Chapter 392 Shen Xiangwan’s Advice
"Um···"
This is indeed a very troublesome problem.
Shen Xiangwan pondered for a moment, and after a moment he suddenly said in surprise: "I got it, we can do the work-for-relief program."
"Work-for-relief?"
Raising his eyebrows, Wei Chengyi looked at her in confusion.
"Yes, work-for-relief."
Shen Xiangwan couldn't help but get a little excited. After a moment's effort, he explained, "Haven't we hired a lot of people to mine charcoal? Currently, the people across Chenzhou are basically well fed. Why don't we fire them and replace them with refugees? We'll pay them food for their wages, and use the money we save to buy the surplus food from the people. This way, not only will it ease our pressure and resettle the refugees, but it will also allow the people to earn some cash. With money, they'll spend, which will boost Chenzhou's economy to some extent."
"This is a good idea that kills several birds with one stone."
Hearing this, Wei Chengyi lowered his eyes and pondered carefully. After a while, he said, "This idea is good, but we only need a thousand people at most to mine the charcoal, while the number of refugees is in the hundreds of thousands. It can't completely solve the difficulties we face. Most importantly, people are inherently lazy. Those assigned to mine the charcoal will see others receiving relief food without doing anything. I'm afraid they will make a big fuss."
Of course, they can also arrange for the refugees to do other work, such as placing them in snowflake salt or glass workshops. Regardless of whether their production process will be leaked in this way, the number of people needed is limited, and it is impossible to arrange all the refugees.
“Why limit ourselves to black charcoal mining?”
Blinking, Shen Xiangwan asked in confusion. Seeing that he didn't seem to understand what she meant, or perhaps he understood but not completely, Shen Xiangwan continued, "Last year, we deployed troops in three counties, but still let some Western Hu people break in. Judging from this, there should be other gaps between the three counties on the border that allow Western Hu people to sneak in. Why don't we build a large-scale city wall to completely connect the three counties? Then, all our troops can be deployed within the newly built city wall, giving the Western Hu people no chance to take advantage."
"Also, as the saying goes, if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. Many official roads in Chenzhou are full of potholes. It's time to organize people to repair them. By the way, we should extend the official roads to every village as much as possible. This will make it much more convenient for us to transport food in the future."
At this point, Shen Xiangwan paused to take a breath. "In this case, do you still think that hundreds of thousands of refugees can't be accommodated? Besides, we all know that this winter is very cold. Instead of letting them starve and freeze in simple houses, it would be better to let them work. It won't be so cold if they move around, right? Maybe we can even prevent them from freezing to death."
"As for the cost of building the city walls and roads, we'll collect a large amount of taxes after the cabbage harvest. We'll definitely have to pickle it and store it. Plus, every household makes kimchi, so there's more than they can eat. The government can buy the extra kimchi from the people at a reasonable price, and then organize people to sell it to neighboring Jiaozhou and Mingzhou. That'll definitely bring in a lot of money."
In winter, not only ordinary people, but even wealthy families can hardly afford to eat vegetables. Their kimchi will certainly be very popular. Of course, the price cannot be too high. After all, the original price of vegetables is there. If it exceeds the price of meat, who would give up meat to buy kimchi? This requires them to set targeted prices.
These are all minor problems. The most important thing is that they can not only completely solve the refugee problem, but also build city walls to prevent the Western Hu people from sneaking in like they did last year. With roads extending in all directions, it will be more convenient for people to travel. It is simply killing several birds with one stone and is very suitable for their current situation.
She has said so much, if Wei Chengyi still doesn't understand the huge benefits of work-for-relief, then he has really lived in vain.
"Wanwan, you are really our lucky star!"
Coming back to his senses, Wei Chengyi pulled Shen Xiangwan up and held her in his arms, saying excitedly that being able to marry Wanwan was really the blessing he had cultivated in several lifetimes. Work-for-relief was enough to solve the biggest problem they were facing now. Even if many refugees continued to pour into Chenzhou, they would no longer have to worry about how to accommodate them.
The strategy of using work instead of relief was enough to solve their biggest problem at the moment, but it was easier said than done. The next morning, Wei Chengyi took a few guards to the provincial capital. This matter was too big, and he needed to be in charge and supervise it in person. Yuan Xiu still stayed at home and assisted the counties in dealing with miscellaneous trivial matters.
Three days later, Mu Yunran also left. She had learned to drive in the past few days and drove back in an off-road vehicle by herself. However, Shen Xiangwan still sent two guards to drive behind and escort her to avoid any accidents along the way.
It wasn't until late September that Lin Wei returned to the Wei family, bringing the good news that Chu Liang and his men had successfully intercepted and killed the imperial messenger. He also brought back a little wolfdog for Xiaotuanzi. It was said that Liang Yuting and Chu Liang had found it at the foot of the mountain while leading a group to open up wasteland. Thinking that if the little cub had a white wolf, it was impossible for the little junior brother to be left with nothing, right? Liang Yuting asked Lin Wei to bring it back.
“Woof woof woof!”
“Ahhh!”
At three quarters past You, Xiaobai and the little wolfdog rushed into the yard, barking. Ang'er followed closely behind, bringing Xiaodongzi with him. "Xiaohei, Xiaobai, slow down and wait for us."
“Woof woof woof!”
“Ahhh…”
Completely ignoring them, the little wolfhounds named Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai rushed to Shen Xiangwan and kept shaking their heads at her.
"They are really two wolf spirits."
After patting their heads, Shen Xiangwan got up and went upstairs, and soon came down with a large bottle of spiritual well water.
“Woof woof woof…”
“Ahhh…”
Seeing this, Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai, who were playing with the cubs, rushed towards her quickly. Shen Xiangwan shook her head and poured the spiritual well water into their troughs. Not to mention Xiao Bai, since Xiao Hei was brought back by Lin Wei, she saw that he was too thin, so she fed him some spiritual well water at night. The little guy seemed to have gained wisdom, pestering her for water every day, and throwing tantrums if she didn't give him water. He was more naughty than human cubs.
“Pah pah pah…”
When they got the water from the spiritual well, the two of them stopped making noise and came close to the trough, licking up mouthfuls of water with their tongues, drinking it with great joy.
"Auntie, what kind of water is this? Why do Xiaobai and the others like to drink it so much?"
The little cub asked curiously, wanting to get closer and try it out.
[End of this chapter]
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