Muchuan is a typical egoist. Today, he almost opposed more than half of the court officials because of the salary increase. If he said that this was just an act of "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism" by Muchuan, he would not believe it even if he killed Ouyang Bufan.
ah.
Therefore, the person who knows Muchuan best is indeed Ouyang Bufan. Muchuan did not deny this and praised: "I do have a purpose in saying this."
The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for the taxation, land, and daily needs of the court.
Among them, the Ministry of Accounts is responsible for the payment of official salaries. When Muchuan checked the account books three months ago, Muchuan found that the salary management was very unreasonable.
For example, the Ministry of Rites has many officials and a high average salary, but the Ministry of Rites is responsible for worshiping the heaven and earth, studying the law and educating people. It may be said to be important but not very important. It may be said that it is not important but sometimes it is necessary. At least such an institution is not worthy of so many personnel.
In addition to the Ministry of Rites, there were also many unreasonable arrangements of officials in various localities under the imperial court.
It is precisely because labor costs are too high that Muchuan came up with the "Datang Salary Reform and Personnel Optimization" and used this method to reform the entire "manpower" of Datang, thus greatly reducing labor expenses.
After hearing what Muchuan said, Ouyang Bufan and Mo Zhu nodded thoughtfully. They knew that Muchuan was not such a good person. In the final analysis, it was just to make the work of the household department go more smoothly.
After all, if manpower expenses are reduced, a lot of money can be saved for the Ministry of Accounts to spend, and then the Ministry of Accounts will be able to achieve great things.
"Recently, things in the Household Department have been going very smoothly, and I don't have too much worry in this aspect. Compared with these... Next, our Household Department has to do another thing."
Muchuan said with a serious face.
Seeing Muchuan's serious expression, Ouyang Bufan and Mo Zhu couldn't help but swallow their throats. After all, every time Muchuan looked like this, he was going to say something shocking.
Ouyang Bufan: "Lord Muchuan, what do you want to say?
Say it quickly..."
"The plague will appear soon, so everyone should be prepared."
Just like that, Muchuan told a sensational thing in an understatement.
What is plague?
Rats carry a large number of germs around during the breeding season, and therefore spread the germs to the human body.
In fact, strange things often happened three months ago. At that time, in the Shangshu's mansion in Chang'an City, I often heard the meowing of domestic cats around me, with a mournful sound.
At that time, Ouyang Bufan reminded him that the last time this kind of thing happened was when the rat infestation occurred.
But unlike the rat plague ten years ago, what will happen this time is plague!
Rat infestation is caused by excessive reproduction of rats that damages human life. The most typical example is that they eat up all human food.
Judging from the current situation in the Tang Dynasty, the rat problem is not terrible, because with the economic development and agricultural revitalization in recent years, more than ten granaries in Gyeonggi Province are full!
Even if a rat infestation breaks out in Chang'an City, the worst possible outcome is that the food will be eaten. At that time, as long as a transportation team is sent to transport food from outside the city, the problem can be solved.
The plague is different. In addition to eating up all human food, it can even infect humans with diseases.
In modern times, the plague cannot cause widespread damage. After all, modern medical technology is advanced and there are many means to contain the plague.
But in ancient times, plague was fatal. Medical treatment was lacking, and antibiotics had not yet been developed. Once you contracted the plague, you had to struggle to survive.
Young people may hope to overcome the past through their own immunity and some Chinese herbal medicine, but if they are old, weak, sick and disabled, they will definitely die.
At this time, they heard Muchuan talk about the plague, and as expected, Ouyang Bufan and Mo Zhu both panicked.
Ouyang Bufan: "It's actually the plague, when did it happen?
So what should we do?"
Mo Zhu: "We have to talk to the emperor about this quickly, right?
We all have to think of a solution together!”
Seeing the two of them looking so anxious, Muchuan couldn't help but waved his hands to calm them down.
According to Muchuan's prediction, it will still be some time before the plague occurs, and it is still too late to take precautions.
The key problem is that Muchuan does not have much evidence on this matter. He has no way to prove that the plague will break out! In this case, if he reports it to the emperor rashly, it will definitely arouse suspicion.
"This is why I haven't reported it to the court yet. After all, this matter is very involved and requires evidence."
Hearing Muchuan's words, Ouyang Bufan and the other two were puzzled.
Mo Zhu asked on the spot: "Mr. Muchuan... Since you have no evidence to prove that plague will occur, how do you know that plague will break out?"
Ouyang Bufan: "Yes, yes, Master Muchuan, is this your ability to predict the unknown again?"
These two people are also smart, and they will get the right idea as soon as they ask.
In fact, how did Muchuan know about the plague?
It's because he is from the future!
I have seen such a record when reading unofficial history before. In the first thirty years of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there were ten rat infestations. Among them, during Li Shimin's reign, one outbreak spread to the entire Gyeonggi Province and Henan Province, which was a serious disaster.
, all living beings are devastated, and people die of hunger everywhere.
Muchuan later checked the contents of ancient books and finally found out that the first outbreak of rat plague during Li Shimin's reign was not an ordinary rat plague, but a plague transmitted from human to human!
After questioning Muchuan has found out that the last outbreak of rat infestation was during the reign of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty.
As for Li Shimin's reign, the outbreak had not yet occurred, so if it did, it would definitely be plague!
Muchuan knew what was about to happen, but it was impossible to reveal his identity as a "traveler", right?
For this reason, he knew clearly that there was a plague but had no way to prove it.
However, Ouyang Bufan provided Muchuan with a revelation, so Muchuan laughed and said: "That's right, this is my magical power of predicting the future! I deduced the occurrence of the plague by observing the stars and divination using tortoise shells."
Hearing these words, Ouyang Bufan and Mo Zhu immediately looked up and admired them.
Ouyang Bufan: "As expected of Lord Muchuan, he is truly a god descended from the earth, capable of doing anything!"
Mo Zhu: "Yes, since Lord Muchuan said so, then the plague must be true. Although there is no evidence, according to our report based on the facts, I believe the emperor should have a way to deal with it!"
It can be seen that Ouyang Bufan and Mo Zhu believe deeply. Although Muchuan hates the "theory of ghosts and gods", this metaphysics of ghosts and gods has provided a cover for Muchuan, the "traveler", otherwise he would sometimes say
I don’t know how to make excuses after coming out of the future.
Now that Muchuan had successfully lured Ouyang Bufan and the two into the water, he began to assign tasks to the two. After all, dealing with the plague was very complicated and cumbersome, so naturally it could be left to the people below.
