Author: Writer hcaGwv

Longzhou has jurisdiction over three counties: Fufeng, Tianshui, and Anding. Each county has jurisdiction over three counties, more than a dozen townships, and more than 20,000 households.

This locust plague has affected more than 60 counties and counties from north to south, and the disaster has affected tens of millions of people.

Its scope is so wide and the damage caused is so great that it can be said to be the worst in the past ten years.

Longzhou is no exception. Two-thirds of the people are destined to lose their income this year, and tens of thousands of families face displacement.

Li Yuan encountered such a big trouble when he first took office, and he was also very troubled. For several days, he discussed with the governor of the state, the state pastor and others every day, and the method he finally came up with was nothing more than the old method of reporting to the emperor and requesting funds for disaster relief.

But now there are disasters happening everywhere in the world, including locust plagues, droughts, and floods in the south. Even if you hand me the money, it will probably be mixed with the many money asking for help.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was very worried when he saw the piles of papers every day. How could he be in the mood to pay attention to their small Fufeng County?

But if we don't rely on the imperial court for relief, it's even more impossible to rely on ourselves.

Li Yuan originally wanted to open a granary to distribute grain and relieve the people, but found that there was not much food left in the granary of the state capital.

After asking about it, it turned out that most of the grain harvested in last autumn had been turned over to the treasury before winter last year, and what was left was saved by the state herdsman who had been frugally saving it for emergencies.

There is a lot of money in the treasury, but now the price of food in the market is getting higher and higher.

Even if all the treasury money is spent, it will not be able to help so many victims.

Looking at the soaring rice prices day by day, and seeing more and more refugees coming from all directions, Mr. Dou complained: If this continues, in a few days, the family will not be able to buy rice even with money.

Seeing that everyone in the house was starting to hoard food, Li Yuan was anxious and angry these days, unable to sleep or eat.

That night, Li Yuan again excused himself from toothache and went back to the study alone, hands behind his back.

Knowing that my father was worried about the locust plague and couldn't eat, everyone didn't enjoy the meal.

Even Ruyi, who had always been very lively at the dinner table, felt the oppressive atmosphere around him. He just lowered his head and plucked the rice in front of him without saying a word.

Dou looked helplessly at Changsheng. Changsheng understood what his mother meant, and now he was the only one who could comfort his father.

So I put down my chopsticks, wiped my mouth, said "I'm full", jumped off the table and ran to the kitchen alone.

When she came out again, her uninjured hand was holding a bowl of steaming pear and osmanthus soup, and she slowly walked towards the study.

Gently pushing the door open, Li Yuan was writing something under the lamp. He looked up and saw Chang Sheng coming in with a bowl. He squeezed out a smile and said, "My hands are not good enough. Why don't you carry it yourself? Why don't you just let the servants come?"

Changsheng smiled and said, "I just wanted to come and see my father. The weather has been hot these days, so I specially cooked a bowl of lotus seed soup that can clear away the heat and reduce the heat for you."

Li Yuan smiled happily and pointed to the table, "Put it here. When I finish writing, I can drink it when I have time."

"Eh~"

Changsheng carefully put the bowl away, climbed onto the chair beside the table, and stretched his head to see what Li Yuan was writing.

At first glance, it turned out that it was a memorial intended to be submitted to the emperor. Although the content was still the same as that of a serious disaster, crying about poverty, and asking for funds, the words were sincere and every word came from the heart. After reading it, it was quite moving.

Li Yuan finished writing it in one breath and felt very good about himself. He thought that His Majesty the Emperor would be moved after reading this hard work, and he would be a little more confident about applying for disaster funds.

Li Yuan picked up the memorial and carefully blew on the ink on it. When he turned around, he saw Chang Sheng staring at the memorial in his hand.

He was in a good mood and asked proudly: "What do you think of this memorial to my father?"

Changsheng leaned on his father's shoulder and said softly: "Father, this article is written with sincerity and detailed content. The emperor must understand your good intentions after reading it. It's just..."

Seeing that the words about longevity were only half-finished, Li Yuan asked curiously: "Tell me more, what is it?"

Changsheng looked at his father and said, "I'm just afraid that if all the prefectures and counties in the world are affected by disasters, it would be bad if it were written like this."

"This..." Li Yuan looked at the memorial in his hand again, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that his son was right.

Everyone knows that a child who cries will get milk, but if everyone cries for milk, then am I the loudest?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look Chang Sheng up and down. This child had such knowledge at the age of three, it was really extraordinary!

A glimmer of hope arose in my heart, and I asked tentatively: "Then what do you think?"

"Father, as usual, when such a large locust plague occurs, how does the court usually respond?" Chang Sheng stretched out his left hand and asked Li Yuan while rubbing his temples.

Li Yuan felt the coolness where Changsheng's fingers pressed, and his head didn't seem to hurt that much anymore, so he closed his eyes comfortably.

He slowly said: "According to common sense, in the eyes of the world, the locust plague is God's punishment for the emperor's shortcomings in virtue. The more serious the locust plague is, the heavier the punishment from God. At this time, in order to appease the resentment of the world, the emperor will first commit a crime

He issued an edict and announced it to the world. Then he sent princes to patrol on behalf of heaven and inspect the most severely affected areas across the country. On the one hand, it was to appease the people, and on the other hand, it was also to examine the governance capabilities of officials. According to the local disaster situation, the state

After calculating the government's money and grain inventory, the amount of money needed for relief was calculated and reported to the court, and relief was finally distributed based on the severity of the disaster."

"Oh, I see, how is the situation here?"

"The three counties under the rule of Longzhou are actually quite good. The Guanzhong Plain has fertile land and a suitable climate, and the local people have lived here for many generations. Although the food produced every year is not as good as the southern granary, there is still a surplus. But last year was a big official exam.

In the year when he took office as governor, he turned over last year's harvest to the state treasury and changed his future. Now the entire state capital only has enough food to last about ten days," Li Yuan said.

Changsheng thought for a while and asked: "What if the government pays to purchase grain in the market?"

Li Yuan said depressedly: "My father and all of you have already considered this, but now a large amount of food is in the hands of aristocratic families. They were the biggest landowners here, and now they have become sellers. They are hoarding them one by one and waiting for the market price.

It’s a huge profit from the rise.”

"How about borrowing some emergency help from them first?"

Speaking of this, Li Yuan became angry: "Huh, just don't say this, I will get angry when I say this. A few days ago, your mother and I visited the Dou family, the Qu family, the Yuwen family one by one... we are familiar with each other.

I visited all the aristocratic families, but they all had the same idea: "Only the Li family of Longyou is following my lead!" When I came back, I asked the family elders, but they said nonsense like "the landlord's family doesn't have any food left" to try to frustrate me.

This is really nonsense. After this, I will see if I have dealt with you one by one."

It seems that these big families are preparing to make a fortune from the national crisis. Their road may be blocked for a while, Changsheng thought.

"So what is father's plan now?"

Li Yuan patted the letter paper on the table and said, "After discussing with several adults for several days, we still didn't come up with a good idea. Some of them said that they would use money to go to other states and counties to ask, but several nearby disasters were worse than ours."

Seriously, the farther route is too far, and transportation is not convenient. Others suggest looking for solutions there." Li Yuan said, pointing with his finger, "But I really don't want to go out here unless I have to.

The next best thing."

Changsheng knew that his father meant to open the joint upwards, so he thought of a way to bribe the inspection officials of the imperial court. The matter involved the prince, and it was such a special period, so Changsheng did not agree with this idea in his heart.

Moreover, it is rare for my father to be a good official who is honest and pragmatic. Why should he be stained with these stains for nothing?

So the current situation is: the government has money but no rice, the wealthy families have rice but cannot sell it, and there are more and more refugees.

Is there any solution to this dead end?

The two of them were lost in thought by the candlelight.

Suddenly Changsheng asked: "Do you know the prince who came to inspect our place?"

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