Physician of the Song Dynasty: Zhang Kai and Li Qingzhao have a private life-long contract

"The imperial court released floods and millions of people were affected!"

As soon as this news came out, everyone's heart trembled. The collapse of the Yellow River's embankments in the past dynasties would have caused huge losses, and this time it also caused losses to millions of people.

Fortunately, the court gave three days' notice of the flood discharge, which allowed many people to move or prepare in advance. Not many people died due to the flood discharge. At the same time, a lot of property and food were also transferred, so that it would not cause a catastrophe in a hurry.

However, what is heartbreaking is that the area from the Yellow River Embankment to Liangshan Bo, which is dozens of miles wide and hundreds of miles long, has become a disaster area, and there are as many as millions of people. All of these require disaster relief, which is a huge burden for the imperial court. .

Moreover, the victims of disasters have nothing and are most likely to cause chaos. Since ancient times, peasant uprisings in the last years of dynasties have mostly resulted in displacement during disaster years, which eventually led to the collapse of an empire.

"Dear dear friends, now that the Yellow River has released floods, I don't know how you will deal with the victims in the flood relief areas." Zhao Xu said loudly in the Chui Gong Hall.

It can be said that the Song Dynasty learned from the experience of previous dynasties and had sufficient experience in dealing with floods, so it immediately discussed disaster relief matters.

Su Song solemnly said: "I would like to inform the officials that the government and the public have prepared three days in advance for this flood discharge, so that a lot of food can be preserved. Coupled with the court's arrangements, there will definitely be no famine."

This flood release was notified three days in advance, which gave the public three days to prepare, and also gave the government three more days, which was enough for the victims to stabilize and avoid hasty chaos.

Fan Zheng also continued: "The doctors have mobilized doctors to go to the disaster area, and doctors from various prefectures along the way have also been mobilized. It is forbidden to drink contaminated water in all disaster areas, and you must drink boiled water to prevent the plague."

Now that the medical family has been unified, with an order from the Imperial Medical Office, the medical family has begun to gather its strength, even three minutes faster than the government. The earliest batch of supporting doctors may have arrived in the disaster area.

"To inform the officials, although the imperial court has already prepared for disaster relief, millions of refugees have emerged. If they are not handled well, trouble may occur. The minister believes that it is necessary to recruit soldiers." Yang Wei, the censor, said solemnly.

"Recruit the troops! I agree with Master Yang's words!"

The officials nodded slightly. The soldiers were a method used by the Song Dynasty to prevent rebellion.

Soldiers in the Song Dynasty needed to be tattooed, which made many people feel humiliated. Many people were unwilling to become soldiers. Whenever there was a famine, the court would recruit young people from the victims in advance to join the army, and those who were physically strong would join the Forbidden Army. Others The slightly worse ones were Xiang soldiers, which not only strengthened the military power of the Song Dynasty, but also directly mobilized the backbone of the victims. The remaining old, weak, sick and disabled were unable to rebel, thus avoiding the occurrence of rebellion.

Nowadays, the flood discharge of the Yellow River has created a huge flood discharge area in the Central Plains, and millions of victims have been born. How can the government and the public not be afraid of it?

Of course, the side troops are not without their drawbacks. Although this method greatly alleviated the peasant uprising, it also caused the Song Dynasty's military expenditure to increase rapidly. Redundant troops and waste were the most troublesome and stubborn problem of the Song Dynasty.

"You can no longer recruit Xiang soldiers. Now the imperial court has finally laid down 100,000 Xiang soldiers. If we recruit Xiang soldiers again, wouldn't it mean that the previous years of efforts of the imperial court have been in vain." Fan Zheng objected.

Many ministers nodded in succession. Xiang soldiers have always been a burden to the imperial court. Now they have finally established a construction corps and abolished one hundred thousand Xiang soldiers, allowing the imperial government to breathe a sigh of relief. If Xiang soldiers are recruited again, wouldn't it mean that the imperial court's efforts will be in vain? flow eastwards.

"The collection of Xiang soldiers is an ancestral system. It can allow the victims to survive, so how can it be abolished just because of some salaries? What's more, the Song Dynasty's improved finances are enough to bear the cost of Xiang soldiers." Yang Wei was conservative in his thinking and moved out of the ancestral system again. .

"Of course, compared to the survival of the victims and the safety of the court, a little money is nothing?"

All the old parties echoed.

Even Fan Chunli nodded slightly. Now that the Song Dynasty had undergone reforms, its finances had greatly improved, and it was enough to bear part of the cost of the troops.

Zhao Xu couldn't help but be moved. After all, Xiang soldiers were an effective method of providing disaster relief and preventing rebellions. Compared with the cost of supplying a group of Xiang soldiers and the damage caused by millions of victims, it was only a drop in the bucket.

"Wei Chen objects." However, Fan Zheng still insisted.

Zhao Xu couldn't help but look at Fan Zheng in confusion.

Fan Zheng explained: "First of all, these victims are not desperate victims who will rise up if they are slightly confused. They were originally people in the flood discharge area, with their own family businesses and fertile land. Nowadays, the imperial court discharges floods in summer when there is sufficient rain. , As long as the Yellow River burst is surrounded, one season of wheat can also be continued in autumn, winter and spring, not to mention that flood discharges only occur once every few years, and other times it will not affect production at all."

All the officials nodded. Most of the summer crops in the flood discharge area were washed away. Others were not seriously affected. Naturally, the people were not willing to give up easily.

"But it is an established fact that millions of people were affected by the disaster, so how should we solve it?" Yang Wei asked rhetorically.

Fan Zheng said loudly: "The imperial court recruits soldiers to reduce the backbone of the victims to prevent rebellion. There is a method that can achieve the same goal but the same effect, and that is to use work instead of relief!"

“Relief for work!”

The officials frowned, not knowing what it meant to work for relief.

Only then did Fan Zheng remember that in this era there was no word for work-for-relief, and he immediately explained: "Fan's idea of ​​work-for-relief was due to the words of his ancestors, who once said: "The years of poverty are poor. , the day was five liters, and the people were summoned to serve, so the relief was completed in one month, and the rice and five thousand stone ears were used. "

All the officials nodded. Fan Xianggong did indeed say this back then.

"The victims need relief, and the court also needs to build water conservancy projects. In this case, why not recruit victims to build water conservancy projects in disaster years. In this way, although the court spends more than 10,000 dans of food for disaster relief, it is much more beneficial than distributing 10,000 dans of food alone in disaster years. , and can also build water conservancy projects for the imperial court."

"Work-for-relief! Wen Zhenggong is a good man!" Zhao Xu exclaimed after taking the case.

Everyone in the New Party couldn't help but twitch their faces. Wang Anshi's reform and Fan Zhongyan's Qingli New Deal were two schools of reform. After Fan Zheng's continuous interpretation, Fan Zhongyan's ideas were now so popular in the court that they vaguely surpassed the momentum of Wang Anshi's reform.

Even Fan Chunli couldn't help but sigh. When it comes to studying the policies of his father Fan Zhongyan, he is very familiar with it. He has even read this sentence many times. However, using work for relief was easily proposed by his son. How could this not be the case? Making him both proud and ashamed.

"Furthermore, providing work-for-relief also mobilizes a large number of young and strong laborers, which can also prevent the occurrence of rebellion." Fan Zheng said proudly.

Su Song was moved in his heart and said: "I would like to inform the officials that the earthen dam in the flood discharge area has been built in a hurry and needs more repairs. The water in Liangshanbo is too strong and needs to be diverted. All of these require a lot of corvee work. If we implement work-for-relief , isn’t it the best of both worlds?”

The idea of ​​​​relief-for-work surprised the entire court. Originally, the court could only continuously distribute food to relieve the victims, but now it has transformed into actively providing relief through work, thus achieving the dual purposes of relieving the hungry and building water conservancy projects.

"According to what Fan Taicheng said, the flood discharge area implements work-for-relief!" Zhao Xu said with a hammer.

Although the recruitment of Xiang soldiers can provide disaster relief, it requires the court to bear the burden of food and grass for a long time. However, using work-for-relief only requires a small amount of food to provide disaster relief and build water conservancy projects. If calculated according to the recruitment method, the court can still Save a fortune.