Chapter 12. Locusts and Corrupt Officials (Part 2).
After unifying his opinions with Liu Changan, Zhao Junchen became more confident about his plan, restored his previous kind and friendly attitude, and began to discuss with Liu Changan the specific matters of extinguishing the locust plague.
It has to be said that although Liu Changan is an out-and-out corrupt official, he has been an official for many years, has rich experience, is mature and prudent, and has some abilities. Unlike Zhao Junchen, although he has ideas, he has too little experience and just takes it for granted.
, unable to be as thorough and realistic as Liu Changan.
Therefore, although on the surface it was two people discussing, and Liu Changan even appeared to be asking Zhao Junchen for advice, in fact, most of the time it was Liu Changan who was suggesting explanations, while Zhao Junchen was only responsible for...nodding in appreciation.
"Sir, since you have decided to extinguish the locust plague, you must organize a large number of manpower. My official Qianjian, the troops stationed near Lu'an Mansion have been idle. It is better to mobilize them to help cull the locusts. There will be more people at once.
Secondly, if there is any trouble, we can suppress it in time. What do you think, sir?"
Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "Mr. Liu is right. Your Majesty sent me to inspect the disaster area this time, which has given me the right to do things easily. After I go back, you can just send someone with my warrant to mobilize. I think they will come too."
Don’t dare to neglect.”
"Your Excellency, you have given me the reward. If it weren't for your guidance, I would still be confused about the locust plague." After Liu Changan showed some humility, he continued to suggest: "But in my opinion, if you want to put out the locust plague, you can only rely on those people."
The bravery of the government officials and soldiers is still not enough. We still need to mobilize the people of Lu'an Prefecture. However, the people are ignorant and superstitious about the theory of the locust god. If they are asked to cull the locusts, I am afraid that most of them will
I dare not, but these people trust the clan elders and squires in various places the most. Therefore, if you want to mobilize the people to take action, you need to convince the elders in these places first. At that time, I am afraid that your lord, Mr. Lao, will come forward in person. As the imperial court,
Imperial envoys act on behalf of the imperial court. They will listen to what you say and will never dare to delay in dealing with it."
Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "This is natural. I strongly advocate the culling of locusts. Naturally, I will personally persuade these old squires."
Liu Changan added: "However, this locust plague came too quickly and it only affected Lu'an Prefecture. It is still difficult to completely extinguish the locust plague. After all, the locust plague has begun to spread to Taiyuan, Hedong and other places. Even if
We put out the locust plague in Lu'an Prefecture. By then, there was another riot in Taiyuan and Hedong, and the locust plague was still uncontrollable. So I thought it would be best to contact the surrounding prefectures and counties to take action together, so that we can cure it completely. However, none of the surrounding prefectures were able to control the locust plague.
It is within the jurisdiction of the lower official, please see..."
After Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he still nodded and said: "I was ordered to inspect Lu'an Prefecture this time, and I have no right to interfere with the surrounding prefectures and counties. However, after returning, I will send people to send some to the officials in charge of these prefectures and counties.
Post, please mention your opinion to Magistrate Liu, I think they will also give me some face, after all, doing so will be good for the stability of their rule."
Seeing Zhao Junchen adopting his suggestions one after another, Liu Changan became even more happy. He felt that he had become Zhao Junchen's confidant. His old face was rosy and he looked several years younger.
Striking while the iron is hot, Liu Changan continued to suggest: "In this case, without further delay, sir, do you think we should turn around and go back to the government office first to make arrangements for culling the locusts? After all, extinguishing the locust plague is a top priority, so there is no need to rush to inspect the disaster.
"
Just when Liu Changan thought that Zhao Junchen would continue to adopt his suggestions, Zhao Junchen shook his head this time. After giving Liu Changan a meaningful look, he slowly said: "That's not necessary. In my opinion, there is no investigation.
Therefore, we have no say. If we don’t inspect the disaster situation, how can we know how serious the situation is? If we can’t even grasp the basic situation, how can we preside over the matter of extinguishing the locust plague? It’s good for Mr. Liu to be eager for the country.
But this statement inevitably puts the cart before the horse.”
Zhao Junchen understood what Liu Changan was thinking. In Liu Changan's opinion, patrolling the disaster situation was just a matter of honor. It didn't matter whether he did it or not. As long as he put out the locust plague, made contributions and received rewards, Liu Changan didn't care about other things.
Since Liu Chang'an thought he understood Zhao Junchen's thoughts, he has been more active in extinguishing the locust plague than Zhao Junchen himself. After all, for a middle-level official of the Ming Dynasty like him, he is too old.
The opportunity for promotion is really rare, so it is understandable that I feel anxious.
But Zhao Junchen is different. This time he not only has to put out the locust plague, he also has to provide relief food and grass to the victims. Otherwise, even if the locust plague is put out, the people will starve and die everywhere, and the good reputation he can get is limited. Therefore, he patrols the disaster area and understands the disaster area.
The actual situation is necessary for Zhao Junchen.
However, the time had not come yet for the relief grain and grass to be used to help the victims, and Zhao Junchen did not intend to make it clear to Liu Changan. At this time, Liu Changan probably thought that Zhao Junchen was still thinking about the disaster relief grain and grass.
On the other side, seeing Zhao Junchen refute his suggestion, Liu Changan was stunned for a moment, but he did not insist at all. Instead, he immediately admitted his mistake to Zhao Junchen and said: "My lord is still thinking clearly and profoundly. What I taught you is that the lower official has learned a lesson."
"
Zhao Junchen nodded with satisfaction and thought to himself: "For Liu Changan to be able to hold the post of magistrate, it must be crucial to follow the good deeds. Although he knew that he was a corrupt official, because this guy was too obedient,
But it happened that I couldn't have a bad feeling towards him, which is rare."
…
In this way, after the two people discussed it, before they knew it, it was almost noon, and the carriage carrying several people finally arrived in the countryside, and at Zhao Junchen's instruction, stopped around the fields.
When Zhao Junchen got off the carriage, he was stunned by the sight in front of him.
Before, Zhao Junchen stayed in Lu'an Prefecture and saw few locusts. Although he knew that the locust plague was serious, Zhao Junchen could not imagine how serious it was.
They came all the way, sitting in a carriage, with the door curtains tightly closed, and they were too focused on discussing things with Liu Changan, and didn't care to watch the scene on the road.
It was only then, when he arrived at his destination, that Zhao Junchen truly understood how serious this locust plague was.
In fact, this was the first time that Zhao Junchen saw the power of the locust plague, and it also made Zhao Junchen finally understand what "the locusts pass by, leaving no grass behind."
In front of Zhao Junchen's eyes, locusts were flying everywhere, and the mountains and fields were covered with darkness. The buzzing sound when their wings were flapping was actually a bit scary. However, the fields in front of Zhao Junchen had long since lost all grass, leaving only a piece of bare soil.
.
In fact, not only the field in front of him, Zhao Junchen couldn't find any greenery as far as he could see. All the green leaves in the world had probably been eaten clean by these locusts.
Although locusts are shocking, for Zhao Junchen, what really shocks him are the people around him.
Because Zhao Junchen and others came in plain clothes, they did not attract the attention of the people around them. In fact, Zhao Junchen felt that even if he came in grand clothes with great fanfare, these people might not care about them now.
There are actually many people around the countryside and fields. They are walking or standing, just looking at the locusts all over the mountains and fields. Their expressions are a little panicked and helpless, but more of them are desperate and numb. Most of them just look at it blankly.
With the bare land in front of them, they seemed to be wondering where the food they had worked hard to cultivate for a year had gone.
Faintly, from somewhere, there was a sound of crying.
What appeared in front of Zhao Junchen was despair everywhere, the world was gray, and there seemed to be no hope at all.
The locust plague had only occurred for a month, and Zhao Junchen had not seen the legendary tragedy of starvation and cannibalism, but even so, the endless despair and helplessness on the faces of the people was enough to shock Zhao Junchen's nerves.
If before, Zhao Junchen was still thinking of putting on a show to gain fame, then at this moment, Zhao Junchen felt that he might really do something for these people.
After all, the two do not conflict and even complement each other.
Seeing the silence on Zhao Junchen's face and the fluctuation in his eyes, Liu Changan also sighed: "Hey, the people are suffering..."
Halfway through his words, Zhao Junchen glared at Liu Changan and stopped him from continuing. At this time, Zhao Junchen felt disgusted by the cowardly behavior of a corrupt official who was still planning to embezzle money and provide food and grass for disaster relief.
Although, Zhao Junchen felt that he was not qualified to criticize others.
Just as Zhao Junchen was having complicated thoughts, suddenly, a child's laughter came, like a glimmer of light in the darkness, which attracted Zhao Junchen involuntarily.
Zhao Junchen looked towards the place where the children were laughing, and saw two three or four-year-old children playing in the fields not far away. The two children were dressed as ordinary farmers. They were innocent and did not understand the world. They did not
I knew what the locusts in front of me meant, and I didn't know what kind of tragedy I would face in the future. I just saw that locusts were afraid of people, so I went everywhere to catch them and had a lot of fun.
Not far from the two children, there was an old man standing there. He was also dressed as a farmer. He was very old, showing his age and trembling, but unlike other gloomy people, he actually had a smile on his face.
Smiling and watching the two children playing.
Apparently, this old man should be the elder of the two children.
Involuntarily, Zhao Junchen walked over.
Liu Changan, Xu Qingyan and others quickly followed.
"Old man, this junior is so polite." When he came to the old man, Zhao Junchen raised his hands and said, "When I first came here, I saw the locust plague and couldn't help but worry. But I saw that my father was smiling and he didn't seem worried?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Junchen regretted it.
Because, he suddenly discovered that although the old man was smiling, he was very reluctant. Deep in his eyes, he was just as desperate and helpless as other people.
Sure enough, the old man turned his head and glanced at Zhao Junchen. Seeing that Zhao Junchen was dressed in luxurious clothes and had many servants, he was slightly startled, but he did not show the proper courtesy, but instead smiled even more.
But, it was a sad smile.
"It's not that I'm not worried, I'm just waiting to die." The old man's voice was hoarse and he said slowly: "Last year, the government increased the rent by 70%. My son was so angry that he asked someone to go to the government to argue with him, but he was rejected by the government.
My legs were lame and I still can't get out of bed. In order to treat my son's illness, I sold my house and my land, and everything is gone. My daughter-in-law also ran away with me. Now I have two grandchildren at home, and
My son can't get out of bed, and I'm the only one left with this useless old man. He's old and can't get off the ground. Even without this locust plague, my whole family wouldn't be able to survive. In this case, what's there to worry about?
"
The old man's voice was slow, as if he was telling him an unrelated story. He looked lovingly at the two children running around in front of him, and continued: "Old man, I have no future, and I want to find a way for my two grandchildren, but this worldly boy
It’s worthless and can’t be sold. Seeing that the family’s food is at the bottom, the old man and my family can only wait to die. My two innocent grandchildren, the elder is only four years old and the younger is only three years old. I don’t want them to starve to death.
The whole day before, I was unhappy because of the old man’s sullen expression. So, the old man, I could only smile and let my grandchildren be happy for a few more days... That’s all the old man can do for them..."
As he said this, although the old man was still smiling, two lines of tears were already flowing down his cheeks, which was extremely weird, but even more desolate.
The two children playing noticed Zhao Junchen and others, and then noticed the tearful old man. They both panicked, stumbled to the old man, each grabbed a corner of the old man's clothes, and one said: "Grandpa, grandpa, what are you doing?"
?" One said: "Grandpa, don't cry, grandpa, don't cry."
The old man wiped his tears, still smiled, and said lovingly to his two grandchildren: "Grandpa didn't cry. The wind was strong and blew my eyes... Grandpa will bake beans for you tonight. Let's go home with grandpa..."
With that said, the old man ignored Zhao Junchen and others and led the two children away.
Zhao Junchen was silent for a long time, and then glared at Liu Changan fiercely, making Liu Changan, who was already feeling guilty, tremble all over.
Liu Changan is about the same age as the old man, but compared with the skinny and desperate old man, Liu Changan's healthy spirit is so annoying.
The tragedy of this old man's family is obviously not just caused by the locust plague, nor is it just an accidental case.
"The rent has been increased by 70%, so courageous..."
Zhao Junchen sneered.
Liu Changan quickly explained: "Sir, please don't listen to this unruly man's nonsense..."
In the middle of the conversation, Zhao Junchen waved his hand to interrupt and said: "No need to explain, I don't want to hear it, and I can't hear the truth anyway."
Liu Changan still has uses, and Zhao Junchen is not ready to do anything to him yet.
What's more, for the sake of his own safety, Zhao Junchen has already made up his mind to unite the corrupt officials in the world. He will not refuse anyone who comes, as long as he is willing to do things for himself.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen did not want to hear any more, otherwise, he was afraid that he would change his mind impulsively.
Looking at the locusts all over the sky, Zhao Junchen secretly thought: "Locusts, corrupt officials, compared to these corrupt officials, maybe the harm of locusts is relatively small..."
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