Stepmother in charge: Making a fortune through farming and raising her children to fight back

Qin Li heard him ask and answered proudly: "Of course it's my mother's credit. As early as when the flu was discovered, my mother sent people to buy a lot of medicinal herbs, and also asked the villagers to go up the mountain to collect herbs for treatment. She also asked them to drink medicine in advance as a preventive measure, so there are very few flu outbreaks in our village..."

"Great, great, you're worthy of being called Ruyi'an." County Magistrate Wang tried his best to suppress his excitement. "This cartload of herbs will last us a long time. We'll keep half for ourselves and send the rest to other counties."

Upon hearing this, the legal advisor beside him said with some embarrassment: "The chief officials of our several counties have always been at odds with each other. Before, because our county's performance was not good, we were always at their mercy. Now that we finally have medicinal herbs, why..."

Before he could finish, County Magistrate Wang interrupted him: "You can't say that. Officials are officials, and the people are the people. This cart of medicinal materials is sent there to save lives. We can't just watch the people in other places suffer."

"Besides, who said these medicines were given to them for free? Now we have to rip them off. These are life-saving medicines that the villagers of Qinjia Village have painstakingly collected. We can't let them work for nothing. We'll sell them to them at 200 coins per pound. Let's settle the bill based on this price. Master, go to the back and get the silver..."

Ever since the last generous donations from the shopkeepers in the city, the county government was no longer short of money, and County Magistrate Wang was not stingy with the money.

An ox cart was loaded with medicinal herbs, including astragalus and honeysuckle, with honeysuckle being the majority, totaling nearly 200 kilograms, and was sold for 20 taels of silver.

Ever since Yun Zhenzhen and the others delivered the herbs, the city has resumed its usual practice of administering medicine twice a day.

Over the next few days, the number of refugees falling ill around the county town decreased significantly, and those with fevers gradually subsided. The disease levels in and around the city quickly stabilized, and control at the city gates became less strict.

According to Yun Zhenzhen's method, as long as you don't have a fever for five consecutive days and isolate yourself for three days, you can enter the city and move freely.

It was not until this time that the county magistrates of several nearby counties had time to meet and discuss the subsequent resettlement issues.

Five or six people sat in the Yunding County government office. The atmosphere was depressing. Although the flu had been brought under control, no one had a happy expression on their face.

The Taiyin County Magistrate sighed helplessly, "This Governor only knows how to ask us to resettle the refugees, but he doesn't consider the actual situation. Many people are just barely getting enough to eat and wear, so where would we have the spare money to resettle them? He's really ignorant of the value of food and clothing, and he's just asking us to deal with the problem with just a few words."

The Changshan County Magistrate also shook his head: "Our county was one of the last to plant potatoes, and many people are still hungry. Let alone feeding so many refugees, what should we do?"

County Magistrate Wang frowned. "The Governor can't be blamed for this. It was an order from above, so he had no choice but to follow it. If these refugees aren't promptly resettled, they'll continue fleeing north, perhaps even to Kyoto. If they bring some unknown flu to Kyoto and affect important figures, we'll be doomed."

"That's what you say, but we also have to look at the actual situation. There are nearly 300 refugees gathered outside our county alone, not to mention those in the surrounding villages. Resettling refugees is not just a matter of saying it, we need houses, food, and land..." The magistrate of Taiyin County was almost crying.

"However, Yunding County has achieved good results this year, and the potato harvest is also abundant. If it can accommodate more refugees, I am willing to hand over this achievement to Brother Wang..."

Before Yunding County rose to prominence, Taiyin County could at least be ranked second from the bottom. But ever since a Ruyi'an appeared in Yunding County, Taiyin County has been ranked last. It has not made any political achievements, so it might as well just give up.

Several other county magistrates also agreed. Since there was no way to fix this mess, they might as well throw this hot potato away.

Ever since the shopkeepers in Yunding County were tricked, they couldn't emulate the trick. The merchants in their respective jurisdictions closed their doors upon hearing the news, leaving them no chance at all...

"We are truly incompetent and have no idea how to deal with the refugees in our jurisdiction. Brother Wang, please lend a hand."

"We can only provide the refugees outside the city with one meal a day, and medicinal materials are in short supply. If anyone here is willing to take in the refugees, we are willing to give away all the remaining 100 dan of grain in the county."

"We still have 50 dan of grain in our granary, and we're willing to share it with everyone. We only ask for your assistance..."

"..."

Hearing everyone's excuses, County Magistrate Wang snorted coldly.

He would also be willing to give away the hundreds of dan of grain remaining in the county government to anyone who was willing to resettle the refugees near Yunding County.

No...I'm willing to give away even the remaining dozens of kilograms of medicinal herbs.

County Magistrate Wang looked at the people who were usually arrogant, and now they were like quails in front of him, not saying a word. It was really a good idea.

"Zhang suddenly remembered that he had some important matters to attend to at the county government office, so he took his leave."

"Before dark, I will deliver all the food and refugees in the area. I hope that my brother will understand. I will take my leave and go back to prepare. If there is anything else that requires our help, please let me know."

"Then I will also go and prepare and gather people to escort you. I'll take my leave now..."

All the other county magistrates had left, leaving only Jiujiang County Magistrate Cheng and Yunding County Magistrate Wang looking at each other in bewilderment.

County Magistrate Cheng had just stood up, but before he could even straighten himself, County Magistrate Wang grabbed his arm and said, "Brother Cheng, your Jiujiang County has a dock with many large ships carrying goods. It's the richest county among us. You can't just quit like them..."

"I just want to stand up and think about it. There are nearly two thousand refugees near us, which is not a small number." County Magistrate Cheng said slowly: "How about this, I won't take advantage of you. All the refugees from the nearby counties, our two counties will each resettle half. What do you think?"

Jiujiang County, where County Magistrate Cheng is located, has always ranked high in Yuzhou in terms of its annual political achievements. He is still young, so naturally he wants to move up a level.

Therefore, he had no choice but to go ahead with the resettlement of refugees. He couldn't let his official career be tarnished, so he began to discuss the follow-up matters with County Magistrate Wang.

Although dealing with refugees is a big problem, if this matter is handled well, it will be considered as their political achievement when they are promoted in the future.