Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 87 Disaster Relief
Since the disaster relief facilities have been built, as soon as the imperial decree arrives, all prefectures and counties will naturally start relief work for the local victims. The grain and rice allocated by the imperial court have been transported long ago and are stored in Yan'an Prefecture. , guarded by the royal guards sent by the imperial court, and the specific allocation will be made by the officials from the Ministry of Household who are responsible for disaster relief matters, and will be allocated according to the disaster situation in various prefectures and counties within the Shaanxi Chief Envoy Department.

According to the requirements of the imperial court, the whereabouts of every grain of rice must have clear accounting records, and the imperial court also arranged for Jin Yiwei to conduct overt and covert visits to the local area to supervise the disaster relief situation in various prefectures and counties. Officials who dare to embezzle money and food for disaster relief can be killed without mercy.

Although the first batch of 20 shi of grain and rice allocated by the imperial court was not much when distributed to various prefectures and counties, it was enough to last for a period of time. Zhu Tianqi also made a detailed calculation of this.

According to estimates based on the rice consumption of the people in the Ming Dynasty, each person ate about three and a half shi of rice per year, and half the amount for children. Based on this standard, a family of five would eat an average of about 20 shi of rice per year. Two shi, that is to say, the 6000 shi grains and rice are enough to feed more than [-] families of five for a year.

Naturally, there are more than 20 households affected by disasters in northern Shaanxi. However, Zhu Tianqi does not want to use the 20 shi grains and rice for a year. It only takes more than a month for the second batch of grains and rice to arrive. Calculated, a family of five only needs one stone of rice for a month, and 20 stones of rice are just enough for 100 families of disaster victims, which is [-] million people.

Of course, this is calculated according to the standards of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, and the amount of rice is also calculated based on the situation of "satisfaction". If it is only to ensure that the victims will not starve to death, the number of victims that can be supplied by 20 shi grains and rice is not enough. Can be doubled.

But even so, the government’s food supply and relief can only play a greater role in the early stage of the disaster. If the disaster expands to a certain extent and the number of victims reaches tens of millions, these grains and rice will be a drop in the bucket, so we still need to encourage the victims They "save themselves".

The so-called self-rescue is naturally the two measures mentioned above. The imperial court intervened, forcing farmers to plant cold and drought-resistant crops such as grains, and encouraging people to reclaim wasteland and expand the area of ​​cultivated land.

Although natural disasters are irreversible, we still have to fight hard and strive to harvest more food as much as possible to avoid crop failure and food shortages.

Regarding the situation of the Shaanxi Chief Envoy, Xu Guangqi had already expressed his thoughts to Zhu Tianqi in detail before, so now that Zhu Tianqi gave the order, he quickly drew up a plan and submitted it to Zhu Tianqi. Naturally, Tianqi immediately asked Wang Yuanbao to approve the red seal, put the matter in order, and quickly sent the decree to the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province.

It was difficult for the Donglin Party and officials in the DPRK, headed by Qian Qianyi and Qian Longxi, to understand the various measures launched by the imperial court during this period, as well as the emperor's excessive attention to the Chief Envoy of Shaanxi Province. He even thought that the emperor was wasting money and food and making a fuss out of a molehill.

They have also heard about the current situation of the Chief Envoy of Shaanxi Province. There is a disaster, and the number of victims is indeed larger, but it is far from the level that requires the court's deliberate attention. Officials from local prefectures and counties are enough to response.

After all, when it comes to cold disasters and droughts, Shanxi Chief Envoy, Henan Chief Envoy, Shandong Chief Envoy, and even the capital are all affected. There is also a famine, and there are also a considerable number of victims. Why does the imperial court Why should we only pay so much attention to the Chief Envoy of Shaanxi Province and be so biased?But regarding this matter, Zhu Tianqi really had no way to explain it clearly to them. He couldn't say that he was a time traveler. He had history books in his hand and knew that there would be severe droughts for several consecutive years. If the disaster in Shaanxi could not be solved, If it is contained, a large-scale peasant uprising will break out, sweeping the Central Plains and posing a threat to the rule of the Ming Dynasty, right?
And Zhu Tianqi didn't bother to explain to them. After all, no matter how much the Donglin Party and the officials in the court didn't understand or support it, he had to do it, and he could do it.

Because no one can openly stand up to oppose disaster relief, otherwise it will be morally untenable. For these ministers who "read the books of sages", who can openly oppose disaster relief and risk the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of victims? In spite of it?
They can't say such things, so they can only talk about things with money, saying that the imperial court's finances are tight, the war in Liaodong is tight, and the money and food are not enough to support them. , something is really wrong!
But in the final analysis, the money and grain allocated to the Chief Envoy of Shaanxi Province are all allocated from the internal funds. They are Zhu Tianqi's private money. Could it be said that the emperor loves the people like a son and spends his own private money? Is it wrong to use money to help the victims?

The accounts of the Ministry of Revenue are there, and it is true that the imperial court has not paid for it. Therefore, whether the officials in the imperial court support or not support this matter, there is no reason to object.

Even if Qian Qianyi and Qian Longxi are in the cabinet, Lai Zongdao and Zhou Daodeng will stand with them. Naturally, what Xu Guangqi, the chief minister of the cabinet, says will determine the final cabinet resolution.

But having said that, how the emperor spends his own private money really has nothing to do with Qian Qianyi and Qian Longxi. They don't care about this issue. The reason why they are so anxious is because they found out that they had worked hard for a long time to instigate the ministers to protest. It seems that the tax reform and the new tax law have just ended.

Although they clearly opposed the emperor, they did not dare to oppose the tax reform and the new tax law. Moreover, the new tax law has now been promoted in all provinces, prefectures and counties across the country. It is already too late to stop it. Therefore, at this critical moment, Use extraordinary measures.

The gentry and wealthy merchants in the Jiangnan area have secretly joined forces under their instruction to resist the implementation of the new tax law. These gentry and wealthy merchants are all quite powerful in the local area. If these people unite, even if they are the emperor, They don't dare to treat it with caution. At that time, as long as they provide support in the court, it will be much easier to persuade the emperor to repeal the new tax law.

But now that this countermeasure was in place, they found that the emperor seemed to ignore the problem at all. The gentry and wealthy merchants in the Jiangnan area were now making more and more noise, but the emperor's thoughts were all in Shaanxi. Don't even look this way, can they not be in a hurry?

The gentry and wealthy families in Jiangnan have so loud a voice to boycott the new tax law. How could Zhu Tianqi not know about it?However, he was not too worried, but deliberately left them alone, because he knew that these gentry and wealthy families were different from ordinary people. Even if they were shouting loudly now, they would not take any concrete measures. Even if you are afraid of sexual behavior, you will not dare to do it.

(End of this chapter)