The days passed like this day by day, time flew by, and the years passed by.
Winter turns to spring, and in a blink of an eye it’s the second year.
This year, a major event happened. First, most areas in the north had not seen a drop of rain for several months since the beginning of spring. The earth was cracked and the rivers dried up. Then, the middle reaches of the Yellow River overflowed with floods, inundating countless farmland, sweeping away houses, and causing mourning everywhere. .
The ensuing floods and droughts shook the war-torn Central Plains once again.
The disaster-stricken area includes the two countries of Qin and Ling.
Regarding this matter, both Xiao Yuan and King Ling took it as their top priority, opening up the treasury and sending important ministers to provide disaster relief and help the people.
In the court, Prime Minister Liu Yuzhi was very worried. He went out and said: "The degree of drought in the northern region is not trivial. Many local governments have reported that there are people dying of hunger all over the land and the treasury is not able to support it."
"In terms of disaster relief, I believe that the affected area should be quickly controlled to avoid a mass exodus. Once this happens, the situation will become increasingly uncontrollable."
"Therefore, Your Majesty should order the officials in various places to take charge of it."
To put it bluntly, his point of view is that local officials should quickly control the disaster within their jurisdiction, manage their own jurisdictions, and not allow the victims to flee, because once this happens, millions of people will be displaced. If the whole country is in turmoil, disaster relief will be beyond our capabilities. Even after the disaster passes, the local area will be in a mess and it will be difficult to resume production.
He emphasized that local disasters require nationwide support and local solutions.
This proposal was approved by Xiao Yuan on the spot, and then Liu Yu wrote "A Brief Discussion on Disaster Relief Measures".
The first lies in the theoretical foundation of the idea of valuing the people, the second lies in the practical need for long-term stability of the country, the third lies in mobilizing the enthusiasm of the people, and the fourth lies in the emphasis on economic means.
This is not a summary. This document is thirteen chapters long, clearly organized, and covers everything.
In short, its main measures are:
Relief provides food, grass and daily necessities to the disaster-stricken areas free of charge to help the victims overcome this temporary living difficulty.
Relief means mobilizing the economy during the initial stabilization of the disaster, bringing grain and rice into the disaster area and selling them at low prices. This section is related to grain merchants. In other words, no matter how much grain the country allocates, it will be eaten up and it can only solve part of the situation. This is a necessary step to completely restore production.
Exemption from taxes and corvee in disaster areas.
Relief for work, such as building embankments, building roads, building schools, dredging rivers, etc., and allowing victims to participate in the construction. To put it simply, it allows them to have a job to support their families, instead of just waiting for relief food. While the disaster situation is stabilizing, , also created engineering construction.
This is a very complete support program.
After Xiao Yuan read it carefully, the court praised Liu Yuzhi highly. Having such a prime minister was actually a blessing to the country and the people.
At the end of the disaster relief agreement, Liu Yuzhi was asked to personally take charge.
A prime minister is actually very busy with political affairs. From this, it can be seen how seriously Xiao Yuan attaches importance to the disaster.
After receiving the order, Liu Yuzhi did not dare to delay, put down what he was doing, and rushed to the hardest-hit area, Suyang, as soon as possible.
Suyang Naijun, which originally belonged to the Liang Kingdom and governed nine counties, was not a small place.
Upon learning that the prime minister had arrived, Suyang County Governor Gu Zhengfeng immediately panicked and quickly led the county officials to greet him.
The two sides met and after the salute, Liu Yuzhi couldn't help but said with a smile in order to stabilize the Suyang official's mentality: "Master Gu, your name Zhengfeng is not chosen well."
"Oh, Mr. Xiangguo is making fun of me." Gu Zhengfeng laughed quickly.
Sure enough, this joke made all the officials feel better. Before, they were full of worries, like ants on a hot pot.
"You are all officials of the imperial court. At this time of crisis, you all work together to overcome difficulties and work hard for state affairs. Thank you for your hard work." As the prime minister, Liu Yuzhi first praised them and then said: "Because the matter is of great importance, we must welcome it." , all banquet preparations should be cancelled, and we will discuss matters in the hall."
"Ah? Yes, yes, Prime Minister, please come here." Gu Zhengfeng quickly reached out sideways.
When a group of officials entered the hall, Liu Yuzhi was naturally located directly above, and the officials below also began to report on the situation in each county one by one.
Now that the Prime Minister is here, no one dares to play tricks on the disaster even if they don't care about their lives, so the reports are all facts.
Throughout Suyang, almost all the ponds in the counties have dried up, and no farmland is irrigated. In addition, the people here are not rich and there is not much food left, so many people have begun to pull weeds for food.
After understanding all the situation, Liu Yuzhi couldn't help but frowned and said: "Under the king's order for this drought, the imperial court has allocated 40 million taels of silver and 730,000 shi of grain and grass, which can be shared among various places to solve all problems." The problem is, surviving this drought season and the lean period will be a drop in the bucket.”
"Yes, Prime Minister." Gu Zhengfeng immediately agreed: "The whole county is affected by the disaster, and the money and food relief will be used up sooner or later. This is a bottomless pit."
"Well..." Liu Yuzhi pondered for a moment, then changed the topic: "There should be many grain merchants in the county. How is the price of grain in Suyang now?"
Gu Zhengfeng said: "Since the drought, many businessmen have tried to make profits and make money from the country's hard-earned wealth. They have driven up food prices several times, but they have been suppressed by the government."
Logically speaking, this is the right thing to do, but Liu Yuzhi said: "Stop suppressing. On the contrary, you will release the news tomorrow and say that prices in Suyang have soared and food prices have remained high."
"Ah?" Gu Zhengfeng was puzzled and stammered: "Prime Minister... Mr. Prime Minister, I am the official, did you hear me correctly?"
Liu Yuzhi smiled and said: "Mr. Gu, do you know that after learning that the drought in the north is serious, many big businessmen have begun to hoard supplies and grain in order to make a fortune. If they are not selling, they are waiting for the price to rise. Now, you Give them a chance."
"Just like you said, businessmen are looking for profit. Seeing the sky-high price of food in Suyang, there is no reason not to transport food."
"Yes, but once this happens, prices will skyrocket and it will be difficult to balance." Gu Zhengfeng said worriedly.
"Don't worry, things are expensive because of their scarcity. Once something becomes widespread, it will be worthless." Liu Yuzhi said calmly: "Besides, official grain is the standard for balancing commodity prices."
Gu Zhengfeng took a deep breath and said repeatedly: "I understand, I understand, I will execute it now."
When it comes to disaster relief, the first thing to do is to open warehouses and release grain, but this can only be used for emergency purposes. If the number of victims is small, it can be solved perfectly. If the disaster area is large, it will be very passive.
Because the food allocated is not inexhaustible, it will be eaten sooner or later.
Liu Yuzhi deliberately drove up prices in order to mobilize business in other areas, and then used porridge to prevent the victims from going hungry every day. He set up backup fortifications and made Suyang the first area to implement disaster relief policies.
