Chapter 388 is forced to a dead end

This construction made Zhu Youzhen embarrassed. It is said that the whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister. Chen Xie, a courtier, is really too exceptional and unusual. Zhu Youzhen didn't know how to deal with such a courtier, it was said that his type, it was not a big problem to directly fight the category of Wang Mang. But none of the things Chen Xie did were enough for traitors.

How close Shandong is, Chen Xie wants to rebel, and he has only been working hard for a few days to go north, so why bother to beg for ministers many times under the king's orders? If he wants money, he has it, he wants soldiers, and the Dengzhou battalion is invincible and attacked. That's it, he is still doing things with all his heart, saying that he is a traitor, or that he has this potential, it is really not based on conscience.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen simply trusted Chen Xie to the greatest extent, so that there were not so many troubles.

Yang Sichang's construction, Zhu Youzhen was embarrassed, or because he was afraid that Chen Xie would have ideas. Dengzhou camp fighting, the imperial court does not give money and grain, this is forgotten, now Shandong province does not give money and grain, you still have to pay taxes. Seriously defend Shandong and Fengyang, and divide troops to Jiangpu, that is, to do the greatest duty and have a lot of wealth.

"Yang Qing, it's not that I don't agree, but that there are difficulties. In this way, in the name of the Ministry of War, you sent an order to Shandong, asking Chen Xie to send troops to the west to assist Zhang Guo in defending Jiangbei. "Zhu Youzhen can only say this, Chen Xie is now the governor, there is a big drought in Shandong, he is busy with drought relief matters, let him send troops, who is the money and food? Zhu Youzhen didn't open his mouth, and let the military department open his mouth to leave room for improvement.

Yang Sichang thought about it, and it could only be like this. The War Department drafts an order. Please transfer the Dengzhou battalion to guard the front line of Anqing and Luzhou, which are important towns in Jiangbei. Then send the celebrant to wear red, this order is still on the way, Chen Xie will know.

Chen Xie couldn't help but sigh at Zhu Youzhen's hard work, officers and soldiers like Zuo Liangyu were enough to kill their heads from top to bottom under Chen Xie. In the system of the Ming Dynasty, it is strange that the Ming Dynasty can live so nourishingly, and the Ming Dynasty will not die.

Ying Niang, who reported the news, waited quietly for Chen Xie's instructions, touched her chin and thought about it for a while, Chen Xie said lightly: "I know about this matter, tell me about the situation in those states." ”

Ying Niang smiled bitterly and said, "It's really as the master expected." Many officials in Yanzhou and Dongchang. If you don't burn the grain depot, I'm afraid you won't be able to pass the pass. When the old man went to inspect, sixty percent of the grain he saw was the result of fraud, covered with a layer of grain on top, and sandbags on the bottom. As soon as the lord left. The officials didn't continue to sell grain. But just the little grain in the storehouse. It won't last a few days. The summer harvest is imminent, and if you go out of the city to take a look, you will know that this year's summer harvest will be reduced by at least 60%. ”

The farmland around Jinan is not bad. Because there is a water system and a water source, it is terrible elsewhere. During the inspection, Chen Xie also deliberately looked at Weishan Lake, and the water level was much lower than in previous years. There is still irrigation around Weishan Lake, so don't count on it if it's far away. In the famine of the Ming Dynasty, natural disasters were the main cause, and there were many secondary reasons. A large amount of land has been abandoned due to lack of irrigation channels, and crop yields are low. Chen Xie knew the way to increase production, but he did it comprehensively in the Ming Dynasty. There are two reasons why rabbits can feed 1.4 billion people with limited land, one is agricultural technology, and the other is chemical fertilizer. 100 million tons of chemical fertilizer per year, this thing is simply not something that can be replaced by green organic fertilizer.

Chen Xie is not a god, and the high yield of Dengzhou's farmland is only relative. In this era, the average yield per mu of farmland is less than 300 catties, which shows how hard it is. Without enough fertilizer, half of the billions of rabbits could starve to death. Luckily, the population of Daming is less than 200 million, and in general it is still saved. The Qing Dynasty was able to stabilize the situation in a short period of time, one was that Li Zicheng made the gentry group desperate, and the other was that the population of Zhanì was sharply reduced due to years of war. Later, some drought-tolerant and cold-tolerant crops were introduced.

Chen Xie said lightly: "It's their own death, it's no wonder about me." ”

The order of the military department was sent to Jinan, and Chen Xie did not hesitate to return to the Beijing division: "The drought in Shandong is strict, and the ministers are afraid of chaos and do not dare to move lightly. In addition, last year, Jiannu coveted friendly countries (North Korea), and the main force of the Dengzhou battalion should not be moved lightly, so as not to repeat the disaster of last year. For today's plan, only one can be transferred to Anqing, and the garrison will be assisted by a sailor, which can be safeguarded for a while. ”

The reason is very sufficient, Chen Xie did not say that he would not send troops, and there were two A-word battalions in Jiangpu, which could be transferred to Anqing. In this way, Zhang Guowei was embarrassed to make a fuss, and the military department was not good enough to force Chen Xie to send troops.

When the news reached Jingshi, it was already mid-May.

The drought was so severe that a large number of refugees had to leave their homes and find a way out. There was a drought in the whole of Shandong, and Governor Chen Xie immediately ordered all prefectures, prefectures, and counties to open warehouses to give soup and give alms, so as to prevent the people from starving and riots. He also stressed that the people in all localities should give relief on the spot and should not leave their localities, and ordered the garrisons in various localities to strictly guard the passes and prevent the people from leaving the locality.

The Dengzhou battalion immediately moved, and roadblocks were set up on the official roads on the Yanzhou border, on the main roads and small roads. The people of each province shall be given alms by each province. Don't talk nonsense about having no food to ask for, this governor has inspected, and the granaries in various places are sufficient, and there is no problem at all in providing relief for three months.

After the order was issued, Chen Xie's report to the Beijing division clearly pointed out: After inspecting various places before the month, the granaries were sufficient, which could be given for more than three months, and the main relief was timely, and when the summer harvest was over, the place would naturally return to peace.

Chen Xie was really ruthless, this pit was dug so deep that he put officials from several prefectures in Shandong into it.

In Yanzhou, 50,000 people gathered here, and Chen Xie's request for relief from various states and counties could not be done at all. There is no food in the granary, what can be used for relief? In the face of 50,000 refugees, Song, the prefect of Yanzhou, took three measures, one was to open a warehouse for relief according to Chen Xie's request, and the other was to beg his grandfather to sue his grandmother and ask the big families in the city to give money and grain relief. The biggest big family is King Lu. The descendants of the Zhu family, which one is not the master who wants money and does not want to die? Let me give money? Not to mention the doors, there are no windows. I took out fifty taels of silver, saying that I could not watch the people starving, and then there was no more. The big families in Yanzhou all looked at King Lu, he didn't pay for food, why should we pay it. Which of these people doesn't matter in Beijing?

The victims of the entire Yanzhou capital have gathered in Yanzhou, and in just a few months, 100,000 people have been waiting in Yanzhou for relief. I didn't pay the two taxes last year, where did the money and grain go? It's very simple, embezzlement, private division. It has only been ten days since Yanzhou Mansion opened a warehouse for relief, and it will not be able to support it. In many counties of Yanzhou, there was no harvest in a large area, and the people gathered in the city and ate a lot of grass outside the city, not to mention grain. Because of hunger, there are people who die every day who are poisoned by eating grass.

At this time, the Yanzhou government could only continue to report to Jinan, asking for food to be sent and troops to prevent chaos from happening.

Chen Xie handed over Yanzhou's emergency document to Zhang Bingwen and said, "How could there be no food so soon?" It's impossible. ”

Zhang Bingwen immediately threw it aside when he saw it and said: "Regardless of whether there are dates or not, hit three shots first." Anyway, it's just to call a few times first, and turn around to leave some room for yourself, and the officials below are like this, don't pay attention. ”

How could Zhang Bingwen have the heart to take care of Yanzhou, and the situation in Jinan Mansion was not much better. The drought is severe, and the following counties are complaining, and the price of grain in Jinan is soaring. He came to Chen Xie for this matter.

"Zhongcheng, the price of grain in the city has skyrocketed, more than double that of ten days ago. You can't sit idly by! Zhang Bingwen is also a false fire in his belly, and the hundreds of thousands of people in Jinan City consume a lot of food every day. Black-hearted grain merchants took the opportunity to raise grain prices, and the people were miserable.

Chen Xie waited for him to come to him to discuss, without saying a word, he took out an emergency plan and said: "There are two urgent tasks at the moment, first, buy grain from other places to come to Jinan, and I am already doing this thing." Second, the Constitution and the three divisions jointly issued a notice that grain could only enter the city and not leave the city. Third, when the grain from other places arrives, the people in the city can go to the grain store designated by the government to purchase rations with their identity cards and household registration books. Fourth, it is necessary to strengthen public order, and to use heavy punishments in extraordinary times, so that anyone who takes the opportunity to seize people's property, wives, and children will be convicted of conspiracy once they are discovered. ”

These four can be described as murderous, Zhang Bingwen hasn't seen it for the time being, and when he sees it, the daylily is cold.

Chen Xie's four points are actually to drive some people to a dead end. None of them are ruthless tricks that can kill people. Chen Xie knew in his heart that even if others felt that something was wrong, there was nothing to hesitate at this time. Let's stabilize the place first, and then talk about it, don't care about the life or death of others, just don't drop the official hat. Chen Xie stamped it, Zhang Bingwen stamped it, and then took it to Song Guanglan to stamp, and the commander didn't dare not seal it. The four large seals were stamped, and the pit was formed.

After a day's work, 5,000 recruits transferred from the barracks outside the city entered the city, and with the cooperation of the city management, all the streets and alleys were set up sentry. Proclamations with four large seals were posted all over the city, and then someone read them, and they all spoke very clearly. Let the people know that this is an extraordinary time, and the government does not hesitate to kill people.

Early the next morning, at the entrance of the designated grain stores, the people who purchased grain had formed a long line. Chen Xie quietly appeared in the teahouse opposite a designated grain store, and ten steps to the left of the grain store was a grain store opened by a merchant. More than 100 soldiers are maintaining order, and bayonets are already on to guard against those who disrupt order.

The door of the shop opened, and the people gathered around it. Soon under the threat of bayonets, there was a neat line and waited patiently. The clerk stood in front of the half-height counter, with a black face, and said loudly: "ID card, household registration book." These two things are one of the killer moves prepared by Chen Xie. Fortunately, there is only one Jinan city, if the whole of Shandong is doing this, it can't be done so quickly. (To be continued......)