Chapter 216: Inspiration (Additional chapter for Yunqi's 215,000 recommended votes)
Mr. Bai asked everyone to sit down in the front hall. The servants quickly served tea, and the housekeeper went downstairs to arrange lunch.
It’s said that we come to drink water, but of course it’s not as simple as just drinking water. We have to eat and talk.
County Magistrate Fu was used to it, because every time he went to the countryside, he was entertained by either the head of the village or local gentry and landlords. He couldn't just eat at the home of the person with the worst conditions, right?
Mr. Bai also had experience in entertaining officials who came to the countryside. He first asked about the situation in other places, and then asked about the current arrangements in the county. He then said that he would definitely cooperate with the county's policies and do a good job in summer and autumn harvests.
Speaking of harvest, County Magistrate Fu got a headache and turned to ask the head of the neighborhood and the village chief about the situation in the village fields.
The head of the village sighed and let the village chief speak.
Things at home can be faked, but the crops in the fields are growing there. Even if he wants to say that the situation is optimistic, County Magistrate Fu has to believe it.
As soon as he walked into the field, he could see everything.
One of the two most severely damaged areas in Qili Village was right by the river, and they had just walked from the other side of the river to this side, so County Magistrate Fu must have seen it.
When the village chief saw the headman sighing, he looked at Manbao calmly, then sighed too and started to cry poor.
Old Zhou had no idea about the village chief's nephew's cunning intentions. He thought everything the village chief said was right, so he sat aside and nodded repeatedly.
In fact, the situation in Qili Village was better than the villages and towns that County Magistrate Fu had visited before.
Therefore, he was even more worried because the disaster affected such a large area.
After a moment's thought, he looked at Mr. Bai and sighed, "The provincial government has issued an order for each county to take in displaced victims. Although Luojiang County is remote, quite a few refugees have flocked to it. They're all from Yizhou, so they all have relatives and friends who have come to seek refuge here. Therefore, the city and its subordinate areas have taken in quite a few refugees."
Mr. Bai nodded in understanding.
"Some refugees brought some belongings with them, which provided them with temporary support for their daily needs, but many fled empty-handed. The flood wasn't like other natural disasters; it came suddenly and violently. Many families didn't have time to take anything out, so the city has been cooking relief porridge, but this isn't a long-term solution."
After the rain stopped, Mr. Bai had two loads of grain delivered to the county government office. Other landlords did the same as a form of support.
Although these donations have accumulated over time, they are still a drop in the bucket for the refugees in Luojiang County.
Therefore, County Magistrate Fu hinted that the grain in the county government treasury was almost exhausted, and the next step in providing disaster relief was to apply to open the county's granary.
Each county has a granary to deal with natural disasters, but to open the granary and release grain, one must apply to the state.
It would be fine if the target was local people, but now the people who need relief are refugees from outside, and I'm afraid the local people will have objections.
So County Magistrate Fu asked them to pay attention to the words, actions and attitudes of the villagers, and try their best to persuade them, because love knows no boundaries.
Of course, he didn't just care about the refugees and the local people. This time, the county government would provide subsidies to all those whose houses collapsed in the flood.
He also saw the moldy rice and wheat just now. It was basically the same in other places. Wherever the houses collapsed, the food was basically damp and moldy.
Although theoretically this kind of food will not kill people, eating too much is not good for you.
With the current capabilities of the county government, it can only provide subsidies to those whose houses collapsed. If it wants to expand the scope of subsidies, it will probably require help from people like Mr. Bai.
Mr. Bai could tell that he was hinting at them, the landlords, to donate grain again, and this time the main target would be the local people.
He pondered for a moment and thought that this would actually be beneficial to them, the landlords.
For example, if he is from Qili Village, most of the food he donated will be distributed to the villagers of Qili Village. This will not only help his neighbors, but also gain reputation for him and the Bai family.
Anyway, he was planning to donate another batch, and it would be better if he could donate it to the villagers outside his home, so Mr. Bai nodded and agreed, saying that he would definitely cooperate with the county's policy.
With the topic opened, Mr. Bai became more relaxed. After pondering for a moment, he couldn't help but ask about the autumn tax.
Although the Bai family was wealthy, they suffered severe damage.
The Bai family's land is not limited to Qili Village, Baimaquan Town, other villages and towns in Luojiang County, and he even has land in Baxi County and Yizhou area. Therefore, he suffered unevenly and the affected area was extremely wide.
Well, although he has a small family, he has a lot of servants, and slaves also have to pay certain taxes. With the disaster so severe, will the court really not consider reducing or exempting the autumn tax?
County Magistrate Fu paused. He originally wanted to discuss this topic with Mr. Bai in private, but when he saw the lawyer give him a look, County Magistrate Fu understood after a little thought.
Talking to Mr. Bai in private is confidential, but talking here is semi-public. Both have advantages, and the advantage of the latter is that it can earn him a certain amount of goodwill and prestige among the villagers.
"In the Yizhou area, the counties and prefectures that were directly affected will definitely be exempted from taxes," even if the imperial court did not issue an order, County Magistrate Fu knew that it would definitely be possible, not only because the disaster was so severe, but also because it was Wei Zhi who came to provide disaster relief.
Wei Zhi was the Secretary General and was famous for his fairness and integrity in the court.
"But for other counties that weren't as severely affected, like Luojiang County, it would be very difficult to get tax reductions or exemptions if the provincial government doesn't report it."
Compared with Yizhou, the disaster in Baxi County was not too serious. At this time, people were in panic. County Magistrate Fu guessed that the governor would not reduce or exempt the autumn tax in order to save face.
This guess was made by County Magistrate Fu after he went to Brazil twice for meetings and tried to guess the emperor's intentions.
It can be said that in terms of political achievement requirements, the wishes of County Magistrate Fu and Governor Wang are exactly opposite.
Unfortunately, Governor Wang was the superior of Magistrate Fu.
Hearing the topic of tax reduction and exemption, even Old Zhou, who had been keeping his head down, couldn't help but perk up and looked at County Magistrate Fu eagerly.
If taxes can be reduced or exempted this year, he doesn't know about other families, but his Zhou family will definitely be able to survive and life will not be particularly difficult.
But when they heard that the governor was not very willing to report it, Old Zhou and the village chief looked disappointed again.
The head of the village glanced at the two people who put everything on the table and said nothing.
Manbao and Bai Shanbao also listened with great interest. She already knew some social customs and knew that County Magistrate Fu would never report such a matter without going through the Inspector General.
She also sighed.
Bai Shanbao also sighed.
The two children sighed loudly. Magistrate Fu looked at Kele and asked with a smile, "Why are you sighing?"
Man Bao said, "We can just change the governor, someone who wants to reduce taxes just like you do."
Old Zhou was terrified. He put his hand over her mouth and apologized repeatedly, "Please forgive me, my lord. I was ignorant and spoke nonsense..."
County Magistrate Fu was also startled, but he didn't take it too seriously. He smiled and said, "Don't take the child's words to heart."
Bai Shanbao also said to her, "It's very difficult to change the governor. Instead of thinking about changing the governor, it's better to think about having a higher-ranking official come to our side. Then we can directly ask him for help."
Manbao ripped off his father's hand and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, the county magistrate is lower than the governor, so the county magistrate should obey the governor. Then we can have another official higher than the governor, so the lower official should obey the higher one."
County Magistrate Fu and Mr. Bai both became thoughtful.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com