Xiao Ruxun took a deep breath, knowing that his war was far from over.
The land reform was only the first battle. After the land reform, there were still countless wars for him to fight and countless difficulties for him to overcome.
If the schistosomiasis could not be controlled, everything the people had now would be like castles in the air. They could be swallowed up by the schistosomiasis at any time, leaving nothing behind.
His people were moaning in pain.
The data of the patients in South Zhili was sent to the central government. Xiao Ruxun's face was getting worse day by day.
When the number of patients exceeded 400,000, Xiao Ruxun directly sent the data to the cabinet. After the three cabinet elders saw it, they were shocked to find that 400,000 people were sick. They immediately rushed to the emperor's study to ask for forgiveness.
"You are all from Jiangnan. Have you never heard of this kind of thing?"
Xiao Ruxun looked at his three assistants with dissatisfaction.
Li Tingji said, "Your Majesty, we have heard of this kind of thing by chance when we were in our hometown. We have also heard rumors of hundreds of people getting sick, but we never thought that hundreds of thousands of people in a province would get sick. This … this is really hard to imagine."
Wang Xijue and Ye Xianggao also said so. They had all heard of this disease, but they had never thought about it deeply.
They did not know the power of statistics. Once the statistics came out, the big data superimposed, it would be a shocking number and extremely serious consequences.
"According to the results of today's statistics, I estimate that there are hundreds of thousands of families in South Zhili with patients with big belly disease, and most of them are men, who are the main laborers. They will gradually lose their labor and be unable to farm, and the situation of their families will be extremely bad.
A family will even be broken, the women will not be able to survive, and the children will not be raised. In the three provinces in the southeast, the food production of the three provinces in the southeast will be reduced because these people lose their labor force. Yes, it does not matter if it is one family, and we can pretend not to see it, but what about hundreds of thousands of families?
This is only in South Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Huguang, Jiangxi, and even further south in Guangdong, Yunnan, and Sichuan. How many people will get sick and can only wait for death? I gave them land and taught them how to read and write. I thought that I had done a good job and had done a lot. I never thought that what I had done was far from enough. "
Xiao Ruxun sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Your Majesty, you can't blame His Majesty for this matter. Rome wasn't built in a day. The Big Belly Disease has existed since the previous dynasty, but no one has mentioned it until now. In the past, the local officials hid it from each other to whitewash the situation. Now, they can't hide it anymore. This is not the fault of the Daqin and Your Majesty."
Wang Xijue found an excellent excuse for Xiao Ruxun.
"This is not my fault, but it is my responsibility. I am the Emperor of Daqin, and they are the people of Daqin. They pay taxes to me, so I must let them eat their fill and let them live! Now that they can't survive, isn't it my responsibility? "
Xiao Ruxun hardened his tone, and Wang Xijue quickly knelt on the ground to ask for forgiveness.
"Forget it, get up. This is not your fault. Even I have just noticed this matter."
Xiao Ruxun waved his hand again. "There are too many things to deal with, and people always have their limits. The Natural Disaster Response Strategy Department has just been established and is understaffed. It's more troublesome to deal with these things. We are still exterminating locusts in the north and snail exterminating in the south. There are so many things to do. Thank you for your hard work."
Xiao Ruxun walked up to the three ministers and patted them on the shoulder. They hurriedly said that they didn't dare to do so.
"The Cabinet is understaffed. You all have a lot of responsibilities. Xu Guangqi has also been sent out by me. Now I need someone who can coordinate all aspects and lead the great cause of snail exterminating and insect control in Jiangnan. It's better if he knows Jiangnan well. Do you have a suitable candidate to recommend to me?"
The three of them looked at each other.
"Your Majesty, the ministers in the court basically have their own responsibilities. If we transfer them, I'm afraid we won't be able to find a suitable successor in a short time."
Li Tingji said.
"Then … what about those who are not officials?"
The three ministers were slightly surprised by Xiao Ruxun's sudden question.
"It's best if they have a clean background and did not become an official in the court between the 20th and 26th years of Wanli."
Xiao Ruxun added another indicator.
Li Tingji and Wang Xijue thought about it but didn't say anything. It was Ye Xianggao who said a name.
"Your Majesty, if Your Majesty is looking for a man left behind in the mountains, I recommend Fang Congzhe."
"Fang Congzhe?"
Xiao Ruxun asked, "Where is he from? What official has he been? "
"Fang Congzhe is from Huzhou in Zhejiang. He became a Jinshi in the 11th year of Wanli. He was a scholar and a Hanlin editor. He was also a chancellor of the Imperial College. Later, because he offended the eunuch of the Department of Rites, he took the initiative to resign and returned to his hometown. It's been more than 10 years since then."
Xiao Ruxun thought about it carefully. He didn't remember anything about Fang Congzhe. He just remembered that there seemed to be such a person.
"How is he?"
"He is generous and magnanimous. He is experienced and prudent. He knows the big picture and will definitely follow Your Majesty's orders to the end. He will never show favoritism."
Xiao Ruxun looked at Ye Xianggao. "How can you be so sure?"
Ye Xianggao replied, "Because this person has a soft personality. He doesn't like to argue with others when things go wrong. He wants to retreat, but he has the ability to get things done."
"He has a lot of land in his family, right? Is he still alive? "
Xiao Ruxun's question hit the nail on the head. Ye Xianggao hurriedly said, "He was among the first batch of people to hand over their land in Huzhou. After handing over all the land, he moved to Shun Tian Prefecture with his family. Now he's living in Shun Tian Prefecture. He only wants to make friends and thank Shiwen. He has no other intentions. He just wants to live a peaceful life."
Xiao Ruxun thought for a while.
The new education system hadn't been fully implemented yet. It would take at least ten years before the people who were educated could become officials. Most of the people he was using now came from the land reform era. He let them become officials at the grassroots level. They would train their abilities and be promoted step by step to get through this transition period.
These people could be low-level officials in charge of a village, a county, or a prefecture. There were even some outstanding ones who could become the Inspector-General of a province. However, it was not easy to cultivate the mindset of governing the entire country. It required time, training, and experience.
That was why Xiao Ruxun kept Wang Xijue, Li Tingji, and Ye Xianggao to keep up appearances during this transition period. It was to buy more time for his plan. During this period, it was inevitable to use some of the people left behind by the previous dynasty.
Because only these people had the ability to become officials, they had to make compromises with their own likes and dislikes. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to keep a single person.
When choosing the old officials, it was important to have a soft personality and be easy to control. Xiao Ruxun wanted their abilities, not their personalities. That was why a marionette like Wang Xijue was his favorite.
This Fang Congzhe submitted to the eunuchs and the land reform era. He valued his life more than anything else. He didn't like disputes and had a soft personality. However, Ye Xianggao praised him as having the ability to get things done. In that case, he was a very good choice for himself.
Easy to bully, easy to control, easy to use, and obedient.
He could test his ability. If his ability was up to standard, he could be brought into the bureaucracy and the cabinet in the future. It would be convenient for him to control him.
There couldn't be a lack of marionettes in the cabinet.
At this thought, Xiao Ruxun immediately issued a decree.
"Summon Fang Congzhe to the capital for an audience."
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