kvmb Chapter 125 Charity
Chapter 125 Charity
Guo Xin frowned, wondering how long the Zhao Dynasty could survive.
Guo Ruo continued, "What I was thinking is that I recently looked through our family's account book, and with the various gifts that have been sent to the house recently, our family also has some extra money, so I was thinking, how about we use some of the money to do charity?"
Guo Xin turned to look at Guo Ruo, motioning her to continue. In fact, she had thought about the idea of doing charity as early as when she first became a little wealthy. After all, although she was not a kind-hearted person, if she still had the ability to spare, it was still worthwhile to help those who should be helped.
"That day, I wanted to send something to Zhi'er. When I went out, I saw a lot of refugees on the street from a distance. Among them, there were naturally many weak women and children. But that day, I saw many women saying goodbye to their husbands with tears in their eyes. The husbands of those women were holding a purse in their hands."
"I was puzzled for a moment, so I stood there and observed for a while. Those women were all picked up by the same woman with a little charm. I became curious, so I followed her. The woman turned out to be the madam of a brothel."
Guo Xin asked: "Why?"
"I also had the same question, so I asked passers-by who knew about it. I just found out that although there is a certain amount of relief in the capital city, it is also a certain amount, but it is far from enough to keep these people well fed and clothed."
"Although they were refugees, the beauty of the women would not change, so they picked the good-looking ones to go to the Fengya Pavilion, and the less good-looking ones to work as servants in the wealthy families. But I became curious, why are there only women and girls? Don't men have to go?"
Guo Xin asked, "Could it be that the men didn't go because they wanted to carry on the family line?"
Guo Ruo nodded, sighed, and drooped her eyebrows. Although she agreed with this idea, she also felt very uncomfortable. "Besides, men are stronger and it is easier for them to find servants in the capital city than women."
Guo Xin did not speak, but walked out of the mansion, got on the carriage, and said, "Let's go to the prefectural government office."
……
Guo Ruo followed Guo Xin and walked into the government office with heavy steps.
Upon hearing the news, Magistrate Su immediately stepped forward and led the two to the hall, saying, "Does the young lady have any instructions?"
Guo Xin turned her head slightly to look at Su Zhizhou. She was not there when this man came to the house before, so what happened at that time was relayed to her by her elder sister. Combining many things, this man not only has the ability to handle government affairs as an official, but also has the flattery and corruption of an official.
"I'm not here to cause trouble this time. I just want to ask you something."
If one wants to know about government affairs in the city, although one can learn a lot from others, those are just fragments and it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false.
Therefore, the place that is closest to the truth is the prefectural government office. When I came here before, Prefect Su would definitely not reveal these matters to me, but now I am the granddaughter of the General of Cavalry.
Thinking of this, Guo Xin couldn't help but sigh in his heart that having a good identity is indeed very convenient.
"I wonder what the lady wants you to do? If I can answer it, I will tell you everything I know."
"These days, there are more and more refugees on the streets. I want to know how the government office accommodates these refugees?"
Hearing this, Su Zhizhou breathed a sigh of relief, his expression relaxed a lot, and explained the situation one by one, "These are all refugees from the north. Logically, they should be placed in various villages for resettlement, but there are not many villages without landlords in Suining City."
"If they want to be resettled in the village, they have to negotiate with the landlords. If they can't reach an agreement on these conditions, these refugees will have no means of livelihood, so they can only stay temporarily in the resettlement sites in the city."
"However, although Suining City is a relatively wealthy city, it can't afford to support so many idle people, right? So we can only encourage those with healthy hands and feet to go out and find work as assistants, otherwise we won't be able to survive for long relying only on the food provided by the city."
Guo Xin asked, "But isn't there a relief house in the city?"
Su Zhizhou was puzzled at first, but then he suddenly realized: "The relief house you are talking about is not run by the prefecture itself, but by a nobleman. Although there is no worry about food and clothing, there are not many places, and the people who live there are also conditions."
"If you want to live there, you must first pass the assessment of those in charge. Only those who meet the requirements can live there, and priority will be given to families with more people. After you live there, you can't eat for free. You have to work for the orphanage, and you need to work for five years before you can find another place."
"It is also for this reason that some refugees are unwilling to go to this relief house. After all, most of them are farmers. They still hope that the city can allocate a piece of land for them, rather than working as a servant in this city."
Guo Xin nodded thoughtfully.
Guo Ruo, who first proposed this idea, asked again: "Why do we have to sell people? Even if we go to the temporary relief center provided by the prefectural government and find a temporary worker, we can still barely survive, right?"
Su Zhizhou looked at the innocent Guo Ruo and smiled helplessly: "How can things be that simple? Miss, you underestimate human nature? I believe that human nature is evil. Those men are unwilling to work so hard, or there are seriously ill people at home who need medicine."
"These are all places that require silver. Relying on the relief from the capital alone is not enough. Isn't the easiest way to get silver to sell people? Although we prohibit the involuntary sale of people, those men are very good at talking."
"After a few days, the women and girls all volunteered to sell themselves, so the men solved their most pressing problems after receiving the money."
When Guo Ruo heard this, he didn't know what to say. It seemed that these women were just like him, forced into this situation without any choice. As part of a large family, if they didn't sell themselves, they wouldn't be able to make a living in this world.
After thinking about it, it is true that there is only one way out, which is to sell oneself. The better ones can marry into a wealthy family, but the worse ones can only work in places like Fengya Pavilion to entertain customers, and in the future all kinds of syphilis and diseases will come to them. The only word that can describe it is "hate".
"So, among the current refugees, women and children have no protection at all?" Guo Xin asked.
Su Zhizhou explained: "It can't be said that way. We can only say that we have provided certain protection, but we have not been able to truly protect the women and children, mainly the women and girls. The children are in a better situation than them."
"I think now that I have the spare money, I would like to follow that noble man's example and open an orphanage."