After arriving at the Yamen of Tongzhou Prefecture, Ye An saw this "powerful man", an ordinary little old man with a smile that seemed amiable and cunning.
The old man was in good spirits and walked very fast, almost spinning down the steps. He crossed his hands and saluted Fan Zhongyan and Ye An and said, "Oh! The two heavenly officials are finally here! I have been waiting for you for a long time!"
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Ye An glanced at Fan Zhongyan inexplicably, but saw him looking at him with the same doubt, and quickly returned the greeting: "Wu Zhizhou is polite, Tongzhou is doing very well under your rule now, why do you expect me and other comfort envoys who are responsible for disaster relief?
!”
Fan Zhongyan even laughed and said: "Of course! Everywhere I go, I and Changsheng die of hunger, which is not a good thing. On the contrary, it's you in Tongzhou..."
"Oh! You two don't know something! I, the Tongzhou government office, can't hold it any longer!"
Fan Zhongyan and Ye An's expressions changed. Wu Zunlu's words made their hearts sink to the bottom. The current situation in Tongzhou is so good. If they can't hold on anymore, what should the people here do?
Ye An asked tentatively: "Why can't I hold on anymore? If there is anything I can do to help, Wu Zhizhou doesn't have to be polite!"
Hearing this, Fan Zhongyan also nodded repeatedly and said: "That's right, that's right. I, Tong Changsheng, have the responsibility to appease and relieve disasters. If An Dao has any inconvenience, you can tell me equally and he will do his best to help!"
After Ye An and Fan Zhongyan finished talking, Wu Zunlu was overjoyed and said: "Ah! This is what you two have been waiting for! God help me! People from nearby prefectures are pouring into this prefecture, but the prefectural government really has no money to provide relief, and can't watch them.
Living on the street with nowhere to stay, I thought about using my salary to buy straw mats, build hundreds of thatched houses, and buy vegetables and rice to house and relieve the victims. But the most important thing for these people is that they are traveling with the disaster.
, although there is a place to stay, there is no medicine! The two angels were sent by the government to appease them and make them patrol the Jianghuai River and provide relief to the victims. Naturally, they will not begrudge this little money..."
Good guy, this is making you pay for it!
Ye An nodded with a wry smile and said: "What Wu Zhizhou said is reasonable. Naturally, we will not watch the victims die of illness. The government has ordered the three departments to allocate funds for relief, so naturally there is no need to spend less..."
"Cough cough cough... what Chang Sheng said makes sense..."
Fan Zhongyan hurriedly hurried to the side, but he was still a step too late. He didn't have time to interrupt Ye An's words. The imperial court gave money to the disaster relief, but the current disaster is quite serious. Tongzhou can save a little bit. If it connects a border like Tongzhou
All disaster relief funds have to be spent, so how can other places do it?
Moreover, Fan Zhongyan was still worried about other things. Before he could speak, Wu Zunlu said: "The people in Tongzhou have almost no need to be rescued. The more victims there are in the neighboring prefectures, and we will wait for the victims to come to rescue them. But the disaster situation is about to get better. As long as we go south,
When the food arrived in Jianghuai, the price of food naturally dropped, but how should the people go back? I still have to send it back to Tongzhou, so it is better to distribute transportation and arrange for boats or oxcarts to supply food along the way!"
Fan Zhongyan knew that Wu Zunlu was asking for money from the court. What he did was not wrong, but once he did this, it would be difficult to praise him. After all, other state capitals wanted money, and he also wanted money. How could he praise him in a disaster situation?
?
If we talk about the merits of resettlement... this is mostly seen and believed. Other state capitals are not without disaster relief measures, but the effects are different.
Unexpectedly, Ye An replied from the side: "Well! What Wu Zhizhou said is reasonable. The money that should be given will naturally not be less. Is 50,000 yuan enough?"
"Enough! Enough!"
Wu Zunlu immediately screamed, with a hint of trembling in his voice. He had thought a lot, but he never expected that Ye An could actually give out such a huge sum of 50,000 guan. You must know that 50,000 guan can buy 100,000 shi of grain shipped back from the south!
One hundred thousand stones is one million buckets...
Fan Zhongyan on the side looked at Ye An with wide eyes, fifty thousand guan?! The officials allocate a total of 200,000 guan from the Third Division, and a quarter of it was used in one go... No, they had already spent time with Yingtian Mansion before.
Suzhou spent more than 100,000 yuan...
Wu Zunlu looked at Fan Zhongyan with some pride. The little old man's eyes were full of dissatisfaction with the old Fan, but of course he praised Ye An as a "good young man".
He took Ye An's hand and said, "You are a young man, you are more courageous than your elders, and you know how to help the victims! What does your reputation mean? I even gave up my salary for the victims!"
Fan Zhongyan was slightly dissatisfied and said: "Look at what you said, it's full of complaints! How can the imperial court reduce your salary? But 50,000 guan is too much... Immortality! 50,000 guan..."
Before Fan Zhongyan could finish speaking, Ye An suddenly laughed and said: "What's going on, Mr. Fan? Fifty thousand guan flowers are worth it! If Tongzhou can become the place where disaster relief is in the Jianghuai River, let alone 50,000 guan, it will cost tens of thousands more."
It’s worth it! With Tongzhou as the front station, firstly, it can absorb the victims, secondly, it can go to the south by sea to buy grain and transport it to various places in the Jianghuai River, and thirdly, it can also resettle the victims, reduce the pressure on other state capitals, and give them relief.
The time and space are worth it more than anything else! Do you think it’s Wu Zhizhou?!”
"ah?!"
Wu Zunlu had no intention of absorbing any more victims, let alone sending another fleet to purchase grain from the south to support the entire Jianghuai area on his own!
Ye An's words were like putting him on the fire, but Fan Zhongyan, who understood, laughed loudly and said: "Oh! I forgot, what Changsheng said makes sense! Tongzhou is the gateway to Jianghuai shipping, Chongming Town, and Haimen Town are both big ports.
Leah!"
Ye An smiled and took Wu Zunlu's hand and said, "Wu Zhizhou, the Jianghuai disaster depends on you in Tongzhou. I will send someone to tell Tongzhou to treat the victims regardless of their place of origin. All victims of the Jianghuai disaster can come to Tongzhou."
To avoid disasters, you can also distribute food and drinks and prepare meals when you leave! Look, if you come to Wu Zhizhou, you will be famous in Jianghuai... no, famous all over the world!"
"This is not about becoming famous all over the world. This is killing me! Who dares to make such bold statements? If this happens, the number of victims in Tongzhou will skyrocket. By then..."
Just when Wu Zunlu was about to complain, Fan Zhongyan interrupted him and said: "Hey! You can't say that. As an official of the country, serving the country and governing the four directions for the officials are what you should do. How can you shirk it like this?
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Fan Zhongyan was very unhappy with Wu Zunlu's previous behavior of "blackmailing" him. Although the two had been friends for many years, they could not take advantage of it just because of this.
Unexpectedly, Wu Zunlu's plan was cracked, but Ye An finally planned to use Tongzhou as the key to rescuing Jianghuai.
Originally, they planned to use Suzhou as the location of the pacification envoy's office, where they would take charge of the overall Jianghuai disaster relief. Now it seems that Ye An has a better choice...
Wu Zunlu, who knew the truth, could only frown. Ye An smiled slightly when he saw it, and said to Fan Zhongyan in a low voice: "This old man is planning to take advantage and not contribute. Tongzhou can be managed so well. We must also ask him to contribute when we rescue Jianghuai."
That's fine, otherwise how can I recommend it to the imperial court?"
Fan Zhongyan was stunned for a moment, and then he said happily: "You have good intentions, you boy! Wu Daoan's calculations were all over the place, but he still fell into your scheme..."