Chapter 556: Heaven's Might Begins
Lumei cooked personally, and together with many servants from the governor's mansion, they worked in the kitchen for a long time and finally prepared a sumptuous banquet.
He Yunyan, Niu Jinyi and other high-ranking officials in Shuozhou were all invited.
This was the first time that Gu Nanxi's two teams met.
Gu Nanxi poured Cui Sanlun a glass of fruit wine: "Yunyan is still in Yunzhou, assisting Wang Buxi in handling Yunzhou affairs. She will not come this time."
Yunzhou is Gu Nanxi's base, so he must arrange the most trusted person to guard there.
Cui Sanlun expressed his understanding.
After the wine was served, both parties were interested in making friends, so the atmosphere at the banquet was full of joy.
Cui Sanlun also quickly integrated into the Shuozhou team.
When the banquet was about to end, everyone turned their eyes to Gu Nanxi.
Gu Nanxi knew that everyone was waiting for her to make a statement on how to arrange the next matters.
Gu Nanxi took a sip of tea to moisten his throat: "Everyone has seen the attitude of the court. They are afraid of us. Since we have already swallowed Shuozhou, it is impossible for us to spit it out."
"The weather is bad this year, with droughts in many places. Even in Shuozhou, grain production is not as good as before. We will not go south before the autumn harvest."
This choice was expected by everyone.
Gu Nanxi continued: "Although I have the advantage, it doesn't mean we will do nothing. We need people and food!"
Gu Nanxi turned her gaze towards Niu Jinyi: "Do you remember the siphon effect I told you about?"
Niu Jin clasped his hands together and said, "Sir, I know what to do!"
…
The weather in Da Zhou this year was very abnormal. Summer rainfall had already begun in Jianghuai, Hubei, and Jiangnan, but in the north, Hanzhong and Shangyang were still experiencing persistent drought.
As for Yunzhou and Shuozhou, they were also affected by the drought.
According to Mr. Xu's prediction, Yunzhou's grain output will be less than half of previous years.
The same is true for Shuozhou.
Fortunately, due to the need to deal with the war and the fact that they had already anticipated the natural disasters that would occur this year, the entire Yunzhou Group's mission focus for the entire year was to prepare for war and to obtain food.
After driving the Tartars out of the grassland, all their savings over the years fell into Gu Nanxi's hands.
After capturing Shuozhou, the private vaults of the powerful greatly enriched Gu Nanxi's reserves.
After five days and four nights of statistics, more than thirty accountants finally concluded that the spoils from these two waves of battles were enough to sustain Yunzhou and Shuozhou for three years.
But other states and counties in the Great Zhou were not so lucky. Gu Nanxi was willing to use his private treasury to provide disaster relief, but officials and aristocratic families in other states and counties would not be so generous.
In Hezhong County, except for a rain at the end of April, with loud thunder but small raindrops that only moistened the ground, there has been basically no rain since May.
If it weren’t for the abundant water resources in Hezhong County, the wheat in the fields would have dried up long ago.
At the end of August, officials from various counties in Hezhong County received two official documents at the same time.
One came from the governor, urging the counties to collect grain and set the amount of money to buy it.
One letter came from the Tongpan, allowing the counties to temporarily suspend the collection of grain and urging them to focus on disaster relief.
Li Mingde finished reading both documents and felt very complicated.
"Brother Li, what should we do? Who should we listen to?"
Li Mingde turned his attention to Yunzhou Weekly.
A few days after Lord Cui left Hezhong County, Yunzhou Weekly spread in Hezhong County through various channels.
In the latest issue of "Yunzhou Weekly", the front-page headlines are all about disaster relief.
For example, organizing the dredging of rivers, rebuilding irrigation canals along the coast, using labor instead of relief, etc.
"Yunzhou Weekly" also proposed a new method of military farming, in which the government would provide land, seeds, and oxen, and farmers would give guidance on planting. The government would only collect 40% of the annual harvest, which also included grain tax.
As soon as this news was published, the governor of Hezhong County immediately issued an order prohibiting the sale of Yunzhou Weekly in Hezhong County.
Therefore, this news has not yet spread to the public.
Li Mingde clasped his fingers together and took a deep breath. "Of course we listen to the governor. The governor has the support of Lord Li, and the deputy magistrate has the support of Grand Tutor Tong. Grand Tutor Tong has lost the emperor's favor, and the deputy magistrate can't do it alone."
More importantly, my godmother wants refugees!
Li Mingde: "Start collecting grain tax today, but don't push them too hard, and focus on the gentry in the countryside. After the grain tax is collected, it can also be used to help disaster victims. This way, we will follow the orders of both the governor and the judge."
Other counties in Hezhong County made the same choice as Li Mingde.
But Pingyang County, which borders Wudu County, has been completely flattened.
Their county was originally poor, and the county magistrate had little say. He would only receive one or two tributes during festivals, and his total annual income was less than that of a minor official in Hezhong Prefecture.
After receiving the two official documents, the Pingyang County magistrate refused to take any money or provide disaster relief. He only asked the local wealthy gentry to distribute porridge, while he himself hid in the county government office, drinking and eating meat.
No matter who I love, I don't want to do this job at all. I'll just endure it for a few years and then leave this damn place.
"Mr. County Magistrate, the grain has already been collected in Wudu County. Should we send someone?"
The Pingyang County Magistrate frowned and said, "What does it have to do with us? Is there a single acre of land in the entire county that belongs to the county government and not to the people?"
Chief Clerk: "Just now the Wang family sent someone to ask, there are already a few refugees in the county, when will the granaries be opened to release the grain?"
The Pingyang County Magistrate drank a glass of wine and sneered, "Do you remember that I am the county magistrate now? They have so much hidden land and don't pay taxes. At this time, they rely on our county government's granary? Our granary is cleaner than their trouser pockets! Let them deal with it themselves."
The chief clerk also knew that the county government was too poor, and the previous county magistrate had rented the official land to the Wang family for a hundred years at the price of one penny.
The governor often intercepted the funding for the county.
The chief clerk wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Maybe Wudu County is busy with the autumn harvest. There are no soldiers guarding the two counties. If these refugees go to Wudu County, should we send people to stop them?"
A few days ago, tall Yunzhou soldiers were often stationed on the official road connecting the two counties.
Just looking at them makes people tremble all over. The people in Pingyang County wish they could be a million miles away from Wudu County.
Yesterday, the chief clerk discovered that all the soldiers had withdrawn!
The Pingyang County Magistrate looked at the Chief Clerk as if he were a fool: "Why do you want to stop it? If the refugees stay in our county, can you open the warehouse or give out porridge? I'm afraid you have forgotten the civil unrest in the past few years!"
After scolding the chief clerk, the Pingyang County Magistrate seemed to have thought of something and reminded him, "Be smart and repair the road to Wudu County and make the sign more conspicuous. By the way, didn't the Yunzhou Weekly talk about the method of military farming? Hire a few beggars to talk about it on the street."
"But didn't the governor forbid it?"
Pingyang County sneered: "He won't let him! Why don't he take these refugees to Hezhong Prefecture?"
I listened to everyone's advice and revised the introduction.
I don’t know if this introduction will work?
I didn’t dare change my name, for fear that you wouldn’t be able to find me. Hahahaha.
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