Jia Yujing of Red Mansion

Chapter 186 1 I have a wonderful method that can save millions of people
Early the next morning, Jia Qiong first arrived at the Chang'an County Government Office to sort out the recent backlog of government affairs.

Then he arranged for Liuxian Cheng to set up a temporary refugee camp outside the city, and ordered Ma Dianli to lead people to conduct an inventory of the registered population of Da'anfang, Changlefang and Qinglongfang.

Now the locust plague has broken out in Henan, which is very close to Guanzhong.

Every time there is a major disaster in Henan, Shanxi, or Shaanxi, a large number of victims will always come to the capital to seek relief.

Jia Qiong planned a big project yesterday, which can just make use of these victims to provide work-for-relief, which can not only provide disaster relief, but also generate income.

This is a huge plan. Emperor Longqing, the Jia family, the four princes and eight princes, and even many of his relatives and friends can all benefit from this plan, and Jia Qiong is destined to be the one who will gain the most.

After handling the official affairs of Chang'an County and eating lunch, Jia Qiong went into the palace to meet the saint again.

In the South Study, Emperor Longqing was discussing with several bachelors how to deal with the locust plague.

Zhang Chunyang said: "Henan, Jizhou, and Shandong have all reported disasters.

The scope and harm of this locust plague may be far greater than expected, and the possibility of spreading to other provinces cannot be ruled out. "

Emperor Longqing looked at Luo Jin and asked: "Luo Aiqing, how much grain is currently stored in the charity warehouses in Henan and other places?"

Luo Jin replied: "Back to the emperor, starting from May, the Ministry of Household Affairs has begun to raise food.

There are currently 22 shi of grain in Hanjiacang in Henan, 30 shi in Linqing warehouse in Shandong, and 25 shi in Baoding warehouse in Jizhou.

There will be about 40 shi of grain in the future, which will arrive in Shandong soon. "

Emperor Longqing frowned and said, "Why is it so little? This food is only enough to feed millions of victims for half a year.

The scope of this locust plague is so large that the affected population must be far more than one million.

Didn't I order the inner treasury to allocate 100 million taels of silver to the Ministry of Household Affairs? How did I raise such a small amount of food? "

Luo Jin said helplessly: "Your Majesty, due to the severe drought in the Central Plains last year, most of the grain stored in the charity warehouse has been exhausted.

These grains are summer grains that the Ministry of Revenue has just purchased from various places in the south of the Yangtze River.

Disasters have occurred frequently in recent years, and food prices have risen again and again in various places.

Needless to say, the land of the Central Plains is not necessarily something you can buy with two taels of silver or one stone now.

Nowadays, in several major grain-producing provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, the price of new grain has risen to one tael, one qian, or one stone.

Coupled with the loss of transporting grain northward, this is already the limit of what the Ministry of Revenue can raise. "

Emperor Longqing asked: "How many people will be affected by this disaster? Does the cabinet have any prediction?"

Zhang Chunyang replied: "Back to the emperor, the cabinet predicts that the number of people affected by this disaster may exceed 300 million, and may even reach 500 million."

Emperor Longqing frowned and said: "Five million! Even if we add the grain stored in Changpingcang in various places, it will not last three months.

Let alone allowing the victims to resume farming. Does the cabinet have any countermeasures? "

Luo Jin suggested: "There are no major disasters in Jiangnan and other places this year, so I think we can increase some land tax appropriately.

When the autumn grains arrive in storage, part of the gap should be filled. "

Emperor Longqing was not particularly satisfied with this method. He shook his head and said: "Jiangnan was seriously flooded the year before last, and the people's livelihood was already difficult.

If we increase the tax burden further, public resentment may spread. Is there any other way? "

Yang Sicheng said: "I believe that there is actually no shortage of food among the people, but that many large grain merchants are hoarding food, purchasing food on a large scale, and deliberately raising food prices.

I think we should crack down on these illegal and profiteers and collect grain for disaster relief. "

Luo Jin objected after hearing this: "Grain merchants purchase and sell grain, which is a legal business. As long as they pay taxes truthfully, what reason does the court have to confiscate their grain? How is this different from banditry?"

Li Shirui said: "It is really inappropriate to confiscate grain arbitrarily. It is better for the court to borrow some grain from grain merchants and then pay it back when there is more money next year."

Emperor Longqing nodded and said: "This is an idea. If someone is willing to relieve the court's worries, he can be rewarded as appropriate.

The cabinet will discuss a charter as soon as possible and try it out first to see the effect. "

……

Because Emperor Longqing had been discussing important matters with the cabinet ministers, the eunuchs would not go in and disturb him unless there was something urgent, so Jia Qiong could only wait outside the south study.

After waiting for too long, Jia Qiong finally sat on the railing and dozed off against the pillar.

After waiting for more than two hours, the sun was about to set before a few pavilion elders came out of the south study.Zhang Chunyang walked at the front. When he saw Jia Qiong, he only glanced at her briefly and left.

Luo Jin snorted coldly and said, "I don't understand the rules." She followed Zhang Chunyang and walked away.

Li Shirui, Yang Sicheng, and Xie Qian were walking behind. Seeing this, Li Shirui stepped forward and patted Jia Qiong on the shoulder to wake him up.

He lectured: "Yu Jing, why did you sleep here? How can you behave like this?"

Jia Qiong woke up and hurriedly saluted and said: "I'm here to see the three pavilion elders.

I had something to meet with His Majesty, but I waited too long and fell asleep without realizing it. "

Yang Sicheng said: "Go in and be careful. The emperor is worried about the locust plague."

Jia Qiong cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Master Yang, for reminding me."

After the three people left, Jia Qiong tidied up her appearance before coming to the entrance of the palace to ask for an audience.

Entering the south study room, Jia Qiong saw Emperor Longqing sitting on the couch with a sad look on his face.

He stepped forward a few steps and saluted: "Your Majesty, Jia Qiong, is here to see Your Majesty. My Majesty bows to Jinan."

"Come on, you're here just in time. Come play chess with me."

"The minister obeys the order."

The two set up a chess game and played a few moves. Jia Qiong asked, "Is the emperor worried about the disaster?"

Emperor Longqing sighed and said: "This locust plague is coming fiercely, affecting many places in Henan, Shandong, and Jizhou, and the autumn grain harvest may be impossible.

There are so many victims, and it really gives me a headache as to how the court can provide relief. "

Jia Qiong asked: "Your Majesty, does the cabinet have any way to deal with this?"

Emperor Longqing shook his head and said: "It's a drop in the bucket, but it's hard to get the full result."

Jia Qiong said: "I have some ideas and am willing to share the emperor's worries."

Emperor Longqing asked curiously: "I and the cabinet are at a loss what to do, what can I do?"

Jia Qiong said: “After the floods in the Yangtze River basin last year, rivers in various places were damaged and were in urgent need of repair.

However, because the people in Jiangnan urgently needed to rebuild their homes and recuperate, the court could not send more laborers, and the hidden dangers in the rivers were very serious.

If there is another flood, the damage will definitely be more serious.

It would be better to lead some victims from the Central Plains to the south of the Yangtze River to dredge rivers and build dams.

Work-for-relief was used to allow wealthy government households in various places in the south of the Yangtze River to provide food to aid victims.

Jiangnan is rich and they can afford it.

This can not only solve the livelihood problems of some disaster victims, but also speed up the progress of Jiangnan river projects, killing two birds with one stone. "

Emperor Longqing was surprised when he heard this and said: "This method is very good, you can try it, you can try it!
How many victims do you think this method can save? "

Jia Qiong said: "I have roughly calculated that it is not difficult to rescue 50 victims in various places in the south of the Yangtze River."

Emperor Longqing was overjoyed: "Okay! If this method works, I will remember your great contribution!"

Jia Qiong cupped his hands and said, "I still have a wonderful method that can save millions of victims and make tens of millions of profits."

Emperor Longqing was shocked and said, "Is this true?"

Jia Qiong said solemnly: "I dare not speak nonsense in front of the Emperor."

Emperor Longqing said excitedly: "Okay, that's it, tell me the wonderful method quickly."

Jia Qiong glanced at Dai Quan, who was standing by and eavesdropping with his ears, and said, "Your Majesty, the law is not spread to the six ears."

Emperor Longqing understood, waved to Dai Quan and said, "You all go down."

Dai Quan glanced at Jia Qiong unhappily and led the others back.

Emperor Longqing said: "Speak out your wonderful method quickly. If you are pretending to be a ghost, I will not forgive you lightly."

(End of this chapter)