Don't be a prince

This time out of the palace, Li Chengqian deliberately asked the emperor's father to come with a thousand imperial guards, not to protect himself, but to wander around the countryside and spread news.Remember in one second on the mobile phone → .B\\.\ provides you with wonderful novels to read.

-Wannian County Government

He Shou watched helplessly as locusts piled up in his yard, and then the locusts flew away and left dry, bare branches.He wanted to be a good official, although he was determined to make proud achievements, but he definitely didn't want his achievements to be based on disasters like the locust plague.No matter what kind of disaster, it will always be the people who suffer!

It wasn't until the locusts flew away that he staggered out of the county office. The streets were already full of crying.Everything today is like a dream. Who would have thought that locusts, which have been trampled to death many times in the daily life, would have such power.

At the gate of Wannian County, where the sound of crying was shaking, a rider suddenly sprang out, reined in his horse and shouted loudly when he saw the people: "His Royal Highness has an order. From now on, the people of Wannian County only need to catch locusts, drown them and send them to the city. Farms can be exchanged for grain and meat. Fifty catties of locusts or ten catties of dry locusts can be exchanged for one catty of grain, and those who are old and weak and unable to catch locusts can receive grain directly without exchanging!"

After shouting at the gate of the city, the knights drove their horses forward again, trying to spread the news everywhere.

Every time it passes through a place, it can cause a louder howl, among which those who have received compensation from the East Palace before are the most.

When the locust plague started, they were worried about their future rations and worried that someone in the family would starve to death. Unexpectedly, someone came directly with good news.

Locusts for food?Change!Now, the whole world is full of locusts. As long as there are hands, feet and bags, who can catch a lot of them?

After making up their minds, many people got into their homes, and with all kinds of tools, they rushed at the locusts that were still eating the bark in the woods.

After the knight passed the Wannian county government office, the head secretary Nie Yongsheng said with tears in his eyes, "Wrong! Wrong! The prince's farm raises chickens and ducks in order to eliminate locusts. These locusts are obviously all They flew over from other places. In our neighboring counties, the seedlings in the fields were devastated by locusts. Only the seedlings here are still a little green. It’s just a pity that the locusts will fly to the next place after eating the food in one place. Even if we raise free-range poultry here, we can only prevent local locusts and cannot fight against foreign ones."

He Shou stretched out his hand and smacked his face fiercely, gritted his teeth and said to the chief secretary, county magistrate and others: "If you do something wrong, you will have to bear the consequences. This official is going to enter Chang'an, and go to the gate of the East Palace to plead guilty. Therefore, I will trouble you to organize the people in the county to catch locusts and exchange them for rations!"

The chief secretary, the county magistrate, quickly agreed.

After finishing the instructions, He Shou went back without hesitation and took off his shirt. With the help of his old wife who couldn't bear it, he put on the thorns on his back, and walked towards Chang'an on foot without riding a horse or a cart.

As the person involved, he clearly knows how his actions have affected the prince.Now that the truth is revealed, apart from guilt, there is also a deep sense of gratitude in his heart.

Although the crown prince needs to exchange locusts for his food, it is equivalent to giving it away for nothing in this season when locusts are everywhere.

What's more, as a county magistrate for many years, he naturally knows the reason why the prince emphasizes exchanging locusts for food.If you don't do this, as long as the locusts are raging for another two days, the people will do everything in panic, and even respect the locusts as gods and worship them.

Chapter 157 Questioning

The thorns on the back have many thorns, scraping on the bare skin, coupled with the friction of walking, soon felt a piercing pain.

But if He Shouhuang didn't realize it, he walked out of the Wannian county government office and looked at the people who had turned from grief to ecstasy after hearing the news from the soldiers along the way, and watched the people carrying sacks and silk nets to catch locusts along the way. The people could not help but burst into tears.

God knows whether the imperial court can withstand a locust plague of this scale.

There are also a few locusts that are tired from flying by the roadside, lying on the grass roots and chewing one bite at a time.

Glancing at them bitterly, He Shou trampled them to death without hesitation.

Some of the refugees who left the mountain a few years ago had caught enough locusts and hurried towards the farm.They are the real families with no food left, and they are destined to have no harvest this year, but they have to pay the taxes owed to the court.It was rare that the imperial court mercifully allowed them to leave the mountain, and they kept in mind the agreement of doubling taxes.Fastest update../ ../

Regardless of the already wet trousers, He Shou walked towards the farm with curiosity. He wanted to see what it would be like for the crown prince to release the grain.

For the first time, the open space in front of the farm was fully occupied by creatures other than poultry.The people holding the sack mouth spontaneously waited in line.Two huge specially made balances are placed in front of the bags of grain, with locusts on the left and grain on the right.

However, because no one dried the locusts, they crowded in front of the fifty-to-one balance.

Watching the yellow and orange millet and millet at the same height as the locust on the left, the faces of the people who were exchanging money showed relieved smiles.

It took him less than half an hour to catch the locusts.And the food in exchange, save some food, enough to feed his whole family for more than ten days.

After packing the food, the people who had finished the exchange left thankfully.

Seeing that someone had exchanged for food with their own eyes, the people queuing behind also smiled.Unanimously, they gave all the sacks to their sons and brothers, and prepared to catch some more with bare hands.

With so many people coming to exchange, no matter how much food there is, it will be exchanged quickly.

Seeing with their own eyes more than 200 bags of grain gradually disappearing, the people who had not exchanged them became anxious.

There was only one heavily armed sergeant watching the entire exchange scene. Seeing the people who were half at a loss in the exchange, he stepped forward and said: "Folks, don't worry, the soldiers led by the prince have already gone to the warehouse to transport food. How many locusts you bring can be exchanged for food. Since there is no food now, why don’t you just kill them and exchange them for some meat?”

As the sergeant's voice fell, immediately a man from the farm brought in large pieces of air-dried beef and bacon.

Seeing so much meat, the people were dumbfounded.

This is...r

Meat?

Is there such a good thing?For ordinary farmers, it is not bad to cut a few taels of meat and put it in the rice bowl during the Chinese New Year. Unexpectedly, locusts can be exchanged for meat now?

The exchange continued, and the people who put things on the balance by themselves tremblingly let the locusts fall hard.Fifty catties of locusts are exchanged for one catty of grain. They think it is a good deal, even if they suffer a little bit, it doesn't matter.But when locusts were exchanged for meat, they didn't think so.

The news of the soldiers was transmitted very quickly. More and more people caught the locusts and were going to the farms to try them out to see if they were true or not.

The queue got longer and longer, and the furthest one even reached the field below the farm.

After all, the crown prince will not disappoint the common people. On the main road, carriages loaded with food came here.

The leading carriage has already been transported into the farm, and the one behind is still down the mountain, with no end in sight.

There is no scene more invigorating than this one.

Seeing with his own eyes that the people under his rule all smiled, He Shou also smiled, ignoring the fact that blood was pouring from his back.

In the house of the farm, a child walked out. Although he was dressed in sackcloth, he was no different from ordinary farm boys, but He Shou still recognized that this one was the one who had torn face with him in the hall before—the prince!

He is small, but his words are unusual.

"Damn it, I told you to protect your food well. You thought it was dry food, so it was safe? Hungry locusts don't care what you are, as long as they can eat, they dare to eat!"

Fang Shuo, the captain of the Bow and Arrow Brigade, was in charge of transporting the food. It was because two carts were simply transporting food that they were attacked by locusts. The good food got into the mouths of the locusts.Although they howled and wiped out all the locusts that attacked the food delivery team, how could they distribute the food mixed with locust stumps?

Fang Shuo bowed his waist and said aggrievedly: "Your Highness, why can't you eat food mixed with locusts? When I was young, I used to roast locusts with fire. I ate a lot, but I didn't see any problems."

Seeing Fang Shuo bowed, Li Chengqian slapped him hard on the forehead, and said angrily, "Bastard, it's only two and a half carts of grain. If it's a big deal, you can feed it to chickens, but it would be wicked to give it to the people!"

Although eating some locusts is fine, maybe it can supplement calcium or something, but Li Chengqian is not willing to do such a dangerous thing.

The first locusts all took off in the deep mountains and big swamps, and I don’t know how many types of bacteria and viruses they carried on their bodies. If they eat this thing, who knows if it will cause a plague or something.Locusts can be eaten, but those who dare to move their mouths at this time are ruthless.Even though the Tang Dynasty was sparsely populated, there were too many people who moved and gathered because of the disaster, and the plague could spread more unscrupulously.

Fang Shuo felt very aggrieved by being beaten up by the prince for no reason. When he saw this kind of aggrieved, he met an old guy who was sneaking up behind the prince, shirtless and holding a twig in his hand. The smoke cleared.

Li Chengqian wanted to slap Fang Shuo again, but he caught Fang Shuo's armor unexpectedly.

Fleeing to protect the prince behind him, Fang Shuo drew out the knife without hesitation: "Who is here!"

In terms of protecting the prince, the soldiers led by the prince seem to be loose, but they are actually striving for perfection.

Following Fang Shuo's voice, two crossbow arrows shot out from nowhere, halfway into the ground in front of He Shou.

He Shou was taken aback, but he still stood calmly at a distance of more than ten steps, and knelt down with his hands holding the twigs: "He Shou, the magistrate of Weichen Wannian County, pays homage to His Royal Highness! Many things before have already happened. As a result, we were so ignorant that we didn't know His Royal Highness' deep meaning, and committed a heinous crime. Therefore, I would like to take the blame and ask Your Highness to forgive me!"

Li Chengqian took a few glances before remembering the identity of this guy.There is no way, the neatly dressed He Shou and the shirtless and blood-stained guy in front of him are too different.

Following He Shou's movements, a few softer thorns fell to his shoulders, drawing bloodstains.

Pushing Fang Shuo away, Li Chengqian stepped forward to help He Shou, saying: "How can County Magistrate He despise me so much, Gu is not someone who must take revenge."

He Shou didn't get up, and said shamelessly: "Your Highness is kind-hearted, and he is not angry because of the stupidity of the common people. He even released food to help the common people on the first day of the locust plague. Compared with you, what we have done can embarrass people to death." !"

The thorns on He Shou's back were carefully removed by the soldiers.After receiving the wound medicine from Fang Shuo, Li Chengqian treated the wound himself regardless of He Shou's obstruction.

A single wound is not serious, but with so many wounds on the back, it is a serious injury.

When Li Chengqian finished administering the medicine to He Shou, He Shou was already in tears.

Pulling off Fang Shuo's fluffy cloak and putting it on He Shou, Li Chengqian walked towards the grain storage place.

He Shou stood up and followed closely behind.

At the beginning, the people who exchanged food tried their best to make the balance even, but now, it's just a random pile and it's over.There are a lot of locusts, and there is also a lot of food. Instead of digging and searching, it is better to quickly change them to make room for the next family.

Regardless of whether they took advantage of the balance or suffered a loss, they were all smiling when they left with the food on their backs.

Looking at the smiling face in front of him, Li Chengqian couldn't help but smile.

"He Shou, I don't plan to pursue your crimes. However, there is a shortage of people here, so I have to entrust you to host. There is a big play in Chang'an City, and I really want to see it. So, the matter on the farm side , the orphan will be handed over to you, and Liao Zhong will help you. In addition, the crown prince and the thousand forbidden troops will also be under your command temporarily, no problem!"

Regardless of the hanging cloak, He Shou immediately bowed his hands and said, "I would like to share your worries for Your Highness!"

He could tell that the crown prince obviously wanted to help him, and presiding over this matter was much higher than what he could gain as a county magistrate.What's more, the [-] soldiers are under his command, which is no longer an admiration, but a trust-level entrustment.

Reaching out to help He Shou up, Li Chengqian immediately ordered the guards to send him back to Chang'an.

The news that Patriarch Qiwang of Five Surnames entered Chang'an secretly was also included in the information by Geng Buqu.Such tiptoe behavior is not what the patriarch of a large family should do.It can be guessed that they are already prepared to make a shocking appearance, and then directly put pressure on the emperor.Before the catastrophe, no matter how reasonable the emperor was, he could not refute them.

Passing through the grain stores in the city, you can also see the proud faces of the grain merchants.

These idiots, don't disaster money feel hot?Thinking of the large granary on the north bank of the Wei River, Li Chengqian was full of sympathy for them.

As long as the food starts to be distributed or put into the market, these guys who are going to hoard the goods will immediately go bankrupt.

Five hundred guards returned to Wannian County after sending the prince to the palace.Now that the locust plague has just arrived, it is easy for the common people to catch locusts. When encountering places where locusts gather together, they basically only need to open their pockets and collect them, and they will be full.With so many locusts, they need a lot of food.The carriages transporting food were driven over and over again, but they could barely keep up with the speed of food exchange.

Behind the Taiji Gate and in front of the Taiji Hall is the office area for officials.On the left is Zhongshu Sheng, and on the right is Menxia Sheng.Whether it is Zhongshu or the sect, they are all busy like ants on a hot pot.Hongling rushed to and fro, bringing reports from various state capitals, and the whole article can be summed up by the word "miserable".

When people have not completely conquered the environment, insect plagues are not once or twice, but such a nightmare locust plague has never been experienced before.

Not to mention the seedlings in the farmland, even the leaves, did not escape the mouth of the locusts. Apart from the food at home, people went out and couldn't find anything to eat except the roots of wild vegetables.

He didn't change back the prince's robes, but walked towards the Lizheng Hall in a messy sackcloth.

As expected, the Lizheng Hall at this time was not as quiet as it was during the usual court meeting. Even standing outside the hall, one could hear the noisy quarrels inside.

It seems that the Five Surnames and Seven Wangs have already launched their actions!

With strong curiosity, Li Chengqian was about to go in.

When looking at the history of the Tang Dynasty, he was very curious about these seven transcendent families. Now that he has the opportunity to see it in person, how can he not see it.

The door of the hall was open, and Li Chengqian was about to go in when the person who came out grabbed his arm and dragged him out.

It was Changsun Wuji who came out.

While wiping his face, Changsun Wuji said, "What are you doing here? Why don't you go back quickly. If it's a normal court, even if you're still young, it's not a problem to come in to have a look and learn, but today, it's still Don't make do with it."

There were many spittle stars on Changsun Wuji's face, and there was even a big one.It seems that the people sent by the five surnames are all big shots, otherwise, as the eldest grandson Wuji, how could he be spat on, and he can only take his face.

Pulling out his arm calmly, Li Chengqian asked suspiciously: "Uncle, since the noise inside is so fierce, why did you come out? Could it be... Do you want to find Master Li?"

After much deliberation, there is only one possibility.Qiwang of the five surnames was able to mess around in the court, probably because he used the old people in the family.The law of the Tang Dynasty stipulates that people over eighty have no taboos to defecate.That is to say, elderly people over 80 years old can poop no matter where they are, even in the court.

If the five surnames really dispatched big shots over the age of 80, I am afraid that only Li Gang is qualified to deal with it.

However, Li Chengqian didn't intend to bring the old gentleman here, and there was nothing good to say about each other. If he really made the old gentleman angry, it would definitely not be worth the candle.

Changsun Wuji waved his hand: "Your Majesty said, this time the five surnames are questioning the court, each family is not allowed to ask for help from outside, and can only rely on its own strength. The old man did not come out to ask for help."

"Then what are you doing out here?"

Li Chengqian blinked his eyes. If it is said that the strongest force in the court to deal with the five surnames, it must be Changsun Wuji.

Letting go of his hand, Changsun Wuji covered his stomach, and walked a few steps along the wind before returning.

"What are you doing to get to the bottom of it! The old man just went to the latrine!"

After finishing speaking, Changsun Wuji walked away in small steps.

This time, he walked against the wind.A slightly weird smell floated into Li Chengqian's nose along the wind.

Forehead....

It was too late to sigh, and immediately ran to the side.

Looking at the wide open palace door, Li Chengqian naturally forgot Changsun Wuji's instructions and walked in anyway.

Chapter 158 "Hong Fan"

To be a palace guard, in addition to extraordinary martial arts, you also need enough eyesight.

Even though Li Chengqian was wearing sackcloth, the guards in front of the palace gate still recognized the prince's identity and bowed to salute.

Looking at the guards on both sides, Li Chengqian couldn't help but clicked his tongue.

If it was a court meeting in the past, the soldiers standing outside the hall would only carry ceremonial knives and swords, just a few symbolic ones.However, today was different. The guards carried real swords and swords, and the number of guards had grown to more than twenty.From this, it can be seen that the emperor's father really intends to kill several people!

It's just that judging from the quarrels still going on in the hall, his wish didn't come true.

Only when you really entered the hall did you see the scene clearly. Some people in ordinary clothes mixed in with the uniform court clothes, especially eye-catching. Needless to say, these are people with five surnames and seven wangs.

In today's court, no one kneels and sits, they all stand, and if there is any disagreement, it will develop into a gang fight.

In front of the standing young man, there are seven old men with bright heads. These seven old men still have seats under their buttocks. It must be said that they are very arrogant.It is estimated that even the emperor's father, who is decisive in killing, has to show respect to these few.