At this time, in various places, the broken riverbanks and rampant floodwaters submerged villages, leaving corpses scattered everywhere. Surviving refugees had nowhere to go, filled with grievances, and could only stumble to the county town for help.
Initially, two or three county towns opened their gates, prepared to let in some villagers with means. After all, some city dwellers had relatives and friends living outside the city; having taken their money, they certainly intended to let some people in. Additionally, setting up porridge distribution outside the city to aid displaced citizens would win them a good reputation.
As the local officials, the Magistrate had good intentions, but misjudged the severity of the disaster.
