Fold
The next day, on Tuesday, Zhou Erlang and the others went to the village chief's house to borrow a handcart.
The villagers knew they were going to the city to buy tiles to repair the house. Several families who had taken their money, rice, and eggs before followed them.
There was no handcart, so they carried large bamboo baskets. They could carry the items directly back, so they didn't have to make multiple trips back and forth.
Elder Zhou went to speak with the village chief and the elders in the village about planting winter wheat.
Although it was still early, preparations needed to be made in advance, such as arranging for fertilizer, which required early consideration and preparation.
Planting is different from other activities. The more people plant, the better; and the larger the area, the better.
Actually, there are quite a few people who have this idea; they just haven't made up their minds yet, so no one in the village has mentioned it for the time being.
When Elder Zhou mentioned it, many people were moved. However, there were also doubts. "If we plant winter wheat, will there be enough nutrients for rice next year?"
The yield of rice has always been slightly higher than that of wheat. Therefore, if only one of the two can be planted for one season, naturally, everyone would choose to plant rice.
"Everyone may have to put in a little more effort and bring in more fertilizer," Elder Zhou said. "Otherwise, what can we do?" Although this year's rice and wheat have not been harvested yet, the signs of a bountiful harvest are already visible. I'm afraid there won't be much left after paying the autumn taxes. "Will we continue eating beans until next year's summer harvest?"
The village chief said, "And we still don't know what next year will be like." "If it's similar to this year, will we still be able to survive?"
Everyone began to discuss the matter, and in the end, they made the decision, "Alright, let's plant winter wheat for one season."
Once the matter was settled, everyone became less conflicted. They started talking about other things, "How is Dazhu's injury?"
"Yesterday, he received two more prescriptions." The doctor said, "It should be better after taking them." Then they turned to Elder Zhou and asked, "How is Dalang doing?"
"He's almost recovered, but he still can't perform strenuous tasks."
"We can't see the internal bleeding in his stomach." We need to be cautious. In my opinion, he should rest at home for six months and then start working in the fields after spring.
Elder Zhou was also thinking along these lines. He didn't possess medical expertise, but he believed that internal bleeding must have occurred. If this strain caused the wound to tear open again, they wouldn't be able to see it in their stomach, and they would bleed without anyone knowing.
Rest and basic care are the primary treatment methods for rural residents.
Zhou Dalang was only in his twenties, and Elder Zhou was very afraid that he would be left with a chronic illness. Since their family lacked everything except people, he planned to let him rest at home for a while and then engage in light and simple work when he recovered.
For example, cutting wheat, cutting beans, and cutting rice can be done, but carrying wheat, loosening the soil, and spreading manure are heavy tasks that should no longer be performed.
Elder Zhou also inquired about the injuries of other people. Fortunately, apart from Zhou Dalang, the injuries of the others were visible and had generally healed by the time they were checked.
In fact, most doctors wanted to inform them that Zhou Dalang's internal injury had healed and he was fine. However, people are often scared by their own imagination, and most individuals tend to believe in their own judgments.
Those who can easily accept other people's advice and think carefully are generally not naive; instead, they are either very powerful or people of great ability.
For example, the current emperor.
Wei Zhiran had not yet returned, and his memorials arrived first.
This was a very lengthy memorial, so long that it took the emperor an hour to read.
The report not only discussed matters related to disaster relief but also included data on casualties in the disaster areas, the expenditure of relief supplies, and the situation of disaster-affected areas, most of which were accompanied by data.
It is evident that Wei Zhiran was highly committed to disaster relief this time.
Of course, his purpose in submitting this memorial was not only for this. He wrote extensively primarily to apply for tax exemption for the disaster-stricken areas.
Originally, the court was only planning to exempt the counties under Yizhou from taxes, and the time given was also very generous, two years.
This time, Wei Zhiran proposed exempting the counties under Yizhou from taxes for three years to encourage the refugees who had fled to return home and to attract foreign refugees to settle in Yizhou.
Due to the catastrophic flood disaster in Yizhou this time, there were significant losses in terms of population. If the population cannot be attracted back, they may need to be forcibly relocated from other areas; otherwise, the vast fertile land under Jiangwei Weir might be abandoned.
Furthermore, beyond Yizhou, the entire Jiannan Road was to be tax-exempt for one year.
The scope of Jiannan Road was too broad, which meant that the court would not only lose a portion of tax revenue but also have to provide support to lower levels.
After all, in addition to sending a portion of local tax revenue to the court, they also had to keep a share for their own financial needs.
If there were no tax revenues, the court would have to allocate funds accordingly.
But tax exemption...
As the emperor reviewed the data submitted by Wei Zhiran and assessed the situation in the disaster-affected areas, he couldn't help but sigh.
If not repaired before winter, there were concerns that Jiannan Road could lead to loss of lives and an increase in the number of refugees.
Collecting taxes may be beneficial in the short term, but it will demand ten to a hundred times more effort to round up the displaced refugees in the future.
Once refugees turn into bandits, the resulting losses will only increase.
The emperor put down the memorial and said, "Summon the six department officials."
He pondered and asked, "Where has Wei Zhiran gone to now?"
The messenger replied, "When I returned to the capital, Lord Wei was inspecting Luojiang County, so he should be on the road now and will be in the capital in a few days."
The emperor nodded slightly and waved for the person to step back.
At this time, there was no indication that Wei Zhiran intended to return to the capital. He was holding a pair of scissors in the yard, trimming the flowers for the Bai family. Suddenly feeling that something was amiss, he curiously examined the row of vegetation in the flower bed and asked, "Isn't this ginger?"
Daiji, who was standing by, smiled and replied, "Yes, Lord."
Wei Zhiran laughed, "It's well planted." How does your family's gardener take care of the garden?
Wei Zhiran also cultivated vegetables at his home for daily consumption. Naturally, he also planted ginger, but it did not thrive as well in this location. He could tell that the ginger below seemed to be larger than what he usually ate.
Daiji smiled and said, "It was not the gardener who planted it, but our young master." He does weeding and fertilizing by himself.
"Oh?" Thinking of the child he saw at the banquet yesterday, Wei Zhiran smiled slightly and asked, "Does your young master have such hobbies and interests?"
"Yes," Daiji paused, thinking about his young master's hobbies, and smiled, "Our young master enjoys gardening a lot."
Especially growing things that can be sold for profit.
"Then I must have a good conversation with him in the future," Wei Zhiran smiled. "I also like gardening."
After a year of development, Baishanbao saved numerous ginger rhizomes as seeds. This year, he not only planted all the flower beds in the courtyard with ginger rhizomes but also reclaimed a piece of land in front of the study. Subsequently, he expanded his cultivation to include the flower beds in the garden.
Liu took a very indulgent view on this point, allowing him to grow whatever he wanted at home, even if it made the house smell.