The area affected by the disaster in Shandong this time is quite large, and the number of victims is naturally very large. The first batch of people who arrived at Songjiang Prefecture City was two to three thousand people, and according to these victims, there was a considerable number of victims behind them, most of whom were

Rushing to Songjiang Prefecture. This was confirmed in the next few days. Many victims rushed to the city every day, and the number soon exceeded the 10,000 mark. And depending on the speed of the victims, it is likely to exceed two people in the end.

Ten thousand.

For these fleeing victims, generally the local government has only two options. The first is to find a way to disperse the victims and let them go to other places. As for where they go, the government doesn't care, as long as they are not here. But this approach is criticized.

It is prohibited by the central court and will also have some impact on the reputation of local officials.

The second way is to let these victims stay and let the local government be responsible for their resettlement. However, these victims have their families and their eyes are green with hunger. If you want to resettle these victims, it will have a negative impact on the local economy.

, food reserves, public security and official quality, etc., are undoubtedly a huge challenge!

The total population of Songjiang Prefecture is only over 200,000, and now the sudden influx of disaster victims, accounting for one-tenth of the total population, is definitely a huge trouble for the entire Songjiang officialdom.

An official's integrity is not the only criterion for measuring the quality of an official. For example, Xu Shenzhong's father, Xu Guan, was the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture. He did not receive any less money than he should have received. Naturally, he could not be said to be an honest official. However,

At this critical moment, he withstood the tremendous pressure. On the second day after the Shandong victims arrived in Songjiang Prefecture, he immediately made the decision to open a warehouse to release grain. Six porridge sheds were erected in a row outside the city gate.

Bags of rice from the official warehouse were moved here and turned into fragrant rice porridge and distributed to the victims.

However, although Magistrate Xu made the decision to open a warehouse to release grain, the official warehouse involved the interests of the entire Songjiang officialdom. Even as the prefect, he did not dare to take out too much grain from it, otherwise the entire Songjiang officialdom would be against him.

It is precisely because of this that while prefect Xu opened his official warehouse to provide porridge, he also began to lobby the wealthy businessmen in the city, hoping that they would donate generously to help the victims. Although wealthy businessmen are not all unkind people, there is always human nature.

It's selfish, and no one's money comes from strong winds. Usually, you have to be careful when doing business, let alone spend it all at once to help the victims. But because of the face of Xu Zhifu, they finally spent some money.

Qian thought for a moment.

In the Nuan Pavilion in the front yard of the Zhou family, Zhou Chong, Zheng Jing, Zhang Kuang and Li Zheng were all there. In addition, Xu Shenzhong, whom he had just met a few days ago, was also sitting in the hall, but Xu Shenzhong had an angry look on his face at this time.

"Bah! It's unkind to be rich! It's unkind to be rich! There are more than 200 families in Songjiang Prefecture with more than 10,000 taels, but the money donated by these people is less than 5,000 taels, and there are several generous families such as the Xie family, the Wang family, and the Li family.

The total donations accounted for more than half of the total, but most of the remaining wealthy businessmen only donated a mere thousand taels of silver. Some even stingy people only donated a few taels of silver, which was a real loss.

Can they take it?" Xu Shenzhong suddenly slammed the table and shouted angrily.

As the son of Magistrate Xu, Xu Shenzhong naturally knows very well about the victims. Moreover, Magistrate Xu has been sighing over the donation these days, and his hair has turned a little gray with worry. This makes Xu Shenzhong very angry with those wealthy businessmen. Today happened to be

Zhou Chong informed him to come get the manuscript, so he vented all his anger.

"Brother Shenzhong, it's useless to just scold those wealthy businessmen now. The most important thing is how to help the victims outside the city. Five thousand taels of silver seems like a lot, but with the arrival of the victims, the price of food in the entire Songjiang Prefecture has dropped.

It has increased several times. This money, plus the grain released from the official warehouse, may only be able to support it until the end of the year at most. If there is no follow-up food, I am afraid that most of the victims outside will not be able to survive this new year!" Zheng Jing

He said with an anxious look, as a scholar, he has a heart that cares about the country and the people, and is most concerned about current affairs. This is one of the things that Zhou Chong and Li Zheng admire most about Zheng Jing.

"Oh, so what if we get through the New Year, the weather in the past few years has been so abnormal, it won't get warmer until at least two months after the New Year, and these two months are the most difficult!" Zhang Kuang also said at this time!

He said, with a hint of worry on his naturally smiling face.

"Don't worry about this. My father has already sent a letter to Nanjing, requesting for a batch of grain to be allocated for disaster relief. It is said that the problem is not big, but it will not be allocated until after the New Year. It is estimated that it will not arrive until February next year!" Xu Shenzhong was at this time!

He opened his mouth and said, but at the end of the sentence, his tone was very helpless. Things in officialdom are like this. No matter how urgent the matter is, everything must be done according to the process. As for the time wasted in the middle, it is not the responsibility of the boss.

It's a question for the officials to consider.

"In February, why don't they wait until next autumn's harvest before sending it?" Li Zheng, the straight-tempered one, angrily said. Xu Shenzhong mentioned before that the Li family that donated the most money is Li Zheng's family. Although their family has been a businessman for generations, they are always willing to give charity.

He was well-known in the countryside and had always been very enthusiastic about donating money. Even before Magistrate Xu opened his mouth, the Li family donated 800 taels, which was already a large amount.

"In this way, when Magistrate Xu ran out of money and food, it would be nearly two months before the food allocated by the court arrived. If these two months of food are not provided, I am worried that the victims will be extremely hungry.

If something like an attack on the city occurs, the entire court may be alarmed!" Zhou Zhong, who had been silent in the end, suddenly said.

Zhou Zhong’s words are by no means alarmist. The most cruel punishment in the world cannot compare with the taste of starvation, especially a group of people who are tortured by hunger. In order to have a bite to eat, they will do anything. And this kind of thing is not

Before it happened, many peasant riots in history were caused by hunger.

Hearing Zhou Zhong's words, Zheng Jing and the others also became solemn. Among them, Xu Shenzhong looked the most anxious. After all, his father was the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture. If disaster victims really happened to attack the prefecture, then his father would have no choice but to leave.

It's his fault.

"Two months of food, this is a lot of money. According to the current price of food, I estimate that it will cost at least ten thousand taels of silver. This is not a small amount. I am afraid that Prefect Xu will not be able to raise this amount in a short time.

Money!" Zheng Jing said again with a painful look on his face, thinking that the victims outside the city might die of cold and starvation during the Chinese New Year, he felt a suffocation in his heart.

"No, I have to go home and discuss with my father and uncle to see if I can donate some more money!" Li Zhengyi gritted his teeth and said again. The reason why the Li family donated so much last time was mainly because of him.

In addition, the elders of the Li family also felt that Li Zheng would become an official in the future. Now that the family could have a good reputation, it would be a good help for his career.

After Li Zheng finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave, but Zhang Kuang grabbed him and said, "Don't worry, Sir. Your Li family has already donated a lot of money, and disaster relief cannot be left to just your family."

Pay, so I think it’s better to mobilize the students in the government school and let everyone use their influence to persuade those wealthy businessmen, I think it should have some effect.”

Most of the students in the government school are from wealthy families, and with the friends they know, it can be said that all the wealthy people in Songjiang Prefecture have some kind of relationship with these students, so if these students take action, they should be able to persuade them.

Some wealthy people donated money.

"What the alchemist said is a solution, but most of the students in the private school are focused on their studies and usually don't care much about their family's finances. With their influence at home, they can get the rich to contribute some money.

, but I’m afraid the final number won’t be very large.” Xu Shenzhong was happy at first, but at the end, his mood couldn’t help but feel depressed.

Seeing these close friends worrying about donating money, Zhou Zhong suddenly had an idea in his mind and thought of a very good method. If he used this method, he might be able to make those wealthy businessmen who were unwilling to donate more blood.

, it may even make those rich people beg Xu Zhifu for donations.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong immediately interrupted Xu Shenzhong and others who were discussing, and then told the method he thought of. After hearing this, Xu Shenzhong and the four looked at each other in disbelief, and looked at Zhou Zhong in disbelief.

.

"Wenda, your method is good, but isn't it a little too insidious?" Zheng Jing, who has a good temperament, said with a wry smile. Just now he carefully considered Zhou Zhong's idea and found that it was indeed very feasible, but he

I always feel that this method is not very fair and lacks the upright demeanor of a scholar.

"Brother Minglun's words are wrong. I think Wenda's method is very good. To deal with those guys who are greedy for wealth and ruthlessness, we should let them know how powerful they are!" Li Zheng has always been on Zhou Zhong's side. In addition, he also

I feel that my family has donated nearly a thousand taels of silver, but other wealthy people have only donated dozens or even a few taels of silver. In this way, the Li family is really at a loss, and they must let those people who are unkind to get rich give some blood.

!

"I don't care about so much anymore. There are tens of thousands of lives outside the city now. As the saying goes, human lives matter, so don't worry about trivial details!" Zhang Kuang is a good-tempered and slow-tempered person, but at such a critical moment, he rarely showed his true temperament.

Decisive.

"What a righteous person, the matter is settled like this. I will go back and discuss it with my father. I believe he will definitely agree with Wenda's method!" Xu Shenzhong finally made the decision. Zhou Zhong's method must be decided by his father.
Chapter completed!