Chapter 99

People have to bow when they are under someone else's roof. How could you expect to live in Fuyang without working, when you had to earn your living by labor back home? Are you here to escape disaster or to go on vacation?

The refugees were organized by the officials to disembark and board the dock. A fence had already been set up on the dock, allowing only ten families to pass at a time, and they had to guarantee each other.

This would be unimaginable in modern times, as it would immediately lead to chaos. However, the people of the Ming Dynasty were already organized into groups of ten households, so no temporary arrangements were needed.

The ten families who were allowed to pass through the fence registered at a row of desks. Behind the desks sat a group of clerks from the household department, who meticulously recorded the native place, neighborhood, household status, names, ages, population, and health conditions of each family... Then they had them sign a mutual guarantee document.

By signing this document, if anyone committed a crime, all ten families would be held responsible... Otherwise, how could Magistrate Wei be reassured to let 30,000 outsiders flood into the county?

After registering and signing, the refugees were led to the next fence. Behind them, another ten families began to register...

After passing through the second fence, a clerk asked the refugees what kind of housing they wanted.

The refugees were stunned. What kind of housing?

"Three levels. The top level is a single-family house, costing one string of coins per month. The middle level is a shared courtyard for two families, costing 200 coins per month. The bottom level is a shared courtyard for four families, costing 100 coins per month," the clerk said.

"What? Do we have to pay for accommodation?" the refugees asked, wide-eyed.

"When has accommodation ever been free?" the clerk's eyes widened even more: "The houses you will live in are the result of the greatest efforts of the people of Fuyang. How could they be free!"

"Cough, cough." A young man in a blue robe and a clerk's cap coughed twice: "If you don't have money, you can still live..." The refugees hadn't even had time to be happy when he added: "We will keep a record, and you can pay the rent with labor later."

"Scared," the refugees said unhappily: "Why does everything cost money? We've never heard of charging for disaster relief."

"In other counties, they set up shacks. We have also set up shacks by the river," the clerk, who was Wang Xian, said with a straight face: "If you don't want to live in houses, you can go to the shacks, which are also free."

Despite their reluctance, the refugees had already come this far, and the rent was indeed cheap, and they could pay later, so all ten families chose to pay for housing.

Thus, the clerks gave each family a bamboo tag. The front had the name of the household head, and the back had the information about the rented house. They instructed: "You are assigned to the 13th neighborhood. After you leave this gate, the neighborhood head will be outside. You will meet him with your tag, and he will arrange the rest. He will also be responsible for you during your stay in Fuyang County."

As one group went out, the next group came in, and this cycle seemed endless...

Wang Xian watched for a while, then looked up at the sixteen large characters on the archway, rubbing his temples in frustration. This was truly a case of the superiors giving orders and the subordinates running around... Not just running around, but exhausting themselves and racking their brains!

To complete the disaster relief for 30,000 people with the resources of one county, while ensuring the life of the local residents, was a daunting and complex task. Wang Xian had to complete the entire plan, set the details, and supervise on-site... To put it bluntly, Magistrate Wei was only responsible for two tasks—showing up and giving orders. The most brain-racking planning and the most troublesome specific execution were all Wang Xian's responsibilities.

If not for a highly efficient team, even with Wang Xian's professional skills, he could not have handled this. Fortunately, the household department, after his training, had greatly improved in efficiency, allowing him to focus on the big picture without being bogged down by specific tasks.

Now, in Fuyang County, the deputy magistrate, the three officials, and the four elders were responsible for the specific tasks, while Magistrate Wei held all the power but followed Wang Xian's advice. In disaster relief, he even gave Wang Xian full authority to plan, while he himself followed orders. Therefore, the chief clerk and others sarcastically said that now in Fuyang County, there was a seated clay statue of a magistrate and a standing blue-robed magistrate...

Mr. Sima also mentioned this to Magistrate Wei, but he was not concerned. He said that Emperor Gaozu of Han was not as good at governing as Xiao He, not as good at strategy as Han Xin, and not as good at leading troops as Han Xin, yet they were all his subordinates. Why? Because Liu Bang could recognize and control people.

Of course, there was a deeper reason: the gap in status between the two was too large, and Magistrate Wei was not worried about his authority being taken by Wang Xian.

In fact, if possible, Wang Xian did not want to be so conspicuous, but in such extraordinary times, disaster relief was the top priority. One mistake could lead to chaos, and he could not afford to hide his abilities.

What Wang Xian was most worried about before was whether the refugees would accept 'work-for-relief' and 'work-for-rent,' and whether it would cause any trouble. Only now, seeing that most people had calmly accepted the arrangements, did he feel relieved.

No matter how clever his plan was, it had to be accepted first. Fortunately, the people of this era were still quite simple, and as refugees, they were especially cautious. As long as the government's arrangements were not too excessive, they would accept them.

As for why the people of Fuyang were so cooperative, besides Wang Xian's relatively reasonable arrangements, Magistrate Wei announced that any family that provided housing for refugees without any problems would be exempt from the annual tax. However, this was not enough. Such a large-scale action involving almost every household could not be achieved without the support of the large landowners.

Magistrate Wei obtained the support of the large landowners in Fuyang by promising not to revise the yellow register...

Magistrate Wei was very distressed by this, but he also knew that without this exchange, those cunning large landowners would not cooperate.

"Not revising the yellow register, so be it. As long as the disaster relief is done beautifully, my reputation will be sufficient," Sima consoled him: "Revising the yellow register was a risky business. Even if it was completed, I would not be able to leave unscathed."

"I know, fish and bear's paw cannot be obtained at the same time. I chose the bear's paw," Magistrate Wei sighed, "But to revise the yellow register, I and Zhongde spent all our efforts last year..."

"Teacher, no problem," Wang Xian smiled: "Without the fish caught last year, how could we get the bear's paw?"

"True." Magistrate Wei smiled: "Do you feel relieved that you don't have to revise the yellow register?"

"You know me, teacher." Wang Xian smiled sheepishly: "I don't want to offend the local people and have no place to stand in Fuyang."

"Ah, a hypocrite, a thief of virtue, indeed." Magistrate Wei shook his head and moved on: "We must do a good job in disaster relief, or I will lose both my wife and my soldiers!"

"Yes." Wang Xian responded solemnly.

.

With the support of the gentry and large landowners, Wang Xian could command the towns and villages of Fuyang County. Besides ordering each neighborhood to clear houses within a deadline, he also ordered the neighborhood heads and leaders to take care of the refugees, restrain the troublemakers, and strictly prohibit harassment and extortion of the refugees. Any violation would be punished as 'disrupting disaster relief,' and the violators would be sent to jail, where they would either die or be severely beaten...

Why do county officials most dislike receiving refugees? Because these outsiders would compete with the locals for food. Even if they did not need government rations, they would still raise local food prices and squeeze the locals' livelihoods. Therefore, the counties viewed refugees as a burden and a nuisance, and naturally resisted them.

Wang Xian did not see it this way. He knew that people were the most valuable resource. The refugees had only lost their homes, not their labor. If not for the tsunami, how could Fuyang County obtain so many cheap laborers?

By mobilizing these laborers, how could they still be a burden? And as long as they were properly arranged, they would not squeeze the locals' livelihoods but would greatly promote Fuyang's development.

Wang Xian, with his soul from six hundred years in the future, was very familiar with this: large-scale construction!

When Magistrate Wei was worried that the 30,000 refugees would cause trouble if they had nothing to do, Wang Xian suggested: "Teacher, you have always been worried that our county has too little land, making us too dependent on external grain. Now that we have so many cheap laborers, why not take the opportunity to build terraced fields?"

Magistrate Wei's eyes lit up at this suggestion. What a good idea!

The court's evaluation of officials focused on population and land. If the population could not be increased, clearing wasteland was also excellent. Moreover, the cleared land would be government land, which the court would be very pleased with!

Fuyang was a special place, with eight parts mountains, half a part water, and half a part fields. The suitable land for farming was only 15% of the county's area, and it was further reduced by residential areas, leaving only about 10% for farming. To expand farmland, terraced fields were the only option...

Fuyang was not short of hills. Looking around, the hills were covered with terraced fields, but most of them were tea gardens.

Initially, growing tea was more profitable than farming, but as everyone started growing tea, the price of tea gradually decreased, while the price of grain gradually increased. Now, the difference between growing tea and growing grain was not so great. Moreover, from the perspective of the county government, relying on 80% of the grain from purchases was not dignified. If the county could increase its farmland and improve its grain production, it would be excellent.

"Good, you set the rules. Except for the elderly, sick, and young children, let the refugees build terraced fields as work-for-relief!" Magistrate Wei rubbed his hands excitedly: "This method is excellent, a four-in-one solution! It gives the refugees something to do, prevents trouble, increases the county's official land income, and alleviates our dependence on external grain. Moreover, it provides a basis for distributing disaster relief grain!"

"I have already discussed this with the engineering department. They will find experienced farmers to guide the construction. Please, teacher, personally take charge of the project and the distribution of disaster relief grain!" Wang Xian said solemnly.

"Oh?" Magistrate Wei was surprised, then understood and laughed: "Good, I will personally go to build the terraced fields and leave a 'Wei Yuan Field' for the people of Fuyang!"