Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Liu Qi held the letter very strangely, she was overjoyed.

This is really the first reply poem from Lu Ci!Not only Teng Zongliang didn't get it, but Zhu Shuo, who knew Lu Ci earlier, didn't get it either!

Only he has it!

Liu Qi happily read this poem several times, and the more he read, the more fun he became.

——Geez, if he knew this, he should have done that earlier.

However, as soon as Lu Ci sent the letter, he regretted it almost immediately.

Why did you accidentally act impulsively in a fit of anger?

Thinking about it carefully, according to his understanding of Liu Qi over the years, he might not be able to achieve the slightest expected effect. Instead, the other party would talk about it and even take it for fun.

Lu Ci sighed in annoyance, but the letter has already been sent and cannot be recovered.

However, before the complacent Liu Qi copied a few copies of Lu Ci's first reply poem and shared it with Zhu Shuo and Teng Zongliang...

A plague of locusts that started near the capital arrived as scheduled.

You Lu Ci discovered the clues several months in advance and reported it in time. The imperial court also ordered officials from all over the country to organize troops to dig up and burn the eggs.

At least the people will not be caught off guard, but more or less prepared.

However, the vicious consequences of the vigorous "Book from Heaven" movement over the years were fully revealed at this time: Zhao Heng spared no effort in his strange powers, not only deceived himself, but also successfully deceived countless local people and people. Officials.

So much so that when they were ordered to prevent locusts, many of them were not paying attention at all, but just perfunctory, and immediately hoped that the emperor who was reincarnated from the gods would pray to the sky and protect the people.

The actual effect can be described as uneven in different places.

When the locust plague really broke out, the vicinity of the capital was the first to fall, followed by Jingdong, Jingxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and other roads north of the Yangtze River.

I didn't pay much attention when cleaning up the eggs, and I paid a terrible price at this time - after the nourishment of the spring with abundant rain, and then the early summer when it gradually warmed up, all the locust eggs buried in the ground hatched and turned into a locust. Only adult migratory locusts.

They swept across the defenseless green farmland with overwhelming momentum.

Everyone watched in shock and fear. Countless migratory locusts appeared from nowhere, and they were all over the mountains and plains.They gathered in groups so arrogantly, swept across the farmland in blackness, and devoured the crops in the field without any politeness.

Wherever they pass, they cover the sky and block out the sun, which is shocking.

In the boundless dark past, there are only hopeless stubs left.

If a city is not dedicated, it will not only harm itself, but also the innocent cities around it.

The people under the rule were devastated, no matter how big-hearted the chiefs were, in the face of this situation, it was impossible for them not to realize the seriousness of the problem, and they fell into chaos.

A series of memorabilia, begging for relief or pleading guilty, poured into the capital like snowflakes, flew to the desk of the Ministry of Education, and on the next day, they all became the core of the court discussion.

Wang Qinruo felt very dangerous.

Fortunately, he heard His Majesty's intention of defending Lu Ci at that time, and did not continue to slander Lu Ci's alarmism.

Otherwise, if the locust disaster really happened today, wouldn't it make him lose his credibility in front of the officials and make Wang Dan and others gain power?

Wang Qinruo took the lead and bowed respectfully: "The locust plague is rampant now, and all roads are at a loss. I implore your majesty to open the altar as soon as possible to offer sacrifices, pray to heaven, and bestow holy virtues so that this difficulty can be eliminated."

Zhao Heng was extremely anxious in his heart.

If no one foresees this disaster, it will be fine. If you are in a hurry and go to the doctor, you can only ask for the blessing of gods and Buddhas.

But it is clear that there have been preventive measures, how can the locust plague be so serious, let them eat up the crops in the ground like they have entered no one's land?

He didn't have the patience to listen to Wang Qinruo's talk about continuing to pretend to be ghosts, but he wanted to hear what Wang Dan, who presided over the prevention of disasters, had to say.

"The matter of opening the altar will be discussed after the adjournment."

Zhao Heng waved his hand first, telling Wang Qinruo to go back to the queue first, then summoned Xiang Wang to come out, and hurriedly asked: "Xiang Wang, didn't you arrange to clean up the eggs a few months ago, did you take precautions?"

Wang Qinruo's eyes lit up, and he felt that he had caught Wang Dan's mistake.

In his urgency, he didn't wait for the other party to speak, so he sarcastically said: "The matter of exterminating locusts was advocated by Wang Xianggong alone and presided over by one person. Now—"

Zhao Heng stared at Wang Dan with concern, and waited for him to speak, but Wang Qinruo interrupted, and couldn't help shouting in a deep voice: "You step back first!"

The sound was neither loud nor small, but it was enough for all courtiers to hear clearly.

Over the years, Zhao Heng has regarded Wang Qinruo as his confidant, and often calls people to talk about himself, but he has never given him face in public like this.

Not only did it surprise everyone, even Wang Qinruo himself froze on the spot with a buzzing mind, unable to believe what he heard.

"...As ordered."

He replied gruntly, his face flushed to the color of a pig's liver, and the hand holding Wat couldn't stop trembling slightly.

A drop of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

He is extremely smart, why didn't he know what mistake he accidentally made in his desperation?

The reason why Kou Zhun's brash annoyed His Majesty was because he was too eager to flaunt himself, to show himself, and to show his eagerness for quick success and quick gain too clearly, and thus lost the most important and important authority of the other party...

Wang Qinruo was startled and shut his mouth tightly, even the tumor on his neck was trembling.

What worried him the most was that Wang Dan might take this opportunity to make things worse, but it didn't happen.

——It would be better to say that Wang Dan didn't even look at him.

What Wang Dan is most worried about is the power of the people who are getting more and more sleepy and unable to withstand more wear and tear.

The political battle with Wang Qinruo and others is not worth mentioning at all.

Facing Zhao Heng's question full of anticipation and trepidation, he opened his mouth. After a while, he couldn't find the right words to answer, and his heart was full of bitterness.

Who is the problem?

— Evidently His Majesty.

When he issued the instructions, he clearly emphasized the importance of this matter repeatedly, and after that, he also conducted inquiries and passed judgments to supervise.

So far, it has proved that these measures are far from enough.

His Majesty has been making a lot of noise over the years to create gods in heavenly scriptures, and this big hole dug so hard has finally been filled in by Da Song himself.

Local officials who believed in gods would not pay as much attention to the regulations on burning insect eggs as he hoped.

The local reports of 'the situation is very good', 'the situation is gratifying', and 'the eggs are extinct' are nothing more than fabricated words to deal with Wang Dan because he is too far away to investigate in person.

Wang Dan's eyes were dry, and after a long silence, under Zhao Heng's urging, he lowered his head in pain, and said powerlessly, "Forgive me for being incompetent."

Wang Dan was not like Wang Qinruo, who was good at saying nice things to please him; nor was he like Kou Zhun, who only said frustrating and ugly words.

But every sentence he said, no matter whether it sounds good or not, is the truth.

After hearing that the most solid barrier in his mind had admitted his powerlessness, Zhao Heng's heart sank quickly.

"Isn't this already foreseen by someone?"

He asked in a rustling voice, painfully.

However, there was silence in the court.

There is no one who can answer this question, or dare to answer it.

After some fruitless discussions, no matter how confused Zhao Heng was, he couldn't really punish Wang Dan, the only prime minister who could do practical things.

Wang Qinruo was reprimanded, and he was in a panic, and he didn't dare to stand up at this moment, asking His Majesty to relegate Wang Dan to question him. Instead, he tucked his tail, honestly kept silent, and waited for the opportunity.

Wang Dan was highly expected by the officials, and while smiling wryly, he could only continue to order step by step.

For the time being, no one dared to mention the matter of prayer, but it would save money and material resources.

Taking a [-]-step back, even if the people below are obedient and vigilant, and the preventive measures taken are only a drop in the bucket, it is better than knowing nothing about it and doing nothing at all.

Wang Dan thought about it bitterly, so he asked the local officials to organize the largest manpower to beat the locusts, and then act in accordance with the method of catching locusts in Lu Ci's second memorial.

Before the order was sent by the fast horse, the locust plague outside was still rampaging around with an unstoppable momentum.

The states and counties that are purely perfunctory are the hardest hit, and almost no grass is left.

And it took a little effort to clean up the eggs in the ground, which was relatively better, but it was also attacked by the surrounding migratory locust swarms and suffered heavy losses.

……

On May [-]rd, Fenzhou.

As the weather gradually warmed up, even though Lu Ci knew that he had done his best, he still paid close attention to the changes in the climate.

He knew that if the plague of locusts were to happen, it would only be during this time.

The eggs of locusts in Fenzhou City have been swept away; nearly [-]% of the crops planted by farmers have been replaced with bean seeds that locusts do not like; the rice seeds collected at high prices are all put in sealed warehouses in.

The interior of Fenzhou is almost monolithic, and it is basically impossible for locust plagues to arise.

Unless it is affected by the surrounding cities.

Thinking about this, Lu Ci couldn't let go of his heart. Every day, he would go up to the top of the tower in person, stay there for a while, and watch the movement in the distance.

After lunch that day, just as he was about to go upstairs, he heard the officials he had arranged on the top of the tower to inspect the migratory locusts running in panic, rushing to him, panting and saying: "Lu , Lu Gongzu! The locusts are coming!"

"Why panic? I have practiced several times, calm down."

Lu Ci reacted very quickly, almost at the moment when he started to speak, he jumped up from behind the desk in an instant, and while walking outside, he gave an order: "Quickly send the order, whether it is a restaurant in the city or a farmer's house. It doesn’t matter if you have a house, but if you have poultry in your home, you must let the poultry out!”

The official took the order to run, Lu Ci thought for a while, and added: "One more sentence - every time one is lost, the government will compensate each one at a price of [-] Wen, hurry up!"

Rao Zhizhou has repeatedly applied for orders and read countless public announcements issued by the government, but when they really saw the boundless locust swarm, everyone was still dumbfounded and felt scalp numb.

——"Here we come, the locust swarm is here!"

When the order to release the poultry was told by the officials, those farmers who did not raise chickens, ducks and geese free-range on weekdays opened the cage doors as if awakened from a dream, and watched them fly out alive and well with heartache.

But after they heard that the government would compensate those whose poultry flew away according to the number of birds, the heartache disappeared.

The ones who reacted much faster than the dumbfounded people were obviously these birds that had already eaten up all the bugs around them.

Nearly [-]% of the [-] households in Fenzhou raised at least three or four poultry.

Usually there are a lot of free-range animals, and many of them are locked in cages for fear of getting lost. Now they are released in one breath, and the crowing of chickens, ducks and geese suddenly merges into a noisy scene, which makes people in a trance. The migratory locusts also came with an imposing manner.

These full-winged, glossy insect catchers are fearless in the face of the incoming locust swarm.

Instead, they screamed excitedly "quack quack quack", flapping their wings majesticly, scrambling to meet the pile of delicious food delivered to their door.

Standing on a high place, Lu Ci could easily see the terrifying swarm of locusts being rushed to pieces by the 'Habayashi Guards' and fleeing in all directions, but he still couldn't escape the fate of being killed one by one.

When he glanced at the guard hiding behind the city wall with lingering fear on his face, he felt even more helpless.

Unexpectedly, the most capable soldiers under him would be a group of ducks...

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. The follow-up of this locust plague in history:

For three years in a row, the number of locusts only increased, and the number of locusts flew out of the border of the Song Dynasty and entered the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. Even the people of Liao Kingdom followed and shouted for help. ("300 Years of the Great Song Empire 7")

2. The emperor's emphasis on the official body:

This happened two years after Wang Qinruo finally became prime minister.

He was accused of taking bribes.Wang Qinruo was furious, emotionally impulsive in front of Zhao Heng, and denied it in every possible way, and in order to be innocent, he asked to use the state's professional review agency, Yushitai, to investigate the matter.He must have been dizzy that day, and he didn't see Zhao Heng's expression getting worse and worse.It wasn't until he took a breath and paused that the emperor said coldly: "Could it be that the country set up the Yushitai to investigate private affairs for others?"

His days were over, and in June of the third year of Song Tianxi, Wang Qinruo was dismissed.Moreover, he was directly transferred from the capital to Hangzhou to be the prefect.At first glance, it is still very considerate, the beautiful scenery of Suzhou and Hangzhou, the fairyland on earth, even if you go for leisure and vacation.But in private, everyone is snickering—he has finally rolled back to the south of the Yangtze River, the emperor is also very humorous... ("If This Is Song History 2")