In December of the first year of Baoyuan, Zhao Jun stayed in Tanzhou for four months. He spent three months here, from the flood in August to the reconstruction of the disaster area in September.
Dispatch food and supplies, organize production and reconstruction, crack down on illegal activities, prevent human trafficking, and establish a complete system.
For people like Qin Sanniang and Zhou Wu, who had almost no labor force at home, the government rented out their original land and allocated some newly reclaimed land to rent out to ensure their basic survival.
Although they were unable to cultivate the land, they could still make ends meet by growing vegetables at home or finding odd jobs. In addition, the government rented out the land they owned every month.
To a certain extent, such people are almost equivalent to the five-guarantee households in later generations. Since there is no young and strong labor force in the family and there is no way to sustain farming, they enjoy the basic survival security provided by the government.
Although providing such benefits in ancient times sounded unrealistic.
But in fact, with the developed economy of the Song Dynasty and the increase in productivity after the introduction of Champa rice, even when the three redundancies were serious, it was actually a barely achievable thing to really ensure that no one starved to death.
Because Cai Jing, the treacherous prime minister and one of the six thieves in the late Northern Song Dynasty, established a nationwide social charity and relief system when the court's finances were already very tight.
Not only was there a nursing home specifically set up to take in "widows, widowers, and orphans", but there was also Anjifang, which was dedicated to treating the poor, and Louzeyuan, a public cemetery.
In addition, there are orphanages and adoption systems, called the Salesian Bureau and the Infant Bureau.
Therefore, it is not an empty talk that the Song Dynasty had a prosperous business environment and was indeed rich. As long as the imperial court had such welfare policies, as long as local governments implemented them properly, and as long as grassroots governance could ensure that these benefits were distributed to these people, the basic survival needs of the people could perhaps be guaranteed.
But unfortunately, such a situation is almost impossible to achieve. Even if the imperial court has such a policy, the implementation by local officials and grassroots governance will never reach the ideal state, including Cai Jing's welfare system, which was basically rotten in the middle and late stages.
If Zhao Jun hadn't been keeping an eye on things in Changsha, it might not have been possible to achieve such perfection. I just don't know how long such help can last for poor families like Qin Sanniang and Zhou Wu.
But the good news is that the officials on Jinghu South Road are relatively reliable.
In addition to Chen Xiliang, who is extremely outstanding in both ability and political achievements, Wang Yao, the transport envoy of Jinghu South Road, Li Suzhi, the chief judge of the criminal justice department, Wang Han, the prefect of Tanzhou, and Liu Yuan, the transport judge, are all reliable people.
Although his abilities and political achievements are slightly inferior to those of Chen Xiliang, his character and morals are worthy of recognition. His governance level cannot be said to be particularly outstanding, but it is also at an upper-middle level.
So after seeing with his own eyes that the local government had properly resettled all the victims, Zhao Jun continued on his inspection tour.
By the first year of Baoyuan, that is, the end of 1038 AD, Zhao Jun went north to Jinghu North Road.
The departure was in mid-December, at the end of the morning hour of Mao, before it was completely light. Zhao Jun packed his luggage and, under the protection of many guards, said goodbye to Wang Yao, Li Suzhi, Wang Han, Liu Yuan, Chen Xiliang and other officials, and set off for the dock.
He had originally intended to leave quietly without informing the local officials, but Chen Xiliang felt that he should still inform Wang Yao and the others, as otherwise it would be a bit unreasonable to leave without saying goodbye.
Zhao Jun thought there was some truth in it, so he had a quick meal with them last night and gave them some suggestions on the management of Jinghu South Road. The next morning, he was surrounded by everyone and headed to the dock.
It was actually around seven o'clock in the morning. Since it was winter, the sky was still gray. Although there were pedestrians on the street, there were not many.
Suddenly, a large group of people came out of the county government office, and some people stopped to watch curiously.
Some people quickly recognized Zhao Jun and many high-ranking officials from Jinghu South Road, and began to discuss, "Where is the governor going next?"
"Maybe he's going to inspect other counties."
"But it's not usually this early in the morning. The dean must be exhausted lately."
"Yes, I really feel sorry for Zhiyuan. I saw him when he first came to Tanzhou. He was full of vigor and vitality. But recently, Zhiyuan seems to have aged several years."
"Let's go and take a look."
Perhaps some people wanted to go and take a look even though they had to go back to work soon.
At this time, Zhao Jun left the West City and slowly arrived near the pier.
His guards have been assembled. Two large transport ships hired from the local area can each carry hundreds of people, and the entire team of 1,400 to 1,500 people can be easily accommodated.
This time after heading north to Jinghu North Road, I had no plans to go to Nanyang. At most, I would follow the Han River to Xiangyang, and then go upstream to Sichuan.
According to his route, after inspecting Sichuan in the first half of next year, he will continue north to Guanzhong, Shaanxi.
That time was probably a critical moment in the Song-Xia War. Zhao Jun did not intend to cause trouble, but there was nothing wrong with comforting the soldiers and doing some ideological or political work.
Along the way, Zhao Jun chatted with Wang Yao and others while looking at the river at the dock.
After the restoration of governance, Tanzhou gradually played its role as a transportation hub connecting Guangdong and Hubei. At this moment, dozens of merchant ships have appeared sporadically at the dock.
Although it cannot compare with the magnificent scene of hundreds or thousands of ships at Changsha dock during the Republic of China period, it is a good thing to have a beginning.
After all, there were only six cities in the Northern Song Dynasty with a population exceeding 200,000: Bianjing, Jingzhao Prefecture, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Tanzhou. Economically, Changsha's commercial tax revenue ranked fourth in the country, second only to Hangzhou, Bianjing, and Chuzhou along the Grand Canal.
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