The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 48

When floods and droughts occur, the government lends money to the people to buy seeds. This is a benevolent policy of the country to care for the people. It is also the so-called "the green and the yellow are not connected, but the spring is given to everyone." After the prefectures and counties received the money, they forged rosters and sent them to the vassal yamen for review. Because the scribes in the vassal yamen received benefits from state and county officials every year, they were never picky. Over the years, less than 1% of the money lent to Zikou has been handed over to the people, and the rest has been enriched by state and county officials. Some state and county officials are considerate of the hardships of people's livelihood, and occasionally they are actually paid out, but most of them are lost to the yamen. The scribes sent people to pretend to receive it, which could not benefit the people. I used to be familiar with all kinds of disadvantages in Shanxi. Now when I come to Gansu, I find that the situation is similar, so I strictly prohibit it and do not allow the lending of seeds. Firstly, it can protect the national funds from losses, and secondly, it can prevent official corruption. I have informed the court that I do not intend to lend the seed mouth next spring.

I heard that you now have people driving BMWs to receive assistance, and the disadvantages are the same as they have been since ancient times.

In the 24th year of Daoguang's reign (1844), Mr. Deng Tingzhen took office as Chief Envoy of Gansu Province and vigorously promoted reclamation of wasteland with the purpose of increasing cultivated land and taxation. However, he should not misunderstand the heretical theory of committee member Ding Yuanmiao and falsely report the amount, saying that he found more than 18,000 hectares of cultivated land and received more than 41,000 sections of tribute land from Ye Fan ("section" is the same as "stone", which is the northern land). Commonly used measurement units (1 mu = 1.6 dou, one stone is equal to 10 dou, that is, one section is 16 acres), the required silver is more than 17,000 taels, and the grain is more than 23,000 shi. But these cultivated lands do not actually exist at all, and the people suffer endless consequences. Local officials are often punished for insufficient collection of money and grain.

Qixiang would like to ask for exemption from this heavy burden, and I strongly support it. After revising the memorial several times, I still can’t decide what form to use to submit it. Until one day when I was scheduled to visit, I said to Qi Xiang: "The new emperor has ascended the throne, opened up the way for speech, and issued an edict to ask for words. Why don't you just use the request for words in response to the edict as a reason?" Qi Xiang handed me the memorial, and I I copied it on his behalf and sent it out. I took the lead in donating again, and everyone donated a total of two thousand taels to the Ministry of Household Affairs as departmental expenses---I was worried that the clerks of the Ministry of Household Affairs would interfere with it. After the memorial was presented, the emperor gave special approval.

In order to rectify military affairs, Qixiang began to eliminate veterans. Admiral Cheng Yu couldn't control Guyuan's soldiers. These soldiers also heard that the old soldiers would be eliminated and new ones would be recruited instead of being replaced by young soldiers. So the whole battalion went into an uproar and gathered at the training ground, leaving the admiral's yamen empty. The patrolman went to try to persuade him, but the soldiers said he was showing favoritism and covering up. They pushed the patrolman to the ground and plucked out all his hair and beard. In fact, although these soldiers are arrogant, they are just bluffing. Fan Maode of Jingdao in Pingqing was very frightened after hearing the news. He went to the camp in person to kowtow to the soldiers and ask them to disperse. When the soldiers refused to obey, Fan Maode wrote another pledge [1] and gave it to the captain, promising not to lay off the veterans, and the troubled soldiers returned to the camp.