Wentang

Chapter 493 Locust Plague Famine
When Yue Shan was busy making tea and worrying about his sister's marriage, a rumor slowly spread in Beijing.

"Have you heard that there is not enough food in Guanzhong, and there may be a food shortage."

"Really? Didn't the imperial court say that the locust plague could be cured?"

"The imperial court said it could reduce the locust plague, but didn't say it could be cured. You can ask which locust plague has been cured in the past. If it can be alleviated, it will be a great merit."

"During the locust plague, locusts cover the sky and cover the sky. What's the use of relying on people to catch them? When all the food is harvested, there will definitely be a food shortage."

"That's right, half of the grain shops in the city have raised their prices. Yesterday it was fourteen cents a bucket, but today it's eighteen cents."

"Yes, according to the shopkeepers of those grain shops, locust plagues are raging throughout Guanzhong, and the crops are about to be wiped out. The people are saving their grain to survive this disaster year."

"Sure, if you have food, you will store it and not sell it."

"But if they don't sell grain, these grain merchants won't receive grain. If they can't receive grain, what will they sell to us?"

"correct."

"What's right? There's going to be a food shortage. Why don't you hurry up and find a way to buy more food for storage."

"Then what are you waiting for, let's go."

"Let's go together."

It is unknown who spread this rumor, and it spread throughout Chang'an City overnight, and the people panicked.Regardless of whether the family lacked food or not, they went to the grain shop to buy food.

Even if the price of food has risen to twenty cents a bucket, it is three times the usual amount.

The next day the food price rose to 23 renminbi...the third day was 25 renminbi for a bucket of rice. The people finally couldn't take it anymore, and many people went to the Yamen to complain.

The supervisory censor also reported the news to the court immediately, and Li Shimin was furious, ordering Chang'an Ling and Wannian Ling to find a way to calm the grain price.

The Chang'an Order and the Wannian Order were unable to do so, so they had to invite all the grain merchants to negotiate.The grain merchants complained all the time, saying that the purchase price has increased, and the transportation cost has also increased. If they do not increase the price, they will lose money or something.

But in the end, he still expressed that he had to give the Ming government face, and he had to be considerate of the people, so the price of food was kept at 25 Wen, and it won't be long in the future.

Chang'an Ling and Wannian Ling breathed a sigh of relief, as long as they don't rise, they can also deal with the court.

However, the next day, they were dumbfounded by the news that the grain shop had limited sales.They didn't expect the grain merchants to be so bold.

The common people panicked even more, they didn't know the game behind it, they only knew that the grain shop was limited to sell, only sold so much grain every day, and closed when sold out.

Why is the grain shop closed in broad daylight without making money?It must be because there is not enough food.Now that the news of the food shortage was confirmed, the people in Chang'an City were completely panicked.

Chang'an Ling and Wannian Ling immediately interviewed those shops, but they directly said that there is only so much food shipped every day, and they can't do anything about it.

The two high-ranking county magistrates were helpless.

This panic quickly spread from Chang'an City to the entire Guanzhong, and rumors spread all over the world for a while.

At this time, Changsun Wuji and Dai Zhou had no choice but to act. Can't they watch the people panic all the time?That would shake the country.

As a result, the grain shops and storage warehouses controlled by the imperial court began to put grain out, and seeing the continuous supply of grain, the panic of the people eased a little.

It's a bit more expensive, but it's better than nothing.

After the imperial court sold grain without a limit for a few days, the panic buying subsided slightly.Just when everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the time has entered the end of May.

Countless locusts drilled out of the ground and flew to the mountains, forests and farmlands... The locust plague came, and the people were completely panicked.

"Has the plague of locusts finally arrived?" Looking at the memorial in front of him, Li Shimin showed a relieved expression instead.

Most of the other ministers showed the same expression.

There were only signs before, and they prepared for the worst with a heavy heart.Now that the result of the trial is out, I am relieved. Since the disaster has already happened, let's not think about what is there and what is gone, and do our best to relieve the disaster.

"It is ordered that the officials from all over the world will try their best to organize the people to catch locusts to reduce the degree of disaster, and they must also do a good job in relief work, so that no one person can starve to death."

"Sages are wise." All the ministers said in unison.

"The plan to deal with the locust plague has been promulgated a month ago. Does anyone have anything to add? If not, we will implement it according to this plan." Li Shimin said again.

None of the ministers spoke. The strategy formulated before seemed to be perfect for them, and they had nothing to add.

After waiting for a while and seeing that no one spoke, Li Shimin said: "Well, let's implement the previous strategy."

The plan was finalized, and the atmosphere in the courtroom became much more relaxed.

At this moment, Yue Shan stood up and said, "Saint, there will be famine in a catastrophe year. If we don't deal with it in time, it may endanger the foundation of the country."

"Yes, sage, there are already signs of food shortage. Guanzhong grain shops have begun to limit sales, and people who have money may not be able to buy food. If the court does not deal with it in time, there may be troubles." Dai Zhou stood up and echoed.

"Oh? Grain stores are restricted? Have you checked? Is there someone hoarding grain maliciously to drive up prices, or is there really no grain?" Li Shimin asked with a frown.

"The minister sent someone to inspect it, but there is no food." Dai Zhou said in a heavy tone.

"No food?" Li Shimin's voice changed a little, and he asked quickly: "Do you have a solution?"

"I thought that we should immediately mobilize food and grass from other places to relieve the crisis in Guanzhong." Wei Zheng immediately stood up and said.

"Senior ministers." A large group of ministers also agreed with this approach.

"Then adjust quickly." Li Shimin said.

"Saint, I don't have much food in storage for years of war in the Tang Dynasty. I have mobilized 30 stones of food and grass from various places a while ago, and now I have no food to adjust." Dai Zhou said with a bitter face.

"I don't care about this. You are the Secretary of the Household Department and must find a way to mobilize a batch of grain and grass to Beijing to meet the urgent need." Li Shimin was also very anxious, and said arrogantly.

"This...you can't find so much food even if you kill me. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless... unless the grain in the granary is used." Dai Zhou hesitated for a moment before saying.

"What? Move the storage warehouse?" "How can this work? How can the food in the storage warehouse be moved rashly." "Yeah, we haven't reached that point yet. We should look at the form and decide whether to use the storage warehouse."

The ministers discussed it one after another, but most of them disagreed.The reserve granary is the last guarantee of the country, and it must not be moved if it can be moved.

Now that the locust plague has used the reserve warehouse at the beginning, what if something bigger happens later?
But no matter whether it is moving or not, only the emperor can make the decision, and everyone's eyes turned to Li Shimin.

Some people are worried about the current disaster, while others hide behind and gloat.

Li Shimin couldn't make a decision for a while, he hesitated.

Yue Shan stood up again and said: "The storage warehouse cannot be moved rashly, but if the locust plague worsens, it must be moved. Therefore, the imperial court must make plans in advance."

"Plan? What plan?" Li Shimin asked suspiciously.

"Which warehouse to mobilize grain and grass, how to mobilize, how much to mobilize, where to mobilize, etc. need to be coordinated and planned. Therefore, I think that a temporary organization should be specially set up to take charge of this work." Yue Shan replied.

What?Another department to be formed, or temporary?
Everyone looked at Yue Shan speechlessly, you are addicted to forming a new department, right?Look how many new departments have been formed because of you in recent years?

If someone else made this suggestion, everyone might suspect ulterior motives, but everyone thinks it is normal for Yue Shan to mention it.

That's why it's human.

But naturally no one stood up to oppose it, and no one dared to stand up to oppose it. On the one hand, it was because of Yu Yueshan's fierce reputation, and on the other hand, this suggestion was completely in line with the current situation.

Of course, there is one person who can object openly, and that is Dai Zhou.He is the secretary of the household department, and the warehouse is under the jurisdiction of the household department.

What Yue Shan did was to rob the Ministry of Households of its power.

Then Dai Zhou didn't respond as if he didn't hear it.This disappointed many who were expecting a joke.

So the right to decide once again returned to Li Shimin's hands.

"Your proposal is good, but how will this new department be formed? How will it operate? What about the original officials in the reserve warehouse?" Li Shimin asked.

"This new department was established temporarily. During the disaster period, it has more power than ordinary departments. Government offices, warehouses, and even some troops all have to follow their command, and they will be disbanded when the disaster is over," Yue Shan said.

"Do you want military power?" Li Shimin said displeased.

This kind of situation was very common in the past, but since the separation of the military and the government, few people dare to mention any civil and military matters.

Unexpectedly, Yue Shan himself proposed it on his own initiative.

"Sage, think about it. Escorting food and grass is a relatively dangerous task in normal times, let alone in disaster years. What if there are hungry people looting it by force? So the best way is to escort it with the army." Li Shimin explained.

"It makes sense, sure, you can write a detailed note later." Li Shimin said after pondering for a while.

(End of this chapter)