216 [Traveling in the mountains and playing in the water] (The wind that floats for the leader NJ
Natural and man-made disasters have always been linked together.
In terms of the degree of drought last year, Shanxi and Shaanxi were actually less severe, but the famine they caused was the most severe.
Where was the hardest hit area by drought last year?
According to the administrative divisions of later generations, there are southern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, southeastern Hubei, northeastern Jiangxi, eastern Fujian and the entire Zhejiang!
These places were relatively wealthy, so according to historical records, there was no widespread famine in the south during the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign.
However, Zhejiang, which suffered a severe drought in the province last year, is suffering from persistent drought this year. Although the drought is lighter than last year, the people of Zhejiang cannot bear it anymore because the Chief Secretary is stepping up tax collection.
Yao Yongji, the governor-general of Zhejiang Province, also had no choice. He reported the disaster last year, but the emperor didn't believe it at all. He actually seized the official position and kept him in office. If he didn't pay the taxes, he would be dismissed!
Ji'an, General Military Mansion.
Zhao Han gave instructions at the spring plowing meeting: "Officials, missionaries, farmer members, and the army from all over the country are all involved in drought relief!"
Li Ke said weakly: "Headquarters, why don't you personally offer sacrifices to the sky and pray for rain?"
"Why don't you pray for rain? If you have that kind of money, you might as well use it for disaster relief!" Zhao Han refused.
Pang Chunlai said: "It's okay to pray for rain, not to move the world, but to unite people's hearts."
"The town doesn't believe it, but the officials and people do." Li Banghua agreed.
Zhao Han thought for a while and said: "United will is to unite people's hearts. As for praying for rain, there has been a severe drought in the north for many years. Why didn't the emperor and his ministers pray for rain? We ordered all the chief officials in various places to immediately remove those who pray for rain from now on."
Please put all your thoughts into fighting the drought!"
"yes!"
The officials no longer tried to dissuade him.
…
The magistrate of Nanchang has gone away, claiming to be seriously ill, and without the permission of the court, he went home to retire.
The new county magistrate is called Han Chengxuan. He was the county magistrate in Zichuan before. During his term of office, he only did two things: first, restore the whip law to the whole county and no longer impose excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes; second, build stone cities to resist bandits.
Great governance in Zichuan County!
As soon as he entered Jiangxi, he heard that the spring drought was serious. Han Chengxuan frowned. He was from Shanxi and passed the Jinshi exam three years ago. He had already experienced enough droughts.
This time when he went to Jiangxi, Han Chengxuan did not have a master and only brought two servants with him.
After leaving Poyang Lake, Han Chengxuan stood on the bow of the boat and observed. He found that the rice seedlings on both sides of the Gan River were lush and green, completely unlike the scene he had imagined.
Han Chengxuan said with emotion: "The land on the right side of the Yangtze River is indeed rich, with rivers and lakes moisturizing it, and even a severe drought can have a good harvest."
When we arrived at Nanchang Fucheng, we found that the place was extremely prosperous and did not look like a rebel.
Han Chengxuan did not stop, but changed boats and went down the river. Ten miles away was Nanchang County.
Along the way, on both sides of the river, I saw people lining up to collect water many times. The water level of the river had dropped a lot, and the water tankers could not lift water into the canal, so the farmers' association organized manual water lifting.
"Ashore."
Before arriving at the county seat, Han Chengxuan landed in advance.
He looked at the mud left behind after the water receded on the river bank, and then looked around at the lush rice fields, feeling something strange that was indescribable.
Han Chengxuan asked his servants to stay on the shore to guard the luggage, and he walked along the field ridge with his sword on his back. After walking for several miles, he was already far away from the river, but there were still no withered seedlings.
It's only spring. Although it hasn't rained, Nanchang County is full of rivers and connects Ganjiang River and Fuhe River. Drought relief work is actually very easy to do.
What’s really difficult is the mountainous areas!
Suddenly, Han Chengxuan saw a flag with an indigo background and an ear of rice embroidered on it.
"Folks, please work harder, these are the last few fields!" A man in ordinary clothes shouted while holding a tin trumpet.
"good!"
Everyone cheered in unison, and then worked even harder.
Han Chengxuan stopped a farmer carrying water, pointed at the flag and asked: "What flag is that?"
"The flag of the peasant association." the farmer replied.
One spoke Mandarin and the other spoke Jiangxi dialect, but they could barely communicate.
Farmers' Association?
Han Chengxuan felt a little bad.
He observed for a while, then walked back to the river, and went to the county town with his servants.
When you arrived at the county government office, you reported your origins and were greeted by the county magistrate, chief registrar, and dianshi with two teams of officers.
Han Chengxuan made some inquiries and learned that the county magistrate was named Zhang Ruohai, the chief registrar was named Liu Zirong, and the magistrate was named Hu Dinggui.
This Dianshi is quite young, he looks to be only in his teens.
Those Zaoban yamen officers were even more strange. They each held long spears instead of normal water and fire sticks. They also ordered and enforced orders and were arranged neatly. They looked more powerful than the officers and soldiers in the north.
Han Chengxuan suppressed his doubts and went to go through the handover procedures. Although the treasury was not full, there was still some money and food left for him. This situation was excellent. When he first came to Zichuan as a county magistrate, the county government treasury was very poor.
Can run away mice.
Han Chengxuan left the county seat, chief register, and history books, and called them to a meeting in the second hall of the county government office.
"I am new to this county, so I still need to rely on three people." Han Chengxuan said with his hand.
Zhang Ruohai quickly handed over his hand: "I dare not, we will do our best to assist the county magistrate."
Han Chengxuan added: "I think the spring drought in Jiangxi was managed very well. The three gentlemen have made great contributions to their hard work."
Liu Zirong suddenly said: "My lord, Nanchang County has a flat terrain, fertile land, and crisscrossed rivers. There is no need to worry about the spring drought. However, in the surrounding counties, people in the mountains will definitely be affected by the disaster. They may come to beg for food after the summer harvest. My lord, the county."
Make preparations early and try not to starve any victim to death."
"That's natural." Han Chengxuan laughed.
Hu Dinggui said: "If there are refugees, the county magistrate does not need to panic, I will only take people to deal with them."
"Thank you." Han Chengxuan said with cupped hands.
After chatting for about a stick of incense, Han Chengxuan finally figured it out.
The affairs of Nanchang County are all decided by the chief secretary Liu Zirong and the official historian Hu Dinggui. The county magistrate Zhang Ruohai is a complete puppet and only occasionally talks nonsense.
In the evening, Han Chengxuan spent his own money to invite Zhang Ruohai to a banquet at the county government house.
After a few words of greeting, Han Chengxuan asked directly: "Are the county's chief bookkeeper, dianshi, and the two teams of government officials all rebels?"
Zhang Ruohai was so frightened that he trembled all over and hurriedly whispered: "Your Majesty, please don't make any noise. We can get over it after being a stupid official for a few years."
He is really a rebel!
Although Nanchang County is not attached to Nanchang Prefecture, it is also the central area of Jiangxi Provincial City. Except for the county magistrate, all the other officials in the dignified county government were stolen by the rebels.
Cold sweat broke out on Han Chengxuan's vest, and he said with a stern expression: "Didn't the Luling Zhao thief be recruited a long time ago?"
Zhang Ruohai complained bitterly: "It is true that we have recruited people, and there is no war anymore, but I am afraid that in Jiangxi, we have to have the surname Zhao. The last county magistrate was scared away, and he just signed up and said he was sick and returned home."
"Is this true across Jiangxi?" Han Chengxuan asked.
Zhang Ruohai said: "I don't know about other places, but the whole Nanchang Prefecture is like this. Fuzhou Prefecture in the east and Ruizhou Prefecture in the west are also forming peasant associations, and sooner or later they will all fall into the hands of the Zhao traitor."
"What exactly is a peasant association?" Han Chengxuan thought of the flag in the suburbs.
Zhang Ruohai explained: "Zhao thief has a missionary group under his command, and they are preaching about universal harmony. The missionary group brings with them some backbones of farmers' associations. In the villages and towns they pass through, farmers' associations will be established within two or three months. It means that farmers collude together.
The landlords were forced to reduce rents and interest rates, and they refused to pay exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes to the government. In their spare time, the peasant associations also helped each other."
"This...is this a rebellion?" Han Chengxuan was dumbfounded.
Zhang Ruohai said with certainty: "This is rebellion, and the gentry and landlords have been suffering for a long time!"
Han Chengxuan was completely speechless. If this was considered a rebellion, then he also wanted to rebel.
When Han Chengxuan was the magistrate of Zichuan County, he tried his best to restore Zhang Juzheng's whipping method. As a result, he offended the powerful and powerful, and even though the county was under great rule, he was thrown to Jiangxi to face the rebels.
I have to admit that the rebels here in Jiangxi have done better than the government.
But there's something wrong with this. If it continues to develop, the whole of Jiangxi will really have the surname Zhao.
Han Chengxuan was extremely entangled in his heart. The education he received was to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country and to love the people. Now, loyalty to the emperor and the country seems to be in conflict with benevolence to the people. Which one should he choose?
That night, Han Chengxuan tossed and turned, unable to figure it out.
After spending several days like this, Han Chengxuan found that he had nothing to do. The government affairs were handled by Liu Zirong, the chief clerk, and the public security was handled by Hu Dinggui, the magistrate. All affairs in the county were taken care of in an orderly manner.
So, what should he, the county magistrate, do?
With no other choice, Han Chengxuan simply went sightseeing and took his servants across the river to reach the boundary of Ruizhou Prefecture.
After asking around, it turned out that the person who went to Kochi County was actually Fu Ruwei, a Jinshi scholar in the same year.
Han Chengxuan immediately went to meet him. Strictly speaking, this kind of behavior was not allowed. The county magistrate could not leave his jurisdiction without permission.
"Brother Kanghou, why are you here?" Fu Ruwei was very surprised.
Han Chengxuan explained: "I was working as a county magistrate in Nanchang. I really had nothing to do, so I went out to relax."
Fu Ruwei didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "We are both fallen people from the end of the world."
"Shanggao County was also stolen by rebel thieves?" Han Chengxuan asked.
Fu Ruwei sighed and said: "Two of the four counties in Ruizhou Prefecture are like this. Only Gao'an County, which is attached to Guofucheng, and Yifeng County in the mountains are still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. However, these two counties are still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
When developing peasant associations, it is only a matter of time before they fall into the hands of rebels. Did you offend someone by being transferred to Jiangxi?"
"I have indeed offended a lot," Han Chengxuan said. "I reiterated a whip law in Zichuan, prohibiting excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and also cleared the land again."
Fu Ruwei smiled bitterly and said: "I'm not as capable as Brother Kanghou. Last year there was a severe drought in Zhejiang, so I just forced the wealthy people to open warehouses to release grain. I offended several officials of the Donglin Party."
The imperial court was really interested in sending good officials to Jiangxi.
Han Chengxuan suddenly asked: "Should the actual situation here be reported to the court?"
"It cannot be reported," Fu Ruwei shook his head and said, "In several battles, Jiangxi officers and soldiers were all defeated. If it were reported to the court, it would definitely arouse thunder and wrath, and the war in Jiangxi would start again. By then, where would the court have the officers, soldiers, money and food to fight the war?
?The matter here will be delayed for a day. Alas, then Zhao Yan can be considered a good thief."
Han Chengxuan said: "I know he is a good thief, but a good thief is still a thief after all."
Fu Ruwei said: "Brother Kanghou, please go to the mountains to see how powerful the Zhao thieves are. The people in the mountains, under the organization of the peasant association, walk several or even ten miles of mountain roads, go down to the rivers and carry water back for irrigation.
.This is nothing. After they carried the water, they were still digging the reservoir, and it seemed that they were carrying water to fill the reservoir! I went to see it once, and I was really shocked. No government anywhere could do this.
"
Han Chengxuan had nothing to say.
Fu Ruwei smiled bitterly and said: "Don't think too much, let's go sightseeing together."
(Thanks to the indifferent little fat leader for the reward, and I’d like to ask for a monthly ticket.)
