Lin Yuan asked, "For what?" ”

Shen Wanqing said: "If they ask you to make an eight-strand essay on the spot, won't you be exposed to everything?" ”

Lin Yuan was stunned, he really didn't expect this, but looking at Emperor Guangxu's meaning today, he might not do this, but Weng Tongyi had already sent someone to arrest Shen Wanqing, and when they saw that they hadn't caught Shen Wanqing, they would naturally think of a way to test Lin Yuan, and even let that Li Lao Xiucai compare Lin Yuan in public.

Lin Yuan thought to himself: "If they really think of this method, they will have no way at all!" If you are looking for a gunman, you must also know the exam questions in advance! If you retake the exam in front of Emperor Guangxu, there is no way to leak the exam questions anyway. ”

Just when Lin Yuan was worried, Shen Wanqing suddenly said, "I'm sorry, it's me who is not good, I trust him too much." ”

Her guilty appearance was not delicate, Lin Yuan's heart moved, and said: "You don't have to blame yourself, I decided to find him to be the gunman, and besides, they may not think of this method." ”

Shen Wanqing's complexion soothed a little, and then she was separated from Lin Yuan, Lin Yuan returned home alone, saw Guan'er fluttering like a cheerful bird, and said: "My lord, I heard today that the saint and Lafayette know that you are proficient in literature and martial arts, and they want to recruit you into the palace and compose on the spot." ”

When Lin Yuan heard this, his head couldn't help but "buzz", and he hurriedly asked, "Guan'er, what's going on?" Tell me about it. ”

Guan'er said with a smile: "I heard that it was Lord Weng's idea, he personally came up with the question, and the saint and Lafayette will go to see it, and many people in the palace are waiting to see it." ”

Lin Yuan smiled reluctantly and said, "Great......" Before the words fell, Liu San ran into the house and said to Lin Yuan: "My lord, Zhang Shiliang is here." ”

When Lin Yuan heard this, he thought to himself: "How did this matter come together!" ”

At this moment, Zhang Shiliang actually entered the house by himself, so frightened that Wan'er hurriedly hid in the back house, Lin Yuan saw that Zhang Shiliang did not abide by the etiquette and law, and broke in without permission, and saw that his whole person had lost a lot of weight, his eye sockets were deep, his eyes were bloodshot, and he knew that something big had happened, and sure enough, Zhang Shiliang knelt on the ground and said, "My lord, something big has happened." ”

Lin Yuan asked him to sit down, and asked people to serve tea, this Zhang Shiliang picked up the tea bowl and drank it in one gulp as if he had never drunk water, Lin Yuan asked: "What's wrong, you say it slowly." ”

Zhang Shiliang said: "My lord, I wanted to come to your house that night, but as soon as I returned to the inn after receiving the silver, I brought a letter from my hometown. ”

When Zhang Shiliang spoke, his eyes stared directly at the tea bowl in front of Lin Yuan, his eyes were like hungry wolves, Lin Yuan knew that he was running all the way, and hurriedly asked people to renew the tea for him, this time the next person directly brought the teapot up, Zhang Shiliang didn't care much, raised the teapot, and poured it for a long time.

When Zhang Shiliang was full, he said: "It turned out that there were locusts in my hometown!" From Zhili Hejian Mansion to Shanxi Lu'an Mansion, then to Shandong Yanzhou Mansion, and then to Henan Kaifeng Mansion, a radius of hundreds of miles has been plagued by locusts. ”

"The villain is not talented, and he is also the number one person in his hometown, so everyone recommended me to go to the capital to buy grain, and I took the five thousand taels you gave me, plus the three thousand taels made up by the local squire, to buy grain in the capital."

Lin Yuan asked, "Isn't it the grain merchants in the capital who took the opportunity to raise prices?" ”

Zhang Shiliang said helplessly: "It's okay if the price rises, there is always a price, but the current situation is: there is no grain in the hands of grain merchants!" ”

Lin Yuan hurriedly asked, "What about the grain?" Doesn't the imperial court have a flat cang? Isn't it all good? "This silo is the granary built by the government, and if the grain harvest fails in a disaster year, the government will put the grain in the silo on the market to stabilize the grain price.

Zhang Shiliang said: "Wasn't there a war a while ago? The imperial court built a railway, most of the grain in the thirteen warehouses of Jingtong has been transported to the front line, and now the Pingguang warehouse is empty, counting on the autumn grain of Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan to replenish it, who knows that the road met the locusts, and the old people in the village said that they had never seen such powerful locusts in their lives! ”

Lin Yuan asked, "Then how is the situation of the surplus grain now?" ”

Zhang Shiliang said: "Now that the grain of each family has been almost eaten, after a while, I am afraid that it will be easy to eat." ”

Lin Yuan asked, "I know that the stored grain should be enough to eat until next year, is it going to be eaten so soon?" ”

Zhang Shiliang said: "Adults don't know, these stored grains are the grains from this time last year!" ”

Lin Yuan asked, "What do you mean by that?" ”

Zhang Shiliang said: "In my hometown at the junction of Zhili and Shandong, we grow grain there, we plant wheat in October every year, after a winter, the wheat is ripe at the beginning of June, and then the wheat is harvested, at this time there is a batch of grain, and then the corn is planted, and when the grain of the wheat is almost eaten, the corn is ripe, and then eat corn." ”

"It is said that the snow is a good year, this winter this snow is very good, but in March, the wheat has a blackfoot disease, the roots and stems have become gray and black, and soon die, the villagers want to eat last year's surplus grain, and then plant the corn in early June, how can the surplus grain be supported until the corn is mature, but I didn't expect that at this time there was a locust plague, and the land within a radius of hundreds of miles can not be seen at all."

Lin Yuan asked, "What about the local officials, don't they care?" ”

Zhang Shiliang said: "They want to manage it, but where can they manage it, they can't make food!" I can only report to the top, but after a long time, I haven't seen the disaster relief food allocated, I came to the capital this time to ask a friend, it turns out that there is no food in the hands of the imperial court now! ”

"The previous stubble of grain in the south of the Yangtze River has been almost consumed, and the next crop of grain is still being transported, just in time for the rain in the south of the Yangtze River this year, many sections of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal have bottomed out, to cross these sections, you can only rely on the slender man to drag out! What's more, the amount of this batch of grain transported is extremely small, and it is not enough for more than a dozen state capitals and more than a million people to eat! ”

Lin Yuan asked again, "What are your people doing there now?" ”

Zhang Shiliang said: "They are all rushing to plant corn, but it takes four months to mature, and in these four months, I am afraid that I will starve to death I don't know how many people will starve to death!" ”

Lin Yuan said: "Such a big thing, why don't I know about it? ”

Zhang Shiliang smiled helplessly and said: "Lord Lin, you are a general who leads the troops to fight, such a thing, local officials at all levels are reported to the household department step by step, how can you know the way?" ”

Lin Yuan thought to himself: "That's not right, the locust plague that affects millions of people, the officials of the household department will definitely give the emperor a discount, the court has no food in hand, how many people will starve to death!" For the rulers of all dynasties, starvation is small, and hunger riots are big! The Qing Dynasty took the world from the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and the direct cause of the fall of the Ming Dynasty was not the starving people in northern Shaanxi! So Emperor Guangxu must have written such things on his face, but he is still talking and laughing with me today. ”

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "You go back first, I understand all these situations, and I promise not to let anyone starve to death!" ”

Zhang Shiliang didn't believe his words a little, and thought: "Even if Lord Lin has the ability, it is still on the battlefield, does he really have the ability to turn into food?" ”

Lin Yuan was thinking: "Weng Tonggong wants to retest his eight-strand essay and the famine, is there any connection?" ”

Suddenly, as if a light in the darkness, he saw this connection!