The first wind and rain drifted away

Golden autumn and September have always been a harvest season, but it is an exception in the Chongzhen period.

Affected by the Xiaoice River, Daming's natural disasters are diverse.

There is a drought in the north, a flood in the south, a little bit of plague from time to time, and there are also overwhelming locusts to mess up.

It's fucking painful, so to speak.

Therefore, just when the leader of Chongzhen's group was ambitious and wanted to do a big job, the country's demand for disaster relief came like snowflakes.

Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen has a little money now, although it is not much, but it is a little bit wrong?

As a result, the Hubu Shangshu who was sponsored by Emperor Chongzhen was self-strict, and allocated more than 100,000 yuan here today and more than 200,000 yuan there tomorrow, but he could barely cope with it.

It's just that it's not a long-term solution, is it?

In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen frowned, staring at the disaster situation of the Ming provinces with his hands behind his back, and the whole person was stunned like a fool.

The blue area is a light disaster area, and it can't be managed, and it really can't be managed.

The red area is the hardest hit area, and it is barely managed.

My Great Ming, why are there so many disasters and difficulties?

After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen slowly exhaled, shook his head and sighed lightly.

More than two million disaster relief silver was sent out, but how much could reach the victims, Emperor Chongzhen really didn't dare to guarantee.

After all, the money for disaster relief is just a muddled account in the local government, and it is a fortune.

It's not like other expenditures, it needs to be accounted for, it needs to be seen and it needs to be closely monitored.

As long as the local officials waved their hands and reported to the imperial court that the relief food had been distributed to the victims, the corrupt officials would have a large amount of money in their accounts.

If the imperial court investigates the victims because they can't get them, it can be said that the corrupt officials are because there is not enough food and grass for disaster relief, and there are too many victims.

If you make a few more fake accounts, you can deal with it.

At that time, maybe you can add an additional amount of disaster relief food to the imperial court, which will be another income.

Because of this, since ancient times, disaster relief food has been the fat in the eyes of corrupt officials, and it is also the most problematic place.

Due to the wide area involved and uneven distribution, even if a large number of brocade guards have been dispatched, the effect is limited.

Without investigation, there is no voice.

Emperor Chongzhen couldn't control it in the distance, but in front of him the locust plague in Bazhou, Hebei, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to go out of the palace to inspect the disaster in person.

At noon on the same day, Emperor Chongzhen, escorted by dozens of horsemen, appeared in the countryside on the outskirts of Bazhou, and under the guidance of the farmers, came to the fields that were most severely affected.

When he arrived, Emperor Chongzhen, who had never seen a locust plague in his previous life and this life, was stunned by the scene in front of him.

On the road before, there were also a small number of locusts, so he knew that the locust plague was serious, but how serious it was, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't imagine it.

It was not until this time, when he arrived at the destination, that Emperor Chongzhen finally understood what it meant to "once the locusts pass, there is no grass left".

In front of me, the sky was full of locusts flying, the black pressure was all over the mountains, and the buzzing sound between the flapping of wings was actually a little scary.

The field in front of Emperor Chongzhen has long been gone, leaving only a piece of bald soil.

In fact, not only the field in front of him, but also the vast expanse in his eyes, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't see a little green.

All the green leafy plants in the heavens and the earth were eaten clean by the locusts that spread all over the mountains.

But although the locusts were shocking, for Emperor Chongzhen, what really shocked him was the people around the fields.

They rode dozens of horses from a distance, which can be described as a great fanfare, but these people were indifferent.

The things that Chinese people love to watch the most have not been seen in them.

Around the countryside and fields, they walked or stood, just looking at the locusts all over the mountains, their expressions full of panic and helplessness, and more despair and numbness.

Just looked at the bald land in front of him in a daze, as if he was still wondering, where did all the living food they had worked hard for a year go?

Faintly, out of nowhere, there was a cry.

What unfolded in front of Emperor Chongzhen's eyes was despair and depression everywhere, and the sky and earth were gray, and it seemed that there was no hope for the existence of a little hope.

On the way, Emperor Chongzhen did not see the legendary tragedy of starvation and cannibalism, but he could already imagine it.

The endless despair and helplessness in the expressions of the people was enough to shock Emperor Chongzhen's nerves.

"Hey, the people are suffering......" Wang Chengen, who was with him, saw this scene, tears appeared in his eyes, and he shook his head and sighed.

Suddenly, the sound of children's laughter came, like a glimmer of light in the darkness, which couldn't help but attract the attention of Emperor Chongzhen.

Not far away, two children of three or four years old were playing in the fields, both dressed as ordinary farmers, innocent and ignorant of the world.

It's just that his face is black, and he can't see his original color.

They don't know what these locusts mean in front of them?

I don't know what kind of tragedy I will face in the future?

It's just that after seeing that the locusts are afraid of people, they hunt locusts everywhere and have a good time.

Not far from the two children, there was an old man standing there, also dressed as a farmer, very old, showing his old age, trembling.

But unlike the other gloomy people, he was smiling and watching two children play.

It seemed that this old man should be the elder of the two children.

Emperor Chongzhen turned over and dismounted, and walked over with Wang Chengen, but stopped the other followers.

"Old man, the younger generation is polite." Coming to the old man, Emperor Chongzhen arched his hand and asked gently:

"When the kid first came here, he couldn't help but worry when he saw the locust plague, but I saw my uncle smiling and seemed to ......."

In fact, when it came to the back, Emperor Chongzhen regretted it.

Because, he suddenly found that although the old man was smiling, there was despair in the depths of his eyes.

Sure enough, the old man turned his head to look at Emperor Chongzhen, and saw that he was richly dressed and had many servants, but he was slightly stunned, but he did not show the politeness he deserved, but smiled even more.

It's a miserable laugh!

"It's not that you don't worry, you don't have to worry, you just wait for death."

The old man's voice was hoarse, his cloudy eyes were empty, and he said slowly without sadness or joy: "Last year, Master Zhao increased the rent, and it was a full thirty percent.

I couldn't get angry, so I found someone to go to the government to theorize together.

But the government didn't care, saying that we could not plant Master Zhao's fields. After coming back, Master Zhao's people beat Xiao'er lame and still can't get out of bed.

In order to treat his son's illness, the house was sold, the things were sold, there was nothing, and the daughter-in-law ran away with others.

Now in the family, except for two grandchildren and a son who can't get out of bed, I'm a useless old man.

I am old, I can't go to the ground, and even if I don't have this locust plague, my family, young and old, won't be able to survive.

In that case, what is there to worry about? ”

The old man spoke slowly, slowly, as if he were telling him an irrelevant story.

looked lovingly at the two children running around in front of him, and continued: "The old man has no interest, and he has the heart to find a way to survive for his two grandchildren.

But this boy in this world is worthless and can't be sold.

The food at home has bottomed out, and the old man's family can only wait for death.

The two grandchildren are innocent, the eldest is only four years old, and the younger is only three years old, and they don't want them to be unhappy all day long because of the old man's sad face before starving to death.

So, old man, I can only laugh and let the grandchildren be happy for a few more days...... That's all the old man can do for them......"

As he spoke, although the old man was still smiling, two lines of cloudy tears were already flowing down his cheeks, which was extremely strange and even more desolate.

The two children who were playing noticed Emperor Chongzhen and the others, and then saw the crying grandfather, stumbling to the old man, each grabbing the corner of the old man's clothes, and one said:

"Grandpa...... Grandpa, what's wrong with you? One said, "Grandpa don't cry, grandpa don't cry." The old man wiped away his tears, still smiling, and said lovingly to the two children:

"Grandpa didn't cry, the wind was strong, and his eyes were blowing...... Grandpa will bake beans for you to eat tonight, let's go, go home with grandpa......"

Saying that, the old man didn't pay any attention to Emperor Chongzhen and Wang Chengen, and just led the two children away in a hurry.

Emperor Chongzhen's eyes were full of tears, his heart was panicked, he was angry, he wanted to kill people, he wanted to kill many people.

was silent for a long time, and then glared at Wang Chengen fiercely, making him tremble but somewhat inexplicable.

Knowing that the emperor is sad, how can he ......?