While everyone was resting, the itinerary of the army of victims outside and the condition of the people around them would be reported from time to time.

For example, which village or town the disaster victim army passed through, and which village or town the villagers had withdrawn in advance under their reminder, and so on, many affairs were arranged in an orderly manner.

From this point of view, this county magistrate is still an official who can really do practical things, but such a parent official still makes the people outside the city afraid of the threat of bandits, and idles thousands of acres of land.

Alas! I don't know if the bandits are too rampant, or if he has too few troops, or something else.

Although the letter has been reported in advance, in a hurry, it is impossible to make all preparations, and can only rely on these officials to remedy it afterwards.

It is said that natural disasters cannot be violated, and man-made disasters can be caused, which is true.

Natural disasters are indeed not avoidable by manpower, and what the imperial court should do is to help the victims survive natural disasters and not cause human disasters.

If the victims are local, they are still victims, and as long as they mobilize forces to go to the disaster area for relief, reassure the victims, and help them persevere until the next harvest of food, this is the best outcome.

For disaster relief, it has always been the imperial court that deploys troops to suppress and transfer food for disaster relief, whether it is a two-pronged approach, or a combination of soft and hard measures, it is necessary to limit the victims to the disaster area.

Even if the consumption of food collected from various places is far greater than the consumption of the victims to flee the famine, no matter how much corruption is involved, and even if there is not enough food for disaster relief, it cannot appease many of the victims and cause a large number of people to starve to death, they cannot be allowed to flow outside.

Otherwise, the victims will run out, leaving the fields in a panic, and even if the natural disaster passes, what will happen in the coming year? If we don't continue to provide disaster relief, the disaster will never stop.

And if these victims move to other places, they will not be disaster victims, but displaced people, and they will seize the resources of other people, so that those innocent people will also become disaster victims, and then become displaced people, and even mobs, and finally snowball.

No matter how bad the court is, no matter how mediocre the emperor is, he should know this truth.

It's a pity that in recent decades, the imperial court has been short of troops, and it has to constantly resist the attacks of Fanbang, and it has to suppress the bandits and anti-thieves who are raging everywhere, and it really can't send more troops, plus the treasury is empty, and the gap between troops and money and food is huge, so it is simply unable to provide disaster relief.

What can be done seems to be to rely on the Zheng family, who is in control of the price of grain in Dachu, to help the disaster, even if there is an outflow of victims, rich families from all over the country will donate money and grain to appease them.

This is no different from the relief efforts over the past few decades.

It's just that this year seems to be very different, Fanbang suddenly invaded for some reason, and the territory has been plagued by natural disasters that have been rare for many years, and...

Xinwen Town, Fengqing County, in Zheng Linchu's study.

A man in black said respectfully to the woman sitting above, "Young master, the verdict of the old grain case in the three counties has come out. ”

"How?"

"The evidence is overwhelming."

Zheng Linchu sneered, "Heh, what is the conclusive evidence, what is the result?" ”

As an imperial businessman, Zheng is responsible for stabilizing the price of grain in Dachu, but not only does he not lead by example, but takes advantage of this natural disaster to connive at the exchange of life-saving grain and grass for the people by his shops, causing the people's resentment in Shandan County, Anshan County, and Mingchang County to boil.

The suppression of grain prices is unfavorable, causing grain prices in the three counties to skyrocket, and even affecting Qiliang Prefecture, Mixin Prefecture, Liangzhou Prefecture and its surrounding areas and other hard-hit areas, which is the second crime.

Zheng's inhumanity caused food prices to get out of control, causing a large number of victims to flow out and disrupting the surrounding county governments... And seize the home of the county businessman... Single

Such an act should be an unforgivable sin, and I miss the Zheng family... He shall be pardoned for his sins, fined 20,000,000 taels of silver, and shall keep the price of grain under ..."

This is the punishment of their Zheng family from above.

A fine of 20 million taels of silver! Impose a food price cap!

Scold!

Hearing this, Zheng Lin Chu laughed angrily, "After eating my Zheng family's 20 million taels of silver, and asking us to contribute money and grain to suppress food prices, they can be so naïve that they think that with the strength of my Zheng family, they can resist the entire natural disaster?"

It's good to think about it, my Zheng family was not only drunk with blood and meat, but also fell into a bad reputation, but they made money and reputation, which is really a good calculation.

It's just that my Zheng family is not vegetarian, that person doesn't have the courage and ability, who else is involved? ”

can be judged like this, think about it, there must be a lot of people involved!

The man in black said, "The young master is wise, according to the news found by the clan and the master, on the side of the family, the Yang family and the Xiao family are the masters, and the other five families are conspiring.

On the side of the imperial court, three of the four chiefs and assistants agreed, and even Tan Ge Lao just didn't approve or object. ”

"It is not difficult to understand that the disaster is serious, and anyone with a discerning eye can see it, but the treasury is empty and the troops are insufficient, so naturally there is no ability to provide disaster relief.

Moreover, the Zheng family does have the responsibility to participate in stabilizing grain prices, but the imperial court has no reason to force us to stabilize to a certain extent.

For a few first assistants, what harm is there in achieving great things for the benefit of the country and the people by only harming my family? As long as they are good to the people, they will agree, as for my Zheng family, even if it will break their muscles and bones, there will always be a day of recovery. ”

Hearing this, the man in black was very angry, "It's okay to stabilize the price of grain, but 20 million taels, such a huge amount, how can several first assistants agree?" ”

"Wei Wu, what is the surname of the head of the four pavilions after you are finished?"

Who is it?

Of course, "Yang Changzong, the Yang family, now the Yang family has married the royal family, and the head of the Yang family is the one who pushes this matter." Oh, everyone in the world says how virtuous this Changzong is, and now it seems that it is nothing more than that, the Yang family is the Yang family after all. ”

Listening to his indignation, Zheng Linchu also sighed in his heart, "If you don't have enough power, even if you are rich and rival the country, you are not a fish on the chopping board of others, and you can be slaughtered by others." If the ancestors knew that the Zheng family would be in the current situation, I don't know how they would feel! ”

"Isn't there still a master and a young master? The two of you will definitely be able to rebuild our Zheng family to glory, even more than in the past", Wei Wu said with confidence on his face.

"We?" Zheng Linchu sighed, shook his head and said, "We are different!" By the way, how are they going to divide the 20 million taels of silver? How much disaster relief will be distributed? ”

How can it be used for disaster relief with so much silver?

"It is said that under the arguments of several first assistants, three million taels were used for disaster relief, two million taels were used to distribute military salaries, prepare military food and ordnance, and resist the Wei army, two million taels were charged into the treasury, three million taels were charged to the royal family, two million taels each for the Yang family and the Xiao family, and six million li, and the remaining five were divided equally."

Zheng Lin Chu sighed twice, "This piece of meat is really clearly divided, but the ten major families can't look down on such a little silver." ”

"But we can use this to suppress the Zheng family, especially the Yang family, which has been united with the royal family, and the Xiao family, who already have an enmity with us."