He Shen became even more dissatisfied when he heard this.
He Shen said: "What's the use of satisfying me? It's not like I live here, the satisfaction of the people is the most important..."
"If the next time I come, the people still live like this, I will kill you with the imperial envoy trump card..."
Duanxian County Magistrate Fang Yue heard this and was so frightened that he fell to the ground with a bang...
After dismissing Duan County Magistrate Fang Yue, He Shen spent the rest of the day patrolling around...
After several years of severe drought, there was a sudden locust plague, and exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were imposed. There was an atmosphere of helplessness and despair everywhere in this township...
After discovering this, Heshen's mood was inevitably a little depressed.
"..."
It had only been a few months since the locust plague occurred, and the people's remaining food stocks had already reached the bottom. He Shen was shocked to see the situation of victims everywhere!
With no food to eat, the people's panic has reached its extreme...
In Heshen's view, if no more food is delivered, large-scale riots and uprisings will probably occur in the not too distant future.
In fact, along the way, Heshen had seen many people fleeing famine, and for a piece of food, they would take action, even fight to the death.
"………………"
night!
Sitting on the carriage driving back, He Shen touched his chin, groaning in silence, frowning, thinking about what he had gained this day!
After this day of observation, He Shen discovered two serious problems before him.
First of all, the food gap in Taiyuan Prefecture is much larger than Heshen imagined...
The 100,000 dan distributed by the imperial court was far from enough for disaster relief...
However, with one hundred thousand dan of disaster relief food and grass, if you eat sparingly, you can still last for a month or two...
He Shen had prepared it early, so he was not worried.
"…………"
Note: “One bucket, one load, and one stone are traditional units of measurement in my country. The specific weights are as follows
One bucket is equal to five kilograms.
One load is equal to ten kilograms;
One stone is equal to one hundred and twenty kilograms;"
One hundred thousand shi of disaster relief grain and grass is equivalent to 12 million kilograms of grain. Even if a million people stutter, they can survive for a while.
What really worries He Shen is another problem.
"…………"
After personally visiting various towns, Heshen discovered that the people's superstitious belief in the locust god was far beyond his imagination...
No wonder even Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan, dared not touch locusts, or even mentioned them...
After He Shen finally decided to cull the locusts under He Shen's coercion and inducement, Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan, even called in nearby local troops to prepare for any eventuality.
I thought it was just Liu An who was afraid of death...
Now it seems that He Shen thought things too simply and underestimated the ignorance of people in this era.
"…………"
Originally, in He Shen's opinion, dogs would jump over the wall if they were anxious, let alone a living person.
Although the common people are afraid of the theory of the locust god, in the face of major events related to the life and death of their own children, all religious myths are false...
People with red eyes are killing people and killing Buddhas, let alone culling locusts...
However, from He Shen's perspective, the actual situation is not that simple...
Compared to culling locusts to save themselves, the people are actually more inclined to wait for the government's relief, and to find a way to survive by fleeing from famine...
These people in Taiyuan Prefecture would rather leave their fate to an unknown person than take a chance...
What is even more terrifying is that after the locust plague occurred, the magic stick witches in Taiyuan Prefecture took advantage of the situation to spread the word, which not only made people panic, but also made the people believe in the theory of the locust god.
According to Liu An's plan, if the government wants to mobilize the people and exterminate the locusts in Taiyuan, it must first convince the squires and clan elders everywhere...
Originally, He Shen thought that this plan was feasible. He thought that as long as he came forward and persuaded the squires and clan elders everywhere in the name of the emperor...
After that, it should be easy to exterminate the locusts in Taiyuan...
But after understanding the actual situation, He Shen knew that the biggest difficulty facing him was not the squires and clan elders everywhere, but those hateful witches and magicians...
Although squires and clan elders are representatives of the pedantic and outdated forces in villages and towns,...
However, He Shen still had a way to convince them.
In fact, it is not difficult to persuade local gentry and clan elders to assist the government in culling locusts, because there are intact eggs under the overturned nest...
"..."
He Shen rubbed his temples and asked softly: "Master Magistrate, which temple and Taoist temple is the most influential in Taiyuan Prefecture...?"
When Liu An heard this, his eyes moved. It was obvious that he found something in He Shen's words...
After cupping his hands, Liu An said: "Sir, this Taiyuan Prefecture is different from other places. Various witchcraft legends are widely circulated, and the local people are deeply affected by them..."
"It is precisely because of this that the Locust Temple is the leader of religions in Taiyuan Prefecture, with great influence, constant incense and many believers."
"…………"
He Shen nodded, thoughtfully.
After thinking for a moment, He Shen, with a strange smile on his face, suddenly turned his head to look at He Er.
Seeing He Er's careless and goofy look, He Shen couldn't help but smile.
He Shen knew very well what the so-called Shinto witchcraft was. They were just a group of liars, with basically no ability other than their tongues.
After all, witchcraft and ghost arts are just things used by a group of witches to deceive the people.
In fact, most of the theories about the locust god and divine punishment were promoted by these Shinto witches and witches...
Nowadays, the common people's fear of the locust god is mostly due to the propaganda spread by these magic sticks and witches in years of great disaster.
But if you want to deal with these witches and magic sticks, or gangsters like He Er, it is most suitable.
Because the gangsters are unreasonable and ruthless.
Thinking of this, He Shen said to He Er: "He Er, don't go back with me tonight, bring dozens of people with you to help me with something...
He Shen and Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan, spent a busy day running around several villages and towns outside the city. They did not return slowly until evening.
By the time the two men arrived at the city with a large group of officials and servants, it was already dark.
In the light and shadow of the torch, the cavalry headed towards the magistrate's mansion, and He Shen sat in a carriage of the cavalry.
There were lights on in the car, and when I looked out from the car window, it was so dark outside that I could hardly see anything.
Only when the carriage occasionally rolled over the bumps of the official dirt road, and the silk curtain swayed slightly, could He Shen see the road in front of him...
On He Shen's side, he sat cross-legged on the thickly padded black blind bearskin mattress.
He sat silently in the carriage, his thoughts still focused on the issue of food.
Although he had one hundred thousand stones of food in his hand, his mood still did not feel relaxed at all, but instead felt heavier.
For the people of Taiyuan Prefecture with millions of mouths, one hundred thousand shi of food is not too much...
Heshen can only order all counties to give out porridge on a large scale. Each person will have two bowls of thin porridge a day, which will put his life on the line, but it will not help much...
This time, He Shen saw with his own eyes that the people all lived on bark and roots. What's more, they wrapped their bellies with Guanyin soil and exchanged their children for food. It was not without...
In a trance, he seemed to see the sadness and helplessness of countless people...
This made him couldn't help but turn slightly sideways in the swaying carriage, subconsciously escaping from the eyes full of confusion and despair in front of him.
He sighed, reaching up with his hands and rubbing his temples with his knuckles, it was so tiring.
After returning to the mansion, the group of people were extremely hungry. After returning to the mansion, the cooks immediately brought out the food that had been prepared.
A large vat of soup, a large basin of vegetables, two large bamboo sieves with piles of yellow dough balls like hills, and a small pot of white-flour steamed buns were all placed on the four generous tables of the servants in an instant.
The cooks were holding two stacks of large stoneware bowls and shouting loudly to start the meal.
"…………"
Butler He Er of the Liu Mansion who led the team waved his hand: "Everyone, you have worked hard today..."
"Now, we all eat with open stomachs, one white flour steamed bun for each person, and enough broth and water pipes. We are full and well fed. We can rest well, and we have to work later.",,
Before Butler Liu's words could be finished, the servants had already filled several square tables with cheers and cheers.
White flour trowel is a valuable thing, especially in this calamity year, even landlords and squires can rarely eat it...
That is to say, those who eat official meals can have enough to eat and drink in this year of disaster.
There were dozens of people, pushing and shoving, shouting and cursing, and in the blink of an eye, the small basin containing the white-faced trowel bottomed out.
Those who grabbed the white-faced trowel were elated, while those who didn't grabbed it were dejected.
A group of officials and servants picked up the big bowls and blew their breath, leaving aside a layer of oil on the soup surface, slurping down the soup along with the yellow-coated wotou and white-faced steamed buns, opening their cheeks, and eating and drinking heartily...
As for He Shen and Liu An, one is an imperial envoy and the other is the local prefect. Naturally, they will not eat with these people...
He Shen and Liu An each have their own delicacies and famous dishes to eat...
"…………"
In recent years, due to severe droughts and locust plagues, the Locust Temple has attracted a large number of people to invest money in incense and made a lot of money.
Benshan is located in the north of Taiyuan. The terrain is steep and the mountain roads are winding. It is a majestic mountain formed by weathering and erosion.
It has no unique scenery and no historical allusions, but in recent years, it has become the most famous mountain in Taiyuan.
Because there is a locust temple on this mountain.
Although it is a temple, the person who presides over the temple is not a monk or a Taoist priest, but an old goddess named Pan.
According to Old Goddess Pan, her family is the direct descendant of the gods and is protected by the gods in the sky.
They began to spread the legend about the Locust God to the people of Taiyuan.
