lying down

In mid-June, Shenxian County at this time is no longer what it was two months ago.

At the gate of Shenshan County, countless refugees gathered here to beg. A beggar knelt on the ground and begged: "Master, please do me a favor! If you stutter, you are very rich and have many children and grandchildren!" Behind him was an old mother, A pair of children, a woman.It's just that the adults are all skinny and have dull eyes, and the children are yellow and thin, with a huge belly, and they don't even have the strength to cry. It sounds more like a dying hum.

Pedestrians hurried past, slapping the occasional locusts, but no one paid attention to them.Some people even tightened their parcels tightly, for fear that the food they had just bought with a lot of money from other places would be robbed.If it were the previous years, even just three months ago, there would be someone to help him for the sake of his mother, wife and children, but now the price of rice is extremely expensive, from 20 cents a bucket before March to nearly 50 cents For a fight, whoever has the spare money to take care of him is considered good if he can take care of himself.Although there are not many such feelings and scenes, there are also many.

In the luxurious sedan chair under the city gate, a middle-aged man in official uniform, with a worried look and anger, scolded: "Hurry up and clean up the city gate and the street, and when the tester Wailang comes, see What should we do with this refugee scene!"

"Yes, Ming Mansion!" Several yamen servants reluctantly moved to clean up the refugees and beggars next to them.

"I regret not listening to that Ouyang Yu's words! Hey~" There was another sigh from inside the sedan chair, and the yamen servant next to him said in his heart that you said this sentence not only a thousand times, but also eight hundred times, what should I have done earlier.

"Hey, I'm sweating all over after standing there!" Yamen servant Liu Wu stood behind a group of county officials, big and small, muttering angrily.

"Who said it wasn't! It's been a really tough day, the sweat on my body hasn't stopped coming out, I'm so tired!"Hao Yu, another yamen servant, heard Liu Wu complaining, and couldn't help but babble.

"Huh?" The county captain Zhang Bao seemed to have heard the two whispering dissatisfaction, and turned around to look back.Liu Wu and Hao Yu hurriedly stopped their voices, stood upright, and didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore.That black-faced Zhang Bao is not easy to mess with. He usually doesn't say a word, but he scares people to death when he speaks. Now is an extraordinary period, with severe drought and locust plagues. Zhang Bao's black face hanging all day Like everyone owes him a hundred and eighty hanging money.

In fact, the crowd couldn't stand the heat, but there was nothing they could do. I learned that the merit tester, Wailang, would arrive in the morning, and the officials, big and small, would slap them in the face if they didn't come to greet them. They came to assess their merits.Don't dare to offend!This year's quiz and the big exam two years later are all in the hands of others, especially in the past few days, there have been a few migratory locusts in Yunzhou. Although they can't cover the sky, they have also eaten a lot of crops , due to the failure to make preparations in advance, food prices skyrocketed, and people's hearts were unstable.The county can only report one by one, asking for more relief.

"Report!~" A cry pierced the dreary weather, "Report! Report to the county magistrate, the meritorious examiner Wailang is already two miles away!" The yamen servant dismounted from his horse and bowed, his face dripping with sweat.

"It's finally here!" The county magistrate Liu Yuanshan seemed to be talking to himself, and then he said, "Let's clean up the officials and come out with me!" A group of people started to welcome them out of the city.

About one mile away, he saw the meritorious examiner Wailang and his party.There were a few soldiers leading the way, followed by a carriage, but there was no luxury, but a flag was hung on the carriage, fluttering in the wind.

Li Chuanjiang pumped his breath and said: "Xiaguan Shenshan County Magistrate Li Chuanjiang pays homage to the merit tester Wailang!", bowing and bowing.A group of people behind them bent down and cupped their hands together.

"Hehe, brother Chuanjiang, after years of not seeing him, he has become more and more charming! You don't have to go so far to greet him!" Before seeing anyone, he heard his voice first.

I saw the military man next to him lift the curtain of the carriage door, a man dressed in a dark green official robe, with nine silver belts and a slightly fat body, came down with a smile and bowed his hands.This person is Wang Yan, a meritorious examiner, Wailang.

"Where is there, Yuanwailang has worked hard. Please go to the Yamen to rest. I have a banquet at noon." Li Chuanjiang was relieved when he saw that Wang Yan did not mention the locust plague.The county magistrate and the county prime minister accompanied Wang Yan and went to the county government.It's also interesting to talk about some gossip and anecdotes along the way.It's just that the migratory locusts that come by occasionally, no matter how big or small you are, will stir up a lot of people to beat them non-stop.

When the yamen is seated, fragrant tea will be served.Examination official Wailang Wang Yan said: "Chuanjiang, distant mountains. This year, the sages of the quiz specially ordered strict examinations. Needless to say, you should know the reason. Therefore, a certain road is going slowly and carefully, and the examination is stricter than in previous years. A little bit, and a little bit too late. So-and-so didn’t delay much, just stayed in Shenshan County for three days, and after three days, so-and-so left.”

"Oh, thank you, Yuanwailang, for reminding me, I dare not be selfish. Originally, Yuanwailang was going to take a test, and I was already prepared. But, it's just about the severe drought and the locust disaster, I have some things I can't do!" Hearing Wang After Yan explained in detail, Li Chuanjiang had a bottom line in his heart. This is the friendship between the two of them when they were in Chang'an, Kyoto in the past.If another Yuanwai Lang came, he would not mention the emperor's decree and other matters at all, and would check directly, and would not help if something went wrong.

"That being the case, let's start the class test after the luncheon." Hearing Li Chuanjiang's words, Wang Yan thought of the refugees and beggars on the street. Early do not report any hope.Don't die too many people is good!

Although there was a lot of toasting at noon, both the host and the guest had their own concerns.All the people were unhappy at the banquet.

Let's not gossip, in the past two days, the merit tester Wailang took the test of wealth, industrial field and moral character, and visited two villages.A lot of late harvested wheat was eaten up in flakes, not even a single grain was left.The people have no food, the food is extremely expensive, and the people's livelihood is not there at all, so naturally there is no good result.If it doesn't work out, it's still a next class test result.Li Chuanjiang, the county magistrate, and Liu Yuanshan, the county magistrate, were sweating anxiously.

The last day will be Panshan Village. Li Chuanjiang thinks about the locust plague and the method of eradicating the Yellow River. Ouyang Yu has given an early warning. Maybe Panshan Village will be a different scene. Let's treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor!It depends on whether Ouyang Yu, the adopted son of the Li family, has the strength to help him tide over the difficulties.

"Brother Chuanjiang, where shall I go today? If it's still the same as the two villages before, then I won't go. Forgive me, brother and so had an old relationship in Chang'an, so I will not help brother Chuanjiang, and help brother certain to run a Fan, how good is Zhongzhongzhi's review?" Wang Yan thought for a while and said.

In fact, this is really Wang Yan's move to help Li Chuanjiang. This year, the sage ordered a strict test, and under the premise of locust plague and severe drought, he can help him make the test into a middle school. Incense and affection are here.

"Thank you Brother Yan! I am so grateful! I didn't want to go to the third village, but there is a strange person in this village. He has a strange idea in his hair. He is the adopted son of a family surnamed Li in the village. It’s a bit of a legend. It’s absurd to ask him to help this village once, but I don’t know what to do, but it should be different from the previous two villages. Yuanwailang knows that he proposed a plan to exterminate locusts a few months ago. It's already been written to the governor. I'll go and have a look later, okay?" Li Chuanjiang still didn't give up. In the past three months, Ouyang Yu didn't ask him once, let alone ask him for money to operate.He didn't care too much. He thought that the first two villages could satisfy the meritorious examiner Wailang, but he didn't expect the drought and locust plague to strike together.I have no choice but to treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor, and the worst is a good review.

"Oh, there are other things like this? Don't send a fast horse to let them greet you. I'll go by myself." Seeing Li Chuanjiang's unwillingness to give up, Wang Yan felt amused. How can a village be immune to these severe droughts and locust disasters? ?

Note 1: For official clothes of the Tang Dynasty, see the related works "Official Clothes of the Tang Dynasty" and "Review and Enlightenment of the Official Evaluation System of the Tang Dynasty".

Note 2: In the Tang Dynasty, "sage" was often used to address the emperor, while those who were close to him or his attendants were called "everyone".