Chapter 1300 - 1261
The grain prices across the nation are dropping at a rate that every person can clearly feel. First is Luoyang, then the surrounding counties of Luoyang. Soon, all disaster-stricken areas see a rapid decline in grain prices due to the swift arrival of disaster relief grain and the initiative led by Zhao Hanzhang’s newly opened grain stores, bringing prices quickly down to between eighteen cents and twenty-five cents.
This price is acceptable to the vast majority of the populace.
Furthermore, with the aid of work-for-relief initiatives, there was no chaos in the Northern Land due to food scarcity.
Ming Yu and Zu Ti, after assessing the damage, found that in this flooding disaster, some died due to the floods, but none died of starvation.
Not only did Zhao Hanzhang in Luoyang not believe it, but even Ming Yu and Zu Ti on the disaster front lines could scarcely believe it. They took the death registers and personally investigated in the countryside, fearing that some officials might be falsifying facts for their merit.
Who would have thought, some died in the flood, some from illness, but none from hunger.
Even during non-flood times, this phenomenon is rare.
In this era, large numbers of people die from hunger and cold every year.
Ming Yu asked a village chief with many impoverished farmers under him, "How did they survive?"
The village chief said, "In the first month, someone from the county suddenly came by, saying that the Great General had a Demi Immortal calculate that there would be a solar eclipse in the second month and that we shouldn’t be alarmed."
"A solar eclipse, huh, the sun being eaten—how is that not a big deal? Everyone said this year’s harvest wouldn’t be good, crops can’t grow without sunlight, so everyone started to cut back on spending during the festival to save as much grain as possible."
"Sure enough, on the first day of the second month, the sky’s sun was half eaten by the celestial dog. After we chased it away, the county sent people again to say the solar eclipse foretold a natural disaster, the Great General calculated it would be a flood, and advised everyone to store more grain and temporarily not plant wheat." In this area, where it’s cold, spring wheat is habitually grown. It’s fortunate it wasn’t planted; otherwise, a rain like this would destroy everything.
"Everyone listened and used their household money to buy grain before the prices rose too much. There were wild vegetables in the fields, which they picked and dried, or pickled. After the rain intensified, everyone ate just one meal a day to stave off hunger, and that’s how they survived. Now with disaster relief grain and work-for-relief, no one needs to die."
Ming Yu choked up and asked, "Eating only one meal, and so little of it, wasn’t it hard?"
The village chief, also looking sallow, smiled contentedly and said, "It’s not hard. We’ve lived like this often. This year, no one starved to death, much better than during the wars in previous years."
Ming Yu said, "You’ve done so much preparation. Whatever the county says, you believe it?"
The village chief curiously replied, "Of course, we believe it. The officials sent by the Great General wouldn’t deceive us."
Ming Yu felt a mix of emotions. In Luoyang, at most, seventy percent of the populace believes the government. Are the people of Luoyang less insightful than those from these remote villages?
No, they are more insightful, and precisely because they are insightful, they are more stubborn in their opinions.
So, Xiahou Ren and Tao Wu’s strategy of simplifying people’s beliefs isn’t entirely unfounded.
Ming Yu rubbed his forehead, thinking he was becoming delusional. Is this the time to think about such things?
"Now that the rain has stopped, take the disaster relief grain, level the land, and plant some sorghum and soybeans."
The village chief looked troubled and said, "Ming Zhongshu, it’s already June, in another three months we’ll have to pay the taxes. You’ve seen it too, there’s nothing in the fields but some sorghum and millet. Could you speak to the Great General to accept sorghum and millet this year for taxes?"
The court’s taxes are primarily collected in wheat, rice, and millet, and sorghum has never been accepted.
But most of the land this year has indeed been planted with sorghum, and in two cycles. Ming Yu pondered for a moment and said, "I will speak to the Great General. For now, focus on farming."
Given Zhao Hanzhang’s nature, severely affected disaster areas will likely be exempt from taxes, and other affected areas will also have a portion of the taxes reduced or exempted.
When the time comes during discussions, this can be brought up.
The grain Zhao Hanzhang bought was mostly laid in the north, as was the national treasury. But in this flood, areas like Jiangnan and Jiangdong also suffered significant losses.
It’s all the treasury of Great Jin, and all are citizens of Great Jin. We cannot favor one over the other, so Zhao Hanzhang allocated a portion of the disaster relief grain from the treasury to Jiangnan.
She also dispatched a company of personal guards southward, gathering money from her established grain shops along the way, to be transported directly to Jiangnan. They would purchase grain locally and stabilize prices locally.
Essentially, she bought grain at high prices and sold it at low prices, losing half of the money in a single transaction.