Tang Taizong is my elder brother

Chapter 17 Dilemma
Longzhou has three counties under its jurisdiction: Fufeng, Tianshui, and Anding, and each county has three counties under its jurisdiction, more than a dozen townships, and more than [-] households.

The locust plague has affected more than [-] counties and counties from north to south, affecting tens of millions of people.

Its scope is wide and the damage caused is the largest in ten years.

Longzhou is no exception. Two-thirds of the people are destined to lose their crops this year, and tens of thousands of families face displacement.

It was also a headache for Li Yuan to encounter such a big trouble at the beginning of his tenure.In the past few days, I discussed with the governor of the state government, the state shepherd and others every day, and the method I finally came up with was nothing more than the old method of going to the emperor and asking for funds for disaster relief.

But now there are disasters everywhere in the world, such as locust plagues, droughts and floods in the south, even if the papers are handed up, it seems to be mixed with many papers for relief.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was devastated when he saw piles of papers every day. How could he be in the mood to pay attention to their little Fufeng County?
But if you don't rely on the government's relief, it is even more impossible to rely on yourself.

Li Yuan originally wanted to open a granary to distribute grain to help the people, but found that there was not much grain left in the granary in the state capital.

After questioning, it turned out that most of the grain harvested last autumn had been handed over to the treasury before the winter of last year, and now the rest is still saved by the state herdsman all the time, saving for emergencies.

There are a lot of Kuyin, but now the price of grain on the market is getting higher and higher.

Even if all Kuyin was spent, it would not be able to relieve so many victims.

Looking at the soaring rice price every day, and seeing more and more refugees pouring in from all directions, Mrs. Dou was complaining: If this continues, the family will not be able to buy rice even with money in a few days.

Seeing that the family has started hoarding food, Li Yuan has been getting angry these few days, unable to sleep or eat.

That night, Li Yuan got angry again on the pretext of having a toothache, and went back to the study alone with his hands behind his back.

Knowing that my father was bothered by the locust plague and couldn't eat, everyone didn't enjoy a meal.

Even Ruyi, who has always been aggressive at the dinner table, felt the oppressive atmosphere around her, and just lowered her head and patted the rice in front of her without saying a word.

Dou looked at Changsheng helplessly, Changsheng understood what his mother meant, and now he is the only one who can comfort his father.

So he put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, said "I'm full", jumped off the table, and ran to the kitchen alone.

When she came out again, the uninjured hand was already carrying a bowl of steaming pear osmanthus soup, and she walked slowly towards the study.

Gently pushing open the door, Li Yuan was writing something under the lamp, looked up and saw Chang Sheng coming in with a bowl, and smiled a little: "You don't know how to handle it, why do you carry it yourself, let someone come in."

Chang Sheng smiled and said, "I just wanted to visit my father. It's been hot these few days, so I specially cooked a bowl of lotus seed soup to clear away the heat and reduce the fire."

Li Yuan smiled gratifiedly, and pointed to the table, "Put it here, and drink it when I finish writing."

"Hey~"

Chang Sheng put the bowl away carefully, climbed onto the chair by the table, and stretched his head to see what Li Yuan was writing.

At first glance, it turned out that it was intended to be presented to the emperor. Although the content was still the old three of disaster, crying for poverty, and begging for funding, the words were sincere and every word came from the heart, and it was moving after reading it.

Li Yuan finished writing in one breath, feeling very good about himself. Thinking of his painstaking work, His Majesty the Emperor should be moved after reading it, and then he was a little more sure about applying for disaster relief.

Li Yuan picked up the memorial, carefully blew on the ink on it, and turned around to see Chang Sheng staring at the memorial in his hand.

He was in a good mood, and asked proudly: "What do you think of this memorial for your father?"

Chang Sheng leaned on his father's shoulder and said softly: "My lord father, this article is sincere and detailed. After reading it, the emperor must understand your good intentions. It's just..."

Seeing that Changsheng's words were only half spoken, Li Yuan asked curiously: "Go on, just what?"

Chang Sheng looked at his father, and said again: "It's just that I'm afraid that the states and counties that will be affected by disasters all over the world, if they all write like this, then it will be bad."

"This..." Li Yuan looked at the memorial in his hand again, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that his son was right.

Crying babies have milk to eat. Everyone knows this truth, but if everyone cries for milk, then am I the loudest?
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look Chang Sheng up and down, this child has such insight at the age of three, it's really extraordinary!

A glimmer of hope rose in my heart, and I asked tentatively, "Then what do you think?"

"Father, according to the usual practice, how does the court usually deal with such a large locust plague?" Changsheng asked while stretching out his left hand to rub Li Yuan's temple.

Li Yuan felt that the place where Changsheng's fingers pressed was cool, and his head didn't seem to hurt so much, so he closed his eyes comfortably.

Slowly said: "According to common sense, the locust plague is God's punishment for the lack of virtue in the eyes of the world. The more serious the locust plague, the heavier the punishment from heaven. At this time, in order to calm the resentment of the world, the emperor will first commit a crime. The imperial edict was announced to the world. Then the princes were sent to patrol the sky on behalf of the heavens and inspect the most severely disaster-stricken areas across the country. On the one hand, it was to appease the hearts of the people, and on the other hand, it was also to examine the governance capabilities of officials. According to the local disaster situation, the state The government’s stock of money and food, after calculation, the amount of money needed for relief is reported to the imperial court, and finally the relief is distributed according to the severity of the disaster.”

"Oh, that's it, what's the situation here?"

"The three counties under the rule of Longzhou are actually pretty good. The Guanzhong Plain is rich in land and suitable for climate, and the local people have lived here for many generations. Although the grain every year is not as good as the southern granary, there is still a surplus. It's just that last year was the official examination. In that year, the previous governor turned over last year's harvest to the national treasury, which changed his future. Now the entire state capital has enough food for about ten days." Li Yuan said.

Changsheng thought for a while, then asked again: "What if the government pays for the purchase of grain in the market?"

Li Yuan said dejectedly: "My father and all the adults have considered this point, but now a large amount of food is in the hands of aristocratic families. They are the biggest landlords here, and now they have become sellers. They are hoarding one by one and waiting for the market price. It’s a big profit to go up.”

"Then how about borrowing some emergency from them first?"

Speaking of this, Li Yuan was angry: "Huh, it's fine if you don't talk about it. I will get angry when I talk about it. A few days ago, your mother and I visited Dou's house, Qu's house, Yuwen's house one by one... I have traveled all over the family, but they all have the same idea: 'Only the Li family in Longyou is the one to follow!'. When I came back, I asked the family elders at home, but they said nonsense like 'the landlord's family has no surplus food' to prevaricate me. It's really nonsense, after waiting for a while, see if I have cleaned up you one by one."

It seems that these big families are all planning to make a fortune in national calamity, and their path may not work out for a while, Changsheng thought to himself.

"So what is Father's plan now?"

Li Yuan patted the letter paper on the table, "I discussed with several adults for a few days, but I didn't come up with a good idea. Some people said to take money to other states and counties to ask, but the disasters in the vicinity are worse than ours. Seriously, the farther road is too far away, and it’s not convenient to transport. There are still suggestions to find a way there.” Li Yuan said, pointing his finger up, “It’s not a last resort, I really don’t want to do it. The worst policy."

Changsheng knew that his father was talking about opening up the joints and trying to bribe the inspectors of the imperial court. This matter involved the prince, and it was such a special period. Changsheng didn't agree with this idea in his heart.

Moreover, it is rare for my father to be a good official who is honest and pragmatic. Why should he be stained with these stains for nothing?
So the current situation is: the government has money but no rice, the elites have rice but don’t sell it, and there are more and more refugees.

Is there any solution to this deadlock?

The two fell into contemplation by the candlelight.

Suddenly Chang Sheng asked: "Do you know the prince who came to inspect our place?"

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(End of this chapter)