Time in a flash to May, there is more than a month to the autumn harvest season, but the rain in the south of Zhili is obviously more, this is not a good thing, to say that the climate in the Ming Dynasty is really going to the extreme, the drought in the north in the second half of last year, not a drop of rain, the fields are dry, the people are almost no harvest, fall into a desperate situation, this year the south is rainy again, looking at the grain to be harvested, it is possible to suffer major losses because of the continuous rain.

May 13.

Suzhou, Songjiang, and Huzhou and Jiaxing, which belong to Zhejiang, suddenly began to rain heavily.

The scale of this rainstorm exceeded everyone's expectations, even some elderly people have never seen such a heavy rainstorm, the torrential rain fell for a day and a night, causing heavy losses, but also caught the government at all levels off guard.

A large number of houses in villages and towns have collapsed, and even some of the houses in the county towns of Fuzhou have collapsed, and the greater loss is the collapse of the river embankments in Wujiang and Gui'an, and the flood instantly engulfed many houses, and countless people have fled.

The advent of natural disasters means that man-made disasters are imminent.

Nanzhili and Zhejiang and other places, is considered to be the richest place in the Ming Dynasty, although the north has suffered a lot of famines, but here is basically calm, even if some years of harvest is not good, but always able to survive, and there is not much chaos, so the imperial court almost ignores Nanzhili and Zhejiang and other places.

But the actual situation, the local government in Nanzhili and Zhejiang and other places is aware, except for the four prefectures and three prefectures in Huaibei, the situation of the people is indeed good, and in the rest of the places, the people are also dependent on the sky for food, a major famine. It will make the common people fall into dire straits, and the so-called wealth in these places are all scholars and merchants, including officials at all levels, and the common people are very poor and work hard every year. Not necessarily able to eat a full stomach.

A flood caused by a torrential rainstorm soon brought all this to light.

Suzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou, Jiaxing and other places, a large number of displaced people appeared in an instant, so that the government at all levels was caught off guard, Zhenjiang and Changzhou and other places to which Nanzhili belonged, there were also a large number of victims, although these places did not have a heavy rainstorm, but also suffered from the invasion of heavy rain, a large number of helpless people. had no choice but to abandon their homes and went towards the county seat, state town and government city.

According to the usual practice, at this time, the yamen of Fuzhou County is to close the city gate and refuse the entry of the displaced people, which is not because the officials are ruthless, but because the displaced people enter the city in large numbers, which will completely paralyze the city of Fuzhou County, and the number of displaced people is too large. The government simply can't cope, and the government doesn't have much food in stock. There is no relief for the displaced at all.

Nanjing, Ministry of War.

The official department, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Works, as well as the envoys of the left and right sides of the Imperial Procuratorate, are all concentrated here.

Many Shangshu and left and right imperial histories, all with bitterness on their faces, flew like snowflakes to the six.

Nanzhili is different from other places, and the rest of the places have suffered from famine. The first is to report to the imperial court.

Zheng Xunrui's face was very calm, and Xu Wanghua, Ma Zhukui, Zhao Danyu, Luo Changluo, Liang Xingli, Li Yan and others who were standing beside him were also relatively calm.

At this time, Xu Wanghua and the others finally understood why Zheng Xunrui wanted to buy two million stones of grain. At such a critical juncture, it can really be said that there is food in hand and there is no panic in my heart, with these two million stone of grain, any problem can be solved, there is no need to complain to the imperial court, and there is no need to worry about the commotion in various places in Nanzhili.

"There have been large-scale floods in Suzhou, Songjiang, Zhenjiang, Changzhou and other places, a large number of displaced people have appeared in various places, and the military department and the household department have received a large number of urgent complaints, this matter must be solved by all means in Nanjing, if you want to solve the problem, the most important thing is food, let you raise a large amount of food in a short time, this is also unrealistic, but the famine must be solved."

"You are called parents on weekdays, but you are the food and clothing parents of the people, how can you be indifferent when you see the people suffering from famine, this official wants to hear what you have to do."

All eyes were focused on the body of Wang Duo, the head of the household, which was originally a matter of the household.

Wang Duo's face had almost no expression, he had long thought about resigning from the position of the head of the household department in Nanjing, but due to the special situation, in recent times, the affairs of the household department were mainly worried about Luo Changluo, the right attendant of the household department.

"The household department does not have much grain in stock, let alone much silver, and cannot cope with this famine."

Wang Duo's answer was dry, and it was said that on such an important occasion, Wang Duo should speak tactfully.

Sure enough, Wang Duo then spoke.

"During this time, the official has been unwell, difficult to manage, the floods in Suzhou and Songjiang and other places, is the punishment of the official, the official has decided to resign and return home, the recent affairs of the household department, are all handled by Lord Luo, the official has written to the imperial court, please resign from the post of the household secretary, recommend Lord Luo to serve as the secretary of the household department, this should be relieved of the people's affairs, or please Lord Luo to preside over it."

A smile flashed on Xu Wanghua's face, all of this was expected by Zheng Xunrui accurately, Wang Duo has always wanted to resign from the position of the head of the household department, some time ago, because he had just cleaned up the Donglin Party, the six departments needed to be stabilized, Zheng Xunrui dissuaded Wang Duo, so Wang Duo reluctantly insisted, but Wang Duo, who was already dead, could not persist for a long time.

Using these few months, Luo Changluo took full control of the household department, and began to be familiar with many matters of the household department, the nominal household department is Wang Duo, in fact, Luo Changluo is in charge, don't underestimate this time, Luo Changluo is familiar with the affairs of the household department with the help of Xu Wanghua and Liang Xingli and others, and controls the core power.

Just imagine, if after Zheng Xunrui cleaned up the Donglin Party, he asked the imperial court to let Luo Changluo serve as the secretary of the household department in Nanjing, it would be almost impossible, a few months later, Wang Duo insisted on resigning from the household secretary, and recommended Luo Changluo to be the secretary of the household department, and it would be difficult for the emperor and the court to appoint others.

Today's discussion of the relief of the people, in fact, Zheng Xunrui has already had a way, the reason why he called everyone is just to show his majesty, so that everyone knows that Nanjing is his Zheng Xunrui has the final say, and when he encounters any major matter, only he Zheng Xunrui can deal with and solve it.

After Wang Duo finished speaking, Zheng Xunrui followed and spoke.

"Lord Luo, Lord Wang is unwell, entrust all the matters of the household department to you, you don't want to live up to Lord Wang's high expectations, solve the matter of the flood in Nanzhili, the household department is directly responsible, Lord Luo is fully coordinated, and at the same time ask Mr. Xu to help discuss and implement the relevant matters, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, the Criminal Department, the Ministry of Industry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, obey the orders of the Ministry of Households, whether it is necessary to transfer personnel or need to issue an edict, all of them will be done in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Households."

Zheng Xunrui said such words, but no one objected.

"To solve this famine, a large amount of grain is needed, Zheng Jiajun has some of the grain stockpiles, and take it out to solve the famine, Suzhou, Songjiang, Zhenjiang, and Changzhou belong to the Fuzhou County Yamen, must work out a way to accept and solve the lives of the displaced people, and it is not allowed to drive away or refuse to accept the displaced people, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate must earnestly perform its duties of supervision, and once it is found that there are officials who prey on the common people, or even make a fortune with the help of the famine, they will be severely punished."

"Lord Zhao Danyu, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, went to Suzhou to supervise the relief of the displaced people and solve the local famine, Lord Ma Zhukui, the right attendant of the Ministry of War, went to Songjiang to supervise, Lord Li Yan of the Ministry of War went to Changzhou to supervise, and Liang Xingli of the Ministry of Household Affairs went to Zhenjiang to supervise, you represent the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Households, on behalf of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, all officials who find that there is a lack of relief can be dealt with directly, and then report that in addition to these places, other places should also pay attention to prevent other disasters from happening."

"In the four prefectures and three prefectures of Huaibei, there are also some places that have suffered from famine, and Lord Bi Maokang, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, is responsible for coordinating the relief of the four prefectures and three prefectures in Huaibei." ……

In the process of Zheng Xunrui's arrangement, the surroundings were very quiet, and Wang Duo, the head of the household department, submitted his resignation in front, which meant that everyone already understood that no matter what kind of instructions Zheng Xunrui issued at this moment, everyone would follow them.

Xu Wanghua and others are even more clear that with the development of this disaster relief matter, some other matters must also be followed, such as the collection of commercial and trade taxes, the adjustment of the officials of the prefecture and county under Nanzhili, etc., there is only one purpose for this, that is, Zheng Xunrui really completely controls the entire Nanzhili.

There will be more things in the future, Hongmen Money will be at the end of the year or the beginning of next year, officially began to issue treasure banknotes, this kind of treasure banknotes named Hongmen banknotes, will gradually occupy the southern market, and then spread all over the Ming Dynasty.

Doing so many things, there will definitely be resistance, such as the scholars in the south, they are the most powerful opponents, but Zheng Xunrui has taken all this into account.

And what makes all the scholars unimagined is that Zheng Xunrui has begun to brew and began to collect agricultural taxes from the scholars, and it is collected according to the facts, that is to say, the land annexed by the scholars also has to pay agricultural taxes, and the amount paid is exactly the same as that of the farmers.

Xu Wanghua also gradually understood Zheng Xunrui's purpose, that is, to reduce the burden of the people to the greatest extent, not to mention the rich things, at least to make the lives of the people stable, do not have to be afraid of eating, the people have been pressed to the waist can't straighten up, this situation continues for a long time, it is impossible to stabilize the place, even if there is no large-scale rogue, there will be countless bandits gathering in the Wuxiao Mountains. (To be continued......)