Giving up hundreds of people's status in exchange for calming down the disaster? This method brightened the eyes of many officials present, and Emperor Tongzhi was also stunned.
"This...isn't it good to sell your official position and get a title like this?"
"Your Majesty! When matters are urgent, follow the authority. Is the life and death of the people more important or the false reputation?" Weng Tonghe urged, "What those local squires want is just an honor and a false reputation!"
"Our court will not give them official positions with real power. They can just put these officials in some false positions. What they want is to honor their ancestors!"
"With status, the family's ancestral graves can be erected with stone monuments, and the houses can be built to a higher standard. If you donate more money, you can also build an archway at the entrance of the village. This is something that will be honored by future generations for hundreds of years!"
"How cost-effective is it for the imperial court to sacrifice a little fame in exchange for thousands of people having food and clothing so that they don't starve to death?"
"Who is the credit for all this? In the final analysis, it is still the shadow of the saint. If the saint had not taught the people for thousands of years and let them know propriety, justice and integrity, then I would never have thought of such a method!"
"Your Majesty, the Confucian gentry is the foundation of the country, and they are the cornerstone of the country's stability! I am a public-minded person, and I ask for your Majesty's clear advice!"
Weng Tonghe knelt on the ground and kowtowed desperately. The surrounding ministers were also moved at this time. They knew that such a disaster relief plan was very feasible and was the best plan at present.
We can’t wait for the imperial court to transport food! Because if you don't have that time, you won't be able to make it in time. Only then will you realize how good the railway is. If the court can connect every county in the disaster area with railways, there will be no problem.
Distribute food to the victims along the railway line. There are life-saving relief points along the railway line!
But where are there so many railways in the Qing Dynasty? The Beijing-Tianjin Railway has just been opened to traffic, and the Beijing-Hankow Railway is being built in sections. It can only be opened to traffic in sections of dozens or hundreds of miles!
There is no way to provide disaster relief at all, and most of the disaster areas are isolated!
Relying on horse-drawn carriages, ox-carts, and manpower? After such a turnover, the people would all starve to death!
The beauty of Weng Tonghe's strategy was that it completely avoided the logistical troubles and used the magic of the imperial examination and the power of Confucian education to directly mobilize the power of the squires in the countryside.
What is a squire? It is a group of scholars with certain financial ability. In ancient times, this was the landlord class!
They own land resources, have the means of production, and live a prosperous life in order to support their children to study and participate in the imperial examination. With the efforts of three generations, if a promising child jumps over the dragon gate and becomes an official.
Then their family will be prosperous. In the feudal dynasty, money alone is not enough. If you don't have an official body to protect your property, then money is just fat in the eyes of others!
In ancient China, there was a very strong trend of selling official positions and getting titles. In fact, many times selling official positions was not for the sake of becoming an official, but to buy a false reputation to glorify one's family status.
Even in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, one of the most important tasks of the Nanyang Minister established by the Qing Dynasty was to go to Southeast Asia to sell officials and titles.
Those Chinese who left the mainland made some money and bought different official positions from the Nanyang ministers. The purpose was to enable the elderly at home to receive high-standard funeral standards after their death.
Moreover, in the Chinese community, you have the honorary official status of your mother country, which is also a unique cohesion!
This kind of business didn't end until after the Republic of China. So many overseas Chinese in Nanyang bought official positions, but in fact there was no place for them to manage them!
This is a traditional force that is very powerful and Weng Tonghe is very familiar with it.
At this time, all the ministers also understood. They knew very well that if His Majesty agreed and hundreds of people were given the title of minister, then all the squires in the disaster area who had food at home would go crazy!
They will definitely do anything for their official position. They will provide relief to the villagers nearby, starting from their own homes first, and then gradually spreading relief to surrounding villages!
One point will drive a surface, and thousands of surfaces will cover the entire disaster area, and the impact of the snow disaster will be reduced to a minimum!
It's a really good idea, but the only drawback is the reputation! No matter how you put it, it's all about selling your official position and getting a title, and the history books don't like it.
What Emperor Tongzhi wanted was the reputation of being the leader of ZTE. He wanted everything in terms of reputation and reputation. In addition to making the country strong, he also wanted a clear name in the history books!
So when I heard the words about selling an official position, I felt a little awkward. Sitting on the dragon chair, I was squirming around and refused to be honest.
"Oh...this matter...I...I have to think about it carefully..."
"Your Majesty! Can't you think about it anymore? The lives of the people are important! If your Majesty is worried about clearing your name in the history books, I, Weng Tonghe, am willing to shoulder the responsibility. Just say that your Majesty is an old minister and I have threatened him with death!"
"If someone scolds you, just scold me! Wuwuwu..."
After crying, other officials could no longer act as mutes. Fu Qing sighed and said, "Your Majesty... history books are all written by future generations, we can't control so much!"
"Sometimes you can't give it all! Just look at the head of state... He is a pragmatist. As long as it is beneficial to the Chinese people, it doesn't matter if he flatters and goes to Europe to be a clown!"
"In the earliest Austro-Prussian War, how could Bismarck allow Chinese troops to participate in the war? It wasn't the head of state and his men who stayed stubborn and got involved!"
"The Führer has many enemies in Europe. Neither France nor Tsarist Russia will speak well of him. How do you think the history books of France and Tsarist Russia will record the Führer's life?"
"That's not to try every possible means to discredit the eggs, find flaws in them, and then record them with great color! On the contrary, they will definitely minimize the achievements of the head of state!"
"The head of state has seen through this kind of thing a long time ago, so he doesn't care about future reputation at all! The current interests are the most important, and we can't save face and suffer!"
"If your majesty is worried about the iron pen of history books, then I am willing to share the burden... I also used my life and property to force the emperor to issue an edict! Let the history books be written down for future generations, just say that the ministers forced each other to death, and your majesty had no choice but to do it..."
Weng Tonghe was so angry that he glared at Fu Qing and said to himself, "You really know how to take credit!" With such a big credit, you just want to share half of it just by talking?
This is obviously my plan, okay? Don't steal the show!
But I didn't expect that there were quite a few people trying to steal the show. Prince Dun, Bao Jun, Ying Gui... all the courtiers in the palace also knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please give me an order! I am willing to die for you!"
"The disaster is so great that your Majesty can no longer hesitate!"
With a bang, Zai Chun punched the dragon case, "That's it! I'm not a fool who refuses to take responsibility... Follow the emergency, Fu Qing, you immediately ask the telegraph office to send telegrams to all disaster areas!"
"Let the landlords and gentry in the disaster area open warehouses to release grain and provide relief to the victims!"
"I am willing to reward them with high-ranking officials and generous salaries! It depends on whether they are willing to part with food!"
