Wen Yanbo nodded: "This boy is such a talent!"

Bao Zheng nodded in agreement: "Especially in operation, this boy's talent is truly outstanding!"

Wen Yanbo's heart moved and a smile appeared on his face: "Brother Xiren, you have been serving as the prefect of Kaifeng for a short time, so it's time to do something fresh."

Bao Zheng was stunned for a moment: "What are you doing?"

Wen Yanbo smiled: "How about the Sansi Envoy?"

Bao Zheng smiled bitterly: "You are probably not interested in me, but Ouyang Bian?"

Wen Yanbo laughed: "This child is destined to be with you. If you ask him for help, he will definitely take action."

Bao Zheng thought for a while: "You might as well let Uncle Yong do his job well. His father will definitely do his best."

Wen Yanbo shook his head: "After all, you have done it at Sansi. You are all Menqing in the matter. Uncle Yong has never done it, so I'm afraid it's difficult to deal with it."

Bao Zheng said seriously: "Kuanfu, how serious is the financial matter now?"

Wen Yanbo's brow collapsed immediately and he sighed: "It's difficult, the treasury is about to be able to run away from mice!"

Bao Zheng was shocked and said, "How is it possible? When I was in Sanshi, I earned nearly 30 million chunks a year. Although I did not have an annual surplus, I could be in emergency response after all. Why is the treasury so empty now?"

Wen Yanbo shook his head and sighed: "In recent years, famines are being fought in the west again. The battle was won, but the treasury was also empty.

Now we are encountering this kind of flood that has never been seen in a century. The disaster relief will clean up the empty treasury. In the next few years, I’m afraid I will have to tighten my belt!”

Bao Zheng smiled bitterly: "That's right? Every time there is a famine, many hungry people will be collected into the army. As a result, most of the income will support the officials and the army. Where can I have other remaining money?"

Bao Zheng also knows a lot about this situation.

In fact, most senior officials are clear about this situation.

During the Taizu period, the national army was only less than 400,000, but by the Qingli period of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, it had soared to about 1.25 million, and now there are more than one million troops.

Not only the army, but officials also consumed most of the annual income.

In the fourth year of Xianping in Emperor Zhenzong, some people suggested that more than 195,000 officials in the world should be cut at one time. You can imagine the number of officials.

Moreover, this situation is not only the central government, but also the more intense it is from the local government to the central government. As far as Bao Zheng knows, the income and expenditure of most prefectures and counties are already seriously apart.

For example, a county he knew had a yearly income of only more than 15,000 yuan, but its expenditure reached more than 34,000 yuan.

There is a state where the number of grain and rice required for the support of officers and soldiers is more than 7,000 stone per month, and more than 85,000 stone per year. After removing the amount of food and supply to the local area, only half of the amount required is left.

The prefectures and counties can’t even care about themselves. It can be said that most prefectures and counties are actually in bankruptcy.

Wen Yanbo said seriously: "Brother Xiren, you are the older one in the same year. Now that the treasury is empty, do you dare to take this responsibility?"

Bao Zheng smiled bitterly and said, "Okay, okay, kuanfu, you don't need to use provocation here. To be honest, I am not sure. Although I know some economics, I don't have many solutions to the current situation. Why don't you let me think about it?"

Wen Yanbo nodded: "If Brother Xiren can't bear this burden, I'm afraid no one can bear it anymore."

After Wen Yanbo left, Bao Zheng thought about it for a long time, but finally sighed.

...

The next day, Bao Zheng got up early and rode the sewage out of the city in the carriage given by Ouyang Bian.

On the way, he saw refugees outside the city walking towards West Lake City in groups. Bao Zheng was a little surprised and asked the coachman to go down to ask.

The coachman went down for a while and came back to report: "Sir, I asked about a few victims and said that it was recruiting workers in West Lake City, not only did they care about food, but also a place to live."

Bao Zheng looked excited and said decisively: "Follow the crowd."

The coachman receives the order.

The carriage followed the crowd.

Bao Zheng looked out from the car and the crowd did not go to the commercial center, but was guided to the other side by the road.

Bao Zheng visited there and saw a wasteland, which was a vacant land that was filled up together at that time but had no construction.

Bao Zheng got out of the car and followed behind and found that rows of temporary sheds had been built in the open space, with distances between the sheds.

Bao Zheng went down to observe carefully, but was stopped by a young man.

The man looked like a refugee, so he stopped Bao Zheng and said, "Don't go in a mess, sir."

Seeing that Bao Zheng was stopped, the coachman quickly shouted: "What are you doing? Don't you know who is in front of you?"

Bao Zheng quickly stopped the coachman, smiled on his face, and said kindly: "This little brother, I think you are coming from another place to escape the wasteland. What are you doing here now?"

The young man looked glamorous: "I am the battalion commander of this Anju battalion, responsible for managing the public security here. Now all the young and strong men inside have gone to work, and there are some women and children inside. I have to manage it well so as not to harass some people who are not irrelevant."

Bao Zheng smiled and said, "That's it. I'm an official in the city. I'll come over to check the situation. I want to go in and take a look. Can you see?"

The young man looked at Bao Zheng. Although he was wearing casual clothes, he had a follower. He had a strict body and law. He looked serious and didn't look like a gangster. He nodded and said, "Yes, I'll take you in, but I have to follow you, and you have to disinfect."

Bao Zheng was a little confused: "Disinfection? What is disinfection?"

The young man scratched his head: "I don't know, either, the young chairman said that there was an epidemic after the flood and it must be disinfected frequently.

Now, we just need to wash our hands there. If other victims come, we have to clean it carefully in the bathroom there before we can enter.

The adults are from the city, so they should not be used, just wash their hands."

Bao Zheng smiled and said, "Okay, then let's go."

Under the guidance of the young man, Bao Zheng went to wash his hands. The water seemed a little sour. He probably put some herbs and vinegar. He couldn't help but nodded, which was done with his heart.

When entering the shanty town, Bao Zheng observed carefully.

There was about ten steps between the sheds, with a drainage ditch dug in the middle and some white powder sprinkled, which should be lime.

There were indeed some women and children in the shed. Some of the children had noodles and vegetables, but they were all very lively. Some children had already started playing in the open space.

Most of the women were gathering together, and Bao Zheng was inconvenient to go there. He looked at it from a distance and seemed to be weaving.

"What are they doing?" Bao Zheng asked.

The young man said: "They are weaving cloth. West Lake City asked young and middle-aged men to dig soil and drain water, while the wives distributed cotton cloth and other things to them.

Weaving cloth that can be used to woven and soles that can be used to suck the soles can be sold, and they can earn dozens of cents a day."
Chapter completed!