A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 872: A Thousand Gold Benefit

The rain has stopped and the sky is clear.

Wu Huaiyu, who was in Jiangzhou, was giving a confession to Emperor Li Shimin of Luoyang. He requested to go to Luoyang to meet the saint, and then go to the thirteen states of the Yellow River that were affected by the disaster.

"Qianjintang and Huiren Medicine should be notified immediately, and doctors and medicines should be mobilized immediately to follow me to the disaster area."

Wu Huaiyu planned to go to the disaster area, and he would definitely send help and warmth. However, he knew that there was not a shortage of food in the disaster area, but a shortage of medicine.

After great tribulations come great epidemics.

Especially after major floods, infectious diseases are most likely to appear. Now it is early August and the weather is still relatively hot and humid. After the flood, the water surged, and many villages and towns were submerged. Countless people and animals were drowned in thousands of miles of land. Being soaked in water is easy to rot. Even many viruses and bacteria can easily spread in this environment.

"Alang wants to go in person?" Hongxian asked.

"You also come with me to the disaster area."

Huaiyu took Hongxian there mainly because he wanted her to recruit people there.

Although the weather has stopped and the levee on the lower reaches of the Yellow River has been saved, the flood will not disappear for a while, and many places are still soaked.

After the flood, the disaster is not over. In fact, it will become more troublesome.

Many houses in towns and villages were flooded, not to mention countless crops, including many workshops.

Even if the water subsides completely,

But this rotten paralytic is not easy to deal with.

Many crops for the autumn harvest have not yet been harvested, and now they have no harvest.

Even many houses were destroyed and there was no place to live.

For many people, this is very desperate. The family is still there, but how can life continue?

In the past, those profiteers and evil gentry liked to take advantage of disasters to harm the people, borrowing grain and money at usury, taking the opportunity to buy slaves at extremely cheap prices, and even taking the opportunity to annex other people's fields and houses at low prices.

Make a fortune from disaster.

This is how many wealthy gentry and landlords took advantage of one disaster after another to seize their lands, generation after generation.

If it is an era when the imperial government does not act, they will do whatever they want, selling high-priced grains, selling high-priced medicines, and making loan sharks.

In short, I will kill you while you are sick.

There will be many people rushing to the disaster area, picking out those children who look good, and buying them at extremely low prices. Pulling a cart of food can be exchanged for a group of people.

Wu Huaiyu is not the kind of person who wants to make a fortune from disaster.

However, post-disaster reconstruction is not that easy for many people, especially many tenants, clerks, apprentices, workers, etc. who have no property in the first place.

They have the weakest ability to withstand risks, and in the event of a major disaster, they really have nothing.

There are also few job opportunities after the disaster.

Many people can only become refugees,

Wu Huaiyu sent the doctor and medicine there, and wanted to recruit some people from there.

Skilled craftsmen from all walks of life are of course the first choice. The most important thing for so many industries in the Wu family is craftsmen.

Of course, don't be afraid if you don't have skills. As long as you have the courage, the Wu family can recruit them to Lingnan, or even to Liuqiu, Zhuya, and Luzon to open up wasteland and cultivate land. They can be hired directly as workers, or they can be run in partnership.

Anyway, the most indispensable thing in those places is land. They provide people and efforts, and the Wu family provides land and tools, etc.

In other words, it is possible to become a worker, mining, making salt, or doing work. It is always better than staying in the disaster area.

In the future, they can buy land and property in the south, have their own fields, their own houses, and even marry and have children. All they need is the courage to take the step of leaving their hometown and boldly venture out.

Huiren Pharmacy, where the Wu family sells medicine, was originally called Shu Pharmacy. Later it expanded in size and was changed to Huimin Pharmaceutical Bureau. Later, Huaiyu felt that it was still necessary to avoid taboos, so it was renamed Huiren Pharmaceutical Bureau, and finally it was changed to the current name. Huiren Pharmacy.

This hospital and Qianjintang have different focuses. Qianjintang is about consultation, prescribing and dispensing medicines.

Huiren Pharmacy mainly purchases and prepares medicinal materials, processes and prepares medicines, and sells medicines.

The specific difference between the two chain stores is that Qianjintang is like a clinic and hospital, while Huiren Medicine is like a pharmaceutical company pharmacy, but sometimes the distinction is not too detailed.

Both stores also have doctors and both dispense and sell medicines, but their focus is slightly different.

One is mainly about medical treatment, and the other is mainly about pharmaceuticals.

Nowadays, they are all leaders in the industry in the Tang Dynasty. In fact, Wu Huaiyu first set up Huimin Pharmacy in the hope of cooperating with the imperial court officials to build a large public-private partnership pharmacy.

It integrates procurement, production and sales, and focuses on affordable prices. With the help of the official power of the imperial court, this business has become bigger and flourished everywhere. It not only makes money, but also takes into account the concept of benefiting the people.

It's a pity that this matter went on and on, but in the end no cooperation was successful, so Wu Huaiyu had to do it on his own. In fact, medicine is an extremely profitable industry in any era. After all, the entry threshold is actually very high.

But it was a good plan to send money and reputation to the court, but those guys were too bureaucratic and failed to succeed.

Nowadays, Qianjintang and Huiren Medicine Institute have become the banners of private medicine. Even the Wu family has built medical schools in various academies of its own house to train doctors, nurses, pharmacies and other professional talents on a large scale. Compared with the Imperial Medical Office of the imperial court and various places, The size of the state medical school is not inferior at all.

Now, with Wu Huaiyu's order, a large number of doctors and medicines can be dispatched from all walks of life to the disaster area.

Huiren Pharmacy mainly sells cooked medicines, which are actually Chinese patent medicines. At first, they asked the court to do it together, but they were unwilling. Now the Wu family is doing it.

Not only has the main business of cooked medicines taken off, but education and training in medicine and pharmacy have also been very good. Even because of the big business, Huiren Medicine Institutes in various places have even started to do business such as lending.

Huiren Pharmaceutical Institute has high profits, large capital, and strong cash flow. It is also very smooth to use the money to do loan business. Wu Huaiyu asked Huiren Pharmaceutical Institute in various places to use part of the interest income earned from lending to specialize in some Affordable prices for commonly used medicines for common people,

We also provide free clinic services every month to help needy patients. This genuine act of kindness to the people has also won numerous praises and praises for Huiren Medicine Institute.

Seeing how profitable Huiren Medicine Institute was, some people in the imperial court proposed the implementation of a drug monopoly. The drug trade must be controlled by the imperial court. The sale of drugs is a national patent. Private individuals are not allowed to make or buy drugs.

Of course Wu Huaiyu would refute this kind of person mercilessly. Fortunately, today's Emperor is a relatively sage emperor. Although this drug is very profitable,

But the emperor was incapable of such immoral acts of robbery.

Of course, the emperor would not grab it directly, but he supported the competition, so the officials finally joined in. They created Jiren Pharmacy, which was almost completely imitated by the Wu family's Huiren Pharmacy.

After all, they also have many resource advantages, such as the Imperial Medical Office, the Shang Yao Bureau, and medical professors, teaching assistants, and medical students from various states.

Wu Huaiyu didn't mind them joining. The market was so big that even one family couldn't monopolize it, and it wasn't a good thing to be alone.

Therefore, when Wu Huaiyu faced Jiren Pharmacy, he roped in some powerful people, local powerful people, or local doctors to form a partnership when opening a new store.

In doing so, it seemed that Wu Huaiyu had given away some benefits, but in fact, the branches were opened faster and more, and he had a stronger ability to fight against Jiren Pharmacy.

This time, Huaiyu planned to first send medical condolences and provide relief in the disaster area. After building a good reputation, he would then join forces to open branches in the counties below each state.

Send doctors and medicines to provide condolences and provide disaster relief.

The slogan of the Huiren Medical Center when it first opened was to provide poor and sick people with medical treatment and medicine, so that medicine can benefit the people.

Therefore, during this time of condolences and disaster relief, all medicines are provided free of charge to the victims, and Huiren Medicine is responsible for the responsibility.

"Mix up some more medicine and we will donate it to the officials and soldiers in the disaster area,"

Huaiyu's secret message to the emperor was quickly sent from Jiangzhou to Luoyang. Li Shimin approved his request and was also satisfied with his request for instructions to transfer medicine to the disaster area.

After receiving the reply, Wu Huaiyu took a boat from Xunyang Wharf and sailed along the Yangtze River to Yangzhou, then turned into the canal and headed north to Luoyang to pay homage to the emperor, and then went down the Yellow River to visit the disaster area.

This route seems to be a big circle, but taking a boat is still more convenient and faster, especially this time he has to carry a lot of doctors and medicines.

"This time, the number of flood-affected states in the mountainous areas of Henan and Hebei reaches 30 states,"

In Yangzhou, Wu Huaiyu saw countless ships and supplies, and the flags with the word "disaster relief" were flying on the ships. These were disaster relief supplies mobilized by the Yangzhou Governor's Office, ranging from grain to cloth and even fuel charcoal, medicine, etc.

Shi Li Xiyu, the governor of Yangzhou, was the younger brother of Li Xizhi, the governor of Guizhou. They were both from the Li family in Longxi. These two brothers won the appreciation and trust of the emperor from Wude to Zhenguan Dynasty.

Li Chunfeng previously predicted that there would be floods in the Yellow River in August, and that there would be major disasters in the thirteen states downstream.

But current statistics show that a total of 30 states in Henan Province, Hebei Province and Huainan Province have experienced floods, but the situation is not too bad.

The best result would be if the Yellow River does not burst its banks and change its course to flood.

You must know that the Yellow River burst its banks and changed its course several times in history. Each time, it was only after decades of flooding that it was truly managed and a new stable river channel was formed into the sea.

The flooding in those decades created a huge yellow flood zone and displaced millions of people. Over the past few decades, there have been floods and disasters, and the people there are really in dire straits.

Although statistics say that thirty states were hit by floods this time, and the Yellow and Huaihe rivers flooded, after all, the banks did not burst and the rivers did not change their course.

The water will recede soon and homes can be rebuilt.

Moreover, we were well prepared this time, so not many people drowned and the property damage was not bad.

"After this flood, the imperial court has to take it seriously. It is necessary to carry out a comprehensive management of the Yellow and Huaihe Rivers, re-reinforce the embankments and dredge the rivers." Li Xiyu said.

That is a big project, and it cannot be cured in a year or two. Even if the court can allocate money, it will probably take several years of continuous hard work to complete it.

In fact, the biggest problem in doing such a big project these days is not money and food, but manpower.

Countless people are needed, but large-scale civil engineering is actually very dangerous. Organization and management are difficult, and it will also affect agricultural production.

"First come up with a complete management method, and then take your time. As long as you are determined, you can always manage it well." Huaiyu said.

In fact, heavy rains also hit the Yangtze River Basin this time, causing flooding in many places. However, compared with the Huanghuai Basin, it was much better, and it was not to the point of alarming the saints in the court.

Unlike the Huanghuai Flood, which affected thirty states, thirteen states were so serious that the Yellow River almost burst its banks and changed its course. If it were not for the reign of the saint in the seventh year of Zhenguan, if it had been the last year of Daye, such a big flood would have happened this time. , maybe the Yellow River really broke its banks and changed its course.

At that time, whether it is to break the embankment to the north and follow the old route of the Han Dynasty and enter the sea from Youzhou, or to go south through the Bian River and then seize the Huai River and enter the sea,

The consequences are unimaginable.

The disaster in Thirty Prefectures still sounds scary, but as Li Xiyu said, if the Huanghuai River is not controlled quickly, I am afraid that the Huanghuai River will flood and cause big trouble in the future.

Wu Huaiyu did not stop in Yangzhou and went straight to Luoyang along the canal. However, along the way, the smooth Grand Canal was actually very congested.

Countless ships from the southeast are rushing to the disaster area along the canal. Some are going to provide disaster relief, while others are going to make a fortune.

(End of this chapter)