Traveling through time and space to become a child, supporting the family by catching fish and shrim

Does Fan Cheng really want Shi Liguo to come back?

of course not!

He wished Shi Liguo would stay in Hewei Village so that he could take charge of the overall situation.

More importantly, because of the advance deployment, there were not too many casualties in the several villages along the Fuyang River. If Shi Liguo came back, he could pick up the ready-made peaches.

But Fancheng had to make such a gesture. After all, Shi Liguo was the county magistrate, and he was only the county magistrate.

However, Shi Liguo is a typical excellent teammate. He is afraid of taking responsibility and refuses to leave Hewei Village no matter what. He lets Fan Cheng take full responsibility for disaster relief matters.

After Fan Cheng heard the news from his confidant, he immediately dismissed everyone, closed the doors and windows, hid under the quilt, and laughed wildly.

God help me!

After laughing to his heart's content, Fan Cheng picked up his pen and wrote another detailed document, which he submitted to the Guangling Prefecture government office.

Then he joined the disaster relief operation. The people were deeply moved to see that the county magistrate actually went to the front line to help with the disaster relief.

Wherever he went, the people welcomed him wholeheartedly.

This led to Fan Cheng returning home every day after disaster relief, and he couldn't help but sigh: "The advantage is mine!"

On the fourth day after the flood, a detailed report on Fan Cheng and a report on the number of casualties from the flood compiled by his staff were placed on the desk of Meng Haide, the prefect of Guangling Prefecture.

After reading these two documents, Meng Haide immediately called important officials from the government office to the yamen for a meeting.

"This is the flood report our government just received. One of the data items in it has greatly surprised us."

Meng Haide signaled his staff to read out the casualty data.

"Jing'an County, 4,260 casualties."

"Linshui County, 1,520 casualties."

"Tonghe County, 3,954 casualties."

"Nanhe County, 37 casualties!"

Tong Shicheng, the former assistant general of the Household Department and now the deputy governor of Guangling Prefecture, frowned and said, "Isn't this number right? Did Nanhe County conceal the number?"

The military officer said, "Linshui is under the jurisdiction of the pacification envoy, so it's normal that the casualties are not high."

"Nanhe County is the main flow area of the Fuyang River. The low casualties mean there must be something fishy going on."

"Your Excellency, I suggest a thorough investigation!"

Tong Shicheng then asked, "Who is the magistrate of Nanhe County?"

Meng Haide said calmly: "Shi Liguo."

Tong Shicheng was stunned for a moment: "Could it be a branch of the Qinzhou Prefecture Shi family?"

Meng Haide nodded.

Tong Shicheng sneered, "How could the Shi family produce such a scum? To protect his own position, he chose to conceal and lie about such a serious issue!"

"Sir, Shi Liguo should be summoned to the government office immediately for questioning."

Meng Haide said calmly: "Don't rush to convict people."

"Because this data is true."

Tong Shicheng's eyes widened: "Sir, please stop joking."

Meng Haide said: "How could this government joke about such a thing? Nanhe County Magistrate Fan Cheng wrote a detailed letter to this government, which explained in detail why the casualty figures in Nanhe County were so low."

"Because they predicted in advance that there might be a flood, they evacuated the villagers along the river before the flood arrived."

"At the same time, Nanhe County Magistrate Shi Liguo, after the flood, hid in the home of a local gentry, refusing to assume his responsibilities as county magistrate and leaving all matters to the county magistrate."

"If there's any investigation to be done, it shouldn't be for the alleged concealment of information, but for Shi Liguo's dereliction of duty! He's just sitting there doing nothing!"

Tong Shicheng said: "This Shi Liguo, relying on the Shi family as his backing, is too lawless."

Meng Haide said: "If the original county magistrate had not been involved in the Yan Xiaoguo case, he would not be qualified to be the county magistrate."

"Now that the Yan Xiaoguo case has passed, it's time for this government to clean up the leadership teams of the counties within the prefecture."

Tong Shicheng said: "Your Excellency's words make sense, but if you want to depose Shi Liguo... the Shi family will most likely not agree."

Meng Haide said: "This government will handle this matter. What we need to do now is to assign officials to go down and provide disaster relief."

"Master Tong, I'll leave this matter to you."

Tong Shicheng nodded: "I obey your orders."

……

Nanhe County, county government office.

Deng Jie led Chen Lang to the door of the county magistrate's office and said, "Sir, Master Chen is here."

The door opened with a whoosh, and Fan Cheng, with disheveled hair and unshaven beard, appeared behind the door.

He looked extremely haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, and he smelled foul.

Although Fan Cheng rushed to the front line of disaster relief more for the sake of fame, as the saying goes, it's deeds that matter, not the heart. No matter what his motives are, as the second-in-command of the county, he can put his status like an ordinary clerk, stepping into mud pits and carrying old women on his back, so he deserves the title of "honest official."

"What do you want from me, sir?" Chen Lang asked, bowing slightly.

Fan Cheng said, "Please sit down first. I will wash my face."

"Deng Jie, go make a pot of tea. The stronger the better."

Chen Lang glanced at Deng Jie. He didn't expect that this ordinary constable would be so valued by Fan Cheng.

It seems that as long as he doesn't do anything bad in the future, he will have no problem becoming a police chief.

Fan Cheng came back from washing his face, picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, then he exhaled a long breath and said with a smile: "I am sorry to make you laugh at my slovenly appearance."

Chen Lang said, "Your Excellency is too kind. You did this for the sake of the people. Now, in the entire Nanhe County, who doesn't remember your kindness?"

Fan Cheng said, "My efforts were not in vain."

"Let's get back to the point. I came to you today because I've encountered a difficult problem and I wanted to ask if you have a good solution."

Chen Lang said, "Please give your instructions, sir."

Fan Cheng sighed, "There's a shortage of food."

"This flood destroyed the official road from this county to Guangling Prefecture, making it impossible for the convoy to pass. Although I have instructed the workshop to repair it as quickly as possible, it will take at least five days. Adding the time required to transport the grain, it will take ten days or more."

"After distributing grain over the past few days, the county government's granary is almost empty and can only hold out for two days at most."

At this point, Fan Cheng laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "To be frank, although the flood caused few deaths, it also indirectly increased the difficulty of disaster relief."

"Other counties have seen many deaths, but the difficulty of disaster relief is not as great as in this county."

Chen Lang didn't know how to respond to this and could only smile awkwardly.

Fan Cheng sighed and said, "I've been hungry myself, and I know how uncomfortable it is."

"So if we can't feed these people, it's going to be a big problem."

"Chen Tongsheng, do you have any good ideas to help me, this county, and all the starving and freezing victims survive this disaster?"

Chen Lang frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Sir, I need to go back and do an experiment. If it succeeds, all the disaster victims will have something to eat."

"Of course, I can't guarantee success. If I fail, I hope you won't blame me."

Fan Cheng nodded: "Do your best."