Chapter 178 Eating Locusts
In the fifth month of the second year of Zhenguan, within the pass from east to west, Jingzhao Prefecture, Fengxiang Prefecture, Huazhou, Tongzhou, Shangzhou, Pizhou and other prefectures and counties governed Jingyang County, Weinan County, Zhaoying County, Gaoling County, More than [-] counties including Tongguan County, Fuping County, Lantian County and Hu County were affected at the same time.
It's messed up, it's all messed up.
Li Shimin urgently summoned everyone to discuss a solution, because he found that the methods Ji Song said required preparation in advance, and it was obviously too late now.
But it's not useless. At least there are a lot of chickens and ducks in the imperial village, so there aren't many locusts there.
But what happened next made him unable to grasp it.
It is true that there are no more locusts on our own land, but locusts are sweeping in from other places, and those chickens and ducks have no effect at all.
"Haowen County was not affected by the disaster?" Li Shimin asked in vain.
Chen Shou was stunned for a moment, but he quickly said: "The name of Haorui County was not included in the urgent report!"
"Are there any memorials he has submitted recently?" Li Shimin continued to ask, but his voice was trembling at this time.
"Slave, look for me!"
After a while, Chen Shou reappeared in front of the emperor, holding a memorial in his hand.
Li Shimin snatched it away. The more he read the content, the more angry he became, until he threw it to the ground with a "pop" sound.
"Find Zheng Shanguo for me!"
No one knows what happened after that, but Zheng Shanguo, a third-rank official, was jailed that day. The reason given by the palace was that he molested the maids in the palace and despised the emperor.
No one believed this, but they knew that Zheng Shanguo was completely ruined this time, whether it was his reputation or his with a discerning eye knows that the emperor wants to kill him!
After that, Li Shimin went to Sinong Temple and didn't come out until the next one knew what he said, but the next day, the emperor issued a surprising decree.
"Tomorrow I will offer sacrifices to heaven and pray to God, and I will issue a decree to sin against myself!"
After the people of the aristocratic family heard this, they were all overjoyed. This was a signal to admit defeat to them!It seems worth throwing away one Zheng Shanguo.
When he knew that Li Shimin wanted to keep it secret, Ji Song knew that they had underestimated the locust plague and believed that they had several methods of their own to control the disaster.
But they are all wrong. At the current speed of administration, there is absolutely no chance of completion.
But Ji Song was silent. He silently did what he could. As can be seen from the disaster-stricken areas this time, there was no emergency report in Haowei County, located to the west of Guanzhong, indicating that it was still under control.
But after Li Shimin came to Sinong Temple to find Ji Song, Ji Song learned that the emperor had not seen his memorial at all. In order to avoid the concubines in the harem during this period, he moved to the military camp to handle government affairs and saw no one.
But the daily memorials were sent over after being selected by the Ministry of Secretariat. Ji Song's urging letter was intercepted by Zheng Shanguo, and the emperor never saw it.
The climate in the first year of Zhenguan was abnormal. With hundreds of thousands of years of family heritage, they had long noticed the waiting for an opportunity!
Not to mention Shandong and other places, it is no longer something that can be solved in a short time.
What I want to talk about is the locust plague in Guanzhong. Haojue County is okay. With Ji Song as its backing, it stocked up a lot of food last year, which is more than enough to get through this period.
But this is not the case in other places. It is not uncommon for people to sell their children and daughters in order to rich and powerful families are tightening their food supply, waiting for the opportunity to make a fortune from the national emperor's feet are the most virtuous place. How could Li Shimin, the emperor, not know the imperial court cannot protect itself at this time. It is a time of drought, and where is the food in the treasury?
There was one in the former Sui's granary, but it couldn't be moved!
That is the last life-saving food, and it is the final guarantee for supplying the something goes wrong there, the consequences will be earth-shaking.
Perhaps because he couldn't stand it anymore, Li Shimin searched the palace, used all his money to buy back all the children sold by their parents, and returned them to the people.
But this is only a temporary solution rather than a permanent solution. If there is not enough food, how many people will die? But when this happened, they saw an opportunity, an opportunity for Li Shimin to completely admit imperial court had no food, but they had it, and there was plenty of it.
The next day, all civil and military officials gathered in front of Zhuque Gate, which had already built a three-foot high platform.
"Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
Cheng Yaojin happened to be in Chang'an at this time. Last year, he was sent to Longyou to conquer Tuyuhun and he had just returned.
"Isn't it stated in the imperial edict? This is your majesty's edict to sin against yourself and pray to God for forgiveness. You are worthy of being a reckless man, huh!" The speaker was an old man from a noble family.
This time they could be said to have won a great victory. When they saw Cheng Yaojin, the emperor's bastard, they couldn't help but laugh a few words.
"you"
"Bite gold, hold it back!" Qin Qiong said through gritted teeth.
"Hey!"
Cheng Yaojin was full of grievances and had nowhere to complain, so he said to Qin Qiong: "Is it true that your Majesty..."
"Silence! Don't you know who His Majesty is? Look at those people in front of you?" Li Jing also said aloud at this time.
Following Li Jing's words, others also looked at Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others in front of them, and then realized that they didn't have much expression. Thinking of His Majesty's instructions yesterday not to act rashly, they felt that something was going on here!
"I am determined by destiny to inherit the great power. I work diligently and do not dare to slack off at all! However, God has brought disasters to my people, but why do my people deserve it?"
The faces of the people from the aristocratic family changed greatly when they heard do the people deserve?What does Li Shimin want to do? But Li Shimin ignored their thoughts and continued: "People are born in the world and eat grains. How can I bear it when locusts are raging and harming my people? The sun is shining brightly, and I am the only one to follow there is any sin, I will bear it alone! "
I saw Chen Shou leading someone outside carrying a plate of locusts, passing in front of many the locusts still alive and kicking, neither the people from the aristocratic families nor the ordinary people knew why! When he came to Li Shimin, he picked up a locust and said loudly: "The people regard food as their wealth and life, and you eat it, which is harmful to the people. The people are guilty, and all those sins are on me. If you really have a spirit, If so, just eat my heart and stop harming the people."
After saying that, he was about to swallow it. Everyone was shocked: "Your Majesty, you can't!"
Cheng Yaojin even shouted: "I am willing to try it!"
When the people around saw it, they were inexplicably moved. They all knelt down and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, no, we don't blame you! You will get sick if you eat it!"
But Li Shimin ignored it and swallowed the living locust directly! Li Shimin said: "As long as I can avoid your disaster, even if it takes my life, I will not leave the hotel, let alone a mere sudden illness?"
"Your Majesty will live forever, the Tang Dynasty will live forever!" After someone shouted, the ministers and people also started shouting loudly! "Your Majesty will live for ten thousand years, and the Tang Dynasty will live for ten thousand years!"
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(End of this chapter)