sbdcsierra Chapter 954 Extra: A Young Man's Journey 7
Chapter 954 Extra: A Young Man's Journey 7
When the Crown Prince's relief grain shipment was intercepted outside Liangzhou City, Prefect Chen of Liangzhou heard the news, his legs went weak, and he slid off his chair.
The flood in Liangzhou almost completely destroyed the city. In fact, even Liangzhou City itself was not completely spared. However, due to its high location, the water receded quickly, and the damage inside the city was not too severe. Even so, the stored grain became damp, and food from outside could not be transported in. As time went by, Liangzhou City itself was already in dire need of supplies, let alone providing aid to the outside world.
Prefect Chen has been extremely busy these days, practically begging the wealthy households in the city for a little charity to alleviate his immediate crisis. At first, the merchants were willing to donate, but as time went on, the government's disaster relief grain was delayed, and the wealthy households tightened their purse strings. Prefect Chen came from a poor family and had limited influence, so he could only promise so much, and the wealthy households had no intention of sticking with him through thick and thin.
In this situation, things couldn't get any worse. His Highness the Crown Prince had an accident outside the city, which was like a knife being held directly to Prefect Chen's head. If anything happened to the Crown Prince, not only would his own life be more than enough to compensate for it, but his whole family would also suffer.
Liangzhou City was not wealthy. During his years as an official, he hadn't been able to make any extra money. He was already hit by natural disasters, but now this unexpected calamity had struck.
Prefect Chen almost burst into tears on the spot, but with such a big incident, there was no use in panicking; he still had to face it.
Prefect Chen, his hands trembling, was too weak to even get up. He shouted outside, "Quickly, quickly! Gather all the guards, and call upon all the able-bodied men in the city who can be called together. Anyone who can safely rescue His Highness the Crown Prince will be richly rewarded!"
After shouting, Prefect Chen scrambled to his feet and, without a moment's delay, led his men out of the city.
Fortunately, the situation did not become that serious.
After the accident, Zong Huai realized the consequences of his hesitation. He immediately ordered that the grain carts be guarded without harming the lives of the refugees. If the grain carts were stolen, it would not be a good thing for the refugees, but would become their death warrant.
By the time Prefect Chen arrived with his men, Zong Huai had already brought the situation under control.
However, due to the sheer number of refugees, Zong Lin and Yan Chengyue were separated from each other by the refugees at some point, and even Wenren Jing was injured. Zong Huai felt extremely guilty about this, but he could not linger outside the city any longer, so he ordered the grain carts to be escorted into the city first, and then arranged for people to go out and search for Zong Lin and Yan Chengyue.
By the time the grain carts successfully entered the city, it was already dark.
Prefect Chen quickly arranged for Zong Huai and Wenren Jing to be settled in the prefectural office. Upon hearing that Zong Huai wanted to personally lead a search party, he turned pale with fright and knelt on the ground, pleading, "Your Highness, you mustn't! You've seen the situation of the refugees outside the city. Eighty percent of Liangzhou Prefecture is flooded. If we delay any longer, the refugees will probably attack the city. Now that they know there's grain being transported in, even more refugees will rush here. Going out of the city at this time is like walking straight into the tiger's den! Your Highness, your life is precious; you absolutely cannot take such a risk!"
Zong Huai clenched his fists. "No, I must find him!"
Prefect Chen was truly on the verge of tears.
Fortunately, at this moment, Wenren Jing came in after bandaging his wound and persuaded Zong Huai: "If you go looking for someone now, not only might you not find anyone, but you might also get yourself into trouble."
Zong Huai: "But..."
He couldn't say what came next, because if Zong Lin and Yan Chengyue's identities were exposed at this point, it would only make things more dangerous for them.
Wenren Jing calmly said, "I know what you're worried about, but the best solution isn't for you to risk your life to save them now, but to solve the root problem first. Only when the root problem is solved can they possibly be safe and sound."
“Ah Jing…” Zong Huai understood this principle all too well, but he really dared not think about what would happen if they continued to delay.
"Tomorrow morning, announce to everyone that the grain will be distributed in two batches, one inside the city and one outside. If they want to eat, they must follow the rules," Wenren Jing said to Zong Huai.
"What rules?" Releasing grain was a must, but what about the rules? Not only was Zong Huai curious, but even Prefect Chen looked over in surprise.
Wenren Jing looked at Prefect Chen: "Prefect Chen brought a lot of able-bodied young men out of the city today. You must have promised them benefits, right?"
Prefect Chen nodded, not quite understanding what Wenren Jing meant.
“Our food supply is limited. Even if we distribute the minimum amount of grain, it won’t last three days. Similarly, even if we force all the wealthy households in the city to bring out their stored grain, it won’t last more than a few days. The flood in Liangzhou has only just receded, and the people have not been able to eat this year. If this continues, Liangzhou will surely descend into chaos.”
Wenren Jing's words silenced both Zong Huai and Prefect Chen. Prefect Chen was at his wit's end, while Zong Huai was considering the practicalities. The reality was that Wenren Jing was right: even with the entire city's resources mobilized, Liangzhou City couldn't hold out for more than half a month. The imperial treasury was empty, and with ongoing warfare in the north, there wasn't enough grain to go around, let alone any surplus for disaster relief. Even if grain were procured and transported to Liangzhou, it would only provide temporary relief, not a long-term solution.
This matter is difficult, extremely difficult, which is why the Emperor sent him and Zong Lin to handle it. If they cannot resolve the issue in Liangzhou, it will surely become a disaster in the future.
"So the rule is to provide work relief instead of financial aid."
"Work relief instead of work relief?" Zong Huai and Prefect Chen were both shocked.
Wenrenjing nodded: "The reason why the able-bodied young men in the city are willing to risk their lives to follow Lord Chen out of the city is for profit. As for those refugees, they have lost trust in everyone at this time. Even if Your Highness the Crown Prince's name is spread, it will not move them. But if you persuade them to exchange labor for food, they will agree. Compared to risking their lives and not knowing whether they can get food, it is more worthwhile and safer for them to exchange labor for food."
"But where will the money come from?" Prefect Chen couldn't help but ask.
Since the floods, he has deeply felt the hardship of being unable to move an inch without money.
“Take it from the pockets of the wealthy in the city,” Wenren Jing said. “There’s only so much grain you can take, but silver is a never-ending source.”
"This..." Prefect Chen had lived for decades and had never seen anyone say such an impossible thing so matter-of-factly.
"To restore Liangzhou Prefecture to normalcy, repairing the river dams and clearing the blocked roads will take at least three to six months just to resolve these issues. Two months at most will be enough time for grain to be safely transported in from outside, which will be a huge business," Wenren Jing said calmly.
Zong Huai and Prefect Chen looked at Wenren Jing in disbelief.
At this moment, I finally understood Wenren Jing's meaning completely.
At this time, they had neither money nor food, so they could neither save the disaster victims nor appease them, nor even persuade the wealthy to part with their money and food. But what if the money they gave away could eventually return to their pockets?
First, they paid the refugees to work, giving them a small amount of food and wages. When the food from outside was transported in, the refugees could use their wages to buy food. In this way, the money they sent out would eventually return to their pockets.
"And what Your Highness needs to do is to order people to supervise and grant those merchants preferential treatment in order to control grain prices." The most crucial part of this is actually grain prices.
Wenren Jing's idea wasn't particularly novel. Before long, once the roads throughout Liangzhou were open, grain from outside would be transported in. The real suffering for the people would come when grain prices collapsed. To keep grain prices within a reasonable range, allowing merchants to profit while ensuring that the people could afford to buy grain, some deterrent measures were necessary, along with appropriate benefits. By combining both kindness and severity, and controlling grain prices, this disaster could be resolved smoothly. At this point, the identity of Crown Prince Zonghuai would come in handy.
Meanwhile, with the river dam repaired, there will be no need to worry about floods next year, and the people's hearts will naturally settle down. It is currently summer, so we can plant some short-term edible crops first, and with the wages, as long as we can get through this winter, the disaster will be over.
Wenren Jing knew that at this time, high-yield sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn had not yet been introduced, but there were still many edible crops. If things were arranged properly, they could barely get through the difficult period.
Once Zong Huai understood the crux of the matter, his gaze towards Wenren Jing unconsciously hardened.