The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 1036 - 874, Helper

The grain had arrived, and both Daohua and Xiao Yeyang breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Yeyang sent a letter to the Border Army Camp that very day, asking Cao Dan to come and collect the grain the next day.

Upon receiving the letter, Cao Dan was stunned for a long while, especially when he saw Xiao Yeyang’s words in the letter that the soldiers on the frontier must not compromise their health, and it was imperative to ensure that every soldier had enough to eat. Future provisions would be fully delivered. Although these were all expected, he could not help but be somewhat moved.

The military provisions were, in fact, well known to everyone. If five or six tenths were distributed, the higher-ups were considered exceptionally good officials, a full portion... He had never received that in all his years of military service.

With the food secured, both the Border Army and the refugees outside the city were at ease.

Inside the Guard’s office, Xiao Yeyang selected a thousand young soldiers of decent physical condition and personally trained them.

In the past few days, people had seen these soldiers weary as dogs daily and had not spared their jokes, but when the food arrived and they saw the soldiers’ meals were double theirs, they were burning with envy.

The day before Lantern Festival, while Xiao Yeyang was busy training troops, Daohua also stepped out of the Xiao Residence.

She had been in Ganzhou City for almost a month and had not properly explored the city due to the cold weather and the multitude of matters to handle.

Compared to other towns they had passed through, the Gan State Guard was slightly more lively, although the economy was still very depressed, with few items for sale in the shops and not many customers.

Daohua wandered two main streets, got a good grasp of the city’s situation, and then turned to Yan Shouhou, who was following by her side, and asked, "How’s the investigation into the shop matter coming along?"

Yan Shouhou hurriedly replied, "Miss, it’s very easy to buy shops in Ganzhou City. The business here is challenging, and each year many shops close down. I’ve found a few good ones—good locations and sizes. Would you like to see them today, Miss?"

Daohua nodded her head. There was no snow today, and she wanted to take a longer stroll.

The shops Yan Shouhou had in mind were all on the main street, and it wasn’t much of a walk. Daohua checked each one, and finally, she directly bought five shops.

"Open two grain shops, one fruit and vegetable store, and two pharmacies. Hurry up and arrange them."

She paused then added,

"The pharmacy and fruit and vegetable store are not urgent, but the grain shops need to be quick."

"By the end of the month or early February, Qin Xiaoliu should have the grain transported here, and then the grain shops need to be opened."

At the end of winter and the beginning of spring was when food was most scarce, and she did not want the number of refugees outside the city to increase.

Although she was not short of grain, continuously providing porridge was unsustainable over time.

Thinking of the refugees, Daohua glanced in the direction of the city gate: "Let’s go, we’ll go up on the city walls and have a look."

...

Outside the gates of Ganzhou City, the number of refugees had nearly reached fifty thousand.

The porridge tents had already served morning porridge, and now the refugees huddled in their straw tents, warming each other.

Daohua stood on the city wall, looking at the trembling refugees in the straw tents, feeling somewhat distressed. No matter the time, it was always the common people who suffered.

Ever since the porridge distribution began, Zhang Da had almost always been stationed by the city gate. Each day, he would go to the storeroom to check the grain inventory and calculate the remaining stock. He had just left the storeroom when he saw Daohua standing on the city wall.

Zhang Da jogged up to the city wall and stopped two meters from Daohua to give a salute, "This humble official has seen Madam Xiao."

Daohua turned her head to look at him, "Are you the official Zhang in charge of distributing porridge?"

Zhang Da did not expect Daohua to know him and was somewhat flattered, "Indeed, it is this humble official."

Daohua smiled and said, "The matters of distributing porridge are of great importance. You have been working hard during this time, Official Zhang."

Zhang Da quickly shook his head, "This humble official is just running errands; it’s nothing hard. The truly hard work is being done by Lord Xiao and Madam. If it were not for your efforts in gathering so much grain, the refugees outside the city might not survive. This humble official once again thanks you on behalf of the city’s refugees for saving their lives."

Daohua peered through her veil and assessed Zhang Da, seeing his earnest demeanor and expressive face, she smiled, shaking her head. "Mr. Zhang, you’re being too serious. Now that my husband has taken over the Gan State Guard, he naturally wouldn’t neglect the refugees outside the city."

"Right, the first month has already passed by half, and soon it will be February. As the cold winter is about to end, how have you typically handled the refugees?"

Zhang Da looked embarrassed and replied, "Madam, in the past, the capabilities of our guard were limited. If there were refugees gathering outside the city, most... most of them would be driven away."

Daohua then asked, "Are these refugees all homeless?"

"Most of them are," Zhang Da replied, pausing for a moment. "A small part might be from homes that are not doing well and come here to get porridge."

Daohua nodded and took another look at the refugees below the city walls before turning away. "We won’t keep you any longer, Mr. Zhang. We’ll take our leave now."

"Madam, take care!"

Zhang Da watched as Daohua boarded the carriage and then retracted his gaze.

"Sir, is that really Lord Xiao’s wife?" asked an officer on the city wall, curious.

Zhang Da nodded and laughed, "The mutton we had on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day was sent over by Lady Xiao."

An officer remarked, "She’s not quite what I imagined. I thought those coming from Beijing would be haughty and look down on others, but this lady seemed to have no airs about her at all."

Zhang Da chuckled, "Alright, let’s not crowd around. Go back to your duties."

...

That evening, as Xiao Yeyang returned from training troops at the guard post, Daohua helped him change his clothes and asked, "What do you plan to do about the refugees outside the city?" freёnovelkiss.com

Xiao Yeyang looked at Daohua, "What brings this up all of a sudden?"

"I went up on the city walls today," said Daohua.

Rubbing his head, Xiao Yeyang sat down, feeling dissatisfied with the civil administration of the Gan State Guard.

During this time, he had secretly assessed the officers at the guard post and found that most of them lacked education, with many being barely literate and certainly lacking managerial skills.

Gan State Guard was weakly defended, and Xiliao always lurking, ready to start a conflict, he dared not take anything lightly.

Both the Border Army soldiers and the guard post’s military households lacked physical and combat capabilities, he needed to focus on military training and patrols, leaving little room for hands-on civil administration.

Xiao Yeyang felt there was no one he could rely on, but soon he thought of Dong Yuanxuan, who had been exiled to Xiliang.

"Since Gan State Guard is closest to Xiliao and often harassed by Xiliao troops, that keeps the population here low. So, I’m thinking of keeping all these refugees."

"Settling refugees is not simple, and I have to focus on military affairs; I need to find someone I can trust and who is capable of governance to help me."

"Yuanxuan is in Xiliang, I want to bring him over."

Daohua quickly nodded in agreement, "Brother Dong is well-learned and used to be your study companion. You know each other well and will definitely be able to cooperate on official matters."

"Furthermore, Dong’s father was the Provincial Governor of Zhongzhou, thoroughly familiar with civil administration. If we encounter any difficulties, we can also ask for his advice."

Xiao Yeyang nodded, "That’s what I was thinking too."

Daohua inquired, "Which guard post were Brother Dong and his family exiled to?"

"Jinwei Guard," replied Xiao Yeyang.

"Is it possible to bring them over?"

Xiao Yeyang smiled, "The Commander of Jinwei Guard would still give me that bit of face." After some thought, he added, "Prepare a gift later, I’ll have Bu Gandang make a trip to Jinwei Guard tomorrow."

Daohua nodded, "Alright."