On the wedding day, I was broken off, so I remarried his uncle

Song Xile thought for a moment and suggested, "At that time, we can open up a small mobile stall on both sides of the river where the dragon boats gather. At the same time, we can create some employment opportunities for the people in the city and make it more prosperous. The more lively the better!"

Chen Yunyou thought this was a good idea and wrote down the suggestion on paper.

The drought is severe now and the people are in great financial difficulty. Chen Yunyou thought that the dragon boat race and Buddhist temple activities should be used as an opportunity to revitalize the entire city.

Although he didn't know how many counties were affected by the drought, judging from what they had seen and heard all the way from Nanyun County to the provincial capital, he was afraid that quite a few counties were affected by the drought.

He is actually a very smart man. Thanks to the high-yield bean varieties and some actions of the county magistrate, Nanyun County may be able to lead the people of the county out of the crisis.

But if the entire city and all the counties under its jurisdiction were hit by a disaster, how many people could the city provide relief to on its own?

By then, how many refugees will be forced to leave their hometowns?

The first thing these refugees who have lost their way will think of is to seek survival in the provincial capital. However, if the provincial capital is completely unprepared at this time, all the counties within the provincial capital will be affected.

As the saying goes, no eggs are left unbroken when the nest is overturned, so he had to imagine the worst-case scenario first.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at his wife who was watching seriously, and paused and said: "In addition to this plan, I have another bold idea. I just don't know if the prefect will agree to it in the end if I propose it now."

Song Xile took his eyes off the paper and asked with great interest, "What's the method?"

“—Buy food at high prices!”

"We don't know how severe the drought is outside. Is it just affecting the counties near us, or is it affecting the entire city, or is it affecting other states as well?"

"No matter what the situation is, we must store grain to prevent disasters. While the disaster has not yet appeared and the people still have food to eat, we should think of ways to attract grain merchants!"

"As for how to attract these people, merchants value profit, so the only way is to spread the news that Muzhou Prefecture is buying grain at a high price. As long as the grain merchants can deliver grain to Muzhou Prefecture, they can buy their grain at a price 20% higher than the market price."

Song Xile weighed Yun You's proposal in his mind and said hesitantly, "This method is indeed good. In this way, it will not only attract nearby grain merchants, but even grain merchants from farther away may come because of the temptation of high prices."

"But this is not a long-term solution. First, I am afraid that the prefect does not have so much money to buy grain. On the other hand, this trend may corrupt the grain shops in the city, and they may also hoard grain and drive up the price of grain!"

Chen Yunyou smiled and said, "This strategy is only to lure you into a trap, and at the same time to lure grain merchants to come and fill our Muzhou Prefecture's grain warehouse."

"After the prefect has stored a certain amount of food, the news of our Muzhou Prefecture's food shortage has spread, and the prefect has issued an order to stabilize the food price."

"Those grain merchants who came from afar transported the grains thousands of miles here, they will not bring them back unopened. They will have to sell them when the time comes!"

"We can then buy their grain at a reasonable price, which not only guarantees the profits of grain traders, but also ensures the basic living needs of the people."

"At the same time, we can also control the local grain merchants. If the local merchants are disobedient, we can kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. After all these actions, as long as the local merchants understand the rules and follow the pace of the prefect, they will not lose money!"

Song Xile's eyes lit up. This was much smarter than the method she had used in Nanyun County to ask the county magistrate to stabilize grain prices.

It’s a pity that Magistrate Zhou of Nanyun County does not have such great resources, otherwise he could have handled it this way. After all the operations, those restless people would have been subdued.

She nodded in agreement, "This method is very good. If it works, the disaster in the city can be solved."

When Chen Yunyou saw that his wife also agreed with his opinion, he couldn't help but smile knowingly.

He was very happy to get his wife's approval, but although the idea was good, they were not the ones who could carry it out.

He said uncertainly: "If this plan is to be implemented smoothly, it mainly depends on whether the prefect has such a willingness."

"If the prefect chooses to act cautiously, the people in the prefecture are slightly more prosperous than those in other counties, so they should be able to survive the disaster if they grit their teeth."

"The prefectural capital may be able to hold out, but in the long run, the situation in other counties is hard to say. By then, the refugees will definitely seek a way to survive in the most prosperous prefectural capital. By then..."

Song Xile understood what her husband had not said yet, and that was when the sword hanging over the city wall would fall.

Although Song Xile had never seen the refugees, he could get a glimpse of their destructive power from just a few words in history books.

She didn't want to see such an uncontrollable thing happen, so she began to consider the possibility of persuading the prefect.

She had the honor of meeting the prefect once, and her impression of him was quite pragmatic. During the few days she had been in the city, she had not seen any exploitation of the people. Under the governance of the prefect, the people in the city lived in peace and security.

This can be seen from the cancellation of the city entrance fee.

I think a person who is pragmatic will not be a foolish person.

She suggested: "Let's first list this plan in detail and let him know the pros and cons. Even if the prefect doesn't adopt it in the end, we, as the people under his rule, will have done our part!"

Chen Yunyou nodded vigorously, picked up the pen and wrote down on paper everything the two had just discussed.

They not only cited effective measures that can be implemented to alleviate the disaster.

It also gives detailed examples of how to do it.

For example, if you want to buy food at a high price, you need money to support it. In addition to government funds, you can also ask the gentry in the city to donate, request the court to allocate funds, and increase taxes when holding dragon boat races....

In addition, it is necessary to ensure the smooth flow of trade routes in counties and prefectures under its jurisdiction and to ensure the safety of grain merchants.

They even considered a series of measures to be taken if the city was finally flooded with disaster victims.

For example, in the case of work-for-relief, the government office could purchase grain from grain merchants and organize these people to dig canals, ditches, dredge rivers, and so on, a series of tasks that required a lot of labor.