My Italian: Chapter 388 disaster relief

In the palace of Rome, the drought in southern Italy was being discussed.

"Currently, according to our knowledge, Sicily is the most severely drought-affected area. According to the statistics of the astronomical station, in last winter, the rainfall in Sicily was only 80-120 mm, far lower than the 300-600 mm in previous years. In addition, the rainfall of 110-180 mm in Sardinia is also very dangerous, and the same is true in the southern part of the Kingdom Peninsula. The rainfall starts from 120 mm at Cape Faro, and the more rainfall goes north, the rainfall is not as good as in previous years until Florence. It's flat. This is the rainfall distribution map last winter produced by our Meteorological Bureau, and your Majesty and all ministers can take a look at it."

The director of the Meteorological Bureau opened a map of Italy nervously, on which the difference in rainfall was marked in various colors. It shows at a glance the rainfall in various parts of Italy in winter last year.

Carlo looked at the rainfall distribution map in front of him and said, "Director Cox, can I ask your Meteorological Bureau for the upcoming climate change in Italy, do you have any estimates?"

What Carlo said made all the ministers present look at Director Cox.

As the focus of the audience, the Director of the Meteorological Bureau felt heavy pressure on him.

"Your Majesty, our Meteorological Bureau has also calculated before. According to the meteorological change data of the past century, there are only four large-scale droughts like last winter in Italy in a hundred years. The most recent one is the drought in 1881. There is a half probability that this drought will subside in the second year, and there is a 30% probability that it will last for two years. Of course, there are also very abnormal, large-scale rainfall in summer. But this probability is very low, and it is unlikely.”

It is clear that this person knows the consequences of abnormal rainfall, which are more terrible than continuous drought.

"Thank you very much for your explanation, we already know."

Faced with the king's kind words, Director Cox, who was pardoned, left immediately and sensiblely. It is not a wise choice to stay at this time.

Sure enough, before he walked away, he heard Carlo say. "It is now clear, gentlemen, that a drought is inevitable and that a repeat of 1881 is likely."

Carlo's words made the people present tense. The drought in 1881 caused Italy to suffer heavy losses, and directly lost Tunisia, which had been cultivating for many years. Or to put it another way, if the French invasion of Tunisia hadn't stirred up the enthusiasm in Italy and diverted everyone's attention, the Italian government would have been even more sad.

However, there is still a set of data that records the impact of the drought on Italy. In 1881, Italian immigrants were 390,000, which was 150,000 higher than the previous year. In the following two years, Italian immigrants were 340,000, 290,000, and did not return to less than 200,000 until 1985. This is enough to show that there are many question.

In addition, in the past three years, vicious incidents such as riots, vandalism, and looting have tripled compared to previous years, so that the prison had to release some petty criminals with shorter sentences in advance to make room.

So in the face of Carlo's inquiry, the important ministers present also knew the seriousness of the problem.

"Your Majesty, according to my initial estimates, the affected population should be between 12 and 15 million."

Interior Secretary Edras looked at the rainfall distribution map hanging on the wall, and spoke his estimate. The Ministry of the Interior also manages the census, so looking at the area affected by the disaster, we can estimate the approximate population affected by the disaster.

But what he said made everyone frown. Half of the population was affected, but the news couldn't be worse.

At this time, the Minister of Agriculture, Mark Clyde, also added a sentence. "According to the forecast of our Ministry of Agriculture, if there is no rain, a large reduction in agricultural production this year will be a foregone conclusion. Probably the national agricultural production will be reduced by about 18-22%. Among them, the agricultural production in Sicily will be reduced by about 50%, while that in Sardinia will be reduced by about 50%. It is 40-45%, 30-35% south of Naples, 20-30% north of Naples to the south of Rome, 10-20% north of Rome to Florence."

The words of the Minister of Agriculture made many people present really worried. A 20% reduction in agricultural production is going to be a big deal. We must know that although Italy has developed well in recent years, agriculture still accommodates the largest labor force. It can be said that this reduction in agricultural production is very bad for Italy. Italy was originally short of food production, so it could only grow high-value cash crops, and then purchase food from Eastern Europe to maintain its livelihood.

Now that the production of cash crops is reduced, it will affect too many people, and may even bring turmoil to the Kingdom of Italy, so no one dares to ignore the power of this drought.

"Everyone, do you have any solutions?"

Looking at the rainfall distribution map in front of him, and thinking about the more than 10 million people affected by the disaster, Carlo immediately asked. This situation has seriously affected the stability of the kingdom and must be taken seriously.

"I suggest that infrastructure construction be carried out in the disaster-affected areas, such as ditches, bridges, roads and other facilities. In addition, we should also start construction during this period for water conservancy facilities that may be in disrepair in various places."

Minister of Communications Pedersen put forward his own proposal, of course, the method must be the most familiar aspect of transportation, of course, water conservancy facilities can also be mentioned by the way.

With the leadership of the Ministry of Communications, the ministers of other departments immediately learned and learned, and they all borrowed from them to offer advice and suggestions.

"In view of the reduction in crop production, the Ministry of Agriculture should take the lead to guide the quality and quantity of export agricultural products as much as possible."

The Minister of Agriculture, who was a step behind, had to find a way to increase the income of farmers.

"In view of the serious situation in the disaster-stricken area, I suggest strengthening the local police force. And keep an eye on the local people's grievances. In addition, the local garrison also needs to be strengthened to ensure that the government has sufficient ability to suppress the local area and prevent malicious elements from taking the opportunity to cause chaos."

Home Secretary Edras also gave his opinion.

Of course, besides these two, there are other suggestions. Anyway, it is nothing more than suppressing public grievances, meeting the needs of the people's livelihood and livelihood, and recruiting redundant labor to avoid causing regional turmoil.

Of course, these people's suggestions are very good, and Carlo thinks everything is reasonable after hearing it, but they seem to have forgotten one question. Fortunately, the Minister of Finance, Baron Torston, did not forget.

"If you want disaster relief, you have to have funds. Especially in the case of this year's super-large-scale drought, the disaster relief funds are even more massive. And the government's emergency fund of 80 million lire is simply impossible to use, so we should issue a A disaster relief bond should preferably have a term of five to ten years."

Well, now that we're talking about bonds, Carlo has to ask. "Your Excellency Torston, how many disaster relief bonds are appropriate?"

"According to the disaster relief expenditure in 1881 and the current price level, I think an emergency bond of 800 million lire with a term of 5-10 years should be sufficient."

Tosten gave a professional answer based on his own knowledge.

The 800 million lire fund is not a small amount, and it has more than 60% of the total government revenue.

"But I remember that the government only spent 520 million lire on disaster relief in 1981?"

"Yes, it was true that only 520 million yuan was spent back then. But Your Majesty, the disaster relief was incomplete and ended quite well. If you want to avoid the results of the year, the disaster relief funds are indispensable."

Facing Toston's words, Carlo considered it and then acquiesced. After all, disaster relief is like firefighting, and there should be no hesitation or reluctance.

But there is still one problem~www.mtlnovel.com~ Carlo thinks it must be determined first.

"How much food does the government plan to purchase for disaster relief?"

"Purchasing food?"

"Yes."

"In terms of purchasing food, we..."

Carlo could see that the government didn't plan to purchase much food, and his expression was a little subtle. Is this a government dominated by a left-wing party?

"Your Majesty, this question is a bit complicated and needs some time to explain."

At this time Prime Minister Antonio stood up.

The prime minister's face must be given, Carlo had no choice but to reply. "Well, I can wait for your explanation."

Afterwards, it seemed as if the incident had passed, and they continued to discuss the issue of disaster relief.

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