During the treatment of the victims, Gao Jingshi and Zhang Yiyuan convened a meeting. Gao Jingshi said first: "According to reports from various governments, states, and counties, more than 13,000 patients have been treated. Mr. Yang told the cabinet that after a long illness, Its spirit will be damaged, just like a tree replanted, its roots will be damaged. If you want to restore the vitality and complete the spirit, it cannot be done overnight. You must rest and recuperate for several years before it can return to its original state.
The Ministry of Cabinet and the Fu Army have already written a written report on this, asking the Emperor to show mercy and be kind to Henan. You must also keep this in mind. From now on, you should use the people's power carefully to live with the people. "
Zhang Yiyuan, the governor of Henan Province, went on to say: "Previously, in order to please local wealthy households or accept bribes, some state and county officials reported intact mature fields as disaster fields to apply for aid without authorization, robbing the victims of relief money and food; or withheld relief money and exploited the victims. The poor love the rich, and all the official reserves are given to the wanderers in the market and the owners of wealthy families. However, the victims of the disaster in the countryside have not seen a grain of rice all day long.
I have asked the Cabinet for instructions on this, and the Cabinet has already said that these people's crimes are unpardonable! All these people have been identified one by one and have been punished on the spot. I hope you will strictly instruct the officials to take this as a warning and not to hit this knife edge and leave their infamy for eternity. "
As soon as Zhang Yiyuan said this, the entire audience fell silent, and everyone looked at Gao Pragmatic with awe in their eyes. "Rectifying the law on the spot" is no joke. Some time ago, Gao Pragmatic killed twenty-seven officials. I wonder how many officials and staff were killed this time?
Considering that the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty have always been "noble", even the emperor usually did not dare to take their lives at any time. On the other hand, Gao Ge Lao, Gao Jinglue and Gao Houye obviously did not take this kind of consideration and would kill whenever they wanted. Who could this be? Are you afraid? The key is that you don’t dare to resist, or even dare to impeach someone easily.
It is said that great chaos should be treated with heavy laws, and all dynasties have clearly been politically correct about the issue of disaster victims. At this time and on this issue, impeachment and pragmatic killings are almost self-inflicted. No one is stupid enough to do this. situation.
Gao pragmatic looked around the audience and said coldly: "People have desires, and they forget their loyalty when they see benefits. The imperial court allocated millions of silver and rice grains to relieve the people of Zhongzhou, but some local officials coveted it and wanted to get their hands on it.
Some of these people secretly exchange for low-quality silver, some mix sand with rice and wheat, or some make fake and smuggled goods. There are all kinds of tricks. How can such layers of corruption be able to rectify the disaster! The legal net is tight, but he still does not hesitate to take risks. It is hateful and sad.
Once again, I would like to advise you all not to lose big for small things. You must know that managing officials in this cabinet is like running an army. More than hundreds of thousands of souls have been killed by the sword, but you are not afraid of hundreds more heads decorating the gate of the imperial palace. "
When the officials thought of the long list of withered heads at the gate of the camp, many of whom were old acquaintances and even old friends, they shuddered involuntarily and bowed to take orders tremblingly.
Zhang Yiyuan saw that Mr. Gaoge had already shocked all the officials, so he took up the topic and continued: "Next, we need to prepare for the redemption of his wife and children, the resumption of work for the refugees, etc. This time in Zhongzhou, there is a catastrophic problem of killing people and eating flesh, and the close relatives cannot protect each other. In order to survive, many people had to sell others at low prices and send their wives and daughters to a foreign land. This was not Shao En, but it was really helpless.
Now that the disaster situation is gradually stabilizing, Yousi immediately carries out the redemption, checks the details of the transaction, invests money to redeem his children to return his father, his younger siblings to return his brother, and his wife to return her husband. The states and counties must report the truth and return it without any mistakes.
Regarding this matter, Mr. Gao Ge has already set an example and unconditionally dismissed all those who had sold themselves to Xinzheng Gaofu since the disaster and allowed them to leave on their own. Among them, there were 764 males, 1,139 females, 423 children and males, and 231 elderly persons.
Among these people, those who voluntarily stayed in Gaofu because they had no family property and all their relatives were dead have all been registered with the county government. A total of 146 men, 397 women, 208 children, and 153 elderly people. The rest have been repatriated. Their food and beverage expenses while staying in Gaofu, etc. They are all taken care of by the government themselves, without taking any cents, and each person is given a certain amount of severance expenses.
In addition, let’s talk about the province’s aftermath plan: the dead must be buried in various towns and their bones must be buried in the ground, and the corpses must not be allowed to explode in the wilderness. This will stabilize the people’s hearts. Whenever a corpse is covered, three cents of silver will be given to workers and food, and two cents of silver will be given to the mats. The free graves in each township will follow suit, and there must be no mistake. "
This matter was mainly the work of the Chief Secretary, so the Chief Envoy came forward to take the order on behalf of the Chief Secretary. As for Gaofu's example, although everyone feels a little sad for some reason and wonders if they all need to follow suit, they are also somewhat grateful.
In fact, everyone has always seen Gao Pragmatic’s own practices and really has nothing to say. When he reformed tax collection, he taxed his own family first, and when he demobilized refugees, he also deported his own refugees first. No one dared to question his role as an example. The officials couldn't help but think that if he dared to kill people like this, the prerequisite was that he was impeccable, right?
However, Gao Pragmatic was too lazy to boast, and instead continued to talk about business, saying: "After the famine, some people are still alive, and the common people are ignorant, and they often complain about their small anger, but the officials often cannot persuade them to stop. If the case is accepted, after deliberation, a family may be taken away. A few months' worth of food may mean that one person cannot eat for several days, or several families may die.
At present, disaster relief is the only urgent task and cannot be easily distracted. Therefore, all prefectures and counties should be ordered to stop ordinary litigation according to the old practice. Except for those involved in great rebellion and rebellion, they must be tried quickly, but they must not sit together. The rest must be tried first. Put it aside for later discussion.
Some of the victims were captured because they were forced to take risks because of their livelihood. Their crimes were justified and their circumstances were pitiful. Those who were not involved in murder or injured or maimed would be released with a little training.
At the same time, those who are released need to keep their records on record for one year to observe the consequences. If no further crimes are committed, the record will be cleared; those who continue to commit crimes will be punished concurrently. "
This matter belongs to the judicial level, so the prosecutor and prosecutor came forward to receive the order.
After receiving the order, the inspector had something to say. He raised his hand and asked: "As the minister said, in years of famine, there were also many victims who became bandits. Some of them were just helpless and always looked forward to returning home to atone for their sins. Others They took the opportunity to gather the victims, roaring in the mountains and forests, haunting the valleys, and robbing homes and houses, which was very rampant.
At present, these people have constituted an obstacle to the disaster relief work. I don't know whether the government will exterminate these bandits or appease them. I would like to ask the cabinet minister to give instructions on this, or lower officials to deal with it. "
This is a good question. Gao Pragmatic nodded in approval, and then said: "After all, it is forced by hunger and cold. This cabinet department is willing to go to each village to talk to the leader to let him know the actual situation of the current disaster relief. If it can be disbanded immediately, They can also contribute to disaster relief. If they persist, they will be destroyed immediately."
The inspector was surprised and said: "The cabinet minister wants to go and talk to these thieves in person? It is absolutely impossible. The cabinet minister is not only a minister of the imperial court, but also an honorable prince. How can a body worth thousands of dollars be easily involved in danger?"
Gao pragmatic calmly waved his hand and said: "I will bring some servants to prevent Xiaoxiao from doing anything wrong. Besides, in Zhongzhou, I am not afraid of anyone being so bold."
When the officials heard this, they thought this was true. The Gao family's servants are not on the same level as the Henan army. This can be seen from the fact that after the disaster, gangsters from all over the country did not dare to enter Xinzheng, so that the Gao family took in particularly many refugees - refugees all went to Xinzheng. Xinzheng ran.
Secondly, the reputation of the Gao family in Henan Province is really good. Even the most vicious gangsters are very respectful to the Xinzheng Gao family. It is almost never heard of any gangsters taking the initiative to cause trouble for the Gao family's properties and caravans. This is already the case under the banner of the Gao family. If Gao Pragmatic is willing to take action in person, not to mention which gangster dares to risk the world's disapproval and has any intentions against him, maybe they will cry bitterly and beg Mr. Gao Ge for forgiveness.
Sure enough, Gao Pingshi later led only 800 servants and personally advised him to abandon evil and do good from Kaifeng to Runing, Nanyang and other places. Along the way, he easily persuaded sixteen mountain strongholds and two water strongholds, and no one dared to do anything to him. For any disrespect, without exception, the leader of the village will personally lead the entire village to greet him and confess his guilt.
Some of them seemed to have read for a few days, and they acted like asking for forgiveness. Gao Pragmatic also implemented the strategy of combining leniency with severity. On the one hand, he comforted them and ignored minor crimes; on the other hand, he asked them to report serious crimes and punished them with reduced sentences but not without penalty.
In short, wherever Gao Pragmatic went on his exhortation tour across the province, the bandits from all over the country were not only welcomed by the gangs, but they were almost resigned to the wind.
When the news came out, not only the officials in Henan were shocked when they heard it, but even when the emperor got the news in Beijing, he couldn't help but be filled with emotion. He issued a special edict, praising Gao Pragmatically, and then gave it to Chen Han, saying: "For Government based on virtue is like Beichen."
These eight characters come from "The Analects of Confucius". The original words are "Government is based on virtue, such as Beichen, who lives in his place and all the stars (arch) together." Originally, it was mostly used by ministers to praise the emperor, but occasionally it can also be used to describe the leader. auxiliary.
The problem is that Gao Pragmatic is not the chief assistant. He is just the most junior and lowest-ranking group assistant in the current cabinet. The emperor wrote this sentence to Chen Han and gave it to him. Naturally, people can't help but have various associations with its meaning.
Getting back to the topic, before Gao Pingshi went out on patrol to exhort, he first announced to the whole province: "The Holy Emperor is extremely sad for you, restless in sleep and food, and sighing in sorrow all night long. He has specially ordered this pavilion to come here to rescue you in various ways.
All common people have consciences, but they are forced by hunger and cold and feel helpless. It is appropriate for you to tell the story that the Holy Emperor has great compassion and sends officials to provide relief. How can we, the common people, support us? There will be those who shed tears and burn incense to consecrate the Son of Heaven. Moreover, if you have heard of the method of loosening silver in the porridge factory, you will have to wait until the wheat is ripe.
If you are dismissed immediately, you will be good citizens. If you persist in your stubbornness, you will have your own laws. How can you regret it? Today, when you turn misfortunes into blessings, the place of enlightenment will be the land of paradise, and the place of confusion will be hell. Once you are confused and finally enlightened, you will turn hell into a paradise. You must think of your grandfather first and your descendants second, to protect your life and not to regret it later. "
Officially after this, Gao Pragmatic came forward to teach in person, and bandits and bandits from all over the country all realized their fear and put down their weapons one after another and returned to their homeland.
In this way, through measures such as medical treatment of epidemics, redemption of children, burial of bones, and ban on theft and lawsuits, the disaster situation in Henan has become increasingly stable. Every time Gao pragmatically visited the porridge factory, the refugees were still crying day and night even though they received relief. Some of the refugees cried to Gao pragmatically and complained that they had left their hometowns and begged for food. Although they received relief, they were willing to return home, but they were penniless and worried about the journey. Starving to death, he had no choice but to continue living outside and occupy a porridge factory.
From this, Gao Pragmatic learned that the victims in various places were eager to return home, but they did not have travel expenses, so the government began to check the refugees and help them return home, subsidizing the travel expenses according to the distance. A company issued a seal, indicating the place of origin, and the prefectures and counties they visited were given three cents of silver. After returning home, they received relief money according to the ticket and resumed their old business. A total of 23,000 refugees were returned.
Gao Pragmatic and the Chief Envoy visited various states and counties and found that although relief was provided promptly and some of the refugees resumed their businesses, there was a severe lack of farming tools, leaving the fields desolate, so he asked the Chief Envoy if he had any suggestions for how to deal with the problem.
The chief envoy said: "According to the usual practice, after a disaster, the government borrows two cows from every ten households, provides seeds, inspects the farmland for farming, and waives the grain gap for five years. But now the cows are really insufficient. If the government wants to buy them, Damn, the expenses are really too high.
In years of famine, many cattle were slaughtered by the hungry people, making it difficult to ration them accordingly. We can only strictly survey the barren land, measure the seeds, and allocate cattle according to the size of the fields. "
Gao Pragmatic said: "This method is very good and can solve this problem. For example, if there are a hundred cattle in a county, and they earn interest for several decades, they can get a thousand cattle. In order to avoid the private killing of farm cattle again, the government needs to register every year, and it will last forever. Among the people. The people will grow and multiply, so that people will have tools for farming, and every household will have a field to cultivate."
The chief envoy replied: "Just like this, farming can be gradually resumed in various places, and the disaster will be restored soon." So the government implemented this, so that the farmers who were living in poverty could temporarily resume cultivating their fields.
However, even so, because the total number of cattle is limited, the young cattle will not be born and grow up all at once. Therefore, some people are still unable to resume farming immediately and become idlers without food and clothing. Therefore, the government began to implement work-for-relief.
Under highly pragmatic arrangements, projects such as rebuilding academies, rebuilding towns, dredging rivers, and building dams were carried out throughout Henan. These projects are based on labor and people are recruited, and each person can get three liters of grain per day, which can not only rebuild after the disaster, but also ensure the livelihood of the people, benefiting both public and private interests.
One day, Gao Pragmatic and the chief envoy were leading an inspection in Yucheng County. When the local folks heard that the visitor was Gao Nanning, a Buddhist monk in thousands of families, they all came forward to say hello and warmly invited him to taste mulberry trees.
Gao pragmatically took it and ate it without any pretense. Then he talked to them with a smile and asked: "Since there are mulberries here, we can grow mulberries. If there are mulberries, we can produce some silk. Why can't I see any mulberry trees along the way?" And what about silk?"
The local villager replied: "We rarely plant mulberry trees here, and people who raise silkworms only sell cocoons instead of spinning silk."
Gao pragmatically asked: "Fellow fellow, do you know what kind of uses this silk can be used for? Do you know how much silver it can be sold for?"
The fellow replied: "I don't know much, I only heard that this silk can be used to weave silk, and it is a very expensive cloth. But we in the countryside have never seen it. I wonder what the master means?"
Gao Pragmatic asked again: "My fellow villagers know a lot, so why is there no spinning and takeaway in the village?"
The fellow said: "On weekdays, the villagers are busy farming and doing small business. How can they have time to plant mulberry and raise silkworms?"
The chief envoy couldn't help but asked: "Is Yucheng County just distributing relief grains all the time?" The fellow said so.
After bidding farewell to the local villagers, Gao pragmatically said to the chief envoy: "Some county officials and local people are still focusing on saving food for disaster relief and are not eager to resume production. Jia Yi once said that if the holy king is on top and the people are cold and cold, it is very Being able to plow and eat them, and weave and clothe them is the way to develop their resources.
The officials of various states and counties are ordered to take active actions when inspecting farming. A variety of cash crops can be considered in vacant wasteland. For example, if there is open space, a hundred mulberry trees can be planted in one acre, and a thousand mulberry trees can be planted in ten acres.
If there are more mulberry trees, there will be more silkworms. If there are more silkworms, there will be more silk. If there are more silks, there will be more benefits. As for the planting of grains, dates, pears, persimmons, chestnuts, etc. can also be planted, so that no effort should be spared and no profit should be left on the land. All kinds of wealth come from diligence and wisdom. "
The chief envoy cupped his hands and said: "What the cabinet minister said is absolutely true. Food is the first priority for the people, and relief is needed because of famine. But if farming is abandoned because of relief, the famine will continue."
Gao Pragmatic asked the chief envoy to order the governors of various states and counties to go deep into rural fields to guide agricultural production. In addition to planting wheat, beans, millet, and paddy, they also needed to plant mulberry trees or fruit trees in suitable soil to enrich agricultural products for production and sale.
At the same time, Gao pragmatic found that officials in the Ming Dynasty generally had no initiative to guide economic production, and may not even have such awareness at all. This made him feel that it was necessary to find ways to improve the officials' ability and enthusiasm in economic work.
He thought for a while and realized that the Ministry of Revenue might take the lead in training, and the Ministry of Personnel should take the lead in including this in the assessment, so that it could be implemented smoothly.
----------
Thanks to the book friends for the "first login" reward support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Yue Xiaoyao", "First Login", "Cao Mianzi", and "Yun Fuyueyu" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
