After Tao Hongfang returned to the city after completing his inspection tour, he immediately began to arrange work-for-relief related matters. However, before implementation, he had to visit Shi Diwen again.
He knew very well that the work-for-relief program seemed good, but it lacked too many resources. Raising these resources was beyond his ability. Only Shi Diwen could give him the support he needed in the shortest possible time.
After listening to his report, Shi Diwen asked noncommittally: "Then what kind of support do you want me to provide?"
Tao Hongfang responded in a deep voice: "In my opinion, what is needed most right now is a large number of labor tools, knowledgeable foremen, and special funds to pay refugees. Only when these three are solved can I organize the refugees to start work. Secondly, , the supply of food and daily necessities must also keep up, otherwise the current food provided to the refugees will not give them enough strength to work.”
Shi Diwen nodded slightly and said: "What you said, I will arrange it for you as soon as possible. But you have to understand that the current support given to you is just to deal with the special difficulties in Nanjing. This kind of good thing will not always happen. , as a local governor, you still have to learn to solve problems on your own, and you cannot think of using the entire Donghai region, or even the whole country, to achieve the goals you want."
Tao Hongfang was slightly startled, and quickly bowed and responded: "Thank you uncle for your teaching, Hongfang will definitely keep it in mind!"
Shi Diwen's words were obviously warning him not to take shortcuts when encountering difficulties and use his identity to obtain extra-ordinary assistance from the outside world.
If Tao Hongfang takes this kind of thing for granted, in the long run, he may become dependent on assistance from the top and lose the ability to solve problems independently.
Seeing that his attitude was correct, Shi Diwen didn't say anything to argue, so he continued: "As an official, you think about the people. This is a good thing, but don't take the people's feelings and thoughts too seriously. Same thing. Rice raises all kinds of people. What you have to do is not to make all these people satisfied with you, but to make them all obediently obey the government's management. ”
After the meeting between the two, Shi Cheng sent Tao Hongfang out of the door and then returned to the study. He was a little confused as to why his father, Shi Diwen, gave Tao Hongfang such a lecture.
"Father, if you want to support him, why do you have to scold him?"
When Shi Diwen heard this question, he did not give an answer immediately, but asked Shi Chengwu: "Have you ever thought about why Tao Hongfang didn't discuss these conditions with you, but came to me directly? ?”
Shi Chengwu said: "This is naturally because he knows very well that there is no use asking me for these things. Only you can provide him with these conditions. And you are going back to Hangzhou soon. If you delay any longer, it will be too late."
Shi Diwen nodded and said: "What Tao Hongfang wants to do must be supported by the Donghai Region, and this is beyond your ability. He is a smart man, let me give him a heads up to prevent him from getting confused in the future. .”
Shi Chengwu finally understood after hearing this. It turned out that his father was worried that there would be problems with his partnership with Tao Hongfang, so he eliminated this hidden danger in advance.
Shi Diwen continued: "Tao Hongfang has never been a local official before, let alone manage an important area like Yingtian Mansion. If he can make achievements in office, everyone will be happy. But if he makes a mistake, then his father will What do you think? ”
Shi Chengwudao: "So what you are worried about is not what will happen to Tao Hongfang, but what his father thinks."
Shi Diwen said: "I have known Tao Donglai for thirty years. Although we conquered the world together, we didn't spend much time together. I don't want to guess why he sent his son to Nanjing, nor do I want to He has any misunderstandings about our Shi family.”
Shi Chengwu responded: "I understand, kid." Even though Shi Diwen controlled many resources in the Donghai Region, the assistance Tao Hong applied to him was not easy to implement. If it were someone else, he might have refused directly.
But Tao Donglai still had to give him face. Shi Diwen agreed to help, but he didn't want Tao Hongfang to become dependent on it. He could only control the balance in between.
Three days after Shi Diwen left Nanjing, the work-for-relief campaign initiated and hosted by Tao Hongfang kicked off outside Nanjing.
As the first major thing to be done after taking office, Tao Hongfang still devoted a lot of effort to this. In just a few days, he has prepared multiple projects, which are expected to require more than 50,000 laborers, which is very ambitious.
The first project is to repair the Yangtze River embankments and Qinhuai River embankments to prevent floods from passing through each summer.
For Yingtianfu, it is common practice for areas along the river to be engulfed by floods in summer. Sometimes the flood level is too high and it pours back into the Qinhuai River, causing large areas of farmland upstream to be inundated.
Of course, rivers and dams were repaired many times during the reign of the Ming Dynasty, but in recent years, most of the funds in the treasury have been used as military expenses, and there is no spare money to invest in these public facilities.
The second project is to expand the two official roads from Nanjing to Zhenjiang and Nanjing to Huzhou to increase the traffic of people and goods on land.
The condition of these two official roads is actually pretty good. During the previous war between the two countries, part of the Haihan army and supplies and equipment advanced to the gates of Nanjing through these two roads.
However, Tao Hongfang hoped that the pavement of these two official roads could be further widened and solidified so that Haihan-style heavy-duty carriages could travel smoothly on the roads.
However, the mileage of these two official roads is too long, and it is not a project that can be completed in three to five months. If we only rely on recruiting refugees, the project will be difficult to sustain for a long time, and it is estimated that we can only repair as much as possible.
The third project is to dredge multiple rivers in Yingtianfu. On the one hand, it will ensure daily water supply in Nanjing and surrounding areas, and on the other hand, it will also increase the efficiency of inland water navigation.
There are many lakes on the east and south sides of Yingtianfu, and rivers extend in all directions. If it can be fully utilized, its shipping capacity should be no less than that of the Suzhou-Hangzhou area between the Yangtze River and Qiantang River.
If these major projects can be properly repaired according to Haihan's engineering standards, they will be considered a great thing that will benefit the present generation and benefit the future. This political achievement will make Tao Hongfang famous in history.
After the recruitment notice was posted in the refugee camp area in the south of the city, the response was very enthusiastic, and nearly 30,000 people were recruited in just a few days.
Just providing three meals a day is enough to attract many hungry refugees to sign up. What's more, as long as you work for a month, you can receive at least two taels of silver in wages, which is even more than the income of a considerable number of refugees before the war.
With this salary, the expenses for returning home will be covered. At that time, you can decide by yourself whether to go or stay. At least you no longer have to worry about starving to death on the way back home.