In March, the weather is warmer and the vegetation is flourishing. Jiangnan was finally awakened by the warm spring breeze, and the warmth and tenderness of the water town were reproduced in the poplar flowers flying in the sky. The branches of the trees pull out the tender buds, the fluffy grass pokes its head out of the soil, and under the warm sun, everything gradually recovers, and the earth is full of vitality, a bright spring scene.

In addition to the grass and trees, there are also floating people's hearts that are awakened by the spring breeze.

Perhaps it is because the days of displacement have long passed, and people have forgotten the feeling of being cold and hungry; Or maybe it is because after being well fed and clothed, he has a higher pursuit of life, and is no longer satisfied with the current status quo.

In short, there are faint signs of restlessness among the displaced people today, and they are beginning to plan for their own future.

In the Hangzhou Mansion, as soon as Gu Yunji walked into the door of the living room, he saw Lu Xianzhi, who was discussing affairs with Xu Chengyu, his brows tightened, and his face was worried:

"Last night, I caught a few homeless people who went to the village to steal things, plus the previous one, in the past half a month, I have arrested nearly 100 people for stealing and robbing, and the prison is almost empty, I really don't know what to do."

Xu Chengyu sighed when he heard this: "Now that the porridge given by the government has decreased, the homeless people can no longer fill their stomachs by just sitting and waiting every day as before, and they can't adapt to the changes for a while, and there are naturally more crooked thoughts." ”

Gu Yunji was a little puzzled: "Isn't the government working for relief?" There are several water conservancy projects around Fucheng alone that are recruiting people, and there are also military facilities in the nearby guard posts that need to be repaired, all of which require the use of personnel. Working on the construction site not only gives you enough food but also money, but don't the displaced people want to? ”

Xu Chengyu said: "Most people are still willing, but there are also many people who have been developed into lazy and lazy by the free food these days, while feeling that it is too hard and tiring to work on the construction site, and on the other hand, they are disgusted with the money given too little, and they are reluctant to do anything, so they can only steal and rob in the end." ”

Lu Xianzhi pinched his eyebrows with a headache: "Originally, the best way to resettle the displaced people was to allocate the fields and let them take root in the local area as soon as possible. However, on the one hand, there is not much land in Hangzhou, and the existing wasteland that can be quickly opened up can only support three or four thousand people at most, and cannot take care of all the displaced people. ”

"And a lot of them are paddy fields, and these displaced people come from the north and have never grown much rice. In addition, the climate in the north and south is different, and the time and method of sowing and harvesting crops are different, which is not so easy to get started. ”

"On the other hand, the customs and customs of the north and the south are different, the language and customs of the people are very different, and the locals are very defensive of the displaced people because of the previous events, even if they stay, they are likely to be excluded and isolated, and it is difficult to truly integrate into them."

If they are not accepted by the local people, even if they have a house and land, they are actually no different from a wandering homeless people. What's more, there are quite a few of them, and a small friction with the locals may erupt into large-scale contradictions and conflicts, which is very detrimental to the peace and stability of Hangzhou in the long run.

What makes Lu Xianzhi and others even more troublesome is that the desire of the displaced people to stay in Hangzhou is not strong, and it can even be said to be weak. They were originally out-and-out northerners, but they were forced to go south to seek a livelihood because they could not survive the locust plague.

This road is far away, difficulties and obstacles are continuous, if there is no help and mutual assistance from fellow villagers, it is difficult to go to the south of the Yangtze River smoothly. Although the homeless people seem scattered and disorderly, they actually have their own fixed small groups, which are closely connected with each other, and it is difficult for outsiders to intervene.

This kind of grouping behavior is not only not conducive to the government's management, but also a barrier to cut them off from the outside world, making them lock themselves more and more tightly under the rejection of the locals.

Hearing this, Gu Yunji was also a little worried, and fell silent for a while.

After a while, as if he remembered something, he raised his head and looked at Lu Xianzhi and Xu Chengyu: "Then what if you encourage the homeless people to return to their hometowns?" ”

Facing the surprised gazes of the two, Gu Yunji said slowly: "Since the displaced people have gone south, the north must be empty, and now that the locust plague has passed, and a large area of land is uncultivated, the magistrates of the northern state capitals must want to bring in people from other places." Rather than trying to resettle the displaced people locally, we should work with officials in the north to attract and promote the return of displaced people to their hometowns. ”

"For example, while the north promulgated various tax reduction and exemption policies to attract the population, we publicized and guided the displaced people to encourage them to return to their hometowns for development, and they will definitely be easy to accept such a two-pronged approach."

As he spoke, he paused: "Of course, if this matter can be led by the imperial court and unified allocation of resources, it will naturally be the best." ”

Lu Xianzhi pondered his words carefully, and muttered, "It's a good way." But what I am worried about is that when the displaced people went south, they sold their ancestral property and moved their families, which supported them all the way to Jiangnan. Now that they have no money, where will they get the money to go back to their hometown? ”

"If it's a simple encouragement, even if the north enacts various policies to attract people, they may not be willing to take the risk." Lu Xianzhi squinted, and his tone suddenly carried a little chill, "Unless, we persecute it." ”

From south to north, thousands of miles away, the displaced people have no cars or horses, and they don't know when they want to go with just a pair of legs. In addition, there is no money, and there is no food, clothing, shelter and transportation, and the displaced people who have finally eaten a full meal for a few days are definitely unwilling to go hungry and return to their hometowns eating bark and grass roots.

However, if the state governments in the south of the Yangtze River refused to take them in and forced them to return to their hometowns with heavy taxes and punishments, the situation would naturally be different. It's just that, and I don't know how many people are going to die on the way.

Thinking of this, Gu Yunji couldn't bear it in his heart, and muttered in a low voice: "If only there was a way to have the best of both worlds......"

Xu Chengyu suddenly smiled: "Maybe there is." ”

Hearing this, Gu Yunji and Lu Xianzhi looked at him one after another, looked at him intently and continued: "The imperial court has attached great importance to water conservancy projects in recent years, so it is said that last year, there were more than ten large and small projects carried out on the Yellow River alone, and a large number of people were needed everywhere. ”

Lu Xianzhi's eyebrows were worried: "But Jiangnan is still far away from the Yellow River after all, even if the displaced people want to work, they are powerless." ”

"Then what if the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is also recruiting?"

"Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal?" Lu Xianzhi was stunned, "As far as I know, there is no project being implemented on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. ”

Xu Chengyu stroked his beard unhurriedly: "Not at present, but it doesn't mean that there will be no in the future." Nowadays, the transportation of money and grain from the north and south of the country depends on the Grand Canal, but at present, the canal is seriously silted up, and the transportation is greatly blocked. ”

"Now that there are displaced people to guide us, maybe we can take the opportunity to start this project. On the one hand, it can dredge the canal to prosper and transport, and on the other hand, it can also allow displaced people to work while going north along the river. The canal is located to the east, and when the displaced people reach the north, they can follow the Yellow River to the west, and the roads extend in all directions, so there is no problem to go anywhere. In this way, the displaced people will not only be able to eat enough, but also earn money to return to their hometowns. ”

The more Lu Xianzhi listened, the brighter his eyes became, and finally stood up suddenly, his tone excited: "I'm going to write an excerpt to suggest to Your Majesty!" ”

Xu Chengyu looked very calm: "Lord Lu doesn't need to be in a hurry, you can first contact river officials like Lord Pan Shiliang, as well as the magistrates of the prefectures in Jiangnan who are also troubled by the displaced people, and discuss with them, and then jointly write to Your Majesty, so that it is convincing." ”

Hearing this, Lu Xianzhi patted his head and said, "Yes, yes, Mr. Xu is right, I have to plan well, and I can't be impatient." ”

Seeing Lu Xianzhi so happy, Gu Yunji couldn't help but be infected by his emotions and became happy.

But faintly, he was a little uneasy, feeling as if he had neglected something.

(End of chapter)