Yiyang Palace.

Outside Li You's study, there is a reception room with a huge round table inside. At this moment, Li You, Yin Hongzhi, Cheng Yanjin, Yu Chigong and Zhang Liang were sitting together.

It was the first time for Zhang Liang to enter this room, sit at the round table, and found it very good to discuss things face-to-face.

Li You said: "Uncles, uncles, I invite you here today to discuss an important matter, this matter is both public and private, half of it is a holy decree, and half of it is our own business. ”

Zhang Liang's personality is very cautious, he usually does things very carefully, and he was originally involved in the business with Li You, but he was a little apprehensive. At this moment, I heard that I was acting on orders, and my heart was also steady.

Li You said: "Yesterday, I talked to my father about the disaster relief plan......

Yesterday, Li Shimin and Li You played alone.

Li You said: "Father, the biggest point of disaster relief is not to cause panic. Natural disasters are terrible, but the most terrible are man-made disasters. Once the drought triggers panic among the affected people, they will flee the famine on a large scale, causing even greater turmoil and damage to the whole society. In order to avoid leaking the plan, Erchen asked to play with you alone. ”

Li Shimin nodded and said: "Yes, once the disaster victims start to flee, the land will be completely barren, and the damage to production will intensify." The areas through which the movement of people would also be greatly damaged. After the movement of victims, the government was unable to grasp their movements, and rescue efforts became more difficult. This is the natural disaster first, and the man-made disaster later. ”

Li You said: "Erchen consulted a lot of historical information and compared the meteorological conditions before the previous droughts in Guanzhong, and unfortunately, the scale of this drought is probably much larger than the largest drought in the past 50 years. Because, the earliest rain may not come until the end of June or early July. ”

"What?" Li Shimin broke out in a cold sweat. "Are you sure?" he asked. ”

"Son's confirmation." Li You said affirmatively.

Li Shimin collapsed in despair and sighed: "How many people will die in such a big drought?" My Datang is really a disaster and a lot of difficulties. ”

Li You said: "Father, the main area of this drought will occur in the south of the Qinling Mountains, Liangzhou, and Xingzhou, which belong to the same climatic zone. Specifically, the main areas of drought occurred in Longzhou, Liangzhou, Xingzhou, Shangzhou, Fengzhou and Qizhou. ”

"That's a lot." Li Shimin was deeply worried.

"Erchen has calculated that 40,000 wells are far from enough, and I am afraid that 60,000 wells will have to be drilled. Erchen deliberately didn't tell the truth, and no one would count it anyway, so there was no need to increase the panic atmosphere. Li You said.

"Okay, done right." Li Shimin said.

Erchen believes that the first step in this disaster relief is to dig wells, and each well drilled can stabilize hundreds of people. The second step is to secretly mobilize grain to the counties, and before the drought begins to become serious, distribute it in advance to those areas where it is difficult to dig wells, such as high terrain or where there is no water underground. Li You said.

"Put the grain in advance. Good idea! In the past, the government was forced to release grain for disaster relief, which was too passive, and it was easy to cause disaster relief to be untimely, resulting in an uncontrollable situation. Okay, that's it. Li Shimin said excitedly.

"As long as these two things are done, the mood of the victims will be stable and there will be no social unrest. There are two points involved in this, one is the issue of funds for drilling wells. The imperial court can't come up with the money now, but someone has it. A large amount of wealth is concentrated in the hands of wealthy families and wealthy businessmen, and they can only rely on them to help at present. Li You said.

Li Shimin asked a little puzzled: "These guys will only make a fortune for the country, are they willing to pay for disaster relief?" ”

Li You said: "Of course not, the court has no right to force people to pay." However, there is a way for them to pay willingly. ”

"Oh? What's the solution? Li Shimin said with interest.

Li You smiled: "Of course I ate it." ”

He took out the white sugar, invited Li Shimin to taste it, and said: "The area where this year's drought occurred has always been an area of drought and little rainfall. Beets, however, are suitable for growing in such a place. ”

Li You consulted the information, Shaanxi is a large sugar beet planting province, with an area of more than 78,000 acres. Xianyang, Weinan and other places, the main areas affected by this drought, are suitable for sugar beet cultivation.

Li You continued: "The output value of growing sugar beet is much higher than that of grain. Not only that, in addition to sugar, the rest of the beet, waste silk and other parts are good feed for pigs and cattle. In these areas, it is a good way to develop the local economy by reducing grain cultivation and promoting sugar beet cultivation. The annual tax paid to the imperial court is by no means more than twice the amount of grain that can be stopped.

The profits of sugar production are huge, and Erchen plans to auction off the distribution rights of the sugar industry, and the funds for fighting the drought can be solved immediately.

As for the grain, they can entrust the grain merchants to deliver it to the disaster area, and then buy it from the grain merchants, and if the funds are not enough, the sons can also have a way to let them sell the hoarded grain at a reasonable price. The ability of grain merchants to act is much higher than that of the government, and as long as they are given enough benefits, they can ensure that the grain arrives in a timely manner......"

Li You explained his operation plan to Li Shimin in detail.

Li Shimin's frowning brows slowly stretched out with Li You's explanation. He looked at Li You appreciatively and said, "Good boy." ”

Li You is so old, it is the first time to hear Li Shimin praise himself from the bottom of his heart, and he can't help but feel sour, and tears almost fall.

He said: "Father, this is a huge benefit from the son, otherwise, the son-in-law is enough to be a rich man just by relying on these." ”

Li Shimin smiled: "You stinky boy, Lao Tzu raised you so big, shouldn't you be filial to Lao Tzu?" ”

Li You said: "Father, you killed Cui Bingshi with a rod today, and you are angry for Erchen's mother, you are really a bit like my father." ”

Li Shimin glared and said, "Bastard, what do you mean to be like your father, Lao Tzu is your father." After saying that, he burst out laughing.

In the end, Li Shimin said: "You are fully responsible for this disaster relief. I have given you a decree, and all the officials are at your disposal. ”

"The retainers obey." Li You said solemnly.

After Li You finished talking to Li Shimin, he presented the holy decree to the people present.

Cheng Yanjin was a little depressed and said: "Your Highness, you have given up all the distribution rights, and the profits here are very large." ”

Li You said with a smile: "Your Majesty has given us the privilege of planting sugar beets in Guanzhong, which has greatly reduced the transportation cost. ”

Wei Chi Gong advised: "Biting gold, Your Majesty has given us such a big face, so don't be greedy." ”

Cheng Yanjin was still a little unhappy, he said: "That's the reason." But I've already talked to my wife, and I was originally going to hand over the distribution rights to Cui's, so how can I explain this? ”