Xue Jiazi

At the gate of the Yangzhou prefect’s yamen, Xue Xun stopped at the door with a full twenty carts of things, saluted the Yangzhou prefect who was walking out quickly, and said loudly:

"My lord, student (Master Xue has the fame of being a child! Fortunately, he can barely be called a student, so it's not so shabby.) Xue Xun, the head of the Xue family of the imperial merchant, the student heard that the people along the coast were hit by a typhoon, and their families were destroyed. Not a few, there are still many salt households who can’t even produce salt. It is very difficult. The court and adults are busy with disaster relief. The Xue family dare not compete with Yangzhou salt merchants for wealth, but they also want to serve the court Put in more heart and do more for the people, so I brought these."

While speaking, with a wave of his hand, the servants of the Xue family behind opened all these cars, revealing the contents inside. The magistrate of Yangzhou, the officials of the government office, and the surrounding people can clearly see that this car Inside are some bedding, bedding, clothes, seeing that they are not very valuable things, everyone is a little surprised, don't understand what they are doing, disaster relief?Didn't they all pay out money before?Why didn't it come from ten carts of silver?Well, they seem to be thinking that it is too beautiful, ten carts of silver, the treasury does not have so much!

"What are you?"

The magistrate speaks first, he is the highest official, so naturally he speaks first, this is still very particular in the officialdom.Of course, this also means that other people have not yet reacted.

"My lord, disaster relief is like fighting a fire. The students thought that if they donated money, they would have to send people to purchase and sew it. It would be very troublesome, so they simply packed away the unused bedding and clothes they didn't wear at home. I brought all the things that the common people could use, which saved the time of the adults, so it was better to get them into the hands of the victims earlier, yes, by the way, there is also a grocery store in the Xue family, and the students have already asked people to go to it. We raised pots, pans, and other things that ordinary people need, and they will be delivered when the time comes, but the bricks and tiles for building houses, students have no place to prepare for a while, so please forgive me."

In this way, everyone understands that this is a donation in kind for the victims of the disaster!Although it doesn't seem very eye-catching, what Xue Xun said really saved a lot of time, and the consideration was indeed very thoughtful, even what they didn't think of before, ordinary disaster relief, whether it is the government office or not, Or the common people, most of them think about how to give porridge, how to donate money, or at most prepare some medicinal materials to avoid epidemics after the catastrophe, and indeed neglect the matter of rebuilding their homes for the victims.

Lin Ruhai, the magistrate of Yangzhou, said before that although he is a little pedantic, he is a good official. He is not very compassionate, but he is still responsible. Speaking of which, such an official is definitely a very good official in the overall environment. Yes, this is why he was sent by the emperor to such a key place as Yangzhou to be the magistrate.

Such a magistrate who belongs to a good official, was immediately moved when he saw Xue Xun's hand, and his feeling for the Xue family also improved in his heart, although he faintly felt that the Xue family did not directly donate money. It's for fear of being embezzled, or maybe it's a possibility of acting, but at any rate, they really took action, didn't they!

"Okay, okay, the Xue family is worthy of Ziwei's family, caring for the people, and a kind family style. I thank the Xue family on behalf of the people."

As soon as he said that, he waved his hand, and the master behind him immediately looked for the documents and started to register the things on the car. The master also wondered if the Xue family did this to save more for the Xue family. reputation?Somehow, they have produced something, so why don't we cooperate with it!No matter how you say it, the Xue family is one of the four major families in Jinling, and they are still powerful families, and it is not easy for them to fight against them, so what should have been pulled in first and waited for the record was instead waiting for the record at the door, and the people outside are getting more and more surrounded The magistrate looked at it, turned his mind, and immediately felt that this was a good opportunity to create a new high for his official voice, and he also climbed up the pole, and immediately said to the people around him:

"Fathers and folks, the people along the coast are suffering from a disaster. I have already reported to the imperial court. I think there will be an order for disaster relief in the near future, but there is no need to delay the disaster relief. Today, the royal merchant Xue's family can save lives for the victims. I think the elders will do the same With good thoughts in mind, if you have extra clothes and bedding in your home, please support them, so that the victims can get rid of the embarrassment of not covering their bodies and sleeping at night."

After speaking, he deliberately bowed to the surrounding people in a cautious manner, and his posture was very good. Even Xue Xun, who knew that the magistrate had no preparations, had to admit that the magistrate looked very worried. The appearance of worrying about the people is definitely an example of a good official.I can't help being a little startled by the ability to change faces in the officialdom. Seeing them like this, I can't help worrying. If my son really becomes an official that day, will he really be better than them? Will he be bullied by these people? .

And the people on the other side looked a little moved, good official!What a good official!The disaster relief order from above did not come down, so the magistrate knew that he would think more about the victims first. With such a magistrate, the people of Yangzhou would definitely be blessed. If there was a catastrophe in their own family that day, they would probably be able to get such relief!

The common people are very simple, and they are easy to be moved. In this way, the high-ranking lords bowed to them on weekdays, which immediately warmed their hearts. They knelt down in a hurry to return the salute, and replied loudly:

"My lord has broken the grassroots."

"My lord, there are old clothes in Cao Min's house that I don't wear, so I'll bring them here."

"Yes, my family also has a lot of quilts. It was originally for my kid's wedding, so I used it for disaster relief first."

"My lord, there are two iron pots in Caomin's house. I'll bring one here. You can send it to the victims. They must cook!"

"Oh, speaking of which, I have an extra kitchen knife! They always need it, so I'll get it."

. . . . . .

More and more people started to turn around and go home to get things. These are ordinary people. Even if they really have the heart, they can't produce many things. It's just one or two things, and it's just one or two things like this. , for them, they did their best.

At this time, people from other shops in the surrounding area heard the news here, and rushed over, saying that the shopkeeper, the owner, etc., such people are incomparable with those ordinary people, they have more money, but they are also more suspicious Heavy, I'm afraid the government is turning a corner to toss them, but when they saw that there are some real objects at the gate of the magistrate's yamen, most of their suspicions have disappeared. If the magistrate's yamen is for money, there will be such things there!It seems that it is really for the victims of the disaster. They are still willing to contribute to the disaster relief. At the beginning of human beings, they are inherently good. Everyone has compassion and is willing to lend a helping hand to the weak.

"Go, bring in the extra tiles and tiles from the last expansion of our house in the backyard. It's useless for us to pile up those extra ones. They can be given to the Yamen, and they can also rebuild houses for the victims. It's going to be cold, if we don't build it, how will the victims live their lives!"

A middle-aged man in navy blue silk gave instructions to the chief attendant beside him, with an imperceptible aloofness in his brows and eyes as he spoke. In his eyes, he was giving charity and he had a kind heart.

Another middle-aged man who was similar to him at the side glanced at him, turned his head and said loudly to the people around him, without cutting his face.

"If you don't do it, if you want to do it, you have to do it right. Since it's for the victims, then we can't be stingy, and use those things that are not high or low to deal with people. Go home and tell your wife to let her stay at home. Clean up, bring over those beddings and clothes that are not needed, it doesn’t need to be too good, the common people can’t wear silk, just fine cloth, and let the family bring another fifty stone rice Come here, eating is also a big deal for the victims. Although there is food in the official warehouses of the magistrate’s yamen, who knows how many people are enough to eat, let’s do our part. Come here, building a house is impossible without wood."

This series of instructions, seeing that there were no less than twenty cars, and hearing the people around him all looking at him with admiration, he immediately felt complacent, and then looked at the way his old opponent was smoking from his seven orifices, Satisfied, I added one last sentence:

"Using the leftover bricks and tiles, it would be nice to build half a house. It would be a shame to transport them here! Hey, what a shame."

After speaking, he flicked his sleeves and walked back. The eyes of the middle-aged man in navy blue clothes were red, and his teeth were gritted. After waiting for the man to leave, he couldn't hold it anymore, and shouted said:

"Go, what are you doing standing there stupidly? Hurry up and go to the kiln factory and order something for me. There are 20 bricks and 5 yuan of tiles. I have to build a row of houses anyway. Who dares to say that I am ashamed of myself?"

Because the salt merchants in Yangzhou fight for wealth from time to time, the merchants in the whole Yangzhou now have such a habit more or less, that is, they cannot let their peers compare with each other. The two of them just now are the masters of the silk and satin factory. Neither the Xue family nor Lin Ruhai used any means. They fought against themselves. If Lin Ruhai knew this, he might just fall asleep and wake up laughing immediately.

Sure enough, these two things have not been shipped yet, and the news has already spread. In addition to salt merchants, there are many other major merchants in Yangzhou. Who made Yangzhou rich!So in rich places, there are more rich people in this big merchant, and when there are more rich people, there will naturally be more factions. , so as not to let people say that I am rich and unkind, but I can’t stand it, someone will add fuel to the fire, it’s just a day’s work, and almost every rich household has started to get angry, one by one. It is the magistrate's yamen, even Lin Ruhai's Yandao yamen, and many people have sent disaster relief lists, because they don't send money directly, and there are countless scattered cars. What's more terrible is that this thing looks No money!Those who received it were happy, but those who took it out were also happy!Do you think it's strange.

Come, come, let's do the math!Let's just say that turning around, 50 taels can buy 25 yuan, look at it!If you really want to count money, it is really not much, one brick is too little?They can be ignored. In this way, these wealthy households don’t feel distressed about spending money, do they? They only think about this cheap thing, and it’s really embarrassing to give it away!Look, how many cars!Just looking at it is for ostentation, for the sake of ostentation and long face, naturally the more the better, it's worthless anyway!But they forgot that what they sent was not only bricks, but also other things, such as tiles, 5 yuan tiles, wood, clothes, fabrics, and bedding. None of them are worth much, but if the quantity is added together, it will be different immediately after such an increase. In fact, it is really not such a small number. As for the two wealthy households at the beginning, if you really want to calculate it, one of them will at least pay One 200 taels of silver.

If the yamen had asked them to spend money for disaster relief, they probably wouldn’t pay such money even if they were beaten to death. If they could pay 50 taels, they would probably feel that they had spent a lot of money, and it would take them a long time to go home. !But now!None of them took it seriously!I just feel that there is a long line of cars going out from my house, and there are two more cars than the one next door, so I have a long face!Compared with others.

Lin Ruhai looked at the continuous disaster relief things, and smiled!Although it is estimated that his salt tax is enough for this catastrophe, but look, I am not satisfied with this disaster relief. Not to mention anything else, let’s talk about the house. According to the current quantity of these materials, those salt households I'm afraid that I will enter a well-off society decades in advance, and I can be directly promoted from a thatched shack to a brick house!How much this can improve the happiness of these salt households!

Well, Lin Ruhai actually doesn’t know the word for happiness, but he just understands how unbelievable it is for Yanhu to live in such a house if the house is built, and it will make them feel happy. How much enthusiasm can be added to future work, and how much disaster can be avoided in the future.

This kind of material delivery activity went on for three consecutive days, and the magistrate came to Lin Ruhai.

"Master Lin, this time we have solved a lot of problems at once! We don't need to wait for the news from the imperial court, we can send these things directly to the victims, and we can get the relief work done as quickly as possible. My son has been arranged, which is definitely a good thing, but I always feel as if something has been missed, and I can't figure it out. I'm not here to ask you, I want to hear if you have any ideas here? "

This is definitely the first time that someone sent supplies on the pole. This is definitely the first time that the prefect met him. His mind was a little messed up. He felt that he was a little bit lost. Then he came to discuss with Lin Ruhai who also accepted the supplies. Lin Ruhai naturally knew it was What's going on, he had discussed it with his staff for a long time, so he naturally understood what to do next, so he said immediately:

"Speaking of which, this is the first time I have encountered such a thing, and it is the credit of the lord Mushou. He educated the people to be so simple and kind, and he was able to support one party in trouble. The merit of education is beyond hope. And ah!"

The high hat was put on with a bang, and the prefect was very satisfied when he heard that he had made great contributions to enlightenment, thinking in his heart, it really is his own credit!I used the words of the sage to influence the people, and this made the people have such a consciousness!

Thinking of this, the smile on his face became even wider. Seeing this, Lin Ruhai immediately continued:

"Such a grand occasion, we should let the saint know. It will be the saint's birthday in a short time. Such a kind deed, such a people, let the saint know, I am afraid that it will make the saint more happy than any birthday gift! This is What a grand occasion only in the prosperous age!"

Another hat, obviously to let the magistrate report to the superior first, no matter whether it is a letter from the superior or not, anyway, it is to let the magistrate be the first bird, which is about to set up the magistrate, but the magistrate is not convinced when he hears it. Feeling very reasonable, he nodded hurriedly, and said in agreement:

"That's true. How can we keep the saint from knowing about such a major event. But one thing, Mr. Lin, we have collected a lot of these things. Should we start sending them to the disaster-stricken places? Otherwise, if this delay continues, don't wait until then It’s okay when the time comes, but it’s too late to build a house.”

He is indeed a good official!Immediately thinking of this, Lin Ruhai felt a little embarrassed that he had calculated himself. Fortunately, it was not a bad thing, but he was afraid that his management of salt would make people talk about people's livelihood, but since the magistrate If he brought it up, he would naturally have to remind him of some things, otherwise he would be really embarrassed.

"Well, the most important thing is to send the clothes and food first. As for the building of the house, you can also invite the victims to start digging the foundation and move first. It's just that we should talk to the Holy Majesty about this. After all, what everyone donated this time is bricks and tiles. If it is built, the houses of the victims in the future will probably be better than those of the farmers outside our city. What's going on, we won't be able to tell when the time comes."

Having said that, he added something in his heart, especially Yanhu.Why do you say that!Because Shiodo is bitter!Survival is difficult, the death rate is high, and almost no one can live to forty or fifty, so no one does it. In the end, the imperial court directly issued an order to send those fugitives who were caught or the prisoners assigned by the government to cook salt. These people have been used as salt households for generations without amnesty.

Since they all came here as prisoners, even if they are no longer prisoners, after all they are prisoners, what can such a person live in?What can I eat?No matter what dynasty or generation it is, Yanhu is an inferior existence, and it is the most miserable and poorest existence among all people. If one day suddenly this Yanhu lives better than ordinary people, it will be surprising and easy. Is it thought-provoking!

Speaking of those disaster victims, those who can live by the sea are usually fishermen. Speaking of which, the fishermen by the sea are also the poorest group of people among the common people. He is a wealthy household among the fishermen, and all of them have been tossed into a brick and tile house now, and it is easy to cause others to hate the rich, isn't it!

When Lin Ruhai said this, the magistrate was not stupid, he immediately thought of it, and his brows frowned all of a sudden, thinking that it was really a big deal!

"It's really careless. I just paid attention to collecting things, but I ignored it. How good is this? It's not good to use all these things. If we don't use them, wouldn't we have failed the kindness of the people!"

"So, I thought, no matter what we say, let's explain it to the Holy Majesty first. As for building a house, it will take some time to lay the foundation anyway. Let's do it first and then talk about it. Listen to the higher-ups. It really won't work. What does the higher-ups mean? None, let’s just do it like this, each family will only give them a part of the bricks and tiles, and then draw a bigger house site for each house, we don’t care how they build it, so that, with the nature of these poor people taking advantage, I’m afraid it’s for the sake of being able to If you build a house on the homestead, you will sell the bricks and tiles, and replace them with more soil, and build a few more houses. Wouldn’t it be less conspicuous in this way?”

I have to say that Lin Ruhai's method is indeed feasible. The land in such places as the mountains and the sea is actually the least valuable. It is not a problem to allocate more homesteads for each family!But bricks and tiles!Even if you collect so much, after careful calculation, it is estimated that one or two houses are enough for a family, and it is not enough to build a big one. So in the end, the people got the bricks and tiles, and they were reluctant to sell them for the soil. It doesn't matter to the government, anyway, all the things they received were given out for disaster relief, right?

After listening to Lin Ruhai's suggestion, the magistrate immediately narrowed his eyes. He suddenly understood. I'm afraid that Lin Ruhai has been thinking about it for a day or two. If so, he thought about it carefully. Just Yiliang, why does he feel that this place seems to be full of Lin Ruhai's schemes?But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't think of what kind of idea Lin Ruhai was playing. No matter how he looked at it, he was taking advantage of himself, and it seemed that it had nothing to do with him!So what is he for?

Forget it, don’t care, anyway, in this matter, no matter whether it’s me, Lin Ruhai, or the disaster victims, it’s all income, that’s all right, don’t worry about it, and partnering with Lin Ruhai is not the same. It's been a day or two, and this person is not someone who likes to dig holes for others. This is still believable. Maybe there is something about their salt road?Well, it's not easy for me to intervene, so just pretend I don't know!

Thinking of this, the magistrate immediately said with a smile:

"Okay, let's do it like this. In this way, the two of us will jointly write a note on this big event. After all, it is aimed at the victims of the disaster on both sides. It's not easy to leave you behind."

Although he didn't know what Lin Ruhai was plotting, and he didn't want to worry too much about it, but at the critical moment, the magistrate still directly pulled Lin Ruhai together. As long as the book was jointly signed by two people, he was not afraid of being tricked by Lin Ruhai!These days, no one who can be an official is a fool!

"Okay, this is a sea of ​​praise from adults. I am a salt road, and I am a joint name with your government, hahaha, I took advantage of it. By the way, this time, these people who send disaster relief supplies and so on, we are Shouldn’t it be mentioned, anyway, it’s their kindness.”

Lin Ruhai could also see that the magistrate was on guard against him, and he didn't care, as long as he wasn't suspected of meddling in the people's livelihood, it would be fine to have a joint name or something. What good is it not!

"Well, it should be, especially the Xue family who initiated it first. This must be said. If it weren't for them, there would not be so many people enthusiastically. By the way, I heard that the son of the Jia family who lives in your house , There are a lot of things coming out this time, so we should write it, but it’s not easy to have such a heart as a guest and a child!”

Everyone carried the sedan chair, since Lin Ruhai agreed to join him in the joint name, it meant that he was not counted against him here, so he should give him some benefits. If he had known that the young master of the Jia family was with him!Too much to send something to the Yamen, it's not good to pretend that you can't see it, so just mention a few words.

As expected, everyone is happy!Both the magistrate and Lin Ruhai were very satisfied with such a proposal. They cheerfully ended their bilateral talks, wrote down notes, and hurried to the capital.