Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the capital ushers in the scorching sun of July.

The ancients had clouds, and there were three causes of hunger: water, drought, and locusts.

The earth is high and low, and the rain is biased. Floods and droughts are disasters, and there are still many places that have been spared; However, the drought is extremely dry and the locusts are exhausted for thousands of miles, or the cattle, horses, hair, sails and flags are exhausted, and the harm is particularly miserable, and those who are too wet and drought.

According to later statistics, in the 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty, there were as many as 71 recorded locust plagues, that is, an average of one outbreak every 3.8 years.

It has been four years since Koji ascended the throne, and although he has always adhered to the people-oriented governing philosophy, God has never reduced natural disasters because of the emperor's noble character.

In fact, whether a feudal dynasty can effectively withstand the test of natural disasters is often related to the degree of oppression that the people can accept during this period.

In the early period of the dynasty, the majority of the people often had a stronger ability to resist pressure, so major projects were usually completed in the early period of the dynasty.

If in the middle and later periods, like Jiajing, who likes to raise taxes by increasing taxes and levies, it has become a luxury to build a large square outer city, causing Beijing City to finally become a convex shape.

Whenever the oppression of the people reached its peak, a massive peasant revolt broke out, and the dynasty was not far from destruction.

Although Chongzhen doesn't look like the king of the dead country, the tax increase of the Ming Dynasty starting from Jiajing was too serious, and in the end, it was difficult to escape the fate of the country.

Zhu Youzhu is the ninth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, although the number seems to be relatively large, but the lifespan of the dynasty so far is only 123 years, so it can only be regarded as the middle of the dynasty.

Although there is still a lot of room for the people to squeeze, especially Zhu Youji's abolition of usury, which is a catalyst that accelerates the destruction of the dynasty, no matter how reckless Zhu Youzhu is, he will not easily reach the level of destroying the country, but dealing with this kind of natural disaster is a huge examination for every ruler.

Zhu Youzhu made it more difficult for himself to govern, and although the tax hike could basically solve all the disaster problems, he demanded that he could not do so.

The curse that the feudal dynasty of China will not survive for three hundred years will be broken in his hands, and even he wants to make the Ming Dynasty a real empire on which the sun never sets.

Britain's failure was precisely because of the huge fiscal deficit, the imposition of tariffs and stamp duties in the country, and the enactment of the Tea Act to dump tea into North America, which exacerbated the conflict between Britain and the North American colonies.

It is precisely in this way that the prosperity of an empire is closely related to the degree of taxation collected at that time.

Fly to the sky, plug the windows and pile up the doors, and the room is seamless.

There has been a locust plague in Shandong, and the locusts have suddenly erupted this summer, and this time the attack is very ferocious, with all the vegetation, trees, cattle and horses.

West Garden, Imperial Study.

The four elders and the eighteen important ministers of the six ministries were all present, and now whenever a major event occurs in the Ming Dynasty, the supreme meeting is often held here to discuss the plan together.

Due to the personnel turmoil in the court, several fresh faces appeared here.

Affected by the incident of Wang Zeng, Qiu Jun, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, who was close to Wang Zeng, was affected, and he took the initiative to choose to resign and return to Li.

Due to the vacancy of the position of the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, the parties actually fought in secret, and finally Zhou Jing, the right attendant of the original Ministry of Rites, replaced Qiu Jun's official position.

Zhou Jing was born in the family of the eunuchs, and his father was Zhou Xuan, the former secretary of the Nanjing Criminal Department, who showed a very high learning talent during his study in Guozijian, and was named on the gold list in Tianshun for four years, when he was only 20 years old in high school.

At the beginning, he entered the Hallym Academy as a gentleman, and successfully joined the Hallym Academy as a Hanlin reviewer, and has been working hard for his qualifications in the Hallym Academy.

During this period, he entered the East Palace to teach like some lucky Hanlin officials, and became the prince at that time, that is, the emperor of the current Son of Heaven.

Thanks to the successive downfalls of the previous ministers, now his official career has gone further and he has become a high-ranking servant of the Ministry of Rites, and his future is limitless.

Originally, the vacant position of Zhou Jing should have been replaced by Cheng Minzheng, the secretary of Taichang Temple, but Cheng Minzheng was burdened by his son Cheng Yi, and was dismissed because he was suspected of being Wang Zeng's comrade.

The officials of the Cichen system are the cradle of the imperial prince, and they are also the objects that should not be offended by the hundred officials, and even the recognized leaders of the civilian bureaucracy.

It's just that people have selfish desires after all, but the biggest beneficiary of these dynasties that value literature over martial arts can't withstand strict scrutiny at all.

Since Hongji's accession to the throne, the word has become the hardest hit area for problematic officials. From Zhou Hongmo, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, to Yang Tinghe, who was supposed to be included in the list of virtuous ministers of the Ming Dynasty, these people who were originally going to be included in the list of virtuous ministers of the Ming Dynasty left one after another.

It's just that the ministers are a very special system, they support each other through the relationship between teachers and students, and usually have the identity of the emperor, so it is often "the weeds are inexhaustible, and the spring breeze blows and grows".

Li Dongyang, who returned from filial piety, is also an emperor, and after serving as a scholar of Hanlin, he is now facing a vacancy in the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, so Li Dongyang came to the position of the six important ministers earlier than history.

The position of the other six squires has also undergone some changes, and now they have also become participants in the major decisions of the Ming Dynasty, and many people are eager to try to make decisions and have a high enthusiasm for participating in decisions.

"Judging from the disaster situation reported by Shandong, this locust plague is better than before, and the losses will be immeasurable. This time, I will gather you all here to discuss how the imperial court should prevent locusts and cure locusts! Liu Ji presided over the supreme meeting and took the lead in setting the tone for the meeting.

Zhu Youzhu was the same as before, the important ministers below were discussing matters below, while he stayed in the attic and drank tea.

The current Ming court is neither the previous court decision-making model, nor the arbitrariness of the earlier Taizu and Taizong periods, but the combination of the two models.

Zhu Youzhu was not an emperor who liked to do everything himself, but chose to be a strategist, and the specific affairs were usually decided by these important ministers.

As long as the courtiers below can come up with a reasonable solution, he usually won't interfere too much, but continue to sit firmly on the Diaoyu Tai.

Now in the face of this most common natural disaster, he also wants to use the wisdom of these ancient elites to formulate a disaster strategy.

The eighteen six important ministers have slowly become accustomed to Zhu Youji's governing style, although they have not entered the cabinet, it is actually equivalent to entering the cabinet, although it is not that the prime minister is actually no different from the prime minister, so they are more in awe of the high emperor.

"The nation will be defeated by the way, and the heavens will be the first to send disaster to condemn it. Today's locust plague is the condemnation of God, so the prevention of locusts lies in cultivating virtue, and the treatment of locusts is to open a warehouse for disaster relief. Mingjun fasted and cultivated himself, opened a warehouse and released grain to save the victims, so that he should go to the sky and solve the difficulty of the locust plague! "Zhou Jing, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, like many Qingliu, advocates conforming to the way of heaven, so he expresses his own views.

In fact, the locust plague is not trivial, but it is not necessarily true how serious it is.

Originally, the family foundation left by the Chenghua Dynasty was not small, and now the Hongzhi Dynasty has spent a lot of money everywhere, but the Qingzhang fields have made the country's granary unprecedented abundant.

As long as the Ming court is willing to open a warehouse and release grain, then all problems will no longer be a problem, which is actually the usual method of many dynasties.

As for suggesting that the emperor cultivate virtue, this is actually the same as a solar eclipse, as long as the emperor behaves. Not only will there be few troubles, but they can also be explained to all the people of the world.

Liu Xuan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, sank like water, and immediately reprimanded: "Yong Confucianism is written and does not know how to change!" The locust plague is a natural disaster, and it is not surprising that it has appeared after a few years, and what has it done with the virtue of the Son of Heaven? ”

"Liu Shangshu, you are wrong. The locust plague was unheard of in Yao Shun, the Zhou Dynasty was not prosperous, and the emperors of the Tang and Song dynasties lost their morality to see locusts eating people. Today, the Son of Heaven is certainly sage, but how can the Son of Heaven be incompetent if he is not a sage? If I follow my law, the plague of locusts will be calmed down! Zhou Jing knew that Liu Xuan was defending the Son of Heaven, but he was also expressing his orthodox views.

He didn't want to accuse his students of being bad, but that they were not perfect, and the most obvious shortcoming of his students was that they killed too deeply. Since Zhu Youzhi ascended the throne, the beheaded magnates have far surpassed the Chenghua Dynasty.

In the killing in March this year alone, the number of people who were dragged to Nishishi to be beheaded has exceeded 1,000 in several cases, and Hongji has become a real tyrant.

Although the locust plague is coming quickly, it is actually reasonable, so he advocates his students to cultivate virtue. It can not only let their students let go of their hostility to the elite, but also solve the root cause of this locust plague.

The fragrance of tea curled, Han Youying's jade hand gently sent the teacup to Zhu Youji, and when observing Zhu Youji's reaction, he found that the man in front of him was becoming more and more unfazed.

Zhu Youzhu silently picked up the teacup and tasted it, although Zhou Jing's words were not listened to, but since he met Dongfang Dao, he more or less believed in this kind of metaphysics.

Although he didn't agree with Zhou Jing's negative approach in his heart, he didn't have too much disgust, and it was better to have opinions than those silent stuffy gourds.

Yin Zhi has learned a lot in his hometown in Jiangxi over the years, and he also stood up and said: "Zhou Shilang, if agriculture is prosperous, it will breed pests, which is the cause of the locust plague." There is no record of the locust plague in ancient books, one is that agriculture is not prosperous, and the other is incomplete, what does it have to do with the Son of Heaven? ”

Since returning to the court, especially in Jiangxi, I have seen the suffering of the people, and I have a deeper understanding of the meaning of "empty talk to ruin the country, hard work to prosper the country".

Now in the face of this locust plague, he can understand the emperor's thoughts.

Don't always wait until the people are dying before going to save people, but find ways to solve the problem at the root so as to prevent people from falling into the water and dying.

The locust plague this time is a disaster in Shandong, but there is no disaster in Beizhili for the time being, so the top priority is actually how to prevent locusts.

Knowing that this issue needs to be taken seriously, Li Si also expressed his own opinion: "According to historical records, locust plagues are usually two or three years in a row. Today is not only to cure the locust plague now, but also to prevent the disaster next year, so the long-term plan should start with locust prevention and control! ”

"The two adults, throughout the ages, have to discuss locust prevention and control, but how effective is it? Although the insects die, and the insects come, how can they compete with manpower for natural disasters? Today, if you cultivate virtue and conform to the way of heaven, you can solve the difficulty of locust plague, which is the law of the ancestors! Zhou Jing faced the pressure of the two important ministers, and he also calmly responded.

"The Son of Heaven is immoral, it is nonsense, and it only takes one word to cure locusts! Controlling locusts is like facing the construction of the year, what about the flying of hundreds of insects? As long as we work together to hunt and kill and save the people from fire and water, thousands of insects can also be eliminated! Liu Xuan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, had long since ceased to believe in the way of heaven after the battlefield, and he seemed to have high morale and put forward his claims.

Officials such as Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, nodded silently, and they no longer believed in the so-called immorality of the Son of Heaven.

And today, Zixiong is strategic, making the Ming Empire thriving. If there is a problem today, that is the biggest problem in this world, not to mention that following the way of heaven is actually negligence.

Zhou Jing, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, knew that it was easier for His Majesty to pay attention to the façade of the clear stream, so he continued to argue: "If the locusts can be eliminated, why have the locust plagues not been extinguished throughout the ages? The Song Dynasty lured the people to hunt and kill with gold silk, but the results were mediocre, and the Song Law only increased the expenses of the imperial court in vain! ”

In dealing with the scourge of locust plagues, although the ancestors were superstitious in the early days, they still made efforts in the later period. For example, the Song Dynasty stipulated that anyone who caught a bucket of locusts would be given 100 Wen.

It's just that history has long proven that even if the same thing happens, some people can succeed, but some people are doomed to fail.

The Song Dynasty's method was actually correct, but the money given was too small, and the credit of the imperial court was too low, so it failed to make the extermination of locusts change from quantitative to qualitative.

Now Zhou Jing advocates the induction of heaven and man, but it is currently the easiest way to deal with this locust plague.

Zhu Youzhi had been listening in the attic, and at this moment he still didn't plan to stand up and make a statement, so he silently took the tea handed by Han Youying and continued to taste it.

Although he could see a solution to the locust plague as a future generation, he hoped that the elites of this era would break the shackles of this ideology and take a crucial step in controlling and preventing locusts.

"Empty talk misleads the country, hard work prospers the country! If we don't try this out ourselves, why can't we cure locusts and prevent locusts? "Liu Xuan, the secretary of the military department, has a firm will and does not intend to retreat.

"The Song law is a long time ago, but there are still a number of locusts! Rewarding the people with gold silk is a lot of money, but it's really worth trying! "The head of the household, Li Si, knows which is greater, the loss of the locust plague and the expense of the reward, and he also expresses his support for the authentic way.

"The old man also agreed to hunt and kill the whole people, and the locusts are inexhaustible!" Li Yu, the secretary of the ministry, thought for a moment, and also made an authentic statement.

Liu Ji saw that there were two completely different points of view, so he coughed lightly.

The officials present found that it was not the one in the attic, but Liu Ji, the first assistant in the front, and they all cast concerned eyes.

Liu Ji met everyone's eyes and said with a slight smile: "Since everyone's opinions are in agreement, then vote!" Should we continue to use the old law, or support Liu Shangshu and Li Shangshu's law of national hunting and killing, let's vote here first! ”

Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and others are accustomed to this way of dealing with it, and they have also voted one after another, but people didn't expect Liu Ji to take the lead in raising his hand to support Zhou Li. (End of chapter)