A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 517 The imperial court buys grain from you to give you dignity

The court acted quickly to provide disaster relief. It took only three days for the first batch of food to be shipped. Chao Cuo, the imperial censor, went to Yanzhou and Yuzhou with 5,000 elite soldiers and 150,000 shi of grain.

At the same time, there was also an army of 3,000 people in Huai'an escorting 100,000 shi of grain to Qingzhou. At the same time, there were also inspection censors and embroiderers following.

Chao Cuo came from a family of officials and was very smart since he was a child. During the late emperor's time, he had been patrolling the world as a censor. He was very aware of the deceitful methods used by officials in various places and the greed of nobles and powerful people.

Therefore, although he was born into a family of officials, he repeatedly submitted letters to suppress noble and powerful officials and families from various places. He knew very well that the growth of local noble and powerful families would crowd out the living space of ordinary people and threaten the stability of the court.

During his decades as an official, he has dealt with twenty or thirty noble, powerful, and official families. It can be said that he has the trust of the royal family and is very capable. If nothing unexpected happens, he is likely to be the next prime minister.

"Ziqi, you just need to work step by step in the court. In a few years, when the old prime minister takes office, you will naturally be promoted to prime minister. Why bother to go through this muddy water?" Chao Cuo's back was straight and his eyes seemed to have infinite light. His whole person seemed to be exuding a brilliance, and his eyes seemed to have spanned thousands of mountains and rivers.

"Yuande, there are always some things that people must insist on in this life. When some people die, they are like leaves falling silently, while when some people die, the whole world mourns for them, and Taishi is the one who mourns them. Set up a biography and the people will pass it on from generation to generation.

When I was young, I studied Legalism as a teacher, then entered the palace, and after becoming an official, I toured the world. I knew the hardships of the people and saw countless shortcomings. How can you be inactive? How can I be worthy of my mentor, worthy of Your Majesty, and worthy of what I have learned? "

When Chen Shuo heard this, he was slightly startled, and then became indifferent. There must be no one who is unwilling to pursue this highest honor in life.

"What's more, this time there is a severe drought in the Central Plains, and my hometown is also involved. Although I am not talented, how can I sit back and watch when my hometown is in trouble?"

"Your Majesty will cherish this farewell."

The problems in Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Qingzhou are not particularly serious. Yanzhou and Yuzhou are the essence of the Central Plains, while Qingzhou is the land of the Huaihe River and has been a prosperous area since ancient times.

The land here is flat, the degree of development is extremely high, and the population is extremely large. It is precisely because the population here is so large that in the event of various natural disasters, the food in Changpingcang will not be enough.

Once someone pulls the flag at this time, a large number of people can be gathered immediately, and it will take a lot of time to pacify them. At that time, it is very likely that this exquisite land will be destroyed.

Fortunately, the imperial court issued an edict that those who joined bandits in order to survive and had not committed serious crimes, as long as they did not commit serious crimes such as murder and arson, would be pardoned, asked to surrender, and distributed food.

The royal family knew the situation at the bottom. There was a severe drought, the fields were harvestless, the people's stocks were exhausted, and there was not much food for disaster relief in various places. At this time, people who want to survive can only steal and rob.

After seeing the court's disaster relief food arriving, as long as the court pardons their crimes, these people will soon surrender and the chaos will disperse immediately.

Daqian's rule here is still very stable, and the counties and counties have not been lost. They are doing their best to maintain order around them and restrain the people. The few rebellions were quickly suppressed after being felt by the army.

Although the number of refugees continues to increase, the situation is quickly stabilizing after receiving disaster relief food from the court. Nobles, powerful people, and official families from all over the country also cooperated and donated some food. After all, if there are some desperate people who gather a large number of refugees to attack their manor, they will not be able to withstand it. In addition, the person who came this time was Chao Cuo. These noble, powerful, and official families knew that he was a ruthless master and did not dare to act recklessly.

At the same time, in addition to official disaster relief, the imperial court also encouraged merchants from all over the country to transport food here for sale.

The tax revenue of the Daqian court was not high. As long as local governments did not collect various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the people would still have some spare money. Chao Cuo wanted to minimize losses during this disaster relief. If anyone dared to play tricks on him, Chao Cuo would have his whole family killed and the three tribes exiled.

These victims must be allowed to bathe in the grace of His Majesty the Emperor Daqian.

The arrival of the mighty and powerful cadres and soldiers made the local nobles, powerful people, and officials and families feel trembling with fear. Peasants and soldiers from all over the country were also summoned. After receiving military orders, they led a group of soldiers back to the counties and counties.

Chao Cuo summoned grain merchants from all over the Central Plains, as well as wealthy people such as powerful people and nobles, at the Yamen, and then collected grain from them according to the average grain price of the previous three years.

Those merchants who dared to hoard goods and sell grain at high prices were directly ordered to have their homes raided by Chao Cuo. With the lessons learned from the past, no wealthy and wealthy family insisted on having a chance to touch him, so they all honestly sold grain to him.

The court is willing to talk to you calmly, and you'd better accept it with dignity. After all, the court will not always be so calm. With a large army guarding them, those who dare to make small moves are just making fun of their own three tribes, hoping to make them happy.

Chao Cuo originally only had 150,000 shi of grain, which was not enough to provide relief to the millions of victims in the two states, but he purchased hundreds of thousands more shi of grain from these wealthy families, and his food supply immediately became abundant.

Immediately afterwards, Chao Cuo began to use work-for-relief, repairing water conservancy facilities in various places, and repairing the Chidao Canal. At the same time, he began to move some refugees to Ryukyu Fuso, Hehuang Valley, Liaodong, Jiangnan and other places.

The population in the Central Plains is too concentrated. In the past, it was difficult for the imperial court to relocate the population here. Only in such a disaster year can people be relocated in large numbers.

Under Chao Cuo's strong rule, order was quickly restored in Yanzhou and Yuzhou. At the same time, the situation in Qingzhou and northern Xuzhou was also brought under control. The imperial court specially asked the Marquis of Zhenhai to lead the navy to Qingzhou and brought a large amount of fish, meat and rice.

At the same time, the Marquis of Zhenhai issued an order that anyone who could transport food to the disaster area, whether a powerful person or a businessman, would receive salt in proportion.

There is Changlu Salt Farm in Qingzhou, which produces a lot of salt. You can easily exchange salt for a large amount of food. At the same time, Wang Chi, the Marquis of Zhenhai, migrated a large number of people from Qingzhou to Ryukyu and Fusang in the south of the Yangtze River.

The royal family attaches great importance to overseas affairs. Unfortunately, the people of Daqian would rather go to the Western Regions, Southern Xinjiang, and Hehuang than go overseas. Therefore, until now, the population of Daqian on the Daliuqiu Islands is less than 10,000 households. , as for Fusang, the population has just reached 3,000 households.

Now that there is a severe drought in Qingzhou, some people can migrate overseas to enrich Ryukyu and Fusang.

(End of this chapter)