Qing Yao

Chapter 284 Nickname "Zhao the White Bar"

Chuzhou was a prefecture directly under the jurisdiction of Anhui Province. The magistrate of Chuzhou was one rank higher than that of a prefecture in the province, holding the rank of fifth grade.

Before the 25th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, the Anhui Provincial Administration Commission was located in Jiangning. Chuzhou, which is adjacent to Jiangning, benefited from this and its economic development was much better than that of the Huaibei region.

Chuzhou was also affected by the disaster, but the damage was slightly less severe than that of Huaibei and other severely affected areas. Zhao An marked it as a medium-risk area. Because Chuzhou is close to Jiangning, although many Chuzhou refugees fled to Jiangning, the overall disaster situation was under control.

Zhao An's first stop was Chuzhou to inspect the disaster relief work. However, he found that the mountains in Chuzhou were all barren. Except for some higher peaks that were lush with greenery, the other lower peaks had almost no trees.

The greening is practically nonexistent.

At first, I wondered why this was the case, since everyone says that the ecology was good in ancient times, with beautiful mountains and clear waters.

Then it dawned on him that the main source of fuel in this era was wood.

Why is firewood listed first among the five basic necessities of life: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and
Without firewood, there is no cooking.

In order to make fires and cook, people had to cut down trees indiscriminately. As a result, ancient times were not a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters, but rather one barren mountain after another. The more densely populated the area, the less greenery there was, and soil erosion was very serious.

The greatest benefit of industrialization is that it provides fuels other than timber, thereby avoiding a series of problems caused by over-logging.

In other words, industrialization is not a form of pollution or destruction of the Earth's ecosystem, but rather a form of protection for it.

With a population of 400 million in the Qing Dynasty alone, how much timber would be burned every day?

Zhao An couldn't help but think of the Ma'anshan coal mine. If the coal mine could be developed vigorously and honeycomb briquettes could be brought into every household, wealth would surely flow in.

Upon arriving in Chuzhou, they went directly to the prefectural government office. After presenting the relevant documents and procedures from the Ministry of Personnel, Prefect Yan Kun quickly led a group of his subordinates to pay their respects.

Zhao An's first impression of Prefect Yan was not bad; he didn't look cunning and seemed to be a moderate person.

The fact that the grain transport commissioner was temporarily acting as the provincial governor was only known in Anhui Province at the moment, and most local officials were unaware of it. Therefore, when Zhao An suddenly arrived, Prefect Yan was clearly unprepared. He was probably taken aback by Zhao An's youth, and for a few breaths, he forgot to bow.

"The disaster situation is of utmost importance, so please refrain from such formalities."

Zhao An was eager to understand the situation in Chuzhou, so he gestured to Yan Kun and the others that they didn't need to go through the formalities, and then asked Yan Kun directly how he had arranged disaster relief in the Chuzhou area.

"Replying to Your Excellency,"

Coming to his senses, Yan Kun quickly answered, but his reply was filled with official jargon and platitudes, causing Zhao An to frown. Zhao An finally laid it all out and asked, "How many people are there in Chuzhou? How many have fled famine? How many remain at home? As the prefect, have you opened the granaries to distribute grain, and how much? Has the province allocated any disaster relief funds or grain to Chuzhou? And how have you used that money and grain?"

After a series of questions, Yan Kun was a little confused. After a long while, he said, "I need to check with the household registration office before I can answer the questions you asked, sir."

“You are the official in charge of the people of Chuzhou. The drought has been going on for months. How could you not know these things?”

Zhao An was clearly displeased. Although feudal bureaucrats could not compare with officials of later generations in terms of professionalism, as the head of a prefecture, and with drought lasting for several months, Yan Kun could not even give basic data, which was undoubtedly a serious dereliction of duty.

However, one cannot be too harsh on them, since nine out of ten officials who came through the imperial examinations were like that; otherwise, why would the Qing Dynasty have to share power with clerks and petty officials?

The so-called sage doctrines taught in the imperial examination system were all theoretical principles on paper, none of which were practical and of no help to social progress.

Even a county magistrate without the help of a criminal advisor cannot cite the most basic laws and regulations; how can he then adjudicate cases?

"Your humble servant, your humble servant,"

Yan Kun was at a loss for words and was so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead.

Seeing this, Zhao An had no choice but to ask him to summon a few clerks from the household registration office and the workshop to speak.

Compared to the unprofessional prefect, the officials in charge of household affairs and public works were clearly much more professional, and the second branch of the government provided relevant data on all the matters Zhao An asked about.

Judging from the data, Chuzhou's disaster relief work has been done quite well. Due to the lack of rain, the crops could not be saved. At present, Chuzhou's disaster relief focus is on distributing grain reserves to support the people and organizing manpower to solve the problem of drinking water for the people and livestock.

To address this, Prefect Yan Kun took two thousand taels of silver from the treasury and went to Jiangning to hire several professional well-drilling teams. However, due to geographical and transportation limitations, they could only solve the drinking water problem for the people in the area around the prefectural city. The vast rural areas outside the prefectural city were beyond their capacity to solve the problem and could only rely on the villagers to help themselves.

Therefore, the prefectural government was actually unaware of the actual extent of the disaster in the countryside.

The side effects of imperial power not extending to the countryside.

Zhao An understood this point. After all, there was no large-scale engineering machinery in this era. When faced with droughts or floods, local officials could only concentrate their efforts on protecting the cities. The countryside had to be abandoned, even if they didn't want to, because it was simply beyond saving.

However, Chuzhou is currently facing a major difficulty: its grain reserves are running low, and it urgently needs grain allocation from higher authorities.

Otherwise, not only would they be unable to provide enough food to survive the disaster-stricken people, but they would also be unable to provide enough porridge to famine refugees who were passing through Chuzhou and fleeing to other places.

Yan Kun had already submitted two reports to the provincial governor's office, and the governor replied that the grain supply should be prioritized for the hardest-hit areas and that Chuzhou should hold on a little longer.

How to persevere?

Without food supplies, Chuzhou will soon become a disaster area.

Yan Kun was very anxious, but his report went unanswered. Unexpectedly, the court had already urgently replaced the governor, and the new governor was right in front of him. Naturally, he had to complain and hope that the new governor would give priority to Chuzhou.

“Chuzhou is right next to Jiangning. As the prefect, you shouldn’t always think about transferring grain from the province. You can organize people to buy grain in Jiangning. If that doesn’t work, you can ask grain merchants from other places to come and sell grain.”

Before having a comprehensive understanding of the situation in Anhui Province, Zhao An could not have simply ordered the provincial governor to allocate grain to Chuzhou, a severely affected area.

Food supplies are limited. If some of the food that should have been sent to the hardest-hit areas is diverted to the moderately or lightly affected areas, the consequences could be fatal.

For areas where the disaster is not so severe, the phrase "endure hardship and persevere" is not always just official rhetoric, but rather a response born of necessity and reality.

Chuzhou is adjacent to Jiangning, so even if there is a food shortage, it can't be as serious as Yan Kun said.

How can a person die from holding in their pee?

Therefore, Chuzhou should take initiative instead of constantly complaining to higher authorities.

Yan Kun looked troubled and said that he, as the prefect, had no money to buy grain in Jiangning. Since the disaster in Anhui, many grain merchants from other places had gathered in Chuzhou. However, these grain merchants were all unscrupulous. The usual price of grain in Anhui was one tael and two mace per shi, but these grain merchants sold grain at six taels or even seven taels per shi. Not to mention that the disaster victims had no money to buy it, even the government could not afford it.

"My lord, these unscrupulous grain merchants have gone too far. In a year of great disaster, they are trying to take advantage of the situation to make money. In my opinion, we should send troops to arrest them all and force them to sell grain at low prices!"

What angered Zhao An was Baili Yunlong, Zhao An's personal bodyguard. Baili Yunlong came from a humble background in the grain transport gang and naturally couldn't stand seeing unscrupulous merchants profiting from disaster victims. Zhao An shook his head. Things weren't as simple as Baili Yunlong made them out to be. If troops were sent to force grain merchants to sell grain at low prices, the consequence wouldn't be how much cheap grain the disaster victims could buy, but rather that the disaster area would have no grain to buy at all.

You can't buy food even if you have money!
It's not unreasonable for grain traders to take advantage of disasters to raise grain prices; it's a market adjustment driven by supply and demand.

Moreover, transporting grain from other places to the disaster area by land is extremely costly, and there is also the risk of looting by disaster victims.

Therefore, it is reasonable to sell it at a price several times higher.

Essentially, this is also a risk-averse measure for grain traders.

If Zhao Anzhen really forces grain merchants to sell grain at low prices, who would dare to transport grain to the disaster area?

Simply relying on government allocations cannot solve the problem of food shortages for people in disaster areas.

Grain merchants are making a fortune through unethical means, but it is precisely because of the existence of these unscrupulous grain merchants that a smooth transition in the disaster area can be ensured.

The problem is that disaster victims certainly don't have the money to buy expensive food, and those who do have money aren't considered disaster victims.

The local government of Chuzhou cannot afford to buy high-priced grain from grain merchants to distribute to the disaster victims. If the disaster continues, the price of grain will probably not be a few taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), but rather a tael of gold for a piece of cake.

The Ministry of Revenue has coordinated with Jiangsu and Jiangxi provinces to provide Anhui with over two million taels of silver, which should be delivered to the provincial treasury in Anqing in the coming days.

Anqing and Huizhou were not affected by the disaster and are major grain-producing areas, but even these few unaffected areas cannot support the food consumption of the disaster-stricken areas.

That's a bottomless pit for tens of millions of people.

Therefore, we still have to purchase grain from other places and transport it in.

Given this situation, Zhao An felt that the enthusiasm of unscrupulous grain merchants should be mobilized, so that these private logistics groups could continuously transport grain to the disaster area.

"Right now, it's not about worrying about the price of grain, but about ensuring that people have enough to eat. Even if the price of grain is sky-high, we, as the local officials, must find a way to buy the grain and distribute it to the disaster victims."

"Sir, where will the money to buy the grain come from?"

Prefect Yan said that the prefecture's annual revenue was only tens of thousands of taels of silver. At the current grain price, even if he took out all his savings, he could only buy 10,000 shi of grain. However, Chuzhou had a population of nearly one million, half of whom were affected by the disaster. What could 10,000 shi of grain possibly buy?

Ultimately, it all comes down to money.

Prefect Yan's original intention was to hope that the newly appointed provincial governor could approve some funds for Chuzhou so that he could use them to tide him over.

However, after a moment's thought, Zhao An instructed Prefect Yan to notify all grain merchants in the city, whether local or from out of town, to attend a meeting at the prefectural government office.

The notice arrived quickly, and upon learning that the newly appointed acting provincial governor, Lord Zhao, wanted to see them, every grain merchant came.

Because business people have a very strong sense of smell.

Local grain merchants accounted for only one-third of the market, with the remaining two-thirds consisting of half from Jiangning and the other half from Zhenjiang, Suzhou, Yangzhou, and other places.

When Zhao An appeared, he was not only wearing the official robes of a third-rank official, but also the yellow jacket bestowed upon him by the old master over his official robes.

This caused the grain merchants to rise in fear and kneel down to perform a deep bowing ceremony.

Zhao An accepted the offer without hesitation, then plopped down in the main seat, looked around at the group of grain merchants, and nodded slightly, saying, "You are all in the grain business, and I suppose no one knows the current disaster situation in our province better than you. I have been appointed by His Majesty to temporarily serve as the Provincial Governor of Anhui, and the reason I invited you all here is to do business with you."

This straightforward opening left the grain merchants somewhat uneasy. They had dealt with officials before, but those officials would always launch into a long, rambling speech at the beginning, with some talkative officials even going on for half an hour without getting to the point.

Compared to those officials, the young Lord Zhao's opening remarks were undoubtedly much simpler and went straight to the point.

What deal?
It seems that the government stepped in to purchase the grain.

As expected, Zhao An immediately stated that he would purchase all the grain from the grain merchants present in his capacity as the acting Provincial Governor of Anhui, and that he would establish long-term cooperative relationships with these grain merchants until the disaster was completely over.

The grain merchants nodded in agreement. They had taken considerable risks transporting grain from other areas into the disaster zone. Although they had previously sold grain through their own channels with high profits, the sales volume was low. After all, the disaster victims were not concentrated in one area, but were distributed in countless areas, and the cost of sales alone was extremely high.

If the Anhui government were to purchase their grain in a unified manner, the sales and transportation costs would be reduced, and even if the profit margin were lower, they could still make a lot of money.

The problem is what price per shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain this young acting provincial governor approves of.

Grain merchants will certainly not be happy if prices are only slightly higher than last year.

Unexpectedly, before they could even whisper among themselves, Zhao An offered a price: six taels per shi (a unit of dry measure) to buy grain from these grain merchants.

The price of six taels to one shi was undoubtedly quite high. Although some grain merchants sold it to outsiders for seven taels and two qian, the profit was actually about the same as selling it directly to the government for six taels to one shi if you factored in the cost.

Zhao An silently observed the reactions of the grain merchants, and seeing that many of them showed joy, he knew that the price was acceptable for a deal.

A grain merchant from Jiangning stood up and asked the question that everyone was most concerned about: whether the provincial governor's office settled the grain payments with them in cash.

Zhao An nodded and said, "To be honest, things are very tense in the province right now. I won't make any grand pronouncements, but it will definitely be difficult to settle accounts with you all in cash."

Upon hearing this, the grain merchants immediately abandoned their willingness to cooperate.

That's a joke. Who would be foolish enough to transport grain over without cash? Buying grain also has costs.

We looked at each other, but no one said a word.

Zhao An, on the other hand, said unhurriedly, "However, I am aware of your difficulties, so I have come up with a solution for you. After you transport the grain, the Chuzhou Prefectural Government will receive it and verify the quantity. Once the quantity is correct, they will give you a slip of paper. You can then use this slip to collect payment from the Anqing Treasury. However, you can only collect half the payment upfront. The remaining half will be settled when you transport the next batch of grain. Does this sound good to you?"

Take half now, and get the other half later?
This plan has attracted many grain merchants, and it seems quite worthwhile.

"Sir, your method is good, but what if something unexpected happens with the remaining grain funds?"

The man who said this was a grain merchant in his fifties, whose eyes revealed shrewdness. He was clearly implying that if the government did not honor its promise, they would lose half of the grain payment.

"If you don't trust me, do you not trust the Emperor? Do you not trust the court?"

Words are powerless, so Zhao An slowly rose, took off his yellow jacket, and respectfully placed it on the table. "I swear on this yellow jacket that as long as I serve as the Provincial Governor of Anhui, I will repay you all the grain debts, even if I have to sell everything I own!"

(End of this chapter)