Chapter 46 What is more terrifying than the famine is the miscellaneous tax!
Although there are many victims outside Nanjing City in Yingtianfu, fortunately, Yingtianfu is large enough. It was designed according to the specifications of the capital, so it has wide streets and markets.
Ye An's method of destroying the White Lotus Society is actually very simple. It fundamentally satisfies the demands of the victims and separates the victims from the White Lotus Society.
Diverting the victims also reduces the burden on Nanjing City. Although Yingtian Mansion can accommodate tens of thousands of victims, it would be a disaster to let them all flood into the city at once.
It is not a trivial matter for these tens of thousands of people to eat, drink, and defecate after entering the city. Originally, the people in the city would also reject these victims, so Ye An made the entry into the city so complicated. At the same time, he requisitioned a part of the military camp belonging to the German army as a resettlement place, and asked people to
Start building temporary resettlement sites.
Fan Zhongyan was quite satisfied with Ye An's handling methods. He couldn't think of how to resettle these tens of thousands of victims in Nanjing at once. These were tens of thousands of people, not tens of thousands of livestock. There were too many chores, and the myriad of things made it a headache to look at them.
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However, under Ye An's arrangements, tens of thousands of victims are entering the city in an orderly manner. Temporary sheds, cooking and eating places are all arranged in a unified manner. The victims are not without money, but they are fleeing to avoid the disaster in their hometown.
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What is the biggest problem of the drought? Of course it is the shortage of food, but Yingtianfu is Nanjing in the Song Dynasty. The price of food may have increased, but there is no shortage of food.
As the victims of the disaster entered the city, good news came one after another. Yingtianfu's water transport was also developed, connecting Bianhe River to Tokyo and Kaifeng in the north, and Huaihe River in the south. In Fan Zhongyan's words, this place is the foundation of the country, leaning to the southeast.
The food problem will naturally be solved by the court. The Song Dynasty can be said to be the most active in disaster relief among all dynasties. After all, this dynasty also exploited the most tax revenue from the people.
Population has always been the fundamental issue that ancient dynasties were most concerned about and attached great importance to. Only with a large population can more land be reclaimed and at the same time promote the development of commerce. This is known to everyone.
Protecting the population has almost become the consensus of the emperor and courtiers, but Wu Yu's face is full of sorrow at the moment. These victims have been saved, but the victims are a heavy burden for Tianfu.
Although this place is Nanjing in the Song Dynasty, it is far from comparable to Tokyo City. Yingtian Mansion, which was originally stable and prosperous, is unlikely to be brought down by these disaster victims in one fell swoop.
"The two superior officials have also seen it. There are tens of thousands of victims, but it is a big expense for Yingtian Mansion! Can you explain the details to the court and provide subsidies as appropriate?"
Fan Zhongyan smiled faintly and said: "This is natural. The government has allocated hundreds of thousands of guan from the Third Division to cope with the drought and locust disaster. How can you cover up the merits of Ying Tianfu?!"
Wu Yu's expression finally softened. As long as the imperial court could provide subsidies, it would be nothing to make up for the shortage of warehouses in Nanjing City.
Ye An, on the other hand, smiled and said: "Prefect Wu, in my opinion, you are so lucky that you don't know how lucky you are! There are tens of thousands of victims here, but in my opinion, they are tens of thousands of laborers!"
"Oh? I wonder if Marquis Ye has any advice?"
Wu Yu felt that Ye An was standing and talking without pain in his back. Thinking about the number of tens of thousands of disaster victims, he felt a headache. Instead, Ye An said that he was blind?!
Fan Zhongyan looked at Ye An curiously. He always felt that Ye An would not deliberately ridicule the magistrate of Yingtian Mansion. There must be a hidden secret in it.
Sure enough, Ye An said confidently: "Look, are the walls of Nanjing City about to be repaired? Is it time for Nanguan Pier to be maintained? There is no place in Nanjing that requires labor? Provide food and drink for the victims, and provide
They have a good place to live and a job to do, so that they can save repair costs and give the victims peace of mind, isn't it the best of both worlds?"
"Haha! Well said, well said! Yehou is really smart and quick. Look, Magistrate Wu, Yehou has given you advice, so what else do you have to worry about?"
Wu Yu's eyes lit up, and he immediately said: "What Ye Hou said is that there are still various errands that can be allocated, and it would be better if these victims can be left to reclaim wasteland outside the city..."
As expected, he was the prefect of Xingqing Prefecture, and his ability to draw inferences from one instance to other cases was quite good. However, this was a good plan, but Fan Zhongyan frowned slightly and said: "If Prefect Wu intends to detain the victims, that is not what a gentleman would do. The money provided by the imperial court will be used for your relief."
The victims of the disaster, and these victims are registered with their household registration, it is not appropriate to let other people lose their people for nothing!"
Wu Yu looked embarrassed and said: "I don't dare to lower my rank. I just let the victims reclaim wasteland and don't dare to intercept them!"
After standing at the city gate for a while, Ye An began to visit the victims outside the city. To understand the Jianghuai drought, the most important thing is to know the contradiction. The drought may cause people to flee their homes and become victims of the disaster, but now the Song Dynasty is resisting
Risk capabilities have been greatly improved, and the food gap should not be that big.
The main problem is that the seedlings in the fields are drying up, which will only cause dissatisfaction among farmers when taxes are paid in the summer, and will also have an impact on food prices.
Looking at the victims outside the city, they don't have that sluggish sense of hunger. On the contrary, they have more of a sense of panic and numbness that has lost hope in life. This is a bit strange.
Even though Ye An changed into casual clothes, his appearance as a scholar was still recognized by the victims at a glance.
It is not that officials should deliberately close the distance between themselves and ordinary people. On the contrary, people will instinctively keep a distance from officials.
However, Ye An was used to this feeling, so he took a thick bowl from Tieniu and walked to the porridge shed. After the Yamen officer saw him, he fished hard at the bottom of the pot a few times before he dared to serve him a bowl.
Porridge.
Ye An would not refuse this kind of selfishness. He had seen the same behavior when sending people to serve porridge to women and children before, so it was clear that they were not favoring one over another.
Lifting up his front and tucking it into his belt, Ye An squatted next to an elderly disaster victim with a bowl of porridge in his hands: "Old man, I see that the villagers are not as good as food, and they don't even have enough money to eat! How can you still drag your family with you?"
Did you bring me to Xingqing Mansion to escape?"
The old man raised his hand, hesitated for a moment and then waved his hand and said: "The officials don't know something! These exorbitant taxes are worse than the drought. It used to be that the soil had good moisture, and God also rewarded us with food. In recent years, we have almost always had good harvests."
In this year, in addition to the summer and autumn taxes, I can also pay the miscellaneous taxes. If I am lucky, I can still make some surplus. Is this a good life? But God will not give me a way to survive! A severe drought will leave me with no harvest.
The officials also saw it, we are all farmers! There is no food in the fields, let alone miscellaneous taxes, even summer and autumn taxes cannot be paid, which will be life-threatening! We can only come to Yingtian Mansion to ask for a living.
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The old man mentioned the hardships, and the victims around him naturally wiped away tears. Ye An nodded slowly: "My father-in-law is right! People don't have enough to eat, so how can they still have extra money to pay miscellaneous taxes?"
The Jianghuai water system is abundant and the number of disasters is less than other places. This severe drought suddenly hit the people of the Jianghuai River and made the existing miscellaneous tax problems more intense.