Chapter 1915: Locust plague breaks out, rumors of hen
Fei Qian didn't know that there was a hairy boy in Dunhuang who wanted to challenge Lu Bu's authority, and he wasn't even very concerned about the final outcome of the Jiangxia battle, because there was a more difficult problem in front of him at the moment.
locust.
The last large-scale locust plague occurred in the first year of Yanping.
Fei Qian was a little depressed.
Why don’t I have a long memory?
In the first year of Yanping's reign, late spring cold came, which disrupted the entire climate. In autumn, there was no rain for a long time, resulting in drought and locusts.
This year, it is also a cold spring, but it seems that Fei Qian has Zaozhi under his command, and the agriculture that Zaozhi is responsible for already has some experience in dealing with a cold spring, so Fei Qian has not received any disaster reports in this area, so he doesn't know.
In my sleep, I actually ignored it.
Chang'an, that is, the Guanzhong area, because the water conservancy project restoration work is constantly in progress, the vegetation is considered good, and the deep plowing effect of Huang's plow is also relatively good, so even if there are some locust eggs, there is not much chance to grow.
However, in the Heluo area, due to the long-term and sufficient manpower to take care of the fields, under the influence of the drought this autumn, swarms of locusts crawled out of the ground, forming an overwhelming locust plague.
Locusts are also living creatures, so they follow the biological instinct to eat.
Normally, locusts will fly east and south, because there is more vegetation there, which means more food. Why not north and west?
This is because most locust infestations occur in autumn, and in autumn in the northwest, leaves have already begun to fall in many places. In addition, the northwest wind blows to the southeast, so it is naturally easier to follow the airflow, and there are more leaves that have not yet been harvested.
Withered vegetation.
But this time, it was different, because Chang'an Sanfu and Hebei Province were prosperous under Fei Qian's governance, while the Yanzhou and Yuzhou areas had just been destroyed by Fei Qian, which resulted in Yanzhou and part of Yuzhou near Heluo.
Locusts...
If all the locusts in Heluo were eaten from east to south, wouldn't they starve to death? So these locusts naturally began to spread to Hedong and Sanfu.
Many people have not directly seen a locust plague, so they may not have a very direct idea. The reason why a locust plague is terrifying is that within one square meter, the density of locusts can reach thousands or tens of thousands!
Such dense locusts fly past, covering the sky and darkening the sky. In an instant, crops will be destroyed and no harvest will be harvested. An ordinary-sized locust swarm has 40 million members, and these guys can fly 150 kilometers a day, eating
It can probably supply food rations for 30,000 to 40,000 people.
China has been based on farming since ancient times, so it is naturally a perfect food court for locusts.
What's even more frightening is that locust plagues often mean disasters never come singly.
Before the locust plague, there is usually a drought, but after the locust plague, there are also man-made disasters. Because the crops that have been planted with so much hard work are all gone in an instant, the fields are empty of ears, and the crops are empty.
, there was no hope of any harvest in the fields for at least two years, so many ordinary farmers who depended on the weather and had no savings immediately became full-time refugees, leaving their homes to escape famine, and even revolted at the slightest instigation.
The shadow of the locust plague can be seen behind Chen Sheng, Wu Guang Uprising, Huang Chao Uprising, Li Zicheng Uprising, White Lotus Rebellion, etc.
Therefore, locust plagues, or various natural disasters, are a very troublesome matter for top-level rulers.
Note that it is the top layer.
Not all rulers have the same interests. The top-level rulers and the middle-level rulers have different interest trends. For example, at the moment, Liu Xie's wish is to rejuvenate the world, while most local gentry are "no matter what"
Fight, don’t come to my place to fight』...
As long as the rulers at the top are not fools, they will usually stand on the side of the common people, because any emperor who harms the common people will generally not last long. Therefore, imperial power is inherently biased towards civil rights, while the power of the prime minister is two-faced.
Chicken thieves, both benefit from it.
Of course, there are also many emperors who were deceived by the prime minister.
For example, locusts are gods and cannot be killed easily.
For example, the locust plague is a natural disaster, and it is the emperor who has done something outrageous and resentful that caused God's punishment...
From this point of view, if there is a locust plague in Hedong, Guanzhong, then naturally it will be like that...
Rumors immediately spread.
Like locusts, they began to point their fingers at Fei Qian, but the first person to be affected was not Fei Qian, but Cai Yan.
In the meeting hall of the General's Mansion of the Han Dynasty, Pang Tong and Xun You stayed away from each other. Even Huang Xu stood in the hall with a little embarrassment, because the person kneeling in the hall was Cai Yan.
Fei Qian looked at Cai Yan with a headache.
Cai Yan had already taken off his crown, and his black hair was hanging down, and he knelt down in the hall. Cai Yan came to apologize to Fei Qian. The reason for his apology was that she was a woman. Because she was a woman, she could not be a woman.
"Ji Sichen", and it was precisely because Fei Qian appointed Cai Yan and others that the current locust plague occurred...
There's also the whole thing about Wang Ying.
The hen turns into a male, and the world is in turmoil. In short, it is not a good thing. Look, didn't God give a warning? The locust army, uh, the locusts are coming...
For Fei Qian, these rumors are really bullshit, even more ridiculous than Brother Ni. But for the people of the Han Dynasty who have not experienced the influence and teachings of later generations, these rumors are quite harmful.
Powerful.
But it is understandable. After all, Fei Qian was deceived time and time again by so many people. From newspapers to radio stations, from news to advertisements, almost everything was turned aside, and then he completely lost touch with the so-called people.
In the Han Dynasty, when some people swear by so-called examples to provide evidence, who can immediately clearly understand the secrets hidden in them?
Fei Qian frowned slightly and said, "This matter has nothing to do with you!"
"Spring and Autumn Period, the fifth year of Duke Huan", "Spring and Autumn Period, fifteenth year of Duke Xi", August, period. "Spring and Autumn Period, third year of Duke Wen", rain in the Song Dynasty. "Spring and Autumn Period, eighth year of Duke Wen", also heard of Katydid.
..." Cai Yan persisted, thinking that this was just Fei Qian's defense of her, and she didn't want Fei Qian to be in trouble. "Dong Huan behaved inappropriately, Duke Xi was fond of war, and Duke Wen abolished the direct line, all of which were at the fault of the owner.
There are katydids... A general should put the overall situation first and not have any selfish thoughts..."
As early as 707 BC, it was recorded that locusts appeared in Shandong, which was the earliest recorded locust plague. Subsequent dynasties also attached great importance to the locust plague and listed it as one of the three major disasters. However, it was not until the Ming Dynasty that Xuguang Qinong
The Zhengquan Shu comprehensively and systematically introduces the emergence and development of locusts, statistics of the year and month of locust occurrence, etc., and explains that locusts are just crop-eating pests, not gods, nor are they so-called early warnings from heaven...
Therefore, it is not surprising that Cai Yan has such a perception now.
"Hey... you sit down first..." Fei Qian shook his head. Sometimes it is an advantage for Cai Yan to study, but studying alone is not enough. "Heng Gong is guilty of misconduct? What is misconduct? Conspiracy to kill his father?"
Cai Yan nodded slightly, "In the Spring and Autumn Period, to conceal one's public duties without offering sacrifices is to say that one is not a minister..."
Duke Yin of Lu, the father of Duke Lu Heng, died in the hands of Duke Lu Heng and Father Yu.
"Spring and Autumn" does not record how Duke Yin of Lu was buried. According to the style of "Spring and Autumn", the king was killed, and if the person who killed the king was not punished, then there would be no record of the funeral, because this is disobedient.
Because of the behavior, the monarch has grievances, so he cannot enjoy the sacrifices and funerals in peace.
Father Yu first suggested that Duke Lu Yin kill Gongzi Yun, later known as Lu Henggong, but Duke Lu Yin did not agree. Father Yu was worried that it would be detrimental to him if the matter was leaked, so he slandered Duke Yin of Lu for his desire to harm Gongzi Yun.
, and persuaded Gongzi Yun to kill Duke Yin of Lu, and Gongzi Yun agreed.
So Father Yu sent people to kill Duke Yin of Lu, and made his son Yun the king, who was Duke Huan of Lu.
In the end, Duke Lu Heng didn't get a good end. He married a wife, who turned out to be a German orthopedic surgeon... When he discovered the prairie above him, Duke Lu Heng naturally couldn't bear it and chose to go home and beat his wife. Then he was
German orthopedics is screwed...
This example was even used to attack Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty, because Li Shimin actually did this so-called "illegal" thing, but Li Shimin was a ruthless man and ate locusts alive in front of the civil and military ministers...
…
Live.
In the struggle for imperial power, human nature is magnified, and a little evil is magnified a hundred times a thousand times, so family ties and other things will naturally fall by the wayside. Isn't there a saying? If someone betrays someone for five hundred and five thousand, who will?
Everyone looks down on them, shouting and killing them, and there is no discussion when they are arrested, but if they are sold for 50 to 50 million, then everyone will envy them, and even the officials may come to the scene to maintain order...
So what happened to Duke Heng of Lu can be considered a big deal?
What's wrong with Li Shimin's behavior?
The key is still two words, benefit.
"Yin Gong, the death of Heng Gong is the result of the loss of power to Yu's father, and the leverage is due to treachery..." Fei Qian said in a deep voice, "The treacherous people use their lips and tongues to profit from it. This was the case in the Spring and Autumn Period, and it will be the same in the future! Yin Qian said
Duke Heng is not a murderer, but he is cowardly and incompetent, which makes Master Hui and his like proud to do evil! Now there are rumors that it is the same kind of people who confuse the public, have ulterior motives, and have other plans!"
Who else could have done this?
Isn't it just someone who was outdone by Cai Yan and a group of other women, and then felt very unhappy and took advantage of the opportunity to gossip?
Cai Yan was a little stunned, obviously she had not thought about this before.
Fei Qian stood up and said: "Go and call your women's army to meet in front of the general's office..."
Cai Yan said a little cutely: "Ah? What do you want to do?"
"Destroy the locusts!" Fei Qian said through gritted teeth.
Of course Fei Qian doesn't want to perform in front of others what it means to eat locusts alive, well, not even dead ones, so Fei Qian is going to bring creatures more ferocious than locusts to exterminate the locusts!
A creature that can bleed for a month and not die for a week, but is still alive and kicking, has a kind of creature that is born with seventy-two changes. It can change between cute and cute and a Hedong lion at will in a single thought, and it can also be unable to even twist a water bottle.
Turn it on and transform into a strong man carrying gas tanks up to the third or fifth floor as smoothly as breathing. He can reason when talking about feelings, talk about feelings when reasoning, and perform a full martial arts show when he can't argue, making him cry twice.
If you hang yourself for three times, let me ask you, little locust, are you afraid or not?!
Well, although the above is a joke. But since these rumors point to Fei Qian and Cai Yan, they must fight back, and the toughest way is to directly bring such a group of women's soldiers to destroy the locusts!
Of course, Cai Yan and others are not asked to go up and kill them personally, they just need to stand and set an example.
Cai Yan had some doubts, but still followed Fei Qian's request, went to Zhiyin Prison, and began to summon his men...
According to later statistics, from more than 700 BC to the Republic of China, there were more than 600 insect plagues in total, and more than 400 of them were identified as locusts. Of course, because ancient times had
The names and cognitions of locusts are not very clear, so some errors are inevitable. However, judging from this numerical value, locust disasters were actually very frequent in ancient China.
The earliest locusts were mainly concentrated in the Shandong Peninsula. Several major locust plagues before the Spring and Autumn Period all came from the Shandong Peninsula. Fei Qian believes that because the entire climate in ancient times was relatively mild and humid, only that area in Shandong was affected by river impacts and tidal flat structures.
, causing the water level to drop during a drought, and then the basic conditions for a locust plague appeared.
Later, due to climate change, the Little Ice Age came again and again, causing the area that was originally the Daze Wetland to gradually dry up. Therefore, during this period, the locusts developed very rapidly. At the same time, the locust plague's origin gradually spread to the north and south.
It is no longer limited to the Shandong Peninsula.
Fei Qian stood in front of the general office, looked up at the sky, and sighed slightly.
This is a locust problem, but it is also a land problem.
To put it more bluntly, this is a matter of interests.
There is a joke in later generations: when I was a child, I had no money to eat instant noodles, but when I grow up, I still have no money to eat instant noodles.
The Moonlight Clan is not only found in later generations, but has existed since the beginning of China. No matter which dynasty they are in, the people at the bottom are in a state of "moonlight" or "yearlight". They have worked hard all their lives, and then given
The family ate, drank, and used it, but nothing was left behind. Well, maybe it wasn’t all that was left behind. There were many who were left with a lot of debt...
This kind of "moonlight" class without any savings is very dangerous and has no ability to withstand disasters. Once it encounters a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, it will immediately fall apart and its wives and children will be separated.
Take the locust plague as an example. Because of the locust plague, the harvest of crops failed, or even no grains were harvested. This then led to the collapse of the entire chain that was originally barely maintained. The money owed to the young crops and the loan sharks were not repaid, so they either left their hometowns and became refugees, or
When they had no choice but to rebel, and because they had nothing to eat, whether it was wandering or fighting, the old and the weak were the first to die. Once the corpses were not disposed of in time, it was very easy to cause a plague, which would then be taken to other areas and eventually sweep across the country...
Unlike the emperor who became nervous and anxious whenever he heard about locust plagues, droughts and floods, the large landowners generally did not panic when faced with these disasters. As long as they were controlled within a certain range, they would not trigger a full-scale uncontrollable war.
The big landlord class even wishes that there would be famine every year!
Because only in disaster years will these untouchables sell their land! And every piece of grain accumulated by the big landowners can be sold for gold price in disaster years!
Therefore, a very strange pattern emerged in the Chinese feudal dynasties. Once such a disaster occurred, ministers immediately began to criticize the emperor or political opponents, saying that it was the other party's fault, and then asked the emperor to provide money for disaster relief.
Local taxes were exempted, but the big landowners and local officials profited from it, and everyone was full of food.
Fei Qian had reason to believe that spreading rumors and campaigning against Cai Yan and others was only the first step. Immediately afterwards, the children of the noble clans who had been affected by the disaster began to cry and make trouble, carrying the victims and asking Fei Qian to provide money, people and food.
To provide disaster relief, they can then take the largest portion of food and grass and make the thinnest porridge. On the one hand, they can maintain the lowest survival line of these victims and prevent them from starving to death on a large scale or gathering to make trouble;
Taking this opportunity, Feiqian was finally distributed to the fields in the hands of various farmers, and they were obtained in various ways!
Over the years, Fei Qian has led his soldiers to conquer the north and south. Quite a few soldiers have converted their military exploits into farmland in their families. There are many such households in the North and Guanzhong, and these military exploits have been converted into farmland.
The land can still be bought and sold. Even if the sale will cause it to lose the preferential tax of military field, it will not change the use value of the field...
But a thorny problem is that Feiqian cannot do everything for these soldiers, nor can they provide protection beyond the standard.
Because human nature is often lazy and greedy.
Naughty children are not only found in wealthy families.
When the second and third generations of soldiers emerge as naughty children, Fei Qian's protection and help for the soldiers will trigger resentment and cowardice, just like the land equalization in the Tang Dynasty and the soldiers' households in the Ming Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty restored the land equalization system, and it was in the name of the state that the land could not be bought and sold, but in fact it was quickly corroded and riddled with holes. In the later period, it became a drawback of the Tang Dynasty. There were many powerful people with connections.
They can obtain land through various methods, but even if ordinary people want to buy or sell land to extend their family life, it is illegal and they will be arrested and sentenced to hard labor...
In the Ming Dynasty, soldiers at the tenth level could only use three to four points of their strength for external defense, but after becoming the Green Battalion, they could use the strength of the twelveth level...
Therefore, it was impossible for Fei Qian to establish universal or collective ownership during the feudal dynasty. It was simply unrealistic, which left the problem that he is about to face now.
Of course, from another perspective, land circulation can also stimulate economic development and even break the "small farmer economy" to a certain extent, inspiring more Chinese people to start moving towards a broader sky.
Fei Qian slowly exhaled the air in his chest and abdomen, and then whispered to Pang Tong who was standing aside: "Shi Yuan, there are a few things to arrange..."
