Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 335 Relief for Refugees
Huguang suffered repeated wars and the population dropped sharply. Hunan was fine, but Hubei was completely depressed. Wang Yan and He Tengjiao discussed that the strategic location of northwestern Hubei was important. For a long time, they had to undertake the important task of defending Hubei from the Central Plains.

Xinye County was just an outpost and could not stop the Qing soldiers from going south, so Xiangyang was the key. In order to strengthen the barrier function of Northwest Hubei and the people in Northwest Hubei basically fled south, Wang Yan suggested to He Tengjiao not to send the refugees back to Northwest Hubei, but It is to move all the people to the south of the Han River, so that when the Qing army goes south again, it is impossible to collect food on the spot. Using the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields, it increases the pressure on the Qing soldiers to transport food, and it is impossible to drive the people to attack the city again.

At this time, Wang Yan came to the north bank of the Yangtze River by boat. Under the guard of dozens of soldiers, he walked through the straw huts and tents. The faces of the refugees were full of melancholy. The adults gathered to discuss their future livelihood. The distress of parents and elders, shouting and running between the grass sheds, playing games.

The entire refugee camp is full of pungent quicklime smell, dusty everywhere, and clothes to dry everywhere.

With hundreds of thousands of people gathered together, the issue of cleanliness was a major issue. Although Wang Yan asked the soldiers to strictly manage it and the people to pay attention to cleaning, the entire camp still looked extremely dirty and messy.

The official who accompanied Wang Yan to inspect the refugees was You Youlun, the newly appointed prefect of Wuchang by He Tengjiao.

The local governor originally did not have the right to appoint officials, but in extraordinary times, as long as the governor was appointed and handed over the memorial, the emperor and the court basically would not ask more questions, but directly approved it.

At this time, You Youlun followed Wang Yan closely, and introduced to Wang Yan as he walked: "The number of refugees gathered on the north shore is close to 70, and most of them are gathered by clan relations. There are as few as 30 to 50 people and as many as nearly a thousand." , The lower officials organized ten thousand people into one party, and sought out respected elders from among the refugees to assist in the management. Each party is equipped with five doctors and 70 government servants. There have been no major mistakes for the time being~" "How long can the food last?" It was Wang Yan's most concerned issue, and He Tengjiao was very anxious about it. The daily food consumption of nearly [-] refugees was astonishing.

"According to the regulations of the supervisor, the young and strong will be given one or two rice every day, and half of the old and weak women and children. It is impossible to eat enough. It can only be said to barely survive, but even so, it can only last for a month."

This is the case in troubled times, and Wang Yan can't blame He Tengjiao for being short-sighted, but after all, there are nearly a million refugees, and he really has no ability to support them.

"Is there enough salt?" Wang Yan asked again.

Grain, salt, and iron are major issues related to the survival of the people. Although iron is not needed now, the lack of salt is also a problem in the salt industry.

"Salt is much more tense than rice grains. Now the well salt in Sichuan and the sea salt in Shandong and Nanzhili cannot be shipped. The official contacted a Shanxi businessman, but his asking price was too high, almost three times the market price. More than double, and the Wuchang government treasury has only 60 taels of silver, and there are too many places to spend money, so it is impossible to negotiate~" "Shanxi merchants?" When people return to Guangdong, they will send a batch of them over. However, it is not an option for the refugees to stay here all the time. The evacuation must be accelerated. The Governor discussed with Governor He yesterday. You cannot let the refugees sit idle. You can select a group of refugees and send them to Xiangyang. , to help Ma Jinzhong and Hao Yaoqi rebuild Fancheng, reinforce Xiangyang, and build Xiangfan an important town. The young and strong sent there must be treated differently. Not only must they be given enough food, but they must also be properly paid. The remaining old and weak must be settled as soon as possible Go to the states and counties, understand?"

"Your official understands that Wuchang's finances may not be able to support it at all!"

He Tengjiao only had more than 60 taels of silver in his hands, and it was really impossible for him to provide relief independently. Wang Yan could only bleed again. He had looted a lot of silver from Wuchang before him, but now it has come in handy.

But Wang Yan can't spend money in vain, he thought for a while, and he already had a preliminary strategy in his mind, "Wuchang doesn't have to take care of the refugees. The governor communicated with Dufutai before, and Futai has the intention of dredging the spiritual canal. Recruitment of civilian husbands will inevitably affect Hunan's production, but refugees can be used to clear channels. In addition, elderly women can also organize to weave cloth, make military uniforms and military shoes. Relief. You try your best to arrange as much as you can, and the governor will make Dufutai ready to resettle refugees."

Hearing the words, You Youlun's eyes could not help but light up, and he became slightly dazed.

Seeing this, Wang Yan said again: "It's just autumn, and the weather is still hot. People gather here for a long time, and the plague is very likely to break out. Be extra careful about the spread of diseases."

You Youlun came to his senses when he heard the words, and quickly saluted, "Don't worry, my lord, we will speed up the resettlement!" At this time, Wang Yan happened to pass by a thatched hut where several elders were discussing something. Then he bent down and got into the grass shed.

There were more than ten people sitting in the shed, when they suddenly saw soldiers coming in, they were all startled, and instinctively retreated to the side of the shed. Seeing this, You Youlun quickly said: "Don't panic, this is the Duke of Great Ming Chu, Come to find out about your situation."

Several clan elders heard that the person who came was the Duke of Ming Dynasty, and immediately knelt down. Wang Yan waved his hands with a smile, "Don't be afraid, old men, where are you all from? How is the situation in the clan?" The words looked at each other, and finally the oldest old man stepped forward and bowed to salute, "Reporting to the Duke of Chu, the little old man is from Yunyang Prefecture. The Qing soldiers killed people everywhere, and the houses and villages were burned down. The little old man I fled all the way to Wuchang with 500 people from my clan, and I survived thanks to the relief from the government!"

Wang Yan sat down in the hut, and refugees around heard the news, and elders from various nearby clans came over to inquire. Wang Yan then asked them to recommend a few elders to come into the hut together.

The thatched hut, which was not that big, was filled up immediately, and everyone knelt down to salute. "Sit down, old men. Let's talk casually and talk about your thoughts." Facing a senior official like Wang Yan, although the people wanted to ask many questions, they were still a little timid and couldn't let go.

After a while, several old men shied away from each other for a while, and only one old man said: "My lord, I want to know how the government will arrange us?"

Wang Yan smiled slightly and said: "The continuous war in Huguang has affected nearly a million people this time, and the imperial court will definitely carry out rescue and treatment. You don't have to worry about this. Governor He has sent officials to clear the land in the south of the Han River, and they will take you They will be resettled in many counties south of the Han River, the land will be provided by the government, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

The state capital south of the Han River was less damaged, but the population was also greatly reduced, leaving a lot of wasteland, so the land is still sufficient.

This is different from Guangdong with more people and less land. Huguang now has more people and more land. This is not only because Huguang has a lot of cultivated land, but because of the war, the once densely populated land has also become sparsely populated.

Wang Yan's words were very kind, which made the old man take up his courage, and asked again: "My lord, it's past the season of planting crops. Although we can still grow some beans and vegetables, how can we persist until next summer's harvest?" What about it?" Several old men whispered in the lower part with the same meaning.Seeing this, Wang Yan waved his hand slightly to calm everyone down, and then said with a smile: "The government's food is also limited, but it won't make it difficult for the people to live, so the government can only provide the minimum relief, just like now, it must be If you don’t have enough to eat, you can only survive, but the government will provide you with opportunities to work. Fancheng needs to be rebuilt, the Lingqu canal needs to be dredged, local storage warehouses need to be built, and the army needs military uniforms and military shoes. As long as you work, you can’t help but eat If you are full, you still have money to take, and with wages, you can buy food in the market to feed your family~”

Wang Yan's words made everyone excited, and the people around the thatched shed suddenly started to discuss: "As long as we work, we will have income, then we can live a good life, but I don't know how to calculate the wages~"

"The matter of wages is absolutely fair. According to the market price, manual work such as building and digging canals cost one or two renminbi a month. Now the price of rice is four renminbi for a bucket of rice, and you can buy three buckets of rice a month. If the wife of the family Now that I’m making some military shoes and uniforms, I’ll be able to live comfortably~” Wang Yan’s words touched the hearts of many people, rekindled their hope of life, and believed that they would be able to live a stable life in the future.

Now the entire Ming Dynasty's finances have completely collapsed, and the imperial court can't afford a penny. What Wang Yan can do is to let the refugees not go hungry, but the refugees are already very satisfied.

At this time, Wang Yan saw that everyone's faces were full of joy, so he stood up and smiled slightly: "You can ask You Zhizhou if you have anything, and the governor has something else. He will answer everyone's questions." He got up to send Wang Yan away from the hut, and at this moment, he bumped into Wang Shixiu who was looking for him, "Duke, the boat from Hunan is here~"

(End of this chapter)