Standing under the eaves outside the Chongzheng Palace, Fan Yaochen squinted his eyes and looked at the scorching sun hanging high in the sky.

It's just past the beginning of summer, and according to the situation in previous years, it should be the time when there is plenty of rain. But I don't know what's going on this year, there is a drought in the north and south, not only Guangnan West Road, Jinghu South Road, Jiangnan West Road, but also Hebei and Gyeonggi have been reporting drought.

Although there was not enough rain in the spring, it did not drip, and finally the farmers rushed to plant the crops, but according to this situation, if the summer is still so dry, it is really unknown how much summer grain can be harvested.

He touched the fold in his sleeve, and his heart was heavy.

Fuzhou is full of locust sheaths, and when the locusts hatch in summer and autumn, they are just hitting the crops and ripening.

Since Sun Xianggong asked for the county a few years ago, he finally became the prime minister, but once he took office, he ran into a series of troubles.

Yang Kui returned to the dynasty in the first half of the year, and the two of them quarreled in front of Zhao Rui, the son of heaven, about the compensation of the wounded soldiers in Yanzhou and the praise of their military exploits.

He used the excuse that the other party had not achieved great success, the treasury was empty, etc., and Yang Kui was so angry that he almost lost his dignity. However, even so, his own family still had the upper hand, and the bereavement and reward issued this time was less than half of what the Privy Council had originally set.

It is said that thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, who would have thought that after a month, it would be the turn of their own family to be seen as a joke.

With the folds sent from Fuzhou, Jingzhou and other places in his sleeve, Fan Yaochen's mind involuntarily appeared in his mind the scene of flying locusts in the sky after summer and autumn, starvation all over the wilderness, and the homeless people were stranded and refused to give it.

How will the Imperial Observatory attack at that time?

If Yang Kui doesn't take the opportunity to fall into the ground, the party will fight against each other, and he will change his surname to the same "Yang"!

If natural and man-made disasters cannot be prevented in advance, as the prime minister, he will definitely be blamed and avoided.

Fan Yaochen was worried, and the cabinet official of the Chongzheng Hall had already come out of the hall and invited him in.

Zhao Rui, the Son of Heaven, was watching a piece of music, and when he saw Fan Yaochen coming, he ordered someone to take a seat.

Fan Yaochen excused himself before sitting down.

"Fan Qing, I heard that the Jinshui River is more than a foot shorter, but is it true?" Zhao Rui asked anxiously.

Zhu Baoshi is in the Imperial City Division, as the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven, he will collect and sort out all kinds of news in the capital every day, and then submit it, and rely on the horses everywhere to bear and supervise the imperial history, etc., Zhao Rui will not be too unfamiliar with the people's livelihood in Sifang Prefecture and County under his rule.

In fact, what he recovered this time was not only the news of Jinshuihe, but also heard that the price of grain in the market had risen by ten wen per bucket.

At this time, the summer grain has not yet come out, and according to the habits of previous years, it is very normal for the price of grain to rise by three or five cents, but it has risen by ten wen in one go, which is already very terrible.

In such matters, Fan Yaochen naturally did not dare to bully the king, so he had to say: "There is indeed such a thing, not only Gyeonggi, but also Hebei is also in drought, fortunately, there is still last year's grain stock in Chang Ping, so he will not be too nervous." ”

As he spoke, he pulled the piece out of his sleeve.

The little yellow door on the side hurriedly stepped forward to take it and presented it to Zhao Rui with both hands.

"Your Majesty, Fuzhou, Jingzhou, and Yongzhou have all reported locust infestations, especially in Fuzhou, I heard that in the wilderness, on the edge of the river beach, there are locust eggs, Fuzhou please exempt this year's autumn tax."

"Excuse me!" Before looking at the music in his hand, Zhao Rui said without hesitation.

When he read all the folds handed over by several states, his face became ugly.

"Fan Qing, although Fuzhou is not an important transportation place, it can be connected to Guangnan, Jinghu Lake, and Jiangnan East Road on the right. He said, "What are your plans?" ”

Fan Yaochen was naturally anxious, before entering the palace, he had discussed with his subordinates for a long time, and he also had a general idea, at this time, he heard Zhao Rui ask, and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks, why don't you send a special envoy to Fuzhou and other places to kill locusts." ”

Zhao Rui couldn't help frowning, and said, "Didn't He Tan just get on the fold last time, saying that catching locusts interferes with the people and blindly exterminates locusts, but makes the people very burdened?" ”

The He Tan he said in his mouth was the governor of Zizhou.

Zizhou went to the New Year, and the DPRK and China sent a locust catcher envoy to exterminate the locusts, but the result was that "the locusts were in the wilderness and entered the country, and the envoys were counted, and the prefecture and county were arrested and expelled, and the fields and houses were trampled, and the people were struggling to make a living."

He Tan went to "The Son of Heaven Begs to Kill Locusts", and deliberately talked about the disadvantages of sending officials to the countryside to hunt locusts, because the court and the central government have repeatedly sent ministers to Xiazhou County to exterminate locusts, and "the ministers are people who go in and out of the palace to close their cronies", "The foreign side does not know the court's compassion for the people...... That is, to welcome the wind, regardless of the labor", "the insects and locusts have not been removed, and the people have been forced by this labor, and they have already caused a harm."

As soon as he made this excerpt, all parts of the country followed suit, and Zhao Rui also felt that it was quite reasonable, and he had already drafted the "Locust Hunting Law" in the household department, which included not sending locust catchers to exterminate locusts in the future, and put the responsibility of supervising and urging locust extermination on the local governors, general judges, and others.

The method proposed by Fan Yaochen now can be said to be contrary to Zhao Rui's future plans.

"Now the governor of Fuzhou is Lu Fujian, and the general judge is the concubine of Princess Yong'an." Fan Yaochen only said this sentence briefly.

Hearing the judgment that it was his own cheap uncle, Zhao Rui only felt that his forehead was swollen.

As for the name in front of him, he thought about it for a long time, and he didn't remember who it was.

Fan Yaochen mentioned without a trace: "Although Lu Fujian is the champion of Jiayou's second year, he can be an official for decades, and he has not made any achievements. ”

Thanks to Fan Yaochen's sentence, Zhao Rui remembered Lu Fujian's appearance.

It seems to be a Fujian person, with a medium build, and a slightly chubby face. His articles are doing well, but it's a pity that every time he goes back to Beijing to play the right game, he is chattering, saying a sentence over and over again several times, and he can't even explain his work clearly.

Such a person, working with Chen Keci, let alone exterminating locusts, is already lucky to be able to hold Fuzhou without problems.

Zhao Rui immediately understood why Fan Yaochen wanted to send locust hunting envoys to Fuzhou.

"Now that the "Locust Hunting Law" has not been promulgated, we can select capable ministers first, suppress the locust plague this year, and then implement a new law next year." Fan Yaochen proposed.

Zhao Rui shook his head and said, "Fuzhou is different from the past......

Fuzhou is located in the north of Jiangnan West Road, the states are connected, and it is very close to Ganzhou, a large state that produces grain, and it is not far from the fish and rice warehouse on Jiangnan East Road, so it really can't be used as a joke. If one is not good, the summer grain of the whole south will be put on board.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Now there is still a powerful person in the past who can be of great use, why don't you return Lu and Chen to Beijing and vacate their seats." ”