A brightly lit boat with a black awning rowed across a small river not far from the street. Looking down from Takeshi's building, he could see people coming and going on the street. A cart selling noodles and fried dough passed through the crowd, and a vendor under a big tree waved a kite in his hand at the children passing by. The night sky of Bianliang darkened under the swaying stars.
Ning Yi tapped his fingers on the railing.
"When the Minister's Residence was considering candidates for the East River Road Transport Deputy, there were a few other considerations. But frankly speaking, the situation of rising grain prices along East River Road is very serious. This time is different from the past. If we want to do a good job in disaster relief, we will offend many people. The Transport Deputy of East River Road, Liu Congming, is indeed an old official with Minister Qin. This time, we need his help in disaster relief, and he will do his best, but this effort is limited. "
He paused for a moment before continuing, "I've been in the officialdom for many years. It's not that there aren't any honest and upright officials, but there are very few who haven't been infected with any bad habits. Lord Liu doesn't touch either. Of course, you can't say that he's a bad official. If it's just an ordinary chaotic situation, with his many years of managing East River Road, he can have the courage to clean up the government, or even kill a dozen disobedient officials. However, this time, he has the will, but not the strength. Because he will offend many people, these are Old Mister Yao's comments on him. "
"So in the end, the Minister's Residence could only settle for the second best. They felt that they needed someone with a straight personality, someone who is not afraid of offending people, to work under Lord Liu and only care about the most important thing. And Lord Liu was also willing to give up this power. Later, when Minister Qin chose you, I was a little surprised. But Minister Qin's reason was simple. No matter what, De Xin, you have the ability. After the matter is over, even if you offend people, get blamed, and get criticized, at least it can save you a few years or even a decade of hard work … Of course, if you only do things with the mentality of keeping your position, I'm afraid you won't do well. But you are a smart person, you naturally understand what I'm saying. "
"Liheng, you're looking down on me." Listening to Ning Yi's words, Li Pin laughed and shook his head. "Under such circumstances, I naturally have to do things to advance a few levels. If I were to be two-faced at this point and only want to climb up safely, I'm afraid that would be the real path to death. But Liheng, let's not talk about these things. We are scholars, and we will pursue our righteousness even if millions of people oppose us. Just like what His Majesty had said in the palace today, this disaster relief was not for the sake of the officials, but for the sake of the people. It doesn't matter if I offend people or kill people, if I have any thoughts of worrying about myself on this trip north, I, Li Dexin, deserve to die. "
His tone wasn't loud, but his expression was filled with a sense of righteousness. This wasn't the first time that Ning Yi had seen this kind of scholarly temperament, so he naturally understood his feelings and nodded. After a while, he sighed and said, "This time, many people will die. What the Prime Minister's Residence seeks is just to have fewer deaths …"
Li Pin frowned and said, "Then what is the business path that Liheng mentioned?"
Ning Yi said, "Dexin, what does Dexin think is the most important thing in this disaster relief?"
Li Pin thought for a moment and said, "The so-called disaster relief sounds complicated, but in fact, there are only a few things that we can do: As long as we can strictly govern the officials and prevent the corrupt officials from pocketing the disaster relief grain, the grain can be distributed to the victims, and the matter will be half done. After that, we will strictly control the market price and prevent merchants from selling grain at a high price. Those who maliciously raise the price of grain will be investigated, arrested, and killed, and the disaster relief will basically improve. Of course, in this way, we will naturally offend a lot of people. "
After he said that, Ning Yi shook his head. "Most disaster relief is done this way, but the situation this time is too troublesome. In the market, you said that the people spontaneously stockpiled grain and raised the price behind the scenes. They have a strong background. If you go to East River Road, there will be Zuo Duanyou's Zuo family involved, and the biggest one is Qi Yan's Qi family. They might not appear and only act as an umbrella behind the scenes. It will be very difficult for you to investigate, arrest, and kill them. "
"… On the other hand, the number of people affected by the disaster who will need to receive relief is more than 1.7 million." Ning Yi said, "Currently, the total amount of grain that can be allocated to the disaster area is only 380,000 dans. In terms of the number of people, there might still be a lot that hasn't been counted. As for the grain, heh, a lot of it might still be bad debts or bad debts. We have calculated that the amount that can really be used is about half, about 190,000 dans. The gap between the two sides will continue to widen. When that time comes, ten people will have to rely on one dan of grain to save their lives. "
At that moment, Ning Yi was almost counting with his fingers. Li Pin frowned. In fact, the weight of one dan of grain at that time was about 100 catties in the future, which was about 60 kilograms. He heard Ning Yi say, "Regarding this matter, it hasn't been put on the table for the time being, but we are already investigating it. A batch of officials will be removed from their positions …"
Li Kexin said, "190,000 dans of grain for disaster relief … In theory, there should be many people in the disaster area who have stored grain. If it is boiled into porridge just to save lives, it seems … "
Ning Yi laughed. "De Xin is right. We have repeatedly calculated these things. To be honest, 1.7 million people affected by the disaster is the number of people who were more seriously affected when the price of rice rose. We didn't include the people who were less affected. Among this group of people, only a very small portion of them were really affected by the flood and had all their belongings washed away. In other words, a portion of these people can eat their stored grain, sell their houses and land, and even sell their children. It can be considered as a means to survive. However, the so-called disaster relief is for the people at the bottom who can't survive. "
Li Pin was silent for a moment before saying, "… We also have to reduce the losses on the road, the interception of officials, and the secret interference of wealthy families."
"Let's reduce it by half here." Ning Yi said, "100,000 dans, not considering the uneven distribution of grain, De Xin, even if all the officials on the road become ruthless officials who don't care about their lives, the grain that really goes into the stomach of the disaster victims is about 100,000 dans. Moreover, the grain can't be distributed. We can only boil it into porridge and then distribute it. Because if we directly distribute it, it will only be intercepted by the wealthy families. In between, people can eat wild vegetables, dig tree roots, and so on. In short, the Right Minister's Residence has calculated that the number of people who starved to death due to the rise in grain prices is more than 100,000. Excluding these people who starved to death, there are 400,000 to 500,000 people whose property and land will be annexed by the wealthy families. After that, they will become servants, tenant farmers, and beggars. If we can control it within this number, we can be considered to have done a good job in disaster relief. "
The number was said coldly, but with a heavy breath.
After a moment of silence, Ning Yi smiled, and there was also a cold sneer in his smile. "Don't think that this is a big number. Even in Jiangning, when winter comes, an average of 20 people freeze to death every day. When it snows for a month, 600 beggars, the poor, and the elderly freeze to death. This number does not include natural deaths. Jiangning is a big city, and the other provinces will have fewer people. In the Wu Dynasty, 100,000 people will freeze to death in one winter. In this disaster, to say 100,000 people will starve to death is an optimistic attitude. If we don't handle it well, 300,000 to 500,000 is also possible. "
Li Pin thought for a long time before saying in a dry voice, "What does the Minister's Residence plan to do?"
"The administration and business must go hand in hand, but business must be the mainstream." Ning Yi did not have much hesitation. "The people who will really starve to death are those who have no property. After the disaster relief grain is boiled into porridge and distributed, it is also to save their lives. Those who still have property can buy their own grain. Even if they sell their fields, they can still keep their lives. "
As he spoke, he shook his head. "To be honest, these places don't lack as much grain as we think. There are cases of no harvest, but it is more because everyone has begun to stock up on grain, causing the grain price to be artificially high. In the past, the grain price on Hedong Road was only two and a half guans, but now it's thirty guans per dan. It has increased tenfold, but there is still not much grain in the market. Everyone is still waiting for the price to rise. Once it snows, the price of the grain can rise to any extent. When that time comes, some people will starve to death, and some will rebel. "
"The Minister's Residence wants to put the grain in the market?" Li Pin asked, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she knew it was impossible.
Ning Yi shook his head. "It's only a little over 100,000 guans of grain. If we put it in, it won't even cause a bubble. Based on the previous price of two guans per dan, my family would be able to buy it all. Now, even if the price has increased tenfold, with the wealth of those big families that can rival a country, they can swallow it in one gulp. Then, they can resell it at a higher price. So, what I'm thinking is to rely on merchants from other places to attack the market in the areas affected by the disaster. And this time, the government will cooperate with this business. "
Li Pin frowned in thought. Ning Yi continued, "With the Minister's Residence as the leader, and with the help of the Princess's Residence, we will lobby the big and small landlords and merchants. As long as their family has grain in storage, we will tell them the price of the grain in the affected areas. Then, we will help them plan how to gather, transport, and resell it. If they are outside, they will not be able to sell their grain at this price. But if they are away from their homes, they will need to establish their own trading network, and will inevitably be bullied by the local bullies. With our lobbying, many small landlords will be willing to do their part and earn back a sum of money. At the same time, we can also tell them that this is for the country and the people, and for all families to give birth to Buddha. "
Li Pin's eyes lit up. "I heard that Takeshi's people go out to do business for others. Could it be that he is preparing for this?" He thought for a moment. "If that's the case, my family also has a few mu of land and some grain in storage. I can write a letter back …"
"That's not the main reason, but it can be considered a benefit." Ning Yi said, "The Bamboo Ji's influence is only in the vicinity of the capital for now. It's just a small part of it. To be honest, if we really have to rely on persuasion and not connections, most of the people who will be persuaded are the landlords of small and medium-sized places. The really big ones have their own connections. These people will have to rely on people like Prime Minister Qin, Duke Nian, and Reverend Jueming. In addition to people like Kang Xian and Princess Cheng in the south, I estimate that if we can continuously move more than five hundred thousand dans of grain, we should be able to disperse the entire hoarding market."
"And once the inflated grain price is suppressed, the distribution of the disaster relief grain will be further suppressed. Next, we will cooperate with investigations, arrests, and killings to clean up the government and suppress the market. The final expectation is that we can push the grain price back to below 10 taels per dan, and the number of people starving to death will be reduced to 50,000 or even less. This is … I hope that you can maintain the meaning of the East River Road. "
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