Li Qinzai's impression of drought is probably "water shortage". The intuitive picture is of dry river beds, cracked land, and sallow and skinny people in ragged clothes.
Of course these impressions are correct, but there is more to drought than just these images.
When there is obviously food growing on the land, but the output is estimated to be pitifully small, and it is obvious that the family should leave their hometown, but they have to stay in their hometown to wait for the poor food to mature...
No one except the poor farmers should have experienced this feeling of being immersed in despair all day long.
Li Qinzai walked slowly along the field ridges. He carefully observed every acre of field. He even tried to count the number of wheat ears per acre to estimate this year's yield per mu.
The more I count, the colder my heart becomes.
It is almost the end of summer, and after the autumn harvest, this amount of food will definitely not be able to feed a family. By then, there will be large-scale refugees fleeing their hometowns.
That would be a disaster, a disaster affecting the life and death of the people, as well as a disaster for the Tang Dynasty and the government.
Squatting on the edge of the field, Li Qinzai suddenly said: "Ah Si."
"exist."
"Your family is also a farmer. Look at this field. How is the harvest this year?"
Liu Asi looked miserable, shook his head and sighed: "There is no hope. The harvest in the field is only about one-third or one-fourth of previous years. The wheat ears have not grown well at all, and many grains are empty shells.
"
Li Qinzai said in a deep voice: "If the landlords are exempted from rent, the government is exempted from taxes, and every grain of grain in the fields is given to the farmers, will they be able to survive this year?"
"No way, Fifth Young Master, this is not about reducing rents and taxes at all. After the autumn harvest, there will be a great famine."
Li Qinzai fell silent and stared blankly at the lifeless land in front of him.
After a long time, Li Qinzai stood up and said, "Let's go and have a look in the village."
Walking into the village, Li Qinzai was stunned.
Originally, he thought that everyone in the village was sitting around like zombies, or that women and children were crying loudly, and men were beating the ground in frustration.
However, there are no such scenes in the village.
What he saw was a lively scene.
Women and children, big and small, strong and weak, all hurried in and out carrying burdens. Some lined up at the well to draw water, while others carried empty buckets to unknown distances.
The men were naked from the waist up, five or six of them gathered in a group, shouting slogans, and using a sharp log to drill a hole in the ground to build a well.
More people kept digging ditches with hoes at the field ridges. The field ridges were long and far away, and the huge project was disappointing. However, the men still sweated tirelessly, like a group of stubborn fools who insisted on digging a trench that reached the sky.
ditch.
Under the scorching sun, from time to time someone would faint from heatstroke. They would be carried to the shade of a tree to be fanned and put on their face. After waking up to take a breath, they would struggle to get up and continue working.
Li Qinzai was shocked by the scene in front of him. He did not expect that the farmers in ancient times would be so unwilling to admit defeat. Faced with inevitable defeat, they were like a lone cavalry rushing towards an army of thousands of horses, but they still dared to fight against God.
In his previous life, books always talked about how hardworking and brave the working people were. Li Qinzai always thought that was just a modification. After all, he grew up in the city and had never seen it with his own eyes.
Today, he finally saw it.
The picture is very shocking. Faced with the destined outcome, even Li Qinzai, who has lived two lifetimes, feels despair, but the farmers do not despair.
They are still gritting their teeth and fighting for their lives.
At this moment, Li Qinzai finally understood that what created the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty was not the so-called wisdom of the kings and ministers, but these unknown lower-class people. They were the ones who truly laid the foundation for the prosperous age.
Slowly approaching a well, Li Qinzai smiled and squatted next to an old man.
The old man is about sixty years old. In this era when the average life expectancy is not long, he is considered an old man in the village. After observing for a long time, Li Qinzai can see that the old man's work is relatively leisurely. He is responsible for maintaining order at the well and assessing the strength of each man who collects water.
The size determines how much water they can carry at a time.
"Old man, are you busy? Haha." Li Qinzai greeted with a smile.
The old man opened his cloudy eyes and saw Li Qinzai and his party wearing short shirts and hunting clothes and holding horses. He could tell at a glance that they were dignitaries in the city, so he did not dare to neglect them. When he was about to stand up and salute, Li Qinzai held his arm.
"Old man, please don't be polite. I'm going to offend the younger generation." Li Qinzai said hurriedly.
The old man hummed for a long time and then said vaguely: "What do you have to say, noble man?"
"I don't dare to ask for advice. I just want to ask about the situation in the fields this year, and I hope that the old man will give me some advice."
The old man looked him up and down: "Is the noble man an official in the city?"
Li Qinzai burst out laughing: "How can a young official like me be just an idle person with nothing to do?"
The old man sighed and said, "I'm afraid we won't be able to survive this year. God doesn't want to give us a way to survive."
Li Qinzai said solemnly: "Is the drought serious?"
The old man pointed to the fields in the distance and said, "Isn't it serious? The noble man has also seen it."
"If landlords are exempted from rent and the government is exempted from taxes, can we survive?"
The old man shook his head: "More than half of the harvest has been lost. Even if taxes are completely exempted, it will be difficult for every household to survive. The food harvested can probably last for two or three months. There will be a famine before the end of the year."
Li Qinzai pointed to the busy farmers in the distance and said, "What are they doing?"
"We are trying every means to get water, whether it's digging wells or digging ditches, all in order to survive. If God doesn't give us a way to survive, we can't wait to die." The old man squinted, and the sadness and joy on his face were obscured by the vicissitudes of time.
"The old man has lived for decades and has seen many disasters, big and small. Floods, droughts, locusts, and snowstorms. I survived through food and hunger. I am lucky to be alive. I have lived enough at my age.
, Pity these dolls..."
In the distance, men and women were still working hard, picking up two buckets of water from afar and pouring it into the ground without even bubbling. The cracked land absorbed all the water in an instant, and the ground became dry again, like a devil's curse.
Big mouth.
Li Qinzai watched all this in silence and sighed: "Old man, the government will not sit idly by and ignore the situation. A government order for disaster relief will be issued soon."
The old man shook his head: "The government order is a government order. I heard that the food in Bingzhou city was sold at a sky-high price, and even those with money could not buy it. Those profiteers hoarded the food and were not allowed to sell it, just waiting to make a big fortune after the food harvest failed. The government
You may not be able to manage it.”
The pupils in Li Qinzai's eyes shrank slightly, but his face was full of smiles: "The food in Bingzhou City is sold at sky-high prices? Are many businessmen hoarding food?"
The old man hummed and said: "The day before yesterday, the fifth family in the village brought dozens of pennies. The family's savings for many years planned to go to the city to buy some food to cope with the upcoming famine. When I went to the city, I asked, and one liter of rice sold for twenty pennies.
, Haha, how can you live if you save a lifetime of money and still can’t afford a liter of rice?”
Li Qinzai asked curiously: "How much did a liter of rice cost in the past?"
"Before the price of food rose, a liter of rice was worth about four cents, and millet rice was even cheaper. It's not even the autumn harvest yet, but it has already doubled many times. I can't afford to live."
When Liu Asi and others behind him heard this, they all showed angry faces.
Li Qinzai smiled calmly, and then said seriously: "Don't worry, old man, the government will bring down the price of food, and there will be relief in disaster-stricken areas."
The old man stared at him with cloudy eyes and said nonchalantly: "Is the noble man a government official? A government official in Bingzhou City?"