Chapter 202 Disaster Relief
The actual situation in Handan was worse than Zhao Yuanxi had imagined.
After years of war, the population of young and middle-aged people in Zhao State had shrunk sharply, and most of those left were the elderly, the weak, women and children. Even if Zhao Yuanxi released 50,000 soldiers from Handan, it still could not change the labor force gap.
Handan City was ablaze with flowers and the nobles were indulging in music, but outside the city people were living in poverty and widespread misery.
This earthquake dealt a more fatal blow to the people of Handan.
Due to geographical conditions, most of Zhao's land is mountainous and saline-alkali land, and the main grain-producing area is the plains near Handan. This time, the disaster in Handan affected more than just Handan County.
Food prices in other parts of Zhao State remained high.
Zhao Yuanxi: "Since there's not enough food, then we should open the granaries and release the grain."
The granaries in each county have stored grain, but now they have been taken over by the Qin army. These officials cannot use it at will, but Meng Tian and Li Mu can.
Meng Tian had no objection to this. All he had to do was to manage Zhao well, prevent these disaster victims from suffering, and guard against the Huns in the north. As for Li Mu, he had even less objection.
"Not only that, we will also purchase grain from other vassal states and allow those caravans to enter Handan."
Previously, due to the war, a large number of caravans withdrew from Handan. Now that the situation has stabilized, trade should be restored in a timely manner to stabilize prices in Zhao.
When it is profitable, merchants will naturally become the carriers of those goods.
Someone asked, "Do they dare to come in?"
Zhao Yuanxi: "The timid will die of starvation, and the bold will die of gluttony. If one happens, there will be another. People will naturally come. I also have a caravan under my command. When the time comes, I will have them buy food from Qi, Wei, Yan and other places."
"Let me put this on notice. If anyone embezzles the grain distributed by the Qin State, I will punish you according to the laws of the Qin State without the king's orders."
"Of course, if you can settle the people of Zhao, it will naturally be a great achievement and will be rewarded." Zhao Yuanxi glanced at the crowd and saw them lowering their heads one by one, and said slowly.
"I will send a message to the king to reduce Handan County's taxes this year. I hope you will not let me down."
"Yes!" everyone said in unison.
"Xianyang will send a batch of high-quality seeds. You will send someone back later to take them back and distribute the grain in the granary first. During the spring plowing season, you will distribute these seeds to the people. I have written down the planting techniques in this book. After you have read it thoroughly, teach it to the people in your jurisdiction."
"In a while, someone will come over to give you personal guidance. This matter is extremely important, and you must not slack off."
Zhao Yuanxi gave these people books. The books contained the planting techniques summarized by her, Xu Yi and others, but they were translated from the Qin Dynasty's small seal script into the Zhao language.
These officials in Zhao also had Yong paper from Qin, but this paper was extremely expensive and they were reluctant to use it casually. They never thought that the Queen Mother of Qin would use it to write such things. They didn't know whether they should sigh at the wealth of Qin or be amazed at the generosity of the Queen Mother of Zhao.
Zhao Yuanxi didn't know what they were thinking, and arranged things one by one.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
One person stood up and said, "Your Majesty, you have done great favors for the people of Handan. I am deeply grateful. However, I still have a matter to ask for your decision."
"explain."
"There are still a large number of refugees who have not been dealt with in various places. If we don't deal with them properly, I'm afraid there will be more trouble."
Some of these refugees left their homes because of war, while others lost their homes due to disasters and were forced to wander. They were the most unstable group of people in Zhao. They were extremely hungry, and it was not impossible for them to smash, steal and rob. If there were more of them, they would become a bandit problem.
Right now, only the Qin army is stationed in various places, and those people dare not act too arrogantly, but this can only deter them temporarily. When they really have no way out, no one can stop them.
"Are there many people?"
"A rough estimate is that there are over 100,000 people. Most of them are begging for food with their families."
Handan could not accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.
"I will consider this matter carefully. You can go back first. As for food, please provide five days' worth of rations to the people, including the refugees within your jurisdiction."
"May I have your name?"
"Your Majesty, Mao Heng."
"I remember that. Let's get back to work!"
Then everyone dispersed.
Mao Heng walked out of the hall, and Mao Chang, who had been waiting for a long time, supported him and said, "Uncle, what did the Queen Mother of Qin want you to do?"
Mao Heng gazed at the newly built houses in the distance and sighed, "My Zhao State's defeat was truly justified."
The King of Zhao enslaved the people of Zhao and was blind to their suffering. However, the Queen Mother who came from Qin was able to do this for the people of Zhao.
Mao Heng had mixed feelings.
Mao Heng handed the book to Mao Chang and said, "This is what she wants us to do. Let's go! The people in Yiyang County are still waiting for us!"
If the granaries were opened earlier to release grain, fewer people would starve to death, and the situation would not be worse than it is now.
Mao Chang had read the Book of Songs and many other articles, but he had never read a book on agriculture. Looking at the things in the book that he knew but didn't quite understand, he wondered, "The Queen Mother wants us to farm?"
"To be more precise, let us guide the farming. After we return, go find some farmers!"
Mao Chang nodded and hurried after him, asking curiously, "Uncle, what kind of person is Queen Mother Zhao?"
Mao Heng pondered for a long time before slowly speaking, "A remarkable woman never seen since ancient times."
Mao Chang was surprised. He had never seen his uncle praise a woman so highly before. "Even more amazing than Queen Dowager Xuan?"
Queen Dowager Xuan was the most powerful woman in the history of the Qin State. She ruled the country as the queen dowager for forty-one years. It can be said that this woman was involved in half of King Zhaoxiang of Qin's achievements.
"They are different." Mao Heng shook his head. Queen Dowager Xuan was a political strongman who pioneered women in power. Queen Dowager Zhao was obviously not as politically acumenful as Queen Dowager Xuan.
This does not mean that she is worse than Queen Dowager Xuan. In fact, the Qin State does not need a second Queen Dowager Xuan, but it needs Queen Dowager Zhao to stabilize the current chaos.
Mao Chang felt uncomfortable, scratching his head. "Uncle, please explain it to me clearly! What's so great about her? She just asked us to farm. What's so great about that?"
Mao Heng knocked him hard on the head and said, "Don't just study. Look at what Handan City is like now."
"What's going on?" Mao Chang muttered, lifted the curtain of the carriage, looked at the people coming and going on both sides of the street, and stood there in a daze for a moment.
As a place that was also severely affected by the disaster, Handan City seemed to have recovered a little too quickly. Although the pedestrians looked a little tired, their spirits were surprisingly good.
The situation in Yiyang has reached the point where people are almost eating their own children. The streets are full of refugees begging for food, and the whole city is dead.
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