The refugees present tried to comfort the crying mother and son, telling them not to cry anymore. When disaster strikes, what can human power do? What's the use of crying? Can crying solve problems? If crying could fill empty stomachs, the outskirts of the city would be filled with cries!

  Wang Ping'an lowered his head to look at the crying mother and son, feeling unbearable in his heart, but he didn't stop them. Instead, he said: "Cry, let out all the grievances in your heart this time, it's better to cry them out, otherwise, if you hold them back, they will only make you sick!"

  The common people looked at Wang Ping'an, they were all new and didn't know him, only thinking he was a rich family's young master who didn't understand the world. Seeing someone cry, if you don't stop them it's fine, but how could you make others cry? Isn't this inhumane?!

  Wang Pingan rushed to the people and said: "You are now living a hard life, with grievances in your hearts. If you can't vent them out in time, and have no clothes or food, then even if you catch a slight cold, you will get seriously ill. In this situation where there is a lack of doctors and medicine, even minor illnesses can be fatal!"

  This kind of thing has happened in every dynasty since ancient times, when medical facilities were insufficient. It's not an exaggeration to say that even a minor illness like the common cold, which can be cured with some medicine or even just by resting, would claim countless lives if it occurred in Xuzhou City today!

  The people present did not understand these things, they had not read medical books and did not understand the reasoning. Seeing Wang Ping'an say such "nonsense", they were all indignant. Just now, seeing his carriage knock down this child, they pointed accusingly, and some even wanted to come up and push him, and reason with Wang Ping'an!

  "Wang Ping'an suddenly shouted: 'I'm making you cry for your own good! Think about it, you've fled here to escape the disaster, and although you're not citizens of Xuzhou, now that you're here, the local officials have a duty to provide relief. At the very least, they should give you a bowl of porridge to eat! If you just keep quiet and don't make a sound, how can the government be expected to take action quickly? So you need to cry loudly, so that the officials in the city will hear you and be afraid, and then they'll speed up their efforts and bring out food to relieve your suffering. How can you not understand such simple logic?!'"

  No matter how talented you are, even if you're a god from heaven, in this situation, just talking about what's going to happen without putting out any actual benefits is useless. But as soon as you mention the benefits of doing so, everyone present will immediately understand!

  The common people suddenly understood and had a great awakening! Ah, yes, how come we didn't think of this?!

  In an instant, many people burst into tears. They were already in a state of distress and now that they knew the solution, how could they not cry with joy?

  The coachman's face turned pale as he squeezed over, pulled Wang Ping'an aside and said in a low voice: "Young master, aren't you causing trouble for the old master? These refugees were originally fine, we just turn a blind eye to them, don't bother with them, after a few days they'll see that there's no hope in Xuzhou and leave on their own. Now that you've spoken up, they're crying again, we can't even think about not providing disaster relief anymore, they won't leave now!"

  "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Doesn't the government have an obligation to provide relief to disaster victims? If my brother-in-law comes back, I'll tell him what you said. Guess how he'll deal with you?"

  The car husband's face turned green, and he thought to himself: "Even if the governor returns, I'm afraid it won't be me who gets punished, but you!" He said with a bitter face: "Young master, don't tell old master about this. What you say makes sense, but what a lowly person like me says is also true, and you'll understand later!"

  What the cart driver said was actually a big truth at that time in the early Tang Dynasty, or even throughout the feudal society. For disaster relief, the ins and outs are indeed complicated and not easy to understand for those who are not part of the bureaucratic system.

  In the early Tang Dynasty, although politics were clearer than in the previous Sui Dynasty, some things still followed old conventions. Local officials, with a few exceptions, rarely took the initiative to provide disaster relief, and here it is not referring to the affected local area but rather the surrounding areas.

  Unless it is unavoidable, local officials rarely distribute food in advance until the last moment. The reason is simple: if food is distributed to refugees, it will attract more refugees, which the local government cannot bear. At the same time, these people will stay in this place for too long, and even after the disaster, they will delay their departure for a period of time, affecting the agricultural work in their hometown.

  As for disaster relief, there is a lot of attention to detail involved.

  When the disaster first occurred, the people fled to a place where the local officials would absolutely not distribute food. This had nothing to do with whether the officials were cruel or corrupt, but because at this time the people could bring some grain on their bodies and eat their own, so there was no need to distribute it!

  After a period of time, the grain on the people's bodies was eaten up, and then grain had to be issued. If grain was not issued again, the people would leave this place, and refugees would be produced. Once refugees were produced, bandits would immediately appear, and the consequences would be severe. However, at this time, the grain that was issued could not be too much, because if it was too much, it would attract more refugees to come, and the local area could not bear it. Therefore, the porridge had to be thin, so that the people would not leave, and the pressure would be borne by each place, and no major chaos would occur, and the people would not die on the way because of rushing.

  After waiting for a while, the common people could no longer hold on physically or mentally. At this time, they couldn't just put thin porridge anymore, but had to put thick porridge instead. Because if they continued to put thin porridge, many common people would die. The thick porridge that was put out had a standard, and this standard was called "inserting chopsticks without falling over", which means that after the porridge is cooked, inserting a pair of chopsticks into it, these chopsticks cannot fall sideways!

  After a while, the disaster period was almost over, and at this time, thin porridge had to be served again. If thick porridge was still served, some people would not want to leave, delaying their return home and thus delaying farm work. If there was no harvest this year, wouldn't they have to come out and beg for food again next year? So the porridge had to be gradually thinned out to force the people to leave.

  As for disaster relief, rulers have already summarized a complete set of handling methods. As long as they follow these methods, there will be no unexpected events!

  The same test paper, different people will have different results!

  All officials want to delay the deadline for releasing grain, and shift the pressure elsewhere. As a result, they miscalculate the timing and miss the critical point, which can lead to rebellion. The rulers of the Tang Dynasty learned from the collapse of the previous Sui Dynasty, and Li Shimin also made relevant remarks.

  Now Xuzhou should or shouldn't release grain, if it's released now, if not, then refugees will be produced and bandits will arise! But the problem is that Niu Zhenghong is not in Xuzhou at this time, he went to Luoyang, and the officials who stayed behind are still able to drag their feet, holding big meetings and small meetings, discussing back and forth, they won't let things get out of hand, don't expect them to accomplish anything!

  So, what Wang Ping'an did today not only saved Niu Zhenghong's life in the future but also saved the lives of countless villagers outside the city, ensuring that Xuzhou would not be looted. If bandits really appeared, Niu Zhenghong wouldn't have to worry about keeping his official position; he'd just need to worry about keeping his head on his shoulders! And no matter how he worried, the final result would definitely be that he couldn't keep it!

  However, the benefits of what Wang Ping'an did today are not visible now, but instead will cause strong dissatisfaction among the officials left in Xuzhou, and this dissatisfaction will continue until Niu Zhenghong returns from Luoyang!

  The officials were like this, and how could a small cart driver see through it? The bookworm who had cursed countless times in his heart looked down on Wang Ping'an greatly!

  Wang Ping'an also looked down on him, and with a flick of his sleeve, said: "You go and bring down all the gifts that the aunt in the carriage gave me, and distribute them to the common people. If you handle it well, I won't tell your uncle about what you did today. If you don't... humph, you can think about it yourself!"

  The coachman gritted his teeth and said: "I dare not spare any effort, but what about you, young master? I still have to send you back."

  Wang Pingan said: "I'll go back myself!" He asked the villagers to select a few respected and virtuous individuals to go to the carriage to collect goods, and then distribute them again to avoid chaos.

  He squeezed out of the crowd and walked back home to Wulicun village.

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  Here is the translation:

  Special thanks to book friends Didi and Kira Asha for their continuous enthusiastic and generous rewards! Ping An also wants to thank book friends Yi Suoxuanming, 090512074714873, Zuo Lan Ye, and 091126092432296 for their enthusiastic and generous rewards. Ping An is extremely grateful for your support, bowing with fists clasped together, thank you very much!

  Nootropic food

  Laojiu Walnut Soup

  Recipe: 5 whole walnut kernels, 20g white sugar, 50ml cooking wine.

  Production: Crush walnuts and put them in a pot, add white sugar, cooking wine and water in appropriate amount, cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

  Dosage: Take with meals, drink in moderation.

  Function: Tonifying kidney, nourishing brain, moistening intestine and activating blood vessels. Suitable for insomnia, headache, waist pain, forgetfulness and other neuroasthenia symptoms, as well as habitual constipation in the elderly.

  Contraindications: Those with yin deficiency and fire excess should avoid eating this.