Red Mansion Reader

Chapter 118 The night lights up the night (don't subscribe yet, this chapter needs to be overhauled)

When Wei Yinghong set the tone of this discussion, the officials under him had a general direction.Now that the magistrate has decided to recruit farmers to renovate the guarantee lake and strengthen the embankment of the Second River.

"My lord, will we still recruit corvée from the state capital next year?" Someone asked.

Wei Yinghong shook his head, and resolutely refused: "The disaster relief has already exhausted the people and money, so we should send an official document to the counties in the government to let the people cultivate and grow at home next year, so that they can farm at home and don't miss the autumn harvest."

"Also, let them sort out the situation in the county and make preparations for next year's flood prevention. If there are difficulties in the county, don't hide it, and report it quickly."

An official bowed his head and wrote vigorously, writing down all the words of the magistrate, and then notifying the county magistrates that it was his job.

"Your Excellency is wise." Someone got up and praised, is this a lie.

If the strong men outside the city can replace the corvee of the people in Yangzhou, it will be a good thing for both parties.

The people in the city will definitely praise this matter, and the reputation of the government office can also be raised to a higher level.

Wei Yinghong stretched out his hand to signal the official to sit down, and then continued to the others: "Continue to talk about other refugees."

"Also?" Someone lowered his head and looked at the list circulated in his hands.Leaving aside more than 4 strong laborers, thousands of old and homeless widows and children were left outside.In the rest of the list, there are less than [-] women and children.

But aren't these people all family members of civilian husbands?In our city of Yangzhou, we can't find any jobs for them to do, can we?
An official asked in a low voice: "My lord, what do you mean?"

"You can't just leave them alone." Wei Yinghong's face showed a firm look. It is better to teach someone to fish than to give him a fish. Everyone knows this truth.

"Do you want to give them a loan?"

This is a method that has been handed down since the Spring and Autumn Period. Food, seeds, livestock, farm tools, etc. are lent to the victims in need, so as to maintain the livelihood of the victims and restore agricultural production.

Some people objected on the spot, "Isn't this just a joke? All the men in their family have come out to be peasant husbands. How do you let the women farm the land? We go there to prepare so many cattle. Besides, go there to find so many fields."

"Since you can't do the work, why don't you give more wages to the peasants? Also let them live with peace of mind?"

Only halfway through the words, the official in charge of the treasury stood up and retorted, "Have you ever counted more than 4 people, how much is it if you add a little? Over the years, there are some savings in the treasury, but if you want to spend it like this, How long do we have to keep them? Don't even think about it."

Seeing the dispute in the arena, Wei Yinghong glanced at Lin Ruhai and Huang Weizhong.The latter two nodded tacitly, and both felt that it was time to take out the booklet.

"Wait a minute, everyone, let's take a look at this brochure first." Wei Yinghong coughed a few times, and as soon as he finished speaking, the master behind the screen came out with a bunch of brochures. When everyone saw that the prefect looked prepared, they hurriedly took the brochures .

Seeing that his subordinates were reading carefully, Wei Yinghong simply picked up some tea and had a drink.

Lin Ruhai's gaze paused for a while, and he looked at the door over the colleagues beside him. In the sunshine of the room, it seemed that there was Chen Heng standing there confidently and eloquently.

It should be said that Chen Heng's perspective is quite advanced. He first stood at the end of the long river of time, starting to look back after the fall of Yangzhou, and his vision was always different from that of the current people.

Hundreds of years later, Zhu Ziqing described his hometown with a slightly sentimental taste, "When mentioning the place name Yangzhou, many people think of the place where women are born."

Reconnecting to today, the people in Yangzhou city look rich and healthy.No one can connect the two together, but if you really unfold the context, everything becomes traceable again.

Yangzhou prospered because of the salt government, but it also relied too much on the salt government.Cover the word Yanzheng with your hands, and the impression of Yangzhou left by the world now seems to be only famous prostitutes and skinny horses.

From this, we can see the so-called prosperity of Yangzhou, and the degree of danger hidden in the dark.But spreading these things now is undoubtedly alarmist. Chen Heng doesn't want to be a weirdo in the eyes of others.

He switched his gaze to the refugees this time. The men still have a place to go, but what about the women?

It is convenient to sit on the Changjiang River and the Huaihe River, and there are canals running through the north and south, and lakes are scattered all over the east and west.The advantages of Yangzhou's terrain make it possible to create a large market.

It's a pity that so far, the commercial routes from south to north have only brought finished products here for sale, but there are no commendable finished products in Yangzhou that are sold all over the country, why?

Just because the people in Yangzhou are too comfortable.He was so comfortable that even the business of salt merchants was held in the hands of merchants from Shanxi and Huizhou.

They only need to collect the rent, drink tea, and repeat the happiness of every day.

Wanting to forcibly drive such Yangzhou people to participate in production and creation is undoubtedly the result of getting twice the result with half the effort.

Who is willing to live a comfortable life and go to do coolie with you.

But this time the refugees gave Yangzhou a chance to take off again. They need money, jobs, family support, and a city that can accept them temporarily, or forever.

Among the refugees, the life of the men is well arranged.According to Chen Heng's conception, on the premise of flooding, after dredging the river and protecting the lake, they should also save enough capital to survive.

But women are going to have a headache, and there are really not many things that can suit them.

The method Chen Heng came up with was to pick up the declining Yangxiu again.

Yangzhou embroidery was once as famous as Suzhou embroidery, until a large number of Anhui merchants poured in during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. The merchants who became rich due to the salt administration wantonly swayed their gold and silver in Yangzhou.

Over time, Yangzhou's famous tertiary industry has been born directly.

"There are thousands of movements in this metropolis. There are often some in other remote cities, where they live by laughing and selling themselves all day long." A scholar surnamed Xie in the former Ming Dynasty described the women in Yangzhou in just a few lines. Life is summed up clearly.

This kind of industry is a double-edged sword. Although it attracts tourists from all over the world, it brings a lot of income to the government.But it also forced many Yangzhou people to lock their wives and daughters at home.Anyway, there is rent at home, if you go out to show your face all day long, people will think what our family does.

It's just that when the Yangzhou officials realized this, almost all the female workers who were good at embroidery had dispersed, and the rest were old embroidery workers, and it would be useless to try to save them.

This time, if Chen Heng hadn't specifically pointed out that the women and children among the refugees could be used for Yangzhou embroidery, Wei Yinghong would have never imagined that this has declined.

If rouge and perfume can be produced together, then Yangzhou will no longer be a monster relying solely on salt administration.

Wei Yinghong and Lin Ruhai also saw this, that's why they took out the wasteland in the west of the city, and planned to build a brocade street described by Chen Heng there.

Gather tens of thousands of small workshops in one place, and the government office will end in person, with a one-year exemption and a three-year reduction.In addition, he sent people to teach women's crafts. Wei Yinghong was very confident that he could accomplish this.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, and what is more difficult than the beginning is the idea and people.Now that there are tens of thousands of women in hand, there is no need to worry about them not doing it.

Chen Heng concluded at the end of the article: "Nowadays, knitting is prevalent in the world, and various techniques are no longer what they used to be. Cotton fabrics are produced in Songjiang and Suzhou, and silk fabrics and raw silk are produced in Huzhou and Jiaxing."

"The climate in Huzhou and Jiaxing is similar to Yangzhou. You can go here to learn silkworm breeding techniques. You can learn skills from Suzhou and Songjiang. With the help of business travel in the city, this matter can be achieved."

The officials in the hall read the contents of the brochure, and some of them didn't realize it, and asked blankly, "What about the rest of the food, clothing and housing?"

"You're stupid, other people have made money, and you're still worried that they won't be able to eat or wear clothes?"

"Is there enough wasteland in the west of the city?"

"Enough, if not, you can add more. The west side of the city is close to the Yellow River, and few people will go there to sell land. We just need to raise the foundation to ensure that the Yellow River will not be flooded when it floods."

"Where's the money in our treasury?" Someone looked at his colleague.

Those who manage money like to hear about open source the most. At this moment, after pondering for a moment, they gritted their teeth and said, "If your lord really wants to do it, we can get through it by gritting our teeth, but next year we will go to the salt merchants to make some connections. They help with the expenses of the Li Academy."

It was good for a group of people to discuss the matter here, and Wei Yinghong didn't expect them to come up with any solution immediately.Things should be done step by step, he and Lin Ruhai looked at each other with a smile, and then said kindly to Huang Weizhong: "Help me go outside the city and see what that kid is doing."

"Yes, my lord."

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Under the background of this era, the people of Yangzhou City are still comfortable and at ease.Xue Biao, Qian Dayou and others went out for half a day, and then came back with several carts of old clothes and quilts.

No family is short of a few worn-out clothes, and you don’t need donations from left and right, so these clothes are useless on weekdays.Before, no one asked them to ask for it, but seeing someone speak up today, they can accumulate merit by simply taking it out.

In the city of Yangzhou with more than 100 million people, you have to say that except for the big households in the head, everyone else is living a miserable life.Chen Heng didn't believe it. The economic situation of any commercial city was like a pyramid.

If you want to compare the current Yangzhou with a city in later generations, after thinking about it, only that city is suitable.Foreigners come to do business, locals collect rent lying down, and occasionally find a job to pass the time, or invite friends to drink tea.

At this time, it was time to take out the list made by Du Yunjing, and Chen Heng began to distribute it according to the old and weak, women and children, and paid special attention to those small households with children at home.

Seeing the smiling faces of the victims who received the clothes, Xue Biao and Qian Dayou felt that their hard work was not in vain.After drinking several cups of tea in the greenhouse, he asked Chen Heng, "Brother Heng, what are we going to do next?"

"Keep going, it will take at least two or three days." Chen Heng signaled them not to worry, "Right now, we still have to wait for news from the government office."

"Fuya?!" Xue Biao and the others didn't know what Chen Heng was planning, so they could only suppress their doubts.I asked for 50 more people from my friends, and rushed to the city again.

Not long after these two left, Huang Weizhong, the magistrate of the prefecture, came over with Wei Yinghong's order.As soon as Huang Weizhong arrived at the scene, he saw dense crowds of people outside the porridge shop.

Looking around, Huang Weizhong can clearly feel the changes in the refugees.Three or five groups of people were standing in the distance talking, and the expressions on their faces were a little relaxed, and they were no longer as alert and cautious as they used to be.

Master Zhizhou screamed in his heart that it was a good thing, as long as the victims were willing to speak up, it would be a good sign.

He first went to the porridge shop to check the consistency of today's white rice porridge.There are special regulations in the Dayong Law, which is commonly known as "chopsticks float and heads fall to the ground", and there is also a saying that "the scarf does not leak".

After all, I hope that the refugees can have enough food.Wei Yinghong asked Huang Weizhong to personally manage the granary and righteous warehouse in the mansion, which is tantamount to equating the porridge for disaster relief with his black gauze hat.

Seeing that everything was correct, Huang Weizhong came to the shed and sat beside Chen Heng who had been waiting for a long time.

"My lord." When Chen Heng and Huang Weizhong met for the first time, they couldn't make up their minds about the conversation at the moment. After saluting and saying hello, they stood by the side with their hands down.

"You did a good job." As soon as we met, Huang Weizhong couldn't help but praise.Not only because Chen Heng changed the atmosphere of the camp in just a few days, but also because he was able to get through the refugees immediately and thought of a way to open source.

If this happens, Yangzhou can really prosper for another hundred years.

Chen Heng thought that Zhizhou was a matter of boasting about the camp, so he naturally didn't dare to take the credit, and gave all the credit to the students of the major academies. After all, without these sincere scholars, no matter how many ideas he had, it would be useless.

Huang Weizhong didn't point it out, he just pulled the other party and asked about the current situation in the camp.

When the two sat together, it was mainly Chen Heng who was talking, and Huang Weizhong mostly nodding his head.

After Chen Heng finished talking about the past few days, Zhizhou also recalled it in his heart, and told Chen Heng what the government had just decided.

When I heard that the government office decided to set up Yangzhou embroidery.Chen Heng didn't feel too surprised, but was a little excited.

As the person in charge of this plan, he thought more deeply.

The advantages of this matter have been placed on the bright side, and there is another dark side, which is not easy for ordinary people to know.

If a large number of laborers suddenly flooded into a city, the idlers and day laborers in the city would be afraid that they would take away their jobs. This kind of contradiction and panic are irreconcilable.

Now for these refugees, the men are responsible for the corvee service in the government office.Women find another way.Basically, it will not affect the current life of Yangzhou people, but will make them live more comfortably.

This is the beginning of Yangzhou people truly accepting refugees.

As long as they are given some time for each other, Chen Heng believes that the two people will be able to slowly merge together.

Huang Weizhong was still talking, when he mentioned that the government office was going to distribute money to the old and weak, women and children.

Chen Heng thought of another idea, and asked: "Since we are ready to send money to the old and weak, women and children, and enter the city, why don't we make this matter more lively."

"Lively?!" Huang Weizhong is from Shandong, and he values ​​and upholds the rules in his bones. Although he didn't object, he still feels disgusted with the word in his heart.

Chen Heng was not aimless, he said frankly: "My lord, although the refugees are now letting go of their guard, most people are still frightened rabbits, easy to be startled. You see, the city gate has been open for half a day, and there are still very few refugees coming and going in the city. Not many."

"They are nothing more than worried that the people of Yangzhou look down on them. The government government regards them as passing locusts and treats them as a burden. If you really want to feel at ease, why don't you come and send them the money on the spot.

One is to show the refugees, and the other is to establish the credibility of the government. "

As soon as Huang Weizhong heard it, he came to his senses and said with a smile, "You want to learn from Shang Yang's bounty for standing trees." After understanding Chen Heng's thoughts, he immediately changed his tone, "Then how much do you think is appropriate?"

"It doesn't need much, three to five thousand taels is enough." Chen Heng knew that this kind of thing just needs to be a gimmick.If you really want to get 5000 to [-] taels, putting it outside the city will disturb the order.

Everything should not be too much, as long as the refugees can see the sincerity of the government office.

"Is there any more?" Huang Weizhong had already been aroused by Chen Heng's desire to communicate, so he simply asked directly.

"Is there any porridge shop in the city for them?" Chen Heng asked. This person has already gone to the city, so there is no reason for him to go out of the city to buy porridge every day.

"This matter is easy." Huang Weizhong said indifferently, "At that time, half of the refugees and half of the neighbors will be invited. We will directly open porridge shops in the city and deliver food to the refugees."

This is the best, Chen Heng nodded happily.

"What else do you want, let's talk about it together while I'm here." Huang Weizhong looked at Chen Heng's appearance and always felt that the other party could make something out of him.

"My lord, I..." Seeing Huang Weizhong's friendly eyes, Chen Heng smiled and said cheekily, "I want to get some things in the city to play tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

Seeing the mysteriousness he said, Huang Weizhong asked curiously, "What is it?"

Chen Heng looked around, put his head into the other's ear, and whispered for a while.

After hearing this, Huang Weizhong didn't think much, just waved his hand and said, "You can figure it out, just pay attention to safety."

Seeing that Chen Heng had nothing else to do, Huang Weizhong simply got up and prepared to go back with a few subordinates.But before leaving, he suddenly stopped while holding the horse rope, and asked, "Did you not finish writing your law and order book?"

Chen Heng blinked and asked in confusion, "Lack of security?"

"That's what the magistrate gave it a name." Huang Weizhong thought about the brochure he was reading, and he always felt that there was something behind, and he was very scratching his heart.

"I don't know where my lord saw it?" Chen Heng was also a little confused, it didn't make sense, except for some things that should not be said, he basically wrote clearly.

"What about persuading Sang to plant silkworms? You have no follow-up?" Huang Weizhong stared.

Only then did Chen Heng realize that Wei Yinghong had only read half of the book to him.Can't help holding back a smile and said: "No, it's really gone."

"Okay, I'll take it as what you're telling the truth." Huang Weizhong nodded his hand, and got on his horse with a smile.

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All the officials in the hall had dispersed, and Wei Yinghong chatted with Lin Ruhai in a good mood.He took out Chen Heng's book again, pointed to it and said, "I'm going to present it to His Majesty, what do you think?"

"Yes." Lin Ruhai nodded, and said again: "Don't talk too much, this kid shouldn't show his head."

"I know, I know. Hahahaha!" Wei Yinghong narrowed his eyes and couldn't stop laughing, "Wait a while for Master Pei to come, I'll tell you two interesting things."

"say what?"

People really can't help talking about it, as soon as Pei Huaizhen was mentioned, the head of the mountain had already walked in with a cane.

The two greeted their mentor and met again in the afternoon.While talking about the topic, let's talk back to Wei Yinghong's matter just now.

"Do you still remember the article Chen Heng wrote with Cui Youdao and Du Yunjing when he took the government examination for the first time?"

Seeing that Wei Yinghong wanted to show off, Pei Huaizhen urged impatiently, "Say it quickly."

"I sent the articles of the three of them to His Majesty at that time." Wei Yinghong's eyes wandered around the two of them, and picked a soft persimmon that was easy to pinch, "Ruhai, would you like to guess what Your Majesty is doing?" Back to me?"

Lin Ruhai didn't even bother to talk to him, and poured tea for Pei Huaizhen on his own.

Wei Yinghong was not annoyed, and laughed loudly: "Hahahahahaha, Your Majesty said, Hahahaha, Wei Qing, you are an official, sometimes even I can't understand it."

　The revision is over, so be it, for this chapter, I read the literature all night yesterday, and I wanted to cry. "Speaking of Yangzhou, the ups and downs of the commercial capital of Ming and Qing Dynasties", I finished reading it all night.I wrote another [-] words, sorted it out, explained the content that can be explained first, and said the rest slowly later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)