673 The hearts of the people, the hearts of the army!
Everyone here is old, and old people have treasures. Whether it is the Tang Dynasty or modern times, respecting the elderly is a virtue of the Chinese nation. A dozen old people saluted Li Yuanxing, and Li Yuanxing immediately stood up and returned the salute.
"Your Highness, there are four major disasters in the world: earthquakes, floods, locust plagues, and plagues. Your Highness is fighting natural disasters in Luoyang. We thought this was just an untrue rumor. As for the great benevolent people like Shibasu Lao Coffin Bearer,
I even thought it was a peaceful and prosperous era whitewashed for the new emperor to ascend the throne!"
What a whitewash.
However, to be able to say such words here is also sincere.
Another old man took out a scroll and nodded to these elders. All the elders nodded in response. The old man opened the scroll and read slowly: "On April 29th, the locust plague first appeared. Zhuang Dong Er
Ten miles away, eight hundred acres of fields were damaged. On April 30, all the green crops were destroyed!"
How terrible is the locust plague?
Li Yuanxing had never seen it, and even in modern times, he could not imagine it.
But in the Tang Dynasty, sitting on a flying boat, there was no green in the farmland. For those who had enough to eat and drink, they did not feel terror. But for the ordinary people who put their hope in these fields, there was only despair.
"The village is very desolate, suffering from drought and locusts every year. The old men pay debts, and the young ones sell grain." Li Yuanxing recited the poem, stopped halfway, and shook his head with a wry smile.
"Your Highness, it seems that you still have this poem?"
"There is no more, and there is no need to have it. There were disasters in the Sui Dynasty before, and the people would eat their own children, but the Tang Dynasty could not!"
Li Yuanxing used the word "can't" instead of "can't", which represents the determination of the superior.
"On the first day of May, there were no wild vegetables in the mountains and no green trees. The villagers who had borrowed grain to survive gathered at the village gate and begged to borrow more grain. The housekeeper reported that there was not much grain in the house. There was no harvest after autumn, and how could they survive the winter without grain? The villagers borrowed
There is no harvest in the fields, how can we repay the debt after autumn, protect our own family, or live and die with the old and young in the village!"
When the old man thought about this symbiosis of life and death, Li Yuanxing's heart tugged.
It’s true that the output of fields in ancient times was not much. History records that there was a locust plague in the second year of Zhenguan, which caused countless deaths. Hundreds of villages became deserted and deserted. How many refugees with their families starved to death on the roadside?
People gather together to steal, and how many people eat their own children.
Even the food of a large household is not enough for everyone in the village.
What's more, there is no non-staple food, no wild vegetables, and even the young leaves on the trees have been eaten by locusts.
"On the second day of May, the Zhao family in the east of the village put out grain. The food in the house was only enough for five days!"
"On the third day of the fifth lunar month, a certain family was putting grain away. According to statistics, the remaining grain in the seventy-six villages in eight townships was not enough to feed the seventy-six villages in three townships for ten days. In order to protect themselves, large households stopped putting grain out and started fighting, injuring 140 people.
Seven people died."
Li Yuanxing nodded silently, not knowing what to say.
"On the fourth day of May, the county warehouse was ordered to release grain. The food in the county warehouse was only enough to feed the people of the county for seven days."
Thinking of this, the old man suddenly stopped and said: "Your Highness, the food for this day is calculated as two bowls of porridge per person per day, but seven days is actually a reluctant number. The harvest has been very ordinary over the years, and there is not much every year.
The newly added grain is stored, and most of the grain in the state warehouse is military ration, so I don't dare to touch it easily."
Li Yuanxing nodded slightly.
Li Yuanxing wanted to ask why there was so little grain in the county warehouse. But he stopped talking. This was ancient times. Only Chang'an and Luoyang had enough grain due to his influence, but it did not mean that the entire Tang Dynasty had enough grain.
There is not enough food, not to mention that most of the Hedong Road and Hebei Province do not farm according to their own wishes.
There are not a lot of chickens either.
The most troublesome thing is that they don't believe there is a locust plague.
In fact, the ultimate reason is that due to the underdevelopment of information, news from Chang'an can reach the prefecture, but not necessarily every small village. People in many villages cannot see a stranger for several years.
"On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, a sergeant appeared ten miles outside the village. The whole village was closed and young and strong men were sent to guard the main roads!"
Li Yuanxing smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Chai Lie said: "In times of disaster, soldiers also become bandits."
"Not in the Tang Dynasty!" Li Yuanxing's tone was a bit harsh.
None of the old men spoke, and the one continued to read: "On the evening of the fifth day of May, a military academy requested to report the population of the village and the situation of grain storage in the village, but the villagers refused!"
"On the sixth day of the fifth lunar month, porridge was being cooked at the entrance of the village. The porridge was fragrant and tempting, and the sergeant retreated a thousand steps away."
When he said this, the old man's eyes turned red, and he stood up and saluted Li Yuanxing: "I, on behalf of the whole village, apologize to His Highness the King of Qin. The ignorant and foolish people do not know the benevolence of the King of Qin, the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and the virtues of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty!"
Li Yuanxing felt a little pain in his heart. He didn't blame these people, he only blamed the bad world in the past.
"On the seventh day of May!" the old man's voice became much louder: "On the seventh day of May, the whole village leaves home and goes to the county town. The young and strong people join the grain transportation team and the locust eradication team. The grain transportation team goes to Fenshui Wharf to participate in the transportation of grain.
The old and weak are left in the county town to receive assistance. Some idle people do not do their job properly, which is really a shame to our three Jins, and we order the elders of all ethnic groups to punish them."
"On the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, the Tang army began to set fire to the village fields to exterminate the locusts."
The old man's voice was almost shouting: "On the eighth day of the fifth lunar month, the quota for grain distribution will be announced. The wealthy elders of each county will jointly submit a letter to the county magistrate. The idle people will not be punished, and people's hearts are unfair. The idle people will not have seeds, so as not to waste. In times of disaster.
Those who commit chaos will be exiled thousands of miles away."
"Your Highness, on the tenth day of the fifth lunar month, each village will be able to return to the village one after another with grain and seeds. Each village will send the best farmers to learn new grain growing methods. Planting can be done again on the eighteenth day of the fifth month at the latest, and there is hope for the autumn harvest.
"
Li Yuanxing breathed a long sigh of relief. It seemed that the problem in this state had been solved.
At this time, each old man took out a scroll, and each one felt very thick.
"The old man comes first!" After the old man spoke, the rest of the people put the scroll in front of them. The old man opened the scroll: "On the fourth day of May, six people from the Zhao San family in the east of Zhaoping Village, old and young, went into the mountains to dig wild vegetables and did not return home at night.
.Ten unknown soldiers from the Tang Army went into the mountains and forests at night, rescued two people from the Zhao family who had slipped into a ditch, and carried the old Zhao family woman back."
"On the fourth day of May, six brothers from the Li family in the east of Hexi Village went into the water to catch fish, and two of them fell into the water. Seven unknown soldiers searched for a river for thirty miles and rescued the people who fell into the water."
"The fourth day of May...
On the fourth day of May alone, I have recited more than a dozen of them. They are not earth-shattering, or even small things worthy of being remembered and praised, but each one of them was recorded by the elders in these villages.
On file.
Finally, when the old man started to recite the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Li Yuanxing interrupted him: "There is no need to recite it any more. It is not worthy of praise for your own children to do something for the family. The sergeants of the Tang Dynasty are all the children of the common people of the Tang Dynasty, and they are also the children of the Tang Dynasty."
The children of the Tang Dynasty. The food they eat and the clothes they wear come from the taxes of the people of the Tang Dynasty. The people support them, and they do something for the people, which is appropriate for both emotion and reason, and for public and private matters."
The old men stood up together:
"I am ashamed of myself. I once suspected that the rumors of natural disasters in Luoyang were false. How can human power defeat the sky? How can human power prevent the Luoshui River from bursting its banks? Human power can make hundreds of miles of ocean and destroy thousands of villages without a single death. At this moment, I
I feel deeply ashamed and come here to apologize to His Highness!"
"I don't blame you. Everything you see with your own eyes may not be true, let alone the rumors."
"What Your Highness said is true. Thinking about Yan Hui grabbing rice from the pot, the Holy Master once misunderstood that Fu Sheng was stealing the food, but it was actually Fu Sheng Yan Hui who saw some grass ashes in the pot, threw it away, and ate the grass ashes with the rice.
But I don’t want Master to eat filth. When I read Chang’an newspapers in the county town these days, I felt deeply that our knowledge was shallow and I felt ashamed!”
Finally, Li Yuanxing sent these old men away, leaving behind only scrolls recording the sergeants' good deeds.
Lu Maofeng came back with more scrolls.
"There is no need to report it, I already know it. Inform all the troops, remember that there is nothing wrong with being kind, but don't be stupid. Distributing food to the villagers is far less important than helping the villagers save themselves. Clearing out the locusts and replanting the fields are the top priorities. Educate those who are helpless.
Virtuous people can use heavy codes!"
"yes!"
"In my name, I will send a message to the emperor's sister-in-law. Post-disaster plagues must be prepared in advance. Since it is disaster relief, let the states and counties report a process and submit it to the six ministries for joint review. Datang will formulate a complete response to natural disasters.
, from the level of officials, management, and military deployment, to water wells, river services, and then to food, medicine, and the treatment of small people, gangs, and unscrupulous businessmen who make money by taking advantage of natural disasters."
After listening to Li Yuanxing's words, Lu Maofeng said softly: "Your Highness has thought of everything he can think of, so why not just give the order!"
"If I have to give orders for everything, what is the use of hundreds of officials?"
Lu Maofeng did not dare to answer the call and quickly retreated to send a telegram.
Li Yuanxing left the tent and returned directly to the flying boat. He had no intention of contacting the officials here, nor did he plan to go to the disaster relief site in person. This was a matter for the Tang Dynasty court, not for any one person.
Whether it is disaster relief or post-disaster reconstruction, this is a systematic work that requires top-down coordination and precise cooperation.
Now that I have a plan, there is no need for me to interfere.
Li Er asked him to come over and take a look, just to increase his reputation as the king of Qin.
"Send the order, Laizhou resupply. Change to cruising flight speed, prepare for long-distance flight in Laizhou, adjust the flight crew schedule, prepare to take off." Li Yuanxing had given the order when he stepped onto the stairs of the airship, and Tang Jun had strictly followed Li Yuanxing's requirements.
Go and do it.
Datang's disaster relief efforts are also proceeding in an orderly manner.
In Laizhou, Li Yuanxing did not get off the flying boat, and the steam engine of the flying boat did not shut down. He only replenished water and coal in Laizhou, and then added some buckets and coal boxes to several warehouses. The one was originally used for cooking.
The kitchen is opened for use for the first time.
After the trial, some adjustments were made in Laizhou, and then food raw materials were moved in.
When I went there, no one asked, not even Princess Qin and Wang Yuyan. Li Yuanxing was the King of Qin. There was no reason or excuse for any order, even if it was just to make himself happy.
The flying boat took off again, and after flying to the sea, Li Yuanxing wrote a mark on a piece of paper.
"Tan Luo!" (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)