Chapter Eighty-two: Offering Advice

  Unfortunately, Grandmother Zhang had just set off and left the capital city. No matter how loudly Zhao Xiu shouted, there was no way for her to respond.

  Zhao Xuan had no choice but to grit her teeth and go herself.

  At first, she saw that it rained a lot this year and told people to pay attention to digging ditches in the fields. She didn't think that this year's rain would be so much, so she just let people follow the habits of previous years, simply deepening the original soil ditches used for drainage, or using a hoe to dig new ditches more than one foot deep in the muddy ground. However, these ditches were either made of soil and easily deformed when washed away by mud water, or would be filled up quickly by sand, stones, and mud brought by upstream water, requiring them to be re-dug. They couldn't compare with stone-lined water ditches at all.

  She now found that this method no longer worked, but using stone blocks to build the ditch wall was not feasible either. The only option was to have people dig the earth ditches as large and deep as possible every day, dispatching people to patrol and immediately re-dig any filled-in sections. Additionally, all farmland near the riverbank was abandoned, with large stones and other debris used to reinforce the riverbank, preventing the water level from rising and overflowing onto the fields.

  The Zhao family's second son, Zhao Er, had a large amount of land under his name, all of which were passed down from the county magistrate. Naturally, they were located in the best areas and were all connected together. The tenant farmers were also very capable. After Zhao Xun made some improvements, the situation in the fields did get better. The river water outside no longer flooded into the fields, and the tenant farmers quickly drained out the excess water from the fields. Upon inspecting the crops in the fields, whether it was cotton or rice, a portion of them could still be salvaged, which was an unexpected stroke of luck amidst all the misfortune. However, one thing was certain - this year's harvest would definitely take a huge hit.

  Zhao Xuan calculated the accounts and felt a bit depressed. The fields in Fengxian's old home were not harvested, and the fields in Xiao Er's house outside were also unlikely to have a good harvest this year. It was said that the areas near Beijing and Shandong were experiencing droughts. The crops were not growing well. The north was dry, but Shanghai was raining too much, it was really like "when it rains, it pours". Why couldn't things just be balanced? This was her first time managing the household, and she hadn't figured out how to make ends meet yet, let alone deal with these natural disasters, which had her running around frantically. Although her grandmother always said, "with land in hand, one's heart is at ease", Zhao Xuan was becoming more and more aware that relying on heaven for food wasn't easy either. She needed to think of a way to support her family without having to rely on the weather.

  But that's for later, for now her attention is still focused on the task at hand.

  The big households with a lot of property are still facing difficulties, let alone the other families in the clan. The outsiders who do business in the sixth house are doing well, their family has little land, and even if they suffer heavy losses, it is limited. Although the local cotton and grain crops have failed, it will affect the cotton and grain business of the sixth house. But they can go to other places to collect goods, or find supplements from other places, so the problem is not big. The families with many registered properties, such as the ancestral house and the third house, also have a solid foundation. Even if they lose money for one or two years, at most it will be difficult to get by, but it won't hurt their vitality. The problem lies in those small households with few people, thin family assets, little land, and no other income except for the crops in the field. They have been affected by this rain, even before the cotton and grain harvest season, they are already suffering.

  Zhao Qixuan's family was in such a situation.

  Zhao Qixuan's family was not well-off to begin with. Although he had managed to curry favor with Zhao Xuan over the past few months, occasionally bringing back Western trinkets and books to win her affection, earning a decent amount of silver in the process. However, their household finances were still strained, as he and his wife were determined to send their son to private school, so they continued to live frugally, saving up for their son's education expenses. When their land was flooded, they didn't have enough manpower to dig canals and clear the water. They managed to hire a few people to help with the digging, but after a night of heavy rain, all their efforts were in vain, and more than half of their crops were still submerged. The couple went to inspect the damage themselves, and when they saw the devastating scene before them, they were so distraught that they couldn't even cry.

  Zhao Qixuan saw that the situation in Xiao Erfang's house was still okay, so he gritted his teeth and came to ask Zhao Xiu for help. Zhao Xiu listened to his pitiful words and let Lu Changxiu inform her subordinates and also helped him with his family matters. Zhao Qixuan was so grateful that he almost knelt down on the ground to kowtow to her, but Zhao Xiu persuaded him for half a day before sending him away.

  There are many families in the clan like Zhao Qixuan's, and not many servants or hired workers can be found to help with household chores. Even if one is helped, can they help everyone? Is there still time to take care of their own family's land? But if they help one family and not another, others will inevitably gossip and get angry. It seems that relying solely on the strength of one's own family to help others is impractical.

  Such a large clan, with three internal houses and nine external houses, there are already several hundred men with the same surname. Each household has countless male and female servants, plus hired workers and tenant farmers, at least several thousand people. If these few thousand people were united, it would be like a village, a production brigade, acting uniformly, each doing their own job, can't they still face the current difficulties?

  Zhao Xuan thought for a whole night and finally made up her mind.

  The first thing she did the next morning was to personally visit Zhao Yun and his wife Shen Shi in Zongfang.

  Zhao Yun and Shen's family have also been worried about the disaster recently. The ancestral house is just a landowner, relying on the output of the fields to make a living. This year's harvest is clearly not going well, which is a natural disaster, everyone is the same, and there is nothing to complain about. The problem is that Elder Ye is not at home now, when he comes back, he will know that there has been such a big loss in the family, even if it is not the responsibility of his son and daughter-in-law, he will also push the responsibility onto their heads. But even knowing that Father Ye would do so, Zhao Yun can only do his best.

  He not only had to worry about his own family's fields, but also had to send people to help families in the clan who were affected by the disaster and unable to support themselves. Generally speaking, it was Shen Shi who went to their homes, bringing some money and grain, making sure they could get through the year. Although doing so would increase their own losses, and his father would scold him even more severely when he returned home, Zhao Jing still felt that this was what a son of the clan should do. Shen Shi, who came from a noble family and had been taught well since childhood, also strongly approved of her husband's actions.

  Zhao Xun knew about Zhao Jing's behavior and was very appreciative in her heart. Although the eldest uncle of the ancestral hall had an unreliable grandfather and an unreliable father, he himself was indeed a good person who did his best for the clan, it's just that his efforts were not in the right place.

  She advised Zhao Yun's wife: "All the families in our clan have suffered, some lightly and some heavily. Brother Yun gave money and grain to the most miserable families to help them get by, but what about those who are not as miserable but still suffering? If they ask the ancestral house for help, will Brother Yun also send money and grain? If he sends it to them, then what about those families whose situation is slightly better but still not much better? How much money and grain does Brother Yun's family have to support so many clan members? I once heard someone say that it's not the scarcity that's the problem, but the uneven distribution. Brother Yun has helped some people, won't those clan members who didn't receive your family's money and grain harbor resentment?"

  Zhao Jiong was stunned, but thinking about the situation in his clan over the past two days, he couldn't help but feel depressed. Zhao Xiu's words were not unfounded, as some clansmen had already seen him letting his wife send money and grain to those households that suffered greatly from the disaster, and they came knocking on his door asking for money and grain too. He pushed them away with a sentence saying their household didn't suffer severely, but the person started to squeeze him, saying he was buying people's hearts and wasn't genuinely thinking about the clansmen. What could he do?

  Mrs. Shen looked at her husband's expression and naturally knew why he was sad, so she said to Zhao Xiu: "Sister, this is reasonable, but even if someone in the clan has complaints, we can't just stand by and do nothing because of their grievances. After all, our family still has some silver. If we can help people, let's help."

  Zhao Xun disapprovingly said: "Our small second house also has a family foundation, and I helped the affected clansmen. To be honest, even if we gave a share of money and grain to everyone in the clan, our family could afford it, but that's not reasonable. Natural disasters are unpredictable, this year there was flooding, next year there will be drought, who knows what will happen in some years, affecting agricultural production. Can't we always rely on us for support? This year we started, and next time when a disaster strikes, will your clan still take out silver? What about our small second house? How much family foundation can your clan endure with such expenses? Our small second house's money didn't fall from the sky either! You occupy the name of the clan, supporting clansmen is reasonable, but if this continues, won't everyone in the clan not need to work anymore? As long as they don't have food, they can just rely on the clan's charity. We small second house don't even have the name of the clan, and our situation is even worse. If we are directly suppressed by the clan, how will you handle it then?"

  Zhao Jiong's face turned pale as he was told: "Then... what can be done?" He wasn't worried that the second house would overpower the main house, but the situation Zhao Xiu described could indeed happen. Even before this year's flood disaster, many people in the clan didn't work and relied solely on the autumn harvest from the inner three houses or outer six houses to make a living. The pressure the second house faced was even greater than that of the main house. In the past, the title of Duke had been too prominent, and the clansmen had long been accustomed to relying on his prestige. Even though he had passed away, Old Lady Zhang was still around, and whenever something happened, they would look to the second house to take charge. The Zhao clan wouldn't be able to cultivate outstanding young men to take over if things continued like this.

  Shen's family saw that Zhao Xiu had already made up her mind, and hastily asked for advice: "Sister, do you have any good ideas? Speak quickly so everyone can discuss it."

  "I don't have any good ideas, just a foolish plan. Brother Jing also knows that our family's fields are now in a better situation, with temporary ditches dug and people patrolling at regular intervals. Even if the water floods in, we can rescue it in time. This is the advantage of having many people. Our whole clan has several thousand people, including masters and servants, tenants and hired workers. If we can unite, maybe we can still save some of the crops that were damaged by the flood. Let's try our best to salvage what we can, even if it's just a little. If not, then let the ancestral hall take charge, uniting all the different branches of the family. Those with money contribute money, those with grain contribute grain, and those with strength contribute strength. We should be able to help those clan members who were severely affected. Using the collective power of our whole clan, isn't that better than just our two families fighting alone?"

  Zhao Jing's eyes lit up, isn't that right? With the combined strength of the entire clan, no matter what they do, they will be stronger than those two families with limited power. Moreover, this is the power of the entire clan, and there is no need to worry about being drained of their own family's resources in the future, nor can outsiders make idle comments.

  Shen's family was also very supportive of this suggestion, and for a moment she was overjoyed: "Dad is not at home, we can use this method and he won't be able to stop us..." As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she had misspoken, quickly closed her mouth, and her face turned red. Speaking ill of her father-in-law was not something a good daughter-in-law should do.

  Although it shouldn't be done, what was said is also the truth. Zhao Jiong looked at his wife with a guilty conscience and turned to Zhao Xuan: "Thank you for your hard work, this is something our family should do, but you're just a girl who spoke up, I'm really ashamed. However, rest assured that your idea is great, not only can it be used to respond to this disaster, but also in the future when dealing with family matters, we can do things in the same way. As time goes by, it will become a habit, and our clan members will love and support each other, how can our Zhao family not rise again?!

  Zhaoxiu smiled, and then flourished again? Except for the appearance of her grandfather, County Master Zhaoyi, has the Zhao family ever truly flourished? If in the future, the clan can really do what Zhaoxuan said, mutually loving and supporting each other, perhaps the Zhao family can achieve true "flourishing". (To be continued~^~)