wei's three years of recuperation in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Great Zhou Dynasty's treasury had stored a large amount of grain, which was fully capable of dealing with this crisis.
Guo Rong was also a man of courage and he immediately issued an order: Prime Minister Wang Pu led the relief work, and Minister of Revenue Zhang Zhao also issued an order: "Kaifeng Prefecture is responsible for the livelihood of the capital, and the disaster victims are also citizens of the Great Zhou. The livelihood affairs are still decided by Kaifeng Prefecture."
The next few days happened just as Luo Youdu had expected.
The refugee tide gradually gathered into a large army and began to pour into Kaifeng Prefecture.
After all, Kaifeng is the center of the Great Zhou Dynasty and a holy place in the hearts of the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
In just ten days, the number of refugees reached 60,000.
At this time, the Great Zhou was still relatively prosperous , and Guo Rong was not like Yang Guang, who stubbornly guarded the granary and would rather give it to the Wagang Army than use it for disaster relief.
As long as they have food to eat, the refugees can be well controlled.
Of course, it is not absolute.
Refugees and the people of Kaifeng lived together, and friction was inevitable. There were many lazy hooligans among the refugees, and some hooligans in Kaifeng pretended to be refugees and cheated for food and drink. All of this inevitably caused friction.
Luo Youdu's workload increased more than ten times. He had to line up to hear and judge cases, and had no time to rest at all.
Cui Yan, the top official of Kaifeng Prefecture and a second-rank official, had to step down and help Luo Youdu to try the case, acting as a peacemaker for the people of Kaifeng.
Of course, there were exceptions for those hooligans who took advantage of the chaos to cause trouble. At this time, Luo Youdu would directly deal heavy blows to those who committed crimes, no matter how big or small, especially those with criminal records. He would either beat them half to death or directly exile them.
The Great Zhou had not yet been unified, and there was no special place for exile, so they were sent to the mines to mine.
This frightened the ruffians in Kaifeng Prefecture. They did not dare to mention Luo Youdu's name in private and called him "Little Yama Luo".
Because of this, Luo Youdu was given the nickname "Little Yama".
After learning this from Zhang Koukou, Luo Youdu was so angry that he cursed.
He was aiming to be a great judge, so how did he end up with the title of a little devil?
If you don’t know how to give a nickname, don’t give one. Why call yourself Little Yama?
How can it be small?
Doesn’t the name “Da Yanluo” sound good?
The word "big" is a bit exaggerated, "Zhong Yan Luo" is also OK.
However, the name Little Yama was unexpectedly useful. Ever since Luo Youdu spread the name, the hooligans in Kaifeng City became much more obedient, and the hooligans among the refugees also became more honest.
"call!"
Luo Youdu let out a long sigh, finally having some free time.
Cui Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was quite old and his workload had increased greatly in recent days, so his face looked a little pale.
"Why don't you go back and have a rest? I'll take care of Kaifeng Prefecture."
Luo Youdu said with some concern.
Cui Yan shook his head slightly: "This old bone of mine can still hold on." Then he said thankfully: "Fortunately, I listened to your advice at the beginning, otherwise the result would be unimaginable. At the court meeting today, Prime Ministers Fan Zhi and Wang Pu praised you highly, saying that those who are good at fighting do not have great achievements, and that you are the first to make Kaifeng's current stability. The two of them, plus Wei Renpu, all submitted letters of recommendation to the emperor at the same time, and even argued about it in the court. The emperor also ordered people to make a plaque of your saying 'Be the first to worry about the world's worries, and the last to enjoy the world's happiness' and send it to the Council of State and the Privy Council as a warning."
