…
In the next few days, Sheng Hong was busy with these things, and he no longer took care of his health. Like Li Qiao, he was busy from opening his eyes until dark.
In September, the temperature plummeted to below zero, but there was no snow.
After being so cold for several days, the temperature slowly rose.
Now there was no need for Sheng Hong to launch his navy, and the people spontaneously began to prepare supplies for the winter.
In the middle of the month, when 50,000 troops headed to the border town, Sheng Hong's final reward and punishment for the locust plague came out.
Governor Shi was not only demoted to prefect, but was also fined 50,000 taels of silver.
Those who were demoted from official positions were held accountable and had to pay varying amounts of fines.
Sheng Hong didn't even spare the village chief. If he didn't have money, he would give him land as a penalty.
This is not even the worst, the worst is being in jail.
Some people who did nothing to fight the locusts, such as a colleague from Dongshan Province, drank alcohol when the locust plague came and did not make any effort to fight the locust plague. As a result, they were not only dismissed from their official positions, fined money, but also imprisoned.
Compared with the severe punishment, the reward is still eye-catching.
For example, Magistrate Yu was directly promoted to governor of three provinces.
A person who originally had no official position actively organized his neighbors to eliminate locusts during the locust plague, and was directly transferred to another county to serve as magistrate.
Although Li Qiao didn't want a reward, Sheng Hong still praised him verbally, thinking that he had contributed to this locust plague.
However, although Magistrate Tian performed well, the official positions above the magistrate level were now full and no one was moving. In addition, Sheng Hong hoped that such talents would guard the place well, so Magistrate Tian stayed put.
Sheng Hong asked him to receive the third-grade salary first, and when he finds a suitable position in the future, he will definitely be promoted.
There were several similar magistrates in Hotan. Sheng Hong wanted these talents to stay in their places to protect the local people, so he kept them where they were and only allowed them to receive high-level salaries.
As well as all the people of Hexi Prefecture, Sheng Hong also praised them verbally and exempted Hexi Prefecture from paying taxes next spring - it's not that Sheng Hong is not generous, it's because of the recent bad situation that he can't be generous.
…
As soon as Sheng Hong's imperial edict of rewards and punishments came out, the whole court was shocked.
Anyone who is not a fool can see what Sheng Hong means.
Chapter 230: The civil and military reaction of the Manchu Dynasty, Xin Zhi asked for release, Li Liang returned to the village, Li Xiaolan felt that she belonged to someone
The results of Sheng Hong's rewards and punishments were felt by all civil and military officials in the court to be too exaggerated. Even the Seventh Prince felt that Governor Shi had suffered an unreasonable disaster.
Governor Shi is so unlucky and so innocent.
Who could have predicted such a locust plague?
And there are only a few ways to solve locust plagues throughout the ages.
No, to be precise, there is no solution to the locust plague. When the locust plague really comes, human struggles are of no use and are not worth mentioning.
Human beings can only suffer and let the locust plague wreak havoc.
So how can Governor Shi be blamed for this locust plague?
Governor Shi did his best.
It's not like he didn't do anything.
How can Governor Shi be held accountable?
Now he was directly demoted from the governor of three provinces to the prefect of one prefecture, and he was also fined fifty thousand taels of silver. This gap, to be honest, is a bit scary.
Others can imagine Governor Shi's personal mood. He was humiliated, ashamed and angry. If there was a gap in the ground, Governor Shi would definitely get in.
But Governor Shi's mood is not the point.
The key point is the signal revealed by Sheng Hong's imperial edict.
Because Dasheng has a vast territory, natural disasters of various sizes occur throughout Dasheng every year. There are either floods in the east or drought in the west, locust plagues in the north or mudslides over there.
Anyway, something happens every year.
According to Sheng Hong's reward and punishment this time, everyone will be in danger from now on.
If a natural disaster occurs under someone's rule, then be happy for yourself. Even if you try your best to provide disaster relief, you may be held accountable.
Who can sleep peacefully in the future?
Everyone has to burn incense and worship Buddha, praying to God to bless him and bring peace and prosperity to the people.
Previously, Sheng Hong kept the news tightly, and only Sheng Jun, Li Qiao and Lu Liangmao, the Minister of Civil Affairs, knew about the matter. Now that the imperial edict was announced, the remaining academicians first approached Lu Liangmao and asked the emperor why he had such a heavy punishment.
In fact, Lu Liangmao was also confused. Although he was the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the promotion and transfer of Da Sheng officials had always been firmly in the hands of Sheng Jun and Sheng Hong. Sheng Hong told him this matter by informing him, not by consulting with him.
He also felt that the punishment was a bit harsh at the time, because Governor Shi's performance on weekdays was not bad, and he had done his best during this locust plague.
But Sheng Hong just wants to make this decision, what can he do?
He could only obey orders.
After hearing Lu Liangmao's explanation, several bachelors hesitated for two days and resisted the urge to see Sheng Hong.
Forget it, when Sheng Jun was in power, Dasheng was the voice of the Sheng family.
After Sheng Hong succeeded to the throne, there were thorns like the British Duke and the Peng family. However, after these two thorns were dealt with, the two princes were deposed. How could the civil and military officials and a large group of nobles dare to fight with each other? Sheng Hong confronted him.
Even some arrogant people have restrained themselves and behaved with their tail between their legs.
Since Sheng Hong has this intention, there must be Sheng Hong's reason.
Several academicians were too worried and did not ask to see Sheng Hong, but the seventh prince and the fourth prince all went to see Sheng Hong.
Is this too much?
They were not begging for Governor Shi's mercy, they just felt that if this hole was opened, the officials of Dasheng would be in fear every day from now on.
Manpower will eventually be exhausted, and humans are too passive in the face of natural disasters. Such heavy penalties are really inappropriate.
As a result, the reputations of Sheng Hongrenjun and Mingjun will be greatly affected.
Facing the doubts of his two sons, Sheng Hong calmly explained to them.
This time he wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, so that officials all over the world would conscientiously protect his peace in the future.
Moreover, Governor Shi did not do as well as Magistrate Yu this time. Previously, Magistrate Yu raised donations for cold-warming supplies, but Governor Shi only made some verbal inquiries but did not take any practical actions.
This time, Governor Yu used his own money to set up bonuses to encourage people to eliminate locusts. However, Governor Shi ordered all officials and people to catch the locusts together.
Comparing the two aspects, why does Governor Shi continue to occupy the position of Governor?
Do you really think that a salary of several thousand taels of silver a month is easy to get?
After taking his hard-earned money, he should take the initiative and actively serve the people and protect Dasheng's country instead of running after natural disasters when things come to an end.
Governor Shi's punishment this time was not unjust at all.
Why didn't he punish the governor?
After receiving the news of the locust plague, Governor Ming immediately studied the route of the locust army, and then rushed from the capital to Dazefu.
In fact, Governor Ming's behavior was a bit risky, because Governor Ming was likely to miss the mark. The locust army was completely uncontrollable and its route had no rules.
But after receiving the news, Governor Ming still rushed all the way to the border of Yuanhe Province and Dongshan Province.
Governor Ming would rather travel in vain than sit in the capital anxiously and passively waiting for news.
If Governor Shi, like Governor Ming, had immediately rushed to the disaster area after receiving the news of the locust plague and actively organized people to provide disaster relief, instead of sitting in the Governor's Mansion and issuing orders one after another, then how could he have brought shame to the governor of the three provinces? Rubbing on the ground?
Governor Shi was demoted because he asked for it himself!
Also, it’s not like he only punished people without rewarding them this time. Why did he only remember Governor Shi and not look at Magistrate Yu?
In addition to Magistrate Yu, there are also Magistrate Tian and several local magistrates, all of whom will be promoted in the future.
Why don’t you look at the ascension of these people?
He also praised Governor Ming and rewarded him with three months' salary - for an official of this level, he could only reward him with gold and silver.
I can only see Governor Shi's fall, but not the rise of Governor Yu and others. This is a very problematic mentality.
Are you feeling guilty?
If it's not a guilty conscience, then what are you afraid of?
It's not like he's really unreasonable.
As long as you sincerely treat disasters and save people, he will definitely reward you.
In his opinion, the life of an official in Dasheng was too comfortable. He had a high salary and held great power in the land, and his life was more prosperous than that of the emperor himself.
He was quite old, but he was still busy from the time he opened his eyes until dusk every day. How could the local magistrate live a more comfortable life than him?
What's the matter, he is working day and night, working day and night to deal with government affairs, and working hard to fill his private treasury, but he is actually working for these officials?
He fell ill due to exhaustion as an emperor, but these officials were living comfortably as local emperors?
Beautiful thought!
From now on, we should introduce an accountability system specifically for officials at all levels, so that these officials can focus on their official duties.
If you don't want to be an official, you can submit your resignation to him, and he promises not to retain any of you.
There are many talented people in the world who want to be officials and can be officials. If you don't want to be an official, just go away.
Sheng Hong's words made the seventh prince and the fourth prince a little ashamed, and they quickly admitted their mistake.
They were only worried that officials all over the world would be panicked in the future, but they ignored the efforts of their old father. They were wrong.
Li Qiao happened to be sitting behind the screen reviewing memorials at that time. When he heard Sheng Hong's words, he wanted to praise Sheng Hong.
This is the truth. As the emperor, Sheng Honggui should have enjoyed all the wealth and honor in the world. As a result, Sheng Hong worked hard to maintain the great prosperity and paid high salaries to maintain his integrity. However, many officials did not do practical things and took Sheng Hong's money to eat and drink. Sheng Hong Totally taken advantage of.
If it were during the Taiping years, then Sheng Hong might have endured it.
But in the next ten years or so, there will be constant natural disasters.
Only such heavy penalties can make local officials everywhere take it seriously.
