"Marquis (Young Master), feel free to instruct us. We will strictly follow your orders!"
In the meeting room of Yanhuang College, Magistrate He, Hu Hanyun, Liu Qingfeng, and Liu Hanyun sat up straight when they heard Li Zexuan say, "This concerns the life and death of eighty thousand citizens of Lantian County." They looked at Li Zexuan with a serious expression.
Li Zexuan nodded and began to arrange, "Magistrate He, when we return to the county office, immediately send the bailiffs to put up notices to pacify the citizens. Not only in the city, but also in all the villages outside the city! Teacher Wen Ji and Teacher Kong Gui are helping you draft the contents of the notices. Take a few hundred copies to the workshop and bring them back! "
Magistrate He quickly cupped his hands and said, "This official obeys!"
Li Zexuan nodded and continued, "In addition, order the Department of Commerce to inform all the grain merchants in Lantian County that during this period of time, they are strictly prohibited from raising the price of grain. Those who violate this rule will be blacklisted by the Department of Commerce and will be chased out of Lantian County. They will never be allowed to do business in Lantian County again!"
Magistrate He hesitated and said, "Marquis, won't this anger the grain merchants and cause them to collectively move out of Lantian County?"
Li Zexuan sneered and said, "Since this marquis dares to say this, then I am not afraid of them retreating from Lantian County! In the granary at the foot of Yunshan, there are fifty thousand dan of grain stored last year. Even if it is divided equally among the eighty thousand people of Lantian County, each person can get close to seventy jin. If we eat sparingly, it can last three to four months. When the autumn harvest comes, will we still have to worry about not having enough grain? Besides, didn't Lantian County's granary store store any grain last year? "
Magistrate He heard Li Zexuan say that there were still fifty thousand dan of grain stored at Yunshan. He couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. However, after hearing Li Zexuan's question, Magistrate He's heart sank. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and carefully said,
"This, Marquis, Lantian County's official warehouse can only hold seven to eight thousand dan of grain. Last year's harvest wasn't good, so the people didn't hand in much grain. Therefore, the official warehouse isn't full, only about four thousand dan of grain!"
When Li Zexuan heard this, he could not help but say angrily, "Last year, when the imperial court went south to trade for grain, the sea merchants brought back so much grain that it almost caused the price of grain in the capital to fall to the bottom. Did the Lantian County yamen not spend some money to buy grain?"
County Magistrate He was ashamed. He said, "This … No! The Guanzhong region is nourished by the Yellow River, and its soil and water are fertile. Basically, there are few disaster years. Besides, even if there is a disaster year, there is Taicang in Chang 'an City, and Hanjiacang in Luoyang City. There is no need to worry about food. Therefore, there is no precedent for the provinces and counties to buy and store food with money! "
"You ~!"
Li Zexuan was really angry. However, this matter could not be blamed on County Magistrate He. Who asked Li Zexuan to not be the County Magistrate when the imperial court's fleet returned last year? Otherwise, all the granaries in Lantian County would have been filled to the brim under Li Zexuan's orders!
"Forget it! Let's not talk about this for now! However, I hope that you will remember in the future that you need to be strong to forge iron. When you encounter problems, don't rely on others to save you. You have to rely on yourself to save yourself! The Tang Empire's territory is vast, and there are more than three hundred provinces and counties. Like today's locust plague, the imperial court has to provide relief to at least dozens of provinces and counties. If we blindly wait for the imperial court to provide relief, how many more people will starve to death? "
Li Zexuan sighed and said sternly.
County Magistrate He cupped his hands and said, "Marquis is right! I will definitely remember Marquis's teachings! "
Seeing this, Li Zexuan did not continue to reprimand him. After all, County Magistrate He was an official of a county and still had to maintain his reputation. He changed the topic and said, "The Commerce Department must be firm in their determination to stop the rise in food prices. Other than the food in Yunshan, I can also mobilize the Yan Huang Chamber of Commerce to transport food to the south! Therefore, you don't have to worry about food! "
County Magistrate He heaved a sigh of relief and nodded. "Yes! Marquis! "
Li Zexuan thought for a while and then looked at Li Gang and Yan Silu. He said, "Teacher Wen Ji, Teacher Kong Gui, in the notice posted, there must be a clause. From today onwards, the Lantian County Magistrate will start to purchase locusts from the common people. One copper coin for two catties, unlimited!"
Li Gang and Yan Silu could not help but be shocked when they heard this. County Magistrate He, who was sitting below Li Zexuan, could not help but exclaim, "Marquis! You can't do that! These locusts are everywhere. If you just send someone to pick them up, they will be able to pick up ten catties in a day. If all the common people of Lantian County were to pick up locusts, wouldn't they be able to pick up hundreds of thousands of catties in a day? "
Li Zexuan could not help but say, "These locusts are not dead. Why would they just lie there and let people catch them? It is not easy for one person to catch ten catties of locusts in a day! Besides, even if you catch so many, the County Magistrate will have to take them all. Don't worry, I will pay for this! "
County Magistrate He was speechless. He thought to himself, Even if you have money, you can't waste it like this!
He did not know that Li Zexuan was not only not making a loss by buying locusts for one copper coin for two catties, but also making a huge profit!
Li Zexuan did not care about what County Magistrate He was thinking. He continued, "Actually, releasing food to help the common people is a bad idea! The common people have worked hard in the fields for half a year. Just when they were about to harvest, they were greeted with a plague of locusts. Their efforts are about to go up in smoke. This is very unfair to them! So, the most important thing now is to help the common people and not open the granaries to release food! "
Hearing this, everyone could not help but nod their heads!
Actually, even if all the crops in the fields were eaten up by the locusts, there was no need to open the granaries to help the common people immediately. This was because the common people usually had a certain amount of surplus food at home. The consequences of the plague of locusts would take at least ten days to half a month to show up.
"Uncle Hu, last year I asked Hu Jing and Hu Zhen to teach the children in the village how to control the flock of chickens. How did it go after that?"
Li Zexuan looked at Hu Hanyun and asked.
Hu Hanyun quickly replied, "Young Master, not only the Han Village, but the children from Mei Village also came to learn! In the end, the children from the two villages passed the test and received the reward set by Young Master! "
"How many chickens do the two villages have now?"
Li Zexuan asked again.
Hu Hanyun thought for a moment and replied, "The Han Village has a total of seventy-five thousand chickens!"
Liu Qingfeng replied, "The Mei Village has a total of seventy-four thousand!"
As the two villages had become Li Zexuan's fiefdoms earlier, Li Zexuan had used his own money to buy eighty thousand chickens for the two villages. Now, it seemed that the survival rate was above eighty percent. This showed that the villagers had put in a lot of effort in helping him raise the chickens!
Li Zexuan nodded and said, "That adds up to a total of one hundred and fifty thousand chickens! Good! Uncle Hu, Second Master Liu, Liu Lizheng, go back to the village immediately and gather the children. Have them split into thirty small teams, with each team bringing five thousand chickens. From the north to the south, sweep the farms of the eighty villages in Lantian County. Quickly eliminate most of the locusts in the fields of Lantian County! "
"What? Let the chickens eat the locusts? Young Master, is this method reliable? "
When everyone heard this, they were all stunned. Even Old Hu was shocked.
Li Zexuan smiled and explained, "Of course it's reliable! This Marquis once read a book. It says that a mature chicken can eat up to three hundred locusts a day. Twenty chickens can almost guarantee that one mu of land will be free of locusts. If we organize five thousand chickens into a team, we can clear two hundred mu of land of locusts in about an hour! Uncle Hu, go back to the village and gather the children to begin the operation. Before the sky turns dark, we might be able to clear ten thousand mu of land. In another two days, we can clear all the locusts in the fields of Lantian County! "
Although they did not know from which book Li Zexuan had read these fallacious theories, but due to their blind trust in Li Zexuan, everyone still chose to believe him. They nodded as they listened. At this moment, County Magistrate He could not help but frown.
"Marquis! Not only do chickens eat locusts, they also eat wheat! This way, the locusts will be eliminated, but the wheat will also be harmed! "
Li Zexuan looked at him indifferently and said, "County Magistrate He, I think Uncle Hu can answer your question!"
"Uh …"
County Magistrate He was stunned. He could not help but look at Hu Hanyun.
Old Hu scratched his head. This question was not easy to answer. If he said it too directly, it might hurt County Magistrate He's self-esteem. After all, County Magistrate He was the parent official of a county. Although Old Hu would not do things that violated the law to seek County Magistrate He's favor, it was not good to offend him for no reason.
After hesitating for a while, Old Hu finally organized his words and explained, "County Magistrate, although the chickens can eat wheat, there are too many locusts in the fields. When the time comes, they won't be able to eat the wheat!"
Actually, he wanted to say, "Who would be willing to be a vegetarian when there's meat to eat?" But that would be too direct!
County Magistrate He was not stupid. In an instant, he reacted. He looked at Li Zexuan with a face full of shame and said, "This official was muddle-headed and did not think it through!"
Li Zexuan waved his hand and said, "It's fine! But as the parent official of the people, you should know about farming. You must not make a joke of 'why not eat minced meat'! "
"Yes! Marquis! "
County Magistrate He repeatedly said yes.
Li Zexuan did not say much, so he changed the topic and said, "Last year, the imperial court introduced the policy of reducing taxes by raising chickens. In the entire Guanzhong region, the number of chickens raised by the people has greatly increased. I believe that Lantian County is not that bad either! County Magistrate He, when you go back, other than spreading the notice and calming the people, you must also call on the people to send all their chickens to the fields to eat the locusts. In the face of a disaster, only with everyone united will we be able to withstand the locusts in the shortest time possible! "
County Magistrate He solemnly cupped his hands and said, "This official obeys!"
At this moment, Li Gang said, "Yamachō, the notice that has been posted everywhere to calm the people has been drafted. Do you want to take a look first?"
Li Zexuan nodded. Hu Hanyun, who was sitting beside Li Gang, quickly passed the document in Li Gang's hands to Li Zexuan.
After skimming through the contents of the document, Li Zexuan said, "En! It's written very thoroughly! County Magistrate He, get someone to take the notice to the workshop to make a copy. After stamping it with the official seal, immediately start posting it throughout the county! "
County Magistrate He received it with both hands and said solemnly, "Yes! Marquis! This official will take his leave! "
"Young master, we will also take our leave!"
Hu Hanyun, Second Master Liu, Liu Qingfeng, and the others looked at each other and stood up at the same time.
"En!"
Li Zexuan nodded and said.
The few of them cupped their fists and left the meeting room together.
Li Zexuan looked at Ma Zhou and said, "Brother Ma, I'll leave Datang Daily to you! After all, this locusts plague is not just limited to Lantian County. There are at least dozens of provinces in the Guanzhong region! We must use Datang Daily to unite the people and fight this disaster together! "
Ma Zhou nodded and said in a deep voice, "Yamachō, don't worry. I will return to the editorial department and mobilize all the editors. We will start the operation immediately. Tomorrow's Datang Daily will definitely have Yamachō's solution to the locusts, and tomorrow's news will definitely dispel most of the people's fear of the Locust God!"
"En! That's for the best! Brother Ma, go quickly! "
Li Zexuan nodded and said.
Ma Zhou obeyed and left.
Li Zexuan then looked at Sun Simiao and said, "Priest Sun, I'm sure you know the medicinal value of locusts. This time, Yanhuang Medical Hall can use some of the locusts collected by Lantian County to make medicine. This kind of cheap and effective medicine is rare, wouldn't it be a pity to miss it?"
Sun Simiao nodded and stroked his beard. "Xiao Xuan, you're right. I will ask the medical hall to take over some of the locusts collected by the county and dry them for storage!"
"En! That's great! "
After that, Li Zexuan turned to Li Gang and Yan Silu. "Mr. Wen Ji, Mr. Kong Gui, I've said before that the purpose of Yanhuang College is to have a heart for the world and a life for the people. At this critical moment, I, in the name of Yamachō, announce that the college's final examinations will be postponed. All students will be suspended from classes and will be sent to the villages of Lantian County to eradicate the people's superstition towards the Locust God and lead the people to fight against the locusts and capture them!"
Li Gang and Yan Silu were both people who cared about the common people and were highly respected. Hearing this, they did not have any objections. They directly cupped their hands and said in unison, "Yes, Mountain Head!"
"Aiyo! My dear Marquis, why are you at Cloud Mountain?! We've been looking for you for a long time! "
At this moment, there was a flurry of footsteps and Zhao Song's shouts from the conference room.
Li Zexuan nodded at Li Gang and Yan Silu. "Both of you may go about your business! It seems that I'll have to make a trip to the palace! "
Both of them knew that Li Zexuan must be anxious and wanted to summon Li Zexuan to the palace. They saluted and left.
Li Zexuan followed them out and said to Zhao Song, "Butler Zhao, let's go!"
Zhao Song was stunned. "Marquis, you knew that His Majesty wanted to summon you to the palace?"
Li Zexuan said as he walked, "Butler Zhao came in such a hurry, how could I not know? The situation in Chang 'an must be urgent. Let's talk as we go! "
Zhao Song was more than happy to hear that. He quickly caught up and said, "Alright! Marquis, please! I've prepared a fast horse outside! "
The two of them rode down Cloud Mountain at lightning speed and headed for Chang 'an City.
Zhao Song did not bring a single attendant this time to summon Li Zexuan to the palace as soon as possible. After all, his strength had reached the Grandmaster Realm. If he were to speed up, those little eunuchs in the palace would not be able to catch up with him!
.....
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
