Chapter 2168 Crying Poor
Governor Duan didn't expect Bai Shan to ask about this. He sighed and didn't hide it. "Because the Governor's Office has limited funds, I asked them to demolish all the post stations along the way that could be demolished."
In fact, it was not demolished, but just closed, because demolition also costs money, and keeping it open in the future can save some money.
If it were any other official, Governor Duan would definitely have some shame, but when it came to Zhou Man and the others, Governor Duan was very shameless.
Firstly, they were all close to the emperor, and crying poor would let the emperor know that Liangzhou was very poor and in urgent need of support;
Secondly, we are all the prince's men, so we are all family members. Since we are family members, we naturally have to let others know when we encounter difficulties.
So Governor Duan was so focused on crying poor to Bai Shan and Mr. Zhuang that even Bai Erlang, Yin Huo and others who were standing by were stunned by what they heard.
Liangzhou is very poor, which is reflected in all aspects.
There was originally a piece of fertile paddy field under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou. It was not very large, but the government was still able to collect a certain amount of tax from it every year, and the people could barely be self-sufficient.
But there has been little rain in Liangzhou in the past two years, and that paddy field is next to a lake. There are two lakes there, not far apart, and there are rivers and ditches to divert water from the lake to the paddy field.
The farmland was originally located a certain distance away from the lake to prevent water and soil from entering the lake, which would actually cause the lake to shrink.
As a result, there was drought in the past two years, which led to reduced yields. Then last year, many small insects were born, and the grain yield was even worse.
Apart from that one piece of land, there were only scattered plots of land elsewhere, which were not enough to make a living, let alone collect taxes.
Other than that, they are all herdsmen.
The tax burden on herders was already high, and last year there was a snow disaster and an epidemic, so the medicinal materials that the imperial court provided to the disaster-stricken areas for relief did not even reach Liangzhou.
Therefore, Liangzhou had to be responsible for the treatment of smallpox patients itself.
The prescription was sent from the capital, but buying the medicine requires money, and the food and drink for the patient, including his family, also requires money.
Otherwise, if they did not die of smallpox but died of hunger and cold, that would also be a major mistake in his political achievements.
So when Governor Duan took inventory before the New Year, he found that he had no money left.
It would have been fine if he had no money, but in a desperate situation, he temporarily embezzled the taxes and donations that were supposed to be submitted to the court, thinking that he could use the excuse of passing through an epidemic area to postpone it for a while, and then use the excuse of a snowstorm to postpone it for a while...
Anyway, this kind of thing happens often in these distant state capitals, and it usually ends up in nothing.
The territory of the Great Jin Dynasty was vast, and it was basically impossible to collect taxes from the areas north and west of Xiazhou, and it was not even able to be self-sufficient. The Ministry of Revenue had to provide assistance from time to time, and only had to pay tribute and send gifts to the emperor during festivals.
Governor Duan had done this many times, and this time he was indeed successful. Shortly after the beginning of spring, his prophecy came true. It did snow again in the north, and it snowed heavily. Liangzhou suffered huge losses. Many newborn lambs in herdsmen's homes were frozen to death, and even adult sheep were frozen to death.
Coupled with the losses caused by the smallpox epidemic, Liangzhou never recovered.
So Governor Duan wrote a letter to apologize and cry poor, saying that the taxes and donations that were prepared to be transported to the capital were gone, and he had to embezzle them in order to fight the snow disaster and smallpox, but it was still not enough, so he requested state support.
Then the Ministry of Revenue sent a document expressing understanding for his misappropriation of tax revenue. They knew that this year was special, but he would have to make up for it later. By the way, they mentioned that Liangzhou had not paid taxes for three years in the past eight years, and this year was the fourth time. They hoped that they would make up for it all at once in the future.
The Ministry of Revenue declined Liangzhou's request for help, stating that it was also in a difficult situation. The national treasury had spent a lot to fight the epidemic. Now it was spring, and all places needed money. They currently had no money to spare for Liangzhou. They hoped that Liangzhou could persevere on its own and increase revenue and reduce expenditure, etc.
Anyway, I just don’t have any money.
Governor Duan sighed and said, "That's why I recalled all the people from the post station. We really have no money left. Besides the post station, I also reduced the number of people at some checkpoints."
The post station continued to operate. Not only did the postmaster and the servants need food and drink, but they also needed charcoal and other things, and the horses also needed to be fed.
It would be okay if the people passing by were merchants or private individuals, as they could make some money, and even if they couldn't make back their investment, they could at least subsidize some expenses. But if officials like Zhou Man moved in, not only would they not be able to collect any money, they would also have to be responsible for their food and drink, and the food and fodder for their livestock.
The expenses are huge.
So Governor Duan simply recalled all his men and closed the post station. However, he was still poor, so he urgently needed help from the emperor and the prince.
He looked at Bai Shan with sharp eyes.
Bai Shan: ...He was just asking out of curiosity. After all, they could have stayed in the post station every day. Even if there was no hot water for showers, at least they could have had hot meals. But all the way, since they passed Huaiyuan, they had been sleeping in the open air.
The emperor cannot make the decision alone on matters of money, and the Ministry of Revenue is probably right that other places need subsidies more than Liangzhou.
So his eyes swept over Liu Huan.
Liu Huan immediately lowered his head and pretended to know nothing.
Bai Shan could only say that he would report this to the prince when he had the chance.
Governor Duan breathed a sigh of relief, but Bai Shan couldn't help but ask, "Is there no local product in Liangzhou that can be traded with the outside world? I remember there are iron mines in Liangzhou."
Governor Duan said with a complicated expression, "The iron ore in Liang Province was sold as early as the Dade era."
That was during the time of the previous emperor. Bai Shan said he understood that it was a very chaotic period. Liangzhou belonged to the Jin Dynasty today, but it might belong to the Turks tomorrow, and might be occupied by Tubo the day after tomorrow.
Da Jin must have been short of money after the occupation, so it simply sold the iron mines under its jurisdiction to the local big families.
The Great Jin might not be able to defend Liangzhou, but the local big families should be able to defend their own iron mines. It doesn’t matter if they can’t, because the Great Jin has taken the money anyway, so he won’t be the one who suffers the loss.
Who knew that after His Majesty ascended the throne, he gradually stabilized the situation, not only regained Liangzhou, but also expanded the territory and took back the areas that originally belonged to other vassal states. Ahem, you can't go back on your word and take back the iron mine, right?
Local areas also need long-term stability.
Bai Shan didn't dare to give him any blind advice, so he could only say, "Maybe we can ask them for some donations, at least we can get through this year first."
Governor Duan did not intend to lose face and ask those people for help for the time being. He would wait for the court's assistance first and then deal with it when there was no help.
Manbao had already finished treating Madam Duan. She had rheumatism, which was why her legs and feet felt uncomfortable when it was cold or rainy. There was no good way to treat this, so Manbao gave her a set of acupuncture and then prescribed foot baths and oral medicine.
She said, "I wonder if there's a doctor in Liangzhou City who knows acupuncture? If so, I've left a set of acupuncture techniques. He can give the old lady acupuncture once every ten days, along with medication. The effect will be much better."
The old lady felt much better now. Her legs felt warm and not as uncomfortable as before. Upon hearing this, she immediately said, "It would be best if Doctor Zhou would leave the prescription. We will go and get the doctor later."
This acupuncture method is mainly used on the lower limbs. Since the old lady is old, even a male doctor can give it a try.
The back is difficult to acupuncture. After a moment of hesitation, the old lady asked, "Is there any acupuncture method that doesn't require acupuncture on the back?"
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "I can simplify it, but the effect won't be as good as this set of needlework."
The old lady sighed with regret, but still accepted it. She could accept lifting up her trouser legs, but she could not accept lifting up her clothes in front of the male doctor.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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