New Shun 1730

Wendeng Prefecture Governor Bai Yunhang's eyes were red and his mouth was covered with blisters.

As soon as he saw Liu Yu, he immediately bowed deeply.

Seeing that there were no other people around, Kang Budai, a familiar confidant, handed over a heavy brocade bag in his hand.

"Sir Liu, there are 100 taels of gold in it. It's not a bribe to you, but just to express my gratitude to you."

Liu Yu weighed the gold and thought that 100 taels was really too little. Human favors are priceless, so why do you need these 100 taels of gold?

He threw the gold back to Bai Yunhang and said with a smile: "I don't accept invitations and gifts, I said it before. And I also said that this amount of gold is too little. If it is a hundred times more, I will definitely accept it."

"Hehehe... Your Excellency is joking."

After laughing awkwardly, Liu Yu said: "I have made it clear about this matter. For you, Your Excellency Bai, it is to protect your future. For me, I want next year's grain, 15 catties per mu of land, and send people to each village to collect goods. Is this not too much?"

"Not too much, not too much! If it can really save the people of a state, and Your Excellency personally sends people to collect without additional dispatches and no clerks to collect more, I think everyone will be happy to collect 15 catties per mu."

This is the truth.

When the disaster year arrived this year, Liu Yu went to see Bai Yunhang and talked about disaster relief.

There are too many places that Liu Yu cannot control, but he doesn't want Wendeng to be in chaos. In the future, Wendeng will still be needed to provide food, clothing, housing and transportation here.

In the future, Weihai will gather 20,000 to 30,000 people, some of whom will eat the imperial grain, and the other part will run some shipyards, arsenals and the like. Wendeng must ensure that these people can be fed and used.

At that time, he told Bai Yunhang three things.

The first thing is the oxen.

When the famine comes, the oxen will die first.

When people are hungry, they must survive first. Everyone knows that if there are no oxen to farm next year, it will be a hundred times harder, and a cow will cost more than ten taels of silver. This will take several families to save for a long time. However, when they are extremely hungry, who will think about what will happen a year later?

So Liu Yu directly borrowed 14,000 dan of grain from Bai Yunhang, and at the price of one cow for seven dan of grain, first took the cows that had no grain in the family but had a oxen in three or five households, and took them as official property.

Issued invoices as proof, and waited until the disaster year was over, and then let the original owner redeem the cow. The loss during this period was of course borne by the original owner.

The grain for feeding was provided by the Changping warehouse, or Bai Yunhang recruited people to serve labor to cut wheat straw. Liu Yu didn't care.

And he told Bai Yunhang clearly that if the whole Jiaodong was affected by the disaster, but only Wendengzhou handled it well, not only did not flee on a large scale, but also retained hundreds of oxen, then could this governor be in office for a long time?

I'm afraid he will have to go to Beijing to work as a Beijing official for a few years.

The second thing is that Changping Warehouse can only manage prefectures and counties, not villages. Not to mention whether the villagers can buy at a fair price, who can run dozens of miles to the city to buy food for the day? How to eat? What about the elderly and children at home?

So Liu Yu paid a sum of money and food, Bai Yunhang recruited some people who had no food to eat and were ready to flee and beg for food, and then recruited a group of laborers to transport food.

As long as you dare to gamble, before the imperial court's order to open the warehouse for relief comes down, the 20,000 shi of grain in Changping Warehouse and the 70,000 shi of grain lent by Liu Yu will be distributed to several counties and large villages under the jurisdiction of Wendengzhou.

This grain can be used to increase taxes in the future or to ask the court to sell "supervisory students". If a disaster really happens, the court will make a policy.

The prefectures and counties may not be in chaos, but the villages will definitely be in chaos first. Before each household runs out of food, these grains must be transported and dispersed in various counties and villages.

Ensure that there will be no large-scale escape from famine or starvation.

The normal food shortage starts in May, because the wheat harvest is in May. If there is no large-scale escape from famine before the wheat harvest, then as long as everyone's emotions are stabilized and people really see the grain, there will be no problem before May.

If the weather improves in the second half of the year, it will need to be supported until September.

If the weather has not improved in September, then it will be useless to say anything, and Liu Yu can't save it. Just wait for people to flee from famine and eat each other, and then report it. The previous investment will be in vain.

Wendeng Prefecture basically needs relief of 370,000 to 400,000 people, calculated as 400,000.

Liu Yu's loan, plus the Changping warehouse, the charity warehouse, and the donations from the rich households, can squeeze out a total of 120,000 to 130,000 shi, averaging 50 jin of grain per person.

It can last for three months. By July and August, if the court's brain is not so slow to react, the summer grain harvest in the south should be able to provide relief.

Half a jin of grain per person per day is definitely not enough, but if mixed with wild vegetables and leaves, too many people will not starve to death - the premise is that it starts to rain in the second half of the year, otherwise there will be no leaves.

The third thing is disaster relief grain.

Arranging disaster relief preparations in various places in advance can ensure that most people leave summer grain seeds.

If it rains after the wheat harvest in May, it's okay, but if it doesn't rain, you have to think it over.

Since Bai Yunhang was a county magistrate in Fujian, he should have seen sweet potatoes. There is no need to consider the solar terms too much for this thing. The most important thing is that sweet potato leaves can also be eaten. Unlike wheat, it must be mature before it can be eaten. As long as it swells, it can be eaten. At least you won't starve to death if you have something to eat.

In addition to sweet potatoes, carrots and mung beans are all disaster relief.

Although potatoes have a large yield, they are not suitable for replanting, and the stems of potatoes are not edible like the stems of sweet potatoes. The key to the disaster resistance of sweet potatoes is the leaves, which can at least ensure that they will not starve to death.

Let Bai Yunhang recruit a group of people to learn the planting technology of sweet potatoes and prepare for popularization.

Liu Yu is responsible for transporting a batch of sweet potatoes, carrot seeds, and mung beans to the south.

Once the summer planting season is missed, the people should be organized to plant these disaster relief crops.

If these three points are done well, Bai Yunhang will stand out in comparison with the surrounding counties.

The court is not blind, and such capable officials will naturally be used. Moreover, Bai Yunhang was trying to figure out the intentions of the emperor in Fujian to make a teaching case. No matter what his real intentions were, there must be people in the court who supported him.

After saying these three points, Bai Yunhang was also very grateful, and his clear mind also allowed him to carefully ask Liu Yu what he wanted.

Liu Yu's request was also very simple.

Next year, 15 kilograms of grain will be collected per mu of land, and 7 kilograms of summer grain and 8 kilograms of autumn grain can be collected in return.

He will send troops to each village to collect, but this matter must be made clear to the people in advance to confirm that the people agree.

However, it cannot be said that it is collected, but that the people are grateful and voluntarily offer military grain.

Wendeng Prefecture has two to three million mu of land, so more than 300,000 stones of grain can be collected in this way.

Especially after a major disaster, the imperial court must exempt at least one to two years. If the climate improves and there are no middlemen to make a profit, it is not much to harvest 15 kilograms of grain per mu of land.

In this way, at least for a few years, those who do not eat the imperial grain will not have to worry about the food problem.

The recruited disaster victims only need to be fed within three years.

After three years, when the gratitude period is over and silver is given as an incentive, the value created should be enough to pay their silver salary.

It rained a few days ago, and it seems that the weather is not so dry.

Bai Yunhang couldn't wait to find Liu Yu and asked Liu Yu if he got sweet potato, mung bean, and carrot seeds.

He has collected some himself, but the quantity is far from enough to promote it throughout the state.

Now the scholars from various counties have been summoned by him and asked to learn how to grow sweet potatoes. There is also an introduction to growing sweet potatoes in the "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration".

It's just that because Jiaodong has experienced wars in the late Ming Dynasty, the population has dropped sharply, and the contradiction between people and land has been greatly alleviated, so not many people grow sweet potatoes.

There are more in the south, and even more in Fujian, but it will take a slow process to spread to the north.

Bai Yunhang is not the kind of person who is dedicated to the people. He even laughs at the words of the saints in his heart. He just wants to cater to the wishes of the superiors and take a gamble, so he made a teaching case in Fujian.

Now he heard that there is a chance to stand out and be promoted from a state governor to a Beijing official, how can he sleep?

He really tried his best and was dedicated to the people: corruption must be done, but it depends on the time. At this time, it is natural to do everything possible to provide disaster relief, especially when Lin County has already seen a large-scale escape from famine, and his side can still basically maintain stability.

Now it is only the last few months. As long as sweet potatoes, mung beans and carrots can be promoted on a large scale, the opportunity for promotion will be right in front of us after saving this famine.

How can I not be anxious?

Liu Yu was actually anxious in his heart.

The ship that went south has not returned yet. After completing the trade with Japan this year, the ship was sent to the south to buy sweet potatoes and seeds.

This is related to whether the 100,000 dan of grain invested in Wendeng Prefecture can be tripled or five times next year.

It is also related to whether this favor investment can be successful in the future.

I have been observing secretly these days. Bai Yunhang is capable and dares to take action.

At least Bai Yunhang dares to gamble.

According to convention, if the disaster is not divided into numbers, it is not possible to violate the rules and request relief.

The court has always been slow to respond.

As for requesting relief in violation of the rules, there is a reason: if the local officials have too much autonomy, they will "relieve disasters" almost every year and enrich themselves in the name of disaster relief.

Moreover, the grain in the Changping warehouse can only be at a fair price. Once it is used for relief, it will not be collected in the future... or if the court requires relief from the Changping warehouse, but you have no grain, it will be a big deal.

Bai Yunhang dared to open the Changping warehouse at the end of April and disperse it to the surrounding counties and towns to stabilize the people's hearts and let the people see the grain.

In May, it was confirmed that the summer wheat had no harvest, and people were immediately organized to cook porridge, with a fixed amount every day, in order to try to hold on until September.

Before May, he had established a relief donation bureau, led by local tribute students and students.

He advised and begged the gentry and merchants to be righteous, to be kind to their hometown, to be generous, and to actively donate money or rice.

Of course, it was not very useful.

If the disaster was serious, the court would definitely show mercy and allow donations in exchange for student status.

Donating at that time would not only bring fame, but also bring real benefits and obtain student status.

If you donate now, wouldn’t you be a fool?

It cannot be said that everyone is like this. This relief donation bureau finally raised 400 taels of silver and 120 shi of grain, which is better than nothing.

Then the cattle bureau was established. According to Liu Yu’s words, it began to collect oxen to prevent them from being killed for meat, and it would also be convenient to invest in oxen for farming once the weather improved.

The Infant Care Hall, the Salesian Hall, and the Burial Bureau, no matter if they are useful or not, at least the institutions were established first.

He also selected local scholars, students, and tribute students to preside over them. He begged for help from his grandfather and grandmother, paid some money himself, and Liu Yu bribed some children, and finally made it look like it was real.

Originally, even if he thought of speculation in Fujian, Liu Yu still thought that this was a "Confucian Paladin" or a "Confucian Inquisition".

However, now it seems that he is a capable official, and the meaning revealed in several exchanges intentionally or unintentionally is that he is not such a conservative person.

Obviously, speculation was the main driving force behind the Fujian incident.

Anyway, the current Wendengzhou incident is not only about Bai Yunhang's future, nor is it only about Liu Yu's harvest next year. The two are temporarily tied together for the sake of interests.

Bai Yunhang was so anxious that his mouth was full of bubbles, and Liu Yu was also anxiously looking forward to the fleet in the south to bring good news quickly.

After such a big incident, the fleet still has many uses.

To transport people to Vladivostok, you need a ship.

To transport goods to Japan to earn money, to "help in time of need" to exchange for trade letters, and to survive the most difficult year with the most unbalanced income and expenditure and the largest expenditure, you still need a ship.

If the trade line to Japan is broken this year... or if no more Nagasaki trade letters are obtained this year, Liu Yu can disband the navy and the recruited craftsmen, and just deal with the new army of tens of thousands of people.