Chapter 117: Step by Step (8915)

Chapter 117 Step by step (8.915)

The stage outside the city has been singing for three days, which is really strange. Many scholars in the academy felt a little incredible when looking at the refugees who were looking increasingly relaxed.

Why is this? It didn't take much effort, but a few storytellers and opera singers showed up. Didn't they have this ability to turn decay into something magical? Then what are the sages’ books that we recited to the refugees before?

Someone relayed this question to Chen Heng. It can’t be said that it’s a test, but it’s a request for advice.

Chen Heng smiled and did not hide his secrets. He expressed his thoughts in front of a group of classmates and other college people: "Guan Zi has a saying: A person who has a solid warehouse knows etiquette, and a person who has enough food and clothing knows honor and disgrace. This is true. Not fake."

"But we still need to use the knowledge in the book." Chen Heng gave an example to the audience, "Just let people eat a few mouthfuls of porridge and cover them with a quilt, and we haven't even talked about etiquette, honor and disgrace." when.

What we have been doing these days is to make people feel relieved. People who are nervous and fearful cannot listen to reason. "

"We have to give them their original life. They can listen to books and watch plays." Chen Heng looked at the camp outside the shed, where many sellers had come spontaneously and were pushing carts to sell.

"Let them buy what they want. Only in this way can they start living and working in peace and contentment again."

After all, the original porridge shop was too small, and Chen Heng often had to talk to people about things. Chen Huaijin and Xin Suzhao built a shed outside the porridge shop for these students to gather and talk.

"But they don't have much money, right?" Seeing that someone asked a good question, Chen Heng smiled and nodded. "That's what we do next."

In the past few days, he has become somewhat famous among the students. Although everyone is not very convinced, seeing Chen Heng's calm and confident appearance, they are still looking forward to the other party's method.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"What do you want us to do?"

Two or three people asked in unison.

Chen Heng saw this and was delighted in his heart. He immediately said loudly: "Things have their own priorities. We must go to the city to 'beg for alms' now."

"Alchemy?" Everyone heard this a little strangely. They were all from Yangzhou, so they couldn't help but have a headache when they heard this.

"Well." Chen Heng did not pay attention to the expressions of these people and continued, "We will send a hundred or so people to go to every neighborhood in the city, put up a banner, and ask the neighbors to donate some unwanted rags and old quilts. ”

"Is anyone willing to give this...?" Some people were confused and felt that this trip was inappropriate.

"Didn't the government deal with big families in the city several times before? Why do they still do it?"

"Yes." Chen Heng nodded very confidently and firmly. He believed and had seen more than anyone else what simple and beautiful qualities the people living in this land have.

As long as someone tells them what to do, as long as someone takes the lead, they will immediately respond.

"After all, there are only a few big households in the city, so how can they compare with the millions of Yangzhou people. Only by letting them use their strength can these victims survive this winter."

Seeing everyone nodding in understanding, Chen Heng was not in a hurry. After something was done, everyone understood it.

"Xue Biao, you have a lot of money." Chen Heng ordered two people to come out. "You each bring fifty people. According to what I just said, go to each neighborhood in groups of three to set up stalls. One person will record it, and two people will collect it. Donors don’t need any money, only old clothes and items.”

Just as Xue Biao was about to answer his errand, someone asked another question.

"Senior brother, why don't you charge money?"

"The New Year is approaching, and every household has a difficult time. Rich people donated money, and other people who came here will see whether they donate or not." Chen Heng said earnestly, "Don't go too far in anything, we must guard our disaster relief. It is my duty to only collect clothes so that the people in the city will not be hostile to the refugees outside the city, so they will feel compassion."

It suddenly dawned on everyone that a small gesture could have such profound meaning.

After saying this, Xue Biao and Qian Dayou took the order and left, and the students in the shed also dispersed and continued their busy work.

Du Yunjing seized the opportunity and ran to Chen Heng, "Brother Heng, the things you asked me to organize have been prepared. What are you going to do with them now?"

Chen Heng was overjoyed when he heard this. He didn't expect that the other party could actually finish it in three days, so he immediately praised him sincerely.

Du Yunjing, with dark circles under his eyes, said proudly: "Do justice for the people, even if you die."

"Brother Heng, don't worry. I have corrected the records inside again and again. I also ordered people to inquire again about some doubtful points. They are absolutely foolproof."

This is the benefit of Du Yunjing, a person like this. He is a man who is not afraid of superiors but shows mercy to inferiors. As long as it's for the victims, he will definitely work tirelessly.

Chen Heng nodded happily and hurriedly summoned Cui Youdao, "Brother Cui, I need to trouble you to go to the government office for this matter. Send these things to the prefect's hands, and they will know what to do."

Seeing that someone had taken away his hard work, Du Yunjing looked a little unhappy. After seeing Cui Youdao go away, he didn't say another word.

How could Chen Heng not know what he was thinking? It was just because of the other party's temper that going to the government office to negotiate would risk causing trouble.

Fortunately, he has more important things to entrust to Du Yunjing, so he is not afraid of his temper and feeling that he favors one over the other.

"Brother Du, before, the refugees were busy with their lives and couldn't cause any trouble. Now that everyone relaxes, there will definitely be disputes and quarrels.

This matter concerns our efforts, and I am worried if I hand it over to others. I am afraid that they do not understand the law and have no wisdom to judge things rationally. This place is far away from the government office, and there is no drum for people to beat for grievances, so I can only ask you to do it. "

It is best to hit the snake at its weakest point. As a scholar who has passed the Dayong Law Examination, it is most appropriate for him to be in charge of this matter. Chen Heng is also very confident in Du Yunjing's character and believes that he can hand in a convincing answer.

As for perfection? Not to mention the county magistrate, even the government office can't say that the civil cases he judged can convince everyone.

In a word, we don't ask everyone to be convinced, but to act impartially.

When he heard that it was such an important matter, Du Yunjing immediately cheered up. After listening, he was very happy and said: "Brother Heng, you trust me so much, I am really ashamed. Brother Heng, don't worry, if I fail in this matter, I will bring my head to see you. "

You said that you can also ask for forgiveness by carrying a thorn stick on your back, but you said it so terribly. Chen Heng was about to comfort him, but Du Yunjing had already turned around and ran away quickly.

Seeing this, he had no choice but to shake his head.

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When Xue Ke and Qian Dayou arrived at the city gate, they disrupted all the 100 people who followed them and divided them into several teams. They remembered Chen Heng's instructions that the three people could not all be from the same academy and must be arranged in a cross-over manner.

After the number of people was divided, everyone agreed on a time to meet and ran towards their destinations. Xue Ke brought two other people, but the first place he went to was his own home.

What a good son of the Xue family!

When Xue Ke knocked on the door and told his parents the purpose of his visit. Xue Zhen and Fan Shi were a little amused and asked their son to follow him. , and sat down with her classmates, drank a cup of tea, and chatted a little.

Xue Baoqin, who came after hearing the news, hid behind the screen and only glanced at the people in the hall from a distance. Seeing no familiar figure, a trace of uneasiness and worry flashed in her eyes. Seeing her brother's face, although tired, but excited and high-spirited, she was relieved.

These days, Xue Ke went out early and came back late, and Baoqin rarely met him.

Thinking of her concerns, she simply hid behind the screen and eavesdropped on her brother's description of the situation outside the city.

These topics naturally cannot avoid Chen Heng's figure. Xue Ke was happy to talk, and Xue Zhen was also surprised to hear it.

"I thought that my good friend Ke'er..." Xue Zhen praised Fan, "It is already very remarkable to be able to toss out a newspaper. I didn't expect that he also has such talent in doing things."

Fan didn't comment, just nodded in response, "It's a good thing that Ke'er can have such a friend."

"That's right. "Xue Zhen nodded with relief. If the case of Manager He had not been exposed, he would not have thought of letting his son come to Yangzhou to study, let alone that he would make friends like Chen Heng in the academy. It is really unpredictable.

"When you go out to do things, you should be more careful and be careful when dealing with people." He reminded his son a few words and wanted to donate more money, but was sternly rejected by Xue Ke.

When Xue Ke brought up Chen Heng's original words, even Xue Zhen himself was fascinated. He waited until his son and his classmates left before saying to Fan: "How did the Chen family teach this child? It really makes people itch. I wish I could exchange him with Ke'er and let him be my son. "

"Don't talk nonsense, Ke'er is also a good child." Fan held back her laughter and pulled her husband back to the chair, "Be careful not to let him hear it and feel jealous."

"That won't happen." Xue Zhen was very confident in Xue Ke and laughed, "He is not that kind of person. "

Baoqin had already turned back to the house when her brother left.

She made little noise, and her parents were busy talking, so they didn't see her coming and going.

All the way back to the house, Baoqin couldn't help but sit in her seat, thinking about what that man was doing outside the city at this time.

It can be said that she admired him, it can be said that she respected him, and there were more unspeakable emotions hidden in her heart. She suppressed her uneasy mood and just put her hands together to pray to God.

"God, please bless my brother and him, and make sure they are safe and sound, and turn danger into safety."

"Miss, Miss." Chunyan ran into the house, "Just now, the young master asked me to take away a lot of your clothes."

"I know."

"Chunyan also gave it to him."

"Hahaha, okay, wait until next spring, and we will buy new ones. ”

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When Cui Youdao arrived at the government office, Lin Ruhai and Huang Weizhong were also sitting in the hall. There were also many other bureaucrats from the government office waiting here. Seeing the champion coming here, everyone greeted him.

Wei Yinghong called him in front of him, took the information written by Du Yunjing and looked at it. He couldn't help frowning and thought to himself: Are there so many helpless old, weak, women and children?

On the list, the households marked in red were all households without adult men. Either the grandmother brought her grandchildren, or the wife brought her children, or three generations of grandparents and grandchildren together.

Seeing that there were about four or five thousand people of this kind, Wei Yinghong also thought about the method provided by Chen Heng.

Seeing that the prefect was lost in thought, everyone didn't say much in the hall, but just pulled Cui Youdao to inquire about the situation outside the city. They spoke in a low voice and didn't disturb Wei Yinghong's thoughts.

After a long time, when Wei Yinghong had made up his mind, he coughed lightly and said, "There are thousands of elderly people without support outside the city. What do you think? "

The higher-ups asked this, and they were naturally going to take action.

But everyone has their own standpoints and considerations, and what they said was not nitpicking, but ideas and opinions based on reality.

But after all, they couldn't avoid the destination of the orphanage. What they were arguing about was nothing more than how to place them, who to let in first, and who to leave behind.

After all, the number of people that can be accommodated in the city's orphanage is limited.

Wei Yinghong listened for a long time, but still felt that something was not right.

It was probably because of the sentence in Chen Heng's booklet: "If these people are settled, won't Yangzhou have an extra 100,000 people to live in? If each of them buys a piece of clothing and eats a meal, won't all these expenses still be spent in Yangzhou?"

"Money in the treasury is just a dead thing after all. Let it circulate in the hands of the people and merchants. Wouldn't merchants from Suzhou, Jinling, Hangzhou and other places all rush to Yangzhou?"

Chen Heng did not mention a specific method, but just wrote his ideas in the booklet.

Wei Yinghong and Lin Ruhai were both smart people. After a little thought, they understood the mystery.

Although there was no financial study in the Yong Dynasty, there were some early buds of the understanding of money, business and people. Starting from the Song and Ming Dynasties, it was no longer like the previous dynasties, to the extent that talking about money was scary and talking about business was shameful.

Especially after the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the commercial exchanges between various prefectures and counties were endless. In commercially developed regions such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong, commerce is a place that every prefect must pay attention to.

Finally, Wei Yinghong still expressed his own ideas and made the final decision: "Huang Zhizhou, you go to the treasury to get 30,000 taels of silver."

"When you get outside the city, ask the people on the list. For those who don't want to leave Yangzhou within a year, give their families 3 taels of silver per person. Take them to the city, two households in a team, and find them a house in Yangzhou. It doesn't matter if the house is small, just squeeze in first."

After he finished speaking, his eyes were already looking at Lin Ruhai, who stood up and said: "Several newspapers and dealers have sorted out the rental information in various places in Yangzhou and sent it up."

"Pick out the low-priced ones, and then tell them to cut the rent in half. Their losses will be reduced from next year's taxes." Wei Yinghong said it straightforwardly, with a meaning that could not be refused.

"Sir, what about the people who want to leave next year?" Huang Weizhong asked loudly.

"Give two taels to each person, and take them to the relief institutions and major academies in Yangzhou for the winter. If they can't be left, arrange for the post station drivers to send them to the counties and let the county magistrates take good care of them. Next year, I will personally inquire about this matter and let them record everything in detail."

Anyway, the money spent cannot be separated from Yangzhou. Even if his subordinates objected, Wei Yinghong still adhered to his own opinion.

When the discussion in the hall died down a little, Wei Yinghong raised the next topic.

"After a severe drought, there will be severe floods. Let's discuss the issue of recruiting civilians." Wei Yinghong pointed to the families with more than two males in Du Yunjing's documents.

"By the way, let's discuss the wages of the laborers as well."

"Sir, it's such a big effort to mobilize so many troops. We don't have so many places to govern in Yangzhou."

Wei Yinghong laughed, "Of course there are some wastelands in the west of the city, which can be used to build houses. Baozhuang Lake also needs to clean up the silt, and the Chang and Huai rivers can be repaired by taking advantage of the drop in water levels."

"What if the big flood doesn't come?" someone asked.

"What if it comes?" Wei Yinghong asked back.

In the end, Lin Ruhai came forward and put the records he had collected from history books in the past few days in front of everyone.

Looking at the tragic natural disasters at the end of the Ming Dynasty, everyone nodded in agreement with doubt.

Seeing that his subordinates had no more questions, Wei Yinghong said in a deep voice, "Let's continue the discussion."

The second update is here, keeping his promise. In the updates in the next few days, you will see exciting and exciting ones, hahahahahahaha.

Please vote, please vote. I've been working so hard, I've written 12,000 words today!

PS: My head started to hurt after I revised it, so I'll go have dinner and take a nap, and I'll revise and polish it tomorrow. My liver hurts.

PS: I've updated 12,000 words, two chapters short, not too much, right? I love you guys.