Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 1097 Song Emperor's Panic

"Ping'er, you're on vacation, when did you come back?" A peasant woman who was kneeling below got up and came to Teng Fengping happily, and said lovingly while helping the latter tidy up his clothes.

"Brother Teng is back."

"Wenquxing from our village is back." Immediately, many people got up to greet Teng Fengping, and the scene was chaotic.

The old scholar next to him scolded everyone aside and pointed at Teng Fengping who was about to say something, but Teng Fengping said first: "Uncles, uncles, aunts, fathers and villagers, you are all living people, if you don't go to the field to catch locusts , How can you beg the locust to run away by kneeling and kowtowing?

The old scholar stepped forward and said, "Brother Teng, you are now a student of Xiangfu College. In the past, you were all noble people. How can you be so disrespectful to the gods? You must know that this is a sin from heaven. We should Pray for God's forgiveness, how dare you kill indiscriminately?"

"I ate locusts when I was a child, but now I have been admitted to Xiangfu College. After graduation, I can become an official in the court. Why is there no such thing as a locust god? Even His Majesty said that he ate locusts. What nonsense? How dare the God of Locusts send disasters to His Majesty Xiangfu Kingdom? And after you kowtowed for a long time, did you ever lose one locust? Why don’t you gather up your strength and kill a few more locusts in exchange for some food.”

"But..." Before the old scholar could finish his sentence, he took a step forward, and there was a soft sound under his feet, but the two locusts were trampled to death.He blushed and could not continue, and he himself killed the locust.

"Third uncle, who in our village never caught locusts to play with when they were young, killed a few things that are not common, and never saw the locust god punish anyone. Didn't you listen to Brother Teng! Even His Majesty eats locusts , Who is your Majesty, that is the real existence like a fairy. Let's listen to your majesty and catch the locusts in the field. I heard that if you get a hundred catties of locusts from the government, you can exchange a catty of grain or ten cents. Look at so many locusts, who doesn’t catch two to three hundred catties a day, and exchange for some money or food, it’s better than the food in the house getting less and less day by day.” A farmer said.

Before the third uncle could speak, the people on the Zhuangzi ran away like birds and beasts, and those calling for children tied their pockets and tied gauze nets, and they were all busy.

Soon the Teng family farmers rushed out of Zhuangzi and rushed to their own fields, clamoring to kill all the locusts, and exchange the killed locusts for the grain that should be produced in their fields.

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Xiangfu Kingdom, three years, August [-]st,
Refugees from Yongxingjun Road, Qinfeng Road, and Hedong Road in the Song Dynasty appeared one after another. They gathered all the way from the villages and towns where they could not find any food to the nearby counties.However, because there was no food in the Changping warehouse in these county towns in the Song Dynasty, and the imperial court did not send any food, the officials in the city coldly ordered the city to be closed and the refugees were not allowed to enter the city.

The refugees could not find a way to survive, so they could only continue to gather in the nearest prefectural capital. As a result, the prefectural capital, like the county seat, also closed its gates. In some prefectural cities, because the gates were not closed in time, conflicts occurred between the refugees and the soldiers at the gates. There was bloodshed and there was a near riot.In other words, there may be riots just one fuse away.Those conscientious and benevolent magistrates and magistrates would even ask people to set up a stall outside the city, but the porridge in the pot was not much better than clear water.

Local prefectures and counties were not allowed to enter, and parents and officials could not give them a way to survive. Most of the refugees began to gather in big cities such as Jingzhaofu, Jinyang, and Qinzhou.But there are also those who are close to the Xiangfu country, and they gather towards the Xiangfu country.

Under the arrangement of Ye Chen, the prefectural and county government of Xiangfu State has already made preparations to receive refugees. The wealth and wealth of Huayang County in Yanzhou is not only famous in Xiangfu State, but even the people in the neighboring Song State have heard of it, so there are many people nearby. The refugees from the Song Kingdom all went to Huayang County in unison.Wang Boju, the county magistrate of Huayang County, was almost implicated because Ye Chen was stabbed on his head last time. a capable judge.At least he was sent to prison, and at worst, his head fell to the ground.

Therefore, Wang Boju attaches great importance to the fact that His Majesty personally ordered to accept the refugees this time, and even sent spies on the border. As soon as the refugees here entered the country, he would be reported to him by a fast horse, and then he would bring people to the border in person. .

Near the crossing point of the Song Dynasty, Wang Boju saw a group of refugees who had left their homes and crossed borders. They were carrying and carrying large and small bags, and some were pushing wheelbarrows. The children were either sitting in baskets or sitting in in the car.

Seeing a group of horses coming straight forward, many of them were officers and soldiers with bows and knives, the refugees were frightened and fled in all directions.

Fortunately, there was a loud staff member next to Wang Boju who yelled loudly at the right time: "Dear folks from the Song Kingdom, don't be afraid, we won't drive you away. Now our magistrate Mr. Wang from Huayang County is here to visit you."

As the words spread, these refugees who had no energy to run fast stood still tremblingly.

Wang Boju got off his horse at a distance first, and then walked forward slowly. Several guards with knives were about to walk in front of him, but he pushed them away.

The refugees were all disheveled and ragged.Adults are so thin that they are out of shape, and children's legs and feet are so thin that the bones can be seen.

The poorest family in Huayang County is much stronger than these refugees.The poorest families in Huayang County, although poor, can at least barely eat enough.But the current group of refugees are all yellow and thin, and it is not surprising that they will fall down at any time.

Seeing this tragic scene, Wang Boju was shocked.

Facing the people of the Song Kingdom who still had panic and fear on their faces, Wang Boju tried his best to speak softly and in a more amiable tone, and said: "I, Xiangfu Kingdom, have long known about the disaster in the Song Kingdom. Your Majesty the Emperor of our country There is a decree, all compatriots and people from the Song Dynasty who have defected to our Xiangfu Kingdom will not be driven away by our Xiangfu Kingdom government, but will be accepted, and we will try our best to give everyone a way to survive. The resident has been arranged, and the materials for building tents and huts have been prepared. All the fathers and villagers will settle down in this county first, and wait for a while to rest, and it will not be too late to return home after the disaster is over."

Originally, according to Ye Chen's intention, as long as these refugees come, they will not be let back. After the "ideological work" is almost done, they will be moved to Hehuang, Hexi Corridor, Hetao Plain, Hengshan, etc. or where there are sparsely populated or Han people. rare place.Of course, after going there, the government will give them land, help them build homes, establish villages and towns, establish counties and states, let them return to their hearts, and officially become the people of Xiangfu Kingdom.And those who insist on returning to their hometowns in the Song Kingdom will not stop them according to Ye Chen's wishes. When these people go back, they will naturally spread the benevolent government of His Majesty the Emperor of Xiangfu Kingdom, and the tens of millions of people in the Song Kingdom have a reputation in their hearts. Compared with the Song Dynasty government's treatment of the disaster-stricken people this time, the people's will is obvious, and when Xiangfu Kingdom sends troops to attack Song Dynasty, the people may join the road to welcome them, and it should be possible to become part of the Xiangfu Kingdom's army.

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Incomparably cruel facts have proved that the government offices on Qinfeng Road, Yongxing Jun Road, and Hedong Road are absolutely incapable of disaster relief!
For half a month in a row, the three prefectures and counties, the documents reporting the disaster situation flew into Kaifeng like snowflakes, and each document clearly told the emperor in charge of the Song Dynasty and the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang that the prefecture had already died. A large number of people began to flee the disaster, and the destinations of the refugees, except for a small number who fled to Xiangfu Kingdom, after finding no livelihood in these three routes, some continued to go south, crossed the Qinling Mountains, and went to the land of Sichuan and Shu, but nearly half The destination of the refugees is Kaifeng, the capital of Song Dynasty!
Since the occurrence of the locust plague, the Song State Political Hall has canceled the rotation system, and all the prime ministers must be present every day.The documents Zhao Dezhao now receives don’t even need to be yellowed (summaries pasted on the memorials with yellow paper to facilitate the emperor’s reading). Almost without exception, all the memorials sent by the Sanlu disaster area report the severity of the disaster. .

The officials of Northwest Third Road spoke with fear and sincerity, but they told Zhao Dezhao and Li Mingxuan very clearly, "We are powerless to relieve the disaster, and we are powerless to stop the refugees from appearing!"

"Your Majesty, the number of refugees on the three roads of Hedong, Yongxingjun Road, and Qinfeng Road has already reached one million, and the number is still increasing. Because of the lack of food, the governments of various states and counties forcibly blocked the refugees from outside the city, and some mobilized big households outside the city Giving porridge, but it’s still a cup of water, can’t solve the problem. The refugees have already started to go south, to Jingzhao Mansion, Qinzhou, Luoyang, and even to the capital.” In the Chongzheng Palace, Li Mingxuan told Song Emperor Zhao Dezhao the truth.

Zhao Dezhao's face was so gloomy that he could drip water, but he suppressed his anger in front of all civil and military officials, so as not to lose his composure too much.

"Dear dear ones, at this time of national calamity, what should we do to get through the crisis?" At this moment, Zhao Dezhao couldn't care less about using the maids and eunuchs to vent his anger.Although he was weak and even incompetent, he never thought of becoming a foolish king. He once thought of at least keeping the foundation of the country left by the late emperor. Later, the Song Kingdom was divided into three parts. Qian Zhiyin and other rebels, after realizing the fact that the Xiangfu Kingdom and the Liao Kingdom are eyeing each other, at least want to defend the current territory.However, as long as the current situation is not handled properly, it is not as simple as simply shaking the country. Although he is of a mediocre mind, he still understands this.

"The current plan is to rely on the Jianghuai water transport and Kaifeng's reserves." Li Mingxuan has no good solution, "There is still one month left, and the early rice can be ripened in most areas of the Jianghuai area where there are two crops of rice. The grain reserves in the upper Jianghuai prefectures should be able to overcome this difficulty."

(End of this chapter)