parentshiftbook Chapter 645: Survival Pressure After Disaster Relief And Resettlement, Affordable Food That Cannot B
Chapter 645: Survival Pressure After Disaster Relief And Resettlement, Affordable Food That Cannot B
Hearing Yan Changqing mention the rising food prices in the disaster year, King Zhu Su of Qi couldn't help but raise his hand. After receiving a slight nod from Yan Changqing, he stood up and said:
"But sir, if there is a disaster year, doesn't the court also take measures such as disaster relief and resettlement, as well as selling food at low prices to the victims?!!"
"Like the reserve warehouses, Changping warehouses, and free warehouses established by my father, as well as after the disaster years, my father will also exempt or reduce taxes in the disaster-stricken areas, etc.!!!"
"Don't these measures play their due role in solving the problem that Mr. just mentioned?!!"
As a grassroots emperor who came out of the troubled times of the late Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well how much harm natural disasters had on the people.
Therefore, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang established a relatively complete warehouse system based on summarizing the warehouse experience of previous dynasties [including reserve warehouses, Changping warehouses, Ai Jiong, etc.
For example, reserve warehouses are warehouses specially set up by the state to respond to natural disasters.
Set up reserve warehouses in places where people in various states and counties gather and live for a long time, and then select an older and stronger person to manage them. Then they order the Ministry of Accounts to allocate two million taels of silver to prepare food and grass.
If there is a county, four offices will be set up within the territory to centralize processing and warehouses for residents.
If the people have surplus grain and are willing to exchange it for silver, they can transport it to the grain depot and pay it back at the current price. The government can use the silver to make the people rich.
If there is a disaster year, granaries will be reclaimed to save the common people from famine.
Another example is Changpingcang, which is also a warehouse specially set up to stabilize prices in years of famine.
After the autumn harvest every year, the government would spend money to purchase excess grain on the market.
In times of famine, they are sold at a low price to stabilize prices so that the people living at the bottom will not be unable to survive in times of famine.
Another example is the charity warehouse, which is to protect some people who are unable to work from starving to death in years of famine. Whenever the number of refugees increases, warehouses will be opened to provide disaster relief and ensure the survival of the refugees.
In addition, after the disaster year, the common people harvested almost nothing from farming, but according to regulations, the common people still need to pay taxes and bear corvee labor.
At this time, even survival has become a problem for ordinary people, and it is obvious that they cannot afford these taxes and corvees.
If the court presses the victims, it will easily trigger civil unrest, which will affect or even threaten the stability and rule of the country.
Therefore, at this time, the emperor and the court would often order relief from taxes and corvee for the victims to reduce their burden, so that they could successfully survive the disaster year.
For example, in the fourth year of Hongwu, when Xi'an, Qingyang, and Fengxiang were hit by disasters, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that a total of more than 193,300 tons of grain be exempted from field taxes.
In addition, there are other disaster relief methods such as "transfer", "loan", "security", "work-for-relief", etc.
Among them, "transferring millet" can be divided into two forms: "immigrating millet for millet" and "moving millet for people", which means transporting grain from abundant places to disaster areas for disaster relief, or resettling people to unaffected areas to survive the disaster safely.
But the most commonly used method is to relocate millet to the people, because this method is the most efficient and the lowest cost.
"Loan" mainly refers to the court lending money, grain, seeds, cattle, agricultural tools and other materials to the people to maintain the lives of the victims and restore post-disaster agricultural production.
"Anji" is mainly divided into two types: retention and repatriation. Retention means taking in and resettling hungry foreigners, providing them with food rations, and building sheds and houses for them to live in.
Then, after the beginning of spring, the court would provide these victims with sufficient financial support and send them back to their places of origin.
The "work-for-relief" method of disaster relief was also commonly used. The court organized the victims to build roads, dredge rivers, and strengthen dikes and other public facilities.
Then a certain amount of wages will be paid to these disaster victims, so that their food rations will be provided.
In this way, we not only relieve the victims and prevent them from causing chaos, but also build projects that benefit the country and the people. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
So if we only look at these institutional policies, theoretically speaking, it seems that they can combat or even avoid the kind of disaster years that Yan Changqing just mentioned, when food prices rise maliciously and people are forced to sell their children and daughters.
Tragic things like selling one's own land, family home, and ancestral property, or selling oneself into slavery have even happened.
Yan Changqing's eyes fell on Qi Wang Zhu Shu, nodded, then shook his head again and said:
"The disaster relief and resettlement measures that His Royal Highness King Qi just mentioned, as well as selling food at low prices to the victims, are useful, but they are not completely effective!!!"
"Let's talk about disaster relief and resettlement first. For example, when people suffer from natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes."
"The harm this has brought to the people is not just as simple as disaster relief and resettlement, but there are many other and more serious problems."
“For example, those houses that were washed away by floods or collapsed by earthquakes may have been built with the efforts of several generations, and then passed down as ancestral homes for several generations.
"For another example, the house may contain the loom they just bought with a loan, the grain they need for next year, or even their meager savings hidden somewhere in the house, etc."
"But after natural disasters like floods and earthquakes, there is nothing left. What they have is only one life left!!!"
"The court's disaster relief and resettlement can indeed allow them to survive temporarily."
"But, what happens after the disaster relief and resettlement?!!"
"Even with the imperial court exempting and reducing taxes and corvees in the disaster-stricken areas, as well as lending money, grain, seeds, cattle, farm tools and other materials, it helped maintain a healthy life and restore post-agricultural production.
"But how much time and effort will it take for the victims who have lost all their property to recover to the situation before the disaster?!!"
"During this period, the people's ability to resist other risks is almost zero!!!"
“Once we encounter other minor wind and rain, such as illness or injury after a disaster, lack of money to buy medicine, drought and crop failure, etc.
"Then ordinary people who have no ability to resist any other risks will eventually be forced to sell their children, daughters, land, homes, and property.
"It could even end up selling yourself into a slave, becoming a maid, or a tenant farmer, or falling into the trap of becoming a bandit!!!"
"The same natural disaster is completely different from the perspective of the imperial court and the perspective of the affected people."
"As far as the court is concerned, if the people are affected by the disaster, then they only need to consider and ensure that the people can survive temporarily when the disaster occurs.
"But for ordinary people, they still need to consider and face the endless pressure of how to survive again after a natural disaster!!!"
"And if it can't be solved or alleviate the huge survival pressure of the disaster-stricken people after the disaster."
"Then the most the imperial court can do is delay the process of them selling their sons, daughters, their land, their homes and their property, selling themselves as slaves, maids, and tenant farmers [or even turning into bandits."
“The problem of refugees and disaster victims cannot be truly solved!!!”
Below, Zhu Yuanzhang, the princes Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, Zhu Gang, Zhu Di and other princes, as well as the three little guys Zhu Xiongying, Zhu Jixi and Zhu Gaochi who had become governors and sensible people, all fell silent.
For the imperial court, especially Zhu Yuanzhang, who was a beggar and a refugee, so he paid more attention to disaster relief and disaster relief.
When the common people encountered natural disasters, the imperial court could ensure the food rations of these victims, allowing them to temporarily tide over the difficulties, and exempt them from some taxes and corvees.
They even loaned money, grains, seeds, cattle, farm tools and other materials to the people affected by the disaster to maintain the lives of the victims and restore agricultural production after the disaster [This is the result of the best efforts of the imperial court and Zhu Yuanzhang.
To put it bluntly, any ancient court that was able to achieve this level of disaster relief and disaster relief can be said to have a conscience.
At least the victims of the disaster are treated as human beings, not as dispensable people.
However, if we want the disaster victims to be able to rely on their own strength to make a living, they have some ability to withstand other external risks.
It can alleviate or even solve the huge survival pressure of the disaster-stricken people after the disaster.
So now the court needs to pay at least dozens of times, or even hundreds of times, the cost of disaster relief and disaster relief than before!!!
But the problem is that the court's ability to achieve the previous level is the result of all efforts to ensure the normal operation of the court.
If the cost of disaster relief and disaster relief skyrockets by tens or hundreds of times, then there will be one and only one result in the end, and that is to completely crush the current imperial court!!!
Even if it does not crush the current imperial court, it will definitely affect the normal operation of other affairs of the imperial court.
After all, for a country, it needs to be responsible for considering disaster relief and disaster relief in more than one place, or in several places, as well as border military affairs, people's livelihood and other matters in many other places.
Looking at the silent Zhu Yuanzhang, as well as the princes Zhu Biao, Zhu Xi, Zhu Fan, Zhu Di and other princes, Yan Changqing continued calmly:
"Besides, the imperial court opened Chang Pingcang in disaster years and sold grain to the victims at a fair price."
"If the state-owned economy occupies a dominant position in the national economy, then this move can indeed stabilize prices, reduce people's losses, and prevent people from buying high-priced and unscrupulous food."
"However, now in Ming Dynasty, the non-state-owned economy occupies the dominant position in the national economy!!!"
"And this means that the non-state-owned economy can actually swallow up the state-owned economy!!!"
"To put it another way, even if the imperial court opens Chang Pingcang in disaster years, it will sell grain to the victims at a fair price.
"But those merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as those noble marquises, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords, they are also fully capable of eating them completely.
In other words, buy all the grains sold by the imperial court at low prices!!!"
"In the end, the victims had no affordable food to buy, and had to buy it from the merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as the noble marquis behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords.
High-priced and unscrupulous food from civil and military officials!!!"
"In the end, the food sold by the court at a low price not only failed to reach the appetite of the victims."
"Instead, they all entered the grain shops and rice shops of those merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as those noble marquises, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords!!!"
**………………
"This allows them to take the opportunity to hoard and make a lot of money!!!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately stood up with his hair and beard bulging, and shouted angrily:
"They dare?!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang himself was in a depressed mood because he was unable to alleviate and solve the huge survival pressure on the people after the disaster.
At this moment, he heard that the merchants, gentry, and landlords who he had always disliked, as well as the noble marquis, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords, took advantage of the disaster years to buy the court's cheap grain at low prices, and then sold it at high prices. After selling the grain to the victims with bad intentions.
Suddenly, the anger in the whole person's heart began to rise.
Yan Changqing's eyes fell on Zhu Yuanzhang and asked:
"Why don't you dare?!!"
"Does the imperial court have any regulations that prohibit them from buying grain that the imperial court sells at a low price?!!"
"Furthermore, the people affected by the disaster, strictly speaking, are the merchants, gentry, and landlords in the same place, as well as the noble marquis behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords.
Civil and military officials, they are also one of the "common people" affected by the disaster.
"Does Your Majesty want to do it because those merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as the noble marquises, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords have abundant wealth and property?
You can survive natural disasters safely, so you refuse to sell low-priced food to them?!!"
"In this case, I'm afraid I will lose the principle of being a king and treating all people in the world equally?!"
"And even if His Majesty can really make laws and regulations to refuse to sell cheap grain to those merchants, gentry, and landlords who have abundant wealth and property, as well as those noble marquises, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords."
.....O
"However, at best this is just a ban on the outside."
"Secretly, the merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as the noble marquises, civil and military officials behind the merchants, gentry, and landlords, can also send their servants to buy cheap grain sold by the court on their behalf."
"Even if the imperial court registers the people who come to buy cheap food, it strictly orders that only real victims of the disaster can buy cheap food."
"But those merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as the noble marquises, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords, can still use School Disciple to bribe the victims of the disaster and let the victims of the disaster buy cheap grain sold by the court on their behalf. "
"As the saying goes, 'You have a good plan, I have a ladder, it's nothing more than that."
"Of course, His Majesty can also directly order that anyone who dares to hoard or maliciously raise prices during the disaster period will be beheaded!!!"
"In this way, those merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as the noble marquises, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords, may indeed be frightened by His Majesty's strict order."
"But in this case, another situation may often arise, that is, 'Since it is not allowed to hoard and make profits at high prices, then I will not sell it.'"
"On one side, we continue to collect cheap grain sold by the imperial court. On the other side, we can only get in and out. We continue to stockpile grain. When the ban is lifted and the so-called 'disaster' period passes, we will sell the stored grain."
"Anyway, the food has a long shelf life, and it is purchased from the imperial court at a low price. For them, it doesn't make any difference whether to sell it early at a high price or later at a high price."
"Of course, for this situation, Your Majesty can also adopt another method of handling, that is - kill!!!"
"As long as it is verified that merchants, gentry, and landlords, as well as the noble marquis and civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords, are purchasing large amounts of grain, but they can only get in and out, then they will directly raid their homes and kill them. Show to the public!!!"
"This can indeed solve the problem, but it will easily cause panic among other merchants, gentry, and landlords who are doing normal business in the world, as well as the noble marquises, civil and military officials behind those merchants, gentry, and landlords."
"After all, there are no regulations in the imperial court that stipulate that merchants must have their own entry and exit."
"Moreover, hoarding and buying low and selling high are also normal ways of doing business for merchants!!!"
"Today, Your Majesty can confiscate and execute those unscrupulous merchants for the crime of 'having access without exit'. So who knows if His Majesty will confiscate their homes and execute them for other similar crimes in the future?!!"
"As a result, the business of merchants all over the world will be greatly affected!!!"
"If the business of merchants all over the world is greatly affected, it will inevitably affect the flow of goods between various places in the world, and then affect the livelihood of people all over the world!!!
"At that time, both the economic development of the imperial court and the people's livelihood development will be affected to a greater or lesser extent. If it is serious, it will even cause the country's economy and people's livelihood to regress a lot!!!"
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