Early the next morning, He Qigong sent a telegram from Luanzhou, giving a detailed report on the money raised from the charity banquet the day before yesterday and the accounts for the purchase of food. [New] The income from the auction of the novel was 58,000 yuan, and the donation
The income received was 54,000 yuan, and the total amount exceeded 110,000 yuan.
This amount greatly exceeded Yuan Su's expectation. First, the money raised from the auction was actually more than the donations, and then the total amount exceeded 100,000. It was really great news. He knew very well that several items put up for auction were
It’s not worth 30,000 yuan. The most expensive thing is a pair of Ji Xiaolan’s folding fans that Wang Potong has collected for many years. But because the era is not that old, and there are many Ji Xiaolan’s calligraphy and paintings on the market, no matter how expensive it is, it’s still worth 10,000 yuan.
However, what surprised him even more was that the most expensive item sold in the entire auction was not Ji Xiaolan's folding fan, but his revolver. According to He Qigong's introduction in the cable, the number of people bidding for the pistol at that time exceeded
Thirty people called out the price fifty-five times, and finally it was bought by Hannagan for a sky-high price of 2,300 pounds.
The two thousand three hundred pounds sterling was converted into 20,000 silver dollars, which already accounted for half of the entire auction proceeds.
Although I was shocked and confused, a pistol costing tens of yuan and decorated with a few yuan was sold for a thousand times the price. I am afraid that this is an unprecedented auction. However, there may not be a reasonable explanation. Since it is for charity,
The bidding at the auction was just a formality, and maybe Hannagan was sincerely trying to do this favor.
Furthermore, Hannagan was working for the British, and the Beijing-Fengcheng Line was also in the interests of the British. The British naturally hoped that the Shanhaiguan matter could be ended as soon as possible.
Putting aside these trivial matters, as long as this 110,000 yuan is used rationally, it can help all refugees maintain their living needs for two months or more.[ ]
However, the content below the telegram quickly raised a serious question. Although the money was raised, the inventory of all grain dealers, whether in Luanzhou or other counties, was very short. Some of the grain goods were sold outside the customs as early as the beginning of the year.
Rich merchants are running out of money, and even those that have inventory are unable to get in or out.
After these two days of purchasing, the amount of grain that can be purchased at the market price of seven liang and one stone is less than five hundred stone. In addition, the grain purchased at high prices of ten yuan and twelve yuan only totals more than one thousand stone. Counting the number of people in Luanzhou
With the old rice donated by a great gentleman, the amount of food now received is nearly 2,000 dan.
He Qigong said that he would send people to Tianjin and Baoding as soon as possible to collect grain. The first batch of 2,000 shi of grain has been arranged to be sent to Linyu County by train in the early morning of July 28th. It should be delivered to Linyu County in the evening of that day.
can be reached.
After reading the message, Yuan Su also knew about the various speculative activities in the market. However, the water was too deep. Even if he wanted to manage it, it would not be effective within a month or two. Fortunately, the two thousand stones of rice came as a timely help.
, In addition, with a total of 110,000 yuan in funds, Baoding and Tianjin will definitely be able to receive more food, which can fully support the central government's allocation of disaster relief materials.
He immediately called Wu Like and Chen Wenian to explain the matter and asked them to arrange the reception work at the train station as soon as possible.
However, after listening to Yuan Su's words, Wu Like suddenly had an idea and couldn't help but say: "I have to say that Mr. Yuan actually raised 110,000 yuan in relief funds, which really surprised me. However,
, If Mr. Yuan only uses this relief money to buy food to help the refugees, it will be a waste of resources."
Yuan Su looked at Wu Like calmly, and asked in a nonchalant manner: "Master Wu, what do you think?"
Wu Lixia smiled and said meaningfully: "That's right, Mr. Yuan, you have to know that this 110,000 yuan is quite a huge sum of money. To be honest, Linyu County is located in a strategic traffic area.
, there are railways and ports, and the total annual tax revenue is less than 300,000 yuan. [] It is entirely possible for these 110,000 yuan to save the refugees trapped in the pass, even if it is not possible to rescue all the people at the same time.
It’s enough to save some of them.”
Yuan Su still didn't understand what Wu Like meant. He asked impatiently: "What do you want to say, Mr. Wu?"
Wu Like asked: "May I ask Mr. Yuan, how much do you think the total amount of disaster relief materials allocated by the central government will be?"
This question puzzled Yuan Su. Regardless of whether it was in his past life or this life, he only knew that it would take a lot of effort to alleviate the disaster, but he was not sure how much materials would be used for disaster relief.
"I'll be honest, based on my many years of experience as an official, the central government won't take it seriously at all if less than 100,000 people were affected by the disaster. Now it's because these victims forced them to the gate of the capital and cut off the Beijing-Fengcheng Railway, so the cause is
Beijing attaches great importance to it. Therefore, the total amount of relief materials allocated by the capital this time is only 150,000 at most, and it will definitely not exceed 200,000 at most." Wu Like said with a confident look.
"Really?" Yuan Su frowned, and only then did he understand what Wu Like meant before.
Instead of using the 110,000 yuan in relief money to buy food to extend the survival of the refugees, we should make up our minds to directly use this money to provide relief to the refugees. Purchasing food is only a temporary solution and cannot support these refugees for a year and a half. And only
Only by thoroughly solving the root cause of the problem and allowing these refugees to live on their own can this disaster be resolved.
"I don't dare to trick Mr. Yuan. The two hundred thousand you can get from the top is already enough for Amitabha. No matter how much more you get, you can't get any more. Speaking of which, the central government doesn't have any extra money. The overall situation of the country is not stable, and the south is in disarray.
Even if you have money, you have to use it to stabilize the country. How can you take these tens of thousands of disaster victims seriously?" Wu Like said meaningfully.
"Listening to what Mr. Wu said, it seems that he has already made a plan with bad intentions. Please give me a clear explanation." After Yuan Su thought for a while, he finally decided to listen to Wu Like's plan. He has the responsibility to deal with this disaster.
The sooner this matter is resolved, the better it will be for myself, not to mention that I also feel that one hundred and ten thousand yuan can do a lot of things. If it is just to purchase grain, in the end the money will be made by those black-hearted grain merchants.
"During the meeting yesterday morning, Mr. Yuan, you also said that the most important thing in disaster relief is nothing more than treatment and maintenance. The ultimate goal is to guide these victims to settle down or return to their places of origin, so as not to be stuck at the pass waiting for relief. Now Yuan
If you have funds, disaster relief will be much easier to handle. According to past practice, I can propose two tried and tested methods." Wu Like said with a clear and logical expression.
"What's the solution?"
"The first is that Mr. Yuan distributes a sum of money or a bag of food to each disaster victim and allows them to return to their place of origin. This method is the fastest and most direct. It has been used for disaster relief since ancient times. The second is to use the 110,000
Yuan is used as capital to attract local gentry to establish joint venture projects to absorb the labor force of these refugees."
Yuan Su naturally believes that these two methods are tried and tested by the government. The first method is simple and fast. Even if it treats the symptoms but not the root cause, it can still give an explanation to the superiors quickly. As for the second method, it is better than the first method.
But it only applies to situations where the number of refugees is small. There are more than 70,000 people outside now. How can such a huge group of people be absorbed at the drop of a hat?
What's more, joint venture projects must be able to turn over profits, otherwise they will still not be able to achieve the goal of reassuring the people on a sustained basis.
"If you give refugees a sum of money and a bag of food to go back, how do you ensure that they can resume their lives after they go back? If they can't resume their lives, then if they leave and come back, won't it become another problem?" Yuan Su didn't wait for him to speak.
, Chen Wennian, who was standing aside, couldn't help but ask Wu Like.
"What Mr. Chen said is absolutely true. For many years, the government has considered this issue in disaster relief. In fact, the reason for fleeing from famine is not only bad weather, but also sometimes due to temporary lack of cash flow. The purpose of distributing a sum of money to refugees is to help
They worked around the situation and at the same time contacted the county government in the disaster-stricken area and ordered the county government to prepare for response and settlement," Wu Like said.
"The turnover is not working for a while? This may not be the case. If it is a real natural disaster, and the disaster is very serious, how do you ask these people to turn around?" Chen Wenian said angrily. He always felt that Wu Like's words were cliche and impossible.
Completely cure the problem at hand.
"Well, Mr. Chen, if you think so, disaster relief will always be a bottomless pit. Not only will it not be filled, but it will also breed the unruly nature of the refugees. After all, natural disasters will eventually pass. They have been fleeing for so long, and their hometown
The situation may have improved a long time ago. As long as the local governments contact the local gentry, relax some taxes and fees, and allow some loans, life can be managed." Wu Li could pretend to be a grandson in front of Yuan Su, but in front of Chen Wenian
But he acted like he was relying on his elders, and his words were quite condescending.
"These are just hasty superficial work. If things go on like this, they will only cause more trouble." Chen Wennian was very uncomfortable when he spoke to Wu Like. He changed his face and scolded Wu Like.
"Throughout the dynasties, disaster relief has always been like this. If Mr. Chen has a better way, I am willing to listen."
Chen Wenian was speechless. He really didn't have any good solution, but he didn't agree that Wu Like's solution was a good solution from the bottom of his heart.
At this time, Yuan Su, who had been silent for a long time, raised his hand to stop the quarrel between the two. He said calmly: "A two-pronged approach may make a difference. Even if it cannot solve all the problems, it can solve some of the problems.
problem. As for the remaining problems, we can only wait for the central government to allocate relief materials and make other arrangements."
Wu Like and Chen Wenian immediately understood what Yuan Su meant by "double control", that is, distributing money and food to evacuate the refugees while setting up projects to absorb labor. For now, this is indeed a feasible method, and it is better than working alone.
It is much better to resettle refugees in one way.