The weather this year is drier than in previous years. There was only a light rain after the beginning of spring, and there was not much snow last winter. With the beginning of spring, farmers can’t wait to divert water from surrounding rivers to irrigate their land. View from the floor
The Heihe River in Taitung is the main source of irrigation water nearby. Unfortunately, there is not much water in the river. After the upper reaches cut off the river, there is no water in the lower reaches. For this reason, several armed fights have broken out among several villages.
Su Ren took several agricultural students around to check the disaster situation near Louguantai, and selected a few places to dig wells. Although in the era before water pumps, the contribution of well water to agriculture was insignificant, it could at least solve the problem of drinking water for humans and animals.
Question. It stands to reason that there is no shortage of water in Yuxi County. There is the Heihe River to the east, the Qingshui River to the west, the Weihe River to the north, and countless small rivers flowing from the Qinling Mountains to the south. It is only because there was too little precipitation last winter and this spring that the current situation has occurred.
this situation.
Pei Songnian, the county magistrate of Yusi, had blisters on his lips. Whether it was drought or fighting, it was difficult for him as a county magistrate. He took the village elders to pray to all the gods they could, but not a drop of rain fell from the sky.
"Mr. Su, they say you are wise and resourceful. What can you do about this situation now?" Pei Songnian was helpless and grabbed Su Ren as the last straw. He had done everything he could, and there was nothing Su Ren could do.
At least I tried my best.
Su Ren took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. After a long period of drought, the soil has turned into powder. When the wind blows, the dust will fly. This is the kind of dust that will fly in the Qinchuan River in later generations.
Roar the momentum of Qin opera.
"There is nothing you can do about natural disasters, but it is possible to save yourself!"
"Oh! Please tell me, Mr. Su, as long as there is a glimmer of possibility, I will do my best to prevent the victims from flooding into Chang'an."
"So what if we rush to Chang'an? The most important thing to do during a natural disaster is the court. It has been so many days, but the court has not taken any action. As long as the few crop seedlings in the fields die, all that is left is to go to Chang'an to beg for food."
Pei Songnian bowed repeatedly: "My dear Mr. Su, this is absolutely unacceptable. You'd better tell me how to save yourself!"
Su Ren smiled: "Since there is no food, let's eat meat!"
"Ah!" Pei Songnian was stunned on the spot. He never expected such a result: "Mr. Su, let's not joke. Where can we get meat if there is no food?"
"You don't have it like I do! Do you remember the poultry I bought last year? I almost bought out the entire Sanfu, which even affected the price fluctuations."
Pei Songnian is the county magistrate, the most people-friendly official, so he naturally knows about such a big thing. Although the chicken and duck are a bit small for the people in the county, it can at least alleviate the urgent need a little. He said quickly: "Mr. Su is going to
These chickens and ducks are given to me and distributed to the people for food at critical times?"
Su Ren glared at Pei Songnian: "What are you thinking! I bought that with my money!"
"Hehehe!" Pei Songnian laughed dryly: "What do you mean, sir?"
"To tell you the truth, I keep all those chickens and ducks in Zhuangzi just outside Chang'an City. After these few months, there have been life and death. Now there are not even 100,000 but 80,000. I am ready to distribute them to those who want them.
People!" Without waiting for Pei Songnian to speak, Su Ren quickly said: "However, it is not for them to eat, but to let them continue to raise them. I will send people to buy eggs, duck eggs, and goose eggs. The price will naturally be lower than the market price. If they
If I think it’s uneconomical to use money, I can just exchange it for grain and rice.”
"That's very good, very good!" Pei Songnian was overjoyed.
Su Renyi waved his hand: "Don't be too happy yet. These people need your county magistrate's guarantee. If anyone takes it back and eats it, they will be compensated ten times the price I paid for it, which is only two hundred yuan."
"Guarantee?"
Su Ren nodded: "Why, you don't want to? Forget it."
Pei Songnian gritted his teeth: "It's okay to be a guarantee, but if there is a drought and no income, no one will have anything to eat, let alone chickens and ducks. If one or two of them starve to death or die of illness, sir, won't you?"
It also costs two hundred dollars, right?"
"Death from illness does not count!" Su Ren looked at Pei Songnian thoughtfully: "As long as I work hard, I guarantee that I will never starve to death. I'm afraid those poultry will be tired of eating."
"really?"
Su Ren said angrily: "You still don't believe me! In this case, let's not talk about our cooperation."
Pei Songnian quickly took Su Ren's arm and said, "Xinxinxin, I will go back and write a notice right now. Anyone who is willing to adopt will give a guarantee. If one of them dies except from illness or old age, I will compensate you two hundred yuan."
It was not as enthusiastic as Su Ren imagined. In that era of self-sufficiency, people were not willing to take risks. As long as there was a slight disturbance, the loss of family members and lives would be minor. Although these poultry were given away for free, if one died, they would have to pay compensation.
Two hundred cents, for a peasant family that usually doesn't even have enough for the night, it's already considered a big deal to have twenty cents, let alone two hundred cents.
This made Pei Songnian anxious. Since there was hope, he had to give it a try. What if he didn't take the initiative? Forced order! For a while, the people of Yusun County flocked to Su Ren's manor and reluctantly pressed on the so-called contract.
He took the fingerprints and held two chickens in his arms, feeling as if the chickens could lay golden eggs. Although the matter was resolved, Pei Songnian's troubles also came.
The imperial censors flooded Liu Che's desk with a flurry of memorials, not only telling the story of Pei Songnian forcing people to raise poultry, but also criticizing Su Ren. They believed that this was Pei Songnian, the magistrate of Yusu County, colluding with Su.
Ren Qi harmed the people, and a chicken cost two hundred yuan, which is not the price in the world. The two of them were killed in the fish and meat village for their evil deeds, and they felt angry.
Looking at the memorial that was as high as a mountain, Liu Che's head hurt so much. Just after the academy recruited a group of white men, something like this happened again. He rubbed his temples and asked Liu Jiqing: "What do you think Su Ren is going to do?"
What? Can't he explain to me in advance how to deal with so many censors impeaching him?"
Liu Jiqing remained silent and expressionless. Liu Che was really angry: "Go and find Su Ren. I want to ask him personally!"
"Your Majesty, you made an appointment with Mr. Su and you will not call him back for three years!"
"Get out!" A bamboo slip was thrown at him. Liu Jiqing did not hide and received a solid blow: "I am the emperor, I can do whatever I want! Go quickly!"
Liu Jiqing still did not move: "Is that in the name of His Majesty or in the name of the imperial court? Mr. Su is just a commoner now. If he wants to meet the emperor, he must first go to the Taichang Office to study the rituals for a month, and then the prime minister will send someone to explain the rules in the palace.
You can enter the palace last, so if you think about it, Your Majesty will have to wait two months to see Mr. Su."
Liu Che was speechless. He looked at Liu Jiqing and sneered: "If he doesn't come, how about I go? Prepare your horses! If you do the same thing as last time this time, I will send you to the court!"
As soon as he walked out of Chang'an, Liu Che was dumbfounded. March was originally a season of recovery for all things, but outside the city of Chang'an, it was actually bare. The sparse young seedlings in the crop fields were drooped by the sun. Although the farmers struggled to save them, no one could
Looking at those crop seedlings, one would think that there is no hope of saving them. The trees on both sides of the official road were not much better, and none of the buds that should have sprouted were missing. When I walked in, I realized that people had picked them.
"What's going on?" Liu Che was puzzled. He also knew about the drought in Chang'an, but he didn't expect it to be so serious.
The problems caused by drought become more serious as time goes by. During the Han Dynasty, the eight rivers surrounding Chang'an had not yet formed. The Feng River and Lao River in the west of the city, and the Chan River and Ba River in the east of the city were far away from the city.
It was very far away, and the amount of water was not as large as it is now. At best, it was no more than a small ditch, and it has dried up. Even the water level of the Wei River in the north of the city has dropped by more than a foot, revealing a rugged river bed with strange rocks.
After entering Zhongnan, this place is relatively better. It is close to the Qinling Mountains, and some streams flowing out of the mountains can irrigate some fields, which makes Liu Che feel better. The location of Louguantai happens to be a mountain depression, and there is already a
The river flows, and before building the academy, Su Ren dug several wells, so that more than a thousand people can eat, drink and relieve themselves without any problem.
After running around all morning under the bright sun, he got into Su Ren's room and ignored Liu Jiqing's surprised eyes. He took Su Ren's teapot and poured it into his mouth. The cool and sweet spring water flowed down his throat and into his stomach.
, and then suppressed Liu Che's irritable mood.
The coldness on the tip of his tongue stunned Liu Che: "What? You made ice cream last winter?"
Su Ren smiled and shook his head: "This is an academy, not a palace. I don't have the intention or the place. The ice cubes were made by a few alchemist students, so I provided some suggestions."
"Oh? How can ice be made in such hot weather?"
"Making ice has nothing to do with the weather. All it takes is a handful of saltpeter. If Your Majesty needs it, just buy their recipe."
"You are really a profiteer. You don't want to dedicate it to me, but you always want me to pay for it. This is not the way to serve as a minister."
After chatting for a while, Liu Jiqing went to find some alchemist students to prepare ice-making recipes. Liu Che also removed the heat from his whole body, and while drinking water, he said to Su Ren: "Looking at how carefree you are here, you can tell that almost
All the censors have already sued you!"
"The censors have nothing to do. If you have this time, you should pay attention to the drought situation of Sanfu."
"When it comes to the drought, I have to give you a few words. Now that the drought is serious, why are you colluding with the magistrate of Yuxi County to harm the people?"
Su Ren said with a smile: "Where do you start talking about this? Those poultry are all given to the people. In order to prevent them from slaughtering and eating the meat, we came up with the matter of two hundred dollars. Good things came to the mouths of those censors.
It turned into collusion, and I don’t admit to this crime.”
"Are they all the poultry you bought last time?"
"Exactly!"
"Then you can tell me, what exactly do you want to do?"
"Oh...!" Su Ren looked at Liu Che: "Your Majesty traveled such a long way just for this matter, right? OK, let me tell you about it."
The two of them talked in the room all afternoon without letting anyone disturb them. When Liu Che came out of Su Ren's room, the clouds on his face had long since disappeared, replaced by a smile. Liu Jiqing was not surprised.
Whenever the emperor has any problems, he will feel much better if he talks to Su Ren. He is no longer surprised.
He came close to Liu Che and handed a piece of paper to Liu Che: "Your Majesty, the old slave has got the ice making recipe. From now on, there is no need to keep ice in the harem anymore." (To be continued)
