After reading the information given by Zheng Yin, the famous scholar Wang Yan couldn't help frowning, he had nothing to doubt about some of the methods mentioned above, but he didn't agree with eating locusts. I saw him take a step forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Heavenly Master has proposed a method to control locusts, and the minister has no objection, but can this locust be eaten?" ”

The ancients had to overcome not only physical difficulties but also psychological difficulties in eating locusts. In ancient times, locusts had been culturally deified, and in some remote areas, it was said that the people had been mobilized to eat locusts, and I am afraid that it would be a big problem for them to kill them.

"Lord Wang, from a medical point of view, this locust is not only edible, but also a particularly nutritious and delicious food. Just go to its wings, feet, and then wash it, use it after scalding it with boiling water, or you can use it after processing, fry it until it is cooked and eaten, if you add some seasonings, it can be compared to a delicacy, and this thing has a high nutritional value, its taste is sweet, pungent, warm, and the food can strengthen the spleen and eliminate food, relieve wind and spasms, relieve cough and asthma, and have the effect of channeling. ”

Heavenly Master Zheng Yin's words suddenly stunned the ministers of the court, which is what Master Zheng Yin can say, in other words, I am afraid that I will be regarded as a madman by the blind people.

Sima Shu found that the ministers were a little moved, and took the opportunity to say: "Spread the word of the master to spread it all over the world!" Call on the people in the disaster area to eat insects and eliminate the disaster, so that the people can also temporarily wrap their stomachs, and I will allocate some money and food, plus your prevention and control methods, the people of Qingzhou will definitely get through this once-in-a-century difficulty. If the master has any request, I will grant it. ”

"Your Majesty is wise. The grass people are ready to lead the Lingbao Sect's superb medical practitioners, Taoist leaders, and believers to Qingzhou to have a look, by the way, to guide the people how to eat, and to see if they can help the people there to do some practical things, and it is said that the locust plague in Qingzhou is very serious, and our Lingbao Sect is ready to donate 100,000 yuan in case the imperial court can buy more food to help the affected people. ”

Although he had known this result for a long time, Sima Shu still stood up excitedly and said, "It is really worthy of being a living immortal with a heart for the common people!" As the king of a country, I can't fall behind the master, and this time I also took out 100,000 yuan from the inner treasury to donate to the victims of the Qingzhou disaster. ”

The courtiers in the palace saw that the masters Zheng Yin and Sima Shu had donated money and food, and hurriedly stepped forward to tell the emperor that they would also contribute to the people. Not much effort. Sima Shu roughly estimated that he had donated almost sixty yuan! Sima Shu took the opportunity to announce that tomorrow night, the queen and the concubines of the harem will hold a charity dinner in the palace, and are ready to invite the wives and ladies of the ministers to attend.

The ministers listened to the emperor's words, and their thoughts were lively, and then they thought of the emperor's performance just now. I immediately understood what a charity dinner was. Isn't it just for them to donate money to the disaster area? But. Even so, they are happy to eat, and everyone is thinking about how to make their wife and daughter come out on top at tomorrow night's dinner and win the eyes of the queen and concubines.

The four years of Hongwu seem to have been difficult compared to previous years. First, the situation on the northern border gradually became tense, and then the locust plague in Qingzhou gave the court a head start. Not to mention the succession of events, not to mention Emperor Sima Shu, even an ordinary staff member of each ministry was too busy to touch the ground.

This time the queen held a charity party, giving the court a chance to relax. Even Sima Shu, who has always advocated frugality, has repeatedly asked the inner treasury to come up with money to prepare for this banquet to be held as a grand ceremony for the fourth year of Hongwu, after all, this banquet undertook the purpose of promoting the development of Dajin charity, and in the name of the queen, there are also virtuous concubines Xue Ruyun, Defei Yang Xianrong, Shufei Wang Huiying, and Huifei Pei Jin as the deputies.

After the first batch of 300 invitations went out, many wealthy businessmen in Beijing who did not receive the posts heard the news and went around camping, trying to let their families join in, after all, this represents a kind of identity. After discussion, the queen added another 300 posts on the condition of obtaining Sima Shu's approval, but that's it, the supply is still in short supply.

On the day of the banquet, the north gate of the palace, which is usually quiet, turned out to be like a market, with thousands of carriages crowding several nearby streets, and the General Inspection Administration sent thousands of inspections to maintain order, so nothing went wrong. On this day, I saw the jade clouds in the Luoyang Palace, the warblers and swallows, and the eyes were full of brocade and jade embroidery.

In order to entertain the ladies and ladies who participated in the banquet, Sima Shu came up with an idea for his women, the women's family members did not come to drink and eat, but to "socialize" to attract contacts, and there was no need to prepare big fish and meat as before, it was better to hold an ancient 'cocktail party' in the palace garden, only prepare some drinks and snacks for everyone to taste, and did not restrict everyone's freedom, and they could talk at will.

In this way, due to the large number of people, the preparation seemed a little hasty, not only were the pavilions and pavilions on the buildings full of people, but many belated family members had to stand in the open-air imperial garden.

However, these ladies all knew what kind of place this was, and they also knew who was holding the banquet, so they didn't dare to make a noise, and let the palace maids and chamberlains arrange it.

The first thing the ladies did when they came to Chang was to say hello to the Empress Dowager Xie Jiu, but because there were too many people, they had to gather more than 100 people in a group and go in to say hello together. The Queen Mother wore a gorgeous court dress and looked very wealthy, and several young princes gathered around her, listening to everyone's greetings and compliments, and looked very happy.

After everyone saw the ceremony, the queen and others discussed, since it was a fundraiser, there had to be a source, and people couldn't pay for nothing. So they took out some meaningful objects collected in the inner treasury of the palace, such as the jewelry treasures paid tribute by various vassal states during the period of Emperor Wu.

In addition to these, the Empress also personally asked the professors in the various universities to bring various ink treasures as objects to raise funds for the charity meeting. Because this is a good deed, all the famous professors in the universities are allowed to happily spread their ink and make the most of their literary talents.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the queen, as the host of this banquet, naturally walked to a high place to prepare to speak, and the sound that was buzzing just now immediately quieted down, and the queen Wang Huifeng said to the people scattered everywhere, "Please come this time." There is a good deed that I would like to ask for your help. Everyone knows that there has been a serious locust plague in some counties and counties in Qingzhou, and although the local government has tried its best to help, there are still many victims waiting to be resettled. ”

When Her Majesty learned of this, she felt the virtue of kindness and ordered the cabinet to allocate money and food to comfort the people. And the mother of this palace is the world, and she should solve His Majesty's worries and inherit the goodness of the high hall, so I want to raise donations from you. Gather money and donations, and do your best to save merit and others. ”

"Before that, the palace and the palace lady found some objects. In addition, Chang'an, Luoyang, Chengdu and other universities in the hall of celebrities and scholars, gifted ink treasure handwriting. But these are just intentions, and they still rely on your kindness. ”

The queen said these opening remarks, and invited a middle-aged man, who was the worshipper of a pawnshop under the royal family, and was very experienced in valuing and reselling, so she asked him to handle the matter.

"Ladies. The first item is donated by His Majesty himself, which is a piece of fine jade made of tiger-shaped paperweight rewarded by Emperor Wu during His Majesty's reign as the crown prince, with a reserve price of 2,000 yuan. It seems that this offering is not only good at this, but he first introduces the general situation of the item to be auctioned, then estimates its approximate market value, and then begins to auction.

"Ladies, it is incumbent upon you to help good deeds. Bid! ”

"Six thousand kans!" "Seven thousand!" "Ten thousand!" "Fifteen thousand!" "Eighteen thousand!"

Several wealthy merchants from wealthy families doubled the price, and soon called the jade paperweight to 20,000 yuan, which was far more than the value of the object itself. But these women were not trying to do this, but names, so they bit very hard.

"Thirty thousand!" "Forty-five thousand!" "80,000 times, 80,000 times once, 80,000 years times, 80,000 times three times! Deal! ”

As the words of worship fell, the small hammer in his hand also knocked on the table in front of him, although it was to be famous, but everyone also had to do what they could, and there were still a lot of opportunities in the back, just make a gesture.

After dozens of items were photographed, followed by the ink treasure of the celebrities, after a competition, a calligraphy and painting of Mr. Zhang Hua was auctioned at a high price of 50,000 yuan, which was the first of all the celebrities, after all, Zhang Hua is a famous man in the world, and the teacher of the emperor Sima Shu, this face everyone still has to give.

After two hours of busy work, all the things were auctioned, and the offering said happily: "This auction has raised a total of 784,652 yuan, and these funds will be donated to the Qingzhou Thorn History Mansion in the name of everyone here, and then used by the other party to help the victims!" ”

After finishing the business, the palace ladies came up with light wine and food, and feasted all the women, and the queen mother, accompanied by the queen and other concubines, went around everywhere and expressed her gratitude to the women.

Everyone returned the salute one after another: "The Queen Mother is virtuous, and the concubines are just following the virtue and doing their best." ”

It wasn't until sunset that everyone said goodbye and left, and the first charity banquet in Dajin was an unprecedented success, not only successfully raising nearly one million yuan, but also bringing this novel charity banquet into the eyes of everyone.

Even Zuo Fen, editor-in-chief of the Luoyang Times on the second day, made an enthusiastic comment on this, and asked everyone, women and children are still good, where are they waiting? It immediately caused a storm among the subjects of the Great Jin Dynasty.

Taking advantage of this wind, Emperor Sima Shu first set an example, and then donated 300,000 yuan from the inner treasury to the affected people in Qingzhou, followed by Zhang Bin, Du Xi, Jiang Tong, Wang Yan, Ji Shao and other cabinet ministers generously donated. Under the leadership of everyone, wealthy businessmen from all over the country donated huge sums of money to the imperial court, and a total of 5 million yuan was received before and after.

In order to commend everyone's good deeds, Sima Shu gave each of the wealthy merchants who donated a plaque signed by him in the name of the royal family, with the words "Virtue of Perfection" and "Great Benevolence", and asked the local government to personally send it to the donor's home and record it in the local gazetteer. (To be continued......)