"Taishou, Li Daju is colluding with officials, and wants to impeach you for bullying the king!" Wu Mao quietly came to make a small report.

Although this gentleman is very cowardly, his attitude is very correct, and he is also diligent and reliable.

Zhu Ming smiled and asked, "How do you know?" ”

Wu Mao said: "Cangcao joined the military Guoliang, and was coerced and lured by Li Daju, and he secretly sent someone to tell me yesterday. Don't be careless, they plan to impeach you for misconduct, but the officials are very concerned about this kind of thing. ”

"I see." Zhu Ming nodded and said.

Cang Cao joined the military Guoliang at both ends, and his direct boss was Li Daochong, who was also under the jurisdiction of Zhu Ming. Therefore, every time he obeyed Li Daochong's orders, he intentionally or unintentionally passed the news to Zhu Ming. For example, this time, he not only impeached Zhu Ming, but also let Zhu Ming know that he was forced.

Wu Mao suggested: "Taishou should prepare early and write a secret letter to explain to the officials. ”

"I'll write," Zhu Ming asked, "Are there hungry people gathering outside the city?" ”

Wu Mao said: "There have been sporadic hungry people who have fled from the countryside and the mountains. The lower officials are arranging relief, and when the number of people is larger, they will ask the hungry people to repair the wharf, and then repair the road from the wharf to the city gate. ”

Zhu Ming reminded: "After the number of hungry people reaches 500, let them build water conservancy and bridges, and the gentry along the river must also participate, after all, building water conservancy is the most beneficial to them." Then send an official letter to the counties, so that they can keep an eye on it at any time, and report it when the hungry people reach 1,000. ”

"Yes!" Wu Mao had to order him to step down.

This year's climate is extremely abnormal, Jianghuai, Hubei, and Jiangnan have begun to rain in summer, while the north, Hanzhong, and Shangyong are still in continuous drought.

Here in Jinzhou, there was a rain at the end of April, and the thunder was loud and the rain was small, which moistened the ground.

By mid-May, the county officials received two official documents at the same time.

One is from Zhizhou, which allows counties to delay the collection of summer grain and urges them to pay more attention to disaster relief.

One came from the general judgment, urging the counties to start collecting summer grain, and also set and buy the amount of money.

Elder Su of Shiquan County ordered Su to read both official documents, and sighed: "There are two ends of the government, and the contradictions are so bad that it is not the blessing of the people of Jinzhou." ”

The chief bookkeeper asked, "County Honor, who should I listen to?" ”

Elder Su said: "Since we have delayed the collection of summer grain to help the victims, we quickly summoned the rich households in the county and asked them to distribute some grain. Shiquan County's Zhishui (Chi River), Yue River, and coastal irrigation canals should also be dredged. Cash-for-work is not only good for the victims, but also good for the landlords. If there is really not enough food, I will ask the state for it. ”

To be honest, Elder Su was not active in governing the people, and even had a bit of the flavor of Huang Lao's technique.

The main victory is not to toss yourself, not to toss, and not to let your subordinate officials toss. In the disaster year, he took the initiative to work for relief, and the rest of the time he let the people live on their own.

Jiangyin County next door is different.

After reading the two official documents, the county commander Luo Ruji immediately had a plan, and called the master bookkeeper and the scrivener: "The summer grain will start the expedition on the same day, don't rush too much, it should be mainly the gentry." The collection of summer grain can help the victims. ”

The master book was disgusted by this, but he stopped talking.

The calligrapher patted his ass and said: "The county respect's words are extremely true, not only in accordance with the general judgment order to collect grain, but also in accordance with the order of the governor to provide disaster relief!" ”

The two official documents with completely opposite contents gave Luo Ruji room to operate.

He is not wrong with collecting grain, disaster relief, and making money, and he can quibble at will, anyway, he will not take the blame, and let Zhizhou and Tongju Dog-eat-Dog hide themselves below to make money.

The Pingli County Order lay down directly, he was too poor in this broken county. There is no levy of grain, no money, and no relief for disasters, so they only let the rich apportionment of soup porridge, hide in the county government to drink and write poems, and leave this ghost place after two more years.

Xunyang County Commander was active in disaster relief, and was the first to ask the governor to give grain. His attitude is very clear, I also care about the people, but I don't have enough food in my hands, and I can only provide relief if the state gives me food. If the state doesn't give me food, then I can only barely do my best, anyway, my county government treasury is empty.

These county officials have different thoughts, and Senior Su is still like a person.

By the end of May, the hungry people had gathered outside the prefecture, and Qian Chen had not yet brought back the wheat.

"Taishou, the key is in the hands of Li Tongju, the villain really can't open the warehouse!" The clerk who manages the regular closing position said aggrievedly.

Zhu Ming said angrily: "Three days ago, I asked him to open a regular position. Since he pretended to be deaf and dumb, then I'm not welcome. Come on, pry open the doors of the warehouses that are often closed! Who dares to stop and arrest for blocking disaster relief! ”

A group of officials rushed out and quickly pried open the warehouses.

Zhu Ming personally entered one of them and found that there were spices hoarded inside, and immediately ordered: "Sell all these spices and exchange them for grain for disaster relief!" ”

Wang Jia quickly ran over to report: "Taishou, three granaries have been opened in a row, and the outside is all old grain, and the inside is full of sand. ”

Zhu Ming said: "Chen Liang was also taken to disaster relief, and let the Executive Yuan try the theft and sale of official grain." ”

Zhu Ming almost led people to empty the regular position, and Li Daochong did not appear from beginning to end.

The two of them, no one can defeat anyone, and in the next two or three years, they will have to continue to be entangled like this.

It is useless for Zhu Ming to impeach him, with Cai Jing's father and son covering, it is impossible for Li Daochong to be transferred.

Before Qian Chen brought back the grain, Zhu Ming used all official resources, and also brought the gentry to help the victims together, and tried to drag this time over.

Entering June, more and more people were affected.

The people of the counties heard that Zhizhou was providing disaster relief, and their county orders did not take care of things, so they helped the old and the young, and begged along the way to the state capital.

Along the way, people starved to death and their carcasses were eaten by wild dogs.

In the countryside, the number of cultists became more numerous, and the people were hungry and prayed for the blessings of the evil gods.

"Taishou, the food is almost finished."

"Raid the temple!"

In the western suburbs of Jinzhou City, there is a big temple called Tiansheng Temple. Its predecessor was called Xingxi Temple, which was founded by the poet monk Jiaoran in the Tang Dynasty, and the scale was still very small at that time, and it only flourished in the Song Dynasty.

Li Bao followed Wang Jia and led people out of the city and went straight to the Tiansheng Temple.

The monks here also give porridge, but they boil only a few pots a day, and they are as thin as soup.

Li Bao shouted: "Check the monk's degree, and if you find out that there is no monk, you will be fined ten stone of grain and confiscated!" If there are more than 50 monks, a fine of 500 stone of grain will be awarded! If the food is not enough, it will be deducted with the confiscation of the temple field! ”

In an instant, the chickens and dogs of the Tiansheng Temple jumped.

In the Song Dynasty, there was a limit to the annual distribution of degrees, otherwise this thing would be inflationary.

It is estimated that there will be no more than ten legal monks in Tiansheng Temple, and the rest are all unlicensed monks.

Li Bao and Wang Jia almost emptied the grain of the Tiansheng Temple, and forced the monks to carry it themselves. Only twenty or thirty stones were left, so that the monks in the temple could make do with their lives.

The rest of the temples were too far away, and Zhu Ming set his sights on the Taoist temple and forced the Taoist priests of the Yaowang Temple to give food.

"Xianggong, there is a rice shop whose price has risen too high, and there are two rice shops that are only doing business for half a day. All the rice shops that opened their doors to sell grain were coaxed by the people to buy them, and the grain merchants asked the yamen to take care of them. Yang Pu is responsible for inquiring about the news in the market.

Zhu Ming immediately ordered: "Those who violate the price increase, and only sell for half a day, will be fined according to the rules set before!" ”

He also said, "Inside and outside the city, all the grain shops have sent officials to maintain law and order. All grain buyers must queue up, and according to the registered population, each person is limited to one and a half catties of grain per day. If you can't get enough, you're hungry! ”

There are too many things to manage, there are not enough state officials, and the officials of Xicheng County have also been recruited, and they are so busy all day that they have no time to rest.

However, these officials who do things have preferential treatment.

Each official has two family members who have priority in purchasing grain, and they can go directly to buy grain without queuing. The officials who do the work also take care of the food, and the state government provides food in a centralized manner, so that they will not go hungry anyway.

This is nothing in normal times, but it is very face-saving in the famine season.

If you have obtained privileges, you must take responsibility, and it is basic to do things conscientiously, and it is not allowed to take advantage of the opportunity to extort and accept bribes. Once discovered, they will be immediately dismissed, and the stolen money will be recovered and punished.

"Xianggong, I quietly inspected everywhere and found that on the bank of the Moon River in Xicheng County, the victims who dredged the irrigation canal were deprived of food!" Bai Sheng came back by boat to report that almost all of Zhu Ming's relatives were scattered.

Zhu Ming said: "Arrest people, check accounts, all the officials involved will be dismissed, recover the stolen money and fine the money severely!" ”

Two days later, there was a lot of noise in the city. They were reluctant to queue up to buy grain, and thought that they would not be able to eat enough for one and a half catties a day, so they coaxed the people to rob the grain shops.

Zhu Ming personally rode the cornucopia and led people to arrest him.

This time, it was a ruthless move, including the people who were looting, and they were surrounded along with the splash. When they saw that the officials were coming, they planned to flee with the food.

Boom!

Zhu Ming drew his sword out of the sheath, rushed out on horseback, and hacked to death a grain grabber on the spot.

The scene was even more chaotic, and the people fled in terror. Zhu Ming continued to chase on horseback, and hacked the three who escaped the farthest to death on the street.

killed four people in a row, and the officials in front of the yamen also carried sticks and beat them, and finally they were so frightened that the people who grabbed the grain knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.

Identifying the splashes who were making noise, Zhu Ming shouted angrily: "Escort them to various grain stores, just outside the gate of the grain shops, and beat these splashes to death in public." Strict law on the protection of the armor of the fangs, the head and chief of each fang, organize the neighborhoods to buy grain every day. Which Baojia has a mess, and all the ten neighboring households sit together, and the head of the square and the chief of the security have to be fined! ”

He really took those splashes to various grain stores separately, and beat them to death with sticks in front of everyone's eyes.

The officials were solemn, the people were shocked, and the gentry and merchants were also frightened. After this incident, no one dared to openly disobey Zhizhou's orders.

In these years of famine, the security of Jinzhou City has become extremely good.

After the strict armor protection law, even petty theft was extinct, because after being caught, the neighbors would be sat together.

Li Daochong rode around the city on horseback, and when he saw the well-organized market, he couldn't help but mutter: "I am really a capable and good official, and if I go back for 20 years, I will definitely follow you to do things." But in these days, it is difficult to be a good person, and saving your future is the right way. Prime Minister Cai is in power, which can your father and son overthrow? ”

And the state and county scholars became more and more in awe of Taishou, and even a group of Zhu Ming's fans appeared.

They memorized Zhu Ming's poems, and also got "Zhu's Arithmetic" to study on their own. Even if you can't pass the exam this year, you can rely on this to pull a relationship with Zhizhou in the future.

Zhu Ming tried his best, and when the grain was about to run out again, Qian Chen finally came back with the grain fleet.

When Qian Chen met, he said: "Let me wait too long, there are too many merchants in Xiangzhou who go to the countryside to buy grain, and many of them are merchants from the north." In order to gather 5,000 stone of wheat, Wei took a lot of pains, and Mr. Xishang, in order to apologize, also gave an additional 300 stone corn for disaster relief. ”

"It's good to come back, Brother Qian has lost weight." Zhu Ming took Qian Chen's hand and said.

Qian Chen did lose weight, he couldn't sit still in Dengcheng, and followed the Wei family to the countryside every day to collect grain. After running around for many days, he can already see his neck, which he didn't have before.

was cordially held by Taishou and said that he had lost weight, Qian Chen was inexplicably moved: "It is my honor to serve Taishou and buy food for the people!" ”

(End of chapter)