The barracks were basically fine, so he led people directly to the palace. In fact, except for the firearms battalion, he can also give some construction, and he can't interfere in the other battalions. The army has its own complete set of training methods, that is, the "Practical Record of Military Training" and "New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness" compiled by Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general in the Ming Dynasty, which is much stronger than half a bottle of water like him, who has only experienced a few simple military trainings. Indiscriminate meddling leads to chaos, and the gains outweigh the losses!

The group rode wildly down the road, and in a short time they reached the gate of the city. At this time, it is the middle of winter, but here in Fuzhou, I don't feel anything. Several people slowed down and slowly moved forward. The end of the year is just around the corner, there are a lot more merchants on the street than usual, and the farmers outside Fuzhou City also enter the city in large numbers to purchase New Year's goods, and the street is extremely crowded. The shops on both sides of the street are also decorated, and they are full of joy. I have been staying in the barracks for the past few days, but I don't realize that the annual Spring Festival has quietly arrived!

Geng Jingzhong doesn't need to worry about purchasing New Year's goods, and the palace housekeeper must have prepared it early. What he cares about at the moment is that there are many more beggars in the bustling street market than before. After a little thought, it is reflected: Fujian has been hit by a typhoon this year, and many places in Fujian have been affected by the flooding caused by heavy rains for several days. When it comes to the early summer, when the weather is really green, I am afraid that the days will be even more difficult!

Seeing that he was about to go home, Geng Jingzhong was not in a hurry to return home at this time. Turning his head to Ah Hu, he asked, "Ah Hu, this year Fujian has been affected by disasters, can the government open a warehouse for relief?" ”

"No, lord, this year's disaster is not very strict, it is said that the governor handed the emperor a fold, but there seems to be no news. Otherwise, the imperial court should have issued an order for disaster relief. I've heard that there are some big families in the local area who are helping to provide disaster relief! Ah Hu pursed his lips, seemingly dissatisfied with the government's inaction.

"That's right." Geng Jingzhong thought in his heart, this is a good opportunity to buy people's hearts, and besides, as a young man who grew up under the red flag, he can't turn a blind eye to this matter.

"Ah Hu, how about we say that we also open a porridge factory to help the victims? Is it feasible to let the princess managers in various places be in charge of the preparations? ”

"Yes, yes, sir, but it costs a lot of money? There must be no 50,000 or 60,000 victims in various places! So many disaster victims just drank gruel and drank it for a month, and they could empty a large family! Ah Hu agrees in his heart, but he feels sorry for the silver, this is more than 100,000 taels! I couldn't help frowning and replied.

"Okay, just do it, we don't feed and drink the victims in vain, and it's easy to make trouble if they have nothing to do. Let's go, go back and sum up with Mingbo! Drive! With that, he rode his horse towards the palace.

When he returned to the palace, Geng Jingzhong immediately asked Ah Hu to call the chief butler Mingbo. After a while, Ming Bo appeared with a ledger in his hand and came to the hall. As soon as he entered the door, Ming Bo hurriedly said to Geng Jingzhong: "Shizi, just now Ah Hu said that you want disaster relief? That's a lot of silver! ”

"Mingbo, sit down and say, I have this plan, but I don't intend to raise these victims in vain. Isn't our princess square short of people, we can recruit some from these disaster victims, and the school I want, the first one has not been built yet, aren't these disaster victims the best labor? As he spoke, he picked up his cup and took a sip of tea.

"That's okay, fifty or sixty thousand people, almost four floors are young and strong, then there are nearly 30,000 people, do we use so many people? The most important thing is that it is not a good time to purchase grain at this season, grain merchants everywhere are holding grain and refusing to sell it, and the price of grain has risen to one or two silver and one stone, and when the next year is not available, the price of grain will be even higher! Nearly 30,000 people have to work, and they consume more grain, at least one stone per person a month, which is almost 40,000 taels of silver, not counting firewood, rice, oil and salt. In addition, the elderly, weak, women and children need to spend 100,000 taels of silver every month! ”

"Mingbo, the account can't be counted like this, let's recruit craftsmen from the disaster victims, whether they are masons, bricklayers, stonemasons, carpenters, or others, as long as they have a skill, they will all be recruited; Let them be registered in different categories, and then they will be arranged to expand the princess shop and build a school for us; and then let people recruit people who are physically fit and innocent to join the escort team of our princess fang; By the way, the people who can handle finances and be competent as scribes are what we urgently need, and there is still a shortage of a large number of people in Yuegang. As for the old and weak women and children, after the school is built, the clever children will be recruited to study, and they will only be taught to read and write. ”

"Okay, Shizi, our palace now has an income of 150,000 taels of silver every month, and it's not that we can't afford to support these victims, but it's not easy to buy this grain now, and all the major grain merchants are watching the scene!" Mingbo was still a little worried.

"You do it tightly, send someone to note the major grain merchants, they are just waiting for the price to rise, the lord is willing to buy a large number of people at a higher price than the market price, and tell them that this is a disaster relief, and hope that they will sell the palace a face!" Geng Jingzhong is not worried that those grain merchants will not sell grain to him, otherwise in the future, hum!

"Yes, I'll get people to do it right away." After saying that, Mingbo went down to make arrangements.

"Ah Hu, prepare a carriage, let's go visit the governor in the afternoon, we have done him such a great favor, he has to express it." Geng Jingzhong took into account such a big move of his, so as not to let the court officials join him and disrupt his development plan, so as to inform the supreme parent official in advance, save some trouble, and reap some benefits by the way!

The Fujian Governor's Mansion was located in the southwest of the city, near the Qingyuan. After the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it was expanded by the Yamen of the former Ming Dynasty Fujian Chengxuan Political Envoy Division. The yamen sits south to north, and a pair of huge stone lions in front of the door are very mighty. In front is the public court, while the governor of Fujian and his family live in the backyard.

During the Ming Dynasty, a province of Fujian was once incorporated into Zhejiang, and in order to set up a governor's yamen, only Fujian Chengxuan political envoy was left to handle Fujian government affairs. At the beginning of the establishment of the Qing court, the place was changed, and the Fujian Governor was set up to supervise the military, political and civil affairs of Fujian, so as to facilitate the extermination of the Southern Ming rebels.

"The current governor, Zhu Changzuo, took office at the beginning of this year; Shandong Gaotang people, into the Han army inlaid with white flags. Repeatedly served as the Zongren Mansion Qixinlang, the Ministry of Works, the governor of Zhejiang, it is said that he is diligent in government and loves the people, and there are many good governance! Geng Jingzhong looked at the information in his hand and thought in his heart: "Since he is a good official who is diligent in government and loves the people, he must not sit idly by, this is much easier!" ”

At this time, Zhu Changzuo was handling government affairs in the front hall, and various places reported that many victims had gathered in the county town recently, and there were more and more trends. As the governor of a province, he has already asked the imperial court to reduce taxes and send grain for disaster relief, but I don't know what the auxiliary ministers think, but they have not approved it on the grounds that the disaster is not serious. You must know that Fujian is different from other provinces, and eight mountains, one water and one field are a true portrayal. Due to the shortage of arable land, the survival of the people in normal years is already stretched, let alone in a disaster year.

"Your Excellency the Governor, the prince of Jingnan has come to ask for a meeting, this is a greeting!" Just as he was thinking about it, a gatekeeper came to report.

"Oh? Please go to the living room and serve tea, and I'll be there later! He still saw it once when he first took office to visit the king of Jingnan, and since then he has no intersection with the Jingnan palace, but at this time it is a little strange Geng Jingzhong's intention.

"I've seen the prince, the prince is a rare guest, it's the first time I've come back to the official, I wonder if the prince has something to do?" When he came to the living room, he immediately arched his hand.

"My father is not feeling well and is recuperating in the palace, but recently I have come down to report that disaster victims from all over the country have poured into the city, and my green battalion soldiers take turns patrolling all day long to maintain order to prevent chaos. My father sent me to ask if the imperial court had ordered disaster relief. ”

"This, dissatisfied with the son, the official has already played the court, and the court has not yet approved it. This official is making trouble! Speaking of this, Zhu Changzuo also frowned.

"This year, the autumn grain harvest in many places has failed, and it is not easy for the victims to stay up until this time to beg in the city, and the New Year is approaching, it should be jubilant, but there are victims who starve to death, I can't bear it!" Geng Jingzhong's face was sad and he shook his head.

Zhu Changzuo was also worried, took a sip of tea and said: "This official is preparing to collect donations from local squires and wealthy merchants in the city, hoping that they can donate more money and food to help the victims survive this difficulty." ”

"My lord, this move is only a drop in the bucket and will not solve the problem. My father took pity on the hardships of the victims, so he prepared to give food for relief, but there are some things that can be twice as effective with half the effort if adults help them! ”

"King Jingnan is preparing for disaster relief? Good thing, the victims have been saved. If there is anything that can help, I will do my best to help! Zhu Changzuo was overjoyed when he heard that King Jingnan wanted disaster relief, and immediately agreed to a request.

"It's not a big deal, the adults know that this son has opened a perfume workshop and needs to expand production, and this son is still preparing to establish a school, so whether it is expanding the workshop or building a school, there is an urgent shortage of manpower, so I am ready to recruit among these victims. I have handed over the responsibility of the princess fangs in various places at this time, and I just hope that the adults will work together to let the yamen in various places cooperate. Geng Jingzhong finally stated his purpose.

"It's easy at this time, the prince really loves the people like a son, it is the blessing of the Qing Dynasty and the blessing of the people! Please thank the prince on behalf of the official! I will immediately send a letter to all counties to fully cooperate. Hahaha, I haven't had a good night's sleep for a few days because of this, and with the prince's move, the official can rest easy! ”