Chapter 287: Yearning for Overnight Riches [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
In short, all her troubles stemmed from poverty; if she had money, everything would be easily resolved.
Shen Tang couldn't help but daydream and started talking in his sleep: "Wang Chao, do you think if I use the incantation 'spend money like water,' I can get rich? Hehe, turn stone into gold."
Gu Chi poured cold water on the idea without any mercy.
"Spending money like water? Perhaps you've turned gold into dust?"
That's truly a disgraceful spendthrift son.
Shen Tang: "..."
Unable to bear it any longer: "Are you perhaps the reincarnation of ETC?!"
Were all these literary figures so adept at choking her to death? They were all self-taught, showing absolutely no "love for the young"!
Gu Chi had a gut feeling that "ETC" wasn't a good thing. He had heard it mentioned in Shen Tang's inner voice more than once, and true to his nature of asking questions when he didn't understand, he "sincerely" inquired: "What does 'C' mean...?"
Shen Tang: "One bar, it will automatically take off and land."
Would hurting her bring Gu Chi happiness?
Gu Chi: "..."
Having such a lord must put him under a lot of pressure.
After a round of amusing mutual teasing, the sadness brought on by poverty faded considerably, and Gu Chi turned his attention to more important matters. It must be said, his lord was quite reliable at times. He knew about Yanzi's efforts to save the people, but his studies were too numerous to recall immediately.
If you have the money, this is indeed a good solution.
It can solve people's livelihood and economic problems in the shortest time.
The purpose of building Fugu as the administrative center was achieved, the people were fed, and even had surplus grain and money to trade. Gradually, the economy began to recover, revitalizing the stagnant economy. However, although the method was good, poverty persisted.
Even a penny can stump a hero.
But what they lack is far more than a single penny.
Lin Feng saw that Shen Tang and Mr. Gu were worried about money and food.
He then asked, "Why not allow those with money to donate?"
Shen Tang: "A donation?"
Lin Feng said in a low voice, "In my early years, I learned to manage household affairs from my mother at home. Every winter, my mother would have the steward allocate a batch of last year's grain from the public account. Each family would also take turns hosting banquets and making donations, setting up sheds to distribute porridge, and building bridges and repairing roads."
It's similar in nature to a charity gala.
Each family contributed to provide relief to the common people affected by the snow disaster.
Upon hearing this, Shen Tang remained noncommittal.
Gu Chi also gave a wry smile.
He knew this wasn't Lin Feng's problem.
As a woman of the inner quarters, the household management she learned from her mother was nothing more than managing social interactions and household expenses—she was only in charge of the people in the house. Given Lin Feng's family background, if it weren't for those unforeseen events, she would have become the matriarch of the clan, considering the prosperity of the clan and the continuation of the family line, but that was far from enough.
Perhaps from the perspective of a woman living in a relatively simple, secluded household, she could have solved the problem by allocating surplus grain, setting up sheds to distribute porridge, and allocating money to build bridges and roads.
But can it really solve the problem?
Leaving aside larger areas, just considering the Heyin region alone, how many people were struggling on the brink of starvation? Could such a small amount of thin porridge really save them? Even if they managed to survive that winter, the following year they still had no land to cultivate and no food to eat.
The only difference between the two is whether one starves or freezes to death sooner, or suffers countless hardships before freezing or starving to death.
Although Lin Feng didn't understand yet, she could tell that her husband and Mr. Gu did not agree with her naive suggestion.
So he apologized in a low voice.
"...I have spoken out of turn. Please, sir, do not be angry."
Shen Tang said, "I'm not angry, I don't blame you."
She only asked Lin Feng, "Why are the common people hungry?"
Lin Feng said, "The family has no money or food, the weather is bad, the harvest is meager, the land tax is heavy, the officials are corrupt... and there's more..."
She tried to think of all sorts of reasons.
But Shen Tang said, "No, no, no, these are all reasons you mentioned, but none of them are the most fundamental reason."
Lin Feng blinked: "Please enlighten me, my lord."
Shen Tang said, "There's no land to plant."
Lin Feng was stunned for a moment: "No...no land to plant?"
She hadn't expected this reason.
Shen Tang didn't treat Lin Feng like a nine-year-old child. Some lessons should be taught, and there was no need to wait for Lin Feng to stumble and fall.
"Yes, there's no land to farm."
Shen Tang softened her tone: "I don't deny that people like your mother, whose initial intention in setting up sheds and distributing porridge, building bridges and repairing roads, was undoubtedly to help the suffering people to the best of their ability. Perhaps it was for fame, or perhaps it was out of compassion, but such spirit deserves recognition and encouragement. However, your mother is your mother, and a powerful family is a powerful family; the two are completely different!"
Mobilizing wealthy and powerful families to donate to disaster relief? Haha, it's a miracle they don't jump out and obstruct us.
Shen Tang's words overturned Lin Feng's previous understanding: "For powerful families, disaster relief is something that brings them no real benefit, and may even damage their interests. What other benefits can they gain besides reputation?"
Lin Feng choked for a moment.
She remembered that when her mother did those good deeds, she did suffer open or covert ridicule from the various branches of the family. It was all hard work and no reward. In this world, food was precious, so why let the common people benefit for nothing? But her mother always did it in the name of "praying for XX" or something similar, so they couldn't openly oppose her, but they were unhappy in their hearts.
If it were truly profitable, why are there so few people doing it?
Shen Tang continued.
"Disaster relief is only a temporary solution, not a permanent one."
Lin Feng asked, "How can we cure the root cause?"
"There is only one way to truly solve the plight of the common people: to give them their own land to cultivate."
Lin Feng asked, "Can't we cultivate wasteland?"
Shen Tang replied, "How much land can be reclaimed? This land lacks fertility, crops don't grow well, and the common people's harvest is naturally poor. If it were a truly fertile piece of land, it would have been occupied long ago."
This will enable the people to form a healthy cycle of self-sufficiency.
Unfortunately, land is a limited resource.
Commoners own more land, while powerful and wealthy families own less.
Besides, if all the common people go to cultivate their own land, who will cultivate their land? Hiring people to cultivate it is not cost-effective.
Only when commoners lose their land and are unable to support their families economically will they sell themselves cheaply to others to cultivate the land; that would be a worthwhile deal.
As for the negative consequences of doing so?
Anyway, it's not like they're the ones eating it.
They still live in mansions, served by hundreds of servants, with no worries about food or drink, and live a glamorous life. Would the starvation of commoners affect their ability to eat a bowl of fine rice less? There are so many commoners in the world; if one group dies, another will come. They have no shortage of people to cultivate their own land.
Lin Feng remained silent for a long time after hearing this.
She thought that by acquiring the "Essential Techniques for the Common People," she would have a foothold in this world and be able to compete with the world's outstanding figures in the future. But now it seems that the road ahead is far longer and more arduous than she imagined.
Lin Feng believed that the common people's suffering was due to bad weather and insufficient soil fertility. He thought that the power of words might solve the problem, and the common people would no longer suffer from hunger and cold. As for the frequent man-made disasters and rampant corruption among lower-level officials, these could also be addressed with strong measures.
But Lin Feng hadn't thought of that.
What should ordinary people do if they have no land to cultivate?
Why is there no land to farm?
Shen Tang: "Good things are always something everyone wants to snatch."
For example, she saw a super-rich man who was so fat he was practically dripping with oil and wanted to use his power to transfer their assets to her own name.
Rob the rich to help me
Lin Feng was filled with shame.
Shen Tang didn't think it was a big deal.
No one is born omniscient and omnipotent. Everyone's perspective is limited by their own position and environment. She cannot criticize Lin Feng, who was pampered in the inner palace and suddenly fell into exile, for suddenly empathizing with the lowest-level common people.
Even ordinary people themselves often cannot see why they live such a hard life, and therefore assume it is "fate".
Shen Tang asked Lin Feng to fetch something.
Seeing Lin Feng leave, Gu Chi spoke up: "Why didn't you let Ling De go with Wu Hui and the others to settle the common people, my lord?"
The more you are exposed to something, the faster you'll grasp it.
Shen Tang shook her head.
She deliberately transferred Lin Feng from Chu Yao's hands, keeping him busy organizing the administrative office and temporarily separating him from the common people of Fugu City. Her purpose in doing so was very simple: "Wang Chao is good at observing people's hearts, would he think that all common people are good people?"
Gu Chi: "Of course not."
On the contrary, the evil deeds of many ordinary people are even more disgusting, but they are ignorant and do not believe that their behavior is wrong.
"Although Lingde is young, just nine years old, in the eyes of some ignorant people, nine years old is already an age to be taken home for play and lewd acts." Shen Tang's tone and expression were calm. "I cannot guarantee Lingde's safety while he is away studying. If an accident happens when I'm not careful... his studies can be taken slowly. I'm not so desperate for people that I have to exploit child labor. Given the current situation in Fugu City, does Wang Chao think that possibility is very small?"
Gu Chi: "..."
He hadn't really thought things through that thoroughly, or rather, he made the same mistake as Lin Feng. Shen Tang didn't linger on the topic: "Act quickly, before Zhang and the others react. It's the New Year, let's slaughter a fat pig to add some festive spirit."
After saying this, he put the administrative office's account books aside.
I've glanced at it; the deficit is appalling.
Even after looking again, you can't see any money.
If Zhang were to "generously donate," Shen Tang would have surplus grain and money to carry out work-for-relief programs, revitalize the economy of Fugu, and then extend these programs to the entire Heyin prefecture. Only then would Zhao Feng and Gong Shuwu, these two incredibly skilled and courageous martial artists, human bulldozers, have a chance to prove their worth.
Gu Chi: "..."
Fortunately, these two cannot hear their lord's thoughts.
If they knew, wouldn't they have run away overnight? Oh, to use the lord's words, they probably bought standing tickets and carried the train?
The literary minds and scholars are bursting with action.
Kang Shi and Qi Shan stayed up all night.
Finally, the pile of case files were sorted into categories.
The next morning, several officials who had arrived early to report for work were tricked by Gu Chi into going out on business.
When Qi Shan and the other person arrived, Shen Tang rolled up her long sleeves with a black sling to secure her shoulders, revealing her two snow-white arms. She then climbed to a high place with a hammer, banging and banging as she repaired and reinforced the shaky roof beams and re-tidied the leaky tiles.
It made their blood pressure spike.
"My lord!"
"Ah, it's Yuanliang and Jishou."
Shen Tang tucked the wooden handle of the hammer into his waistband, patted the dust off his palms, and leaped down, landing steadily without swaying. Behind Qi Shan and the other man, more than twenty soldiers carried a dozen or so heavy wooden buckets.
"Have you finished tidying up?"
These two are working way too hard in just one night.
Shen Tang wiped away her sweat as she leaned closer to take a look.
Good heavens!
The wooden barrel was filled with files and documents!
The previous chapter had 4,000 words, and this chapter has 3,000 words, making a total of 7,000 words.
Ugh, I'm still 3,000 short, damn it!
I'll add another 2,000 words in the early hours of the morning.
(End of this chapter)
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