Chapter 551 Work-for-relief (Part 1)

Walking out of Mingyue Tower and watching Master Li say goodbye to the wealthy businessmen one by one, Chu Lian was still a little dazed, because today's game was really smooth and unexpected.

I thought it would be extremely rare to get the money and grain from these people that could be reorganized, but unexpectedly, with the mediation of the Prefect Li, I collected a huge sum of 876,000 taels of silver, plus more than 20,000 oat grain. Now, not only is the government office enough, but it can also quickly solve the livelihood problems of the people in the city.

After doing this, the wealthy businessmen not only did not have any complaints, but were grateful to Prefect Li. Seeing that they turned around and said different things to them, they completely treated their boss as their benefactors.

In such a mood, Chu Tong didn't know when they returned to the yamen. When he came to his senses, he saw Li Ling smiling at him: "Where is the donation document they recognized, let me take it to see."

"Yes, please check it out, sir." Chu Lian became more convinced by the new boss, and quickly sent the donation certificate with both hands, saying, "Sir, with these money and food, we Yangzhou should be able to survive this difficult situation?"

Li Ling casually glanced at the signature and numbers on his head, and his face was full of satisfaction. However, after a smile, he said seriously: "That's not enough, it's just a temporary solution to the urgent needs. Don't forget that we have to collect taxes this year. Even if we count all the money and food, I'm afraid it won't be enough to pay the court?"

These words were like a basin of cold water, which quickly dissipated Chu Lian's excitement, and his brows frowned again: "Yes, how could I forget this? The tax paid by our Yangzhou Prefecture every year is more than 1.5 million taels of silver. In addition to food, it is almost necessary to double these donated items..."

When Li Ling heard him report the figures to be paid, he grinned and took a deep breath. What a good man, Jiangnan is worthy of the heavy land of Dayue, and the taxes of this mansion are worth five southern Yunnan. How can I make sense?

The worry came again, and Chu Lian became more and more frightened: "Sir, there is really not much time left for us, but what should we do?" It would be too unreasonable to ask those rich businessmen for money and food at that time.

"This is easy to deal with. Since these ordinary wealthy families have made great contributions to our Yangzhou, as the two largest families in Yangzhou, the two surnames Lu and Xie cannot fall behind, right?" Li Ling said lightly, but he was shocked by Chu Lian: "Sir, are you really going to force Lu and Xie's families to pay for taxes?"

"What is forced? It's a good thing for serving the country and the people. As the Changxing Hou, a Qin-president of Taizu, and the Lu Xiang family, you must set an example."

"But..." Chu Lian thought that this was not easy, and then he remembered a little, "Sir, you just promised them that the official business of salt and iron will make other arrangements for next year, but it is true?"

Li Ling looked at him with some surprise: "This is a promise made by me in public, how can it be false?"

"But sir, over the years, the official business in Yangzhou has been decided by the governor's yamen, and these transactions have been handed over to the Lu Xie family. If you really do what you do, you will offend the two families and ask them for such a huge sum of money and food, I am afraid... I am afraid..."

As early as when Li Ling made a promise in front of everyone, Chu Lian was already a little worried, and now he understood what the key was. Li Ling also reminded him that his expression changed slightly. Is there any such statement?

He really had no other bargaining chips, so he wanted to use the power of the government to win over wealthy businessmen next year. After all, Yangzhou will inevitably have their support in the future. Now he knows that while winning over a group of people, he offended the two most powerful families. As for the governor's yamen, it is second.

Wen Ming gave himself such a difficult problem. If he didn't even give him any autonomy, he would be able to break up in one stroke and no one could think of it.

Li Ling frowned slightly, and after a while, he said, "This matter is aside. I believe there will be a way to solve it. The most urgent task now is how to solve the difficulties of the people and how to let them send money and grain to the yamen. In this way, you will write a notice tomorrow and post it to the whole city. I want the people in the city to have hope. In addition, I will inform the whole city that the government office will rebuild the Yangzhou Prefecture City, so that the people in the city will work hard to build the city and rebuild their own homes."

Chu Lian looked at Li Ling with some confusion: "What sir means is to let the victims work too? But they can't even eat enough, so where can they get the strength..."

"Of course, our government office will pay for the food and hire them to do things. In this way, I will give you a list later. According to the type of work and effort, they can get the corresponding grain and wages every day. In this way, if the people have something to do and have food to eat, our Yangzhou City can be quickly rebuilt, killing two birds with one stone. This is called labor-for-relief, and the dilemma is solved together!"

"Work-for-relief, is it difficult to solve the problem?" Chu Lian repeated Li Ling's statement, thought for a moment, and then a light flashed in his eyes, and said excitedly, "Sir, this can indeed benefit both the officials and the people. Moreover, in addition to the city walls, houses in other places are built to allow the people to live in. Then there is no need to worry about them being cold after the cold weather!"

"That's what you mean. If you write the truth clearly in the notice, and then let the yamen who are smart and eloquent in the yamen explain it to the people, our focus is this in the past few days. As long as the people in the city accept and understand our intentions, it will not be too difficult for me to rebuild Yangzhou City."

Chu Lian was excited, his face turned red, and he hurriedly bowed his hand and agreed, and then left in a hurry. For many days, he had troubled him and made him eat often without any taste. The problem of waking up at the prefect of Li was resolved one by one in just a few words.

At this time, he was so impressed by Li Ling that he wanted to do the errands he ordered as soon as possible. As for the problems of Lu Xie and his family, he believed that as long as the adults were willing to find ways to deal with it, there would be no hurdle that could not be overcome.

...

When another day comes, the people of Yangzhou City are still as before, as they are before, coming out of the temporarily settled dilapidated houses or temples, and then thinking about when they can get a stutter. As for the further future, they have no idea, and for these people, they have only the idea of ​​living.

At this moment, the sound of the gongs sounded from everywhere, attracting the attention of many people. When everyone thought that some kind-hearted rich man was going to set up a porridge stall, they found that they were actually several public servants wearing soap clothes. They were not holding pots and pans in their hands, but huge notices.

Everyone reacted coldly to this. The people in the yamen have nothing to do with them now. Although they have come to the new magistrate, they have not seen him do anything for everyone. Any policy has been introduced, which is also irrelevant for those of them who can't even eat enough.

Just as everyone diverted their attention and wanted to dissipate, the sound of the gongs started again, and a loudly tortured man heard a loud voice folded his hands around his mouth and shouted in a trumpet-like manner: "All the villagers and elders have listened: Our new prefect, Lord Li, knowing that the people of Yangzhou are now struggling to survive the difficulties, and they are really anxious. So this time, I thought of a way to raise a lot of money and food just to help everyone and overcome the current difficulties..."

As soon as these words of roaring in the beginning of the sect, many people really attracted back. Some people were guessing that this was true, but more of them rekindled hope and began to talk about it.

"Is this reliable?"

"It's hard to say...but I heard that Lord Li seems to be quite capable. He has been curated in an orderly manner by him. He should be a good official. And what else can he deceive us? What can he do to us?"

Amid the discussion, the notices were posted one by one, and several huge notices almost filled the wall in front of them. Unfortunately, there were only a few who could really understand the content, and they could only wait for the government to explain. The loud-sounding policeman did not ask everyone to wait for more. After he greeted him again, he explained the content: "Mr. Li has asked a lot of money and food from my wealthy family in Yangzhou, enough for everyone's life. In the future, you will no longer have to grab the porridge soup that is not full and cannot be hungry. There is a yamen to prepare steamed buns and rice for you..."

Is this true? Everyone was a little stunned. Then someone asked questions, and some cheered and shouted that Lord Li was wise. It was not until they vented for a while that the servant continued: "But Lord Li also said that you can't eat for nothing, you have to exchange for work. Everyone saw that our Yangzhou City had long been out of shape because of the previous rebellion. Therefore, if you want to rebuild the city and rebuild your home for the people of our city, you need everyone to work together and work together.

"From today, you can come to the yamen to register, and then follow the yamen's arrangements and do your best in any position. As long as you complete the assigned tasks, you can not only have enough food, but also get paid for your wages. Even your children and the elderly will not be hungry anymore.

"Mr. Li said that this is called labor-for-relief. We are not victims of disasters, but people in Yangzhou. We do not rely on people to support us. We support ourselves and our families by relying on our own labor!"

After the preaching, the emotions of hundreds of disaster victims around him suddenly increased. If people were not allowed to choose, who would want to be a poor beggar who could only eat food that comes from pity?

So soon, waves of promises and shouting broke out from the crowd, and then someone yelled that he would go to the government office to register. Even though his stomach was empty, everyone's emotions were getting better.
Chapter completed!