Tang Dynasty detective

Chapter 417

Sitting on the haystack, Li Canghai didn't know what he was thinking about, and stared at the rainwater flowing down the eaves, he became dazed.

Not long after, a smell of meat wafted out.

Everyone was on their way, very tired, and smelling the smell of meat, they suddenly felt a little hungry.

The three young girls who followed Li Yu had already gathered by the stove, asking for food from the guards in charge of cooking.

"Canghai, what are you thinking?" Sitting next to Li Canghai, Di Qing put her arms around her shoulders and asked as she looked at the pattering rain outside.

Holding a piece of dry grass in his hand, Li Canghai said, "What are you thinking?"

Di Qing sighed and said, "I'm thinking about what you're thinking about."

"What's the matter?" Li Canghai asked, looking at the splashing water drops.

"You are thinking, this locust plague is so serious, how can the common people survive?" Di Qing said seriously.

Li Canghai nodded, and said, "Those who know me are like Qing'er!"

When Di Qing heard this, a blush appeared on her pretty face. Leaning on Li Canghai's shoulder, she sighed and said, "Canghai, this plague of locusts is a natural disaster. I have never seen such a disaster. I know you want to get rid of the locusts, but this is beyond human power."

Li Canghai didn't say anything, but what Di Qing said was right, this locust plague is a natural disaster, so what can he do?

Li Canghai is not a man of gods. Although he has dabbled in other aspects, he only knows the surface. Although he knows how to eliminate locusts, those methods will only show results after a long time.

With a long sigh, Li Canghai shook his head depressedly.

"Who?" At this moment, the guards outside suddenly yelled, and then an old man with gray hair was brought in by the guards.

The old man was hunched in clothes, as thin as wood, like a skeleton, which would be blown down by the wind at any time.

Seeing everyone, the old man immediately knelt down and begged for mercy tremblingly: "Masters, please spare your lives, please, please forgive me."

Li Canghai hurried up, helped the old man up, said: "Old man, don't be afraid, we are not villains, but passers-by, and we rest here only because it is getting late. Is the old man from this village?"

The old man looked at the crowd, shrunk his neck, and nodded in a panic: "The old man is indeed from the village."

Li Canghai smiled, pulled him over and asked him to sit down.

The old man looked around cautiously, as if he was full of vigilance towards everyone.

"Old man, why are there no other people in this village?" Li Canghai asked.

The old man sighed and said: "The guest officials came from far away, and they don't know the local situation. Since the locust plague occurred three years ago, the crops have been in vain, and the villagers have fled the famine, and I am left with this old bone. , because he was not willing to leave his ancestral home, he stayed in the village and has survived to this day."

"This locust plague has been going on for three years?" Li Canghai asked in surprise.

The old man nodded dejectedly, and said: "I don't know what the guest officer is. There were locust plagues a few years ago, but they were not serious. The crops can be harvested to some extent, but the harvest is not enough to pay the rent, let alone Have a good time."

The old man looked at the gurgling broth in the stove, licked his chapped lips with his tongue, and his stomach suddenly growled.

Seeing this, Li Canghai immediately gave Di Qing a wink.

Di Qing understood, and immediately walked to the stove, drove away the women who were surrounding the stove, then filled a bowl full of meat with a porcelain bowl, and served it to the old man.

The old man was stunned for a moment, he looked at Di Qing who looked like a fairy, then at Li Canghai, waved his hands repeatedly and said: "The old man is not hungry...not hungry."

He said he wasn't hungry, but his eyes kept staring at the porcelain bowl in Di Qing's hand.

A look of sadness appeared on Di Qing's face, she handed the porcelain bowl directly to the old man, and said, "Old man, you can eat at ease, we still have a lot, enough for you to eat!"

After finishing speaking, Di Qing's eyes turned slightly red, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Di Qing is strong on the surface, but she is easily moved in her heart. She has a straightforward personality, hates evil like a vengeful enemy, and does not want to see others suffer.

Hearing that the old man lived alone here, Di Qing couldn't bear it.

Holding the bowl full of meat, the old man suddenly burst into tears and knelt down in front of Di Qing.

"The old man thanked the female Bodhisattva, and the old man kowtowed to several guest officials."

"Old man, please get up quickly, please get up quickly!" Seeing this, Li Yu said hurriedly.

Qi Yunhe immediately walked over, and together with Di Qing helped the old man up.

The old man wiped away his turbid tears, looked at the bowl full of meat, choked up and said: "Old man... the old man really doesn't know what good deeds he did in his previous life to be blessed by a few living Bodhisattvas. The old man thanked a few Bodhisattvas, thank you!" How many Bodhisattvas!"

The old man kept talking.

Everyone was very depressed and fell silent.

"Old man, eat quickly! If it's not enough, there's more in the pot." Li Canghai said.

The old man looked at the crowd, quickly grabbed the meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

He quickly ate up the meat in a porcelain bowl, and even drank the broth to the last drop.

Seeing this, Li Yu gestured to Qi Yunhe, and Qi Yunhe immediately served him another bowl.

"No, no, this is enough for the old man." The old man waved his hands repeatedly.

"Old man, you don't have to worry about us, we still have a lot of dry food." Seeing that the old man seemed a little embarrassed, Li Yu hurriedly said.

The old man hesitated for a while before taking the porcelain bowl, tears streaming down his face.

"You guys... are really living Bodhisattvas." The old man said with a sob.

Li Canghai sighed, and said, "Old man, you said earlier that the crops were not enough to pay the rent, so what's going on?"

Li Canghai was a little puzzled. According to what he knew, people in the Tang Dynasty only had to pay taxes, but he had never heard of paying rent.In his impression, the rent is only paid when the land is contracted from the landlord and squire.

"Ah~." The old man sighed a long time, and said, "The county magistrate colluded with the squires to trick us into taking away our fields. The fields that belonged to us are now owned by the squires."

Li Canghai frowned suddenly.

The land system of the Tang Dynasty implemented the land equalization system.

It means that land ownership belongs to the state, and the state grants land to farmers.

In the Tang Dynasty, the granting of land was based on household registration, which meant that the larger the number of a family, the more land it would be allocated.

However, granting land has a limited number of years.

From the beginning of their adulthood, male peasants are allocated land from the state, and they must return the land to the state when they reach the age of 60, and the right to use it is 42 years.

However, the fields used for farming are also divided into two categories.

One type can be inherited, called 'Yongye Tian', and the other type must be inherited, called 'Koufen Tian'.

The difference between the two types is that "Yongye Field" is not taken away by the state, while "Koufen Field" has a certain number of years of use.

In the early Tang Dynasty, cultivated land could only be rented out, and trading and mortgages were not allowed.

However, since the Tianbao period, the land system of the Tang Dynasty has changed from the land equalization system to the rent and mediocrity system.

Buying and selling and mortgages have also become legal.

As a result, there have been a large number of land violation cases.

Some unscrupulous gentry will collude with the government and promise the common people a lot of money to buy them. After they get the land contract, they will change the purchase account.

In this way, the people sold the land on which they depended for survival, but only received very little money.

In order to survive, the people had to rent land from the gentry.

However, it is not cheap for squires to lease land.

The common people not only had to pay taxes, but also paid rent to the squires.

This makes the people who are already living in poverty become even poorer.

This is the case in Sangshan County where the old man lives.

Most of the land was colluded by the squires and the government, resulting in all the land falling into the hands of the squires.

Heavy taxes, coupled with unscrupulous gentry's sky-high rents, made the people miserable.

After listening to the old man, Li Canghai gradually understood why the plague of locusts here was so serious.

The reasons all started three years ago.

Three years ago, the locust plague was not serious here.

However, the imperial court used troops against Nanzhao that year and increased taxes.

Not only that, the rent of the squires has also been increased.

The common people couldn't pay the rent, so they had to use grain to pay off the debt.

As a result, the people will have no food.

In order to live, the people began to prey on birds, frogs and other natural enemies of locusts.

Over time, the ecological chain here was severely damaged, and the locusts had no natural enemies, and they began to flood.

Li Canghai told everyone what he thought. At first, everyone couldn't understand the concept of the ecological chain. Li Canghai patiently explained it to everyone, and everyone suddenly realized.

"Canghai, isn't the 'ecological chain' you're talking about the yin and yang and the five elements? The five elements check and balance each other to keep yin and yang unchanged." Di Qing tilted her head and said.

Li Canghai nodded and said, "That's right, that's exactly the case. The reason why locusts flood into disasters is that they have lost their checks and balances. Whether it's animals or plants, these are very important."

"As you said, this locust plague is not unsolvable?" Li Tan rubbed his chin and pondered.

"As far as I know, locusts only appear when there is drought. As the saying goes, 'the locusts are extremely dry', the drier the environment, the more beneficial it is for the breeding of locusts. If you want to solve the locust plague, you must start from the environment Li Canghai stood up, walked to the eaves, reached out to catch the rainwater falling from the eaves, and said: "First of all, to change this arid environment, rainwater alone is far from enough."

Li Canghai pondered for a moment, then asked the old man, "Old man, do you know if there is a river near here?"

The old man has long been confused by what Li Canghai said. He couldn't understand what Li Canghai said about the "ecological chain", nor did he understand what Di Qing said about Yin Yang and Five Elements, but he understood the meaning of what Li Tan asked. It is possible to solve the locust plague!

"Yes, yes, yes!" Holding the porcelain bowl, the old man hurriedly said "yes" three times. He said, "There is a Guo River in Shansang County, which is a branch of the Huai River. It has never been dry. It's just that the Guo River There are still tens of miles away from here."

"Canghai, you don't intend to divert water from the Guohe River here?" Di Qing looked at him suspiciously and asked.

Li Yu also asked: "Sir, is there no way to get rid of the locust plague immediately?"

Li Canghai closed his eyes and carefully searched for related methods in his mind.

In his previous life, he had indeed read related books, but at that time he was just very bored, so he casually read some of them, and didn't pay much attention to them.

However, after merging the intelligence of this body, his memory became clearer.

The vague memories of those years have now become extremely clear.

After a while, he opened his eyes and said: "There is a method that can have an immediate effect, but this method is far beyond what human beings can do."

"What method? Let's hear it!" Li Yu looked up to Li Canghai with admiration. In his opinion, Li Canghai is an omniscient god!
Li Canghai glanced at him and said, "Unless you can find thousands of birds and put them in the fields, you can eat all the locusts in one night."

Li Yu was stunned for a moment. He looked at Li Canghai with sad eyes, and said, "Sir, I'm not a god, how could I do it? Let's talk about how to divert water!"

Li Canghai paced back and forth a few times, and said: "Although birds can get rid of locusts, they can only deal with temporary needs. If we want long-term stability, we need to solve the problem fundamentally. In addition to solving the drought, we also need to solve the problem." Pay attention to protecting the ecological environment.”

"Cang Hai, is this really useful?" Di Qing asked suspiciously.

Everyone has the same doubts in their hearts. After all, this locust plague is different from others. There have been locust plagues over the years, but no one has ever proposed a solution.

What Li Canghai said, when you think about it carefully, seems to have some truth, but no one knows whether it is effective or not.

"Don't worry, these are absolutely useful. In addition, chickens, ducks, spiders and other animals can get rid of locusts, but the premise is that they must be raised in large quantities." Li Canghai said confidently: "If you follow this method, you can completely avoid locust disasters. .”

Hearing the words, the old man burst into tears with excitement, but he suddenly thought of something and sighed: "Guest officer, thank you for your kindness. But things are helpless now, and most of the villages in Shansang County have become empty villages." , there is no one here. What the guest officer said, it is impossible to do it!"

"Don't worry, old man, leave this matter to us." Li Canghai comforted.

"You guys?" The old man was stunned for a moment, he quickly knelt down on the ground and said, "If the guest officials can solve the plague of locusts, they will be the benefactors of this county. The old man kowtows to the guest officials!"

"You don't have to be polite, old man." Li Canghai quickly helped him up, comforted him a few words, and ordered someone to bring him some dry food before letting the old man leave.

"My lord, I made a private decision, and I ask you to make amends." Li Canghai cupped his hands to Li Tan.

Li Tan smiled slightly, and said lightly: "This time I will go to Yangzhou, with you as the leader, and you can do whatever you say." He paused, and said: "Besides, this king also wants to know whether what you said is true. Useful. If it is useful, you can give me the biggest hero of Datang!"

"My lord is overrated. I'm just trying my best." Li Canghai caught a glimpse of a locust flying into the room, and stepped on it.

(End of this chapter)