When General Deng heard this, he laughed again. "We were negligent. Now that the war has ceased, we are waiting for the imperial court to sign the peace treaty. The local soldiers stationed here will continue to stay, but in smaller numbers. The others will all return home, so the cotton will naturally not be collected. Mr. Yan, you can deal with the harvest yourselves."
Chunxiao was delighted, thinking that this could reduce some losses.
"Then I understand. Thank you, sir."
"Shuiguan Town was severely damaged in this battle, and many were wounded. The general is currently discussing resettlement with the county magistrate. If you have any good ideas, please share them. We can all work together. Three people's ideas are always better than one, right? I know you all have suffered losses, but I still hope that you will have the utmost integrity and get through this difficult time first."
"General, your whole heart is for the country and your reputation. You should respect us. We will just follow the orders from above."
Chunxiao felt relieved and sat with Erqi, listening to them talk about state affairs. He thought they would go back after they finished talking, but suddenly someone came to report that the general was coming with the county magistrate.
Everyone stood up at once, and Erqi stood next to Chunxiao, trying to reduce his presence as much as possible.
Soon, a middle-aged man in a helmet came in with a Confucian official in official uniform. Everyone in the tent saluted, and Chunxiao and the others naturally followed suit.
"Please sit down, everyone. Since we're talking about post-war reconstruction, there's no need to split things up. We can discuss this in one place. Don't be polite, everyone. Please sit down."
These people were seeing the general for the first time, and they were overwhelmed by his aura and felt a little nervous.
Chunxiao saw the chief clerk following behind the county magistrate. It seemed that matters involving money expenditures could not be handled without the chief clerk. She sat in the far corner, hoping that no one would notice her, but she was the only woman present, so it was difficult not to attract attention.
"Are they all the owners of the village in Shuiguan Town?"
"General, these are the owners of the nearby farms. The owner over there in the corner is Mr. Yan from the cotton farm. He suffered the most serious losses."
Lieutenant General Deng suddenly pointed at Chunxiao.
Chunxiao had to stand up and said, "General, I am not here to ask for compensation today. I just want to ask the lieutenant general whether I can deal with and sell some of the cotton that my farm has harvested before." If she doesn't express her good attitude in advance and let the general think that she is here to ask for money, what will happen!
"I never thought the owner of the cotton farm would be a woman. She's truly as capable as any man." The general gestured for her to sit down. "The county magistrate is here today. First, he's talking about the placement of the wounded, and second, the compensation issues for the various parts of town. Originally, I wouldn't have cared about these things. I'm a rough man, good at fighting, not these things. But I've just listened, and I understand the county's difficulties. Right now, the county treasury is completely short of money, so it's a good opportunity for everyone to come up with some ideas."
Generally speaking, when it comes to this kind of thing, whoever speaks out will be in trouble, so everyone keeps quiet and doesn't want to be the first to speak out.
"The placement of the wounded isn't a big problem. The county previously spent money to build a number of charity halls to accommodate the relocated villagers. Now that the villagers have returned, the space is just right. However, medical care and medicinal materials will cost a lot of money, and the weather is getting colder day by day, so there are a lot of things to buy. The treasury here was originally short of money due to the war in recent years, so allocating more money will be difficult."
"If we wait for the money to come down from above, we don't know when it will arrive. We can't wait any longer. The county magistrate must come up with a proper solution. These soldiers of mine fought for the people, risking their lives. There's nothing we can do about the dead, but the living can't let their hearts be broken."
"General, please don't be angry. We are trying to find a solution now. I have already submitted a petition to the court. I believe someone will be sent from above soon."
"It's okay for me to wait for you for a few days, but what about these wounded people of mine? How can they wait?"
It turned out that the two sides were arguing about resettlement. When the general was speaking to the county magistrate, the people below him didn't dare to interrupt.
"Or we can organize the gentry to donate money and materials to get through this temporary situation." The chief clerk said from the side.
"If you ask them to donate, the trade here has been sluggish to begin with, and now you force them to donate money and goods, who will come here to buy from us in the future? Look at them." The county magistrate pointed at the people below him, "They themselves have suffered heavy losses." It's not that it can't be done, but it's really a very bad idea.
"Sir, if there's really no other way, we can do our bit, but we really can't afford more." Someone finally spoke up. Now that there was no compensation, and now they were being asked to donate money, no one was happy.
Several people sat together and sighed.
"Everyone, you are also the owners of the big manors. Today I would like to discuss some ideas with you on behalf of the people of Fengyue County."
When the magistrate heard what he said, several people stood up immediately and said, "Sir, please speak freely. We are all ears."
"I know you've all suffered heavy losses, but these are difficult times. I'm not some unscrupulous official who'll exploit you blindly. I just hope you can give me what you have, like food and cotton, at a slightly lower price so this winter won't be so difficult."
"Sir, what is the range of this lower price you mentioned? It will give us a rough idea."
The county magistrate looked at the general and then at the people below. "The price collected by the government in the past was more fair. What do you think of this price?"
"I think what the county magistrate said makes sense. You are all doing business, so we don't ask you to donate. But if you sell at a lower price so that others can afford it, it can be considered a disguised form of help."
"Sir, General," Chunxiao stepped forward. "In previous years, the military camp collected cotton at 90 wen per jin. How about this? I'm willing to make a concession. If anyone wants to take cotton from me, I'll sell it to them at 80 wen for their own use. If they want to buy it to sell elsewhere, I'll set the price myself. I'll sell it to them first for their own use. How do you do that?"
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