Natural disaster at the beginning: I will lead the system to build a safe zone

The housekeeper swallowed his saliva and said in a panic, "It was the guards at the granary who reported it. They said that the people had no food to eat, so they gathered at night to ask for food in the granary. The guards didn't dare to open the granary to release the food without your order. The people got anxious and started fighting with the guards. In the chaos, I don't know whose torch accidentally hit the granary. Now the weather is dry, and the granary caught fire..."

"Useless things, these useless things, can't you even handle a bunch of low-class people?" Magistrate Wu cursed.

Then he asked, "What about the current situation of the granary? Has the fire been put out?"

The housekeeper stammered, "No, no, the fire was too big, there was no time..."

"Waste! Waste! What use are you? You come to me after the granary burned down. Do you want us to starve?" County Magistrate Wu's chest was heaving with anger. Then the housekeeper told him another piece of bad news.

"Seeing that they couldn't get any grain from the granary, these people gathered together and went to the grain merchants' homes to ask for grain. If they didn't give it to them, they would just rob them. Now the county town is in chaos, and some people seem to be heading towards the county government office..."

County Magistrate Wu couldn't believe it: "Is the county in chaos?"

The housekeeper nodded and said, "Yes, they said that because you didn't let them leave the city, they took away all the grain from you and the rich merchants in the county."

"Crazy, crazy, they are a bunch of lunatics. Just because I don't allow them to enter or leave the city? Isn't it for the good of the county that I don't allow them to enter or leave the city? If the city gates are opened, refugees will flock here. How can they live a good life?" County Magistrate Wu couldn't understand why things turned out like this. Wasn't the county very peaceful before? Why did it suddenly become chaotic?

He couldn't figure it out, but the housekeeper knew it, but he couldn't say it too bluntly, which might easily anger Magistrate Wu, so he thought about it and said, "It's probably because the grain shops are no longer supplying grain."

"Grain shop? Not supplying grain?" An idea suddenly occurred to County Magistrate Wu, and he suddenly remembered the situation half a month ago when three grain merchants came to him together. Didn't he agree to let them go out to collect grain at that time? Why haven't they started supplying grain yet?

"By the way, what about the Chen, Wang, and Qian families? They said they were going out to collect grain. Didn't they open grain shops after they got it back?" asked County Magistrate Wu.

The housekeeper said in confusion, "Collecting grain? I don't think I've heard of the three families receiving grain. They haven't opened the grain shop since they closed it."

"Okay, these cunning merchants actually dared to fool me. Where are they? Let them come to see me." County Magistrate Wu still doesn't know that they went out and tried hard to collect grain, but because the grain was difficult to collect, they didn't collect much, so they didn't open a grain shop to continue selling grain.

But Magistrate Wu thought that they wanted to gain the right to enter and exit the city gate, so they deliberately found an excuse to deceive him.

Hearing Magistrate Wu's order, the housekeeper's expression was indeed a little embarrassed at the moment: "Master, the Chen family disappeared a few days ago. The last time we saw them was their boats on Qing Lake. Now we don't know where they are. As for the Wang and Qian families, they are now busy fighting against the people. I guess they are too busy to deal with them..."

Just as Magistrate Wu was about to continue cursing, a servant suddenly stumbled in from outside: "Master, Master! Please take Madam and the others away quickly. Those people are going crazy, and the guards in the mansion can't stop them! They are about to come in!"

"What did you say! I have so many guards and we can't stop those untouchables?" County Magistrate Wu didn't believe it.

"It's true, they fight like mad dogs, and they are so numerous and powerful that we can't resist them at all!" the servant said anxiously, and the shouting and killing sounds that were getting closer and closer proved that the servant was right, the group of lunatics were indeed about to rush in.

It was not until this time that County Magistrate Wu became truly panicked. When order was maintained, he could still show off his power as a county magistrate, but now there was a riot, and who would care whether he was a county magistrate or not?

His life was threatened, so he could not wait. Magistrate Wu said to the housekeeper, "Go and inform the madam quickly, and have them pack up their belongings and leave through the secret passage in my study. I will wait for you outside. Let's go to the city first. I have a classmate working there."

After the butler received the order, Magistrate Wu hurriedly ran to the study, completely forgetting that Shi Wanqing was still in the room.

She hurriedly chased out and shouted, "Master, you won't take me with you!"

This damn old man, she took so much effort to serve him, but he was planning to run away. If she hadn't been listening to their conversation in the room just now, she would have been abandoned here.

When Magistrate Wu heard the voice, he remembered that he had forgotten his beauty. He stopped where he was and waved to Shi Wanqing, saying, "Come on, come on, follow me."

County Magistrate Wu and Shi Wanqing left quickly, but the other people in the county government were not so lucky. The county magistrate's wife ignored the housekeeper's urging and wanted to take more valuables with her, which wasted too much time.

Seeing that something was not right, the housekeeper sneaked away. When the county magistrate's wife finished her work and was about to leave, the servants in the mansion had already fled. She held up her skirt and planned to run away by herself, but before she walked out of the gate, the first group of people had already rushed in.

These people did not find the county magistrate, but they saw the county magistrate's wife, who was dressed in jewels. They knew that she must have a close relationship with the black-hearted county magistrate, so they vented all their resentment on the county magistrate's wife.

Not only were all the jewellery on her head stolen, but even half of her clothes were torn. Fortunately, she was an old woman, otherwise even her innocence would have been lost.

But now she was no different from someone who had lost her innocence. She sat on the ground like a rag doll, not understanding why the weather had changed so suddenly after she had only been delayed for a moment. Her husband did not come to save her either. She was so pitiful.

The burning, killing and looting in the county town lasted for a whole night, and basically all the food reserves of the wealthy merchants were looted by these starving people.

The Wang and Qian families were no exception. Although they managed to save their lives, they no longer had the arrogant look they had before. They all looked as miserable as dogs that had lost their homes.

Qian Jinbao was so sad that he could not even cry. He was filled with regret: "Brother Chen is still far-sighted. I should have gone with him!"

The far-sighted Chen Huairen's ship was about to dock at this time. He could not hear the shouting and screaming from the county town, but the flames rising into the sky were clearly visible to everyone on the ship.

Mrs. Chen touched her chest and asked doubtfully, "What is that? Is the county town on fire?"

Chen Huairen looked carefully and said in a deep voice: "It seems that the granary is on fire."

Mrs. Chen was shocked: "What? Doesn't that mean..."

The granary is the lifeline of a county, especially for a closed county like Qinghe County. Without a granary, more than one person would starve to death.

Chen Huairen was also a little scared at this time. Fortunately, he had resolutely asked his whole family to leave Qinghe County. "It seems that the county town has become chaotic."