The so-called presiding over disaster relief does not mean just walking around and taking a look, and the comfort envoy does not just pay when disaster strikes.
From the beginning, Ye An felt that this was a systematic project and a common issue related to the economy and people's livelihood.
Fan Zhongyan planned to use the oldest method to provide disaster relief from the beginning. Simply put, he inspected all the way south and found that the disaster there was serious, so he carried out reasonable planning in the area and allocated funds to the court.
This can't be said to be wrong, it can only be said to be inefficient and slow to gain benefits. However, in the eyes of the scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty, this was already the most effective method. Fan Zhongyan's plan was almost unanimously praised by everyone in the court.
After all, the local officials and people were grateful for Fan Zhongyan's arrival, and they were also grateful to the court and officials. Of course, apart from Zhang Qian and other corrupt officials, as well as the husband who was struggling to make money for the country.
Fortunately, for the sake of his own reputation, Zhang Shixun did not make things difficult for Ye An and Fan Zhongyan about the Lidong Grain Store. He also kept secret about the account books they sent. It seemed that everyone had forgotten about this matter. Even Fan Zhongyan, who hated his hatred, finally
I also chose to compromise.
This was the strategy of the Song Dynasty. If Fan Zhongyan hadn't gone south to provide disaster relief, he might have incorporated the victims into the Xiang army. The court would then spend money to raise this group of troops with no combat power, so as to complete the disaster relief simply and crudely.
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But it cannot be denied that the Song Dynasty paid great attention to disasters, but there were not many means and the strategies were still quite simple.
So relatively speaking, Fan Zhongyan's disaster relief strategy is quite good. At least it allows the victims to survive and return to their hometown to cultivate the land and live a normal life.
The disaster relief methods of the Song Dynasty had no economic benefits. The main measures included giving porridge, giving food, and providing food. These measures were all provided free of charge by the court to the affected people. Most of the relief food was daily necessities.
Porridge soup is actually the most unrealistic type. Putting aside the number of people affected by the disaster, it will take a certain amount of time to spread the word about the porridge soup location alone.
In addition, the Song Dynasty would also formulate very loose policies when there was a famine season. The court would specifically reduce the taxes levied or directly exempt them, or even suspend the summer and autumn taxes.
At the same time, the state's monopoly on economic products, such as salt, wine and other important products, will be relaxed, and businessmen will be allowed to make profits. This will indirectly allow the victims to make a living through the court's policies during the famine years, but it is a pity that they will be exploited by this.
The behavior of labor has also become legal during this special period.
In Ye An's opinion, these so-called good disaster relief strategies are backward and primitive methods. They simply use money to solve the problems of the victims and use loose policies to untie the people, but cannot make substantial changes.
But even so, many of the disaster relief policies of the Song Dynasty were the first of their kind, which were not available in previous dynasties. The reason is that this era has been much more developed than the previous dynasties, and there is no doubt that ideological progress has been made.
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Ye An lamented the innovative spirit of the Song Dynasty, but still looked down upon Fan Zhongyan's disaster relief strategy. Disaster relief is multifaceted. Whether it is economic adjustment or improvement of social systems, one principle should be followed, that is, working for relief.
Promote development while providing disaster relief.
Wu Zunlu made a good start. His strategies for dealing with disasters in Tongzhou were rich and effective and worthy of promotion. Of course, Ye An also had some selfish motives involved.
It was difficult to reform anything in the Song Dynasty, but it was not difficult to reform disaster relief strategies, because in the eyes of scholar-bureaucrats, this was a thankless job. Even if risks and benefits coexisted, it was a failure.
The risk is too great, and it is not worth risking your reputation.
At this time, whoever proposes a good solution will definitely be approved by the court officials, because all this has nothing to do with them, the court officials. If it succeeds, they will have the reputation of appointing talents. If it fails, then I am sorry that you are the only one.
Taking the blame.
Fan Zhongyan can certainly see that Ye An wants to flex his muscles in disaster relief, which is also a good thing for him. Needless to say, Wu Zunlu has paid attention to the Jianghuai disaster a long time ago, otherwise Tongzhou would not
Become such a paradise-like existence.
All three people wanted to do practical things, but Fan Zhongyan wanted to appease the Jianghuai disaster, Wu Zunlu wanted to let the court shoulder the heavy burden on Tongzhou, and Ye An wanted to reform.
I have to say that these three people were really mutually beneficial and congenial when they came together. Their common views were very consistent, which was to abolish all the exorbitant taxes and levies of the Song Dynasty.
The current exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are too heavy, especially when disasters are severe. The important reason why most people become disaster victims is that their incomes are reduced and they are unable to pay the cumbersome and high miscellaneous taxes.
The summer and autumn taxes in the Song Dynasty were already six or seven times that of the Tang Dynasty, but even so, there were still a large number of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes that needed to be paid, and these miscellaneous taxes were still concentrated on the people at the bottom.
No matter that era, the number of people at the bottom is always the largest and the base is the largest. Even in the developed later generations, there are still a huge number of people at the bottom. To judge the quality of an era, just look at the lives of the people at the bottom in this era.
Can be known.
From Tokyo to Tongzhou, Fan Zhongyan and Ye An saw too much of the lives of the lower class people, but what they didn't expect was that in Tongzhou, which was least affected by the disaster, things still happened that they couldn't accept.
Lao Fan originally planned to go with Ye An to see the huts built by Wu Zunlu to house and rescue people. This was one of Wu Zunlu's disaster relief achievements. Of course, seeing is believing. After all, the court also wanted to know where the money was spent.
When the common people saw the arrival of the Heavenly Officials, they were not too frightened. Almost all the common people in the Song Dynasty were like this. In their serious situation, the imperial officials came to the capital for a formality, which was too far away.
Fortunately, the thatched hut was pretty good, at least there was no leakage, and the victims had food to eat. After Ye An proposed working for relief, Tongzhou began to recruit victims to reclaim wasteland and plant peas.
Hu beans are broad beans, and locusts are not interested in this plant, so the ancients believed that this legume could be used to control locusts.
Maybe the drought has been going on for too long. During this period, it rained heavily in many places in the Jianghuai River. The abundant rain gave the victims hope, and they naturally worked harder. Everyone wanted to earn more money and return home. This is comparable to
The money provided by the state government's Yamen is even higher.
Fan Zhongyan was very satisfied with the positive performance of the victims, and took Ye An to the porridge shed to drink porridge. Ye An was used to this, and he and Fan Zhongyan squatted under a grass shed with a thick bowl and drank heavily.
gruel.
A baby cried from the building nearby. Fan Zhongyan and Ye An looked at each other and smiled. Old Fan breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "This is the best news I have heard in recent days. If you have children, there is hope. This disaster will soon be over."
It will pass, but for now we still need to bring more food from the south."
Ye An wondered: "Isn't it possible for Wu Zhizhou to buy grain? Why are the grain merchants in the south unwilling to come to Jianghuai to sell grain?"
"We are not worried about losing food. The loss on the road is also a huge expense! Otherwise, why do you think I would encourage your Puhui Company to transport food from Tokyo to Suzhou? They will only pay if they see others making money.
If you sell food here, you still have to worry about the victims robbing it, don’t you think?"
Unexpectedly, Lao Fan actually sided with the merchants to conduct the analysis. Ye An was very pleased. Although his explanation was not comprehensive, it was much better than most officials who made decisions at the drop of a hat.
In this case, he couldn't hide it, so Ye An finished the porridge and wiped his mouth and said: "I have a way to make the southern grain merchants flock to sell grain."
"Oh?!" Fan Zhongyan raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise: "What's the good plan? Tell me quickly!"