Chapter 279 Almost Fucked Up
"Very good, very good!" County Magistrate Hu agreed readily. Wu County couldn't escape anyway.
Chongzhi had just arrived in Tongxian and hadn't fully mastered the technique yet, so he wasn't sure if he could find a reliable solution. If something went wrong, the technique would be leaked, which would be a shame! It was better to be cautious!
The things this time were too valuable, and he had to give Lin Chongzhi an explanation, so County Magistrate Hu decided to go to Wuzhou in person and have a good chat with Chongzhi.
"Sir!" Su Ying had something to say.
"What's the matter?" asked County Magistrate Hu.
“When we entered the city, there were many refugees on the road…”
"Oh, it was brought by Mr. Fu, Erlang and others!" County Magistrate Hu wondered what was going on.
A large-scale frost disaster in Hebei and Henan Provinces destroyed the winter wheat. Fu Dongjia, Erlang and others resold a large amount of old rice and sold it at a low price to help the government stabilize the price of grain.
Even so, there are still a large number of farmers who sell their land at low prices in exchange for food to survive, and later there is nothing valuable to exchange.
They had no choice but to flee the famine with their families and seek a living elsewhere.
Upon hearing that the imperial court was encouraging farmers to open up wasteland in Lingnan, the penniless farmer headed south and decided to take a gamble.
Many elderly, weak, women and children died of starvation and disease on the road.
Fu Zhong and Hu Erlang couldn't bear it, so they left the merchant ship without cargo and carried the refugees south along the canal for free.
Some of them could not survive and died in a foreign land, some did not have the courage to go south, and seeing the prosperity of Jiangnan, they stayed there to become tenant farmers. The rest bravely moved forward, trekking through mountains and rivers to reach Lingnan.
Thousands of people arrived at once, and County Magistrate Hu was caught off guard.
Fortunately, during the busy farming season, the expansion of several official roads required a large amount of labor, which provided an opportunity to feed the refugees.
It's just a drop in the bucket, earned through hard work, and it's hard to support the whole family.
Wu County was prosperous for only a few months. The winter wheat had just been harvested, and most of it had to be handed over to the court. The rest was stored in granaries as reserve grain, and there was no excess grain for relief.
Women and children beg on the streets every day. Although they beg, they don’t starve to death on the streets, but they have a hard time making ends meet.
Wu County was not much better before, with deserted streets and occasional beggars, but they left when they couldn't beg here.
The fact that refugees can now beg on the streets shows that they can still survive.
Therefore, County Magistrate Hu, Hu Erlang, Fu Zhong and others did not think there was anything wrong. It was better than starving to death in their hometown.
"Not right, not right!" Su Ying frowned and shook her head.
"What's wrong?" County Magistrate Hu was puzzled.
Everyone present was puzzled. Is it wrong to do good things?
"Sir, if they are simply refugees fleeing famine, sending them here for free and arranging jobs for them to survive would naturally be a good deed of immeasurable merit!
But the disaster victims came to the grain special zone to reclaim wasteland. According to the special zone's order, they should be resettled as soon as possible.
They had time to reclaim the land before the second rice crop started, and more than a month later they were able to sow the second rice crop.
"That way, by October, they'll be able to settle down, and Wu County will have an additional one or two hundred registered households, which will be another achievement for Lord Yu," Su Ying analyzed.
When these words were spoken, not only Magistrate Su, Hu Erlang, and Fu Zhong, but even Su Boyan was stunned.
Yes, how could I have overlooked this? I was only focused on feeding the refugees and forgot about the follow-up.
If Su Ying hadn't reminded them, if they had delayed any further, not only would the refugees have missed the next season's crop planting, but some might have starved to death on the streets. Wouldn't that have been a reflection of their own incompetence in governance?
"But..." County Magistrate Hu was a little embarrassed.
After the grain is stored in the warehouse, it must be sealed and reported. Unless it is a disaster year, the warehouse cannot be opened privately to release grain without the permission of the court.
Refugees are different from the Su family exiles. They can borrow food first and then return it with interest later, because they are sent down by the higher-ups and they have to be given a few grains of rice to survive.
Secondly, the number of refugees is huge. Once grain is borrowed, the county government will have to use a considerable amount of grain, which must be reported.
It will also trigger follow-up events, with more refugees pouring in, and Wu County may not be able to handle it.
"It's okay!" Su Ying didn't think this was a problem.
First of all, these disaster victims were resettled as farmers who reclaimed wasteland, and they had to be registered and included in the Wu County household registration and managed in a formal manner.
Secondly, the refugees were divided into smaller groups and distributed to various towns and villages, with each village accepting a few households.
This way, it will not cause any impact on the villages and will not deprive the villagers of their living space and resources.
There is also land to be cultivated around each village, and if you can establish good relations with the villagers, you can take care of each other.
Finally, they reported to the state government and requested that these farmers be given an advance of a certain amount of food, as well as agricultural tools and other production tools, including simple resettlement housing, such as shacks.
They should not be treated as refugees, but should be properly resettled in accordance with the policy for land reclamation farmers in the Lingnan Province Grain Special Administration Area.
This was an opportunity to show the people of the world and the imperial court the strength of Lingnan Dao in enforcing the special agency order and to attract more farmers to Lingnan.
Everyone present was enlightened. Such a good opportunity was almost ruined!
Especially the resettlement method of breaking the whole into small pieces, I really didn't think about it. These days, County Magistrate Hu and Su Boyan have been worried about where to put so many people!
"Aying, how about you come with me to Wuzhou and have a good chat with the governor?" County Magistrate Hu suggested.
Su Boyan had to stay in the county government office to handle official documents, and Su Ying was taken away. She was smart and would definitely be able to convince the governor.
Not only do they need to advance a large amount of grain, but also a large number of agricultural tools, as well as training in new farming methods.
"Ah?" Su Ying had a headache. There was no teacher at home, and she had to go back to teach the children.
"Immeasurable merits, immeasurable merits!" County Magistrate Hu coaxed in a low voice.
"Tsk!" Fu Zhong was amused. This County Magistrate Hu didn't have much ability, but he was kind. The people of Wu County were blessed to have such an official.
"Uh, okay!" Su Ying said reluctantly.
So many refugees must be resettled as soon as possible, otherwise local security will become a big problem.
When people cannot survive, there is no morality.
"There are many elderly, weak, women, and children refugees on the street. Could you please open a porridge shop and give them some porridge? And arrange for a doctor to examine them. Many of them can't adapt to the miasma of Lingnan and are very sick."
"Boyan, please confirm it!" County Magistrate Hu nodded continuously. He had not thought of these details.
"Let Niu Er and the others guard the porridge shop and only allow refugees to receive the porridge to prevent anyone from sneaking in and taking advantage of it." Su Ying thought for a moment and said.
Niu Er and his friends are locals, and they can recognize the locals among them at a glance to prevent those who are lazy and hate work from sneaking in and eating and drinking for free.
"Let our Hu family grocery store provide this porridge. It's not appropriate to use the county government's granary before the matter is finalized." Mrs. Hu took the initiative.
Using the grain in the granary without permission would easily give someone a handle. My husband has finally come this far, so it would not be wrong to be cautious.
"Madam, please be merciful!" Su Ying praised.
"What's the point of talking about compassion? I've earned a lot, so I can't be stingy! Giving some porridge to my family and accumulating blessings is a wonderful thing!
If it were last year, I wouldn’t even be able to distribute porridge!” Mrs. Hu laughed.
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