I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 375 Relief for Work
"Come on!"

Yang Lian led the important officials of Liaodong Dusi and stood on the high ground of the official road from Liaoyang to Shenyang. He looked down at the civilian workers below with picks, hoes, etc., busy renovating this important road. The farmers and workers shouted the labor call. Yang Lian felt very pleased that he looked very energetic and energetic.

"Relief for work is effective. In about two months, the road to Shenyang will be almost repaired, and it will be easier to pass in winter."

Yang Lian looked at the road that was being paved little by little, and stepped on it a few times. It felt very hard, and then he felt relieved.

Severe droughts not only occurred in Jianlu, but also in Liaodong. Coupled with the refugees who went south after the fall of Kaiyuan and Tieling, and the immigrants who migrated from Shandong, the pressure on the capital of Liaodong increased sharply.

Therefore, in order to alleviate the predicament, Yang Lian specifically petitioned the emperor in May to allocate funds for disaster relief.Zhu Youxiao was also very generous, thinking that Liaodong must be stabilized at this time, so he generously allocated 50 taels to Yang Lian to provide disaster relief in Liaodong. However, it should not only be food, but also work-for-relief.

After Yang Lian heard the imperial edict, he discussed with Xiong Tingbi and hired victims to dredge rivers in Liaoze in the name of disaster relief. At the same time, he would improve the main transportation roads from Liaoyang to Shenyang, Guangning, and Gaizhouwei.

Moreover, Yang Lian knew that this matter was of great importance, and was afraid that his subordinates would enrich themselves, so he patrolled around non-stop, fearing that corruption and omissions would be repeated in the disaster year.

Fortunately, as a result of his shock during his last inspection, the officials responsible for providing work-for-relief did not dare to be blatantly corrupt, and there were still basic guarantees for the refugees.

"How many meals does each person have per day?"

Yang Lian walked to the porridge shop on the construction site, then picked up a spoon and scooped up a spoonful of rice soup from the large cooking pot, stirred it again to test the consistency, and carefully inspected the pot.

When the supervisor who was following him heard this, he immediately looked at a wrinkled old chef in a kitchen robe in the porridge shop and motioned for him to reply quickly.

The old master had never seen an official like Yang Lian before, nor had he been surrounded by people to ask questions. He was also very frightened. When he saw his questioning, he could only stammer:
"Excuse me... Shangguan, here we have three meals a day, each of which consists of porridge, vegetable soup and steamed buns. Meat can only be provided once every half month. This is all stipulated by the above, and we don't dare to change it, let alone be greedy privately."

Upon seeing this, Yang Lian directly picked up the spoon and tasted a few mouthfuls, nodding silently. He was somewhat satisfied with the consistency in this year of disaster.

"That's good. The daily food is the life of the people, so we must not cut corners."

In fact, Yang Lian was not very satisfied with this meal. When he was working in Jiangnan, he had supervised the construction of embankments and dams and recruited migrant workers.At that time, the standard was to eat one meal of meat every five days, served with white flour steamed buns.

However, Liaodong is poor. Although the imperial court has introduced many cheap and preferential policies for this purpose, it has already used sea transportation to transport grain to Liaodong, and the transportation of grain to Liaodong is exempted from tariffs, allowing many merchants to voluntarily transport grain to Liaodong for sale. It has only been two months. , the price of rice in Liaodong has been as low as four taels of silver and one stone, nearly [-]% less than at the beginning of the year.

But even this is far from enough. Some are still as expensive as gold. If you supply the military, you have to grit your teeth. If you supply the refugees, the quality can only be lowered, and the food can only reach this level.

"Sir, please rest assured. In the past, people had a difficult life and had to travel all over the place just for such a mouthful of food. Now the court not only takes care of food but also pays wages. It is such a good thing that you have to work hard to do it, so you are motivated to work every day."

Yang Lian laughed when he heard this, then put down the spoon, gave the chef a few instructions, left the porridge shed, and walked straight towards the civilian husband's station.

It was now noon. As soon as Yang Lian came out of the porridge shop, he saw dozens of rows of people waiting in line to get rice. In the open space beside them, people were sitting on the ground in twos and threes, wolfing down their meals.

"It's a good thing that you're here, Lord Governor. In normal times, we don't have to squeeze in to grab a meal, lest it be too late."

The supervisor behind him saw Yang Lian looking at the people in line and immediately complimented Yang Lian.

Yang Lian didn't bother to pay attention to him, and walked straight to the open space aside. Seeing a group of high-ranking officials coming towards them, the civilians there quickly put down their bowls and chopsticks and stood up timidly, intending to salute.

"Get up, don't be restrained. I have something to ask you, don't be afraid, but you must report it truthfully."

Several peasants in front of Yang Lian looked at each other in shock when they heard this. They looked at each other and dared not speak. Then an old peasant who looked to be in his 50s stood up and replied:
"Please also ask the official, the common people will tell you everything they know."

When Yang Lian saw that the old man in front of him was a little timid, he looked at him with a gentle expression and said:
"Where are you from and how many people are there in your family?"

When the old man heard that the high-ranking official in front of him actually asked him this question, he thought it was not difficult and calmed down a little. He bowed and replied:

"Master Qi, I was originally from Kaiyuan. Kaiyuan fell the year before last. When I heard that the Jianlu invaders entered the city, they slaughtered them wantonly, so I took my wife and children to Shenyang and Liaoyang to seek refuge with relatives. My old woman and my daughter died last year. Only my two sons and I are left, and we have some kind of care, so we can barely make ends meet by doing odd jobs on weekdays."

Yang Lian's expression darkened when he heard this. He knew that most of the people who could be here had taken refuge from Kaiyuan and Tieling. After all, not everyone was willing to join Jianlu as a slave.

"It's not that easy to live in Liaoyang. Why don't you think of seeking a living outside the customs? The imperial court is currently working on farmland in southern Liaoning. If you go there, you can resettle the land, which would be great."

When the old man heard this, he sighed and said:

"I am a small old man. My ancestors have lived here for generations. The farthest I have been is Liaoyang. I really don’t want to go anywhere else. It’s hard to leave my hometown. But my eldest son wants to go out and go to Gaizhou Wei earlier this year." , I just don’t know how I am doing now. Now that I have my youngest son with me, I have someone to take care of me. He is very satisfied. Now I just want to work hard and save some money to marry him a wife. It would be better ."

As the old man spoke, he looked at a young man in his 20s behind him, and everyone laughed when they heard this.

"Let's wait for a few years. When the imperial court regains Kaiyuan, you will be allowed to return to your homeland. But now, how much do you earn working here to cover your expenses?" As soon as these words came out, everyone behind Yang Lian Their expressions were different, they were afraid that this man was talking nonsense, but they could not do anything with the governor here, they could only secretly pray to this old man not to talk nonsense.

The old man also knew that he must not say this nonsense. If he said it wrong, he would look good after the official left.

But he didn't know what appropriate figure to report, so he could only quietly report it based on his own wages.

"I don't dare to deceive a big official. Now I work for a month and my wages are two denarii. It's not much, but it's not much. I still have to take care of the food. I'm very satisfied."

When Yang Lian's face changed suddenly, he immediately turned back to look at the supervisor behind him. Everyone behind him was stunned when he heard the words, and then secretly screamed. Now seeing Yang Lian's questioning and sharp eyes, they immediately knelt down and begged for mercy with a pale face.

"The governor is unjust. The cost of road construction is too great, and free food is provided. Three meals a day. So many people can't support it. Two coins a month is already a lot of money."

At this time, the civilian husband who was still preparing and eating was stunned for a moment when he heard this, with a puzzled look on his face. Two coins a month?Isn't it one and a half cents?

Yang Lian, who had no idea at all, listened to their explanations silently, feeling very angry in his heart.

According to the arrangements of Liaodong Dusi, because funds are very tight, migrant workers only have four qian per month.

Although the money is small, considering that there are many places and projects offering work-for-relief services in Liaodong, and the construction sites also provide food, it is acceptable.

But he never expected that the supervisor would be so evil-minded.

This person earns four yuan a month. Now there are 4000 migrant workers on this construction site, and their monthly salary is only 600 taels. These people have to pay 800 taels a month.

This was just wages, so he didn't believe that these people were not greedy in other aspects.

He immediately became furious after thinking this, and sharply reprimanded the people who were kneeling down:
"The livelihood of these workers is so difficult. There is no need for pity. Today, His Majesty is promoting the good government of providing relief through work, and you dare to take advantage of it. It is really audacious and unforgivable! Do you really think that I am just a decoration?"

"Come on!"

"Subordinates are here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Lian's personal guards stood up from behind and gestured to Yang Lian.

Yang Lian looked at the prison officer who was kneeling on the ground crying and begging for mercy. There was no mercy in his eyes and he said coldly:

"Get this pickled thing off of me."

This was not the first day that these guards had done this. After hearing this, they immediately rushed forward and forced all the kneeling officials to the ground.

"Lord Governor, spare your life, spare your life!"

"I don't dare to do it anymore. Please ask the governor to give me a chance."

……

Yang Lian felt very disgusted when he heard these words.

"The price of rice in Liaodong is four taels of silver and one stone, and the four taels of silver set by the Dusi Yamen in Liaodong is very low. If it weren't for the food, the people would never be able to do it, but even so, it would be difficult for them to live.

Who would have thought that you are so greedy, even greedy for this money? Your conscience has been eaten by dogs!

Now you want to beg for mercy and let me spare your lives?It's really ridiculous. How could such a shameless person be brought down here by me? "

Yang Lian didn't want to be verbose and directly waved his hand to have them escorted away.

"All current accounts must be checked, and all the money owed to these people must be paid. This is so arrogant near Liaoyang, but other places have to check!"

The old man who had just asked the question saw that the high-ranking official in front of him had arrested all the officials on the construction site because of his words. He was immediately frightened and kowtowed quickly and said:

"It's all Xiaomin's fault. Xiaomin said the wrong thing, please ask the superior to punish him."

The others hurriedly knelt down when they saw this, and Yang Lian sighed helplessly when he saw them doing this.

(End of this chapter)