Chapter 1113 - 356: Rings, Zoo_3
After Court adjourned for the day, many officials donated food or silver, and without the Court having to spend "One Wen" money, there was enough to settle those affected by the disaster within Jing City.
As for areas outside Jing City, to what extent the local officials managed the disaster relief for the affected people was unknown.
Mo Qingze added two pieces of charcoal to the brazier and said with concern, "This snow disaster is far more severe than the one two years ago. If the affected people can’t be properly settled, I’m afraid it may lead to unrest. When we fled here during that disaster, weren’t there officials who embezzled the food and silver relief from the Court? They drove those severely affected people to desperation, forcing them to rebel. Otherwise, who would engage in an act like family extermination?"
Mo Qingze’s worries were not unfounded; every time a severe natural disaster occurred, there would always be people causing trouble at the Government offices. Like the year of the refugee crisis in the south, when refugees clashed with the Court, or like the snow disaster two years ago, when the price of grain skyrocketed and, due to the delay in governmental relief, starving people stormed into government offices and rich households to loot, resulting in the deaths of many innocent people.
This snow disaster seemed to have no effect on the Mo Family, but if the heavy snow continued, a real human disaster would inevitably come, and the Mo Family wouldn’t be able to remain unscathed.
In the past few days, people from several nearby villages frequently came to Liu Yang Village seeking shelter and borrowing grain. Not all of these families were out of food; they were just worried about running out before the snow ceased and wanted to prepare in advance. It was manageable for now, but who knew whether these disaster-stricken people might target Liu Yang Village once their food was consumed?
In the eyes of the other villages, Liu Yang Village was like a fat sheep, especially the Mo Family, coveted by many in secret. In a life-or-death situation, who would care about one’s status?