Chapter 186

On the main road leading in and out of the village, the floodwaters had receded to ankle height. For the farmers who relied on the land for their livelihood, this little bit of water was nothing.

Everyone worked together to first move the sandbags from the village entrance to the sides of the road, clearing a path for passage.

Every household whose fields were flooded came out to help.

They rolled up their pants, waded through the dirty water, and went to inspect their seedlings.

Fan Jin and Ding Heli were among them.

Ding Heli didn’t have any land, but he had been drying yam slices at Fan Jin’s house every day recently. With nothing else to do, he joined in the inspection.

They had expected at worst to lose their crops, but they hadn’t anticipated something even more severe!

Early in the morning, the men and women of Shanshui Village were crying loudly on the dirt road along the field ridges.

Aunt Fan cried out, “Heavens, how are we supposed to live now?”

“We can’t go on like this!”

Others were no better off, wiping their eyes as they looked at their rice fields.

The old village chief, leaning on a cane and wearing straw sandals with his pants rolled up high, didn’t step onto the field ridge but stood on the main road, looking from a distance.

His aged eyes scanned the area, sighing deeply from time to time.

There were also many elderly villagers on the main road, all with worried faces, sighing incessantly.

“Village Chief, do you think this…” Old Xu wanted to say something but ended up with a sigh.

It had rained heavily for five or six days, and the floodwaters had only receded today. The rice fields were always low-lying, and they were prepared for their seedlings to be submerged and for a total crop failure.

At worst, they could plant winter wheat at the end of the year to make up for it. Even if the soil wasn’t fertile enough, they could still get two or three hundred jin per mu. Plus, the government might reduce or exempt taxes due to the floods, and they might get some disaster relief grain, which would be enough to keep the family half-fed and alive.

As long as they could survive, life would slowly get better next year.

But the rice fields before them were not just submerged; the seedlings had been washed away completely, roots and all.

The fields were now filled with water plants, broken branches, stones, and mud, nothing like their original state.

Grandpa Wang took over the conversation: “The soil in the fields has been washed away, and without fertile soil, we can’t plant winter wheat. The hard soil layer is not suitable for planting.”

“Not only can we not plant this year, but even if we plant rice next year, the yield will be so low. Good harvests rely on fertile soil, and now it will take three to five years for these fields to recover to their pre-flood productivity.”

How can they live through these three to five years? It’s impossible.

“Let’s wait for the government’s announcement. With such severe flooding here, the court will surely reduce or exempt taxes and allocate grain for disaster relief!” Uncle Fan said with bright eyes.

“Will the court really help us?” Old Xu asked uncertainly.

“They definitely will! Don’t forget, a few months ago, the emperor confiscated the wealth of several princes. The fortune of any one of those princes could sustain an entire city.

The national treasury is full, and the emperor will surely care for us common folk. Moreover, the emperor confiscated those princes’ wealth for the benefit of the people. If it was for the people’s good, he wouldn’t ignore us now.” Uncle Fan said this not only to reassure others but also himself.

Ding Heli stood beside them, his face somber, lips tightly pressed, saying nothing.

The others felt a surge of hope and enthusiastically agreed: “Yes! The emperor will definitely help us!”

“The flooding is so severe, the disaster relief officials might already be on their way.”

“If they allocate disaster relief grain and reduce taxes for three years, we can get by even if we eat poorly.”

Fan Jin didn’t know what the emperor would do, but he had read the classics. According to the books, the court should provide disaster relief during such times.

He turned to Ding Heli, who had remained silent, and sighed, “The court should allocate disaster relief grain. Once the grain arrives, we’ll be fine.”

His family had livestock, providing meat and eggs. They didn’t have to worry about grain, thanks to Shuiqing’s market. In the worst case, they still had potatoes to fall back on, so feeding the family wouldn’t be a problem.

They had saved several hundred taels of silver from selling rice wine, calligraphy brushes, and Polygonum multiflorum. Plus, there was a box of gold leaves from Bai Manshan and Li Huyu, so they had enough for any expenses.

They also had medicinal herbs from the back mountain.

His family was not in trouble.

But the other village families were in dire straits. Without tax reductions or disaster relief grain, they couldn’t survive.

“The court will allocate disaster relief grain, but how much of it will actually reach the hands of the disaster victims is uncertain,” Ding Heli finally spoke up, although he wouldn’t say anything about the court to others. He only said this to Fan Jin.

Fan Jin immediately understood.

He lowered his voice and asked, “Do you mean there will be corruption? But this is life-saving grain. If it doesn’t get distributed, won’t there be more deaths, fewer people, and the emperor would find out?

And if people can’t eat, it will cause unrest. Aren’t those officials afraid the emperor will hold them accountable, risking their lives and fortunes?”

Ding Heli shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Officials protect each other, passing down benefits layer by layer, and everyone gets a cut. Even if we don’t talk about other places, just look at Guangning Prefecture—how many officials and clerks are there? They need to be fed well to do their jobs. But they also have families and friends, and those friends have families too. The grain will go to their own people first.

Deceiving superiors and banding together for self-protection is what officials do best. The emperor may be a good person, but that doesn’t make him a good emperor.”

“The emperor is kind-hearted, but kindness doesn’t lead armies or manage finances. A good-natured emperor gets manipulated by those below him. Even strict punishments can’t deter corrupt officials, let alone lenient measures. The officials aren’t afraid. No matter how much money or grain is allocated, it won’t reach the actual disaster victims.”

Fan Jin looked at Uncle Ding, sensing that his insights and thoughts weren’t typical for a mountain herbalist. But Uncle Ding trusted him enough to speak his mind, so he shouldn’t probe too deeply.

While the two of them whispered, the excited crowd gradually calmed down. People still had hopes for the court, but after thinking rationally, they didn’t dare to rely too much on it.

After all, their families needed to eat. If the disaster relief grain didn’t come through, they couldn’t let their families go hungry.

Years of experience had taught them not to rely on the court. No matter the circumstances, they had to rely on themselves first!

“Village Chief, do you still have a lot of potatoes? Can I trade some cornmeal for them? I want to plant a few more mu of land in ** month.”

“Can you trade some with me too? I also want to plant a few more mu!”

“I want to trade too!”

Hearing this from a distance, people started pulling their legs out of the mud and running towards the main road, all shouting to trade.

In no time, everyone gathered around the village chief and his group.

They deeply regretted not planting potatoes in the last batch. If they had planted potatoes, they wouldn’t be worried about feeding their families now.

But having missed the last season, they couldn’t afford to miss the next one, or their families would really be chewing on tree bark!

The village chief looked at the crowd pressing forward and raised his hand to signal for quiet.

On the other side, Sun Jinhua gestured to Fan Qian, and the two of them quietly left.