Therefore, Yu Cong refused the County Magistrate and worked with the villagers to increase production. When tax collectors came to demand taxes, he helped the villagers underreport their harvest so that each household had some grain stored.
The years of accumulation not only protected the villagers in times of famine but also because of mutual aid among the villagers, one family helping another, several nearby villages were sheltered.
When the Xiongnu moved south, and wars erupted everywhere, he warned of several impending disasters and promptly led people to hide in the mountains, saving most of the villagers.
Once Zhao Hanzhang pacified the Xiongnu and reestablished the capital in Luoyang, he said to his father and brothers, "Now we can enter officialdom. The world should be stable."
