Liaozhai Great Sage

Chapter 171 Insufficient success
Although the surviving scholars all had lingering fears, they were not stupid. Hearing that the imperial court was out of control at the moment, Li Xiuyuan wanted to call all the scholars together to make suggestions and rescue people. They rushed over immediately.

The passionate scholar thinks that this is an opportunity to save all the people. How can he avoid or postpone the mission that has come down from heaven at this moment.

Of course, there are still some scholars who think that this is a good opportunity to spread their reputation and establish their prestige. If they can succeed, their status in Guo Beicheng will be extraordinary in the future.

At this moment, it was already dark, and only a few piles of bonfires were lit here and there on the city wall.

And beside a weak bonfire, all the surviving scholars on the city wall gathered here.

The number of people is not too much, only less than 20 people.

Among them, Li Xiuyuan also met many acquaintances, such as Zhu Yu, Wang Ping, and Ning Caichen.

As for Zhong Qingxu, he was lucky. Because of his mother's serious illness, he gave up the hospital examination, so he returned home. At this time, he was neither in the city nor encountered a flood. It was a blessing in disguise.

"According to this trend, the floods in the city can enter the city in two days. At that time, there will be no one in the government, and the first thing to bear the brunt is the security problem in the city. disciples, so as not to cause chaos in the city.”

Li Xiuyuan sat by the bonfire and said slowly: "Secondly, the corpses of the people who died in the disaster need to be cleaned up. The weather is still hot now, and the corpses of the people who died in the disaster need to be buried in time, otherwise the corpses will rot and cause diseases. most serious."

"The last thing is food and drinking water. Food is easy to handle. Although it has been flooded, the food of each household has not been soaked in the past few days. The key is drinking water. The well water in the city will definitely be polluted, but I have one day. The Dharma can purify the water, take charcoal and wrap it with gauze, pass through the sewage to get clean water, and then boil it to ensure no worries, but there are many things, I need you to share them for me."

After finishing speaking, the scholars around fell silent for a while.

Each of these things is difficult when you really talk about disaster relief.

For example, the law and order in the city, how to organize the manpower, how to calm the victims, and how to deal with the villains are all worth thinking about.

"Why, are these things difficult?" Li Xiuyuan glanced at everyone and said.

Ning Caichen was very embarrassed at the moment and said: "Mr. Li, Xiaosheng has never done these things before, and if you start it rashly, you may not be able to do any of them well."

Li Xiuyuan said: "It is because of difficulties that we need to do it. If we don't do it, who will do it? Do you expect the people to save themselves? The people will save themselves, but what to do if there is trouble, you have to do it this time." Yes, if you can’t do it, you have to do it. Since you are a scholar, you will be an official sooner or later with your fame. Now is the time to test your ability. If you can’t do these things, you will be a corrupt official in the future.”

"Li Xiuyuan, how can you say that? If you are a Taoist, you have a specialization in art. We are not disaster relief officials. We are still in the exam for merit. How can you know how to rescue disasters and rescue people?" A muddy scholar said. A little annoyed.

"Since you don't save people, what are you doing here, brother? Are you singing with my poems?" Li Xiuyuan glanced at him and said.

The scholar immediately retorted: "Don't insult people. I'm here for the sake of the victims. I just came here to discuss disaster relief with you. I didn't come here to be insulted by you. Besides, you are just a child. What qualifications do you have?" humiliate me?"

Li Xiuyuan frowned and said: "I don't have time to bicker with you, a scholar, if you can do something, then stay, if you can't, then go away."

"Go away, go away, do you think I'm happy to stay here?" The scholar flicked his sleeves and left angrily.

Li Xiuyuan ignored it, but said: "But there are other people who want to leave? I want like-minded people for this disaster relief. If you have the heart to save people, then work with me. If you are as different as that scholar Doing things, but here to argue with me, please leave."

"Li Xiuyuan, you are average in ability and ordinary in appearance. You only want to order us to do things. If we do other things, then what are you doing?" an ordinary scholar asked.

Li Xiuyuan glanced at this person, but he recognized this ordinary-looking scholar. He was lucky to not die in this disaster.

Afterwards, he said, "I need to command and mobilize you to ensure that there will be no troubles. It is up to me to do this."

He is not boasting, but among these scholars, there are no practical people, and most of them are people with high eyesight and low abilities.

"It's ridiculous, it's you who can command and dispatch, and I can do even trivial things." Immediately, another scholar stood up.

"Who are you?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

"I am a local scholar, Qin Chang." The scholar said with some complacency.

Li Xiuyuan nodded and said, "Do you think it is easy to command and dispatch? Then let me ask you, how should you command when the water in the city recedes in two days?"

"Naturally, we should send people to maintain law and order, clean up the corpses, and try to make the people settle down as much as possible," Qin Chang said.

"How to maintain, law and order, where are the manpower?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

Qin Chang froze for a moment, then said: "You can recruit strong men among the victims to serve as manpower, which can not only prevent the villains from making troubles, but also ensure the stability of the city, killing two birds with one stone."

"Well, what you said makes sense. Since that's the case, tomorrow you can try recruiting strong men from among the disaster victims. If you succeed, I will listen to your arrangements." Li Xiuyuan said.

"What's so difficult about this?" Qin Chang said quite complacently.

"Okay, then it's settled, and tomorrow we'll see what you do." Li Xiuyuan said.

"Please wait and see."

Qin Chang said that he felt that as a scholar, recruiting refugees was not easy.

After this discussion, there was no result, but there were some countermeasures for the time being. It was very late, and the scholars dispersed separately.

But Zhu Yu, Wang Ping, Ning Caichen and several other scholars had acquaintance with Li Xiuyuan, so they didn't leave.

Zhu Yu said at this moment: "Brother Li, that Qin Chang is a pompous person, not like to do business, why should he be asked to recruit people and listen to his dispatches."

Li Xiuyuan said: "I'm new here, so it's hard to convince everyone. Qin Chang is not the first person to disobey me. I need to use him to make sure that other scholars don't jump out like him and spoil my affairs."

"So that's the case, but how can Brother Li be sure that Qin Chang will definitely not be able to recruit people?" Wang Ping asked doubtfully.

Li Xiuyuan said: "On weekdays, what does a wealthy family need to recruit guards?"

"It's money." Wang Ping said immediately.

"Does Qin Chang have one?" Li Xiuyuan said.

Wang Ping shook his head: "Naturally, it's the same as us, empty."

"Since you have no money, how do you recruit?" Li Xiuyuan said.

"He is a scholar, maybe it will be useful." Ning Caichen who was next to him said; "A scholar is equal to half an official, maybe he can persuade some people."

Li Xiuyuan said: "The status of a scholar is useful, but it is not used in this way. If the situation can be stabilized, your status as a scholar will naturally convince the public, but right now, it is simply a fantasy for him to recruit people with empty words. "

"Okay, it's getting late today, everyone go to rest, there is still something to discuss tomorrow."

Several people nodded, also looking tired, they leaned against the city wall and fell asleep quickly.

Li Xiuyuan also sat cross-legged, meditating facing the bright moonlight.

The next day.

Just before dawn, the sun rises in the distance.

It looks like the weather is fine today with plenty of sunshine.

This kind of good weather has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that there is no continuous rain, and the surviving people will not catch cold and get sick. The disadvantage is that when the weather is hot, the chance of epidemics will increase.

However, this early in the morning, the scholar named Qin Chang ran around on the city wall yesterday, and began to recruit the surviving strong men. He was also very smart, and he brought a few scholars by his side. drawn over.

"Everyone, listen to my words. The flood has just passed, and the imperial court is now hopeless. The people in our city must organize people to rescue the disaster by themselves. My humble Qin Chang is a scholar in the city. You are willing to be dispatched by me to rescue the disaster." Save people?"

Relying on his status as a scholar, Qin Chang indeed gathered a lot of people, standing in the turret at this moment, he said loudly.

The people who gathered nearby were not interested when they heard the words, and left with a depressed expression.

A few idlers said directly; "It's a good thing for you to recruit people for disaster relief, but you don't know how to calculate the wages. If the price is fair, I'm willing to help."

Qin Chang was overjoyed, but a scholar next to him immediately got a little angry and said, "It is a duty to do disaster relief for the common people, how can we talk about such vulgar things as money?"

"Soldiers are still in charge of food. They have military pay. If you don't have money, who will do things for you for nothing."

A few idlers hissed and then disappeared immediately.

When Qin Chang saw that the people had dispersed again, he was anxious and angry, and finally called out several times, but it was really useless, so he sat down on the ground to rest out of breath.

"Hateful, hateful, these foolish people have no reason at all. Don't they understand that the disaster relief is for their own benefit? Otherwise, as Li Xiuyuan said, if the disaster relief is not timely and turmoil occurs, wouldn't it be a greater loss? At this time I still care about a little profit."

"Yeah, we've been busy for almost a whole morning, and we haven't recruited a single manpower. Without manpower, how do we go to rescue the disaster?"

"Hey, I knew it was not easy, but I didn't expect it to be more difficult than I imagined."

Qin Chang lost his mind at this moment and heaved a long sigh.

At this time, Li Xiuyuan came striding from not far away, saw Qin Chang and the other scholars and asked, "How is the recruitment?"

(End of this chapter)