The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 462

Ning Zhongze nodded.

Yue Buqun had already changed his clothes and went to the cabinet. He opened the cabinet door and saw a thick stack of silver notes inside.

These were all the silver obtained from suppressing bandits and from the Iron Palm Sect and the Songshan Sect over the past few years. In addition, Yue Buqun had previously wiped out the three major underworld families. After the Songshan Sect was destroyed last time, Jiang Ning went down the mountain again. The three major underworld families had offered a reward of 800,000 taels for Jiang Ning's head. As a result, not long after the bounty was issued, Yue Buqun came to their door and killed all three families.

Everything belonging to these three families fell into Yue Buqun's hands, including the 800,000 taels of silver offered as a bounty for Jiangning.

To date, Yue Buqun possesses over two million taels of silver and real estate, nearly ninety percent of which were seized from the three major underworld families. If we also include the dozens of boxes of gold and silver seized from the Beggars' Sect branch, the total amount exceeds three million taels.

And this doesn't even include the more than 800,000 taels that Jiang Ning buried underground during his bandit suppression campaign in Shandong and Jiangnan.

Looking at the stacks of silver notes in the cabinet, Yue Buqun felt a pang of emotion.

He never imagined that one day he would have millions of taels of silver in his possession; he would never have dared to dream of such a thing before.

If he had had so much silver in the past, he would have developed the Huashan Sect long ago, instead of living in such poverty.

After a moment of reflection, Yue Buqun took out a stack of silver notes, roughly calculated that it amounted to about 300,000 taels. He then took another 200,000 taels of silver notes and put them in his pocket. He turned to leave, but then, as if remembering something, he turned back to Ning Zhongze and said...

"Didn't Ning'er seize dozens of boxes of gold and silver at the Beggars' Sect branch in Yanping Prefecture? Bring them all out, I want to take them all with me, and use them to buy food for disaster relief."

"it is good."

Ning Zhongze nodded.

Yue Buqun stepped out of the house. It was still pouring rain outside, and even in broad daylight, the sky was gloomy.

The heavy rain that had been falling for days without stopping cast a shadow over Yue Buqun's heart.

Half an hour later.

The hall was filled with disciples from the Huashan and Hengshan sects, numbering over two hundred.

Yue Buqun looked at them and said.

"The people of Shaanxi are suffering from the disaster, and many are homeless. The disciples of Mount Hua are all coming down the mountain with me to help with the disaster relief."

Jiang Ning and the other Huashan disciples cupped their hands and said, "Yes, Master!"

Master Mo also chimed in, "Our Hengshan Sect cannot stand idly by in this disaster relief effort. All Hengshan disciples will follow the Alliance Leader down the mountain."

The Hengshan disciples also shouted loudly.

"Yes!"

"set off!"

Yue Buqun waved his hand, and more than two hundred people wearing raincoats and bamboo hats set off, many of them carrying dozens of boxes of gold and silver seized from the Beggars' Sect branch.

……

Xi'an Prefecture.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency."

A man dressed in official robes rushed into the government office.

The prefect of Xi'an had been waiting for a long time, and when he saw the man, he hurriedly asked him questions.

"how's it going?"

The man wiped the rain off his face, not caring about the water, and said anxiously, "Your Excellency, the river has risen so high that it has breached the dikes. Seven counties, including Lantian, Jingyang, and Liquan, are flooded, and countless villages have been submerged."

Upon hearing this, the prefect of Xi'an was startled and pressed for an answer: "What about the people? How many people have been affected? Have any died? How many have died?"

The official replied, "Your Excellency, many people in various counties and villages have been flooded, with thousands dead or missing, and hundreds of thousands already displaced. And this is only a preliminary estimate; the number may increase further."

The Xi'an prefect's face turned pale instantly.

The deaths of thousands dealt a heavy blow to his career.

"The Prefect? ​​The Prefect?"

The official was also frightened by the prefect's appearance and hurriedly called out.

The prefect of Xi'an then came to his senses and, after regaining his composure, asked, "What about the other prefectures? What is the extent of their damage?"

The official shook his head and said, "It's not clear about the other prefectures yet, there's no news, but I heard that Hanzhong Prefecture was also severely affected by the disaster."

Upon hearing that the situation in Hanzhong Prefecture was also serious, the Prefect of Xi'an finally calmed down, but then asked anxiously, "How could so many counties be flooded? Didn't we just reinforce the river embankments last year?"

The official was also helpless.

"There's nothing we can do, Your Excellency. The rain this time is too heavy and has been going on for so long. The river embankment can't hold back the flood."

"impossible!"

The Xi'an prefect exclaimed in shock and anger, "Last year, the prefecture allocated a lot of silver to repair the river embankment. Even if it couldn't prevent the flood, it would be impossible for so many counties to be flooded, let alone so many people to die!"

Someone must have embezzled funds and cut corners on the river embankment, causing the disaster in Xi'an Prefecture to be so severe.

The prefect of Xi'an was both shocked and furious.

"My lord! Where in this world can you find a riverbank as solid as a fortress?"

Chapter 629: Disaster Relief

"The most urgent thing is to figure out how to deal with this flood, sir!"

The official advised.

The prefect of Xi'an was furious, but he knew his subordinates were right; no matter what, they still had to deal with the disaster.

"Immediately instruct the magistrates of each county to ensure the safety of the disaster victims in their respective counties, to set up shelters where necessary, to provide disaster relief where needed, and to prevent the disaster victims from wandering around and leaving their jurisdictions."

The official looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Sir, how should we proceed with disaster relief?"

The Xi'an prefect, suppressing his anger, said, "Let the counties open their granaries and distribute grain first. The most important thing now is to stabilize the disaster victims and prevent large-scale starvation."

"But... sir."

The official said with difficulty, "According to the reports from the magistrates of Lantian County and Liquan County, the granaries in these counties were either flooded or had already been depleted by disaster relief efforts."

"Then we'll transfer them from nearby counties that weren't affected by the disaster."

"That's what the prefect of Xi'an said."

"But sir, the other counties have also been affected by the disaster to varying degrees. Their granaries don't have much grain stored to begin with, so it might not be enough if they want to transfer grain."

The official added.

Upon hearing this, the prefect of Xi'an frowned and asked.

"How much grain is currently stored in the granaries of Xi'an Prefecture?"

The prefect of Xi'an was transferred from another place this year and has not been in office for long. He has not had time to learn about these things and is not very clear about them yet.

"This this……"

The official hesitated somewhat.

Upon seeing his appearance, the Xi'an prefect said directly, "Summon the grain official to see me."

"Yes, my lord."

The official left immediately and soon returned with another person.

As soon as he entered, he bowed to the prefect of Xi'an.

"Your subordinate greets Your Excellency the Prefect."

This man was the grain official.

The Xi'an prefect asked directly, "You are the grain official. How much grain is currently stored in the Xi'an prefecture's granaries?"

The grain official's expression clearly changed when asked this question.

"Reporting...Reporting to Your Excellency, the granary...the granary...has..."

Seeing that the grain official was also stammering, the prefect of Xi'an got angry, slammed his fist on the table and shouted.

"You're the grain officer, don't you even know how much grain is in the granary?"

The grain official's legs suddenly swayed, as if he were about to collapse, and he hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Prefect, the granary currently holds a total of 10,921 shi of grain."

Upon hearing this number, the prefect of Xi'an breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered: "Open the granaries immediately and distribute grain to the affected counties and villages for disaster relief."

After giving his instructions, the Xi'an prefect was to prepare a memorial to the imperial court explaining the flood situation in Xi'an and requesting the central government to allocate funds and grain.

However, after the Xi'an prefect gave the order, the grain official and another official did not leave, looking troubled.

The Xi'an prefect's face darkened, and he questioned, "Prefect Zheng, what are you still standing there for?"

"Yes, yes, Your Excellency obeys."

Judge Zheng nodded hurriedly and left with the grain official.

The prefect of Xi'an didn't think too much about it and was about to prepare to write a memorial, but not long after he started writing, someone else came in to report.

"Your Excellency, a few people have arrived and wish to see you."

The prefect of Xi'an was busy at the time, and upon hearing this, he didn't even look up and said, "I won't see anyone now."

He's busy writing memorials now and doesn't have time to see anyone.

However, after the Xi'an prefect finished speaking, the man did not leave, but said, "Your Excellency, the person who came is Master Yue of the Huashan Sect."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, the prefect of Xi'an looked up in astonishment.

Although he had only been the prefect of Xi'an for a short time, he had already heard of the Huashan Sect and knew that it was a martial arts sect located in Huashan.

Although he was a member of the imperial court, he knew that these martial arts sects were not to be trifled with. In particular, he had made a special effort to learn about the Huashan Sect before taking office. He knew that the Huashan Sect was one of the top martial arts sects and had a great influence in Shaanxi. In particular, the prefect of Hanzhong had written to him some time ago, asking him to help the Huashan Sect acquire some properties. Naturally, the prefect of Xi'an had a deep impression of the Huashan Sect.

Upon hearing that Yue Buqun wanted to see him, the prefect of Xi'an, though unaware of the reason, dared not be careless.

"Please."

The prefect of Xi'an put down his pen and hurriedly replied.

"Yes."

The man nodded and left, and a short while later, three people wearing straw raincoats came in.

The leader took off his raincoat and put down his straw hat, revealing the face of a middle-aged man.

"Yue Buqun of the Huashan Sect greets the Prefect."

Yue Buqun bowed to the Prefect of Xi'an.

Although Yue Buqun did not hold an official position, the prefect of Xi'an did not dare to be careless and quickly returned the greeting: "Greetings, Sect Leader Yue."

The prefect of Xi'an looked at the two men beside Yue Buqun and asked, "May I ask who you two are?"

Yue Buqun said, "They are my disciples."

The prefect of Xi'an nodded and said to the two young heroes, "Greetings, you two young heroes."

The two returned the greeting.

After exchanging greetings, the Xi'an prefect finally asked his question.

"The disaster situation in Xi'an Prefecture is severe at present. This prefecture is about to submit a memorial to the court to request disaster relief. What brings you here, Sect Leader Yue?"

With the disaster so severe, why is Yue Buqun looking for him at this critical juncture?

Yue Buqun said, "Your Excellency, that is why I have come here."

"Oh?"

The prefect of Xi'an was surprised.

Yue Buqun said solemnly, “Floods have struck all parts of Shaanxi, and countless people have been displaced. As a righteous sect, the Huashan Sect will not stand idly by. Dozens of people from the Huashan Sect have come down the mountain with me to help with the disaster relief, and Mr. Mo Da from the Hengshan Sect has also come.”

The prefect of Xi'an was filled with awe upon hearing this.

"Sect Leader Yue is concerned about the country and its people; I admire him."

Yue Buqun didn't mince words and asked directly, "I wonder how the Prefect plans to provide disaster relief?"

Upon hearing Yue Buqun's question, the prefect of Xi'an felt slightly uncomfortable, but still replied, "I have already ordered the granaries to be opened and grain to be distributed. I am now preparing to submit a memorial to the court requesting disaster relief."