Chapter 59 Locust Troubles
After school, Zhao Xing returned to his study and looked at the pricks piled up on the desk. His head was as big as an ox.
After spending more than an hour reading through the day's events, Zhao Xing stretched himself.
"Your Highness, dinner is ready. Let's eat first." Sanshui reminded.
"Well, I am indeed a little hungry. Please ask someone to bring dinner to the study. I will eat it here." Zhao Xing said.
"Yes." Sanshui responded and gave the order.
After a while, dinner was delivered. After Zhao Xing had dinner, he went for a walk in the garden and returned to the study to continue reading Zazi.
When Zhao Xing first looked at the zazis, he thought they were all about national events.
Only later did I realize that was not the case at all.
Local officials have a great deal of autonomy, and most matters require little reporting.
As for matters that need to be reported to the center for processing, many departments handle them directly.
There are not that many things that really need to be reported to the emperor.
When many people see this, do they think that the emperor does not need to read many memorials every day?
In fact, this is not the case. According to the rules, local officials need to be pricked regularly no matter what happens.
The content of Zazi is to state the situation of the place to the emperor.
At first, Zhao Xing looked at it very seriously, thinking that he could understand the local situation in this way.
But after looking at it carefully, I found that it was not the case at all.
Those local officials are basically bragging about the good weather in the local area and how the people can live and work in peace and contentment.
If you just look at these, the world of the Song Dynasty can definitely be said to be peaceful and peaceful.
But is it possible?
Therefore, he first took a cursory look at Zazi later, and simply ignored Zazi's statement.
Zhao Xing picked up a piece of paper and unfolded it to see that it was from early October last year.
The content seemed to be about officials going to the countryside for inspection. Seeing this, Zhao Xing lost interest. Just as he was about to close it and throw it aside, he saw two words in the corner of his eye and quickly read it carefully.
This post turned out to be written by Sheng Hong. Of course, the reason why he took a closer look was not because it was written by Sheng Hong, but because of the content above.
It is written in Zha Zi that in several counties under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou, there was almost no rain after the beginning of autumn. The county magistrate went to the countryside to inspect and found that there were a lot of locust remains in the rural land. He believed that there would be a locust plague in the coming year. In order to prevent the epidemic, please implement the use of locusts to exchange food in Yangzhou.
Floods, droughts and locust plagues were the most serious natural disasters in ancient times.
These three natural disasters occurred frequently in ancient times and could affect food production.
Food is the most important thing for people, let alone in ancient times when food production was low.
Therefore, preventing floods, droughts and locust plagues has become something that all dynasties have been doing.
The ancients also had their own unique wisdom. They had been harassed by locust plagues for a long time, and they slowly figured out a way to prevent locust plagues.
During the Song Dynasty, people realized that birds, frogs, crickets, moths and even parasitic insects could eat locusts, so they issued a "frog-catching ban" to protect these natural enemies.
People also found that locusts did not like to be close to hemp and various leguminous plants, so they consciously planted more of these crops to deal with locusts.
The ancients also knew that summer and autumn were the seasons for locusts to lay eggs. Although the ancient times were not as technologically advanced as later generations, they could not figure out the environment required for locusts to lay eggs.
But the ancients could figure out the general situation based on the occurrence of each locust plague.
Every time a locust plague occurs, there is little rain or even drought in summer and autumn.
Therefore, the court has regulations that once there is little rain in summer and autumn, officials must go to the countryside to inspect. If there are more locust eggs (eggs) in the land, they need to report to the court.
The imperial court would encourage people to dig up locust eggs and exchange money and food with the government to curb the occurrence of locust plagues by trading locusts for food. However, in response to this incident, Shangshutai's reply was that the prefectures and counties near Yangzhou had not reported this phenomenon, and it was just an isolated case.
After my father reviewed it, he only wrote one review.
This kind of approval means that he has read it and agrees with the decision of the princes.
Zhao Xing rummaged through the documents sent by the surrounding prefectures around Yangzhou around this time, and sure enough, none of these documents were mentioned.
Judging from these problems, it does seem to be an exception.
But he was a time traveler. Zhao Xing remembered clearly that when Sheng Hong first came to Beijing to attend the morning court, the morning court did mention that there were signs of locust plagues in several states in the south of the Yangtze River.
“These people really deserve to be killed!” Zhao Xing was very angry.
Yangzhou reported it, but the nearby state capital did not. It was obvious that those officials did not go to the countryside to inspect the countryside as required by the court.
It's even possible that the officials were aware of it but didn't report it.
Because it was the time for the three-year exam, once it was confirmed that there was a locust plague, it was impossible for officials in these areas to be transferred.
Because they are familiar with the local area, they can better prevent locust plagues.
If we were transferred at this time and an official who was not even familiar with the place came over, how would he be able to preside over the prevention of locusts?
Whether it was dereliction of duty or concealing the matter for promotion, in Zhao Xing's view, these people deserve to die.
Jiangnan is an important grain-producing area in the Song Dynasty. With the locust plague, it is good to control it in time. If it is not controlled, it will lead to a large-scale reduction in grain production, and the problem will be very serious.
If the palace gate were not closed now, Zhao Xing would have been ready to enter the palace.
Because of this incident, Zhao Xing had insomnia at night.
When he got up the next day, after washing, he entered the palace with the prick.
……
"My son, I pay my respects to my father!" Zhao Xing saluted.
The official waved his hand and said: "It's not Xiu Mu today, why did you come to the palace so early in the morning?"
"Father, I saw a prick last night. "I couldn't sleep at night, so I went to the palace early in the morning to see my father," Zhao Xing said.
"Zha Zi?"
The official was startled. He thought about it carefully, but he didn't think of any major events that happened recently.
"Father, take a look at this tie." Zhao Xing handed over the tie in his hand.
The official took it and looked at it and said with a smile: "I thought it was something. At that time, the Yangzhou General Magistrate was still in Bianjing to report on his duties. This letter was reported to him by the county magistrate. He didn't dare I ignored it and wrote a letter to report it. I looked at the reports in the nearby prefectures of Yangzhou and found that this did not happen. I think it was the first time that the county magistrates of the following counties in Yangzhou made a fuss about this situation. I don’t know the situation.”
“Father, the locust plague cannot be overemphasized. I think we should send people to inspect Yangzhou and nearby prefectures. It is not yet spring, and the people have not yet plowed. If there is really a locust plague, people can be called on to get rid of the locusts," Zhao Xing said.
"Fu'er, this is too much to make a fuss about. Yangzhou is rich and many people raise chickens and ducks. Even if there are more locusts in Yangzhou, chickens, ducks, birds, and frogs all feed on locusts. It doesn't matter the weather. If you do what you say, it will not only waste people and money, but also cause people to be ignorant and panic." The official said.
"Father, even if you don't send people to inspect, you must order officials from Yangzhou and nearby state capitals to inspect and report the situation." Zhao Xing said anxiously.
Although he knew that there was a locust plague in Jiangnan, he could not tell his father clearly.
"Okay, I know this matter well. Calculating the time, there is only half a month left before Yangzhou Tongpan arrives in Beijing to take up his post. Sheng Qing should arrive in Beijing in the near future. By then I summoned him to ask about the situation," the official said without any concern.
Zhao Xing opened his mouth. Since Sheng Hong was coming to Bianjing soon, news about the locust plague in Jiangnan should be reported soon, so there was no rush for this time.
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(End of this chapter)