Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 111 The Wisdom of Song People

Huainan, Suzhou Prefecture.

Zhao Guangmei clasped her hands behind her back and asked the maid behind her to hold a big umbrella for her at all times. Someone else was fanning him all the time. Then she walked through the muddy fields and walked towards a high mountaintop, looking around. This endless flooded field.

"What a beautiful field, it's just flooded. It's such a pity."

On the side, Shen Yilun and Suzhou prefect Chang Qing, who accompanied Zhao Guangmei, lowered their heads in shame.

Shen Yilun said: "My incompetence has prevented the disaster from being alleviated, and the people have starved to death. Your Highness is asked to come here personally to monitor. This is really a crime of death."

"Brother Shen, why should you take the responsibility on yourself? I can't blame you. Wang Pu said something to me before I came out. He said, when has there been no disaster relief in all dynasties? I think he is right. .”

When Shen Yilun heard Zhao Guangmei call him eldest brother, he couldn't help but feel warm in his heart. He was a minister of Zhao Kuangyin. He used to be in charge of the property of Guide Mansion. In other words, he was Zhao Kuangyin's personal accountant. Naturally, he was very familiar with Zhao Guangmei and the others. After all, When Zhao Guangmei was young, he was always asked to ask for pocket money.

Then he smiled bitterly and said: "However, this time I have done more disaster relief than before, there are more moths than before."

"That's also my elder brother's fault. How can I blame you? The reason why I came here this time is to support you. I don't blame you for this matter."

In fact, Zhao Kuangyin did something bad this time with good intentions, or he was still too inexperienced and just did whatever he thought of, without considering the great consequences that good governance could bring.

In the final analysis, it is still the edict: "Open treasury on the spot in the disaster-stricken area and divert military rations for disaster relief. This matter has been established as a rule. If there is another disaster, there is no need to report the opening of the treasury."

Zhao Kuangyin did this completely out of a benevolent heart!

Zhao Guangmei was very angry. In the civil and military dynasties, no one saw the trouble behind this order?Why doesn't anyone say anything?My elder brother doesn’t understand, so don’t you understand either?
They are all people who are just seeking fame and reputation!

Because in this way, it was originally a stop-gap measure to improve efficiency, but it was so expedient that the processes and procedures were incomplete. The most important thing was that the accounts did not match up at all, which invisibly created problems for corrupt officials. The opportunity to make a fortune is too great.

Originally, various armies had empty accounts, false accounts, and even empty pay. How much rations there were in the army, the accounts reported were often full of water, and the reselling of military rations was frequently prohibited. , the food in the account is one hundred thousand dan, but in fact it may only be [-] dan.

At this time, a civilian official came to bring military rations.

Come on, come on, I'll give it to you, watch it, I've got one hundred thousand.

As for auditing accounts, how could the local state capitals in the early Song Dynasty be so strong in front of the border guards?Just turn a blind eye.

Is it easy to manipulate people if they are confused? After all, disaster relief is like putting out fires. If we really have to argue, how much time will it take?How many people will die in the disaster area if so much time is wasted?
So, when people say how much it is, just take it as it is and then send it out.

Each government's treasury and state grain are also in deficit. With such a good opportunity, why not settle the old accounts and wait for the warehouse to be burned down when the accounts are audited in the future?
Since the accounts are all muddled, in the process of disaster relief, the officials, large and small, are simply taking nothing for nothing, and they are greedy for nothing. How many people can resist this temptation?

As an imperial envoy, Shen Yilun wanted to check the accounts and crack down on corrupt officials, but he was surprised to find that there was nothing to investigate.

The army said, we gave all the food to the civilian officials. Look, there is only a little ration left in the army. You have to say something good for us. This new army food must be shipped quickly. Now there is a big disaster. If Li Yu is crazy and calls him, there will be big problems.

Short of food?It must be those civil servants. These corrupt officials are too bad. If they are not killed, the people will not be angry. Sir, tell me who you suspect. I will lead my troops to kill him now.

The civil servants said that when we collected the military rations, the amounts were wrong. The accounts were all fake and shoddy, and some were simply mixed with sand. We were in urgent need of disaster relief and did not check the accounts in detail, but in short , it’s all those gangsters who are stealing military rations. Sir, you have to make the decision for us. I want to report it to the officials and take a good look at it. These border troops are becoming more and more lawless!

Then Shen Yilun found that he could no longer investigate.

His prestige was not enough to directly overwhelm the military and political circles, so this matter could only be passed over in a hazy way.

Both the state government and the army settled their accounts, and more than half of the military rations were missing. However, the court could only hold its nose and admit it. At most, the accounts of the Autumn Queen would be settled, but whether the accounts of the Autumn Queen could be settled clearly by then would only be God knows.

Anyway, the livelihood of the victims is getting worse, and people have begun to starve to death on a large scale. Huainan is still a border area these days, so naturally we don't dare to let them cause chaos. Then, Zhao Guangmei and Wang Pu are here.

"It's such a pity that such good fields are flooded due to floods. Magistrate Chang, how many acres of flooded farmland are there in Suzhou?"

"Your Highness, it's about 20 acres."

"20 acres. If we pay two guan for each acre of land, it would be... 40 acres. Do you think you can buy all the disaster-stricken fields in Suzhou?"

"what?"

"Invite wealthy businessmen and powerful people from all over the country to come to a meeting, especially the landowners who have been hit by the disaster this time. Since the land has been flooded, why not just sell the land to me. If he is not short of money, I can use a commercial bank to set up a For the controlled subsidiaries, let them use the land to invest in the company, and I will give them shares.”

"As for those disaster victims, they can hardly live anymore, so what's the use of guarding the ruined land? I heard that there are people who would rather sell their children than their land? Such people are simply cold-blooded and unworthy of human beings. Parents."

"Tell them that any disaster victims who are willing to sell their land can sign a long-term employment contract with a commercial bank as a long-term worker and work in the commercial bank. The salary... ranges from 50 to 200 cash per day. It depends on what they can do. job ""

"The long-term contract is for ten years. After ten years, if the trading company doesn't want them, they can be fired, but the fertile land bought from them today can be returned. If they don't want to continue signing with the trading company, they can also pay three times the price. Then buy their land back.”

"Humph, cheap land, cheap labor, and in this Huaihe River area with developed water and land transportation and thousands of miles of fertile fields, I'm afraid I won't be able to get rich this time."

"........."

………………

Yangzhou.

Wang Pu was also hosting a banquet for the local squires and grain merchants in Huainan. He held a wine glass high at the banquet and said, "You are all readers of sages. Natural disasters are ruthless and people are devastated. The officials are now worried every day. Even I This old thing has been re-delegated and sent down, and I hope you can support me a lot."

After hearing this, everyone naturally promised their absolute support, especially the so-called local gentry, whose faces almost broke out in laughter.

"Nowadays, food prices in various places are unstable, and it is difficult for the court to directly regulate food, so they simply converted it into money. For this disaster relief, I spent 100 million guan from the Du Branch Organization. I heard that now The price of rice in Huainan has risen to seventy cents per dou? How can the common people still afford it? Once the grain reserves are used up, won’t they have to sell their products and land, and their sons and daughters?”

"Of course, the imperial court will not force you to lose money because of natural disasters. This 100 million gu is the money the imperial court uses to buy food from you, but it is not cash, but... tea cakes worth 100 million gu. I know that everyone He is a person with great supernatural powers. You can come to me to approve a note. This note will be enough to ensure that you can travel unimpeded throughout Huainan and even the entire Song Dynasty. No matter where you go to buy grain, if there are any obstacles from the local government , you can act in my name, and I will definitely make the decision for you."

"You and others, after buying the grain, come to Yangzhou and put it into the warehouse with me. Starting from the place where it is put into the warehouse, you can exchange it for tea at the market price. With this tea bag, you can extract tea leaves in Lianghuai, Guan and other places. What do you think of selling it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone stood up and exclaimed: "Wonderful, wonderful, in this way, not only will the court reduce the loss of collecting grain and transporting grain seeds, but it will also enable merchants and powerful people to spontaneously It’s really wonderful to take action, it’s indescribable.”

Wang Pu also smiled complacently when he heard this. He also thought that the disaster relief system he designed was almost perfect.

There is no end to the killing of corrupt officials, especially when it comes to disaster relief. Those who think they can force officials, big and small, to work honestly and honestly by relying on their abilities, skills, and knives. They think that by killing people, they can deter corrupt officials and achieve political clarity. Most of the people are inexperienced scholars, so this is almost impossible.Corrupt officials will never be killed, and once they are killed, just investigating corrupt officials will consume [-]% of the imperial court's [-]% strength. Can the remaining [-]% strength still be used to relieve the disaster?
Moreover, even if the knife thing is strong enough, it can control the county government and above, but can it control the grassroots level below the county level?How many knives do you need to prepare?How to ensure that the knife is not dull?
The solution given by Wang Pu really contains some of the wisdom of the Northern Song Dynasty.

If money and grain are allocated directly from various state capitals, officials from all over the state capitals will inevitably work together. Especially the losses during transportation will probably be astronomical. Based on Wang Pu’s experience, 100 million shi of grain will be dispatched. When it came out, there were only 50 left when it was shipped to Yangzhou. Even if the politics of the Northern Song Dynasty had been clear since the founding of the People's Republic of China, these officials from various places had a conscience.

Therefore, during this disaster relief, both Zhao Guangmei and Wang Pu unanimously chose to adjust money instead of food. In this way, at least there would be far fewer yamen to deal with, and the losses would naturally be much smaller.

However, Zhao Guangmei directly loaded the copper coins on the ship and sailed directly from Kaifeng to Huainan. In Wang Pu's view, hehe, he was still too young.

He once said, "I bet that if there is more than 100 left of the 90 million of His Highness King Qin's money now, I will lose my life to him, let alone use the money to directly buy food." Oh, this loss, haha, I’m afraid it will cost another 30 to [-] at least, a trading company? I don’t believe it, at the grassroots level, that trading company can be more honest than the officials of the imperial court.”

Isn't he much smarter? He directly changed the money from Duzhisi to Chayin, which is a certificate issued by the court to receive tea. With this Chayin, they can buy tea from tea farmers. No more taxes.

The grain was bought by the merchants themselves, and they transported it here themselves after buying it. At least until he saw such disaster relief grain in Yangzhou with his own eyes, the loss to the court in the whole process was zero.

Don't give those corrupt officials a chance to be corrupt at all.

As for how much loss there will be after the food arrives in Yangzhou and is distributed to the victims...

Then we can only think of another ruthless move.

After the banquet lasted for nearly an hour, Wang Pu sent all these people away, then sat back on the main seat and sighed.

"Everything has gone smoothly since Mr. Xian went to Huainan, so why do you sigh so much?"

Wang Pu glanced at the words and saw that the person speaking was his follower Lu Duan.

He is Lu Yuqing's younger brother, and Lu Yuqing is Zhao Kuangyin's confidant after all, and he is also a bachelor of Duanwen Palace. At the height of his power, he is actually more like a real prime minister than himself, so to put it bluntly, Lu Duan and Duan Wen this time He comes down gold-plated.

Immediately, I had to calm down a little. I pointed at the messy mess of cups and plates on the table and sighed: "This is too much in the year of great disaster."

Lu Duan was also sensible. He brought hot tea over early and said softly: "My lord, why should you worry about this? It is necessary for all dynasties to provide disaster relief. My lord used tea as a bait to let the local powerful merchants take the initiative." Buying and transporting grain has greatly reduced the court's losses. This is true good governance and should be the law for all ages. In comparison, His Highness the King of Qin is inferior."

"Ha ha,"

Wang Pu was not modest either: "This is the experience I have gained as an official for decades. His Highness the King of Qin is indeed smart. However, he was born and raised in Kaifeng, and he is also a noble man. How can he know the hearts of the people in this world after being a general?" What about the dangers and demons? When we finally arrived in Huainan, my original thoughts of fighting with him have faded away, but the situation in Huainan is really not optimistic."

"My husband is worried after the food is shipped to Yangzhou?"

"Yes, that's exactly it. From Yangzhou to the hands of the victims, food must be sifted through layers. The county government and above can still supervise and inspect strictly so that no one dares to be corrupt, at least not too much. But after that, This food is necessary and can only be obtained once from the powerful landlords in the countryside. After this time, how much will be left for the victims? Unfortunately, I have never been able to think of a good way. People are worried.”

The grassroots rule of the Northern Song Dynasty can be said to be poor, worse than the Tang Dynasty, even worse than the later Ming Dynasty, and barely better than the Qing Dynasty. The court did not have the manpower to distribute food at all, and had to rely on the gentry.

That is to give the grain to the squires first, and then let the squires sell the grain to the victims of the disaster at super low prices or even for free.

To put it bluntly, other aspects of the entire disaster relief process are controllable, but for the squire, it really depends on their conscience, and supervision cannot be implemented at all.

According to the laws of economics, ruthless gentry will inevitably accumulate capital faster. In the end, conscientious gentry will gradually be swallowed up by heartless gentry. Therefore, the vast majority of tycoons in the world are heartless.

When Lu Duan heard this, he looked like he was hesitant to speak.

"What do you want to say? Do you have an idea?"

"My lord, I think... to save the people first, save the officials first, and to relieve the poor first, the gentry. All the officials and the gentry suffered losses due to the disaster. If the court cannot make up for it, how can the court's kindness be given to the poor people in the head of Guizhou?"

When Wang Pu heard this, he smiled and nodded and said: "The words are rough but the reasoning is rough. This has been the case in all dynasties. When the upper mouth is full, the remaining finances go into the lower belly. But specifically, what do you think? Woolen cloth?"

The villain thought that maybe he could lend money.

"Money lending?"

"We will provide money and food to the victims, but we require the victims to pay it back after the harvest next autumn, and a little interest will be added. Only in this way can the money really fall into the hands of the victims."

Wang Pu frowned and said: "What kind of statement is this? Will the victims still be able to afford it next year? Besides, isn't this unfair to the officials?"

Lu Duanze said: "If this food is given directly to people, and it passes through the powerful hands of the landlords, it is hard to say how much will be left. At least they will have to be tricked into selling their land, or even their children." , only then can you give away a little food, and this has been the case in all dynasties."

"But what if the grain is not given away, but borrowed? What if there is interest on the grain? As for the interest and even the principal that will not be repaid in the end, there should be a lot of flexibility."

Wang Pu suddenly realized: "I understand, this matter can actually be played as a double act with the officials. I will give it to the officials and persuade them to lend food to the people. If your brother objects to it, he will talk about the disaster victims." If you are poor, you may not be able to repay it in the coming year. The officials only need to refute your brother and say that the people of the Song Dynasty are his subjects. If parents lend money and food to their children, even if they don't repay it, why not?"

Lu Duan smiled and said: "My lord, Meiji, if this is the case, it is hard to say whether we need to pay back this food next year, and how much we need to pay back. With the benevolence of officials, it is appropriate to reduce all the food." , However, in this case, local powerful people will not dare to withhold the relief grains at will, because it is not necessary. As for these grains falling into the hands of the victims, whether the food will be returned next year or not, haha, regardless of whether the court wants it or not, the local petty officials and powerful people, Can you still refuse to accept it?”

"In other words, there is actually not much benefit for them to withhold the grain themselves. If the court does not grant relief next year, they will have to pay back the grain and interest. On the contrary, if the grain is loaned out through their hands, next year At that time, the court had reduced or even waived the principal and interest. If they took back the money and food from the victims with interest and kept it in their own hands, wouldn't it be much safer than engaging in corruption at this time? Even if they want to Take the opportunity to annex land and do it slowly next year. It will be less risky and have a better reputation than doing it this year at the critical moment of the disaster."

Wang Pu frowned and said: "But if this happens, the pressure on these victims next year will probably be great. I am afraid that most of them will have their families broken up and their families destroyed."

Lu Duan said: "But in this case, for the court, the money and food released this time may be able to get back a little bit next year. For the powerful, as long as the food is passed through, they can be safe next year." To make a fortune without taking desperate risks. For the disaster victims, although they will be burdened with huge debts next year, they can at least survive this year. Moreover, things will get better if things go slowly. This huge debt has lengthened the period, and they may not be able to survive in one year. If they can't afford it, let's take a step back and give them one year to sell their houses and land, at least at a relatively fair price. This strategy will be beneficial to the court, the victims, and the powerful landlords."

The wrinkles on Wang Pu's forehead were enough to pinch mosquitoes. He turned to look at Lu Duan haggardly and said sarcastically: "You can recommend this strategy. I can see that you are such a ruthless person. You are truly worthy of being a member of the Lu family." The child has the legacy of your grandfather."

Lu Duan's expression changed greatly when he heard this. This Wang Pu was simply calling people names. Lu Duan's grandfather Lu Yan has indeed been mentioned again by the court recently, because he once set up a slaughterhouse in Cangzhou and was responsible for it. Capture the people in the city and kill them to get meat for the army.In the past two years in the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Chuyun and Wang Jixun's cannibalism had made a big fuss, so this matter was naturally brought up again.

The Lu family is a family of civil servants, and this kind of thing is much more deadly to them than a martial artist. His brother Lu Yuqing can't even hold his head high when he goes to court now, and even wants to resign on his own initiative many times. This is thanks to his early marriage with Zhao Kuangyin. He has a personal relationship and can be regarded as a confidant, so he has to stay with him, otherwise the half-phase position that he finally got through might be lost inexplicably.

At this time, Wang Pu mentioned this for no reason. Lu Duan was naturally furious and was about to talk back. However, looking at Wang Pu's strange facial expression that looked like a smile but not a smile, he took a deep breath and thought about it. The words he wanted to talk back to were swallowed again.

"The villain just said it casually, and it was a joke. It is natural that it is decided by Mr. Wang whether to use it or not. I'm going to retire, villain."

After saying that, Lu Duan bowed respectfully, stepped back, then turned around and cursed angrily in a low voice: "Old bastard, you still want to trap me."

Wang Pu also let out a long sigh and muttered: "The little fox is really a thief."

(End of this chapter)