Wanli 1592

Chapter 1324 Calling Fang Congzhe to Beijing for an Audience
Xiao Ruxun took a deep breath, knowing that his own war was far from over.

The land reform was only the first battle. After the land reform, there were still countless wars and difficulties that he needed to fight.

If the schistosomiasis cannot be brought under control, everything the people have now is just a castle in the air, and the schistosomiasis may be swallowed up at any time, and there will be nothing left.

His people are groaning in pain.

The disease data of Nanzhili was sent to the central government, and Xiao Ruxun's complexion became worse day by day.

When the number of sick people exceeded 40, Xiao Ruxun directly sent the data to the cabinet. After reading it, the three cabinet elders found that 40 people were sick. Qi Qi was shocked and rushed to the emperor's study to report The emperor apologized.

"You are all from Jiangnan, have you never heard of such a thing?"

Xiao Ruxun looked at her three assistant ministers very dissatisfied.

Li Tingji said: "Returning to Your Majesty, we have heard of this kind of thing by chance when we were in our hometown, and we have also heard rumors that hundreds of people are sick, but we never thought that there are hundreds of thousands of people in a province. Sickness, this... this is really unimaginable."

Wang Xijue and Ye Xianggao said the same. They had heard about this disease, but they never thought about it deeply.

I don't know the power of statistics. Once the statistics are calculated, the big data will be superimposed, which will be shocking numbers and extremely serious consequences.

"According to the results of today's statistics, I estimate that there are 10,000+ households in Nanzhili with patients with big belly disease, and most of them are male owners, and they are the main laborers who are sick. They will gradually lose their labor force and become weak. Farming, the situation at home will be extremely bad.

A family will even be destroyed. Women cannot survive, and children will not be raised. If you look at the three southeastern provinces, the food production in the three southeastern provinces will decrease because these people lose their labor force. Didn't see it, but what about 10,000+ households?
This is only in southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Huguang, Jiangxi, and even further south in Guangdong, Yunnan, and Sichuan. How many people will be sick and cannot be cured and can only wait to die?I gave them land and taught them to read and write, thinking that I have done a good job, I have done a lot, but I never thought that what I have done is far from enough. "

Xiao Ruxun sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Your Majesty, you can't blame your Majesty for this matter. It's not a day's cold to freeze three feet. The big stomach disease has existed since the previous dynasty, and it has continued to this day, but no one has mentioned it. In the old days, local officials concealed each other to whitewash the peace. Now they can't hide it. , this is not the fault of Daqin and His Majesty."

Wang Xijue found an excellent reason 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. I will feed them and keep them alive! Now they live Isn't it my responsibility if I can't go down?"

Xiao Ruxun's tone increased, and Wang Xijue quickly knelt on the ground to plead guilty.

"Forget it, get up, it's not your fault, even I only paid attention to this matter."

Xiao Ruxun waved his hand again: "There are too many things to deal with, and people always have limits. The Natural Disaster Response Strategy Department has just been established, and there is not enough manpower. It is more troublesome to deal with these things. The north is still exterminating locusts, and the south To organize mollusc eradication, there are many things to do, thank you for your hard work.”

Xiao Ruxun walked up to the three cabinet ministers and patted their shoulders respectively, but they didn't even dare to speak.

"The cabinet is short of manpower. 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 of Jiangnan's snail eradication and pest control. It is best to know Jiangnan better. Do you have any suitable candidates to recommend to me?"

The three looked at each other.

"Your Majesty, if the ministers of the court are basically transferred out of their own responsibilities, I am afraid that they will not be able to find a suitable successor for a while."

Li Tingji said so.

"Then... what about those who are not officials?"

When Xiao Ruxun asked this suddenly, the three cabinet ministers were a little surprised.

"The background is clean and the net worth is clean. It is best not to be 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 did not speak, but Ye Xianggao said a name.

"Your Majesty, if Your Majesty is looking for a sage left behind in the mountains, I will recommend Fang Congzhe."

"Fang Congzhe?"

Xiao Ruxun asked, "Where are you from? What kind of officials have you been?"

"Fang Congzhe is a native of Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. He was a Jinshi in the 11th year of Wanli. He worked as a scholar and editor of the Hanlin Academy. It's been more than a year."

Xiao Ruxun thought about it carefully, and didn't think of anything about Fang Congzhe, just remembered that there seemed to be such a number one person.

"How is he?"

"He is generous and measured, mature and prudent, understands the general situation, and understands the overall situation. Moreover, he will definitely obey His Majesty's orders, earnestly implement them to the end, and will never favor others."

Xiao Ruxun looked at Ye Xianggao: "Why are you so sure?"

Ye Xianggao replied: "Because this person has a soft personality, he is not willing to argue with others when things happen, but he wants to retreat by himself, but he has the ability to do practical things."

"Is there a lot of land at home? Still alive?"

Xiao Ruxun asked about the idea, and Ye Xianggao hurriedly said: "He was the first batch of people in Huzhou to turn over the land. After turning in all the land, he took his family and moved to Shuntian Mansion. Now he lives in Shuntian Mansion and just makes friends. Thank you Shi Wen, there is no other behavior, he just wants to live a stable life."

Xiao Ruxun thought for a while.

The new type of education has not yet been fully rolled out, and it will take nearly ten years before the educated talents can become officials. At present, most of the talents he uses are from land reform backgrounds. Let them be officials at the grassroots level, exercise their abilities, and gradually promote them. a period of transition.

These people can be grassroots officials to manage a township, a county, and a state capital. Some are even very good and can be the governor of a province. However, national governance thinking is not so easy to cultivate. It takes time, exercise and experience. .

That's why Xiao Ruxun retained Wang Xijue, Li Tingji and Ye Xianggao to stand up for this transitional period and buy more time for his plan. During this period, it is inevitable to use some talents from the previous dynasty.

Because only these people have the ability to be officials, so in terms of their own likes and dislikes, they have to compromise accordingly, otherwise, no one can be retained.

When selecting old officials, it was important to have a soft and easy-to-control personality. What Xiao Ruxun wanted was their ability, not their character, so the marionettes like Wang Xijue were his favorite.

This Fang Congzhe confessed to the eunuch and the land reform, he puts his life more important, he doesn't like to argue, and his personality is soft, but Ye Xianggao evaluated him as having the ability to do practical things, so for himself, he is a very important person. Nice option too.

Easy to bully, easy to control, easy to appoint, easy to obey.

You can examine his ability. If his ability passes the test, he may be included in the bureaucratic system. In the future, he will be included in the cabinet, so it will be convenient for him to grasp it nearby.

The marionettes of the cabinet cannot be less.

With this in mind, Xiao Ruxun immediately made an order.

"Decree to summon Fang Congzhe to Beijing for an audience."

(End of this chapter)