Yan Shifan widened his one eye, listened carefully to He Shen's reaction, and thought about whether he could take the opportunity to make a fortune.
“It’s not just disaster relief.”
When talking about business, Yan Song's face became serious: "The Yellow River has cut many holes, but the most deadly one is in Xingyang."
"When the sediment from the Yellow River was washed away, the entire area from Xingyang to Bianzhou suffered. The sediment and debris accumulated, and the river became choked and almost even with the bank."
"From Bianzhou to Songzhou, there was initially flood irrigation. Tens of thousands of hectares of farmland along both sides of the river were washed away, and countless refugees fled. The most important thing is that the Tongji Canal from Xingyang to Bianzhou merged with the Bian River.
"
"The sediment in the Yellow River not only blocked the Tongji Canal, but also blocked the Bian River! Therefore, after the initial flood, the water level in the downstream Tongji Canal began to drop, and there was a risk of the river drying up!"
"The State of Zheng sent envoys over a few days ago to complain to the imperial court and ask the imperial court to help them with disaster relief and dredge the river channel of Tongji Canal."
At this point, he saw that Heshen was still confused, so he continued: "If it is not dredged again, this year's water transportation will be gone."
Water transport!
He Shen was excited and suddenly raised his spirits.
The imperial court had several lifelines, and water transportation accounted for one of them.
Although the grain production in the Guanzhong Plain area where the capital is located ranks among the top in the country, it is simply unable to feed and clothe its huge population.
The grain consumed by the imperial officials, craftsmen, common people, and the imperial army in the capital alone is a huge amount every year, and the grain production in the Guanzhong region can only sustain more than half of the consumption.
It can't even be self-sufficient, let alone supply food and wages for the five-border imperial army further north.
Such a huge food gap can be filled mainly from two sources.
First, the imperial court had several grain-producing counties in the south, and their grain was shipped north.
The second is the symbolic tribute paid by the vassal states every year.
The process of transporting grain from the south to the north by the imperial court and transporting grain from the southern vassal states to the north is called water transport.
Because the vassal states were scattered and scattered, water transportation had multiple starting points in the south, but no matter how it was transported, it was inseparable from this section of the Tongji Canal from Xuyi to Xingyang.
If there is a problem with the Tongji Canal, water transportation will be cut off.
If the water transportation is cut off and so many people near the capital are unable to eat, big trouble will definitely occur. If it goes one step further and the border troops are also cut off from food, it will even cause a mutiny, and then the whole campaign will be over.
He Shen suppressed the discomfort in his stomach and glanced at Yan Song with amusement.
If the soldiers of the border army rebelled and returned to the capital, they would first behead Yan Song, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Of course, he and Shen couldn't run away, it was just the difference between starting on the road earlier and starting later.
Thinking that he was going to be beheaded, He Shen shuddered: "Is the alum landscape so fierce this year?"
According to what Yan Song said, it is so serious that the watercourse of the Bianhe River has been filled up. Whether water transportation can be opened within this year is a question.
“A dike built a thousand miles away does not collapse in one day.”
Yan Song said slowly: "It rained early this year, and the Peach Blossom Flood in February was extremely ferocious. Fortunately, the counties along the coast worked together to fight the flood, and the levee was saved."
"In April, when the wheat floods came, it also caught up with three consecutive days of torrential rain. Although several embankments were washed away this time, the officers and soldiers and the people worked together as a team thanks to the commanders of the county and county chiefs commanding on the embankments day and night.
Working together, we didn’t make a big mistake.”
"It rained so much in the spring that I thought it was all over this year. No matter how severe the summer floods are, they will never surpass the Maihuang floods."
Speaking of this, Yan Song sighed softly: "Master He, do you remember the rain in the capital a few days ago?"
"Of course I remember."
He Shen seemed to realize something: "Xingyang is also falling?"
"Two days after the heavy rain in the capital, it rained not only in Xingyang, but also in Luoyang upstream. The water level in the upper reaches skyrocketed, and the alum mountains and rivers surged thousands of miles away, flooding the ocean!"
"Xingyang has just experienced two floods, and the dam was already loose and cracked. Two months was not enough to repair it, so... it was out of control."
Hiss~
Mr. He took a deep breath, it was horrifying to think about that scene: "But the officials did not receive any relief documents!"
"That's because I and the right prime minister have been discussing specific matters."
In the power distribution of Daqian, the six departments of Shangshu Province are the executors, while the two departments of Zhongshu and Menxia are the ones who make decisions.
But He Shen is a person who has the ability to mess up their decisions, so they also have to consider He Shen's opinion.
Yan Song raised his eyelids: "After discussing it for so long, I have already come up with some ideas."
It's just that He Shen was obviously a little out of shape today. He just felt that his stomach was churning all the time, and he especially wanted to cut the knot quickly: "Prime Minister Yan, it's not up to me to decide who to send to dredge the Ji Canal, right?"
For such a big matter, an imperial envoy must be sent.
“We can’t just dredge the canals, but also provide relief to the victims.”
Yan Song frowned and said: "The number of civilians needed to dredge the canal is countless. Both sides of the river have been severely affected. The imperial court is no longer able to recruit civilians there."
"We can only repatriate those fleeing victims and let them build the river!"
He Shen understood Yan Song's thoughts at once: "Prime Minister Yan said... work in lieu of relief?"
"good!"
Yan Song nodded: "This is the only way for now. This is also the consensus reached by me and Prime Minister Qin."
But He Shen kept frowning, firstly because he felt that the clear soup noodles in his stomach were struggling to escape, and secondly because of what Yan Song said.
Work-for-relief generally refers to letting the victims work and rebuild their homes, and in the process, paying them remuneration to maintain their livelihood. This was first advocated by Yanzi of Qi State, but this thing is not applicable in all places.
On the surface it seems to kill two birds with one stone, rebuilding their homes and allowing the victims to survive, but in practice there are some minor drawbacks.
For example, an ordinary adult disaster victim can barely survive on one piece of corn pancake a day.
But if he is asked to do work such as building embankments and opening rivers, three corn pancakes a day may not be enough.
The difference is three times as huge. If it is put on one person, it will only consume two more cakes a day, but if it is put on tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of disaster victims, it will consume hundreds of thousands more cakes a day.
It's only one day!
How is it possible to do this kind of food-for-work program if there is no food?
Now that the canal is blocked, how can the court get food?
But Mr. He felt that since Yan Song and Qin Hui could come up with this method, they must have a solution.
"What Prime Minister Yan said makes sense!"
He Shen nodded solemnly: "I will definitely discuss this matter with Prime Minister Yan tomorrow! But I still have a lot of official duties today, so I won't do more to accompany you."
He Shen really couldn't stand it anymore. He even felt that every time he opened his mouth to speak, he would face the risk of losing the barrier.
It's not the pass below, which hasn't been digested that quickly, but the pass above.
After forcing down those two bowls of noodles, the adults and I almost vomited.
Yan Song was startled. He didn't expect He Shen to be so impatient: "That's right."
"It is difficult to decide on such a big matter in a hurry. We should wait for detailed discussions at the meeting tomorrow."
Small matters should not be brought to the court meeting, but such major matters that are difficult to coordinate must still be discussed clearly at the court meeting.
Moreover, this matter also involves military generals. Yan Song brings it up now because he just wants to talk to He Shen and at least establish a civil and official united front.