Cultivation of chastity

Chapter 40 Drought is Coming
"By the way, did you find out about that gang of heroes?" Li Tai asked Ma Zhou.

"A group of rogues who can't get along in Chang'an escaped from Chang'an and are unwilling to leave. Seeing that my side is developing well, they are ready to take root here!"

Ma Zhou added, "Those thieves have gone through Dali Temple, it's easy to talk!"

Li Taidao: "After the bad guy is established, let's use this good guy to help him stand up!
You can discuss it with Peacock, she should be clear about some local gang organizations.

I don't like these goofy dogs, if you are disobedient, just shovel them! "

"Killed them all?" Ma Zhou was taken aback when he heard this, because Li Tai's murderous intentions were not so serious!
Li Tai said: "Isn't there a shortage of people in the coal mines? Just catch them and throw them in the mines. All punishments are based on labor.

Of course, since they are prisoners and not workers, they will not be treated accordingly during their sentences, and they must also wear shackles on their feet.

If they survive their sentence, it means that their crimes are not worthy of death, and after atoning for their sins, they will naturally give them a chance to start a new life! "

Hearing Li Tai's words, Ma Zhou couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, feeling that Li Tai was still too kind.

After all, if they don't cut off the opponent's hand, and don't brand the opponent's face, how can they remember this lesson!
However, since Li Tai said so, Ma Zhou didn't say anything more, just acted according to Li Tai's words.

In a town that was almost entirely built by Ma Zhou, it was actually not difficult to find a gray gang organization that had settled in other places. Ma Zhou had explored the situation of this gang very early on.

They were just waiting for Li Tai to free up his hands to deal with them.

Now with these retired soldiers sent by Li Daozong, it is easier to deal with these gray organizations.

On the third day, Wu Da, the leader of the Hero Gang, was still gambling in the gambling house. After all, several days had passed since the so-called assassination, and Wu Da thought that the limelight had passed.

Moreover, he also asked his subordinates not to work for the time being, while he gambled to have fun. As a result, many strong men broke into the gambling house and immediately caught Wu Da.

"Master Jun, what happened to Master Jun?" The owner of the gambling shop hurriedly came out to ask after seeing this scene.

"Bad handsome Wei Xu, who is in charge of arresting and apprehending."

Wei Xu, who was already blind in one eye and covered with a black blindfold, took out his token and said,
"We were ordered by the King of Yue to arrest Wu Da, the leader of the Gang of Heroes, and do not touch anyone who is not involved.

In addition, all damaged items will be accounted for, and someone will come to pay for your losses later. "

Seeing this, the owner of the shop naturally didn't dare to say a word.

Li Tai's call for an assassination may not be clear in other places, but there is no discussion in Gaoling.

It's just that he didn't know that Wu Da did it, and he didn't expect Wu Da to be so bold that he dared to come to the casino to gamble after assassinating Li Tai.

If he had known that he would have captured Wu Da and offered it to Li Tai, maybe he would have been able to ask for an official position.

But Wu Da was escorted to the Gaoling government office in desperation, but within half a day he was sentenced by Ma Zhou to send him to the mine for mining.

There were also more than [-] core members of the Hero Gang and more than [-] peripheral members who went together.

Li Tai was unceremoniously sentenced to go to coal digging, but because he was younger and had a short working time, he was sentenced to three to six months, while those who only worked for more than one year were sentenced to three to five years. As for Wu Da, it was 20 years.

Still the same sentence, if they served their sentence for a year and did not die, Li Tai counted them as not worthy of death.

After the judgments of these guys have been dealt with, they need to be reviewed by Dali Temple.

To be honest, Dali Temple always felt that Li Tai's sentence was too light, and suggested that Wu Da's hand should be chopped off as a warning to others.

Li Tai tried his best to keep Wu Da's hand, and asked Wu Da to dig coal and said that he would be given a chance to reform.

Everyone in Dali Temple praised Li Tai for his kindness and righteousness.

"This trip can wipe out the gang of heroes, thanks to Wei Peirong!" Li Tai said to Wei Xu.

Although Wei Xu has retired from the army, he still has the title of an accompanying deputy lieutenant, but he has no real rights and is considered a vain title.

"Don't dare to be, dare not be, the king of Yue is willing to use me and other people with bad health, but he is our great benefactor.

As long as the king of Yue said a word, if it weren't for Tang Lv, we would draw our swords and kill these rascals! "

Wei Xu lowered his head and bowed his waist, respecting Li Tai.

"En!" Li Tai nodded and said, "From now on, you will be in charge of commanding bad people.

The clothes of the bad guys will be distributed to you all in a few days. Each person will be given one penny and three buckets of food per month. subsidized benefits.

In addition to large shops and the surrounding areas of the school as the key patrol places, when the port and wharf are built, people need to be sent to maintain order.

Now 200 people are definitely not enough, you try to recruit as many retired Datang soldiers as possible.

In addition, if some of you are blackmailing and embarrassing the common people, I will not only get rid of the team of bad people, but I will also send people to the village to inform them of the reason for the dismissal.

Let me make it clear to the people here, I am most annoyed by the fact that my subordinates do not follow the rules, let alone allow you to bully the common people.

If you can't stand this rule, don't join the team of bad people! "

"Promise!" Wei Xu quickly agreed, and said in awe: "In this world, how can there be a job that costs three buckets of food every month.

If they really don't cherish this job, don't wait for King Yue to take action, I will kick them out of this team of bad people! "

Li Tai nodded and said, "Next, we will meet with Ma Xiancheng. In Gaoling County, he will represent my will."

"No!" Hearing Li Tai's words, Wei Xu bowed his head and backed out.

"These are just retired disabled soldiers, organize them, will Dad say that he bought people's hearts?
Forget it, write a memorial first, and explain this matter first.

Although there is some suspicion of beheading first and playing later, I am still a prince after all.

It's impossible to be so cautious that even the small officials who catch the fast will be caught by the censor above and say that I buy people's hearts! "

Li Tai pouted, honestly wrote a memorial and sent it to the court.

It's just that at this time, the court didn't care about Li Tai's affairs, because after the spring plowing, it has not rained for more than 50 days.

Last year, the snow melted and moistened the land, but since it entered May and now it is the end of June, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, but there is no rain at all.

Although there was a drought last year, Li Shimin opened many wells in Chang'an City during the autumn harvest, and he was able to survive by drinking groundwater.

After all, Chang'an City has the reputation of "eight waters around Chang'an", at least the people inside will not die of thirst.

But the problem is not inside Chang'an City but outside Chang'an City. Those fields planted with winter wheat are not bad, because almost all of them have been harvested in sevens and eighties. If you lose, you lose.

But those who replanted spring wheat, or other crops that grow in spring and summer, are quite difficult!

Compared with the entire Guanzhong area due to the gradually rising high temperature, the people are naturally a bit miserable.

However, Gaoling County relies on two rivers, the Weihe River and the Jinghe River. With the help of bobbin carts, the farmland on both sides of the river can still enjoy the nourishment of water.

However, because of the increasingly hot weather, Li Chunfeng had just finished planning the road from Chang'an to Gaoling in no time.

This corvee team was first pulled by Ma Zhou to sort out the canals to ensure that Gaoling could use the Weihe and Jinghe to tide over this difficulty.

So this drought is basically not a big problem for Gaoling County, as long as the Weihe River and the Jinghe River don't dry up.

It has to be said that with Ma Zhou helping Li Tai, Ma Zhou solved the problem before Li Tai encountered any problems.

But the family in Gaoling County is fine, but it doesn't mean that the entire imperial court is fine, and even the problem is quite serious!
Li Shimin looked at these memorials with a headache, because the county magistrates from all over Guanzhong successively played the memorials, and because there had been no rain for months, the crops planted by the people had already withered.

The drought last year was vivid in their minds, and they immediately asked Li Shimin for help!

"The drought has revealed a few clues, gentlemen, last year's first drought followed by locust plagues is vivid in our minds, and we must not underestimate them!"

"Although I established warehouses in various parts of Guanzhong during the autumn harvest last year, there was a drought last year and the locust storage was limited, so it was only a temporary solution.

But I am afraid that the drought will continue, and the common people are afraid that they will have to leave their homes. Come to Chang'an to eat and drink! "

Dai Zhou stood up but said with a serious expression:

"After last year's locust plague and drought, we can imagine how much food the people still have in their hands.

And more importantly, the drought led to the cut off of drinking water, which is even more fatal to the people! "

"What do you mean?" Li Shimin heard Dai Zhou's words and said, "Qing is worried that there will be civil unrest due to the drought!"

Dai Zhou was silent for a while, and said with great certainty:
"Drought and dry, especially if the people in Guanzhong are really desperate, they will definitely gather in Chang'an.

We need to prepare porridge sheds for them to survive, which is probably another large sum of property. "

"Xuanyin, at this time, I will hand it over to your Ministry of Civil Affairs to handle it with full authority, the three temple assistant managers of Sinong Temple, Taipu Temple, and Guanglu Temple.

In any case, it needs to last until the rain falls, and there must be no civil unrest! "

Li Shimin said seriously to Dai Zhou.

"No! I will do my best to appease the grievances of the people!" Dai Zhou replied to Li Shimin very seriously.

"Shangshu Doulu!" Li Shimin said loudly.

"The minister is here!" Dou Lukuan hurriedly stood up.

"The people came to Chang'an because of the drought, and I need to stabilize people's hearts in Chang'an. You go to Mount Tai to pray for rain for me, and leave within ten days."

"I obey the order!" Dou Lukuan immediately agreed when he heard this.

"If there is nothing wrong, everyone, please leave the court and perform official duties!" Li Shimin waved his hand, feeling a little tired again.

To be honest, there hasn't been a good year since I took the throne, and various disasters have followed one after another.

At this time, Li Shimin couldn't help wondering, is it true that because he killed Li Jiancheng, God felt that he was not virtuous?

At this time, Li Shimin saw that Du Ruhui was still in the hall and did not leave.

"Keming? Do you have anything else to do?" Li Shimin looked at Du Ruhui with some doubts.

"I want to ask the sage to go out of Chang'an City to take a look at Gaoling County!" Du Ruhui said respectfully.

"Gao Ling? But what trouble did Qingque cause?" Li Shimin asked in confusion when he heard Du Ruhui's words.

"No! Please visit Gaoling County, Your Majesty, and you will definitely gain something!" Du Ruhui said confidently.

Li Shimin heard Du Ruhui's words, but said with a smile, "I'll go and see what's so special about the land of Gaoling!"

Although it is said to be light and simple, in fact Li Shimin still has more than a hundred Xuanjia Army cavalry around him.

Although these cavalrymen were not wearing heavy armor, their mental outlook was completely different from that of ordinary troops, and there was an indescribable sense of unity in their every move, as if the hundred cavalry were like one body.

However, Li Shimin and Du Ruhui did not take a car, but chose to ride a horse.

Still the same sentence, as long as the high officials in the Tang Dynasty can't ride a horse, they will definitely be laughed at by their colleagues. Unless they are really old, weak, sick, or disabled, basically no one will choose to ride a car.

In addition, many veterans who refused to obey the old and did not want to retire basically came here on horseback.

Said that he is still old and strong, so he doesn't want to retire. To some extent, it can be regarded as a swollen face to pretend to be fat.

Li Shimin and Du Ruhui both experienced military careers in their early years, and their riding skills are no problem at all.

In particular, Li Shimin's battle at Hulaoguan was considered an art, so Li Tai took half a day's journey in a bullock cart. For Li Shimin, he rode his own horse for half an hour, and he almost arrived in Gaoling County. .

But when the hundred riders galloped to Gaoling County, Li Shimin soon saw that the road leading to Gaoling County was being built.

Moreover, there are quite a few people in Gaoling County who came up to build the building, and the work was done in full swing, which made Li Shimin very uncomfortable.

Seeing this scene, Li Shimin frowned and said, "I remember that the people in Gaoling County are composed of refugees. This year's case should be that they did not serve corvee. Could it be that the Qingque imposed harsh labor and forced the people to build this road!"

"Sage, do you want to ask someone?" Hearing Li Shimin's words, Du Ruhui said seriously, he didn't ask Li Shimin to come and see this.

"Jun Xian, go find a commoner and ask, and see how Qingque makes the commoners serve in the military today!" Li Shimin said.

"Promise!" Li Junxian heard Li Shimin's words, rode a white horse, held a silver gun, and left.

Li Junxian saw a middle-aged man who was serving in the army, so he said:

"Brother, I heard that Gaoling County is not newly established, and it has been exempted from corvee for the first year.

Why do the common people come here and work so hard, it looks like they want to build a long road! "

The middle-aged man took a look at Li Junxian, with a bit of fear on his face, but said truthfully:

"My lord, don't misunderstand the county magistrate, he is a good man, he didn't conscript any corvee, everyone came here voluntarily.

Because we mainly grow winter wheat here, and after the wheat harvest happens to be slack, everyone can't just sit and eat at home.

The county magistrate said that if you come here to help, you can eat. This is a good county magistrate!The county magistrate did not conscript corvee, so we are here to help! "

"So that's it!" Li Junxian nodded when he heard this, "What can you eat for lunch?"

"Big white steamed buns, egg drop soup, and even duck meat after a while, how full you are!" The middle-aged man licked his tongue happily.

(End of this chapter)