At the beginning of March, it ordered all localities to prepare to fight drought and control locusts, and at the same time asked Liu Wenzhong, the eunuch of the prison army, to secretly play to the emperor: If the imperial court provides grain to help Shanxi, Guihua Town can consider withdrawing from the border wall. The emperor's reply was very humorous: Naturalized Bo is my favorite general, I am very relieved to hand over Shanxi to him, although Zhu Aiqing is at ease to govern the local - this result made the Fengzhou officials cry and laugh.

The emperor had to be generous, his Ming Dynasty is heading towards the exhaustion of mountains and rivers, the drought has spread from north to south since last year, the nine rivers in the north are dry, Baiyangdian is dry, the ground is dry in Gansu, the wilderness is all over, Shaanxi is desperate to strike the city, the wood and stone noodles are eaten, the grass and wood in Henan are dry, the Luoshui is not deep, the Yellow River in Huaibei is dry, and the exile carries the road, at the same time, Zhejiang and Huguang are also suffering from a great drought, the emperor gritted his teeth and relieved the hunger in Zhending, Jingshi, Shandong, and other disaster-stricken areas are unable to take care of it. And the Ming war is also more and more passive, the Qing army outside the Guanxi is determined to capture Liaoxi, a large number of elites stationed in Yizhou Tuntian, and then covet Jinzhou, Zu Dashou is difficult to deal with, many times asked the imperial court to send troops to rescue; Huguang and Sichuan in the Guannai also got together, and Zheng Chongjian, the governor of the three sides, defeated the giant Zhang Xianzhong in Agate Mountain in February, but it did not help the overall situation of suppressing the thieves, and the thieves bloomed everywhere and killed more and more. The emperor's burden is getting heavier and heavier, the country's situation is getting worse, and the disaster in Shanxi is as serious as a bottomless pit, and he doesn't dare to ask for it, but it is also tricky for Fengzhou to get it.

In the main hall of the Prime Minister's Office, Li Fugui, the acting prime minister, convened a meeting of the principal officials of the two governments, one court and one law department to discuss how to deal with the current situation.

"The drought is extremely locust, this year's drought locust disaster in the north is certainly worse than last year, there is a method of curing locusts in the "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration", and the old crops also have the ability to control locusts, and the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry has compiled a booklet entitled "Little Knowledge of Locust Control" and sent it to all hundred households, calling on everyone to plant trees and grass, raise more chickens and ducks, where the locusts flow through the soil will break the ground and destroy the eggs, after the beginning of spring, the villages have dug a large number of deep pits to lure locusts, and arranged for the old and weak women and children to take turns to look, and found that the locusts are immediately exterminated with all their might, we have complete water conservancy facilities, are well organized, and there is still some confidence in dealing with the drought locusts, The problem lies in Shanxi, last winter they were notified to take precautions as soon as possible, and "Little Knowledge of Locust Control" was also issued, but Shanxi was indifferent, and the people were like scattered sand and were unable to save themselves, and the resurgence of drought locusts this year is inevitable, and if there is another famine in Shanxi, we cannot afford it. ”

The officials were worried, Shanxi's pot of raw rice was not delicious -- the local forces supported by Fengzhou were resolutely suppressed by the local government, although the gentry had the intention to seize power, but they shrank their heads in fear of the obscenity formed by the government for many years, and the Liberal Party and the Civic Party were high-spirited but lacked strength, and they suffered a big loss when they fought with the government. The government was in power, the local councils were in vain, the people were forced to pay taxes for a few days, and many people starved to death and froze to death, and a series of measures to improve people's livelihood implemented in Fengzhou became a laughing stock.

"This year, there is a famine everywhere, Shanxi planted some potatoes, corn and sorghum last year, so there is still some summer grain to harvest, but Zhili, Shaanxi, Henan is a wilderness, no harvest, I heard that there is still a big epidemic, immediately block the border, can not let the displaced people pour into Shanxi, this year there is money can not buy food, we can only work hard to protect ourselves." Gu Keli, the governor of the General Administration, raised his head and said in a low voice.

Li Fugui nodded and glanced at Du Wenhuan, Du Wenhuan got up and pointed to the map on the wall and said: "There is Taihang Mountain in the east of Shanxi to block, Shanxi officials and soldiers are fortified layer by layer on various main roads, and the Zhili refugees will definitely not be able to enter Shanxi, there is the Yellow River in the west, and it is impossible for the Shaanxi refugees to enter Shanxi on a large scale, and the trouble is Henan, where not only the displaced people are everywhere, but also the bandits are in groups, and it is difficult to stop if they flock to Shanxi." I wrote to Jiang Ping, the chief soldier of the river defense, asking him to be sure to use the Yellow River to separate the north and south, this person was born in Yulin Jiangmen, and his brother Jiang Xuan was once the general soldier of Yanghe, so he should be able to listen to me. ”

"Xu Dingguo, the chief soldier of Shanxi, is currently stationed in Huaiqing, and I also sent a letter to Lord Song, the governor of Shanxi, asking him to inform Xu Dingguo that if he still wants to be the chief soldier of Shanxi, he has to do things for the people of Shanxi, and the provincial capitals of Henan north of the Yellow River must not have displaced people go north." Liu Zhilun added.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the key issue is not to block the displaced people, but to organize the people in a scattered sand to save themselves, the General Bureau of Joint Defense cannot deal with the government, Zhang Zixuan's efforts are to no avail, we must uproot the power of the imperial court, and comprehensively implement the new policy in Shanxi, we can't hesitate any longer, this year's locust control, summer harvest, and water conservancy repair can't be delayed." Han Lin stood up and said anxiously.

The officials whispered, the matter was clear, the imperial court was unable to deal with such a serious famine, and the people must organize themselves to save themselves, but the imperial court was the most taboo about the expansion of civil power, and it was inevitable to suppress it out of instinct, and if the stumbling block of the imperial court was not removed, local erosion was inevitable.

"Nianfeng, let's do it, Hanmes-Epitek letter, the land in the Western Regions is fertile and sparsely populated, he plans to move west to one million people within ten years, this Shanxi restructuring will lead to the immigration of people, and the problem of land and displaced people can be solved together." Ortai said to Li Fugui, and at the same time glanced at Liu Zhilun, Liu Zhilun bowed his head and was silent.

"The Xuanfu is not busy first, so as not to frighten the emperor, and the commander of Xing Hewei is to supervise the affairs of Shanxi, and Bai Xianzhi's Shanxi People's Army, Zhang Chuanjie, and Zhou Yuji's Fengzhou battalion are all at his disposal," Li Fugui, the acting prime minister, quietly gave an order, and then turned his face to Wang Fang and said, "You go to Shanxi as a deputy superintendent, if you have any tricks, just use them and pull out all the minions of the imperial court." ”

In mid-April, a two-zhang high statue was suddenly erected by the Fen River outside Taiyuan City, and a majestic woman on the pedestal was dressed in a long skirt and wearing a golden crown, holding a sharp sword in her right hand and holding the "Naturalization Oath" in her left hand. Someone read aloud the "Naturalization Oath" and "The People's Prosperity and the People's Decree" under the statue, and also told the onlookers that this god is the famous "Lady of Liberty", who specializes in the rights and wrongs of the world, and appeals to her if there are grievances. The government was worried about the civil uprising, so it sent messengers to drive it away, but was told by a group of people with bows and knives that this was the statue of Mrs. Naturalized Bo, who was a god, and of course his wife was also a god, and she was also the emperor's wife, and it would be disrespectful to the emperor to dare to act rashly. The officers didn't dare to cause trouble, so they invited the officials and soldiers to help, but the officers and soldiers whispered a few words to these people, and left the officers and left, and the officials didn't dare to take care of it.

The people immediately understood that this great god was amazing, so they burned incense to complain about their grievances, and blamed the Shanxi officials for their poor governance, and more and more people complained, and their emotions gradually got out of control. At this time, someone finally spoke, the people in the world are guilty because there are too many traitors, these villains eat the flesh of the people, drink the blood of the people, but enjoy all the glory and wealth, which shows that there are evil gods to protect them, and it is the most fair to hand over these villains to the Lady Liberty to deal with. On the same day, seven or eight petty officials were kidnapped in front of the Statue of Liberty, and the common people couldn't hold back their anger, rushed up and scolded them, and tortured enough of these unlucky people before they were released home, and one of them died of his injuries that night, and another hanged himself. Lost a person's life, the people were naturally afraid, hiding in Tibet for a few days before quietly coming back to see, the Statue of Liberty had no, every day was still arresting officials and scolding, they immediately became bolder, no one cared about the death, indicating that the sky was going to change, so don't take the opportunity to take revenge. Once the long-suppressed hatred was released, the situation immediately got out of control, and the officials in Taiyuan City and the surrounding prefectures and counties were constantly escorted in, and the blood and flesh flew in front of the statue every day, screaming endlessly.

Some people shouted the slogans of "returning the land to the public, collecting and supporting themselves" and "never paying taxes unless it is discussed by the public", and also instigated the peasants to set up their own peasant associations to resist the government. The government will not sit idly by and watch the people make a rebellion, and immediately send out the errand and the people to suppress it, and there are conflicts between the officials and the people everywhere in the two towns of Shanxi and Datong, and there are still dead people in several counties, and the officials and soldiers reacted quickly, but the ass sat in the wrong place, and actually disarmed and dismissed the officials and the people of the government. Encouraged by the encouragement, the common people went so far as to boldly storm the official offices, officials were beaten and humiliated at will, and even their homes were raided, and there were not a few who were killed, wounded, and hanged themselves, and those who survived were also driven to work in the fields.

The gentry who had been watching all this suddenly saw the situation clearly, all this must have been secretly manipulated, if they did not act, the next fire might burn on themselves, so the local councils reopened, and smoothly took over the local power, but the gentry learned wisely, everything was done according to the above meaning, and even covered their noses to accept some peasant union leaders into the council - to be honest, neither the local gentry nor the peasants had the ability to handle government affairs, and they really didn't know what to do if they didn't give instructions from above.

The above instructions are all from the Pingyang Guild Hall, and the masterminds of the whole incident -- Cai Ruxun, a son of the eunuch party, Zhang Daojun, a dismissed and deposed official, Wang Fang, the leader of the cult, and Gao He, the person who was removed from the list and raised the name, are here to command the people of Shanxi and Datong to make trouble, Zhou Yuji and Zhang Chuanjie's Fengzhou battalion soldiers, Wang Pu's Datong Ming army, Shanxi military businessmen's Shanxi Ming army, and Bai Xianzhi's Shanxi People's Army are all in their hands, and they can do whatever they want.

Song Xian, the governor of Shanxi, made a small lie to the court last time in partnership with the political envoy and the criminal envoy of Shanxi, and although he was a goof, the court considered that Shanxi was in danger and it was fortunate that he could stabilize and not be chaotic, so he let them go. Song Xian kept his official position, and did not dare to mention the matter of free money and food to the imperial court, and turned to suppress local forces. The government overwhelmed the head of the snake, and the arrogance became more arrogant, and at the beginning of the spring, the people were forced to pay last year's taxes and increase the distribution - the government did everything to cause public indignation, and the people had the opportunity to put the officials to death, Song Xian couldn't suppress this anger with all his efforts, but felt that he was difficult to protect, and had to take the initiative to go to the Pingyang Hall to find the mastermind of the trouble.

"You are so vicious, you actually instigated the mob to beat and rob the court officials in broad daylight, and even arbitrarily drove slavery, Shanxi was completely chaotic, and more than a dozen officials died in Taiyuan City, you, you are a rebellion!" Song Hyun roared as soon as he entered the lobby.

"It's nonsense, I just see that Shanxi is in order, the government is still the official government of the Ming Dynasty, the people are still the people of the Ming Dynasty, where are the mobs? If there are also corrupt officials and corrupt officials, a group of bastards who take the blame for themselves, even if they die, it is not a pity, what does it have to do with us? Wang Fang turned his face and denied it.

"I'm not interested in mobs in Fengzhou, the Ming Dynasty is known as the kingdom of heaven and the state of etiquette, educating the people of Shanxi for three hundred years, and the mob killed officials, it must be a lack of virtue to do too much, and it deserves it! It's also the people making trouble, why didn't a few people die in Datong? Gao Hepi didn't smile and added.

"You're in this group!" Song Xian jumped up in anger, this is an open secret - the magistrate of Datong has been in the same stream with Fengzhou many years ago, and Fengzhou of course has to protect his accomplices.

"How can this be reasonable, Datong Town is also under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, you said that the officials of Datong and our group dare to start playing to the court?" Cai Ruxun pointed at Song Xian and shouted angrily.

Of course, Song Xian didn't dare to start playing to the imperial court, so he would become the public enemy of the officials of the whole Datong, and he sat on the chair for a long time before begging: "Everyone, the old man can guess your thoughts, but if there are no officials in the place, there will be chaos, especially if the official inventory is retained and the official document machine must not make mistakes, it is better to quell the civil unrest as soon as possible!" ”

These have already been arranged, why do you need to remind - Cai Ruxun waved his hand disapprerovingly and said: "It is the governor's own business to pacify the place, and we can't control it." ”

Song Xian sighed and got up to leave, Zhang Daojun was a little unbearable, and said to him softly: "My lord, this year there are disasters and famines, there is no food in Shanxi, there is no food in Fengzhou, and the people are about to break out, how can adults deal with it?" Throwing the government out is just to alleviate the people's grievances and unite the people's hearts, and it is worth killing a few officials, if the adults feel that it is dangerous, they can take their families to the Pingyang Hall to take refuge. ”

Cai Ruxun looked at Song Xian's back, snorted and said: "We are saving him, he doesn't know what to do, forget it, let's not go too far, Brother Zixuan, tell your people, don't kill or beat officials indiscriminately, just drive people away as much as possible." ”

"The officials who can't be driven away are handed over to the Civic Party for brainwashing." Wang Fang hurriedly said.

Song Xian returned home in despair, and entered the study alone without taking a step, and the family stayed outside the door for fear of accidents. When the lamp was in hand, Song Xian called the family into the study, lowered his voice and said, "Pack up your belongings immediately, let's go to the Pingyang Hall." ”

The Shanxi government was paralyzed, but forced out the folk strange phenomenon, the gentry were in power, and suddenly their conscience found that they wanted to do good things for their hometown, and the bandits and ruffians had the opportunity to profit from the chaos, and they changed their careers to be good citizens, and the common people spoke with a little weight, and felt that there was a rush in the future, and the momentum to work was enough - the famine was too serious, and the relief of work and tax exemption was not enough to solve the problem of food and clothing, and the people basically relied on yam eggs and a small amount of miscellaneous grains to survive, but the things of fighting drought and controlling locusts and repairing water conservancy could not be delayed, and the people gritted their teeth and worked hard while scolding the evil government, as if it would alleviate hunger.

In order to encourage everyone, the state councils passed a proposal that in the future, the sum of land rent and taxes in Shanxi should not exceed 40% of the land output, and if there is a violation, all will be punished - the landlord has no choice, the labor loss in the past two years is too much, Fengzhou is mobilizing immigrants, and no one will farm the land if the rent is not reduced. The good news came, the land of Shanxi thundered, although people continue to die of hunger, but there is an unprecedented political communication and people, up and down to stick to the autumn grain harvest, the people have a little grain storage, the people's hearts are settled, this year finally survived.

In the middle of October, Li Huai, the prefect of Baoketu, and Wang Mumin, the trade ambassador of Datong, suddenly arrived in Taiyuan and took over the power of supervising Shanxi's affairs from Cai Ruxun and Wang Fang. Wang Mumin then bitterly scolded a handful of bandits and the people for taking advantage of the chaos to kill and plunder innocent people and act recklessly, and even manipulated public opinion to oppress the good and take advantage of the good, and these black sheep must be the great enemies of the New Deal.

"The peasant associations and councils at all levels have been mixed in with some unscrupulous people, thinking that they can make profits from chaos, this is wishful thinking, our Titang has already targeted them, I ordered the Fengzhou battalion, Shanxi officials and soldiers, and the people's army to all go out to the counties and villages to arrest people according to the list, and those who dare to resist arrest will be killed!" Li Huai held up a stack of official documents and shouted at the Fengzhou civil and military officials and the leaders of the Joint Defense Bureau.

The situation in Shanxi has changed suddenly, the bandits and ruffians who have been in the scenery for a few months are still dreaming of changing the sky, but suddenly they have become arrested criminals, at this time it is impossible to gather people to fight, the people have something to eat, no one wants to make trouble in the winter, and even wish they were unlucky - these guys are too fierce, ordinary people are afraid when they see the people of the government, but they dare to kill the officials with knives, rob the government, and even ** women, it is best to let the government arrest them.

Spotted leopard Su Hongfei is a Shanxi thief who went to the sea to catch documents, with dozens of lives in his hands, hiding in the mountains for a long time to rob his house, and the mountains are too hard to survive, so he took advantage of the chaos to return to his hometown Liaozhou to gather people to make trouble. This guy is strong in martial arts and ruthless, and he took the lead in rushing into the Yamen of Liaozhou Zhizhou to kill and rob, and his performance was too eye-catching to successfully infiltrate the Liaozhou Council, and he was also appointed as the leader of the group training. It's good to change the dynasty.,Maybe in the future, you can still wait to worship the general.,With a vision of a better future.,Fall into the legal net without paying attention.,At that time, he was sleeping with the concubine of the robbed Lord Zhizhou.,Almost no ability to resist.,It's completely over.,With what he did in the past, he will definitely die.。

These unscrupulous men were sent to Taiyuan one after another, and the officials of the Punishment Department screened them one by one, but did not make a verdict, but handed them over to a group of cavalry from outside the Guan, and these fellows were under the strict escort of the cavalry, and met with the death row prisoners of Shanxi and Datong, and went all the way north to Fort Victory, where a bearded officer was waiting for them with a smile.