Chapter 1289 Butterfly Effect
Xu Hai and his investigation team set off back to Beijing after lunch. They had completed the two main tasks of this trip, and there was no need to stay any longer. Zhu Pingan and Tan Lun The others were sent all the way to the official road.
After sending Xu Hai and his party away, Tan Lun stayed in Jingnan for more than an hour. Accompanied by Zhu Ping'an, he carefully inspected the East Lake Project Area and learned in detail about various aspects and precautions of providing relief for work. etc. Tan Lun had already made up his mind to imitate Zhu Ping'an in defining grain prices when he returned home, and carried out work-for-relief measures.
"Master Fu, please take a step to speak." Zhu Pingan saw Tan Lun's determination and said to him softly.
Some words are not convenient to say in public, so you can only speak in one step, and Zhu Pingan will not recognize it after saying it.
"Master Zhu, I don't know if I have any advice." Tan Lun followed Zhu Ping'an to the side and asked with a smile.
"How dare you ask for advice? The governor wants to carry out work-for-relief work, but I don't know how big the treasury is?" Zhu Ping'an cupped his hands and said.
"There are still more than 38,000 silver in the treasury, but there is not much food, only about 10,000 shi." Tan Lun is very familiar with the situation of the treasury, and he has worked hard to store the silver in the treasury. , saved up one by one, there were originally more than 20,000 stone in the grain depot, but half of it was consumed by giving out rice porridge and relief work since the flood.
Zhu Ping'an shook his head slightly, "Master Fu, more than 38,000 taels of silver may not last long. Take my small county in Jingnan as an example. Jingnan holds a work-for-relief program, and each person has a daily 20 wages, a total of 100,000 people and refugees participated, and in one month the wages alone were enough It requires 60,000 taels, and the consumption of grain and rice is huge. Even if we charge for three meals a day, we can only collect about 5 cents per person per day, which is just a drop in the bucket."
Tan Lun froze when he heard this, as if he had been splashed. After drinking a basin of cold water, most of the enthusiasm in his body was immediately dispelled.
Yes, there are costs involved in providing food-for-work relief. A small county in Jingnan District has to pay 60,000 taels a month, not to mention the entire Taizhou Prefecture. There are no less than a million people in need of relief.
What can I do? !
Tan Lun couldn't help but frowned, but soon his eyes lit up. Our city couldn't afford it, so how did Jingnan do it? He immediately raised his hands and said to Zhu Ping'an, "What's wrong with Mr. Zhu?" ”
"I don't dare to take advice. It's just the government. After the grain price is defined, grain merchants from all over the country will definitely make a lot of money. They have made a fortune in Taizhou Prefecture, so they should make some contributions to Taizhou Prefecture's disaster relief." Zhu Pingan said with intention.
"Master Zhu, are you asking grain merchants to donate money for disaster relief?" Tan Lun's eyes lit up, and he shook his head randomly, "These businessmen are the most greedy, they must compare every penny, they regard money as life, how can they be willing to donate? .”
"In this case, I'm afraid the people will not agree. As parents and officials, we should make decisions for the people."
Zhu Pingan said meaningfully.
With everything said, Tan Lun understood, looked at Zhu Pingan, and nodded vigorously.
Zhu Ping'an also suggested that Tan Lun wait until grain prices are defined and grain merchants flood into Taizhou Prefecture before launching work-for-relief projects.
Tan Lun understood clearly that whether the work-for-relief banquet can be successful depends on the grain merchant's dish.
Soon, when Tan Lun returned to Taizhou Prefecture from Jingnan, Taizhou Prefecture posted a notice the next day, setting the price of food in Taizhou Prefecture at 2,500 yuan per stone. At the same time, Tan Lun also issued an official document to all counties and counties. The first part of the official document first praised and introduced Zhu Ping's experience in fighting floods and disaster relief in Jingnan. The second part asked all counties and counties to raise the price of grain within their jurisdiction to Two thousand five hundred yuan per stone.
Soon, the explosive news that Taizhou Prefecture raised the price of grain to 2,500 yuan per stone spread widely.
As soon as the news spread, it was like a basin of blood was poured into the shark pond, and all the sharks named grain merchants went crazy.
On the day when Taizhou Prefecture posted a defined grain price, there were hundreds of grain dealers, large and small, doing their best to sell the grain through various means such as horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, ox carts, and shipping. A steady stream of food was transported into Taizhou. They are near the water and on a first-come-first-served basis. A little further away, more grain merchants are coming.
For a time, grain from various parts of the Ming Dynasty was continuously transported to Taizhou through grain merchants.
The food shortage in Taizhou Prefecture was immediately alleviated. Although the price of food was very expensive, it was no longer priceless. As long as you could get money, you could buy food. Although the people of Taizhou have consumed their wealth accumulated over the years, they have finally survived this disaster. Taizhou, which was ravaged by floods, is developing in a good direction.
At the same time, Tan Lun also followed Zhu Pingan's example and accepted all the thank-you gifts sent by grain merchants in the form of disaster relief donations. For those whose number did not reach Tan Lun's expectations, or who did not come to donate, Tan Lun sent people to the other party's food store to ask them to donate to Taizhou's disaster relief.
Of course, for some ignorant grain merchants, Tan Lun sent officers to conduct site clearance searches, interrogations, etc. High-sounding reasons prevent you from operating normally. You know, time is money now. Opening a grain store is like robbing money to make money. If you delay for a moment, you will make a lot less money. How can grain merchants struggle with money. As a result, the grain merchants who had been taught a lesson became more sensible and obediently made up their donations.
Through this method, Tan Lun quickly raised enough silver and grain to carry out work-for-relief work.
Three days after the Taizhou government announced the defined grain prices, it once again issued an announcement - work-for-relief.
Tan Lun almost copied Zhu Ping'an's work-for-relief proposal, planning a series of sieges such as post-disaster reconstruction, water conservancy facilities, repairing city walls, anti-Japanese outposts, and land reclamation, and called on the people within the territory to participate in the work-for-relief effort.
However, in order to show the kindness of the official who loves the people as his own children, Tan Lun provides free three meals a day to the people who participate in the work-for-relief program. Of course, it is just the most basic porridge and steamed buns. In addition, the daily wages are It was reduced to 15 cents.
In fact, compared with the work-for-relief treatment in Jingnan, Taizhou Prefecture is just a mess.
Because three meals a day are provided for free every day and the wages are relatively small, the enthusiasm of the people is slightly lower than that in Jingnan.
However, these are not important.
Importantly, through the policy of defining food prices and providing relief for work, the flood situation in Taizhou Prefecture has continued to improve.
Affected by the positive influence of Taizhou Prefecture, neighboring Shaoxing Prefecture, Ningbo Prefecture, Jinhua Prefecture and other prefectures have also begun to increase domestic grain prices, or turn a blind eye to the rise in domestic grain prices, defaulting to grain prices. Price rises.
Food from all over the country is continuously shipped to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the flood situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is also constantly improving. Influenced by Zhu Ping'an's butterfly, floods in the south of the Yangtze River recovered faster than in history, with less losses and countless lives lost. (End of this chapter)