Dad, we are so stable, should we do something?

In the county government office, Magistrate Tian was still busy with his official duties.

"Chief clerk, is the money and grain loaned to the people now sufficient to support them until the late rice harvest?" asked County Magistrate Tian.

"It's far from enough. Although the damage caused by this flood is not as serious as before, the fields are still destroyed. Many families' stored grain has been soaked in water and sprouted and cannot be eaten. The situations reported by villages everywhere are very serious. Our reserves for disaster relief are simply insufficient, and the grain stores in town don't have enough stock to support them for too long." The chief clerk said with a worried look on his face.

"Those wealthy businessmen stopped distributing porridge a few days ago."

"Yes, they don't have much food stored. Every time they distribute porridge, the people will complain, so they stop early."

"I'll think of a way to deal with the food issue. The county needs people to repair the city walls and dams. Let the disaster victims sign up. If they want a lower wage, our county government will pay for them to work and provide them with a meal."

"Yes, sir. Then how are you going to solve the problem of food?" the chief clerk asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about this. Just do what I say."

"By the way, County Wei, how is the public security in the city recently?" County Magistrate Tian turned around and asked County Wei.

"There have been a lot more thieves and robbers recently, most of them are refugees this time. Some are from our county, and some are from other counties. Now there are more and more beggars in the city." The county guard replied uneasily.

"Take those young and strong men to build roads and city walls, and give them one meal a day, so they don't waste food in jail." Tian County Magistrate said angrily. "By the way, there are many temples in our county, and we usually receive a lot of incense from the people. Let them donate money and food to recruit refugees in the county to build temples for them, so that they can last longer and be better."

"Yes, sir." The chief clerk replied.

After the government office made all the arrangements, Magistrate Tian came home from work very late, and saw Tian Yuheng waiting for him. "Heng'er, what are you waiting for your father to do?"

"Dad, I want to hold a dragon boat race to give a good start and let the people participate. Last time my son and the people from the academy participated in the dragon boat race, I heard that many people took advantage of it to bet and made a lot of money. Why don't the county government take the lead in setting up gambling games and increase the betting amount so that only wealthy businessmen can afford to bet? As for the dragon boats, we can find someone to build a small one so that ordinary people can also participate. We will pay for their training and provide them with food and money during the period. What do you think?"

"Hahaha, son, this is a good idea. Dad was still worried about the expenses of this county. Now, our county government will also have income to provide disaster relief." After hearing his son's plan, County Magistrate Tian laughed happily. This was probably the happiest thing for him today.

The next day, after reporting for duty, I asked someone to do the job.

"Sir, I have something to ask. A master from the capital who runs a teahouse in our county plans to rent two streets from us. He says he wants to make a food court. Do you want to approve this? We have never rented a street before. The price they offered is very high, 100 taels of silver per month for one street." Not long after, the chief clerk came to see County Magistrate Tian.

"It's only 200 taels a month, not high. Where are they going to rent?" asked County Magistrate Tian.

"These are the two streets." The chief clerk took out a street map and showed it to Magistrate Tian.

"How long do they want to rent it? Can they pay all the money at once?" County Magistrate Tian thought that if the other party rented it for a few more years, he would have a lot of money to support the disaster.

"It should be at least 5 years. I'll ask then."

"Let's rent it to them and ask them to pay for a longer period at one time. Our county needs money everywhere now." County Magistrate Tian finally agreed.

Soon in the afternoon, the chief clerk reached an agreement with the other party, and the food street began to recruit workers and build it the next day. The county government sent people to mark the area, separate pedestrians, and set up checkpoints at the two entrances and exits of the two streets. The sign read: Food Street, pedestrians only, no carriages allowed.

"What is the purpose of this food street? Nowadays, every household has no surplus food, so who would want to eat delicious food? Which boss is stupid?" The people around began to discuss.

"Who knows? But he's hiring workers here. There's money and food to eat. This is good. Who cares if he has business or not?"

"Yeah, does it say where to sign up?"

"It seems to be in the teahouse in front of the building. It's open today. Well, I won't say more. I'll go over and take a look first." With that, the person who read the notice ran away.

Those who can do carpentry work at home have all left and are preparing to take their families to sign up. Most people are still watching, and some are also going to the teahouse in front to join in the fun. There are many idle people in the city now.