The sun is like a huge fireball hanging overhead, the strong sunlight can not open the eyes of the people, the ground is scorched and hot almost difficult to settle, the sky is cloudless, a piece of blue, the blue is heartbreaking, it is anxious, the whole summer in Beijing did not fall two decent heavy rains, the people of Beijing can only hope that after the autumn, there will be two rains.

Fortunately, the grain from the south arrived in time, and the grain prices were quickly stabilized, but the prices of vegetables and fruits continued to rise, and at the same time, a large number of peasants poured into Beijing to find a living.

In order to stabilize the people's hearts and accommodate more laborers, the reconstruction projects of Jingshi continued to expand, and the entire Jingshi became a huge construction site.

The Prime Minister's Office, Yi Yi looked at the emergency telegrams sent from all over the country with distraught eyes, the continuous drought, and the number of states and counties reporting disasters in the northern provinces suddenly increased, drought, wind disasters, and hail came one after another, and all the electric music had only one purpose - to allocate silver for relief!

There is no shortage of silver in the imperial court, and Yuan Qicai borrowed 50 million yuan, but he didn't dare to give out this silver easily, because this was not an ordinary famine, but a rare catastrophe that could last for four or five years, and he didn't dare not be cautious.

After reading all the telegrams, he glanced at Su Shun and Wu Changqing, sighed, and said: "The disaster situation is gradually expanding, and all provinces, states and counties are in an emergency, and they beg for silver relief, how can this be good?" ”

"It is difficult to determine whether the disaster will last for four or five years, and it is not appropriate to publicize it in order not to cause panic." Su Shun pondered and said: "You might as well allocate two silver relief funds according to the severity of the disaster, with a light of 50,000 yuan and a heavy of 100,000 yuan, so as to stabilize the people's hearts first." ”

Yi Yi said in a sullen voice: "At present, there are more than 120 counties affected by the disaster, so at least tens of millions of yuan are needed." ”

"Lord Wang." Wu Changqing said: "If the disaster continues until next year, Yuanqi will join the relief. ”

"It's not autumn yet, and once there is no rain after autumn, it's bound to panic again." Yi Yi's expression was a little tired, and his voice was a little low, "Besides, the immigration from various provinces has also been carried out one after another, and silver money is needed everywhere, and you also know the situation of Yuan Qi, it is impossible to borrow a large amount of money this year, if you don't save, I am afraid it will be difficult to support this year." ”

Barley wheat in the north is mainly planted in autumn and harvested in summer, although there is a drought this year, but at present there is only a poor harvest in a large area, if the drought continues in autumn, and it cannot be sown, it is tantamount to adding insult to injury, and it is bound to carry out relief, and the relief efforts can not be small but large, otherwise it is difficult to stabilize the people's hearts.

After pondering for a while, Su Shuncai said: "Since this is the case, let's wait until the autumn to give relief, but the prefectures and counties that have been severely affected still have to allocate grain in time." ”

"Grain transfer and relief are indispensable, but the amount should not be large." Yi Yi said slowly: "Since it is a catastrophe that lasts for four or five years, we must consider it holistically, the larger the number of immigrants this year and next year, the more it can alleviate the pressure of relief in the later period, according to Yi Guocheng's prediction, the more serious the disaster will be in the future." ”

After all, they have experienced a long-term large-scale migration wave, and most of those who remain are unwilling to emigrate, and if it is not forced by the situation, they will not actively cooperate with the active immigration.

As soon as Su Shun and Wu Changqing left, a Zhang Jing came in and reported: "Lord Wang, Yin Wanqing of Shuntian Mansion asks to see you." ”

"Let him in." Yi Yi said and picked up the teacup and took a sip of herbal tea, although Wan Qingquinoa was not good, but he still had the ability, and he had always been quite valued by him, and he stayed in the position of Shuntian Mansion Yin for ten years.

After coming in to greet the ceremony, Wan Qingqui said: "Lord, the Queen Mother and the Emperor went to the Great High Hall today to pray for incense and rain....... And sent the prince of Pai Xuan, Yi Cheng and other ministers to the Juesheng Temple, the Temple of Heaven and other places to pay respects. ”

There are nine times out of ten in the capital division, it is normal for the emperor to pray for rain and blessings, Yi Yi glanced at him and said, "Wenfu is asking this king to go and pray for rain?" ”

Wan Qingqui said: "The prince is the regent of the Qing Dynasty, and he should be respectful and begging for rain." ”

Yi Yi glanced at him and said, "Wen Fu thinks, should this king go to the Great High Hall or to the Juesheng Temple or the Heavenly God Altar?" ”

Hearing this, Wan Qingli couldn't help but be stunned, the Great High Hall is the royal Taoist temple, although Yi Yi is a clan, but if there is no delegation, it is easy to provoke criticism when going to the Great High Palace, and there is a suspicion of surrendering his identity when he goes to Juesheng Temple, Tianshen Altar, etc., and after hesitating, he said: "The lower official is going to ask the Queen Mother to ........" ”

"That's it." Yi Yi waved his hand disappreciatively, and then said, "How is the situation in Jingshi recently?" ”

"The number of displaced people is getting worse day by day, which poses great pressure on transportation, prices, public security, epidemic prevention and other aspects in Beijing...... Wan Qingqui pondered and said: "As the disaster becomes more and more serious, there will inevitably be more and more displaced people who come to Beijing to beg for a living, and the lower officials implore that the displaced people be controlled to enter Beijing." ”

After a slight groan, Yi Yi asked, "How is the immigration situation?" ”

Wan Qingqui said: "Back to the prince, most of the displaced people in Beijing are people from surrounding states and counties, and they are not enthusiastic ......about immigration. ”

"This king is asking the entire Shuntian Mansion."

"Go back to the prince." Wan Qingqui bowed slightly, "The states and counties are reporting one after another, and there are very few people who are willing to emigrate. ”

It is difficult to leave the homeland, unless it is impossible to live, otherwise not many people are willing to leave their hometown, this is also human nature, Yi Yi has long expected this, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Control the displaced people into Beijing." ”

It is necessary to force the people to emigrate willingly, and now they are preaching constitutional ideas and paying attention to equality and freedom, and the imperial court cannot forcibly force immigrants, so they can only adopt this method, and if the drought continues after the autumn, it is estimated that there will be more people who are willing to emigrate.

The drought in the northern provinces continued, and the newspapers of all sizes in the north and south began to report on it one after another, and the great Qing Dynasty disasters and famines continued in recent years, but such a large-scale disaster was still relatively rare, and with the continuous reporting of the newspapers, the government and the opposition began to pay close attention to the drought in the north.

Drilling wells to fight drought, especially the deep wells drilled by the machine drilling team are enough to fight drought, and the relevant reports of Yuanqi's low-interest loans to promote machine drilling of deep wells have naturally become a focus of major newspaper reports.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Zhao Liewen walked into the room with a stack of newspapers, glanced at Yi Zhicontent, who was reading the newspaper, and said: "Big shopkeeper, the drought in the north has attracted the attention of public opinion, can you take this opportunity to call for fundraising for disaster relief?" ”

Closing the newspaper, Yi Zhizhi said: "Fundraising for disaster relief is certain, but not now, the current disaster is not very serious, let's wait until next year." ”

Seeing that he had already considered it, Zhao Liewen took out a copy of the "Securities News" and said: "The stock market has continued to fall, and the big shopkeeper should have noticed it." ”

"Not strange." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The stock market has always been a barometer of the economy, how can the large-scale drought in the north have no impact on the economy?" ”

Zhao Liewen said tentatively: "After several years of strange disasters, what will the stock market fall into?" ”

There is no doubt that the drought in the northern provinces for four or five years will deal an extremely heavy blow to the economy of the entire Qing Dynasty, and the losses caused will be immeasurable, and it is no exaggeration to say that it will not be inferior to a large-scale civil war that lasts for several years!

He couldn't predict what the stock market would fall into, so after a long silence, he sighed lightly: "Let's take one step at a time." ”

Before the words fell, Li Hongzhang hurriedly came in and said: "The big shopkeeper, the Agricultural College called back, in the case of severe drought, crops should be planted millet (millet), millet, sorghum, corn, sweet potato, potato, mixed beans, broad beans, vegetables are suitable for planting pumpkin, tomatoes, purslane. Cotton is the first cash crop, and there are also some drought-tolerant medicinal herbs ........ ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "Forward it to King Gong, it is recommended to send a document to the northern provinces, sow all drought-tolerant crops and vegetables, plant cotton in cotton-producing areas, and those who have experience can also plant medicinal herbs, and the local officials will guide and supervise them with all their might." ”

Li Hongzhang said with some concern: "The north mainly grows barley and wheat, and the planting of millet and millet is not large....... ”

"Gradually, I remind." Yi Zhizhi nodded and said: "The local government immediately exchanged wheat or rice for seeds, three for one, four for one, as relief." ”

Li Hongzhang continued: "There are also canned food for the military, and there are quite a lot of canned pork, beef, and fish in the army's stockpile, which can be used for relief ....... ”

"Good reminder." Yi Zhizu said with a smile: "I ordered canneries everywhere, whether it is meat or fruits, to produce at full capacity!" In particular, the fish canning factories in Wa Province, Luzon, Java, and Annam can be appropriately expanded for production, and Yuanqi underwrites. ”

"The big shopkeeper—" Zhao Liewen pondered: "Burma, Siam, and Annam are known as granaries, and Luzon and Java rice can also be harvested three times a year, plus a large amount of wheat and corn are imported from the United States, and the grain needed for disaster relief is more than enough.

In addition, the size of China's maritime fleet is several times that of 20 years ago, and the railway transportation in Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and other provinces is relatively developed, and the cable telegraph has been popularized in all prefectures and counties, and disaster relief is much faster and more effective than before, and it is much easier.

The students secretly believe that with China's current strength, even if it is three or five years of relief for several northern provinces, it is not much of a problem, and what needs to be considered now is how to use the disaster victims to carry out infrastructure construction through work-for-work. ”

"Cash-for-work, that's for sure, it's impossible to support so many people for three or five years in vain." Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "However, we can't invest all our labor in infrastructure construction, this is different from the economic stimulus plan, we must try to minimize the damage caused by this disaster to our economy." ”

Li Hongzhang said softly: "Open a mine? ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizu nodded and said: "Mining can create economic value, Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi are all major provinces of China's mineral deposits, rich in coal mines, iron ore ......., however, in order to boost the confidence of the Chinese people in China's economy, it is not enough to rely on coal and iron ore, gold must be mined." ”

Gold mine? Zhao Liewen hurriedly asked: "Is there a large gold mine in my country?" ”

"Of course." Yi Zhizhi said in a firm tone: "My country's territory is so vast, how can there be no gold mines? Both Shandong and Henan have abundant gold mines! ”

Shandong and Henan have rich gold deposits? Zhao Liewen couldn't help but be a little suspicious, Yuanqi wanted to implement the gold standard, and urgently needed gold, if Shandong and Henan had rich gold deposits, Yuanqi would have carried out large-scale mining long ago.

Li Hongzhang asked directly: "Since there are gold mines in Shandong and Henan, why has it not been mined?" ”

"The reason is simple, the gold mine is of low taste and the cost of extraction is high." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The grade of China's gold mines is not comparable with the gold mines in the Transvaal at all, so it has not been mined since the exploration discovery.

In addition, when it comes to the exploitation of mineral and energy resources, my principle is to try to do so first and then to the inside—to exploit the resources of the frontier provinces first, and to leave the resources of the inner provinces to be mined during the war, and to be mined slowly by future generations. ”

Speaking of this, he smiled, "Now I can't take care of it, let's get through this difficulty first, and then say, the outbreak of large-scale economic crises in Western countries is a rare opportunity for my country to catch up, and I don't want to miss the opportunity because of this catastrophe." ”

In the era of the gold standard, gold is wealth is purchasing power, gold mines, especially large gold mines for the economic stimulation effect is obvious, if Shandong and Henan have announced the discovery of large-scale gold mines, and the use of disaster victims to carry out large-scale machine mining, will undoubtedly greatly stimulate and promote the economic development of the Qing Dynasty.

Shandong, Tai'an Province, Feicheng County.

The clear water flows out from a deep and a shallow well, moistening the land that has been drought, and the gentry and businessmen are jubilant, although this is the fifteenth deep well successfully drilled by the machine drilling team, but each deep well comes out of the water, it will still cause the onlookers to cheer from the heart, for them who are tormented by drought, the deep well is hope, the hope of living, the hope of a better life.

Looking at the jubilant scene in front of him, Zhixian Hong Renshou is also a happy face, full of fantasies about the scene of deep wells in Feicheng, when the time comes, there is no need to worry about drought, drought is the biggest threat to limit Feicheng's agriculture, nine droughts in ten years are definitely not an exaggeration, once the threat of drought is lifted once and for all, Feicheng will inevitably flourish no less than Jiangnan.

He is not wishful thinking, there is Yuanqi low-interest loans to promote deep wells, and there is a machine drilling team unreservedly to teach well drilling technology, as long as a large number of machines arrive, deep wells can bloom everywhere in Feicheng.

"Your Excellency." Song Youkun rushed to Hong Renshou and arched his hand: "It's our Song family's turn to the next well?" ”

Hong Renshou glanced up at the sky without a trace of clouds, sighed lightly, and said: "It's been half a month in autumn, and there is still no sign of rain, and the ordered machine has not been seen for a long time........ ”