Chapter 11. Locusts and Corrupt Officials (Part 2).
Seeing that Liu Changan Nuonuo did not dare to speak and just lowered his head to listen to the lecture, Zhao Junchen was not polite at all. Instead, he continued to scold him with a cold face: "As a local official, you don't consider the livelihood of the people. Instead, you only listen to the people."
His ignorant and superstitious words have repeatedly delayed the official business, causing the locust plague to become more and more severe, and now it has spread throughout Shanxi. What is the use of local officials like you in the Ming Dynasty?!"
"My lord, what you are saying is, the lower official knows the crime, the lower official knows the crime..."
Liu Changan did not dare to refute, but kept pleading guilty.
While panicking, Liu Changan couldn't help but wonder, Zhao Junchen was fine just now, so why did he suddenly pay attention to the locust plague? Could it be that the money that everyone in Lu'an Mansion paid to Zhao Junchen yesterday was not enough? Didn't he just say that he would not pursue the case again?
?
You know, the main purpose of Zhao Junchen's visit to Lu'an Mansion this time was just to steal the disaster relief food funds. He visited the disaster area, understood the disaster situation, and even rescued the victims. It was just a face-saving effort. How serious the disaster was.
Even Liu Changan didn't care about the helplessness of the victims, and Zhao Junchen shouldn't even care.
However, just out of nowhere, Zhao Junchen suddenly began to pay attention to the disaster, and he denounced Liu Changan because of the default behavior in the officialdom. Liu Changan was panicked and naturally confused.
On the other side, because Zhao Junchen disclosed it in advance, Xu Qingyan knew that Zhao Junchen had changed his mind and was no longer thinking about embezzling money for disaster relief. Instead, he intended to use this disaster relief opportunity to gain a good reputation, but he also wanted to
I don’t understand why Zhao Junchen suddenly fell out with Liu Changan.
Didn't Zhao Junchen just say before that he should be polite to these court officials?
The reason why Zhao Junchen suddenly reprimanded Liu Changan was because he had his own ideas.
Zhao Junchen's original plan was very simple, which was to use this disaster relief opportunity to properly arrange for the people in the disaster area, do more face-saving work, and then publicize it, so as to gradually reverse his bad reputation among the government and the public.
Of course, it is also part of the question to use some appropriate means to take care of the interests of local officials so as to make friends with local cronies and draw them for future support.
But after discovering that people in this era had ignorant views on the locust plague, Zhao Junchen discovered that there was a better way to better achieve his goal.
That is to learn from Yao Chong, the famous Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty. When everyone was thinking about "sacrifice to the gods and pray for blessings," he was the only one who advocated culling locusts.
The people can live in peace, and if God brings disasters and punishments, I, Zhao Junchen, will bear them all alone, and I will never pass the blame on to others."
In this way, after the locust plague was extinguished under the leadership of Zhao Junchen, and when the victims were properly accommodated by Zhao Junchen, who would dare to say that Zhao Junchen was not a good official who cared about the people wholeheartedly?
The reason why Yao Chong was disgraced by the locust plague back then was because Shandong was a place prone to locust plagues, and Yao Chong himself also had extremely bad luck. Although the locust plague was extinguished under his leadership in the first year, the second
It happened again in the second year, and ignorant people thought it was the locust god's revenge and punishment for the people to kill the locusts, which made Yao Chong extremely passive between the government and the public.
In fact, if the recurrence of the locust plague had been postponed for one year, Yao Chong would not have so much trouble.
Unlike Shandong, Lu'an Prefecture is not a place prone to locust plagues. Successive locust plagues have never happened in history. In Zhao Junchen's opinion, this year's locust plague is just an accident.
If it is extinguished, it is basically unlikely that it will recur in the second year, so Zhao Junchen is not afraid of leaving hidden dangers by doing so, and he will not end up like Yao Chong.
Therefore, personally presiding over the Lu'an Mansion to cull locusts is something Zhao Junchen must do in the future.
However, as Liu Changan said, the theory of the locust god and the theory of divine punishment have been circulated among the people for many years, and both officials and people have been deeply affected by it. It is conceivable that Zhao Junchen's proposal to cull the locusts will encounter resistance.
Know.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen must first unify the ideas of the people in the officialdom, so that when he presided over the Lu'an Mansion to cull the locusts, the officials below him were disobeying them. In the end, the locust plague was not extinguished, but got into trouble.
.
It is precisely because of this consideration that as Liu Changan is the leader of the officials in Lu'an Mansion, it is inevitable that Zhao Junchen will give him a beating.
However, there will be many places where Liu Changan can rely on him in the future, so after giving him a stick, it is necessary to give him a sweet date.
Therefore, in Liu Changan's puzzled eyes, Zhao Junchen softened his expression a little and said slowly: "Master Liu, I understand your concerns. The people are ignorant and firmly believe in the theory of the locust god. If you act rashly, it will cause trouble."
The people are in chaos, but as a court official, Mr. Liu cannot only focus on the stability of one place, but also the government of the world. Mr. Liu, you also know that in these troubled times, the court has no income and expenditure, and it is difficult to circulate money and food. Your Majesty spends all day
Everyone is worried about this. The money for the food relief for Lu'an Prefecture this time was finally squeezed out. At this time, how can we allow the locust plague to spread just because of the theory of the Locust God? According to you, the locust plague is now over.
It began to spread to Hedong, Taiyuan and other places. Once Hedong, Taiyuan and other places are flooded with locust plagues like Lu'an Prefecture in the future, where will the imperial court have food relief? Once trouble arises due to this, how can we be worthy of the imperial court's cultivation? Your Majesty
trust?”
After listening to Zhao Junchen's words, Liu Changan nodded repeatedly, with a look of extreme admiration on his face, and said: "My lord is saying that this official is confused. Listening to your words is worth ten years of studying. My lord is devoted to the country, and this official
I admire you."
Instinctively, although Liu Changan kept nodding in agreement and continued to flatter Zhao Junchen, he became even more confused.
He knew very well what kind of person Zhao Junchen was. When did he become so dedicated to serving the country?
In Liu Changan's view, once the locust plague spreads to the entire Shanxi Province, Zhao Junchen should be happy, because if that happens, he will be able to spend two more money for disaster relief food.
After all, disaster relief food funds are just a blur in the local government's account. It is not like other expenditures. It needs to be recorded in detail, the results need to be seen, and it needs to be strictly monitored. As long as the local officials change hands and sell it, they will then report to the court as disaster relief.
The grain money has been distributed to the victims, and the corrupt officials have made a lot of money. If the court pursues the case because the victims cannot be controlled, the corrupt officials can say that it is because the disaster relief food and grass are insufficient and the victims are too many, and they will make a few more books.
The false accounts can be dealt with. At that time, we may be able to add an additional amount of disaster relief food funds to the court, which will be another income.
Because of this, since ancient times, disaster relief food funds have been the fat in the eyes of corrupt officials, and they are also the most likely place for problems.
But now, Zhao Junchen actually wants to control the disaster? Is he planning to give up this piece of fat? Liu Changan just finds it incredible.
However, this topic is too sensitive, and Liu Changan doesn't feel comfortable asking him openly.
Zhao Junchen knew Liu Changan's thoughts very well, and through the inherited memory, he knew the tricks in it.
But Zhao Junchen did not intend to explain his true thoughts to Liu Changan. He just sighed and continued: "Because of this, as court officials, we should put the court first, relieve His Majesty's worries wholeheartedly, and be considerate of the court.
The difficulties with Your Majesty. If this locust plague can be controlled and extinguished quickly, which will save the court an expense and relieve His Majesty’s worries, please send me a letter of merit, Your Majesty will definitely be happy. By then..."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and said meaningfully: "Master Liu, as court officials, we must take a long-term view."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Liu Changan thought he finally understood what Zhao Junchen was thinking.
Zhao Junchen wants to take advantage of this locust plague to make meritorious deeds!!
Liu Chang'an had long heard that the current emperor was very fond of Zhao Junchen. As long as Zhao Junchen had made merit, he would definitely seize every opportunity to reward him and promote him. Compared with providing food for disaster relief, it was obviously more affordable to be promoted to power.
Get promoted and get rich, get promoted and get rich, after you get promoted, why worry about the way to get rich?
Thinking of this, Liu Changan couldn't help but feel happy. After all, if the emperor wanted to reward Zhao Junchen in the future, he, a local official who followed Zhao Junchen without any credit but with hard work, would definitely be able to benefit from it!!
After thinking about it, Liu Changan looked resolute and said to Zhao Junchen: "I understand, I understand. It is our duty as local officials to solve problems for the court and share your Majesty's worries. It is for the benefit of the people of the world. As your Excellency said,
The locust plague must be controlled, and manpower must be organized to cull the locusts. Your Excellency is far-sighted and thinks far-reaching. I admire you, and I will definitely follow your leadership in the future!!"
When he said this, Liu Changan had already forgotten the theory of the Locust God.
Will he offend the Locust God after killing the locusts? As a corrupt official, Liu Changan has never done bad things. He is not even afraid of the liquidation of King Yama after his death. How can he be afraid of the revenge of the little Locust God?