I rely on infrastructure systems to build a prosperous village

One day in September 2023 in China

Li Lan, a director at a listed financial company, recently had an argument with a tenant who blocked his phone and WeChat accounts, leaving him frustrated.

Li Lan, who had been busy for two months and had a break today, went straight to the property management office of the rental house and asked two security guards to accompany him upstairs and knock on the door.

Just as they reached the door, it suddenly opened from the inside, and they saw a tall, thin, handsome man carrying a cloth bag and preparing to go out.

The man saw Li Lan and quickly stepped back to close the door. Li Lan was quick-witted and pushed the door open with one hand while using his whole body to resist the force of the man closing the door.

At this moment, the man's eyes suddenly flashed with ferocity, and his face was full of ferocity. With his other hand, he quickly took out a hammer from the cloth bag and hammered Li Lan in the face, while shouting loudly: "Ah, why are you all forcing me? You all want to kill me."

Li Lan felt liquid flowing out of his head and into his eyes, blurring everything. Just before he lost consciousness, he cursed in his mind, "Alright, my house, my money! I'm not willing to accept this..."

In the 34th year of Huide in the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Huide had been on the throne for four years, but the treasury was not full.

The Qin Dynasty went through two emperors and fought countless wars on the border, which consumed a lot of national strength. Of course, it also brought peace and prosperity to the people living on the border and the entire dynasty.

Yet, just as the Qin Dynasty was catching its breath, the three prefectures north of the Qin River—Zhuozhou, Jinzhou, and Bozhou—had been ravaged by drought for three consecutive years. Now, in early spring, not even a single snow had fallen. The people were filled with misery.

The court officials had initially offered suggestions, but now they had no solution. At this time, Zhou Yuntian, the 18-year-old son of Zhou Hanmin, the Minister of Revenue and the newly crowned top scholar, submitted a memorial. He proposed a plan that mobilized the court officials and merchants in the capital to donate grain, raising a total of dan of brown rice and dan of white rice.

Emperor Huide appointed Zhou Yuntian as the disaster relief supervisor, and the imperial guard commander Lin Tian led 5000 troops to escort grain to the three prefectures. The troops split into two groups. Zhou Yuntian, accompanied by his guard Zhou Qi, led 2000 troops and dan of grain to the hardest-hit Bozhou.

Lijia Village, An County, Bozhou

It was early spring, the wind was dry and cold, there was no green at all, the land was dry and the whole earth was dead silent.

"Wuuu, little girl, it's all mother's fault. I shouldn't have let you go into the mountains alone to find food. Otherwise, you wouldn't have slipped and rolled down the steep slope. Wuuu..." "Sister, sister..." Bursts of crying and sobbing came from the yellow mud house.

An old woman was sitting on the ground in the yard, with a green cloth wrapped around her head. Her black hair mixed with silver hair was tied into a bun and fixed with a branch. Her face was full of wrinkles and she looked pale and thin.

Wearing a thin patched coat, he cried with tears streaming down his face: "God, please have mercy on us, let my granddaughter be fine. Give us a chance to survive."

Outside the fence stood a crowd of people, all thin, pale, and covered in patches. After hearing what the old woman said, some sighed, some showed sympathy, and some couldn't help sobbing.

Li Lan couldn't help but frown as he listened to the cries.

"It's so noisy! My head hurts, it hurts!" Li Lan tried to move, but gasped in pain. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see a blurry figure. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

The woman kneeling beside the kang was so surprised to see her wake up that she even forgot to wipe her tears and nose. She quickly grabbed Li Lan's hand on the bed with her rough hands and said hurriedly with a thick nasal voice: "Big girl, are you awake? Big girl."

Li Lan stared at her blankly, blinked, and fainted again.