Li Juesi, Li Juesi, you are so pretentious. You dare to openly question the prince's good strategy. Just go out and eat those fifty fried locusts. If they are not enough, you can double them!
Wonderful~!
Wonderful~!
Wonderful~!
What a brilliant idea~!
In this way, other courtiers would not dare to say good things to Li Juesi rashly. Otherwise, a big bowl of fried locusts would fall from the sky with a "thump", and their own bowl would also come out, and they would have to eat it when the time comes. You have to eat even if you don’t want to!
You have to eat a bowl of fried locusts. Do you think it’s a joke? ? ?
Except for Sun Chuanting and a few other people who are suffering and suffering outside, who dares to say that there is no psychological barrier to eating this stuff?
"I... thank you... Your Highness... for the reward. I... have enough... to eat!"
Unable to shirk it, and after holding it in for a long time, Li Juesi could only hesitantly thank him. If he refused the prince's kindness, he would be not far from being confiscated and imprisoned.
Because Li Juesi also has a large family fortune, there is no need to elaborate on how he got it.
If it was an argument in the court, it would be okay. But if it came to the point of falling out with the prince, he didn't think he had the courage.
Today is different from the past. Even the three princes and the prince had their homes confiscated by the prince.
Not to mention a little servant, besides, the witnesses and physical evidence are all ready-made.
The prince knew this, so he dared to prescribe the right medicine. If it were an upright official, he might not be able to catch the prey with this trick.
Yao Ji didn't believe that any moth would dare to risk his wealth and the lives of his whole family. He dared to fight each other to the end over something that happened in the court meeting!
In the middle of the fight, you have to retreat. If you fight to the end, the result of angering the prince is the 2.0 version of Yang Wuhou, who is completely wiped off the map and household registration by Dongchang!
"That's good, let's go to court!"
After Yaoji finished speaking, Yang Jinchao understood and led Li Juesi out of the main entrance of Huangji Palace, and then the young eunuch led him to the open space outside the left door of Fengtian Gate to eat. The people from Shangshan Supervisor were already there. The sides are ready.
Later, Yang Jinchao announced loudly to the officials waiting below on the platform: "Li Juesi, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, is loyal and patriotic, and His Highness the Crown Prince will give you fifty fried locusts as a special reward!"
He couldn't hold it anymore. Li Juesi was shocked and depressed. He didn't pay attention to his steps and almost rolled down the steps.
Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, was still practicing his hands in the square with "relaxation and joy". Hearing this order, he couldn't help but stop and watch, and then let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, this matter did not happen to him.
Those were fifty deep-fried locusts. They were dark, dense, ugly, and terrifying. Just looking at them would make your hair stand on end, let alone eating them!
If Banmin is allowed to eat, then of course there is nothing to consider, as long as it can fill his stomach.
But as a high-ranking official in the imperial court, it really takes a lot of courage to eat so many locusts.
Last night, Yaoji Yaoji had already given instructions to Yang Jinchao. He said that the big one would be one finger long.
One finger length means the length is as long as an adult's index finger. If you don't have an idea of length, just stretch out your hand and measure it yourself.
Such a big locust can eat fifty locusts, huh...
Come!
Dear!
It’s a man, so he made this bowl of fried locusts!
Don't say that I can't do it, otherwise, I would still have fried leeches, fried cockroaches, fried millipedes...
By the way: Are you still dissatisfied with this pimple? ? ?
The governor was trying hard to catch dragonflies, while the minister went to eat fried grasshoppers!
This picture is too beautiful, I dare not look at it!
Because...it's eye-catching!
After Li Juesi was invited to have a feast, Yao Ji said to the ministers seriously: "Now that appropriate measures have been taken, officials in various places must attach great importance to culling locusts. Due to the characteristics of locusts, this is a very difficult task." We should neither be careless nor give up when we are faced with difficulties. Originally, farmers depended on the sky for their livelihood. Now that there is a severe drought in the world, the harvest is not much. If there is another locust plague, wouldn't it mean that after half a year of work, there will be no harvest? ?Agriculture is the foundation of our Ming Dynasty. Anyone who shakes the foundation, whether human or insect, must be killed! The old saying goes, 'Those who serve the country well will treat the people like a parent's beloved son, an elder brother's beloved younger brother, and when he hears that he is hungry or cold, he will I feel so sad when I see the hard work! If you don’t have this kind of love, how can you survive in this world? How can you see your ancestors?"
Many people in Shandong, Shanxi, and Beizhili, especially Nongmin, have to suffer from natural disasters, locust plagues, military disasters, salary disasters, and salary disasters. Natural disasters are irresistible, and military disasters cannot be defeated. The salary disaster is to levy the three rates. , the people were already irresistible, and the disaster was to support the large-scale clan. The court could not provide the money, so it had to allocate it to the localities. The localities could not provide it, so they used the land rented to pay for it. However, the world How can there be so much "idle field"?
For example, the 20,000 hectares of subsidized farmland given to King Rui were directly plundered from the people. The first enfeoffment was at the end of Wanli. Shenzong enfeoffed more than 100,000 hectares of land to his closest brothers and sons. Only his younger brother Zhu Yili received an enviable 40,000 hectares of land! As Shenzong's favorite son, King Fu was initially given 40,000 hectares, but later it became too difficult to collect, so he was cut in half, and the land he received was only 20,000 hectares. Even the land of military households was wantonly occupied, let alone that of ordinary people.
The population of the clan will almost double every thirty years. When the empire collapses, the huge clan is almost ready to be fed. As a prince, Yaoji could not feed a clan as numerous as mice. If overseas enfeoffment could not be carried out, the only option would be to reduce the population manually. Otherwise, the clan would not be taxed on the land they held, but would instead have to ask for the land themselves. Facing the fat, incompetent and greedy clan, it seems that besides sharpening the knife faster, I have nothing else to do...
In comparison, if even the most difficult locust plague cannot be fought, then the people will not only starve to death, but also survive.
After hearing the prince's impassioned speech, Zhang Sizhi, in order to avoid being overtaken by Xue Guoguan, took the lead and said: "Your Highness is compassionate and compassionate, and he is well aware of the poverty of the people. He is really a blessing to the people of the world. If I were the official of the Ming Dynasty, If Your Highness is considerate of the people and fulfills his duties, why should he be afraid of this insect plague?"
It is absolutely not okay to speak ill of the prince, but if you criticize local officials who neglect their duties, there is probably no problem, and you can still occupy the great righteousness, so why not do it? What's more, everyone knows the virtues of those local officials. I think the prince is so shrewd that he can also know something about it.
Yao Ji completely ignored this flattery, especially when it came from the mouth of the "ugly monster": "You can't just talk about caring for the people. Without actual actions, how will the people know the court's caring heart? The Ministry of Industry will rush to make a million of them first." Net bags are used by people in various places to cull locusts. Instead of using wooden sticks, just use cloth to cover the iron hoops. Transport them to the place and then cut the wood on the spot. This will not only reduce the cost, but also facilitate transportation. The things I have done before The countermeasures mentioned were compiled into notices and distributed to all counties, townships and towns, and each village was verbally informed. Wherever anyone can be notified, preventive measures must be taken."
I hope you can come up with good advice. Even the day lilies are cold. Summer is about to begin in various places. Under such severe drought conditions, locust plagues are bound to happen again.
Liu Zunxian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, thought for a moment and then said casually: "Your Highness, I think that if this net bag is a weapon for catching insects, the production amount should be increased. There is a severe drought in the north and locust plagues are coming one after another in various places. Only one million net bags have been invested. It’s just a drop in the bucket.”
According to the administrative division of the Ming Dynasty, in the north alone, there are one Jing (North Zhili) and four Provincial Envoys (provinces): Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Shaanxi. They are counted as the Five Proclaimed Envoys. If one is allocated On average, each of the millions of net bags can only get 200,000 for each provincial government secretary. They are then divided up by each county. When they reach the hands of farmers, they may not be able to get even one.
It is easy to hide from an open gun, but difficult to guard against a hidden arrow. Before speaking, Liu Zunxian had already regarded this "magic weapon from the fairy world" as a weapon for catching insects. If he told the disadvantages of this thing, he was rewarded with a bowl of fried locusts by the prince and was treated like Li Juesi, the left servant of the headquarters. , it is really difficult to get off the tiger. I wonder if this colleague can live outside?
Liu Zunxian's words are reasonable, and Yao Ji has no intention of spreading the net: "If the allocation is dispersed and shared equally among the counties, the number of net bags will be greatly reduced, and the power will naturally be greatly weakened. This batch will be allocated to Yan Jizu for use Disaster prevention and self-rescue in Shandong. Shandong is an important tax-paying area for the imperial court, and its status will be comparable to that of Jiangnan in the future. Changes in Shaanxi will never be allowed! I believe that the imperial court should allocate one to each of the five regions of Beizhili, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. Millions of net bags, plus those made locally, the total number can be doubled, but the manufacturing speed may be fast or slow, so Liu Aiqing must pay attention to this matter."
The imperial court has spent millions of taels of silver in Shandong. If you mess around there, you will be punished!
By the way, this governor is still out catching insects...
Hearing the prince's plan, Liu Zunxian was greatly relieved: "If we can reach this amount, the hope of eradicating the pests will greatly increase! I am just worried that summer is approaching in various parts of the north, and I want to rush to make five million net bags in the next month. It’s probably out of reach!”
If we could produce so many in a year, there might not be much pressure. Summer is about to begin, and there are still a month or two at the end of the month at most. All places will definitely reach out to the Ministry of Industry for net bags, but the output is limited and it is impossible to meet the needs of all places at the same time. .
This matter will not be difficult in later generations, and Yaoji gave him an idea: "Aiqing can contact workshops and ironworks all over the south. If we can get such a huge order, the merchants will definitely work overtime and day and night in order to make money. The craftsmanship of this magic weapon is extremely simple and the production speed is extremely fast. It requires almost no training. You can understand its process after just one look. If various places in the south help rush the production, even if the amount of five million cannot be reached, they can be produced as soon as possible. The ministry only needs to send supervisors.”
