Datang first village

All the people here are old people, old and treasured.Whether it is the Tang Dynasty or the later modern times, respecting the elderly is a virtue of the Chinese nation.More than a dozen old people saluted Li Yuanxing, and Li Yuanxing immediately got up to return the salute.

"Your Highness, there are four major disasters in the world, earthquake, flood, locust plague, and plague. Your Highness fought against natural disasters in Luoyang. I thought it was just a rumor. They even thought it was a peaceful and prosperous world whitewashed for the new emperor's ascension to the throne!"

What a whitewash.

However, being able to say such a thing here is also a sincere word.

Another old man took out a scroll and nodded to these elders, and all the elders responded.The old man turned over the scroll and read slowly: "On April 29, the locust plague first appeared. Twenty miles east of Zhuangzhuang, [-] mu of land was damaged. On April [-], the young crops were all destroyed!"

How terrible the plague of locusts is.

Li Yuanxing has never seen it, and he can't even imagine it in the modern age of later generations.

But in Datang, sitting on a flying boat, the farmland is not green. For people who are full of food and drink, they can't feel the horror.But for ordinary people who put their hope on this field, there is only despair.

"The village is very desolate, and locusts suffer from drought every year. The old man pays his debts, and the child sells grain." Li Yuanxing stopped reciting poems halfway through, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"Your Highness seems to still have this poem?"

"There is no more, and there is no need to have it. There were disasters in the former Sui Dynasty, and the common people would have different children, but the Tang Dynasty could not!"

Li Yuanxing used the word "can't", not "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 for the day gathered at the village gate to ask for more grain. The housekeeper reported that there was not much grain in the house. There was no harvest after autumn, and there was no grain left in winter. How did the villagers spend it? Grain, no harvest in the fields, how to pay off the debt after autumn, protect our own family, or live and die with the old and young in the village!"

When the old man read about life and death together, Li Yuanxing felt a twinge in his heart.

That's right, there were not many ancient land productions.According to historical records, the locust plague in the second year of Zhenguan caused countless deaths.Hundreds of villages became deserted villages, how many fleeing with their families starved to death by the roadside, how many people ganged up as robbers, and how many people ate their sons.

Big family, the food in the big family's house 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 are eaten by locusts.

"On the second day of May, the Zhao family in the east of the village released grain, and the grain in the house was only enough for five days!"

"On the third day of May, a certain family released grain. According to the statistics, the remaining grain in 76 villages in eight townships was not enough for ten days in 76 villages in three townships. To protect themselves, the big households stopped releasing grain and fought with weapons. 140 people were injured and seven people died."

Li Yuanxing nodded silently, he didn't know what to say.

"On the fourth day of May, the county warehouse received an order to release grain. The grain in the county warehouse is only enough for the people of the county to eat for seven days."

After reading this, the old man suddenly interrupted, and then said: "Your Highness, the food for this day is calculated on the basis of two bowls of porridge per person per day, but seven days is actually a barely enough number. The harvest has been very ordinary these years, and there are not many people every year. The newly added grain, and most of the grain in the state warehouse is military grain, so I dare not move it easily."

Li Yuanxing nodded slightly.

Li Yuanxing wanted to ask why there was so little grain in the county warehouse.But the words stopped. This is ancient times. Just because Chang'an and Luoyang have enough food due to their own influence, it does not mean that the entire Tang Dynasty has enough food. What's more, this East Road, most of Hebei, I didn't farm according to my own will.

There are also no large numbers of chickens.

The most troublesome thing is that they don't believe in locust plagues.

In fact, the root cause is that the underdeveloped information allows the news of Chang'an to spread to the state, but not necessarily to every small village. People in many villages have not seen a stranger for several years.

"On the fifth day of May, soldiers appeared ten miles outside the village. The whole village was closed and young and strong people were sent to guard the main roads!"

Li Yuanxing shook his head with a wry smile.

Chai Lie said: "In times of disaster, soldiers are also bandits."

"It's not Datang!" Li Yuanxing's tone was a little harsh.

None of the elders opened their mouths, and the one continued to read: "On the fifth night of the fifth lunar month, a military academy asked to report the population of the village and the situation of food storage in the village, but the villagers refused!"

"On the sixth day of May, porridge is cooked at the entrance of the village. The porridge is so delicious that the soldiers retreat a thousand steps away."

When he said this, the old man's eyes were red, and he stood up and saluted Li Yuanxing: "The old man apologizes to His Royal Highness King Qin on behalf of the whole village. The ignorant and foolish people don't know the benevolence of King Qin, the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and the virtue of my soldiers in the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Yuanxing felt a little pain in his heart. He didn't blame these people, but only blamed the bad world.

"The seventh day of May!" The old man's voice became much higher: "On the seventh day of May, the whole village left home. When they went to the county town, the young and strong joined the grain transportation team and the locust removal team, and the grain transportation team went to Fenshui Wharf to participate in food transportation. The old and the weak stay in the county to receive assistance. Some idlers do not do their jobs, which is really a shame to the Three Jin Dynasty, and I will order the elders of all ethnic groups to punish them."

"On the seventh day of May, the Tang army began to set fire to villages and fields to destroy locusts."

The voice of the old man was almost shouting: "On the eighth day of the fifth month, the grain distribution quota was announced. The rich families and elders of each county jointly signed a letter to the county government. The idlers are not punished, and the hearts of the people are unfair. The idlers have no seeds, so as not to waste. In times of disaster Those who cause chaos will be exiled for thousands of miles."

"Your Highness, on the tenth day of May, each village can bring grain and seeds back to the village one after another. Each village sends the best farmers to learn new grain planting methods. Planting can be done again on May [-]th at the latest, and there is hope for autumn harvest. "

Li Yuanxing let out a long sigh of relief. It seems that the problem in this state has been solved.

At this time, each old man took out a scroll, and each of them felt very thick.

"The old come first!" After the old man said, the rest of the people put the scrolls in front of them.The old man opened the scroll: "On the fourth day of May, six people from the Zhao family in the east of Zhaoping Village went to the mountain to dig wild vegetables, and they didn't return at night. Ten unknown soldiers from the Tang Army went into the mountain forest at night, rescued two people from the Zhao family who had slipped into a ditch, and sent them to the mountains. The old lady of the Zhao family will carry it 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 fell into the water. Seven unknown soldiers searched the river for thirty miles and rescued those who fell into the water."

"The fourth day of May...

On the fourth day of May alone, I have already read more than a dozen articles. They are all not earth-shattering, or even small things worthy of being famous, but each stroke of the pen is recorded by the elders in these villages. on record.

Finally, when the old man started to recite the fifth day of May, Li Yuanxing interrupted him: "Don't read any more. It is not worthy of praise for your own children to do something for the family. The soldiers of Datang are the children of the people of Datang, and they are also the children of the people of Datang. 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 feed them, and they do something for the people.

The old men stood up together:

"I am ashamed of myself. I used to suspect that the natural disaster in Luoyang was an untrue rumor. How can manpower overcome the sky? How can manpower prevent the Luoshui River from bursting? Manpower can make hundreds of miles of ocean and destroy a thousand villages without one person dying. At this moment I I am deeply ashamed, and I am here to apologize to His Highness!"

"I don't blame you guys. What you see with your own eyes may not be true, let alone rumors."

"What Your Highness said is true. Thinking about Yan Hui catching rice in the pot, the saint once misunderstood Fu Sheng stealing food, but it was a pity that Fu Sheng Yan Hui saw the ashes in the pot and discarded them. He ate the ashes and rice together. But I don’t want Master to eat dirt. I read Chang’an’s newspapers in the county seat these days, and I feel deeply ashamed for our shallow vision and knowledge!”

Finally, Li Yuanxing sent away these elders, leaving only the scrolls recording the good deeds of the sergeants.

Lu Maofeng came back with more scrolls.

"There is no need to report, the king already knows. Inform all the troops, remember that there is nothing wrong with being kind, but don't be stupid. Giving food to the villagers is far more important than helping the villagers save themselves. Removing locusts and replanting the fields is the most important thing. Civilize those who are useless. A man of virtue can use a heavy code!"

"Yes!"

"In the name of the king, I will call the emperor's wife again. After the disaster, the plague must be prepared in advance. Since it is a disaster relief, let the states and counties submit a process and submit it to the six departments for joint review. Datang must formulate a complete response to natural disasters. , from the level of officials, management, and military deployment, to wells and river affairs. Then there are food, medicine, and the disposal of small people and gangs who make trouble in natural disasters. Unscrupulous businessmen who use natural disasters to make money."

After hearing Li Yuanxing's words, Lu Maofeng said softly: "Your Highness has thought of everything you can think of, why don't you just give an order!"

"Everything needs to be ordered by the king, what's the use of all the officials?"

Lu Maofeng didn't dare to answer, so he quickly stepped back and prepared to send a telegram.

Li Yuanxing left the tent and went back to the flying boat directly. He didn't plan to contact the officials here, nor did he plan to go to the disaster relief site in person.This is a matter of the Tang court, not someone else's.

Whether it is disaster relief or post-disaster reconstruction, this is a systematic work that requires coordination and precise cooperation from top to bottom.

Now that there is a plan, there is no need for me to intervene.

Li Er asked himself to come over to have a look, nothing more than to increase his reputation as the King of Qin.

"Order, Laizhou supply. Change to cruising flight speed, prepare for long-distance flight in Laizhou, adjust the flight crew schedule, and prepare to take off." Li Yuanxing had already ordered when he stepped on the stairs of the flying boat, and Tang Jun had strictly followed Li Yuanxing's request to do it.

And Datang's disaster relief is also proceeding in an orderly manner.

In Laizhou, Li Yuanxing did not disembark from the flying boat, and the steam engine of the flying boat did not turn off. He just replenished water and coal in Laizhou, and then added some buckets and coal boxes to several warehouses.The kitchen that was originally used for cooking was opened for the first time.

After the trial, some adjustments were made in Laizhou, and then the food raw materials were moved in.

When I went there, no one asked, not even Princess Qin Wang Yuyan. Li Yuanxing was the King of Qin, and there was no reason or excuse for any order, even if it was just to make him happy.

The flying boat took off again, and after flying to the sea, Li Yuanxing wrote a bid on a piece of paper.

"Tamra!" (To be continued.)