General of the Lu-Han \ilway, states that the condition of the country under the present crisis is very precarious owing to the lack of reserve granaries in the provines and the emptiness of the granaries where prescribed by law. It is well-k1 that nine out of every ten granaries in the country are empty and ifa famine atises the result will, under the circumstances, be appalling. This is a cause for groat indignation and we hereby command all Viceroys and Governor of provinces to insist that. their subordinates, the local officials, begin River this year in Honan province, when by there have been no disasters nor suffer i to the people of Honan living in the Great River. We feel profoundly grateful to the gods for their powerful protection and hereby command that ten great incense-sticks from Tibet be sent to the said Governor who shall reverently burn them on our behalf at the altar of the River god, as a token of the Imperial gratitude for favours bestowed. As for Ngth-lé-ching. Provineial Treasures i-sion, i hen-Hsii Intendency of Honan; and Ts'én Ch'un-yung, Trotai of the Hopei (North of the Yellow River) Intendancy, who have chief cha of the River Conservation in Honan through whose vig the Yellow River has been kept peacefully within bounds, we hereby command that their names be handed to the Board of Civil Appointments for the determination of some extra rewards as a mark of the Imperial approbation.
30th October.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.