fake prince

Chapter 434

"Flood first and then drought?" Su Ziji sighed secretly after grabbing a handful of soil and crushing it.

As expected, it was only May, and the sun was so venomous. During this journey, there had been no rain in the territory of Shun'an Prefecture. If the weather continued like this, there might be another severe drought.

He stared at the ground again and saw farm tools beside him. He held them in his hand and turned over the soil in the ground, only to find that there were countless small holes in the ground that looked like beehives. Pimples popped up instantly.

This kind of dense layered feeling is really disgusting instinctively, but in order to take a closer look, he had to endure this uncomfortable feeling and continued to turn over the ground.

"This field is full of these things!" Su Ziji, who had been mentally prepared, could not help but be surprised that there were so many locust eggs hiding under the ground.

"Nonsense!" At this moment, a man's scolding sounded from not far behind, Su Ziji finally came to his senses, but he didn't immediately look to see who it was, but just listened like this.

"Do you know what this is? You don't even know this, how did you become an official, and who did you serve as an official? You stay in the yamen every day and only know how to drink tea and read books. What do you call it? It's called dawdling!"

"If you're just passing by like this, you don't have to stay in the yamen, and you have to put on airs, are you tired? It's better to go home directly! It's more leisurely and free!"

The voice seemed to be a middle-aged man, and he was still an official. Su Ziji got up and turned to look, and he saw not far away. It should be just when he was digging the ground to watch, a group of people came after him.

The surrounding circle is obviously full of local officials, all of them are wearing official uniforms, and judging from the style, they should all look like six or seven or eight grades.

But whether it is the sixth grade or the eighth grade, these grades are all trained by one person at this moment, and they are also ashamed.

Until someone moved, the figure of the speaker who had been blocked before was revealed, and Su Ziji saw it from a distance of more than ten meters.

It has to be said that when this person appeared, Su Ziji was surprised again.

But unlike the horror of seeing locust eggs all over the ground, when seeing this person, there are mixed feelings.

His eyes fell on the obviously dark and thin face, which was obviously tanned by the sun, which really formed a sharp contrast with the official.

Not to mention, the man surrounded in the middle was about fifty years old. His robe was pulled up and pinned to his belt, and his trousers were pulled up high. When it matched his skin color, he looked more like an official than an official. old farmer.

The man broke off a piece of soil with his hand, pointed it out, and showed it to the people around him: "This is a locust egg! You have all seen it, there are countless locust eggs all over the ground!"

"It doesn't matter now, it won't be long before they will hatch again and eat up all the replanted crops!"

"What? What are you still doing? Knowing what it is, why don't you send someone to put it out?"

He glared at one of the officials: "Once there is a locust plague in Wu'an County, it will be your dereliction of duty as the county magistrate!"

The county magistrate of Wu'an County is in his 30s, with a slightly fat body. Because he is white enough, he is considered a fat man.

He replied aggrievedly: "My lord, it's not that the officials are not dedicated, it's because there is no one in the county!"

"All the available manpower was organized to repair the water conservancy. Wu'an County is next to the river. When it was flooded before, it suffered a lot..."

Probably because he knew that if he didn't speak out about his hardships, it would be someone else's turn after this lord had finished spraying the magistrate of Wu'an County.

Another official also chimed in: "Master Liu is right. My lord, almost all parts of Shun'an Prefecture have been hit by disasters before, and water conservancy is being repaired everywhere. There is really no room for manpower!"

"Besides, the government school leaked rain, and it is also being repaired..."

"Then remove the people from the government school first!" The black and thin man frowned immediately before the official finished speaking: "All the people will be assigned to the farmlands of the counties first, and the locust eggs will be removed first!"

The former official smiled wryly: "My lord, isn't it difficult for you to wait for me? Even if all the people from the government school are withdrawn, there are only a few hundred people. It looks like a lot. If you spread it to a government, what can you do?" thing?"

"Besides, if we want to organize migrant workers to work, we have to delay farming. Now that March and April have passed, those who are due to waterlogging, replanting, replanting, preparations, and then transfer people to do other things, how can they be willing? "

"That's right, my lord, now it's time for the busy farming season, and everyone has to plant crops." The official echoed.

Another official took a step forward and said sincerely: "Besides, even if you are recruiting manpower, you have to have money and food to get things done. Even if you don't pay wages, you have to give two bowls of rice every day, right? Just these flowers Sales, for today's Shun'an Mansion, it is already..."

The official didn't go on with the rest of the sentence, but the surrounding officials, including the black and thin man who was frowning before, knew what it was about.

It is true that a penny beats a hero.

The current Shun'an Mansion is not only short of money, but also short of 70 taels of silver.

If such a large deficit is not resolved, the money will be collected, but it will basically be smashed into a black hole, and no sound will be heard.

The black and thin middle-aged man also swallowed helplessly, and after a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "I will ask the province for help, so you don't have to worry about it."

"What you have to do is to exterminate the locusts as soon as possible. This is not a small matter. Once it becomes popular, it will be a disaster."

But the extermination of locusts is not only a problem of manpower, but also a problem caused by the fear of locusts themselves since ancient times.

Not to mention the common people, even the officials who passed the imperial examination by familiarity with the Four Books and Five Classics also showed some embarrassment on their faces.

One of them hesitated even more, and asked directly: "My lord, but these locusts are not ordinary insects. If too many locusts are killed, will they..."

Under the stare of the black and thin man, he bit the bullet and said the following words: "Will it hurt the harmony of heaven and earth?"

The black and thin man was visibly furious. Su Ziji could see the veins popping up on the man's forehead from a distance of more than ten meters.

But in the end, when everyone else showed approval, he finally suppressed his anger and said coldly: "If you are guilty, I will bear it alone! I gave the order, and it has nothing to do with you!"

After finishing speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left directly, not wanting to waste any more time with these people.

Walking over with big strides, he saw a young gentleman looking at him from the side. Although he was angry, he only glanced at him, and secretly praised him: "What a young gentleman Pianpianjia!"

Although he himself was tanned due to running around, but still the same sentence, most civil servants with imperial examination backgrounds have requirements for temperament and appearance, but to varying degrees.

Even this is the rule of the imperial court. There is a special requirement that "officials should be dignified." If a scholar can do this kind of thing, he will first win a good impression. Now that he is getting closer, his eyes will naturally brighten up.

(End of this chapter)