"Work as a form of relief?"
Li Shi Min frowned, confused. This was the first time he had heard such a term.
The ministers beside him also looked at each other, not understanding the meaning behind Lu Yan's words.
Seeing this, Lu Yan immediately smiled and said,"If we want to deal with the refugees, we have to restore them to their previous situation. Whether it's farming or peddlers, at least they can settle down.”
"But now…The flood had caused their families to be destroyed. How could they still be stable?”
Everyone nodded. This was the most basic question.
Other than disaster relief, trying to alleviate the situation, and relying on time to grind away these things, they really could not think of any other way.
"Those refugees definitely don't want to maintain such a life either. They don't have enough clothes to cover their bodies or food to fill their stomachs. Every time they came in, there would be hundreds of thousands of them. It was also a great pressure for the county. Not only could they not take out so much relief food, but it would also affect the normal operation of the county and suffer the rejection of the commoners.”
"The refugees are like rootless duckweed, floating everywhere but unable to find a foothold.”
Li Shi Min's expression turned awkward.
The problem of refugees could not be solved. This was also his responsibility as the emperor.
The entire world was his subjects. If he could not prevent future troubles for his subjects, then it would be his dereliction of duty.
However, he could not care less about this at the moment. He was a little anxious. Lu Yan did not propose a solution.
"Zhen understands this. I'm also trying my best, but it's not so easy to adjust the millions of refugees in a short period of time.”
" Their numbers are huge, and they don't listen to orders. Disaster relief is tight, and they are often difficult to control. These are the most fatal problems.”
Once a person was extremely hungry, there would be no bottom line.
There were millions of refugees, and there were all kinds of people. If they suddenly rebelled, they could not be suppressed by force. They could only watch helplessly as they continued to move north, affecting one county after another, and even possibly coming to Chang 'an.
"Of course I know this, but what if we give them jobs?”
Lu Yan suddenly asked,"It's better to teach people to fish than to teach people to fish. Once they have a job, they can fill their stomachs." Naturally, they would settle down. They would not have to go north step by step and consume the food that the county had originally accumulated, causing more and more refugees to appear.”
Li Shi Min seemed to have caught on to something, and his heart suddenly became bright and cheerful. His eyes were filled with excitement,"You mean…"
"That's right. Digging a channel to connect to the Grand Canal consumes countless manpower and resources. It even takes several years to complete. These refugees were already in dire straits. As long as they were recruited as volunteers and their food was guaranteed, they would be extremely satisfied.”
"Not to mention giving them money. Millions of refugees will be happy to look forward to it. They were the best workers, and the Great Tang had thus saved a lot of money and secured the treasury.”
"There's no need to levy corvee, and it won't cause resentment among the people. Therefore, it can also gain the hearts of millions of people.”
Lu Yan looked at Li Shimin and said,"This is…Work as a form of relief!"
"What a good work-for-relief, what a good work-for-relief!”
Li Shimin stared at Lu Yan for a long time. He wanted to praise him, but he couldn't find any words to say.
Surprise!
He only felt that a huge surprise had fallen on his head.
This made Li Shiming feel like he was in a dream.
"There's actually such a genius in the world!”
Li Shi Min was overjoyed and laughed out loud,"Zhen did not come to the imperial examination for nothing today!”
"Not only that, but to dig the ditches, we need to spread them all over Jiangnan, so we can have the counties spread out to recruit them. Not only did he divide these refugees, but he also reduced the size of the group. It could also allow each county to absorb a certain number of refugees to join the native place of the county.”
Lu Yan did not stop. Instead, he spoke again,"As long as they perform well in volunteer work, they can settle down in the mainland. He might even get married and have children again in the future to reorganize his family. This place would become their second home. Their enthusiasm and recognition of the county would greatly increase.”
"Building a foreign land and building your own home are two completely different things. Although the county was small, each county only had a population of a few hundred thousand. It was a small matter for them to absorb tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.”
"It can also increase the county's tax revenue. I believe that the local officials will actively cooperate.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire examination hall fell silent again.
No one spoke. Instead, they looked at Lu Yan in a daze.
Li Shiming looked at Lu Yan with a strange gaze.
If he had been pleasantly surprised at the start, it had now completely turned into horror.
Generally speaking, he wanted to dig ditches, settle refugees, and relieve them with work.
He was already a peerless talent.
Actually, no matter how big or small, in all aspects, they were all linked together, not a drop of water could leak.
Otherwise, the Great Tang would have benefited greatly from the perfect solution to the flood problem.
Once this matter was accomplished, his position in the Great Tang would be impregnable.
Even if his father, Li Yuan, stepped forward, it was still useless.
Thinking of this, he looked at Lu Yan. He had no idea how his head grew.
With this person, he could resist thousands of troops.
It was not an exaggeration at all.
Lu Yan's position in Li Shiming's heart suddenly rose, even reaching the level of the ministers of the same dynasty.
Even he did not realize that his conversation with Lu Yan had gradually turned from a question to a discussion.
Li Shi Min took a deep breath and pondered for a moment.
His gaze gradually became firm.
He had never been an indecisive person. If he did not recruit such an outstanding person like Lu Yan now, when would he recruit him?
Li Shiming immediately looked up at Lu Yan.
"Lu Yan, are you willing to become an official in the court?”
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