The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Wang Wenlong flipped through the manuscript.

Although the plot of the novel written by Li Guoxian is similar to that of Wang Wenlong, the writing style is much more delicate. There is no way, the writing style of people at this time cannot be as intense as that of later generations. The final thing written is better than the original version. The work has less intense emotions, but more descriptions of real life. It has a bit of the style of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly novels of later generations.

Wang Wenlong read two chapters and then nodded and said: "The work has reached the standard for publication, but recently our newspaper is not suitable for publishing such a novel. It is estimated that it will take a month to post the manuscript."

Li Guoxian was very happy that the novel could be published. Seeing Wang Wenlong's sad face, she couldn't help but ask: "Why?"

Wang Wenlong said: "We have to leave space to promote disaster relief. There is no space to publish new works for the time being."

Now the "Xunbao" newspaper office is also engaged in disaster relief work. It has opened three porridge shacks outside Fuzhou, all of which are paid for by the profits of "Xunbao".

In the afternoon, I heard that Wang Wenlong was going to take people from the editorial department to give porridge. Li Guoxian also took the initiative to go with him, and Wang Wenlong didn't stop him.

"Xunbao" is also a government-run newspaper, so it is natural to do something during a disaster, so everyone has been following this work process these days. They work in the morning and go to soup kitchen at noon and afternoon, leaving only the editor who is rushing to finish the article to continue editing. Ministry work.

After everyone sorted things out, Wang Wenlong took the workers from the editorial office, and a dozen people packed large and small bags and loaded porridge buckets before driving off in a cart.

Jin Xuezeng was afraid that the refugees would cause trouble if they entered the city, so he did not allow the refugees to enter the city and had all the victims gathered outside the city for resettlement.

The originally prosperous Guanxiang outside the city of Fuzhou has changed drastically at this time. Because there are too many victims and the public security here is not good, many shops have been closed down and the streets are occupied by refugees in ragged clothes.

As soon as Wang Wenlong and others left the city gate, a large group of refugees came. They were not trying to grab food, but they pushed their children towards Wang Wenlong and others.

"My daughter is well-behaved, sensible and doesn't eat much. She only needs five liters of rice and sells it to the master."

"Master, do you want a woman? One who has given birth to a son."

"Master, please do it. My mother is starving to death. As long as I give you one bite, I will save two lives..."

Although Li Guoxian knew that refugees gathered outside the city, she never expected that the scene outside the city wall would turn into this. She was so frightened that she turned pale and pulled Wang Wenlong's sleeves for fear of being caught. Many of these refugees were still alive. With the last breath of strength, he grabs the person and doesn't let go.

Li Guoxian said sympathetically: "Why is it like this outside Fuzhou City?"

Wang Wenlong sighed: "These are all from Fuqing..."

He asked Wang Pingbao to drive quickly, but he had to be cruel. Once everyone stopped here, they would be surrounded immediately, and they would never want to go to the porridge shed again.

It was not until the front of the porridge shed that guardsmen stopped the refugees. Wang Wenlong and others felt safe when they came down and were protected by the officers.

Then the workers of the "Xunbao" quickly started to heat the porridge. The porridge was cooked and then boiled in the city. They did not dare to put food outside the city, otherwise they would be robbed within one night.

Now that it has entered February, there is no sign of early spring at all. Wang Wenlong knows that this year's climate abnormality is a foregone conclusion. According to history, spring this year will not come until April at the latest. In previous years, summer has already entered April in the lunar calendar.

With such drastic seasonal changes, the harvest of staple grains will definitely be greatly reduced, and we can only rely on vegetables to make up for it.

Wang Wenlong knows that the number of people fleeing famine in Fuqing is far from being overwhelming. They should be relieved by the potato harvest in mid-month. What Wang Wenlong is worried about now is that Fujian's sweet potato seedlings will soon be planted in February. If the sweet potato planting cannot keep up, Then there will definitely be a major famine in Fujian this year. Because of what happened last year, people along the coast now have a lot of sweet potato fields planted by themselves. However, the Sanming and Longyan areas of later generations were mainly populated by Hakkas at this time. They were completely different cultural areas from Fuzhou and southern Fujian. The Guacaidai belief was in the coastal areas. The popularity did not successfully spread to western and central Fujian.

The famine was imminent, and it was no longer enough to rely on religious methods to promote it among the farmers. Wang Wenlong looked at the victims who had gathered and thought that he had to think of a new method.

……

In Xu Xueju's mansion, Xu Xueju frowned after hearing Wang Wenlong express his concerns.

"What kind of volcanic eruption Jianyang mentioned is really so powerful?"

Wang Wenlong nodded and said: "As far as I know, it will be extremely cold this year. If we don't come up with new ways to quickly promote sweet potato cultivation, I'm afraid the food shortage will be more serious than the autumn and winter of the previous year."

Chen Jinglun, who has now become Xu Xueju's staff, nodded and said: "There was a lot of rain last winter, and it was still quite hot in October. According to Lao Pu, it is possible that it will be very cold this year. Even if there is no severe cold, locusts will definitely grow in such hot weather. I went to Fuqing area "Looking at the terrain, the number of dormant overwintering locusts this year is much greater than in previous years. If a locust plague breaks out, I'm afraid it will not be small in scale."

Xu Xueju didn't speak for a long time. In fact, you don’t need to know any meteorological data to see the signs of weather changes.

For example, last winter was exceptionally warm, which extended the time for locusts to hibernate in the land. After the winter, as long as there are a few more heavy rains, locust eggs in the ground will definitely hatch in large numbers. In this era, it is basically impossible to exterminate locusts. , if the weather is abnormal, there will definitely be problems with spring planting. If there is a locust plague in summer and autumn, the autumn crops will also be destroyed, which will be a real disaster.

"Master Fantai, Brother Jinglun," Wang Wenlong said to the two of them, "I would like to ask Brother Jinglun to open a special chapter in the "Xunbao" to discuss this year's agricultural production, report the disaster in a timely manner, and also provide support for farmers. A few tips from the big players.”

"It's easy." Chen Jinglun nodded.

Xu Xueju looked at Wang Wenlong again and said, "Jianyang said before that he could promote the cultivation of potatoes and sweet potatoes. Please give it a try."

Potatoes and sweet potatoes are wild. Even if there is not much ground left after being eaten by locusts, as long as the tubers under the ground are still there, they will grow back in a few months. Xu Xueju personally planted these two crops last year. I was very impressed by the viability of the two crops and knew that promoting new species would be a good way to deal with locusts.

Wang Wenlong smiled and said, "Have you ever heard of the Trinity Religion?"

"Trinity Religion?" Xu Xueju was stunned.

Wang Wenlong said: "Although the Trinity Church has mixed reviews in Fujian, it does contact many high-profile households, many of whom are large landowners with an area of ​​more than 100 acres. Today, sweet potatoes and potatoes are grown by a generation of small farmers along the coast. Basically, it has been implemented. On the contrary, large landowners are afraid of the risks of large-scale planting, so when they lease land to tenants, they are often unwilling to let them plant new crops. If someone from the Trinity Church can help, the sweet potato production can definitely be greatly increased. And the area planted with potatoes?”

Xu Xueju nodded after hearing this, "The Trinity Sect is the Xia Sect, right? I heard that there are quite a few people who believe in this sect in the officialdom of Fujian, and it does have a great influence. Do you know anyone from the Xia Sect in Jianyang?"

Wang Wenlong said: "You Jia, who is cooperating with me in setting up a factory, also believes in this teaching. I am planning to ask him to introduce it to the middle and senior levels of teaching."

Chen Jinglun on the side smiled and said: "Speaking of this, I do know their Fuzhou boss."

Xu Xueju and Wang Wenlong both looked at him in surprise.

Chen Jinglun said: "This Trinity religion relies on treating people's illnesses to preach. It first prescribes medicine to treat illnesses and then asks people to practice their nine-step mental method. It is probably the same method that makes people do good deeds and eat fast. That's it. It can cure diseases and spread to the heart. Their Dharma integrates Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism into one, so it is called Trinity Church. Trinity Church is not like a monastery or a Taoist temple but more like an academy. Because it respects Confucianism, high-ranking families do not avoid it. There are many gentry in Fuqing who are filial, honest and well-dressed - my family has several copies of their Taoist scriptures."

(End of this chapter)