From the 25th year of Qianlong to the 30th year of Qianlong, there was a great drought in Shaanxi, especially in Taiyuan Prefecture, where the grass and trees were withered and yellow, the sand and smoke were filled, the red land was thousands of miles, and hunger was everywhere.

“…………”

Under the scorching sun, the fertile fields that were originally full of crops cracked one after another, like mouths struggling to survive, telling the terrible drought.

The sight of the drought of the earth makes people's hearts palpitate, like a picture of the death of all things, and years of drought have plunged the earth into endless dryness.

The endless scorching sun scorched the land, baked all traces of life, and in this dry land, there was not a trace of the sound of life in all things.

Without the moisture of rain, this land would have lost its life force.

In addition to the fields, even the riverbed dried up ...

Water is the most common in the eyes of ordinary people, isn't it water? What's the big deal.

This is not wrong under normal circumstances, but it is wrong in the real season of the great drought! Miss by a mile!

A drop of water can save a life, a glass of water can moisten a wheat seedling, and water can make all things spring...

“…………”

Taiyuan Province.

The sun, scorching like a great ball of fire, is in mid-air, scorching everything above the earth...

The hot and dry air makes the pungent nasal cavity painful, like a hook, hanging deep in the nasal cavity.

Ordinary people are under this fiery sun, and every time they breathe, they will make a dull exhalation sound, not to mention the old and weak women and children...

Shift to the driest place in Taiyuan...

In Qianxian County, the ground is full of white bones.

There was a strange smell in the air, and there was a large area of dry dead trees on the ground.

Years of drought have killed many people and animals, and many vultures hover in the sky are particularly conspicuous.

He Shen and a group of hundreds of people turned from a dirty and narrow path to a small town.

Most of the town's low, dilapidated mud thatched huts are sparsely populated, with the occasional half-room mud house to be seen.

Because of the drought, the originally black thatched roof has large chunks of ochre.

On both sides of the street, flying insects such as flies and mosquitoes hovered and landed, vibrating their wings and making buzzing sounds.

“…………”

Many of them, the thatched huts that had been abandoned for a long time, had collapsed and were all in a dilapidated state.

He Shen and the prefect of Taiyuan Prefecture and other officials went out to observe the disaster, and they were also taken aback by the scene in front of them.

On the street, from time to time, there are piles of yellow sauce-colored things, and when people get closer, a large group of green-headed flies scatter with a "buzz", and Shen and others can see clearly.

That mass turned out to be a dead man.

His body, flesh and viscera, have been eaten by wild dogs, and only one skin remains, only the bones are still intact, but where the eyes should have been, now there are only two irregular black holes left.

In one area, there were even hundreds of corpses, many of which were old people and children.

There is no grass in the wild, and ten rooms and nine are empty".

Such a terrible sight that even the most daring people could not help but feel frightened when they walked together.

The sound of the hurried hooves of hundreds of horsebacks alarmed some of the villagers who were still alive.

When these villagers noticed that the government was coming, they took out their shovels and hammers and rushed out of the house.

Looking at the villagers who rushed out of the house, holding shovels and hammers, with a look of resentment, the officials of Taiyuan Mansion were suddenly startled, and even He Shen was a little confused.

As a result, I don't know if it's the prefect of Taiyuan Mansion, who is too excessive on weekdays, causing the people's resentment to boil, the officials forcing the people to rebel, or some other reason...

As a disaster relief minister, He Shen had just arrived in Taiyuan Mansion when he was attacked by a group of disaster victims.

“……”

"This group of Diao people in Taiyuan Mansion is really hateful, they dare to attack Lord He, causing Lord He to be frightened, they must not let go, and they must be severely punished........."

"And the Lord is the body of ten thousand gold, these Diao people dare to hurt the Lord..."

"The lower officials think that it is better to implement the joint sitting system for these Diao people and their relatives, arrest them together, and send them to remote places in Yunnan to be slaves..."

"Lord Heshen, those Diao people are so hateful, they have now been taken down by all the lowly positions, as long as you give an order, the lowly positions will immediately behead them to show the public!!"

…………

Looking at the group of officials dressed in red and willow green in front of him, without exception, they all asked for their opinions with flattering expressions and words...

He Shen looked smiling on the surface, but in fact, the disgust in his heart was irreparable.

The prefect of Taiyuan Prefecture, as well as the officials such as Fu Cheng, were worried that He Shen would be angry, so they knelt down and gathered around He Shen.

…………………

They are gossiping and coming up with one poisonous plan after another, wanting to turn most of the people under their rule into a disobedient and anti-people, and then raid their homes!

Everyone in the room was like this, rushing to Heshen, rushing to talk about ways to take revenge on the refugees, and rushing to express their concern for the minister, lest they fall behind others.

After listening to the vicious methods used by these parents and officials in front of him to deal with Diao Min, He Shen secretly sighed in his heart.

The ancients said: "Harsh government is fiercer than a tiger, and cool officials and corrupt officials love to eat people..."

Originally, He Shen thought it was an exaggerated comparison of the ancients, but he didn't expect that reality was far more cruel than words.

He Shen waved his hand and said, "Forget it, don't kneel, all of you get up." ”

A group of officials led by Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan Mansion, did not dare to get up, and Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan Prefecture, said hesitantly when he heard this.

"Thank you, sir, it's just ...... We are guilty of inadequate protection......"

"Get up first, I don't blame you, you still want to take the initiative to ask for punishment."

Hearing He Shen's affirmative tone, it didn't seem to be saying the opposite, and the officials of Taiyuan Mansion followed suit after seeing Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan get up.

After getting up, some officials looked happy, thinking that the "Lord He" in front of them no longer meant to blame, and this matter was turned over like this.

“…………”

Only Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan, still showed a worried look on his face.

The "Lord He" in front of him, although he is young, is already in a high position, deeply favored by the saints, and young and vigorous, I am afraid that this matter will not be good.

Even now, if you don't settle the accounts immediately, it is very possible to settle the accounts after the autumn.

In the palace of the Taiyuan prefect, there was a silent and depressing atmosphere.

He Shen looked at the group of stinky hills in Taiyuan Mansion and waved his hand to let them retreat.

After Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan, heard He Shen's order, although he didn't dare to disobey, he couldn't rest assured, hesitated, and said awkwardly.

"This ...... Your Excellency, you've just been attacked, and you can't afford to have no one around to take care of you......"

"Besides, my lord, as a Qincha, the lower officials still have a lot of things, especially about disaster relief, and I want to ask your lord for instructions..."

"Also, what should happen to those troublesome people also needs you to decide......

“………”

Hearing these words of Liu An, the prefect of Taiyuan, He Shen replied angrily.

"These things, let's talk about them tomorrow, you go down first..."

When he first came here, he was attacked by the people, and his mind was very confused at this moment, and he didn't want to entangle with these corrupt officials who were not good birds.

Able to do official. Force. People. On the contrary, the local parent official, He Shen didn't have to think much about it to know who they were.

Now, He Shen doesn't know the true situation of Taiyuan Yifu, so he can't judge whether these officials in front of him are friends or foes, and whether they can be used by him.

Only by spending a few days to understand the real situation in Taiyuan will He Shen take action to deal with these local parents.

“………”

A few days later.

A few henchmen sent by He Shen brought back the basic situation of Taiyuan Mansion to He Shen.

He Shen, who was sitting on the chair, looked at the thin pieces of paper in his hand, the content on the paper was shocking, and his hands trembled slightly...

In the twenty-fifth year of Emperor Qianlong, Taiyuan Mansion suffered a hundred years of drought, and there will be locusts after a long drought.

Locusts are all over the mountains, the people have no harvest, they are easy to eat, and the ten rooms are empty...

…………

The locust plague is the most terrible disaster for the people!

The written meaning of locust plague refers to the catastrophe caused by locusts.

From a specific point of view, droughts are mainly caused by successive years of drought.

The main reason for this phenomenon is that the arid environment has many benefits for the growth and reproduction of locusts.

Because locusts usually lay their eggs in the soil, and in the dry soil.

Soils with a moisture content of 10%~20% are most suitable for them to lay eggs.

Years of drought caused locusts to multiply and grow rapidly, and finally caused a locust plague.

Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty once wrote a poem in "Eight Songs of Autumn Xing", "Flying locusts for thousands of miles of yellow clouds and twilight, thousands of miles of sad autumn are often guests."

This is a famous sentence by the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu.

These two short lines of poetry depict the scene of swarms of locusts flying in mid-air within a thousand miles, covering the sky and the sun, forming yellow clouds and covering the earth.

It fully expresses the speed and destructive power of the spread of the locust plague, and also expresses the poet's pain and sorrow for the spread of the locust plague and brought to mankind.

Locusts come from all over the sky, trees have no leaves, thousands of acres of crops, and those who have annexed states and towns have nothing to eat...

Just when He Shen was thinking about how to clean up these officials in Taiyuan Mansion, there was a sudden sound of quarrels outside the bedroom.

“………”

"Sir!! Master!! Are you alright, are you hurt? ”

In a rush of shouts, a young man of the same age as He Shen slammed open the door, stumbled, and ran to He Shen's bed.

When he saw He Shen now, his face was full of sadness and his expression was depressed...

At this time, the anxious and worried look on the young man's face became more and more serious.

He whispered, "Master, what's wrong with you?" ”