All of you here are old people, and there are treasures for the elderly. Whether it is the Tang Dynasty or the modern times of later generations, respecting the elderly is the virtue of the Chinese nation. More than a dozen old men saluted Li Yuanxing, and Li Yuanxing immediately got up to return the salute.

"Your Highness, there are four great plagues in the world, earth movement, floods, locust plagues, and pestilences. His Royal Highness fought a natural disaster in Luoyang, we thought it was just an untruthful rumor, as for the eighteen-year-old man carrying the coffin, he even thought it was a peaceful and prosperous era whitewashed for the new emperor's accession to the throne! ”

What a whitewash.

However, to be able to say such things here is also sincere.

The other old man took out a scroll and nodded to the elders, and all the elders nodded in response. The old man opened the scroll and read slowly: "On April 29, the locust plague first appeared, and 800 acres of fields were damaged in the twenty miles east of Zhuang. On April 30, the seedlings were destroyed! ”

How terrible the locust plague is.

Li Yuanxing has never seen it, and even he can't imagine it in the modern era of later generations.

But in Datang, sitting on a flying boat, the farmland is not green, which is not terrifying for people who are full of food and drink. But for the ordinary people who put their hopes in this field, there is only despair.

"The village is very desolate, and every year there is a drought and locusts. The old man pays the debt, and the child sells the grain. Li Yuanxing recited the poem, stopped halfway through the recitation, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"Your Highness, it seems that there is still this poem?"

"No, and there's no need. There was a disaster in the former Sui Dynasty, and the people would eat different children, but the Tang Dynasty couldn't! ”

Li Yuanxing used the word can't, not won't. This represents the determination of those in power.

"On the first day of the fifth month, there were no wild vegetables in the mountains, and the trees were not tender and green, and the villagers who had borrowed grain to survive gathered in Zhuangmen to beg for another loan. The housekeeper reported that there was not much food in the house. There is no harvest after autumn, and there is no grain in winter. The villagers borrowed grain, but the fields were not harvested, how to repay the debts after the autumn and protect their own families. Or live and die with the old and young in the village! ”

The old man remembered this time of life and death. Li Yuanxing felt a pang in his heart.

That's right, there wasn't much money in ancient farmland. History records that there was a locust plague in the second year of Zhenguan, and countless deaths were made. Hundreds of villages have become empty villages with no people, and many of the people who have fled the desert with their families are starving to death on the roadside. How many people coalesced into thieves. How many people eat from different children.

Big. The food in the big family is not enough for the whole village.

What's more, there is no non-staple food, no wild vegetables. Even the young leaves of the trees were eaten by locusts.

"On the second day of the fifth month, the Zhao family in the east of the village released grain, and the food at home was only enough for five days!"

"On the third day of the fifth month, a certain family put grain in a house, and counted the surplus grain of 76 villages in 8 townships, which was not enough for 10 days in 76 villages of 3 townships. In order to protect themselves, the big households stopped putting grain and fighting, injuring 140 people and killing seven. ”

Li Yuanxing nodded silently, he didn't know what to say.

"On the fourth day of the fifth month, the county warehouse received an order to release grain, and the grain in the county warehouse was only enough for the people of the county to eat for seven days."

Thinking of this, the old man suddenly stopped, and then said: "Your Highness, the eclipse of this day is calculated based on two bowls of porridge per person per day, but seven days is really a barely number. Over the years, the harvest has been very ordinary, there is not much new grain stock every year, and most of the grain in the state warehouse is military food, so it is easy not to move. ”

Li Yuanxing nodded slightly.

Li Yuanxing wanted to ask, there would be so little grain in the county warehouse. But the words stopped at the edge of his mouth, this is ancient times, only Chang'an and Luoyang were affected by themselves and had enough food, which does not mean that the entire Tang Dynasty has enough food, not to mention that most of the east of the river and Hebei did not farm according to their own wishes.

There is also no large number of chickens.

The most troublesome thing is that they do not believe in locust plagues.

In fact, in the final analysis, the reason is that the underdevelopment of information allows the news of Chang'an to reach the state, but it may not be able to reach every small village, and many people in the village have not seen a stranger for several years.

"On the fifth day of the fifth month of May, a sergeant appeared ten miles outside the village, and the whole village was closed, and young and strong people were sent to guard the main road!"

Li Yuanxing smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Chai Lie said: "In times of disaster, soldiers are also bandits. ”

"Datang is not!" Li Yuanxing's tone was a little stern.

None of the old men spoke, and the one continued: "On the fifth night of the fifth month of the fifth month of May, a military academy asked to report the population of the village and the situation of grain stored in the village, but the villagers refused! ”

"On the sixth day of the fifth month, porridge was cooked at the entrance of the village, and the porridge was fragrant and attractive, and the sergeant retreated a thousand steps."

When he said this, the old man's eyes turned red, and he got up and saluted Li Yuanxing: "The old man and the whole village make amends to His Royal Highness the King of Qin, the ignorant foolish people don't know the benevolence of the King of Qin, they don't know the Tang Dynasty, and they don't know the virtue of my Tang sergeant!" ”

Li Yuanxing felt a little pain in his heart, he didn't blame these people, he only blamed the past world for being too bad.

"The seventh day of the fifth month!" The old man's voice raised a lot: "On the seventh day of the fifth month, the whole village left home. When they went to the county seat, the young and strong people were included in the grain transportation team and the locust removal team, and the grain transportation team went to Fenshui Wharf to participate in grain transportation. The old and infirm stayed in the county seat to receive assistance. A few idle people do not do their jobs, which is really a shame for my three Jins, so I order the elders of all ethnic groups to be punished. ”

"On the seventh day of the fifth month, the Tang army began to set fire to Murata and extinguish locusts."

The old man's voice was almost already shouting: "On the eighth day of the fifth month, the grain distribution quota was announced. The elders of the big clans in each county jointly wrote to the county public, and the idlers were not punished, and the people's hearts were unfair. Idlers have no seeds, saving waste. In times of disaster, they are in turmoil, and they are exiled for thousands of miles. ”

"Your Highness, the tenth day of the fifth month. Each village can return to the village with grain and seeds one after another, and each village will send its best farmers to learn the new grain planting method, and the seeds will be planted again by May 18 at the latest, and there is hope for the autumn harvest. ”

Li Yuanxing breathed a long sigh of relief, it seems that the problem in this state has been solved.

At this time, each old man took out a scroll, and each one felt very thick.

"The old man comes first!" After the old man spoke, the rest of the people placed the scroll in front of them. The old man opened the scroll: "On the fourth day of the fifth month, six people from the three families of Zhao Ping Village, old and young, went into the mountains to dig wild vegetables, and there was no return at night. Ten unknown sergeants of the Tang Army entered the mountains and forests at night, rescued the two Zhao family who had slipped into the ditch, and carried the old woman of the Zhao family back. ”

"On the fourth day of the fifth month, six brothers from the Dongli family in Hexi Village went into the water to catch fish and two fell into the water. Seven unknown sergeants, searching for thirty miles of river and rescuing those who fell back into the water"

"The fourth day of the fifth month......

On the fourth day of the fifth month alone, I have read more than a dozen articles, all of which are not earth-shattering, and they are not even trivial things worthy of being praised by their names, but one by one, they have been recorded by the elders in these villages.

Finally, when the old man opened his mouth to read the fifth day of the fifth month of the fifth month, Li Yuanxing interrupted him: "Don't read it anymore, your own children do something for the family, it is not commendable." The sergeants of Datang are all children of the people of Datang and are also children of Datang. The food they eat and the clothes they wear are all taxes from the people of the Tang Dynasty. The people have fed them, and they have done something for the people, and it is right for them to be both emotional and reasonable, public and private. ”

The old men stood up together:

"The old man is ashamed, he once suspected that the Luoyang natural disaster was a false rumor, how can manpower win the sky, how can manpower block the Luoshui embankment, manpower can make a hundred miles of oceans, and no one will die in the land of thousands of villages, at this moment, we are deeply ashamed, and I have come to make amends to His Royal Highness!"

"This king doesn't blame you, what you see with your own eyes may not be true, let alone rumors."

"Your Highness is very true. Thinking that Yan Hui grabbed rice in the pot, the holy master also misunderstood that Fusheng stole food, but it was really for Fusheng Yanhui to see that there was grass ash in the pot, and it was a pity to abandon it, and eat the grass ash and rice together, but he didn't want the master to eat dirt. In the past few days, I have seen the newspapers of Chang'an in the county, and I am deeply ashamed of the shallowness of our vision and knowledge! ”

Finally, Li Yuanxing sent these old men away, leaving only a scroll recording the good deeds of the sergeants.

Lu Maofeng came back with more scrolls.

"There's no need to report it, this king already knows. Inform the armies that there is nothing wrong with being good, but don't be stupid. Distributing food to the villagers is far less important than helping the villagers save themselves, and the most important thing is to get rid of locusts and replant the fields. To educate those who are not virtuous, you can use the re-canon! ”

"Yes!"

"Then call the emperor's sister-in-law in the name of this king, and the plague after the disaster must be prepared in advance. Since it is a disaster relief, let the states and counties report a process and submit it to the six ministries for review, and Datang must formulate a complete response strategy for natural disasters, from the level of officials, management, and military mobilization, to wells and river affairs. Then there is food, medicine, and small people and gangs that are causing chaos in natural disasters. The disposal of unscrupulous businessmen who take advantage of natural disasters to accumulate wealth. ”

After listening to Li Yuanxing, Lu Maofeng said softly: "Your Highness has thought of everything you can think of, so it's better to give an order directly!" ”

"Everything needs to be ordered by this king, what is the use of a hundred officials?"

Lu Maofeng didn't dare to answer, and hurriedly retreated to prepare to send a telegram.

Li Yuanxing left the tent and returned directly to the flying boat, he did not plan to contact the officials here, nor did he plan to go to the disaster relief site in person. This is a matter for the Tang Dynasty, not someone.

Whether it is disaster relief or post-disaster reconstruction, this is a systematic work that requires coordination and precise coordination.

Since there is Jihua, there is no need for me to meddle anymore.

Li Er asked himself to come over and have a look, which was nothing more than to increase his reputation as the king of Qin.

"Order, Laizhou supplies. Change to cruising flight speed, prepare for long-distance flight in Laizhou, and adjust the flight schedule of the flying boat personnel to prepare for takeoff. Li Yuanxing had already given the order when he stepped on the stairs of the flying boat, and Tang Jun had already done it in strict accordance with Li Yuanxing's requirements.

And Datang's disaster relief is also being carried out in an orderly manner.

In Laizhou, Li Yuanxing did not get off the flying boat, and the steam engine of the flying boat did not go out, but only replenished water and coal in Laizhou, and then added some buckets and boxes of coal to several warehouses. The kitchen that was originally used for cooking was opened for the first time.

After the trial, some adjustments were made in Laizhou, and then the food ingredients were brought in.

When I went there, no one asked, even Princess Qin and Wang Yuyan didn't ask, Li Yuanxing is the King of Qin, and there is no need for a reason or excuse for any order, even if it is just to be happy.

After the flying boat took off again and flew to the sea, Li Yuanxing wrote a mark on a piece of paper.

"Tamna!" (To be continued......)

PS: In the afternoon, I received a notice from the property that the circuit will be overhauled tomorrow.

That is, there is a power outage.

Hopefully, you can call sooner.