Li Bi did not tell Kong Shaoan what to do when he first came up. Instead, he explained in detail how the government did it based on his own experience in the Manchu officialdom, so as to make the other party realize how deep the water was; If you try to please, you will get scolded by the people, which will affect the reputation of Beihai Town.
Official disaster relief in the Qing Dynasty, also known as "famine policy", mainly adopted four methods: postponement of levies, relief, pensions, and food adjustments. In terms of measures, there is actually no difference from later generations. It is just different in administrative execution.
Since the "Gansu Pretended Relief Case" in the forty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign, a large number of officials, including Li Bi, were punished. Among them, 47 officials were executed, 82 were dismissed and imprisoned, and 11 sons of corrupt criminals were exiled to Ili. Even the then governor of Jiangsu Province, Min Eyuan, was punished by Level 3 for hiding three taels of stolen silver for his younger brother, and had his Lianlian Silver suspended for three months.
However, after the incident, although local officials in Gansu took warning and did not dare to falsely report famines or risk relief, many abuses were still common in other places during the disaster relief process, from disaster reporting and disaster investigation to selling, lending, and swindling. , adjustment and exemption, adjustment and mitigation, the disadvantages are everywhere. The people involved in the fraud include not only the responsible officials and subordinates, but also various people such as libao, gentry, wealthy businessmen, health supervisors, servants, local sticks, etc.
Kong Shaoan asked doubtfully: "What is a stick? Can't we distinguish between those who are fleeing famine and those who have enough to eat?"
"The local sticks are idlers, and these people are the most aggressive and domineering. If there is a charity feeding porridge, they will clamor and make noise, cut off the rice and grab it. They will also forcefully ask for relief tickets from hungry households, and they are not allowed to conduct door-to-door house checks. If things don't go as planned, bricks and stones will be thrown, water will be splashed and mud will be thrown, boats will capsize and bridges will be destroyed..."
Yu Shun interjected: "I have seen something worse before. More than 20 people drove people sent from the government into an empty house, poured several buckets of dung into the house, and refused to let them out if they didn't agree. .”
Li Bi smiled bitterly and said: "There are many disadvantages here. Those rich households don't have to come forward at all. They will collect homeless beggars from all over the country, or let their servants come to collect them, and then share the profits privately. Furthermore, since Jiaodong was hit by the disaster last year , the grain stored in the Changping warehouse must not be much, or even none."
"Damn! They all should be shot!" Kong Shaoan cursed through gritted teeth, and then asked: "How do you determine that those people need relief?"
Li Bi looked at the other party's face, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then said: "Household review. In a county, the people who are most familiar with the situation in eight villages and ten miles away are the household residents and government officials, as well as the local Jiamen. long."
"Household review?" Kong Shao'an asked, "Is it just a household census? Determine the number of people affected by the disaster?"
"Exactly." Li Bi continued: "There are two purposes for reviewing households. One is to verify the disaster-stricken households and register them for record. The other is to distribute relief tickets according to the extremely poor, sub-poor and large and small households. As a basis for receiving relief in the future. In addition to omissions and misreporting, the most common method used by government officials and precedents is to make false claims and create false names."
"For example, if one household is divided into several households, or if one person is moved to another, there is a name on the household registration book, but there is no one there. Or if you want to report more households under the current household, you only need to bribe the government officials. For example There are those who mix the servants and tenants of the squire's family into the Ding register in an attempt to pretend to be the leader; there are those who list the county government office; there are those who include the deceased and even homeless beggars in the Ding register, and then divide the wealth privately; there are also those who will There are many people who are engaged in business and tourism, and pretend to be hungry people to lead on their behalf."
Kong Shaoan roughly understood that it was actually to classify poor households into different levels, and then determine the relief standards based on the different levels. Since the hierarchy is determined by people in the government, there is room for maneuver.
"Then there is the need to demand and extort prices. Originally, the Qing government stipulated that the plate fees, meals and paper money for relief workers should be paid from public funds. However, the borrowing expenses and the extortion of registration fees and ticket prices have been repeatedly banned. This is a problem during disaster relief. It is a major public hazard. When checking households, registers, sales tickets, meals, paper, and fodder for husband and horse must all be distributed according to the household division."
Ding Shun on the side interjected: "I saw it during the great disaster in Henan in the 51st year of Qianlong's reign. When the police went to the countryside, farmers who wanted to report hunger had to give 'envoy money', and to receive relief tickets, they had to give 'ticket money' . If anyone dares not to give, his family will be included in the deletion. Even if the food for disaster relief is piled in the Changping warehouse, you can't get the food if you don't have money to buy tickets."
Li Bi sighed and said, "It is precisely these words that Li summed up into fourteen words: only bribery is to be regarded, bribery is to be included in the register, and no bribery is not to be included in the register."
Kong Shaoan couldn't help but shook his head, got up and walked a few steps in the cabin, stretched his somewhat stiff neck, and said, "Is there anything else?"
Li Bi then went on to talk about the various squandering methods used in the disaster relief process, such as "debits and deductions", "silver is divided into taels, and money is short of quantity", "mixing chaff with chaff, shortage is rising", and " "Preliminary collection of deposits" and so on, it can be said that they are using all possible means and playing horrifying tricks.
Kong Shao'an felt sweat dripping down his spine after hearing this. He thought to himself that if the other party hadn't talked about so many disadvantages and opened a warehouse to stock up on food as he had thought before, he would have easily been tricked by the big bosses and petty officials into losing his underwear.
Everyone talked for almost two hours. Seeing that it was getting late, Kong Shaoan finally concluded: "In this case, let Mr. Li write a pamphlet on relief matters and write down all the deception and abduction methods of the subordinate officials. , let the troops and work teams serve as a reference.”
"It is better to obey orders than to be respectful!"
At the same time, the four gates of Rongcheng County were closed late at night, and lanterns were hung on the city walls and torches were lit. In addition to the three squads of government officials, there were also some temporarily recruited young men, each holding swords, guns, bows and arrows, nervously watching the people outside the city. movement. Curfews have also been implemented throughout the city, and people are not allowed to walk around on the streets at will. The chiefs of each neighborhood have arranged for manned patrols at night, and if anything happens, they will sound the gong and call the police.
A few hours ago, the rumbling of artillery in Yuchiwan was heard faintly in the county seat. After that, as the Qing army, which was lucky enough to escape, collapsed, the news of the arrival of the Northern Navy quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys. Before the city gate was closed, many people outside the city fled into the city with their families to avoid the disaster.
Four years ago, Beihai Town removed nearly 100,000 people from Rongcheng and Wendeng. Although these people are nothing to Dengzhou Prefecture, which has a population of more than 3 million, there is still no news about those who left. , which also triggered various speculations among the people. Some people say that those people were sold by short-haired people to red-haired people in the far north. Others say that they went to the outer islands to become pirates and lived a life that was worse than that of cattle and horses. During this period, coupled with the government's fueling the flames and folk rumors, Jiaodong became a pirate. People everywhere regard Beihai Town as a devil.
The lights were brightly lit in the county government's Tuisi Hall. The new magistrate Yang Naiming, who was sitting in the main seat, had a worried face and a frown on his face. Sitting under him were the chief registrar, the county school teacher, as well as the Bi family, the Ding family and other wealthy gentry and village elders, all of whom were sighing.
Rongcheng is located on the easternmost side of Shandong, facing the sea on three sides. The military relies entirely on the Chengshan Flood Guard Camp, and there is no regiment training in the county. Now the Beihai navy came up and destroyed the water stronghold, and was about to attack the county town tomorrow. Although Yang Zhi County has sent people to Wendeng, Jimo and other places to call for help, water from afar cannot quench the thirst nearby, and it is not certain whether they can survive tomorrow.
"The pirates from the North Sea are attacking. Do you have any strategies to defeat the enemy?"
At this time, everyone in the hall heard the county magistrate's question. You look at me, I look at you, but no one said anything. Seeing this, Yang Naiming felt anxious and angry. He suddenly stood up and was about to take the roll when he saw Mr. Qianliang suddenly appear from outside the door and wink at him. He knew something was going on, so he went to the back hall as an excuse to change his clothes. After a while, the master followed him.
"Master Zhou, what did you mean just now?"
"Sir, I know a thing or two about this matter. Everyone in the hall actually has an idea, but no one can say it."
"Oh? How do you say this?"
"I have just arrived here not long ago, and many inside stories are unclear. I just found out what happened from the housekeeper of the Bi family. Four years ago, the pirates from the North Sea came to Rongcheng, and robbed nearly 100,000 people from Rongcheng and Wendeng counties. , some villages were completely wiped out and looked like ghosts. The former magistrate of Li County later submitted a letter to the governor, and then refugees were transferred from Yanzhou, Taizhou and other places to make up for the loss."
Yang Naiming's eyes lit up and he said, "You mean, are the North Sea pirates here just for Dingkou?"
Master Zhou said: "I think I have to send someone to negotiate with the North Sea pirates to find out whether it is true or not. If it is just for Dingkou, then we should make an agreement not to attack the county seat, and let them do whatever they want outside the city. As long as the city is Don’t miss it, the county magistrate can also have an explanation with the governor.”
Yang Naiming asked strangely: "Why didn't everyone in the hall just say anything?"
Master Zhou said: "I was afraid of getting involved even if I thought about it, so I just waited for the county magistrate to speak. At present, the court punishes those who have liaison with the pirates in the North Sea very severely. Once confirmed, they will be arrested and imprisoned. Those who will be punished will be exiled to the northwest, and those who are serious will have their homes confiscated and executed. So... ....”
"Alas!" Yang Naiming sighed, thinking that he still had no money. If he had money for activities, he would never come to Rongcheng.
"I have been favored by the Emperor and promoted and appointed. Just when I am trying my best to repay my favor, I don't have any soldiers. Otherwise, I really want to fight to the end with the Northern Pirates!"
Master Zhou knew that the other party was being hypocritical and wanted to be a bitch and wanted to build a memorial arch, so he comforted him: "What you said is not true, but it is just not feasible in this world. The so-called 'those who seek good fortune and avoid evil' If you are a gentleman, your city will be safe and you will be able to serve the court better in the future."
After that, Yang Zhixian returned to the hall alone and saw that everyone was eagerly waiting for him, so he decided to ask the heads of the Bi and Ding families to go to Chengshanxun to contact Bei Haijun the next morning. He also personally wrote a letter to the magistrate in front of everyone, He stated the "strategy to retreat from the enemy", put a seal on it, and ordered people to be sent to Dengzhou overnight. Only then did several large households drop a stone on the ground. They praised Mr. Yang for his dedication to the people. Afterwards, they decided to organize the people in the county to offer the Ten Thousand People's Umbrella. . Of course, filial piety is also indispensable.
However, the Northern Navy's trip was destined to exceed the expectations of the officials and gentry. Just after four o'clock in the morning the next day, the large troops began to disembark under the illumination of the ship's searchlights and shore torches. After the transfer of defense procedures, the two companies that landed yesterday were immediately dispatched. Under the leadership of two forts who surrendered to the Qing army, they headed straight for the county seat.
More than two hundred soldiers from the Northern Navy ran very fast, and the surrendering Qing army leading the way couldn't keep up. In the end, they were dragged along by two soldiers and ran wildly. By the time they arrived outside the south gate, they were exhausted and out of breath.
At this time, the officers and young men on the city wall had been taking turns to guard the city all night. This was the time when their spirits were at their worst. They were all so sleepy that they didn't even notice that anyone was swimming across the moat to plant explosives.
At 6:05 in the morning, when the fuse burned to the end, there was only a loud noise that shook the earth. Countless wood chips exploded towards the inside and outside of the city gate, and a big hole was blasted in the heavy city gate. Everyone in the city, regardless of gender or age, suddenly woke up from their sleep!
The first squad to rush into the city quickly attacked the city wall, and sporadic gunshots rang out. After a while, the suspension bridge suddenly fell down, and the Northern Navy troops hiding outside the city swarmed in. It didn't take long for several families who were observing the situation outside their homes near the south gate to notice that a red flag had been erected on the wall of the south gate. In the middle was a white five-pointed star, and there was a circle of bumps outside. The white circle is very strange...
At noon that day, Zhao Xin, who was stationed at the Northern Navy Staff Headquarters, received a telegram from the "Jiaodong Detachment". He nonchalantly handed the telegram back to the staff for filing, walked to the map hanging on the wall, and looked at the various areas under his control.
In 1792, Zhao Xin was destined to be busy. Let alone official matters, his family affairs alone were enough to keep him busy.
In March this year, good news came from the family of "Prince Zhao". Shen Xuan, who had been silent for a long time, was pregnant again. Just as the Shen family and Zhao's parents were rejoicing, a phone call from Fuldan City shocked Zhao Xin again. Tang Xiao was also pregnant.
Come on! Don't say anything else. Let's build the new house in Whale Town quickly!
Both women were pregnant with their children, which ruined his original plan to go to India. He could only run to Annan to leave a batch of supplies, and then ran back again.
In early August, Wang Zhenyi, who was deceived by Zhao Xin into going to Siberia to see the stars, also returned to Beihai Town with A Miao. Wang Zhong did not come back with them, but stayed in Chiyan City, and together with Jiang Fan and Jiuzang, participated in the negotiations between Beihai Town, the Cossack Emirate and the Tsarist Empire.
After more than a year of fighting, the Cossack Emirate pushed its territory to the Ob River line and bordered the Kokand Kingdom to the south. With the support of the Northern Navy, the Russians failed to achieve success in several attacks. In the end, they had to seek a negotiated solution and recharge their batteries.
However, when people from the Tsarist Russian mission saw Krutogorov, who claimed to be the son of "Peter III", appearing at the negotiation site in Red Rock City, they protested angrily on the spot, claiming that unless this man left, the negotiations could not proceed. Now the three-party negotiations have been going on intermittently for two months, but there is still no result.
When Zhao Xin was looking at the map, other people around him even lowered their voices for fear of disturbing him. You must know that many of the previous battle plans of the North Navy were formed during the process of looking at the map in silence. Everyone in the staff knew that once Prince Zhao was thinking about someone, he would probably be in bad luck.
However, Xu Funan, as the confidential secretary, was obviously an exception. At this time, he strode to two meters behind Zhao Xin and coughed lightly. Seeing Zhao Xin frowning and turning to look at him, he walked closer and whispered: "The island country has found out that Zhao Pingtai and Katsuyama Denzo have met with people from the Tokugawa shogunate frequently over the past year. Since the beginning of last year By the time he came back a year ago, the two of them had met with people from the shogunate twenty-three times in total, and the Iwasakikan in Gion Kobe, Kyoto, was the place where they met most, as well as Osaka and Nagasaki."
"What specifically did they talk about?!" Although Zhao Xin had already had a premonition, he still didn't want to believe it.
Xu Funan sighed inaudibly, took out a stack of bound booklets from his briefcase and handed them over.
