Fang Er's words were all discussed and agreed upon with Qin Qiong last night.
The more the merchants listened, the more excited they became. Discounts on business taxes, exclusive supply to the court, and the use of telegraph – these were incredibly attractive to them!
While the aristocratic families were still in power, they controlled all profitable businesses across the land, and these merchants had only risen in the last two years.
With the trade routes to Liaodong, Nanyue, and Xiyu opened, although business opportunities were everywhere, reality was equally harsh.
After all, there's a saying, "The marketplace is like a battlefield!" Being able to foresee opportunities was crucial.
Mo's Spice House had been doing business here long before Nanyue returned to the Tang Dynasty, and in recent years, they had controlled over thirty percent of the spice trade in four prefectures and seventeen counties.
However, in this era, without connections, doing business was always somewhat constrained. Otherwise, Fang Er wouldn't have paid sixty percent of Zui Xian Lou's profits to befriend Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde.
As the spice business grew, people would come to solicit bribes every few days.
But if they could obtain this sheepskin certificate of honor, it would undoubtedly serve as a protective charm.
Although not explicitly stated, small officials would have to consider anything issued by the Protectorate-General's Office.
After much deliberation, Mo Datong was the first to stand up: "Thank you, Protector-General Qin, for thinking highly of me. Mo's Spice House is willing to donate ten thousand strings of cash to aid in disaster relief."
He expected praise, but instead, Qin Qiong repeatedly shook his head after hearing this.
"Shopkeeper Mo probably doesn't understand my intention yet."
"This gentleman here is the newly appointed Duke of Anguo. His previous title was Duke of Shenyang Commandery."
"If it were about wealth, he could bring hundreds of millions of strings of cash from Liaodong within three days. However, what is lacking here are supplies."
"Under natural disasters, what the people need are food to fill their stomachs, dry clothes, and medicine to prevent epidemics."
"These are things that cannot necessarily be bought with money right now."
The meaning was quite clear, and no merchant present could fail to understand.
Mo Datong quickly cupped his hands and said, "It was my oversight. Please do not blame me, Protector-General Qin."
"In that case, our firm is willing to donate three thousand piculs of rice, two thousand sets of clothing, and also provide five hundred porters for the Protectorate-General's Office to use."
Nanyue was mountainous, and for the firm to travel to various places, they needed to use a large number of porters to carry goods.
These porters, while outwardly employees, were in fact domestic servants. No one would quibble over this detail, as the people in the mountains also relied on selling agricultural products to make a living.
Without these porters, relying solely on packhorses, it was impossible to traverse the treacherous mountain paths.
Similarly, the porters were familiar with the various locations in the four prefectures and seventeen counties, which would be a great help in disaster relief.
Beside him, Zhao Guangzhen stood up after Mo Datong and cupped his hands:
"Zhao's Carriage and Horse Service is willing to donate a thousand piculs of grain and food, and also provide two hundred small boats for the Protectorate-General's Office to use."
In the past, they would never have dared to do such a thing, as it could be seen as an attempt to win over public favor. But now, with the Protectorate-General's Office leading the initiative and the honor of being an "Caring Merchant," they felt much more at ease in taking action.
"Liu's Timber House is willing to donate a thousand piculs of grain and food, and provide another three hundred porters for use."
"I am from Wang's Grain House. We have nothing else, but are willing to donate five thousand piculs of grain!"
"I'll contribute seven hundred piculs of grain and three hundred porters!"
~~~~~
The twenty-six firms present spoke one after another. In less than half an hour, they had pooled over a hundred thousand piculs of grain, thousands of sets of clothes, and a total of over four thousand porters.
Qin Qiong listened to their reports, sitting at the head seat with no discernible emotion. After everyone had spoken, he gave a look to the Deputy Protector-General, Nan Cheng, who was beside him.
Nan Cheng brought out a wooden box from behind a screen, containing a neatly stacked pile of sheepskin scrolls.
Compared to paper, this material had a longer shelf life.
Using specially made ink, they filled in the names of each firm, the pledged donations, and then, after affixing the official seal of the Protectorate-General's Office, they handed over a token engraved with "Caring Merchant" to each person.
"Everyone, I thank you on behalf of the people of the four prefectures and seventeen counties for your generous contributions!"
"When you return, please keep the sheepskin scrolls yourselves. You can hang this token in your shop during normal times. If there is any trouble, you can send someone with the token to seek assistance."
After donating so much, besides the benefits Fang Er had mentioned earlier, the biggest reason for these firms was to ward off disaster by spending money. The official seal was a powerful deterrent, and they had long been accustomed to dealing with such pressures.
After receiving the sheepskin scrolls and tokens, they still harbored some doubt about their usefulness. Could this truly serve as a protective charm?
The south was naturally prone to rain, and the granaries of each firm were built on high ground.
After returning, one merchant, during the intermittent breaks in the continuous rain, transported the supplies to the Protectorate-General's Office's grand warehouse.
Wendan City, as the largest city in the four prefectures and seventeen counties, and the former capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom, had a length and width of about six li each. However, its permanent population was less than one hundred thousand, not even a tenth of Chang'an City.
Moreover, the Protectorate-General's Army was stationed outside the city, so there were plenty of empty spaces within the city.
If based on Chang'an City's population density of twenty thousand people per square kilometer, the city could accommodate at least fifty to sixty thousand disaster victims.
The porters sent by the merchants, led by the Protectorate-General's Army, erected elevated wooden houses within the city. Once built, brazier fires were lit inside to dispel moisture, serving as temporary shelters for the disaster victims.
At the Protectorate-General's Office, Qin Qiong had someone find the oldest elder in the city.
@￥%@#￥~~
An old man, with a hunched back, stood opposite him, speaking in the local dialect.
Mo Datong, who was nearby, quickly explained, "Great Protector-General, this is my wife's great-grandfather. Southerners use titles without surnames; his name is Gang."
Fang Er had heard some about this. It was still the same in later generations, where people were most often addressed as "Wu Moumou."
The character "Wu" was equivalent to "Mister" in Chinese, and "moumou" was the name.
Not only "Wu," but also "Du," "Mao," "Ma," "Bo," "Saiye," and others, were actually honorifics for different groups of people.
"Ask him what he thinks of this heavy rain and if there have been similar situations here before," Qin Qiong said to Mo Datong.
After Mo Datong communicated with his wife's great-grandfather, his father-in-law's grandfather, he replied to Qin Qiong's questions.
The current heavy rain was indeed unusual, but not unprecedented.
There had been a similar occurrence seventy years ago, when Gang was in his teens. That rain lasted for nearly a month before it stopped.
It was said that after the floodwaters receded, the land was in utter disarray, littered with the corpses of people and animals. Wendan City alone lost several thousand citizens during that event.
Based on Gang's estimation, if all four prefectures and seventeen counties were included, at least hundreds of thousands of people would have died in that great rain.
Flash floods, starvation, and epidemics caused by the corpses after the water receded were the main culprits.
This made Qin Qiong and Fang Er's expressions grow increasingly grave.
In an era where information and transportation were not yet convenient, such natural disasters were undoubtedly the greatest trials for humanity.