In the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Ming Dynasty, there was a severe drought in northern Shaanxi. The land was bare for thousands of miles, and the wheat seedlings in the fields were wilted and yellow, with their heads hanging down listlessly.
If it had been in previous years, I'm afraid there would have been refugees all over the place. Fortunately, Emperor Guangwu is a powerful leader and the officials he employs are also capable ministers, so it can be maintained without the tragic scene of people dying of hunger in the wild.
In the Shaanxi-Gansu Governor's Office, Governor Yang Qiaoran was entangled by Shaanxi Governor Cheng Yuan.
"Mr. Yang, there is a severe drought in northern Shaanxi. The grain stocks in Shaanxi are insufficient. It will take some time for the money allocated by the court to arrive. Please allocate some military rations for emergency relief and save the people of northern Shaanxi from fire and water. Please!" Cheng Yuan said to Yang Qiaoran deeply!
Pay my respects.
Yang Qiaoran didn't say anything. He must bear the responsibility if he accidentally uses the army's food reserves.
"Many people in northern Shaanxi who were affected by the disaster have no food in their homes. If they delay, they will die. Please forgive me, Mr. Yang! If the court blames me, I am willing to bear the responsibility together with Mr. Yang." Cheng Yuan's words were full of tears.
"Alas! When will the money and food allocated by the court arrive?" Yang Qiaoran sighed heavily.
"About two months."
"Well, leave three months of food for the Shaanxi-Gansu garrison, and all the rest will be sent to Shaanxi." Yang Qiaoran made up his mind. He laid an ambush for one more month, and the army would disperse without food. This was also necessary.
"Thank you, Mr. Yang!" Cheng Yuan's voice trembled with joy.
"Jin Yi, do you have any regulations on how to provide disaster relief after the food arrives?" Yang Qiaoran asked Shi Yuan.
"Governor Xian, I plan to use work instead of relief to repair the canals. On the one hand, it can save costs and resist drought and floods; on the other hand, it can keep the people where they are to facilitate next year's spring plowing."
"Good!"
"It's just that the current vassal treasury is a little short of money. It's only 200,000 taels. Including the 100,000 taels raised from the private sector, it's only 300,000 taels. Plus the 200,000 taels allocated by the Ministry of Finance for disaster relief.
, we can raise up to 500,000 taels of silver. I have calculated that to survive the disaster in northern Shaanxi safely, we need 900,000 taels, and there is still a shortfall of 400,000 taels." When it came to silver, Cheng Yuan was worried.
"Jin Yi, you are smart all your life, but you are confused for a while, so what's the use of a mere four hundred thousand taels of silver?" Yang Qiaoran suddenly smiled.
"Oh, Mr. Yang, if you have any clever ideas, please feel free to teach me."
"Did Jin Yi forget the new Changping Law promulgated by the Holy One? He might as well ask all prefectures and counties to organize some rich households to guarantee the poor households, find loans from major banks, and return them after the disaster year. In this case, don't say 400,000 taels, 100,000 taels
There are even ten thousand liang," Yang Qiaoran stroked his beard and said with a smile.
"Ah, if it hadn't been for Du Xian's reminder, I would still be dreaming!" Cheng Yuan hurriedly raised his hands and thanked him.
Emperor Guangwu issued a new Changping Law in order to prevent disasters in the year when the people were living without support, ordering the Daming Bank to lend to farmers and workers. He also stipulated that when poor households without property mortgages could ask wealthy households to guarantee the loans; if they had previous loans, they would have to repay the credit
Good loans can be made without guarantees. As Yang Qiaoran said, with the strength of Daming Bank as a state-owned bank, not to mention 400,000 taels, even one million taels is a piece of cake.
However, this is not the case. Although the governments of various counties in northern Shaanxi actively organize wealthy households in Jiaxiangfang to guarantee loans for poor households, there are very few wealthy households willing to provide guarantees for their neighbors. This is also human nature.
, guaranteeing for others, there is no benefit to oneself. If the neighbor cannot repay the loan, he has to pay off the debt for others. Not many wealthy households are willing to be such guarantors. Although the government has tried its best, such as building merit memorials for these guarantors.
, paraded with praises, praised generously, etc., there are still very few people willing to be guarantors.
The disaster is still continuing, but the loans provided by Daming Bank to the victims are only one hundred thousand taels. On the one hand, large sums of money are piled up in the bank and it is difficult to lend; on the other hand, a large number of victims cannot get loans, making it difficult to prepare for next spring's plowing.
With seeds and farm tools, they can only make ends meet by relying on the government's work-for-work relief.
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"Cheng Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi Province, would like to write this memorial to bestow honors on scholars and promote the New Changping Dharma:
Your Majesty serves the Heavenly Emperor, controls all directions, intimidates the barbarians with force, and controls all peoples with benevolence. All the nine provinces and seas are blessed by the Emperor's grace. All the people of China are happy and inspired by the presence of the Holy Emperor.
A big country has no borders, and there has never been anyone in the past who has a territory as vast as our Ming Dynasty. However, its territory is vast, and disasters will inevitably happen in one corner. Your Majesty is kind and issued the "New Changping Law" to relieve the people's poverty. Rich households are used as guarantees for poor households to provide loans;
If you meet an honest and trustworthy poor household, you can lend him a loan without any guarantee. This sincere approach to helping the poor is a perfect and perfect method. If it can be promoted, it will surely spread throughout the world.
However, there has been a severe drought in northern Shaanxi recently, and I have popularized this method in all counties. There are very few wealthy households in Lijia and Xiangfang who are willing to be a guarantor. They act as guarantors for others, and there is no personal benefit to themselves. In case of death, the loan will be repaid.
We all have selfish obligations and seek benefits while avoiding harm. I tried to build merit arches for patrons and praise horses and parade them through the streets to show my righteous deeds and set an example for the world, but the effect was very little. So far, I have only loaned out one hundred thousand taels.
Today, the victims of the disaster in northern Shaanxi are short of food and clothing. To survive the famine, they still need 300,000 taels.
Why is it difficult to apply good laws? The benefits are small. I believe that if you want the New Normal Law to benefit the world, you must first make the rich happy to act as guarantors; if you want the rich to be happy to act as guarantors, you must first make them enjoy the benefits.
Benefit. The highest and most important benefit in the world is the word "fame". If a clear decree can be issued to guarantor more than ten thousand people, and one of his sons is a scholar, then there will be more people willing to guarantor.
River crucian carp.
Although there are many rich families in the world, only a few can obtain fame and fame. How difficult is it to pass the imperial examination! Nowadays, one can obtain the title of scholar without going through the imperial examination. The prosperity of the world is all for profit; the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit. If
So, why worry that no one is willing to guarantee it, and why worry that the new normal law will be difficult to implement? I’ll just say it briefly, and I’ll ask the Holy Judge.”
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In the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing, Zhu Hengjia was stunned when he saw the sparse sign on Cheng Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi Province.
In this era, he naturally knows the benefits of being a scholar. Even though it is just a junior academic title, it is not that easy to pass. If you become a scholar, you are qualified to find a room to educate primary school students; above the court, you can
Call yourself a student, but don’t bow to officials?? In short, there are many benefits.
However, is it too casual to allow a child to obtain the title of scholar just because he or she has pledged more than 10,000 taels of silver in a calamity year? Does it not take the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty seriously?
If he was undecided, he asked the elders to come up with a suggestion after discussion.
As a result, the opinions of the cabinet elders were not unanimous. Su Guansheng, Yu Chaoxiang, Zhang Huangyan, and Guo Zhiqi firmly opposed it, believing that this move affected the seriousness of the imperial examination, was insulting to civility, and was absolutely impossible; Sun Jinding, Zheng Feng, and Tang Zhen believed that this move would
In disaster years, we can quickly provide loans to the victims, so that the New Normal Law can benefit the world. There is no greater good! It can be done.
Finally, the advice given by the cabinet is: Our opinions are not unified, please make your own decision, Your Majesty.
What! Let me, Qiankun, make arbitrary decisions? If I, Qiankun, make arbitrary decisions, why should I ask for your opinions?
After seeing the advice given by the cabinet, Zhu Hengjia was so angry that his white beard floated upward. After all, Qiankun had the final say. He was a pragmatic monarch and wrote: "In disaster years, more than 10,000 yuan have been provided for the poor.
I am sure that the two families will confer the title of scholar to one of their children. However, it is only limited to the areas that were affected by the disaster that year, and the areas that were not affected by the disaster are not included in this case."
