The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 694 Risk
Money and grain are the foundation of a country.

Today's practice of hiring people is actually "playing" with money and grain.

This matter is actually quite risky.

Take Sili as an example. The number of tenants who have separated from their masters in Sili Prefecture has reached more than 200,000. Among them, 140,000 have no access to arable land and cannot make a living. How much food do these 140,000 people consume in a year?

This is just one state. The Wei Kingdom is so vast. How much can the consumption be in places like Yan, Xu, and Yu where the aristocratic families are extremely powerful?

As for why the emperor insisted on separating the tenants and not allowing them to continue farming for the big families?
This is because the taxes at that time included not only land rent, but also head tax, property tax, labor service, etc.

If we only limit the amount of arable land without restricting them from hiding their household registration, although it will not have much impact on the land rent, it will affect several other aspects. Once they are hidden, they will not be able to become labor force for the temple.

After all, this is still a fight between the feudal imperial power and the feudal clans for materials of exploitation.

The tenant's own opinion may not actually be that important to either party.

The temple needs to pay a huge price to maintain the expenses of so many people and ensure the construction of various places.

This will almost empty the national treasury, resulting in a serious fiscal deficit, and may even require temporary tax increases.

This is also a routine operation in the temple.

If the national treasury goes bankrupt, people all over the world can share the burden, for example, by increasing tributes, requiring everyone to give some money and grain to the national treasury, or simply levying some miscellaneous taxes, or even collecting next year's taxes in advance, etc.

Anyway, there are many ways, but they are not good ones.

Using this method to maintain the national treasury will sooner or later lead to something serious that will be more serious than bankruptcy.

Emperor Wu of Han invented many ways to save the almost bankrupt treasury.

This also led to a series of problems. Fortunately, their descendants were able to do well and no greater consequences were caused.

At this moment, Du Yu was also a little worried.

The treasury of the Great Wei is not very full at present.

The previous campaigns against Shu and Wu were extremely costly, and every time troops were mobilized, money and grain from the national treasury were burned.

The original destruction of Shu cost the Wei Dynasty 10 billion coins and 5 million shi of grain.

Then destroyed Wu
If Cao Mao had not done a lot of work in the past to rectify the administration and distribute public land, I am afraid that the national treasury would have been empty when the attack on Wu State took place.

Although it has not hit bottom yet, it cannot be said to be too abundant and can only be maintained.

This time, we must be extremely cautious in hiring.

Lu Zhi said, "Your Majesty is benevolent and righteous. If the treasury is depleted by collecting tributes and other taxes, it will damage your prestige and may lead to disastrous consequences."

"Therefore, we must calculate carefully. We cannot let those refugees starve, nor can we cause problems for the national treasury."

Their idea is to hold out until next year's tax revenue. Once the tax revenue comes in, they can continue to increase support and hold out until next year's tax revenue.
If there is a problem in one step or a deviation in the calculation, it will cause big trouble.

Du Yu was an excellent mathematician, and Lu Zhi had been in charge of finances and grain for so many years, so his ability in this area was not too bad either.

The two of them started working on this matter in the mansion.

They called on their respective elites to help, and also issued orders to the states to take action.

The Sili Prefecture was supposed to be under the charge of the Sili Xiaowei, but firstly, the Nine Ministers had become empty titles, and secondly, the Sili Xiaowei had been replaced. Therefore, Du Yu decided to do it himself.

Only by doing it yourself can you discover the problems and solve them better in the future.

First of all, the direction of construction.

After conducting an investigation, Du Yu decided to take action in Ji County, Sizhou.

The reason why it is here is that there are many people but little arable land. It has good water resources and is suitable for farming in all aspects, but the arable land is the least in the entire Sizhou. It needs the support of the temple every year, and there are not many results every year.

There is a lot of wasteland here that is suitable for reclamation.

Du Yu rode his horse and circled around Ji County again and again.

The local officials were exhausted because he rode a fine horse and the prefect did not dare to ride in a carriage and had to follow him on horseback.

This is really a torture for a man in his sixties.

After Du Yu conducted a careful investigation in various places in Ji County, he decided to build here first.

He summoned local officials and the elites from the Ministry of Works. After discussions, they decided to open up 5,600 hectares of arable land here.

Sixteen new ponds and canals were planned to be opened throughout the county, and many existing ponds and canals were maintained.

At Du Yu's command, these people naturally did not dare to object.

After the plan was made, officials from all over Sili Prefecture began to gather the refugees.

Because of what the government has done over the years, its credibility among the people is still relatively strong, and there has not been a large number of refugees fleeing.

After distributing food and helping these able-bodied men to comfort their families, officials from various places led them to their destinations.

The officials of Ji County were extremely nervous. This was the first place to be built, and so many people were coming. The county magistrate did not dare to sleep for several days.

Du Yu also stayed here to work.

The local laborers were the first to be involved in the construction, and a large amount of food and supplies were continuously sent here from all over the country. The first project these local laborers took up after gathering was not to open up the land, but to build granaries and temporary housing.

Afterwards, people from all over the country continued to come here, and more and more people participated in the construction.

A month later, more than 100,000 laborers gathered here.

Once the scale increased, troubles started to arise one after another.

The actual consumption was much greater than Du Yu had originally expected.

Sure enough, the consumption after actually starting to work was different from what was calculated on paper.

Du Yu also gained a lot of experience from this.

Sometimes, he would think of Zhong Hui's evaluation of him. Zhong Hui always said that he lacked experience and had not held enough official positions.

Maybe he wasn't really trying to belittle himself, but was really thinking about himself?

Du Yu decided to participate more in the specific execution work and take on more responsibilities, and also regard it as a training for himself to see if he could make progress.

At this time, various places also received orders one after another and began to carry out construction according to the imperial edict.

In the night, laughter could be heard from the house.

I saw several old men sitting in the house, watching the beauty dancing, drinking and having fun.

Xun Yi sat in the upper seat, facing the many dancers in front of him, but he did not look at them for long. His eyes were always on the many celebrities and important officials on both sides.

"Lord Xun, I have come from afar. Knowing you are honest and upright, I dare not bring you any gifts. I only have these dancers. You are well-known and many people come to visit you. When you hold a banquet to entertain you, how can you not have beauties in your mansion?"

"Please don't be disgusted by them. Just keep them here. My mansion hasn't had any guests for many years, so there's no point in keeping them here."

At this moment, an old man suddenly spoke.

Xun Yi glanced at him, then looked at the dancer in front of him, looking a little hesitant.

"Mr. Xun, please accept it!"

Someone else joined in.

Xun Yi then nodded and said, "In that case, I would like to thank Lord Cai for his kindness."

By saying this, he accepted the gift.

There were more than ten people sitting next to him at the moment, all of whom looked majestic and impressive.

The man who presented the beauty just now had a very long beard and a handsome appearance. His name was Wei Lie.

Grandson of Wei Zi and son of Wei Zhen.

There is no need to say much about the relationship between the Wei family and Cao Mao.

Because of his grandfather and father, Wei Lie was similar to Zhong Hui, starting with a strong opponent. Unfortunately, this person had no special abilities. He only had the reputation of being a son of a wealthy family, but he himself was uneducated.

During the reign of Emperor Ming, Cao Rui hated these people very much, thinking they were flashy but not practical, so he dismissed them. Until now, he has not been able to make a comeback.

Over the years, he has tried many ways. He is still young and wants to be reused. He thought that the Sima family was originally in power, and people like them who are pro-Cao could not be reused. But now that the Cao family is in power again, he should be able to be reused.

However, after waiting for several years, the remnants of the Sima family were given important positions one by one, but a loyal and brave man like him in the Wei Dynasty never got any chance.

In his hometown, he told everyone that he had lost his official position because he had offended the Sima family.

He believed that he was a loyal official who was dismissed for the sake of the Cao family and should be given an important position.

Even though Xun Yi was in Luoyang, he knew about these things.

Because just half a year ago, this person made a joke. It was said that when Ruan Ji returned home to visit his relatives, he was forced to stay by him. He told him that he was dismissed because of the Sima family and hoped that he could recommend himself to the emperor as a palace guard.

Ruan Ji asked disdainfully, "Does Sima Ziyuan know about this?"

Wei Lie suddenly didn't dare to speak.

Because this guy was involved in the Fuhua case because of Sima Shi and others
Xun Yi then spoke up, "Lord Wei, although I accept your gift, the matter of recommending talented people is the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel, and I am powerless to help."

Upon hearing this, Wei Lie blushed, and then he added, "Lord Xun, we have come to visit you this time solely because we admire your virtue, and definitely not for any other trivial matters."

The others also nodded, "It's like this, we are here with the Lord of Wei, please don't misunderstand me, Lord Xun."

Xun Yi looked at the old man sitting on his left.

This man was indeed old and could not speak clearly, so Xun Yi was more respectful when facing him.

He is the leader of these people.

His name was Cai Mu, from the Cai family of Yu County, and he was a descendant of Cai Yin, Marquis of Feiru, a meritorious official of Emperor Gaozu of Han.

Well, maybe no one knows what I mean, so let’s talk about his cousin.

His cousin was called Cai Yong.

He has a niece named Cai Zhaoji
(End of this chapter)