Master Bai invited everyone to sit down in the front hall, the servants quickly served tea, and the butler went down to arrange lunch.
It is said that they come to drink water, of course, it is impossible to drink water as simple as that, of course they have to eat and talk.
County Magistrate Fu took it for granted, because every time he went to the countryside, he would be entertained by either the head of the village or the gentry and landlords from all over the place. He couldn't go to the house of the poorest person for dinner, could he
Master Bai also had a lot of experience in entertaining officials who went to the countryside. He first asked about the situation in other places, and then asked about the current arrangements in the county.
Speaking of harvesting, County Magistrate Fu felt a headache, and turned to ask the head of the village and the head of the village about the situation in the village.
The head of the village sighed and asked the head of the village to speak.
The things at home can be faked, but the crops in the field are growing there. He just wanted to say that the situation is very optimistic, so magistrate Fu must believe it.
As soon as he walked into the field, he saw everything.
As for the two most severely damaged areas in Qili Village, one was by the river, and they just came here from the other side of the river just now, County Magistrate Fu must have seen it.
Seeing the village chief sighing, he glanced at Man Bao calmly, then sighed too, and began to cry poorly.
Old Zhoutou didn't know that the village chief's nephew was a mess, he felt that what the village chief said was right, so he sat aside and nodded repeatedly.
In fact, the situation in Qili Village is better than that of the villages and towns that magistrate Fu visited before.
Because of this, the extent of the disaster was so large that he was even more worried.
After thinking for a while, he looked at Master Bai and sighed: "The state government issued an order to let the counties collect the refugees. Although our Luojiang County is remote, many refugees have flooded in. And they are all from Yizhou. There are always relatives and friends who have defected, so now the city and its subordinates have taken in many refugees."
Master Bai nodded in understanding.
"Some of the refugees brought their family assets to meet their daily needs temporarily, but most of them escaped empty-handed. Unlike other natural disasters, the flood came quickly and fiercely. Many people didn't have time to bring out their things, so the city has been I'm making porridge for relief, but it's not a long-term solution."
After the rain stopped, Master Bai sent two loads of grain to the county government office. Other landlords did the same, which was regarded as support.
Although this batch of donations adds up to a lot, it is still a drop in the bucket for the refugees in Luojiang County.
Therefore, magistrate Fu hinted that the food in the county government's treasury was almost exhausted, and the next step was to apply for the opening of the county's granary for disaster relief.
There are granaries in every county, which are used to deal with natural disasters, but you must apply to the state to open the granary.
It's okay if the target is local people, but now it's refugees from outside who need relief. I'm afraid the local people will have opinions.
Therefore, magistrate Fu asked them to pay attention to the words and deeds of the villagers. It is best to persuade them that love knows no bounds.
Of course, he didn't just care about the refugees, he didn't care about the local people. This time, the county government gave a subsidy to anyone whose house collapsed during the flood.
He also saw the moldy rice and wheat just now, and it was basically the same in other places. Where the houses collapsed, the food was basically damp and moldy.
Although in theory eating this kind of food will not kill people, it is not good to eat too much.
With the current capacity of the county government, they can only subsidize those whose houses have collapsed. If they want to expand the subsidy scope, they will probably need the help of someone like Master Bai.
Master Bai could hear that he was implying that they, the landlords, donated grain again, this time mainly targeting the local people.
He pondered for a moment, in fact, this is also good for them, the landlords.
For example, if he is from Qili Village, most of the food he donates will be distributed to the villagers of Qili Village. This will not only help the neighbors and villagers, but also give him and accumulate virtue for the Bai family.
Anyway, I originally planned to donate another batch, and it would be better to donate to the folks outside the house, so Master Bai nodded and agreed, expressing that he would definitely cooperate with the county's policies.
When the topic was opened, Master Bai let go of it a bit. After pondering for a while, he still couldn't help asking about the autumn tax.
Although the Bai family has a strong family background, it was also severely affected by the disaster.
The land owned by the Bai family is not limited to Qili Village, Baimaguan Town, other villages and towns in Luojiang County, and even Brazil County. He also owns land in Yizhou area. Therefore, he suffered unevenly and widely.
Well, although he has a small family, he has a lot of servants, slaves also have to pay a certain tax, the disaster is so severe, does the court really not consider reducing the autumn tax
County Magistrate Fu paused, originally wanted to discuss this topic with Master Bai in private, but when Master Bai gave him a wink, County Magistrate Fu understood after a little thought.
Talking to Mr. Bai in private is confidential, but talking here is semi-public. Both have advantages, and the advantage of the latter is that it can give him a certain amount of goodwill and prestige among the villagers.
"In the Yizhou area, the directly damaged counties can definitely be exempted from tax." Even if the government decree does not come down, County Magistrate Fu knows that it will be possible, not only because of the severe disaster this time, but also because Wei Zhi came to relieve the disaster.
Wei Zhi was the secretary and supervisor, and he was famous for his fairness and integrity in the court.
"However, in other prefectures and counties that were not so severely affected by the disaster, such as our Luojiang County, if the state capital does not report, it will be too difficult to reduce or exempt taxes."
Compared with Yizhou, the disaster in Brazil County was not too severe. At this time, people were in panic. Magistrate Fu guessed that the governor would not reduce the autumn tax for the sake of looking good.
This guess was made by Magistrate Fu's two visits to Brazil for meetings and speculation.
It can be said that in terms of performance requirements, the desires of magistrate Fu and governor Wang are exactly opposite.
Coincidentally, Wang Cishi is the boss of County Magistrate Fu.
Hearing the topic of tax reduction and exemption, the old Zhou Tou, who had been hanging his head down all the time, couldn't help but cheer up, and looked at County Magistrate Fu earnestly.
If the tax can be reduced or exempted this year, he doesn't know about the other family. Their old Zhou family will definitely be able to survive, and life will not be particularly sad.
But when I heard that the governor was not very willing to report it, the old Zhou Tou and the village head showed disappointment again.
The head of the village glanced at the two people who put everything on the surface, but said nothing.
Man Bao and Bai Shanbao also listened with great interest. She already knew some ways of the world, and knew that it was impossible for County Magistrate Fu to report such a thing past the governor.
She also sighed.
Bai Shanbao also sighed.
The sighing voices of the two children were not low. County Magistrate Fu looked at Coke and asked with a smile, "Why are you sighing?"
Man Bao said: "Let's change to another governor, and another governor who wants to reduce taxes like you."
Old Zhou was so frightened that he stretched out his hand to cover her mouth, pleading guilty again and again, "My lord atones for my sins, but my child is talking nonsense..."
County magistrate Fu was also taken aback, but he didn't care too much, and said with a smile, "Don't take what the children say."
Bai Shanbao also said to her, "It's very difficult to change the governor. If you want to change the governor, it's better to think that an official who is bigger than him will come to us. Then you can directly mention it to him."
Man Bao took off his father's hand and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, the county magistrate is younger than the governor, so the county magistrate has to listen to the governor, so it would be nice to have another official who is older than the governor. Listen to the magistrate."
County Magistrate Fu and Master Bai became thoughtful at the same time.