Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

In the court hall, the officials were talking a lot. The emperor sat on the dragon chair and looked at the old men below with impatience. If these guys weren't stubborn but still loyal to him, he would really have the urge to push them out and chop them down. Fortunately, the emperor was not that foolish king, so he suppressed the anger in his heart and listened to these people's words.

"Master Hu, Master Du, since you two talked about God's punishment, then why did Zhendong County, which is also in the north, suffer the same heavy rain, but there was no damage at all? Is there any other god who can protect Zhendong? This is purely That's nonsense." Pengcheng directly faced these two stubborn men.

"The reason why Zhendong County was not affected by the disaster is that when spring started in Zhendong County, all the dams in the county were rebuilt. At that time, County Magistrate Lin issued a memorial, saying that the local old farmers warned that there would be disasters this year. Didn't everyone believe it at that time? Didn't the Magistrate of Longzhou file a petition to impeach Magistrate Lin? What happened now? The Magistrate of Longzhou came out with three memorials in five days to ask for help from the imperial court. . Huh, why did you go there earlier? If he could build water conservancy projects in advance like Lin Zhixian, at least there would be no heavy casualties due to the heavy rain, so why would he ask the emperor to write it now? What kind of sinner's edict? "Pengcheng doesn't care about this. These old guys will find trouble every day if they don't do serious things. This time, I had to say it properly. So he didn't care that his official position was too low, so he just argued with these people in the court.

Pengcheng's words were exactly on point. Hu Yushi and Master Du didn't know how to refute them for a while. The two popular ones were blushing and had thick necks, and they just stared at Pengcheng with their necks stretched out.

"Your Majesty, this doctor from the Ministry of Water has no respect and inferiority. He contradicted the superior official in court. He really deserves to be punished. Please give justice to this old minister." Hu Yushi knelt down on the ground and began to cry.

Lu Shaojin would not let him go. What Pengcheng said just now was very satisfying. How could he let others bully Pengcheng? "Hu Yushi, you don't need to rely on your elders here. Why are you contradicting the Shangguan in court? Are you a Shangguan all the way? The Minister of the Ministry of Industry has not spoken yet? What do you think? Besides, what they said is exactly the truth. In the court Everyone is talking about their own reasons, why should we contradict each other? Mr. Hu, let’s hurry up and argue about these unnecessary things. Why not think about how to deal with so many victims in the north? I'm afraid I can't even eat at this moment. If I don't have the time to argue with you here, I might as well collect food quickly and send it to the north."

"The Lu Qing family and the Yue Qing family are right. This is a natural disaster as well as a man-made disaster. As the parents of one party, they cannot take a long-term view and are indifferent to farmland water conservancy and other major issues, which is why the flood caused heavy losses. It is rare for Lin Zixuan, the magistrate of Zhendong County, to think of floods during a severe drought. This is not the time to investigate the responsibility, so we should wait until everything is settled, and those who deserve the award will be rewarded. I won't miss any of the punishment. Okay, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works should quickly draw up a charter. Disaster relief is the most important thing." The emperor really didn't want to listen to the nonsense of these old stubborns, so he decided to retreat. towards.

When the emperor retired from the court, he quietly called Pengcheng, Yunfei and Mingyu to go to the imperial study room and discuss the matter together. Wenhan had been sent to another place as a county magistrate, but Wenchang was now working as a daily servant by the emperor's side. The emperor also thought that Wenchang was too young and wanted to take him with him to practice for a while.

"Mingyu, Yunfei, see if you can bring some people with you and quickly go to the north to see what's going on?" the emperor asked.

"This is fine, although the roads in some places are impassable. But it is not a problem to bring more sergeants to clear roads through mountains and build bridges when encountering water. I can just go for this. Yunfei is responsible for the safety of the emperor brother, so Don't leave Beijing easily." Mingyu replied.

Yun Fei is now the commander of the Royal Forest Army. The safety of the entire palace depends on him and he cannot leave the capital easily.

"That's fine, I'll worry about this matter for you. I can feel more at ease if you go. Others, I really don't know how truthful they can be when they come back. Yunfei should also follow him. He has good kung fu and can protect you. I Nothing happens here." The emperor nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "As for the disaster relief, please tell me your thoughts. I have never encountered such a disaster since I came to the throne."

Pengcheng stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the past practice is to first explore the extent of the disaster, and then the court organizes disaster relief. The most common method is, of course, to distribute food to the people, and then reduce or reduce taxes. However, Sometimes, for the sake of their political achievements, local officials would collect taxes first, regardless of the lives of the disaster victims. By the time the court's decree came to pass, the taxes would have been paid long ago, so the people just received a favor for nothing. In reality, In some places, the government clearly allocated food for disaster relief and set up porridge shacks to provide porridge, but corrupt officials deducted the money, leaving no porridge for the people, and the people starved to death in the porridge shacks. Therefore, if the court wants to provide disaster relief, it must select people who can truly think about the people, so that the people can truly benefit from it, so that the emperor's hard work can be lived up to."

Pengcheng had stayed by the emperor's side and knew the emperor's temper best. Knowing that the young emperor in front of him could hear the truth, that's why he spoke so frankly. If it were someone who was narrow-minded, Pengcheng's words would probably cause trouble.

The emperor nodded after listening, "You understand my thoughts best. In this way, I will immediately transfer Wenhan back, add Wenchang, and Mingyu, and you will go to the north together. I believe that you will truly do things for the people. "Yes." The reason why Mingyu was sent was because Mingyu, as Prince Fu, was in charge and could convince those local officials. In addition, these people are all from the same family, and the emperor understands their character and cannot do such corrupt things.

In fact, the imperial court does not have to be limited to just these few people. There are many good ministers who can be loyal to the emperor and the country. The emperor just wanted them to make meritorious deeds. After all, if these things were done well, it would be easy to see the merits, so that these people could be promoted legitimately.

When Pengcheng heard this, he became happy. They haven't been able to get together for a long time. It would be nice if they could do something together this time. "Thank you, Your Majesty. We will definitely do our best to relieve your Majesty's worries."

"Okay, as long as you have a family, a country, a country, and a people in your heart, I believe you will be able to do a good job. You guys should discuss this matter carefully and come up with a charter. You must have a clear idea of ​​what to do. That's it. Okay, I'm a little tired, you all should go back." The emperor has been worried all day long, so he really can't cheer up.

The group of people quickly excused themselves and came out of the palace. Naturally, everyone went to Mingyu's palace to discuss what to do.

At this moment, on the banks of the Noni River in the north, Zixuan looked at the turbulent river and wished he didn't even blink. For fear of a moment's negligence, the water would overflow the embankment.

After the efforts of thousands of people, a second flood control embankment was finally built on the embankment. Due to limited conditions, this second flood control embankment was only filled with sand and soil in sacks and then piled up. Of course, wooden piles were also indispensable for fixing it. But this kind of temporary flood control embankment is naturally not as effective as the big embankment below.

"Sir, the rain has stopped." The person next to him shouted happily.

Zixuan looked up, and sure enough, the rain had stopped. Zixuan let out a long breath, and the breath he was holding in his heart finally came out. "Okay, God is so merciful that it stopped raining at this time. We have to pay attention all the time. If the rain stops here, then we will be considered successful."

Zixuan looked at the river water and found that it was not even half a foot away from the top of the embankment. He secretly thought that he was lucky. Thanks to the rain stopping in time, if it had rained for another half hour, the flood would have overflowed the embankment.

"Leave some people here to watch, and the rest can go into the village to rest. We have been here for three days and three nights, and everyone is very tired. Mr. Zhao, take the people to rest first. , I'm watching here." Zixuan arranged for people to take turns to rest.

"My lord, I'd better stay here, my lord, let's go and rest first," said Zhao Xian Cheng.

"It's okay. I'm young and have good energy. I'll be fine if I can hold on for another day. After all, Mr. Zhao, you're already that old. You'd better go and rest first. You can replace me when you feel better. The rain has stopped now. , Take the time to rest if you can, who knows if the rain will continue?" Zixuan did not agree, but persuaded Zhao Xiancheng to go back and rest.

This Zhao county magistrate is now in his forties, and his spirit is naturally not as good as that of a young man of Zixuan's age. At this moment, his mind was really in a mess, and he felt a little dizzy when he walked. So he didn't insist, but thanked Zixuan and left with the others.

Zixuan stood on the temporary flood control embankment, looking at the river in front of him, praying secretly in his heart, hoping that the rain would stop and not rain again. Otherwise, I am afraid this place will really become a water town.

Those who stayed on the embankment took off their raincoats and threw them directly to the ground. Then everyone sat on the coir raincoat and talked loudly. After experiencing a long period of mental stress, everyone felt that there was no part of their body that was not painful.

"Everyone said it's okay to talk, but don't fall asleep. Just hold on for a while. When those people have rested, they will come to replace us." Zixuan said quickly.