In addition to the war and chaos, the famine caused by floods, droughts and locust plagues had the greatest impact on the lives of the people. It is easy to cause social unrest, and the displacement of people and thieves is everywhere, which hurts the vitality of the country. Therefore, the level of waste administration is an important yardstick to test the ability of local officials.

The core of the famine policy is the relief of the disaster victims, and there are three main points, the first is to get food, the second is to have a place to live, and the third is to get home. Among them, 'returning' is a matter in the later stage of disaster relief, and there is no need to consider the counties that accept displaced people, and the counties only need to do the first two things, and 'getting food' and 'having a house' are enough.

After inspecting the grain depot, the Daotai went to inspect the shelters prepared for the victims.

This time, Sun Daotai finally found a chance to have a seizure...... He saw that Fuyang County did not set aside a special living area for the victims, nor did it build a shelter such as a mat shed. Thinking that he had caught Wei Zhixian's disobedience, he sneered: "There is a lot of grain in Fuyang County, but it doesn't seem to be intended to be eaten by outsiders." ”

"Why do you say that?" Wei Zhixian asked puzzled.

"What about the vacant land cleared to accommodate the victims?" Sun Daotai snorted coldly and said, "I haven't even built a shack, do you plan to let the victims sleep on the street?" ”

The other two Daotai didn't say anything, their expressions were unhappy, and they complained in their hearts that Wei Zhixian was too uncompetitive, and their earlier praise became a joke.

"Your Excellency," Wei Zhixian said, "The method of disaster relief in the past was nothing more than gathering the victims in the city and cooking porridge for them to eat." This is indeed convenient for government management and relief, but it also has no small disadvantages. After a pause, he said: "If the disaster victims gather too densely, they will be prone to epidemics and deaths. Some people waited for several days to be fed, and when they could not get the porridge, they fell to death on the road. This method is nominally a perfunctory act of disregarding the victims of the disaster and ignoring their lives and deaths. ”

"Hmph......" Even Sun Daotai had to admit that he had a point: "Do you have a better way?" ”

"The lower officials have ordered the county's yasha, Taoist temples, temples, treasury and other places to be vacated. According to the households, the vacant houses in the townships of the county were requisitioned to resettle the victims. Wei Zhi replied: "The former can accommodate a limited number of disaster victims, and it mainly depends on the latter. The county is densely populated, and it is rare to have vacant houses. Therefore, there are only three rooms for the upper class, two for the middle family, and one room for the lower class. There are plenty of houses in the township, and there is one more room for each of them. It is more than enough to resettle 30,000 victims in this way, and the victims are scattered from one household to another, so that there will be no worries about the epidemic, which is much better than gathering. ”

"You're a novelty in this way." Qi Daotai said: "But can the people of Fuyang agree?" ”

"The county has issued a document to the various li, saying, 'The displaced people are coming, and there is no place to go, and if they gather in the city, the epidemic will be and you will be destroyed.' Therefore, the government came forward and rented a house to wait for it. Wei Zhixian said: "The people of Fuyang are kind-hearted, and they are not allowed." ”

"You're talking about rentals." Sun Daotai pointed his ears and immediately pointed out, "But many of the victims' property has been lost by the flood, and they are already penniless, where can they have the money to pay the rent?" ”

"Those who can't afford to pay the rent will be paid in advance by the county." Wei Zhixian said lightly: "In fact, it can be requisitioned for free, but if the people get some benefits, they will naturally be more cooperative, and they can coexist with the victims in the future." ”

"Do you want to pay it back?" Sun Daotai asked: "If you don't pay it back, can you afford it in the county?" ”

"Of course you have to pay it back, otherwise you won't be able to afford it." Wei Zhixian said: "It doesn't matter if you can't afford the money, you can work for relief." ”

"I see." Qi Daotai asked again: "How to make porridge when the victims are scattered?" ”

"Since it's scattered, I won't boil porridge." Wei Zhixian replied: "Change to according to human hair meters, one every two days." ”

Several Daotai looked at each other, and it seemed that it was all right, although Sun Daotai wanted to find faults, but there was never a law on how officials should help the disaster. Whether Wei Zhixian's new method is good or not depends on the effect...... If you mess up, you don't need him to participate, and the surname Wei will be unlucky.

After inspecting Fuyang for most of the day, the Taoists were basically satisfied with the situation...... The main thing is that Yongfeng is full of grain, which makes them breathtaking. Time was pressing, and the Taoists had to rush to the next stop, Lin'an, overnight.

Wei Zhixian naturally went to the dock to see him off, and the Governor of the Grain Dao Qi Daotai had a very good impression of this young Zhixian, in his impression, such an official who was willing to work hard was still common in the Hongwu period, but now it is becoming more and more rare, no wonder Lord Zhentai is full of praise for him.

When parting, he separated from others, walked to the corner of the dock with Wei Zhixian, and talked alone.

"Wen Yuan," Qi Daotai asked softly, "Why is Zhi Dao so anxious?" ”

"According to the regulations of the imperial court, before opening the warehouse to release grain, the number of grain stored must be verified by the political secretary and the judge...... Wei Zhixian replied: "It should be to ask the imperial court to release grain." ”

The sub-patrol road, the sub-guarding road, and the supervising grain road cannot be regarded as the first-class administrative organ, but the dispatched agency of the political secretary and the judge. It is not possible to open a warehouse and release grain casually, and it must be approved by the imperial court, and the chief secretary is responsible for it, and it is supervised by the judge, so as to strictly prevent people from doing corrupt things in the name of disaster relief.

"Not bad." Qi Daotai bowed his head and said: "Before this official set off, Zheng Fantai had already rushed eight hundred miles to report to the imperial court. At the same time, Lord Tang was asked to send the warships of the naval division to transport the affected people to the counties for food. After a pause, he said: "The three of us are the front station, according to the constitutional decree of the domain, it is verified that one county is resettled in one county, and now your Fuyang County is ready, and there will be disaster victims arriving one after another the day after tomorrow at the latest." ”

After Qi Daotai finished speaking, he looked at Wei Zhixian and saw that he didn't react, so he had to continue: "Wen Yuan is not worried, once this county opens a warehouse and releases grain, it will cause dissatisfaction among the local people? ”

"Well, worried." Wei Zhixian nodded very sincerely: "The people have always regarded the grain that is often closed as their own life-saving food. Now it is going to be used to help the population of other counties, and the number is still so large. There must be emotions. ”

"What is even more unacceptable to the people is that they handed over the grain in Yongfeng Warehouse, but they did not have their share when they put the grain." Wei Zhixian also emphasized: "When the time comes, once the confrontation is formed, I am afraid that it will cause civil unrest and ruin the disaster relief plan of the feudal division." ”

"Looks like you're resistant, too." Qi Daotai smiled: "I don't ask, I won't say anything." ”

"The difficulties in the province are even greater," Wei Zhixian said lightly: "What the county needs to do is to share worries and not add chaos." ”

"Wow, there are so few officials like Wen Yuan!" Qi Daotai praised: "I will definitely convey your words to Lord Zhentai." After a pause, he said, "It is to look at the overall situation." You know that although the emperor has been on the pole for nine years, there are still many people who are not convinced. This Zhejiang trend is really rare, and those people are going to say strange things again. The pressure on the lord of the feudal clan is very great, and if he can't provide disaster relief in time, pacify the people, and minimize the impact of the disaster, the emperor will definitely blame. ”

"Hmm." Wei Zhixian nodded, and listened to Qi Daotai continue: "I know that this matter is very tricky, but there is no way, eight out of ten grain depots in Hangzhou City have been flooded, and the losses are extremely heavy. I had to let the counties help feed a group of people. The wind knows the strength of the grass. At this time, grit your teeth and help Fantai tide over the difficulties, and there will be a good reward in the future! ”

"The lower officials do not ask for returns, although the victims are not the people of this county, but they are also the people of the Ming Dynasty, so they should naturally be relieved as one." Wei Zhixian said in a deep voice: "I just hope that the province will give a charter, so that the county can appease the people of Fuyang, settle the disaster victims, and let them coexist peacefully." ”

"Absolutely." Qi Daotai said in a deep voice: "Didn't the letter from Lord Fantai say that all the counties that receive the victims of the disaster will be joined by the affected counties to ask for free money and food. And before I came, the lord of the domain had three requests, one was not to kill people, the second was not to riot, and the third was not to let the victims leave the country. As long as you can do these three things, you can do it casually, and all the consequences will be borne by the province. ”

Seeing that Wei Zhixian didn't react, Qi Daotai said again: "The official document in the province will be issued soon, you can see it at a glance." ”

"Yes." Wei Zhixian said deeply: "The lower officials will live up to the trust of the feudal platform and the Taoist platform!" ”。

Two days later, at noon, a boat from the lower reaches of the Fuchun River was accompanied by thousands of victims whose homes had been destroyed by the tsunami, and many of them shivered in the cold wind and rain.

Even colder was their mood, before the seawall was repaired and the sea receded, they were already homeless, and they could only be driven away by the government, boarded on ships under the supervision of officers and soldiers, and transported to all directions for resettlement. The rough treatment of the officers and soldiers along the way, and the denial of food until now, have left them hungry and desolate, and full of fear and resentment about the beginning of the life of the homeless people......

"Why don't the people in the city leave, let us countrymen leave their hometowns!" The ship was full of such indignant whining.

"I don't have enough food to eat, and I don't want us hillbillies to fill Hangzhou City," an old man sneered: "Naturally, we will be sent to the counties." ”

"People in the county are willing to accept it? They are not the ones who will suffer. The victims were worried.

"We're just a nuisance burden." The old man said indignantly: "How can there be an official government that likes the disaster victims? ”

"In that case, we will definitely not be welcomed." The mood of the victims is getting more and more depressed.

"It's good to have a mouthful of porridge to eat." The old man said quietly: "I'm afraid that there are not a few grains of rice, so I have to starve to death......

Let him say this, the old people could not help but recall that there was a year in the beginning of the country when the locust plague was severe, and they had also escaped the famine, and only half of them returned to their homes after the last day, and the rest of the people died of starvation in a small number, and most of them died of the plague, which was indescribably miserable.

The pessimism of "the most miserable thing in the world is to flee the famine......" became more and more intense, and many victims were afraid and hungry, and began to cry.

"Howl what!" The officers and soldiers held whips and shouted loudly: "Fuyang has arrived, hurry up and get out!" ”

The victims couldn't help but look ashore and saw sixteen big red characters written on the archway of the wharf. There are many literate people in Zhejiang, and many people's eyes lit up and read out loud:

'People are hungry, people are cold, we are cold, we share weal and beneficial, and we are compassionate to our neighbors! ’

This is what the so-called 'good words and three winters are warm', and even if it is a show, it makes the victims feel much more comfortable.

The boat struggled to get up to the wharf, the officers and soldiers got off the boat, and a group of local officials came up in the middle of the morning, led by a young man wearing a seven-grade official uniform, and naturally he was undoubtedly the magistrate of the county.

Without waiting for the soap to sing, the people on the boat knelt down and kowtowed to the county master.

"Everyone, please get up." Wei Zhixian held up an old man and said, "I've killed this county." ”

"Please have mercy on the old man," the gray-haired old man insisted on kowtowing to him: "Give us a way to live!" ”

"Please have mercy on the lord and give me a way to live...... "The victims echoed the gossip, regardless of men, women and children, all kowtowing vigorously.

Wei Zhixian's eyes moistened, he had said a lot of high-sounding words to the victims before, in fact, he was still thinking about his official reputation and political achievements, but when he saw the victims begging so humbly, just for a way to live, he was finally deeply shocked.

Feeling a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, he personally helped up a few villagers, "Folks, hurry up and listen to me." When he went up to the top of the boat, he pointed to the sixteen words on the shore and said, "Do you see those words?" ”

The victims nodded.

"What does it mean to know the way?"

The victims nodded again.

"People are hungry, people are cold, we share weal and beneficial, and we help our neighbors!" Wei Zhixian said loudly: "This is the promise that Fuyang County gave you!" ”

Listening to the promise of the county magistrate, the cold and desolate hearts of the victims suddenly became hot, and they kept shouting "blue sky" and "bodhisattva".

Wei Zhixian waved his hand, and the victims quieted down and listened to him continue:

"Please remember, you are not here to flee, but to live, the moment you set foot in Fuyang County, your identity is no longer a disaster victim, but like the people of Fuyang, there is a house to live in, food to eat, and the people to be protected by the government!" Wei Zhixian said loudly:

"For this reason, the 110,000 people of this county have vacated 7,000 houses for you. After you go ashore to register, you can each receive three days' rations and go back to rest with your landlord! ”

The victims thought that it would be good to have a shack and a mouthful of gruel, but they didn't expect to have a house to live in and something to eat, and they were moved to tears......

But there are also old people who ask: "What should I do if I finish eating the rations for three days?" ”

"According to the regulations, it is a loan," Wei Zhixian said, "but you will have to return to your hometown in three or two months, and you will have to return to your hometown in half a year, so ordinary loans will not work." After a pause, he said, "So take cash-for-work." ”

"Cash-for-work?" The victims looked at each other, and one asked, "Do we still have to work?" ”

"Don't you sweat and eat your own food when you are in the township?" Wei Zhixian said lightly.

There were no rich people among the victims, and those with a little financial resources went to Hangzhou City, and the ordinary people who were sweating and eating on the whole boat were naturally speechless.

"This county doesn't treat you as disaster victims, you naturally have to be like the people of Fuyang, food, clothing, housing and transportation need to be exchanged for labor ......" Wei Zhixian said in a deep voice: "There were taxes before, you can support your family?" Now that the imperial court has exempted you from money, food, and servitude, it is naturally not a problem! (To be continued)