"The government will renovate the area, and the shops can be sold or rented out. We expect to recoup our costs within one or two years, and the rest will be pure profit."
Zhao Jun replied.
"Hmm"
Fan Zhongyan suddenly thought of something and said, "Your Majesty, I think so. The Ming Dynasty fell because officials deceived the emperor. Not only did they make it impossible for him to collect taxes, they also denied him monopolies on iron and salt, and claimed he couldn't compete with the people for profits. In reality, they were all selfish. The state should really control some of the commerce."
"This is also why there are state-owned enterprises in later generations."
Zhao Jun added: "State-owned enterprises exist to prevent monopolies and provide a safety net for the people. Later generations of salt companies and state-owned grain enterprises sold salt and grain at prices as low as a few cents per pound. While they might not taste good, they were lifesavers for the poor. Their existence ensured the basic survival needs of the people."
"Grandson, do you think that Song Dynasty will also have its own state-owned enterprises in the future?"
Zhao Zhen asked.
"Yes."
Zhao Jun nodded and said, "Take the drought in Jianghuai last year as an example. If there were state-owned enterprises, the people affected wouldn't have been forced into slavery, and many wouldn't have starved to death."
When this was mentioned, everyone fell silent, because Lu Yijian had already mentioned this in the morning court.
It was the aftermath of last year's drought in Huainan. The beginning of the Song Dynasty was the end of the third Little Ice Age, and it happened to be on the verge of ending during the years of Emperor Renzong of Song.
As the climate warms up, the precipitation line begins to move northward, which is good news for crops in the north.
But this does not mean that natural disasters will disappear. On the contrary, they will become more frequent due to climate change, such as droughts, floods, earthquakes, etc.
Last year, when Huainan suffered a drought, Zhao Zhen ordered disaster relief and allocated 200,000 tons of silk cloth from the treasury as Huainan's annual tribute.
However, tax exemptions and disaster relief are obviously a drop in the bucket, and many people in Huainan are still living in danger.
Therefore, when the population was cheap, many landlords took the opportunity to absorb the people as slaves, and seized their land, making the people their tenants and working for the landlords.
This was a common occurrence in ancient times, especially during the Song Dynasty, which did not suppress land annexation.
Unfortunately, the Song Dynasty did not allow normal human trafficking and issued a clear ban on it, so the local government had no choice but to "buy back" these people.
However, due to the drought in Huainan, the land was barren. Even if these people had land, no food could grow on the land and they would starve to death. This approach of only saving people without caring about their lives would undoubtedly make the situation of the poor people worse.
Therefore, Lu Yijian thought that it should be left alone. The matter had been discussed in the Constitutional Council, and the morning court session was basically just a formality.
Zhao Jun really had no way to deal with this matter.
Because the damage caused by the drought in Huainan last year was so severe, millions of people in almost the entire Huainan region were affected, and the scope of the impact was very large.
After Zhao Jun came to power, he also attached great importance to this matter. He found a way to allocate a large amount of food and fodder, and even used the reserve food prepared for the war in the northwest to send it to the disaster area.
But it is still a drop in the bucket.
The most important thing is that you save one person, but there are still thousands and thousands of people to save. With the ability of the Song Dynasty court, it is impossible to settle everyone.
Therefore, after understanding the real situation, Zhao Jun had no choice but to agree with Lu Yijian's approach and allow the large landowners to continue to absorb land and population.
This will certainly intensify land annexation, but from a side perspective, it can at least ensure that a large number of disaster victims in Huainan can survive.
Ultimately, it is because of the current low productivity and weak ability to resist natural disasters.
In addition, there is serious land annexation.
The big landlords actually still had a lot of grain in stock, but they were unwilling to sell it to the court at a low price. Instead, they took advantage of the skyrocketing grain prices during the famine to drive up prices and make huge profits.
Zhao Jun's attitude towards this matter was to take severe measures against the landlords in the Huainan area who raised prices. He sent troops to confiscate their properties and exterminate their families.
But in the end he was persuaded by Lu Yijian and others.
It’s not that Lu Yijian and his men are protecting the Huainan gentry, but that the Huainan region is currently a powder keg.
There are many gentry representatives from the Huainan region within the imperial court now. Once a large-scale army is dispatched, the news will inevitably spread. Once the big landlords get to know the news, they will probably rebel immediately.
You have to know that in the Song Dynasty, even many small and medium-sized landlords could not bear the high taxes and thus rebelled. For example, Fang La was a landlord who was forced to rebel.
It was not easy for the Huainan region to survive. If the big landlords rebelled, the Song Dynasty might have perished.
So stability is still the priority.
Zhao Jun felt that what they said made sense, so he reluctantly agreed. This was mainly because he had done some research and found that the people were now on the brink of life and death.
The imperial court sent troops to suppress the landlords in order to free the grain from their hands and rescue the victims.
But if the big landlords found out at this time that the imperial court suddenly sent troops to Huainan, they would certainly be terrified. Once they took out food to recruit disaster victims to revolt, the disaster victims would become their people.
Sending troops at that time will only provoke conflicts, which is a bad strategy and should not be taken.
So we have to think of other ways.
Everyone chatted for a while, reported today's state affairs to Zhao Zhen, submitted their opinions on how to deal with the situation, and after obtaining Zhao Zhen's approval, they prepared to return to the Constitutional Council to work.
But before everyone left, Zhao Zhen left Zhao Jun alone.
He looked at Zhao Jun and asked, "Grandson, you're planning to leave the capital next year. It would be nice to travel around the Song Dynasty. Where do you plan to go first?"
Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "Huainan."
"Huainan?"
Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Grandson, we really can't do anything there. Something terrible will happen."
"Of course I know."
Zhao Jun said, "But we can't just sit back and do nothing. In later generations, whenever a disaster strikes a country, the leader will be the first to visit the scene, and may even be in the disaster area to direct the operation. This is a manifestation of responsibility and accountability. I must at least go and see the situation in the disaster area before I can properly govern the place."
"well."
Zhao Zhen sighed and said, "That's fine, but once we get to Huainan, we still need to be cautious."
"I know, brother, don't worry, I won't act rashly."
Zhao Jun bowed.
When he turned around and left Chongde Hall, his face was as calm as water.
He had read all the letters sent from Huainan this time. Many big landlords were not affected by the drought at all. They had clearly hoarded so much grain, but they raised prices, raising the price of rice to two or three thousand, or even four or five thousand coins per stone, making a profit in an unscrupulous way.
Unfortunately, the imperial court could not send troops directly to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation to rebel.
What if I go there in person, before they rebel, pretend nothing has happened, and suddenly arrest everyone and distribute the food they have stored, how should these people respond?
I feel a little better today and my mental state is a little better. I hope I can recover tomorrow and continue to update twice a day.
(End of this chapter)
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