The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Today, Yan Chengjin saw Li Dongyang again at the dismounting monument outside the Meridian Gate. He was also waiting for a sedan chair.

This dismounting monument is like a bus stop.

From time to time, he would meet Li Dongyang waiting for the bus here.

However, his sedan chair would usually come earlier than Li Dongyang's.

He would come out on time when it was time to get off duty, and the sedan chair bearer would also come on time.

Li Dongyang had many things to do, and his time to get off duty was erratic, so the sedan chair bearer would come later.

"Hello, Lord Li."

"Was it your idea that the prince pretended to be sick?" Li Dongyang asked lightly.

Yan Chengjin was not surprised. Zhu Houzhao came to his house and pretended to be sick when he returned. The Jinyiwei would know it after checking.

There is no wall that is impenetrable in the world. Now that the incident has passed for a few days, Emperor Hongzhi still used his method, which means that he would not cause trouble for him.

Yan Chengjin was modest: "It was my bad idea."

"I think it's a good idea." Li Dongyang smiled.

Li Dongyang was different from many scholars in the Ming Dynasty.

He was a flexible person.

In order to overthrow Liu Jin, he pretended to have a close relationship with Liu Jin and saved many officials persecuted by Liu Jin, including Yang Yiqing.

Li Dongyang could tolerate deceiving civil servants.

Compared with Liu Jian and Xie Qian, Yan Chengjin admired Li Dongyang more.

"Thank you for your compliment, the sedan chair is here, I will go first." Yan Chengjin raised his leg to get on the sedan chair.

Li Dongyang waved his hand and smiled like an old father: "Wait, let's have dinner at my house tonight."

"This..." Yan Chengjin hesitated.

Knowing that this guy is cautious, Li Dongyang said unhappily: "What are you afraid of? Can the food in my house be poisonous?"

Yan Chengjin thought for a while: "Then thank you, sir."

Li Dongyang nodded with a smile, that's right.

Ever since the prince chose his concubine, he found that Qing'e seemed to be worried. How could he not see that she had a lover.

He thought about it, and the people who usually visited the mansion were Yan Chengjin, besides his disciples.

But his disciples are not young anymore, most of them have families, and they must not be Qing'e's lover.

Then there is only this kid left.

I will give him a try today.

Yan Chengjin was uneasy in his heart. Just now, he clearly saw a cunning look in Li Dongyang's eyes.

Yan Chengjin followed Li Dongyang to the mansion. After sitting down, the servants brought clean water to wash hands and quickly put on a few home-cooked dishes.

"My Lord, if you have something to say, please speak directly."

"Nothing, as the second assistant of the cabinet, do I need to ask you boy? Why don't you see Qing'e?" Li Dongyang turned around and asked.

The servant hurried to invite her.

Hearing that Yan Chengjin was coming to the house for dinner, Li Qing'e had been hiding in her boudoir, holding her needlework in her hands, feeling anxious.

Feng Jiao, the fat maid next to her, said: "Miss, you think about Master Yan day and night, and Master Yan came to the house, but you didn't go to see him."

"Daddy asked him to come." Li Qing'e was very smart, how could she not see that this was Daddy trying to test her lover, who was he.

Even if she knew it in her heart, she would inevitably be in a mess when she saw Yan Chengjin in a while. It would be better not to see him if her father saw it.

"Feng Jiao, just tell Daddy that I'm not feeling well."

Feng Jiao asked, "Master Yan is handsome and knowledgeable. If the master knows, he might marry Miss to Master Yan. What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that Daddy will force me. It's not Master Yan's intention." Li Qing'e said tactfully.

In the capital, there are many people who kidnap top scholars to be their sons-in-law. Now in the court, except for His Majesty, few people can compare with Daddy's power.

Although Li Qing'e likes Yan Chengjin, she doesn't want to embarrass Yan Chengjin.

Although she avoids Yan Chengjin, Daddy will suspect her, but it's just suspicion. If she goes there now and sees Yan Chengjin and shows something strange, Daddy will be able to see it at a glance.

The fat maid walked quickly to the main hall and bowed to Li Dongyang, saying, "Master, the young lady said she was not feeling well, so she did not come."

Li Dongyang put down his chopsticks: "Have you asked the doctor to see her?"

"The young lady said she would be fine after a good sleep." The fat maid was obviously a little guilty, and Li Dongyang saw it.

Yan Chengjin was puzzled. In history, Li Dongyang had many children, but almost all of them died of illness. He had no choice but to adopt an adopted son from his younger brother.

Could it be...

Li Dongyang pondered for a few times. His daughter was very smart and must have guessed his intention. He could not force her. There was nothing to talk about with Yan Chengjin, so he talked about the affairs of the court.

"There have been frequent disasters in the past two years. There was a locust plague in Hejian Prefecture. I am afraid that the summer tax revenue this year will be reduced again."

Yan Chengjin thought it was normal. The world is so big, and there is trouble in the east or the west.

The news is closed, and ordinary people may not feel it.

But the prefects from all over the country gathered their memorials to the cabinet, so Li Dongyang would certainly feel that there were too many things to do.

If there were news reports, locust plagues, landslides, floods, droughts, banditry, etc. would probably be reported in the newspapers every day. Let alone dealing with them, it would be too much to read them all.

However, historical records show that Hejian Prefecture had a locust plague at this time.

Locust plagues have occurred more than once or twice, and the court has its own way of dealing with them. In front of Li Dongyang, Yan Chengjin did not express many opinions.

Chatted about the literary world for a while, less about officialdom and more nonsense.

Speaking of which, he has been in the Ministry of Political Affairs for some time, and His Majesty has no intention of promoting him.

Yan Chengjin naturally wants to be promoted.

But telling Li Dongyang this openly was no different from bribery, and he also had some thoughts about Li Qing'e. If he really became Lao Taishan in the future, he would inevitably be gossiped about.

As the sky gradually darkened, Yan Chengjin stood up and said goodbye.

The next morning,

Hejian Prefecture,

A rare strong wind blew, sand and rocks flew, and a black cloud slowly moved in the sky. But when you look closely, it is not a black cloud, but countless locusts.

Wang Xing, the governor of Hejian Prefecture, was terrified.

Yesterday, a lot of incense was burned, not only did it not drive them away, but it felt much more this morning.

In just half a day, there was nothing else to see in the farmland except locusts.

Hejian Prefecture is right next to Shuntian Prefecture. Within three days, these locusts will fly into Shuntian Prefecture and may even fly over the palace.

Wang Xing didn't dare to delay, and immediately sent someone to set off quickly and send another report to the capital.

When Li Dongyang was on duty, he saw Wang Xing's memorial: the locusts in Hejian Prefecture were increasing day by day, and fumigation was useless. Wherever they passed, no grass remained. Now they were migrating northward. In three days, they might invade Shuntian Prefecture.

When they saw the report, Li Dongyang and Liu Jian were shocked.

"Let's not write a draft, just send it directly to Fengtian Palace, and we will go there too!"

Liu Jian and Xie Qian also knew that the situation was urgent, and they immediately rushed to Fengtian Palace.

After Emperor Hongzhi finished reading the report, Li Dongyang said: "It's been half a day since the report was sent to the capital. I don't know what's going on in Hejian Prefecture."

"Tens of thousands of locusts, like dark clouds, covering the sky and the sun, attacked countless farmlands, and devoured the newly grown crops. If they are not controlled, they may enter Shuntian Prefecture in three days." Liu Jian said.

Li Dongyang sighed: "The number of locusts today is incomparable to yesterday."

Emperor Hongzhi paced back and forth in front of the emperor. Since ancient times, the method of controlling locusts is to use fire to drive them away, but it will burn the crops together, so the effect is not very good.