These policies are certainly good policies, but they have many opponents.

Firstly, such a plan would require a significant amount of manpower and resources, and it's not something you can simply implement by assuming it's a good policy. For example, excavating mountain land, reclaiming new soil, and diverting irrigation canals would require at least tens of thousands of strong and capable laborers, and the cost would also be enormous.

Secondly, the landlords and gentry would not do that. Why should they help the peasants to cultivate the land for free but charge money for helping them to clean it up?

Aren’t landlords and gentry the people of the Song Dynasty?

Amidst such opposition, Zhao Jun could not act alone.

After all, there are definitely illegal landlords, wealthy businessmen and gentry, and he has killed some of them in Tanzhou, but there are still many landlords and gentry who are normal human beings. They have not done anything bad and cannot be killed indiscriminately.

Therefore, Zhao Jun could only reason.

On the first point, Zhao Jun told the local authorities that after the disaster, since late rice could not be planted, the young and strong labor force would have nothing to do, so it would be better to hire them and let them work.

The imperial court paid for them to dig up mountains, open up fields, divert canals, and build ponds. This method, called work-for-relief, quickly restored production.

As for the second point.

Zhao Jun said that under normal circumstances, the imperial court would exempt taxes in the disaster-stricken areas. For example, the Huainan area has been tax-free for two years.

However, the degree of tax exemption is generally determined by the severity of the disaster.

The disaster-stricken areas in Huainan reached more than a dozen states, causing tens of thousands of people to starve to death, hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced, and millions of people to be affected to varying degrees, so there will be a two-year tax exemption.

However, this time in Changsha, only Tanzhou suffered from the flood, affecting about 200,000 to 300,000 people. Only more than 1,000 people were drowned, and no one has starved to death so far. It is not as serious as the time in Huainan, and the court may not necessarily exempt taxes.

Even if there is a tax exemption, it is only for the propertyless poor. Landowners with property will still be included in the tax list.

Therefore, if you are a landlord with a large family and a large business, and your ability to resist risks is much greater than that of the poor, and if you contribute more within your limited ability, the court will be very pleased that you have assumed certain national responsibilities and will also give you preferential treatment in taxation.

After careful consideration, the landlords felt that it was a sure win and agreed.

The main reason is that tax exemption is too attractive.

Because it is said to be preferential treatment, but in fact it is just a transaction.

I will exempt you from taxes and let you contribute money and effort in exchange for stable prices and accelerated post-disaster recovery and construction.

Although the agricultural tax in the Song Dynasty was not high, the agricultural tax in Jinghu South Road was less than 500,000 strings of cash a year, but there were many miscellaneous taxes and levies.

In particular, the heavy taxes and levies imposed on the landlords exploited them to death, leading to frequent landlord uprisings in the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, compared with the bone-sucking taxes, spending this little money and supplies is a small expense to avoid a major disaster. Even if the court exempts taxes for half a year next year, it can still make the money back.

So, with Zhao Jun's collection of this year's summer taxes and the joint efforts of many landlords and wealthy businessmen in Tanzhou, prices in the disaster area were stabilized and order gradually returned to normal.

By October, Zhao Jun had been in Tanzhou for more than two months. Today, good news came that the imperial court had issued 500,000 strings of cash for disaster relief, which had already been delivered to Tanzhou.

At the beginning of the evening at the hour of Xu, inside the Changsha County government office, Zhao Jun was reviewing official reports on post-disaster recovery efforts from various regions. Chen Xiliang came in excitedly and said, "Minister, this is great! The relief funds from the imperial court have arrived."

"Um."

Zhao Jun raised his head and just nodded in response.

Seeing that he was not in high spirits, Chen Xiliang couldn't help but wonder, "Dean, isn't this a happy thing?"

"yes."

Zhao Jun put down the document in his hand and sighed, "But this amount of money is still a drop in the bucket. Besides, you have to consider that this flood only affected Tanzhou, and the disaster was not serious. If the court wants to ensure that every disaster victim is properly resettled, it will cost a lot of money. But if it is a disaster like the severe drought in Huainan a few years ago, it will be a bottomless pit."

"In the end, you still have to do your best."

Chen Xiliang said.

"There's no end to disasters. We can only pray that droughts like the one in Huainan, which happens once in a century, will happen less often. First, we need to prepare for a rainy day. In good years, we should store more food and fodder, build more dams, reclaim more land, and dredge more rivers."

Zhao Jun said, "Secondly, we need to promote commercial prosperity. After this disaster, I hope you can communicate well with Hengzhou, Yongzhou, Quanzhou, Guizhou, and other places, and do your best to dredge the Lingqu Canal. We can also increase trade with Guangdong South Road. Cotton is being widely planted there, and Hunan can also introduce these cash crops to grow."

“Building a canal is a big deal.”

"Well, that's why we need all of you local officials along the river to work together to build the canal."

"yes."

"I understand that the cost of hiring civilian workers is roughly 50-100 wen per day, while river workers are more expensive, around 150-200 wen. Five hundred thousand guan can employ 30,000 people for about six months. This money must be used effectively, primarily to restore agriculture and repair riverbanks."

"yes."

"Okay, make good arrangements. Post-disaster reconstruction is a long and arduous task."

"yes."

Chen Xiliang responded and then retreated.

He felt that he could learn a lot from Zhiyuan, such as the method of work-for-relief, and that he could gain the support of landlords and wealthy families through these negotiations.

In fact, sometimes, apart from class confrontation, people still need more communication with each other, and sometimes communication is more important than confrontation.

After Chen Xiliang left, Zhao Jun was still frowning and was not very happy about the arrival of disaster relief funds from the court.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!