Zhao Lin said, "In the past, many people died of hunger and cold every winter. The reason was the cold. There were no clothes to keep out the cold, no houses to protect against the wind and snow, and no means of keeping warm."
"The second reason is hunger. There's not enough food. In winter, you need to consume a lot of calories to survive, but you only consume them and don't replenish them, so you freeze to death. To put it bluntly, you starve to death."
Li Xinghua nodded: "You are right."
Zhao Lin continued, "May I ask, sir, what measures were taken to save people in the winter?"
Li Xingye pondered, "There's no better solution. We can only open porridge factories and distribute clothing. We can also set up some temporary shelters to provide shelter for the homeless. We can also ask wealthy families in various places to distribute porridge and donate clothing and food to poor families. Oh, and temples will also carry out relief activities."
Zhao Lin said: "The students' method is the same, just a little more detailed."
Li Xingye's expression eased slightly. He thought Zhao Lin was probably anxious to get an invitation to the chrysanthemum viewing party, so he came to him so rashly. Although he was unhappy, he still said, "Tell me about it."
Zhao Lin said, "According to what you said, there are only two things we can do: one is to keep warm, and the other is to fill our stomachs. Is that right?"
"Yes." Li Xingye nodded.
Zhao Lin said, "I'm also working on these two aspects. First, keeping warm. Poor people can't afford fur clothing, so they can only use cotton and linen fabrics. Cotton and linen fabrics are also quite valuable to the poor. If we ask wealthy families to donate, how much can they donate? So, my idea is to build a large cold-proof and warming place, which can provide some protection from the winter cold. Then, add a fire pit inside the place. Even if it can't be burned all night, just a little burning while sleeping is enough."
Li Xingye frowned slightly: "It's not like no one has thought of this before, but it's impossible."
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "Your Excellency, are you talking about the huge cost?"
"Yes," Li Xingye nodded. "First, we need to build a lot of sleeping quarters, which requires a large area. Second, building houses is very expensive, including materials, labor, and so on. It's okay if we build a small number of them, but there's no point in building too few."
Zhao Lin asked, "What if the materials and labor didn't cost any money?"
"Hmm?" Li Xingye's face was serious, his eyes sharp. "What do you mean?"
Zhao Lin said, "Have you ever heard of a building called a cave?"
Li Xingye nodded and said, "I've heard it's quite common in Ganzhou and Ningzhou in the northwest."
Zhao Lin said, "Yes. This cave dwelling is made by digging out the earth. It is not only warm in winter and cool in summer, but can also withstand the severe winter cold to a certain extent. You don't need to spend money to buy materials. You just need to find a suitable location."
Li Xingye nodded repeatedly. "That makes sense. Not only does it save on materials, but it also saves on space. We can just dig the ground outside the city. But what do you mean by no labor required? Doesn't this require more labor?"
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "The government is considering those homeless people. Is there any problem with letting them do some work?"
Li Xingye suddenly laughed out loud: "Okay, okay, this solves half of the problem."
The people who can be considered by the government are basically homeless wanderers. Since they have nothing to do, asking them to dig houses for themselves to spend the winter is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.
Hearing this, Li Xingye knew Zhao Lin wasn't aimless and urged, "What about the other one? How are we going to fill our stomachs?"
Zhao Lin said: "This is easy. Let them provide work in lieu of relief."
"Work-for-relief?" Li Xingye shook his head when he heard this. "No, no, you know, work-for-relief is done every year, but it's completely useless. Besides, there's not enough work, and even if there was, there wouldn't be enough relief funds. Even if the court allocated relief funds, who knows how much would be embezzled, and how much would end up in the hands of the people."
When talking about disaster relief funds, Li Xingye's tone became a little heavier. It was obvious that he was very unhappy that the prince's people had embezzled Qingzhou's disaster relief funds.
Zhao Lin interrupted and asked, "How's the case of embezzling disaster relief funds going?"
Li Xingye didn't mind talking to Zhao Lin for a few more words and said, "Someone has stepped forward to take the blame."
Last time it was Guo Maoliang, and they had to give up on him because of this case. This time Li Xingye insisted on investigating it, and the prince had to find someone to take the blame again.
Otherwise, if the investigation is really carried out, the prince will not be able to escape.
"Alas!" Li Xingye sighed and said, "After all, it's a deep love between father and son."
Li Xingye didn't say much, but Zhao Lin understood the meaning of this sentence. The emperor simply wanted Prince Yu to fight with the prince, but he couldn't really defeat the prince.
The art of balance has always been the forte of kings.
Li Xingye said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's continue."
Zhao Lin said, "The so-called work-for-relief program will definitely require silver, but the court doesn't have to pay for it."
Li Xingye quickly asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhao Lin said, "Let the wealthy merchants pay. In winter, the only work available is digging canals and breaking ice. The court pays and provides the workers, while the wealthy merchants profit for free. How can such a good thing happen? Anyone using the canal should be asked to pay, or they will not be allowed to use it."
Crushing ice is a practice in winter when the river freezes and ships cannot pass through. In order to allow ships to pass through smoothly, some people will be gathered to break the ice, which is called crushing ice.
This is a very hard job. It is icy and snowy with a howling wind. Many people would rather pay than do it while breaking ice on the river bank with tools.
"No, absolutely not." Li Xingye immediately rejected it. "Your idea is good, but it must not be implemented, and don't tell anyone about it. Do you understand?"
Zhao Lin wondered, "Why?"
Li Xingye sighed, "You're still young and don't understand these things. If you do this, wouldn't that be competing with the people for profit? You'll be impeached by the censors and scolded to death by the literati."
Zhao Lin snorted coldly and said, "The censors have big houses to sleep in, delicious food to eat, and hand and foot warmers and fire basins when they're cold. They won't be cold or hungry, so of course they don't care."
Li Xingye shook his head: "I understand everything you said, but, alas."
This is a common problem in all ancient dynasties.
It is obvious that merchants are the richest and can make the most money, but because they compete with the people for profits, the government cannot do many things. When it has no money, it can only plunder the people.
But even if the poor common people smashed their bones to make oil, how much oil could they get? They were not as good as the merchants who could make a lot of money by just scraping it away.
But then again, the main reason for this situation is that many officials, especially cabinet officials, collude with big businessmen and have vested interests in them. Many of them are even the spokesmen for those big businessmen in the government. This is why it is difficult to take action against businessmen.
Otherwise, if we just increase taxes, we won’t be able to get the money.
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