Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1803 Pingwo ([-]) Gaoge Lao Disaster Relief

After the Huanghuai flood broke out, due to the lack of disaster relief in the Henan area, hungry people were everywhere after the flood went away.The inefficiency of the local government and the flustered measures led to a famine in the spring of the 21st year of Wanli. There were no livestock left, and bandits everywhere. The expression in it is like hell on earth.As a result, Zhang Yiyuan, the governor of Henan, went to the shuffle continuously, asking the imperial court to send officials to coordinate disaster relief in several provinces.

The imperial court attached great importance to this. Not only did the cabinet hold two emergency meetings in a row, Zhu Yijun even sent a handbook to inquire about the situation. What's more, among the people, there are people who peel off bark and grass clippings for food, and some even cut up dead bodies and kill living people to eat.

Although I live in the deep palace, I always want to intimidate me, and I don't want to sleep in it. I have repeatedly ordered relief, but I don't know if you will follow it?Does Xiaomin have any benefits?What's more, at this time when public and private relations are clumsy, I don't know if there is a prescription for first aid and cheap measures in each place besides keeping or distributing internal money and grain?Miners, robbers and thieves from all over the place gather together in groups, and they don't know if they will put Guinong for defense?
At present, the officials in the four directions do not pay attention to the management of famines and shepherd the common people. They only take fighting wind as their reputation, and communication and inheritance as their profession.When there are thieves, they either hide from each other, or deliberately let them go, so as to avoid the blame of local accidents.

All the officials who should be appointed only know how to ask for relief and ask for help. Forget about the current affairs, they don't know how to eliminate harsh officials, reform illegal laws, cut redundant expenses, and save money, which is the foundation of eternal convenience for the people.I am very worried that the up and down will be confused and cause chaos. "

The emperor’s words were not insignificant, so the cabinet naturally reacted strongly. Regarding Henan’s local request for the imperial court to send officials to coordinate the disaster relief, all the cabinet ministers agreed in principle.

Zhu Yijun immediately summoned Gao Yushi for an audience, and asked: "Yushi, Henan is your own province. No one in the court knows the situation in Henan better than you. You also know the current disaster situation in Henan. What do you plan to do when you return to Henan?" Disaster relief?"

Gao Wushi replied: "Going back to the emperor, I thought that the victims should be inspected first, and checked one by one to avoid false claims, and resettle the people; then distribute money and food, set up factories to provide porridge to curb the disaster; and then the government and wealthy businessmen will fund and carry out Urban and rural restoration and farmland cultivation, and work for relief, so as to gradually restore livelihoods.

At the same time, it is also necessary to treat the victims of diseases, redeem their children, bury their bones, and soothe the pain of the disaster; finally, it is necessary to suppress bandits, return refugees to their jobs, persuade farmers to teach farming and mulberry, disperse robbers and ban lawsuits, and be honest and honest. flat. "

Zhu Yijun said happily: "The pragmatic answer is so clear, so I can rest assured. Although there are many affairs in the court, the well-being of the people always comes first. It is a big deal for you to go to the disaster relief. The affairs of the court and the court should be put first." Let it go, the cabinet can ask Wu Dui and Liang Menglong to express their views on your behalf, and the household department can ask a few servants to help you look after it.

This time, I will take you as the manager of the Yellow River and Huaihe River, and give you the right to do it cheaply, and preside over the disaster relief affairs. If you violate the order and obstruct it, you can be suppressed by the king's flag.I have made personnel adjustments in Henan. As for the Ministry of Households raising funds to help with disaster relief, that is your own responsibility, and you can figure it out yourself.Time is urgent under the disaster situation, you will go to Henan to take up your post tomorrow, and you don't need to come to your majesty's speech again. Thank you for your high-level pragmatic leadership.

So Gao Wushi rushed to Henan immediately, considering that the news he had received so far was that Henan was the worst affected, so Gao Wushi used Henan as his base to carry out disaster relief.Mr. Gao Ge was re-appointed as a manager, but he returned to his hometown for disaster relief. The local officials in Henan were extremely nervous from top to bottom. Busy with disaster relief, only waiting outside Kaifeng city.

Gao Wushi didn't care about these things. As soon as he arrived in Kaifeng, he summoned the governor and the various departments of the vassal, and said: "Everyone, for disaster relief, if the wealth gathers, the people will disperse, and if the wealth disperses, the people will gather. If the wealth gathers, the common people will turn into bones; It started in Chuntai.

The most urgent task is to verify the disaster victims, register each of them, cook porridge and distribute silver, and prepare silver grains so that special personnel can distribute them on time and according to the amount, and embezzlement of loose silver is strictly prohibited.Officials of all prefectures and counties need to strictly check and defend, and the cabinet department also brought a large number of financial officers from the household department to be responsible for the investigation and verification.

The Ministry of the Cabinet and the Fujun will also conduct strict investigations, and use the lost items to supervise and assess.Prior to this, the imperial court had brought to justice all the great evils and huge corruption in the whole province.The lesson from the past is not far away. If there are still officials who take the opportunity to become corrupt during the disaster relief, or do things ineffectively, once it is found out—the emperor said, Xu Benge will be killed first and then played. I hope you will not make mistakes! "

When other ministers said beheading, that might just be intimidation, and it is rare to come true, but what is Gao Yushi's identity, status, and experience, and maybe hundreds of thousands of heads under his hands have become his meritorious deeds?
And now what he is facing is related to his disaster relief in Henan Province. If he is really caught, let alone kill one or two, this is not only the elder of the pavilion, but also the Marquis of Nanning, who is resting with the country, in a fit of anger It is not impossible to kill the heads of officials at the gate of the yamen. How dare the officials be negligent, even saying that they will do their best.

Afterwards, Gao Yushi ordered the Chief Secretary to assign officials from prefectures, prefectures and counties to personally inspect the poor households in the villages.Gao Yushi himself also traveled through the villages of the state, condolences to the victims of the disaster, and inspected the people's sentiments.

Among the third-class disaster-stricken poor, the slightly poorer will not be given relief; the next poorest will be loaned to the rich people of the same village;

After re-examination of the victims, Gao Yushi held a meeting and said: "Relief is expensive and fast, and there should be no slack. Since the area of ​​porridge relief is limited, porridge factories should be set up all over the place. It is better to transfer officials to serve the people than to make laborers pay for it. Officials. The rich have insufficient food, and the poor can be brought back to life with a spoonful of food. Officials in prefectures and counties need to do their best to help, and ministers in provinces and ministries also need to work tirelessly and make constant inspections."

Zhang Yiyuan, the governor of Henan, also said to the crowd: "The governor has previously agreed with the cabinet. If the porridge factory is set up in the city, there will be many idlers, which is not conducive to rescue. If it is set up in the countryside, it will be difficult for the victims of the disaster in the city to reach it. Gathering together is easy to get infected. If the epidemic is scattered, the distance is moderate. Therefore, for this disaster relief, it is appropriate to set up [-] factories in each city and [-] factories in each township, which is more appropriate."

Gao Wushi saw that there was no objection from the crowd, so he immediately issued an order: "All states and counties will immediately record that one will be set up for old and young women and children, and two meals a day will be provided. The victims will sit on the ground two feet and five inches, and they will eat two meals a day. At [-] o'clock in the morning, eat two bowls for each meal.

The porridge must be cooked until it is cooked, and it must not be mixed with water, and must not be dirty, let alone use bad grain.Those who eat porridge are not allowed to bring porridge to others, and those who offer porridge are not allowed to reduce the price without authorization. Violators should report to our office and be severely punished one by one. "The officials hurriedly recorded.

After the meeting, Gao Wushi discussed with the chief envoy and said: "Whenever there is a catastrophe, some victims will give loose silver because they don't want to accept porridge relief. The poorest people will be given small banknotes from the Ming Federal Reserve. The extremely poor households will be given one tael of silver, and the poorest households will be given five cents of silver. All official officials need to go to the countryside to distribute them. The date will be announced first, so as to prevent the victims from rushing to wait.

After the disaster victims receive the banknotes, they need to be supervised by the government and the people. If there is arrogance and embezzlement, they will be severely punished.At the same time, it is necessary to prevent fraudulent claiming, and the recipient needs to mark each banknote issued.These banknotes are fixedly distributed every month, and they are printed and registered for inspection by the pusher at any time. What do you think? "

How could the chief envoy dare to object, so he took the order, and then raised a little whether there would be any obstacles to the use of banknotes.

Gao Wushi said coldly: "Jinghua Bank and all other banks and banks under Ming Federated Reserves accept banknotes in full, and all industries under the name of Jinghua and Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance also accept banknotes. When the imperial court collects taxes, they also accept banknotes. , Then why did the banknotes encounter obstacles? If there are some human factors in the way... just kill people, and the people in this cabinet are not afraid of more lives."

The chief minister, Ji Lingling, shuddered, and didn't dare to ask any more questions, and took orders repeatedly.

Soon, due to the large number of royal families in Henan, the issue of clan relatives and poor students was put on the agenda again.Gao Pragmatically thought over and over again, and discussed with Zhang Yiyuan: "There are always some down-and-out clan children and relatives of the emperor in every province. Although the feudal ban has been lifted, the identities of these people still cannot be ignored, and we still need special consideration.

In the past, when they suffered a catastrophe, they were no different from poor peasants. There was also a class of students who had no academic achievements and poor families. These two types of people should not be ignored either.Especially the children of the disaster-stricken clan, according to a rough calculation by the cabinet, there are about [-] in this province. Not much, and additional relief is still needed. "

Zhang Yiyuan has no objection to this, and strongly agrees: "The tribes are multiplying, money and food are difficult to sustain, and it is useful to obtain fame and fame. It is really a burden for the country to support the clan, but this is indeed not a one-day job. It may take ten years. After 20 years, it still needs extra care.”

Gao Wushi said: "In fact, the most difficult thing is those poor students. These students are well-read poems and books. They would rather die than receive relief, but they are willing to receive the emperor's gift, so they must speak loudly of the emperor's favor. The grandeur makes them feel that they are blessed by nature and favored by the emperor, and they will accept the relief and survive."

Zhang Yiyuan said with a smile: "Gebu really understands human nature, so Henan is very lucky."

So in accordance with Gao Yushi's instructions, the governor Zhang Yiyuan ordered that mansions and temples be used as porridge factories in each city. In the countryside, each porridge factory should set up five rooms, one for rice storage and four for the people, and each factory must adopt at least two hungry people. Hundred.

Officials in various prefectures and counties personally select people with good conduct to manage porridge factories. The financial officers of the local bureau and household department check the rice count and check the dishes every day. The supervisory officials are diligent and reward and punish according to the facts.

Gao Yushi, the governor, and the vassal ruled around the office, asking about the suffering, and inspecting the officials. They traveled hundreds of miles a day. Every time they went to a place, they had to inspect the porridge factory first. How can you just eat porridge to satisfy your hunger when you are patrolling all over the place?"

Gao Wushi didn't take it seriously, and replied: "There are three benefits to eating porridge factories. One is that the company does not have to track me to provide food, which is a waste of public funds. The other is that it can encourage the company and the porridge donators not to neglect and violate mistakes. The third is that the cabinet department Not shying away from hard work and sharing food with the people can unite the hearts of the people and inspire colleagues to do their best to help."

This kind of practical disaster relief has indeed achieved good results. For example, Liu Yikun, a poor man in Guojia Village, was affected by the disaster and fell ill. He told his wife: "I don't have many days to live, and you still have some strength. Stay here and starve to death, go out early to find a way out!" After saying that, Liu Yikun forced his wife away with the rest of his strength.

His wife, Liu Shi, burst into tears and cried: "You are the god of the family. Now that you are sick, I should take care of you. If you die, you should die together. I can't leave!"

Liu Yikun scolded angrily: "You crazy woman, go away, get out of here!" Liu Shi said, "Where can I go in the barren mountains and wild mountains? I just want to be here." No matter how Liu Yikun scolded Liu Shi Refusing to leave, the husband and wife embraced each other in despair. At this moment, the government united with the township to search for single victims. The two finally got relief and the couple were saved.

The Guangwu Temple in Ye County helped [-] victims day and night. The old man was deeply grateful for the emperor's favor. He knelt down and shouted: "The kindness of dripping water should be repaid by the spring. We have been honored by the emperor to survive. Why should we repay it? From now on, everyone should be safe and healthy, and don't do anything wrong. "The generosity is deeply felt by the local disaster victims.

Students from all over the country and the emperor's relatives received the emperor's grace, and they each held their heads behind their backs, and burned incense to celebrate the holy birthday together.During the congee relief, due to Gao Pragmatism and Zhang Yiyuan's round-the-clock inspection and supervision, the victims of the disaster all over the world benefited from the benefits and gradually became more lively.No matter whether they are corrupt, sincere or fearful of crimes, all the officials of the feudal bureaucrats and prefectures and counties did their best during the disaster relief period. Under the overall arrangement, the disaster situation in Henan province began to be suppressed.

However, it was a catastrophe period after all, and the price of grain was inevitably high due to scarcity. The Changping warehouses originally set up in various states and counties were gradually useless due to the decline of officials many years ago. Gao Yushi ordered the reconstruction of Changping warehouses in various places after he took office And the righteous warehouse to balance the price of grain. This time when there is a famine again, he will send the righteous warehouse first.

When Gao Wushi came to Henan, he had allocated 30 taels of banknotes from the national treasury, brought another 50 taels of banknotes from the Federal Reserve Bank of Ming Dynasty, and left [-] taels of grain for relief.So it was announced that the ban on selling rice at high prices should be abolished in order to collect commercial rice for government manipulation.But over time, it gradually became insufficient.

In the following month, Shi Zhonglu Zhongli wrote "On the Weaving of Taihe Mountains" and criticized Zhu Yijun for ignoring the famine, saying that weaving in Taihe Mountains should be stopped to save funds for disaster relief.Zhu Yijun should not, continue to collect Taihe mountain incense tax and weave for the emperor's private use and court sacrificial rewards.

Gao Wushi also disagreed with this point of view. In his opinion, the weaving operation can at least solve the employment of some people, and it will not benefit the local people in Henan much if it is really abolished. Therefore, as a disaster relief strategy, he did not agree with it.

Unexpectedly, after the disaster situation was relatively stable, favoritism and fraud occurred again. Some officials took advantage of the disaster victims' ignorance of money and grain reductions and exemptions, cheated and accepted bribes, and deceived their superiors and subordinates.Gao Wushi was really furious when he learned that, while making public the tax details that should be handed over to the government and the details of the money and grain reductions, he specially hired people to send them to various places to preach, so that the world knows.While strictly inspecting and curbing corruption, in order to prevent it from happening again.

At the same time, he really used the flag of Wang Ming, beheaded all the first batch of officials involved in the case regardless of severity, killed 27 people at a time, and hung their heads directly at the gate of Jinglue Xingyuan.The ferocious heads showed the murderous spirit of Mr. Gao Ge, and the officialdom in Henan was as quiet as death for a while.
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(End of this chapter)