Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1586 Drought in the North
May 3rd, 1:15 am.

In a farmland in Wangjia Town, on the western outskirts of Yijing City, thousands of well-equipped Daqian Imperial Guards appeared. Faced with these suddenly appearing sailors, the people who were working in the farmland seemed a little at a loss.

Although they didn't know what had happened to cause so many soldiers to appear, thanks to the good military discipline of the Daqian army in the past few years, these people were not afraid of these Daqian soldiers. Everyone looked at the Imperial Guards with some curiosity, as if they wanted to see what had happened.

Under the gazes of the people, the royal guards began to be on alert, and after a cup of tea, a convoy of five carriages drove onto the dirt road of the farmland. A moment later, a middle-aged man in casual clothes, with ordinary looks but awe-inspiring manner, got off the carriage.

Seeing the appearance of this middle-aged man, the farmers in the fields began to whisper.

"Liu Fu, what do you think these people are doing? Why are they making such a big scene?"

“Are these people from the county?”

"It's definitely not the county magistrate! I've seen the county magistrates and advisors in our county. They don't have such a grand show. There are only a few dozen runners in the county government office. This guy has thousands of people. This must be a big G!"

"Look at how ignorant you are! These people are not ordinary soldiers, they are the Royal Guards!"

"Imperial Guards? Aren't they there to protect the Emperor?"

When they heard the words "Imperial Guards" and "Emperor", the farmers who were whispering to each other immediately fell silent. However, Old Wang, who recognized the Imperial Guards, said with some disdain:

"I say you young people are ignorant! You really are ignorant! The old emperor was wearing a dragon robe! Have you ever seen a dragon robe? There is a five-clawed golden dragon embroidered on the robe. It is so majestic..."

Facing Old Wang's disdain, Liu Fu, who had just spoken, said unconvincedly:

"Uncle Wang, you're talking like you've seen this before!"

"Liu Fu, your uncle has really seen you, young man. When I was young, I also traveled all over the country. Do you know Luo'an? I have been there before. Luo'an was really a place of luxury and extravagance, no worse than Yijing today. I just happened to see the Emperor of the Great Zhou traveling!"

"There were loud gongs and drums, firecrackers blasting, and everyone was kneeling on the ground. No one dared to look up. When the dragon of the Great Zhou Emperor came to my side, I, your uncle, mustered up the courage to take a look!"

"That five-clawed golden dragon is so captivating. I, your uncle Wang, will never forget it in my life!" At the end, Old Wang's weathered face immediately became full of emotion.

Several young people who had never left their hometown in their entire lives looked at each other in confusion when they heard Old Wang's description, wondering whether what he said was true.

At this time, Liu Fu was still unconvinced and continued to ask:
"Uncle Wang, since you have been to so many places and seen so many things, then tell us, what does that person do?"

Old Wang glanced at Liu Fu and snorted:

"Xiao Liu, you haven't eaten as much rice as your uncle Wang has eaten. Today I want to learn from you..."

After saying that, Old Wang pointed at the crowd in the distance and analyzed:

"Don't look at those G-level generals. They all look majestic in their G-level uniforms. But the leader of this group is actually the one in plain clothes. These G-level generals are surrounding him. He must be a powerful person, otherwise these G-level generals wouldn't be so flattering to him!"

"Although this person is not wearing a G-suit, he looks very impressive. With the Royal Guards protecting him, I think this person must be a royal relative, either surnamed Ye or Cui!"

After hearing Lao Wang's analysis, everyone nodded and thought that Lao Wang

While Old Wang was speaking, the man in plain clothes was standing on the dirt road, carefully observing the wheat in the fields.

After seeing this scene, one of the farmers spoke again:

"If this person is a royal relative, why is he looking at our wheat? These high-ranking masters, why are they here instead of counting money and playing NR at home?"

Faced with this question, several farmers were very puzzled. However, after a brief silence, a voice sounded.

"Do you think these royal relatives are interested in our land?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the farmers inevitably showed worried expressions on their faces.

"It's only been a few years since Daqian distributed the land to us. Are they going to take it back so soon? And doesn't Daqian law prohibit annexation of our land?"

"Humph! The words of these bosses are never kept. The laws of Daqian are for the common people like us, not for these big shots. In the eyes of these people, the laws of Daqian are shit!"

"It hasn't rained this year. If the land is gone, how can we live?"

Amid the complaints and worries of several people, the group of people in the distance also noticed these farmers and quickly walked over...
The farmer who had just complained immediately showed a look of fear on his face, and stammered:
"Did they hear what I just said?"

"That shouldn't be the case! They are so far away, could they have super hearing?"

Just as the farmers were feeling uneasy, Ye Mingsheng quickly walked over and said:
"Are you guys busy?"

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, the bewildered farmers remembered to salute and knelt down one after another and said:

"I, a humble commoner, greet all the lords!"

Seeing the timid looks of these farmers, Ye Mingsheng sighed in his heart and said with a smile:

"Please stand up quickly, no need to be polite!"

Hearing that Ye Mingsheng had used the word "please" to address several common people, Bai Changjiu, the prefect of Yijing, who was standing next to Ye Mingsheng and had just been reprimanded by Ye Mingsheng, could not help but complain in his heart. He felt that Ye Mingsheng was too lenient to these ordinary people and too harsh to them, the officials. He had only been in Yijing for a short time, and just because he didn't know much about the agricultural situation, he had just been reprimanded in front of so many people in the government office!

You are the prefect of Yijing, don’t you have any dignity?
At this time, Ye Mingsheng didn't know what Bai Changjiu was thinking. He smiled and asked the farmers:
"How are the conditions in the fields these days, fellow villagers?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, several farmers looked at each other and no one dared to speak first. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng smiled and comforted:
"Don't be nervous, everyone. There's nothing else to say. I just want to understand the situation. Just tell me the truth!"

With Ye Mingsheng's comfort, the farmers gradually let down their guard. Among them, the young farmer named Liu Fu also mustered up the courage to speak first:
"Your Excellency, the situation in the fields is not good..."

"It's May now and the wheat is about to mature, but because it hasn't rained, we can only rely on the water in the canal for irrigation. But because it hasn't rained, the water in the canal is also very limited!"

At this point, Liu Fu pointed at the wheat in the field and asked:

"So now you can see that the wheat is this tall, and the leaves are so withered and yellow. I'm afraid it will be difficult to produce grain this year!"

Although Ye Mingsheng had already had a premonition by observing the rising trend of wheat, he still felt very heavy when he heard Liu Fu say this. After all, wheat is the main crop of Daqian and the staple food of the people of Daqian!
Ye Mingsheng hesitated for a moment and asked:

"So what do you think the wheat yield will be this year?"

As a farmer, Liu Fu also calculated how much food he could grow on his land every day, so when faced with Ye Mingsheng's question, he answered without hesitation:

"Last year, my family grew 1,500 kilograms of grain from 10 mu of land. Now I think my family is only a little over 1,000 kilograms. If God doesn't rain, it's all over!"

After hearing the farmer's answer, Ye Mingsheng looked at the other people around him. Because of Liu Fu's example, the others were not so nervous or afraid anymore, and they all introduced their own situations to Ye Mingsheng.

The data of these people are basically the same. In previous years, the yield was basically in the range of 130 to 150 kilograms per mu, and the best land could reach about 170 kilograms. However, this year due to the lack of rain, most of the land is not producing well. Therefore, these farmers are more pessimistic and think that a yield of more than 100 kilograms per mu is considered very good.

After hearing all this, Ye Mingsheng began to think about it in his mind. About a month ago, Ye Mingsheng saw a memorial from the provincial governments of Youyan, Jiyu, and Qilu saying that there was some drought in the three major producing areas in the north this year. God sent little rain, and in some places it only rained once a month, and the rain was not heavy, just a drizzle!

For this reason, villages all over the country have also launched a variety of rain-praying activities!
Ye Mingsheng didn't have any better solution for this problem. He could only order the provincial governors of these three places to actively use local reservoirs, canals, and wells to ensure irrigation water as much as possible to ensure that the grain output in these three places would not drop too much this year!

As for the rain-praying activities, Ye Mingsheng does not interfere in principle. After all, this is also a kind of psychological comfort. Although Ye Mingsheng does not believe in ghosts and gods, he still holds a respectful attitude towards these things!

However, Ye Mingsheng drew a red line for these rain-seeking activities, that is, there is no problem with offering pigs or sheep, Ye Mingsheng doesn't care, but you cannot offer boys and girls, this is not allowed by Ye Mingsheng. Ye Mingsheng asked the three local governors to strictly control and ensure that local children will not be harmed by these activities!
In addition to these measures, Ye Mingsheng also asked the Ministry of Revenue to conduct a thorough inspection of the granaries in Youyan, Jiyu, Qilu, and see how much grain is stored in these places, so as to deal with the possible poor harvest in the summer...

After doing these things, the matter came to an end for Ye Mingsheng. After all, Daqian's agriculture still depends on God. If God doesn't rain, Ye Mingsheng will be anxious to death but there is nothing he can do. He can only do his best and leave the rest to fate!

Now, a month later, Ye Mingsheng received news that the drought in Youyan, Qilu, Jiyu was more serious than expected. Because the food problem was related to the country's foundation, Ye Mingsheng also attached great importance to it.

Therefore, after seeing the memorial last night, Ye Mingsheng went to the countryside in person today to inspect the situation and see for himself what the situation was.

Although he came for a field investigation, Ye Mingsheng, as an emperor, still had a lot of things to do and many arrangements every day, so Ye Mingsheng could not go too far, so he came to Wangjia Town in the west city of Yijing.

Judging from what these farmers have said, a one-third reduction in grain production is almost inevitable!

The drought in Wangjia Town is not that severe because there are canals and reservoirs around it. But even so, the production has been reduced by one third. If the drought were in more serious places, the reduction in production would be even greater. This is undoubtedly a huge disaster for the people in these three places!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng's expression became very helpless. Although he had realized that the situation was very bad, in order to understand the most real situation, Ye Mingsheng still asked:

"Fellow villagers, do you know the situation around you?"

"We have a canal in Wangjia Town, and it's OK. The surrounding areas are also OK, but I heard that the situation in the south is worse!"

"Yes, it's worse in the south. I heard that there was an old man in Ji County in the south whose wheat died due to lack of water. He was so upset that he hanged himself. It's so tragic!"

"I also heard that the old man's surname seemed to be Ma. I heard that he was a good person. I didn't expect that because of this incident, his family would be ruined!"

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng frowned and asked:
“Didn’t the Chief Secretary organize water for irrigation?”

"At the beginning, the higher-ups organized some efforts, but then it didn't rain and the water in the reservoirs and canals became less and less. Fortunately, Wangjia Town has reservoirs and canals, and we have more than a dozen wells in the town. We now use well water for irrigation, so we can still have some harvests!

"In other places, the harvest will be at least halved!"

After learning about these situations, Ye Mingsheng frowned and nodded:
"I understand! You guys go ahead and do your work! I won't bother you anymore!"

After saying that, Ye Mingsheng was about to take his people away. Seeing that Ye Mingshen was easy to talk to, Liu Fu just remembered the argument he had with Old Wang and shouted boldly:

"May I ask which lord you are?"

Hearing the farmer's question, Ye Mingsheng didn't want to answer, but then he thought, when he asked just now, the farmer was very cooperative and answered honestly. Now that he asked him a question, he should reciprocate.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng stopped and turned to the farmers and said with a smile:

"I am Ye Mingsheng!"

When these words came out, the farmers were stunned for a moment, and then some who were quick to react murmured:
"Isn't Ye Mingsheng the emperor? Are you the Emperor of Daqian?"

Ye Mingsheng just smiled and didn't answer this question. He turned around and left with the people around him...