The world of counterfeit magistrates competes in the world

Chapter 365
I don't know if it's because Cao Ji usurped power and reversed the rules.Just a few days after he was crowned Duke of Wei by the Jin Dynasty, the Jin and Shang prefectures have gradually become drought-prone due to the lack of rain this spring, and the water level of the Qingping River is drying up day by day.Locust plagues raged everywhere, especially in the two states of Jinshang.The crops that had turned green were eaten up by the locusts, and all the hard work of the farmers in the past six months was wiped out.What's even more frightening is that without crops, the people will have no harvest this year. Once the stored food is exhausted, they will starve to death.

Emergency letters from all over the country spread to the capital like snowflakes, and soon filled the desktop of the prime minister's office.Worried officials at all levels asked Cao Ji for instructions on disaster relief policies, asking Cao Ji to announce tax reductions and exemptions for the disaster-stricken areas, and to allocate grain and grass to suppress food prices.

Cao Ji looked at these official documents with a tired face. Every time he read one of them, his brows would frown. Coupled with his gray hair, he looked even older.

"Ahem!" Looking at this official document that was like a reminder, Cao Ji was trembling with fear, and couldn't help bending down and coughing loudly.

Today, more than half of the areas in Jinshang and Jinshang states have been affected by locust plagues, causing heavy crop losses.We must know that the total population of Jinshang and Shangzhou is at least 2000 million people, and the fertile plains occupying one-third of the Central Plains have always been the core areas of all dynasties.Now there is a rare drought and locust plague in the two states, which has a huge impact.Once it is not handled properly, it will cause chaos in the Central Plains, with refugees and thieves everywhere.Once used by ambitious people, it will develop into a rebellion sweeping across the Central Plains.

This is what Cao Ji does not allow, and is also what he fears the most.He is well aware of the virtues of local aristocratic families and businessmen. Once a natural disaster occurs, these people will inevitably hoard food and drive up prices.The common people were forced to sell their land and children, and squeezed out the last penny on their bodies.The homeless people can only be as refugees, wandering around, or even become bandits.

But now the imperial court is in a difficult situation. After the two battles of the year before last, the court's original capital has been taken into account.Now there are still 30 new troops to raise, and most of the taxes collected last year were spent on raising soldiers.Cao Ji has checked the surplus of the national treasury and found that it is not enough for disaster relief.

"What should I do?" Cao Ji frowned deeply, and his forehead was covered with wrinkles. "The national treasury cannot make ends meet. Now that the gold and merchant states are affected by disasters, it will inevitably affect the autumn harvest and taxes, so that money and food are in short supply. On the one hand, the people need to be appeased, and on the other hand, the army needs to be supported. It is really a dilemma."

After some hesitation, Cao Ji immediately issued a decree.First, mobilize 100 million shi of grain and grass to hoard the two states of gold and merchants to suppress fluctuations in local grain prices.At the same time, [-] troops were dispatched to the two states to prevent accidents.Second, it announced that the people of Jinshang and Shangzhou would be exempted from taxes for one year, and the local governments were ordered to restrict the movement of people to strictly prevent all possible riots.Third, except for the two states of gold and merchants, the taxes of the rest of the states have been raised by [-]% for a period of one year to ease the difficulties.Fourth, merchants from all over the country are strictly prohibited from raising prices on the ground and hoarding grain. Once found, their property will be seized immediately and they will be sent to exile.Fifth, order officials from all over the country to come up with good strategies to build water conservancy projects, extinguish locust plagues, and reduce the spread of disasters.

After the government order was issued, it was quickly passed on to all parts of the world. Whether this place can survive the difficulties can only be left to fate.

However, natural disasters did not only occur in the Central Plains. The drought here involved a very wide range. This time, Tianyun Kingdom also suffered from drought and locust plagues, but the scale was not as severe as that of Jinshang and Jinshang states.Thanks to the concerted efforts of the officials and people from all over the country to save some of the losses, the turmoil in the Tianyun Kingdom was quickly quelled.

In the north, Yanzhou, Mingzhou, and Anzhou all suffered from drought to varying degrees.Only areas with developed water systems such as Huazhou, Zhongzhou, Qingzhou, and Haizhou and Leizhou can avoid the impact of drought.As for Shazhou, it is in a state of drought all year round, so let’s not mention it.

This time, relying on last year's bumper harvest, Yanzhou could barely survive the natural disaster.But Mingzhou is more miserable, with drought and locusts coming, and the people have suffered heavy losses.This put Yang Mingyuan under great pressure and had to seek help from the two surrounding allies.

The drought in Anzhou has had a great impact, especially in the southern part of Anzhou, where locust plagues have also broken out.Fortunately, the Hengshan government has always attached importance to water conservancy construction, and the degree of drought has been alleviated.And all the people whose crops have been eaten up can get food distributed by the government, and they are recruited to join the engineering team to earn money to subsidize their families.

The Xiazhou Grassland was also affected by the drought, and many lush pastures gradually withered, making some pastures dry up day by day, and the feeding of millions of cattle, sheep and horses was greatly threatened.

For this reason, Lin Yifan had to transfer nearly half of the livestock to the pastures in the Xiashui River Basin, north of Xiayang Mountain.For this reason, he deliberately stationed Luo Feng's [-] cavalry in the Xiashui area to protect the safety of hundreds of thousands of livestock.

In response to the drought, Lin Yifan ordered the Ministry of Public Works to focus on water conservancy projects and improve Anzhou's water conservancy conditions as soon as possible.In order to prevent droughts and floods, he asked the Ministry of Works to build reservoirs in various places to store water in droughts and drain them in floods.As for the locust plague, Lin Yifan issued a strange order that local governments would buy large quantities of locusts for five cents a catty.

This order immediately aroused great enthusiasm among the local people, and they flocked to the fields to catch locusts.Sometimes if you catch hundreds of catties a day, you can earn half a penny, which is enough to cover a family's expenses for half a month.Especially those children, who can get a few pennies in exchange for snacks if they grab a catty casually, they are extremely busy.

Everyone didn't understand Lin Yifan's actions, thinking that it was a sacrifice made by the adults to reduce the disaster.I was both moved and distressed. It was really a big loss to spend a lot of money for those useless locusts.

However, at this moment, Lin Yifan suddenly announced a banquet for the officials and the people in the city.

At the time of this catastrophe, Lin Yifan, the lord of Hengshan, not only did not share the difficult times, but was so extravagant and extravagant, which immediately aroused the opposition of everyone, who advised him to set an example and lead by example.The common people also talked about it, and they also complained about the President they have always respected.

Lin Yifan still ignored this and insisted on holding this banquet.On the square in the central garden, rows of long tables were laid out, with a length of more than ten meters. A large number of people gathered around them. They looked at these weird decorations and talked a lot.

Lin Yifan looked at the officials present and the people below, and said loudly: "Everyone, today I am hosting a banquet here, not for extravagance, but for a publicity event prepared to eliminate locusts. To give you a Surprise, I have been keeping secrets before this, so that everyone misunderstood me. But it doesn’t matter. Today, I will let everyone open their eyes. This locust plague is not incurable. As long as we play foodie, er, no, yes The pursuit of delicious food can completely eliminate the plague of locusts.”

What, eliminate the plague of locusts?How is this possible?When everyone heard the words, they couldn't help shaking their heads secretly, the adults spoke too wildly.This locust plague has been a scourge since ancient times, and it has never been seen that anyone can cure it. After all, you are still young and vigorous.

"My lord, what are you doing?" Han Song whispered anxiously, "It's so easy to eliminate the locusts. If you fail, your prestige may be affected."

"No problem!" Lin Yifan smiled slightly and stopped Han Song's persuasion, "Whether this matter succeeds or not, I will bear the responsibility. Come here, serve the food!"

As soon as the order was given, many soldiers came with a plate covered with gauze and placed it on the table.In an instant, a strong fragrance wafted around, causing everyone to keep sniffing their noses, "It smells so good, what the hell is this?"

"My lord, what is this?" Han Song twitched his nose a few times and asked curiously.

"Haha, remove all the gauze and let everyone see." Lin Yifan quickly removed the gauze from the table in front of him, revealing a plate of golden yellow things.Everyone took a closer look, and couldn't help but take two steps back in fright, and exclaimed, "This, is this a locust?"

(End of this chapter)