prosperous age

Chapter 119 119 Drought Countermeasures

Zeng Yuanshu has rich experience in failing the rankings, so he is the only one who knows how to comfort Wei Guangde for a moment.

The exam went so well all the way, but when he was frustrated suddenly, Wei Guangde was really hit hard.

Although he had a premonition before, to be honest, Wei Guangde was still a little unwilling to believe that it would become a reality.

But as the constant newspapers passed through the gate of the inn, Wei Guangde knew that this time he really failed the ranking.

Fortunately, because Wei Guangde is the youngest among all the people present, no one laughed at his performance, and many people came to comfort him.

In fact, at this time, everyone's mentality is similar, lost.

Everyone thought it was because of Wei Guangde's young age that he behaved so badly after facing the shock of being dropped, and shed tears in public.

It was only Wei Guangde who knew in his heart that the tear that fell was not for failure at all, but because the belief that had been established in his heart for several months had collapsed.

He is not some kind of person chosen by heaven, not some kind of son of gods, but just a time traveler with a lot of shit luck, he just came to this place by accident.

As for the previous few exams, well, maybe it was just luck.

Of course, facing the eyes of Zeng Yuanshu, Lao Kan and others, Wei Guangde would not say anything.

Wiping away the remaining tears on his face, Wei Guangde smiled, "I'm fine, I just feel like I can't make it to the list. I'm a little sorry for my mother and my father who is still fighting Japanese pirates in Zhejiang."

Hearing what Wei Guangde said, Zeng Yuanshu and others breathed a sigh of relief.

In their minds, although Wei Guangde is already a scholar, he is still so old after all, he is just a child.

Perhaps, it is only such a child whose heart is not contaminated by the dust of imperial examinations and official career, and whose heart is still empty and clean.

When you fail the exam, what you think of is nothing else, but the disappointment of the parents and elders who are eagerly looking forward to at home.

"Brother Guangde, filial son, Shilong is not as good as you."

At this time, Mr. Zhu Shilong, who had been in the limelight before, said in a very low tone.

Wei Guangde didn't know that his tears had set up a gold-lettered signboard for him in the circle of scholars in Jiangxi - Daming filial son.

What no one knows is that in order to show the character of Jiujiang students, Zhu Shilong spread Wei Guangde's work everywhere, and even shared it with other students in the province at the Lu Ming Banquet.

Well, the story naturally spread to the ears of Jinke Jiangxi Examiner and many examiners.

In the story, Wei Guangde becomes a model of loyalty, filial piety and righteousness. His father is fighting bloody battles for the country, and his mother is also looking forward to it at home.

Then, there was no more, when he failed the provincial examination, the tears he shed were not for himself, but for his father who fought for the country on the battlefield and his mother who was waiting at home, disappointing them.

"Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness" is the core of Confucianism, and has always been respected by scholar-bureaucrats.

In "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness", "loyalty and filial piety" is the most basic. Loyalty is the foundation of a country; filial piety is the foundation of a family.

The word "loyalty and filial piety" supports the "building" of the country, the nation, and even the entire family, just like the "four pillars", standing still; otherwise, the building of the family and the country will collapse.

"Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom and Faith" is called "Five Constants", which is the five constants in the old saying "Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Principles". Knowledge, wisdom, and faith are the foundation of one's life.

The examiners and the examiners heard that such a candidate failed in the provincial examination, and naturally no one knew what they were thinking, but at least on the surface, they all sighed.

Some examiners took out Wei Guangde's paper and looked at it carefully. It is true that the stereotyped writing is not sophisticated enough, and it is not wronged to fail the ranking. It is refreshing to read the following strategies.

This year's weather is abnormal. Jiangxi Province has not experienced heavy rain since the beginning of spring, and droughts have occurred in all parts of the province.

Yes, there is another drought in Jiangxi.

In fact, if the information in this era can be as unobstructed as it is in later generations, people will find that disasters are happening not only in Jiangxi, but in many prefectures and counties across the country.

What only the senior officials in the capital know is that since the fifth year of Jiajing, there have been severe droughts in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian provinces; in the seventh year of Jiajing, severe droughts have occurred in North China provinces; 17 years of severe drought in Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, Fujian, Hubei, and Hunan, hungry people from all over the place gathered in the capital; Jiajing 24 years of severe drought in Zhejiang and Hubei; two years of severe drought in Fujian, people died of hunger on the road.

Naturally, the time and literature test questions in this Jiangxi Township Examination ask how to deal with the current drought. This is what candidates in the test school should do if they are officials to deal with natural disasters.

Extreme drought broke out continuously across the country. The severe drought ravaged nine provinces in the north and the south, resulting in a large-scale reduction in grain production in areas that accounted for more than [-]% of the national tax payment. A large-scale increase in fiscal expenditures was used for inland relief and border defense supplies, resulting in a huge fiscal deficit for the central government.

The continuous drought exposed the corruption of the Ming court's salt administration, the occupation of land by the clan, the deserted military settlements, and the failure of the border defense supply system. Prepare food and salaries for relief and border supply to cope with the crisis, which eventually led to the opening of the "Jiajing Reform".

However, all this gradually ended after Emperor Jiajing chose to practice Taoism. Perhaps he thought that if he succeeded in cultivating immortals, this series of disasters could be easily resolved.

Perhaps Emperor Jiajing chose to cultivate immortals because of the repeated disasters in the empire for more than ten or twenty years.

If Wei Guangde knew the above information, and someone reminded him, maybe he would think of a word he saw before: "Little Binghe in the late Ming Dynasty". If no one reminded him, Wei Guangde would never think of going there.

What's more, even if he thought of it, so what, he doesn't have the ability to call the wind and rain.

Maybe some bad ideas will come to mind, such as sending troops to Nanyang to plunder food.

However, at this time, the military strength of the Ming Dynasty was not high, so if it was sent out, it might be like a sheep going into a tiger's mouth.

Wei Guangde's initial answer was actually the same as that of most of the examinees, that is, to reduce taxes and accumulate more savings, hoping that the court will reduce money and food in time to relieve the suffering of the people, and at the same time extensively repair water conservancy facilities to prevent floods and droughts.

He did not say that the severe drought was due to the presence of treacherous men in the court, and they needed to be punished.

However, coming from later generations, Wei Guangde still thinks a little bit more broadly.

In fact, in future generations, there is nothing to do in the face of disasters such as large-scale drought.

Drilling wells or delivering water over long distances can only solve the problem of water for humans and livestock. Replacing drought-resistant crops in a timely manner is the main means to ensure agricultural harvests.

Therefore, in the answer sheet, Wei Guangde proposed the idea of ​​setting up a special supervisor to study crops, especially drought-resistant crops. In fact, it is to establish an academy of agricultural sciences for later generations. In his vision, set up a special department to study crops, and find high-quality and high-yield crops for promotion. .

(End of this chapter)