Qiao Yunqing pointed at the geomancy map and said to his subordinates: "Yuncheng was originally built in the valley of Qingshui River. The Qingshui River has been diverted, and a large amount of silt has been accumulated, making this piece of land very fertile.
If there had not been this flood, the local grain production would have been good, but now this season there has been no harvest. Add to that last year's flood and snowstorm, and the problems we have to solve are much more difficult.
The victims outside the city could not go without help for a day. They could not survive for a few days just by relying on others' porridge. Fortunately, the grain from the court had arrived.
But there are at least 40,000 to 50,000 disaster victims in Yuncheng. This amount of food is enough for at most one month. In the following time, we must not only seize the time to organize manpower to resume production, but also find ways to raise food and fodder ourselves. "
The primary problem they had to solve right now was food. However, the city had first suffered a disaster and then been robbed by the rebels, leaving only an empty shell in the government warehouse.
If Qiao Xin hadn't brought a batch of grain when he came, and the court had allocated a batch of disaster relief grain and silver, the urgent problem would have been temporarily solved.
But these are just a drop in the bucket. Post-disaster reconstruction costs money everywhere.
You can't expect others to help you with everything.
Facing the current situation, everyone is worried and uneasy, always feeling that the future is bleak. But when they look at the adults who are as steady as a rock, they feel inexplicably calmed down!
Qiao Yunqing had no time to comfort his subordinates at this moment, and pointed out a problem that everyone had overlooked.
“Starting tomorrow, the disaster area outside the city will be replanned, divided into groups of ten households, and prestigious people will be selected as group leaders to manage them.
First of all, we need to make everyone aware of hygiene issues. Raw water and rotten food cannot be consumed, and if someone has a fever, it must be reported.”
The clerk said in embarrassment: "I'm afraid this is not easy to organize. The victims may not obey."
Qiao Yunqing's face became serious, and he gave a direct order: "Just divide the area and count the population. If you don't follow the instructions, all disaster relief benefits will be cancelled.
In troubled times, using heavy pawns is really not a good idea, so killing a chicken to scare the monkeys may be a good idea!"
Some people curled their lips in disdain. It's just disaster relief. What good treatment can we get? They also want to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys. Aren't they afraid that the government will force the people to revolt?
But Qiao Yunqing's next words broke their perception.
"I have written to His Majesty, requesting a three-year tax exemption and two hundred thousand taels of silver for river embankment construction. Your Majesty has granted my approval. The next step is to recruit people from the disaster victims and provide work-for-relief.
For those families who highly cooperate with the government, I will give them priority in policy support, including reissuing grain and rebuilding houses..."
The officials below were horrified when they heard this. Did the new prefect know what he was talking about?
Isn't this a pie in the sky? Not only will they provide food seeds, help build houses, and provide travel expenses for returning home, but they also talk about building schools and workshops?
Haha, if Yuncheng could really do so many things, it would not be the poorest place under Weizhou Prefecture.
The previous prefect also came from a poor family and had no support from above, so he never got any good things. As a result, he had a hard time making progress as an official here, and even if he had a lot of ambitions, he had no way to display them.
After struggling to the end, they gave up their bottom line and had to rely on the local gentry for everything. In the end, they became corrupt and exploited the local people even more.
If they had not been so evil-hearted, embezzling nine out of ten of the money allocated by the court for building the dam, and replacing the bluestone with straw and mud, the dam, which had been built less than half a year ago, would not have been completely destroyed by a heavy rain.
All crows are black. This new prefect seems to be a handsome man who knows how to act and act properly, but why is his words so unreliable?
Some people scoffed at Qiao Yunqing's words, while others followed their superiors with great enthusiasm to seize this opportunity. Even if it was just for show, they could leave a good impression on their superiors.
Qiao Yunqing didn't care what his subordinates thought. Once he issued the regulations, they would be enforced.
The next morning, Qiao Yunqing dismissed several of his subordinates who were slacking off on the job, replacing them with his deputies and capable colleagues. He had no intention of granting them any leniency.
Qiao Yunqing adopted a tough attitude from the beginning. Anyone who touched his bottom line would be dealt with according to his rules, without giving the other party any chance to bargain.
Only then did everyone realize that the young man in front of them was really different from previous officials. He really had the ability, dared to think and act, and did not need to give face to anyone.
The next day, when Master Zeng was ordering his men to run errands, he felt that everyone was much more enthusiastic than before.
When their boss issued an order, three or five people rushed to do it, instead of making excuses like in the past few days. Everyone lined up to receive the task honestly, and no one was running around, asking questions, or trying to build connections like in the past few days.
No wonder the adults are not worried about lack of manpower. As long as the benefits are big enough, there is no one who will not move!
The low-level yamen runners all need to support their families. Instead of brainwashing them with big promises every day, it would be better to distribute rice and meat to them in real life.
If the work is done well, there will be rewards; if the work is not done well, there will be punishment.
Such a simple and clear truth can only be handled by people like them who have no vested interests here and have powerful backers.
Qiao Yunqing's work of rectifying the shantytowns is progressing quite quickly.
It seems that there are so many victims, but the huge Yuncheng with an area of nearly 10,000 square kilometers, including more than a dozen towns and villages, was flooded. After the rebels' fierce attacks, only such a small population was left.
If we don't provide quick rescue and prevent the plague, and allow the refugees to live in such a disorderly manner outside the city, the already small population will be consumed again. Who will rebuild this huge Yuncheng in the future?
After Qiao Yunqing settled the population, he immediately moved on to the land of Yuncheng. Taking advantage of the war and floods, he carried out a large-scale population cleansing and abandoned the land.
Qiao Yunqing asked the chief clerk to sort out a large number of unreasonable land deeds, collect them uniformly, and post notices.
Any land that no one claims for half a month will no longer belong to anyone.
Yuncheng has basically become a wasteland. Everything needs to be rebuilt and the land must be redistributed. This is also the best opportunity to break all the old rules.
When such a decree was issued, some people were happy and some were sad! Especially those families who had obtained a large amount of land through dishonorable means, they hated it to the core and wished to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Master Zeng was worried that Qiao Yunqing would act too aggressively, offend too many people, and would be retaliated against.
They couldn't help but repeatedly strengthen the security around him and even advised him not to go out if possible.
Now the conflict between the two sides was about to reach its peak and they were ready to fight to the death, but good news came from the southwest.
The Zhennan Army won a great victory!
By the time the people in Yuncheng received the news, the army had already arrived at the city.
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