Chapter 533 Drought? Not only Beizhi and Shandong Provinces were affected by the disaster in Ming Dynasty!
"It's already April this year, why haven't there been a few drenching rains? Maybe there's a drought?" Zhu Youjian asked in the palace in Beijing, looking at the clear sky.
Since the crossing, the weather in the North Zhili area has been relatively good, and no large-scale drought has occurred. As a result, this year, the weather seems to be a bit unfavorable, and there has been no drenching rain in the capital for a long time. Judging from the memorials reported by local governments,
It seems like the whole of Beizhi is the same.
"Your Majesty, the Comprehensive Situation Section of the Attendant's Office has reviewed the news reported from various channels in the recent period. There are signs of drought to varying degrees in most parts of Beizhi and Southern Shandong. The cabinet is discussing a drought relief plan. Fortunately, Miyun is
Most of the reservoirs and main canals leading to the capital can be used, which can minimize drought damage in the northern part of Beizhi."
"Where are the other prefectures and counties in Beizhi? Will the water conservancy facilities built in recent years be able to function?"
"Generally speaking, the existing water conservancy facilities such as channels have played a big role. The drought-affected areas in Beizhi are mainly concentrated in mountainous and dry land. The situation in Shandong is a bit serious, and the coverage of their water conservancy facilities is still not enough."
"It is proposed that the imperial brewing industry should immediately stop brewing new wine. All grains in stock will be transferred to the supply and marketing cooperative, and the supply and marketing cooperative will count the number. In addition, the decree will be sent to the inspection hall, and a special work class will be organized immediately, under the command of Grand Master Zhou, to count all the prefectures
The government offices and granaries were commissioned to conduct a thorough investigation of the actual amount of grain stored. The cabinet was notified to quickly organize personnel to understand the impact of the drought in detail, and to formulate an outline for drought relief and people's safety from this year to next autumn. The outline needs to be refined to the county and town levels.
Level. In addition, a decree was proposed to the Royal Bank that from now on overseas procurement should be fully focused on the purchase of grain. Before the end of the year, at least 300 to 5 million stone of grain should be purchased, just in case."
The areas under his control were the two grain-producing provinces of Beizhi and Shandong. As a result, these two places were hit by drought, so preparations had to be made in advance to prevent major problems.
After arranging all these, Zhu Youjian still felt a little uneasy, fearing that these measures were not enough. After wandering around the palace for a while, Zhu Youjian called the attendants on duty and said: "Pass the decree to Heaven.
In the Production Department of the Industrial Bureau, all personnel involved in the production and research and development of steam engines are on duty from now on to finalize the production of the smallest steam roller pump. They must produce 300 sets of related equipment before the end of June and transport them to the disaster-stricken counties in Shandong for installation.
Participate in drought relief. Production expenses are allocated by the uterine delivery system, and we will do our best to fight the drought at all costs."
The height of the existing steam pumps that lift water is actually not very high, only three or four meters. But these three or four meters are of great use. Raising the water in the river by three or four meters will expand the scope of irrigation.
Increase. If the three hundred sets of equipment can really work, at least more than one million acres of farmland can be planted with autumn grains, ensuring a harvest. One million acres of autumn grains, no matter what, can produce one or two million more shi of grains, it can be solved
The issue of food rations for 300,000 to 400,000 people a year.
"My lords, what is your estimate of the impact of the drought now?" A few days later, the drought was basically confirmed. Zhu Youjian hurried to the cabinet and held an imperial meeting to hear what the cabinet was doing specifically.
"Your Majesty, according to the news collected these days, the scope of the drought's impact is indeed quite large, but it is generally controllable. We have spared no effort to build water conservancy projects in the past few years, and it has paid off. According to our estimates, the production of Beizhi will be reduced this year
It can be controlled at 20% to 30%, while the situation in Shandong is more serious, and the disaster-stricken prefectures and counties have a production reduction of about 40% to 50%. According to this estimate, plus the grain reserves, the food will be enough." General Wu Gang's latest cabinet update
Judging from his answer, the situation is quite optimistic.
"Well, after listening to the Grand Master's judgment, I have relaxed my mental arithmetic a little bit. However, the imperial court still needs to take this seriously. There is no problem this year, but what if there is a natural disaster next year?
In addition, although the overall drought will not lead to a total harvest, in some prefectures and counties, especially places where irrigation facilities are not in place, people's income will be severely reduced, and there may even be no harvest. Therefore, we must make full use of the work-for-relief method to ensure that
It is a top priority that no one in the disaster-stricken area is forced to die due to drought."
"Your Majesty, we won't suffer two consecutive years of disaster, right?" Wu Di felt that Zhu Youjian's request for the cabinet to prepare for two consecutive years of drought was a bit exaggerated.
"We must be fully prepared. It is not unheard of to suffer two consecutive years of disaster. In the past few years, there were places where there were three consecutive years of drought. It will not be redundant to make adequate preparations. Also, organize
It is also key for good people to produce and save themselves. If the summer grain harvest is exhausted, the autumn grain harvest may not be exhausted. It is important to plant some grain that can be harvested in late autumn. If you can harvest more, the local governments and the Agricultural University must work hard on this."
"I will go all out to ensure the implementation of drought relief."
Just when the cabinet members were expressing their stance, Zhu Youjian noticed that Song Yingsheng didn't seem to open his mouth, so he asked: "The Prime Minister is silent. Could it be that he has some concerns?"
"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"
"Your Majesty, I think there is something we may have been negligent about. This drought has affected more than just the two provinces of Beizhi and Shandong. Judging from the information collected by the cabinet, there are also quite a few prefectures and counties in the Central Plains and Shanxi that have been affected by the weather.
Affected by drought, these places were also under the Ming Dynasty."
That's right! After being reminded by Song Yingsheng, Zhu Youjian and other people in the cabinet reacted. How come they only focused on the areas currently under actual control and forgot about other provinces. The imperial court in Beizhi and Shandong spared no effort to fight drought.
In terms of disaster relief, the overall disaster situation is controllable. The Central Plains and Shanxi are in trouble. Shanxi is a little better, at least there are people in charge. In the Central Plains, Gao Mingheng and the King of Zhou have not yet formed effective rule, and local governance has been spread around.
The remnants of the breakout army and local powerful people controlled it.
Normally, this group of people can still maintain basic order, but after a major disaster, they don't have the ability to do anything even if they want to, not to mention that most people won't do anything. If the disaster is serious, the situation will get out of control.
"I asked the intelligence department to collect intelligence on the Central Plains and Shanxi areas in a timely manner. The cabinet will respond promptly based on the intelligence feedback. In short, we cannot ignore the people of these two areas and must be prepared to receive the victims. But having said that, this
It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Liaodong is currently short of people. If two to three hundred thousand refugees come here, there will be no shortage of people to develop Liaodong.”
Sometimes bad things are also good things. The key lies in how you look at the problem. If you regard the people as a valuable resource, and refugees entering the country, they will not be a burden, but will actually be a help. The timing of this possible wave of refugees is a bit wrong.
It happened that Beizhi and Shandong were also hit by disasters. It is really rare for things in the world to be just right, and good and bad always appear at the same time.