A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 804 Locust Hunt
The emperor entered the palace.

The prime ministers were surprised to find that the emperor had changed into hunting attire.
He changed his head into a dyed red leather cap, and wore a leather jacket with a lapel and tight sleeves, with the right lapel rolled up at his waist to expose his right shoulder. He wore a half-sleeved shirt and skinny jeans underneath, and long boots on his feet.

He wore a scepter, a leopard-shaped halberd, and a ring-pommel sword at his waist.

This equipment isn't for court discussions, it's for hunting?
Wei Zheng put down his teacup and immediately stood up. "His Majesty summoned us prime ministers to court for a discussion after the court assembly, but why are you dressed in hunting attire? Has His Majesty suddenly become interested in going hunting?"

Li Shimin nodded, "Alright, let's not discuss matters here today. I'll take you hunting!"

"Your Majesty, with 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Chang'an and the capital relying on Luoyang for sustenance, how can Your Majesty still have the mind to hunt? Is this the behavior of a wise ruler?"

“Last night His Majesty left the palace and did not return. Today he is going out hunting again. Is he going to become a tyrant?” Wei Zheng said bluntly.

Li Shimin simply smiled.

"I will take you to hunt locusts."

These words left the prime ministers completely baffled. Hunting for a prince? Could it be that the Prince of Qi had taken the opportunity to escape Chang'an and rebel?
I haven't heard of it.

Li Yi then stepped forward to explain on behalf of the emperor, "Gentlemen, please calm down. What His Majesty meant by hunting locusts was digging up locust eggs on the banks of the Yellow River. Locusts are bound to appear after a severe drought."

When locusts swarm, they darken the sky, sweep across thousands of miles, devour all crops, and leave no harvest.

However, locusts are not insurmountable.

"Your Majesty has found a way to control the locusts. Today, let's go to the riverbank and dig up locust eggs to test it out."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the emperor wasn't completely out of his mind.

Finding a way to control locust plagues is truly a matter of serving the country and its people, and showing a concern for the world.

Upon hearing this, Wen Yanbo frowned deeply.

"Your Majesty, the occurrence of calamities is a warning from Heaven, a divine punishment. What the emperor needs to do is reflect on whether he has lost his virtue, and should avoid the palace, reduce his meals, repent, and seek advice in order to make amends for his mistakes."

Officials should repent and analyze the connection between the disaster and public sentiment.
How can we put the cart before the horse and instead dig up locust eggs to control the locusts?

Wen Yanbo launched into a tirade against the emperor, then turned his attention to Li Yi, saying, "When Minister Li returned to the capital yesterday, His Majesty did not return home that night, but stayed directly at Minister Li's residence."

I don't know what the Minister of Works and His Majesty discussed last night, but His Majesty abandoned state affairs this morning and went to the Yellow River beach to dig for locust eggs.
ridiculous,

I've never heard of digging up locust eggs to cure locust plagues.

Only by cultivating benevolence and virtue and conforming to the will of Heaven can an emperor earn divine favor.

"How could the Prince of Wei, as one of the Three Dukes and concurrently the Chancellor, possibly bewitch the monarch and act perversely?"

"The Prince of Wei, at such a young age, holds the positions of one of the Three Dukes and Prime Minister, yet he is arrogant and reckless, acting without any restraint."

In Luoyang, without distinguishing right from wrong, a grand banquet was held for thousands of merchants, and the heads of thirty-six trades were killed.

They went to Dengfeng and massacred countless people at a famous Buddhist temple, openly seizing its property.

Now they're even inciting the king to dig up locust eggs—is this the behavior of a prime minister?

"Heaven has sent down this calamity because of the dereliction of duty by a prime minister like yourself. This is a warning from Heaven. You should resign to appease Heaven's anger!"

Wen Yanbo's rant grew increasingly intense.
His saliva almost sprayed onto Li Yi's face.

Li Shimin frowned.
His face was solemn.

He looked at the prime ministers, originally intending to go directly to dig up locust eggs to verify Li Yi's suggestion from the previous night.

But now it seems things aren't that simple.

"Prime Minister Wen, please have a seat."

"Let's discuss a few things first, and then we'll talk about the rest."

Li Shimin sat down.
His hand rested on the sword at his waist, his gaze sharp and resolute.

The atmosphere in the hall changed abruptly.

"The first matter to be discussed in court today is that I believe Cui Junsu is getting on in years. He has been acting as the Grand Censor for some time now, but his performance has been unsatisfactory to me."

I believe he is no longer suitable to preside over the Censorate, and I have decided to appoint him as the Governor and Prefect of Xiangzhou.

The Censorate has important responsibilities and cannot be without a superior to oversee it.
"Do any of you gentlemen have a suitable candidate to recommend to me?"

None of the ministers expected that the emperor would suddenly replace the Grand Censor. Cui Junsu was indeed old, having served through several dynasties from the Northern Zhou to the Tang Dynasty, and came from the Zhengzhou branch of the Qinghe Cui clan.
The true five famous families are not only learned and accomplished, but also have successful careers and complex marital relationships.

This man was once the chief secretary of the Prince of Qin's palace.
Now, you can change it whenever you want.

The former Imperial Censor Huangfu Wuyi did not serve for long before being replaced by Cui Junsu.

Unexpectedly, Cui Junsu was replaced again after less than six months.

Li Shimin required each prime minister to recommend one or two candidates.
For a time, the prime ministers each nominated their own candidates.
Those surnamed Dou, those surnamed Dugu, those surnamed Pei, those surnamed Liu, those surnamed Yang, those surnamed Xiao, and those surnamed Zheng...
Li Yi also recommended someone: Gao Shilian, the Chief Secretary of the Yizhou Grand General's Office.

Wen Yanbo recommended Xiao Yu, while Wang Gui recommended Yang Gongren.

Faced with a large number of candidates,
The emperor frowned again at the fact that he had recommended three former prime ministers, Li Yi, Wen Yanbo, and Wang Gui, to be appointed as censors.

These three former prime ministers had all been demoted by him less than half a year ago, especially Xiao Yu, who had just been demoted again and again and even stripped of his title of Duke.

Wen Dalin must be unaware of this, yet he still recommends Xiao Yu as Imperial Censor.

Li Shimin's gaze turned somewhat stern when he looked at Wen Yanbo.

He just kept talking about divine retribution, demanding the emperor reflect on his mistakes and attacking Li Yi, and now he wants to recommend Xiao Yu.

Is this someone trying to go against themselves?
"The candidates recommended by the prime ministers are all excellent."

I have found a better candidate.

"What the Censorate needs most are outspoken officials who dare to speak frankly and impeach. Wen Gong's words just now greatly moved me."

I don't think there's anyone more suitable than Wen Gong.

I believe it would be better to appoint Wen Gong as Grand Censor, while also retaining his positions as Acting Chancellor and concurrently Right Vice-Chancellor to the Crown Prince.

As soon as this word comes out,
This left the prime ministers completely baffled.

To become the prime minister of the current dynasty, one must be one in ten thousand outstanding individuals.

Wen Yanbo's words just now embarrassed the emperor and offended Li Yi, the emperor's favorite minister.

But the emperor not only didn't reprimand him, he even offered him a higher official rank.

The Grand Censor, concurrently serving as the Acting Grand Secretary, and also as the Right Vice-Chancellor to the Crown Prince.

This?
For a moment, no one could understand it either.

Li Yi reacted extremely quickly, and almost instantly guessed the emperor's intention.

Use retreat to advance.

Firstly, to temporarily appease this loudmouth Wen.
Secondly, he is now holding three important positions.

But it won't be long before he uses other reasons, such as being too busy, to remove one or two of his duties.

At that time, it certainly won't be his newly appointed position as Imperial Censor, but rather the removal of his post as Acting Grand Secretary.

After all, the Imperial Censor was a real official, while the Grand Secretary was still an inspector.

Wen Yanbo hadn't reacted yet.
Li Shimin had already made the decision. According to regulations, the emperor had the power to appoint and dismiss officials of the third rank and above, while the prime minister had the right to make recommendations.

The power to appoint and dismiss officials of the fourth and fifth ranks rested with the State Council, while the power to appoint and dismiss officials of the fifth rank and below rested with the Ministry of Personnel.

The Imperial Censor is a third-rank official, appointed by the emperor. As the current prime minister, Wen Yanbo is certainly capable of fulfilling the role.

"The Censorate shall have two assistant censors and two assistant censors, but there is only one, Ma Zhou. We should add one more."

I think Zhang Liang is quite suitable, so I appointed Zhang Liang as the Governor of Huai Prefecture, and then promoted him to Minister of the Imperial Household and concurrently Imperial Censor.

The emperor quickly decided on four personnel tasks.

Grand Censor Cui Junsu was transferred to the position of Governor of Xiangzhou, and Wen Yanbo was appointed Grand Censor, concurrently serving as Acting Chancellor and Right Vice-Chancellor to the Crown Prince.

Zhang Liang, the governor of Huai Prefecture, was promoted to Grand Master of Ceremonies and concurrently served as Imperial Censor.

Li Wenxiang, the Duke of Wenguo and Governor of Huazhou, was transferred to be the Governor of Huaizhou.

All arrangements are complete; the court meeting is now adjourned.

The emperor took his prime ministers to the Yellow River beach.

The group rode their horses to the Yellow River beach, and looking at the vast expanse of barren riverbank, they were all at a loss as to where to begin.

All eyes turned to Li Yi.

"A clear winter day, before rain or snow, is easy to find,"

He led everyone to walk along the river as much as possible, because locusts choose to lay their eggs in moist soil, especially in mudflats after the water recedes.

This type of beach,

Under normal circumstances, cold winter weather with rain and snow will kill most of the locust eggs.

Only some of the insect eggs that survive the cold winter will hatch when the temperature rises in late spring and early summer.

Under normal circumstances, the spring and summer floods can easily submerge the riverbanks.

Therefore, in normal years, the riverbanks where the most eggs are laid have very few eggs that survive, which can lead to locust plagues.

But drought is a real problem. A prolonged drought gives locust eggs a great opportunity to hatch, especially when there is flooding followed by drought. This makes it even easier for locusts to lay and hatch their eggs. Locusts can even lay eggs three times a year.

Digging for locust eggs on the riverbank is certainly a skilled job.

It's impossible to flip through them all; I don't have the physical strength, and I can't handle it.

“When the weather is fine, you can search on the riverbank and you will usually find small bumps or cracks. Then dig and you will find the insect eggs about one or two feet deep.”

Locusts choose damp, sheltered, and sunny land to lay their eggs. They insert their ovipositor into the ground, secrete a white nest, and then lay their eggs, sometimes fifty, sixty, or even hundreds at a time.

After laying their eggs, they will cover their nests with soil.

The locust eggs are the size of rice grains, and the ovaries are like a mulberry.

Li Yi shared what little he knew about locusts with them, bending over to search the riverbank.
The emperor and his prime ministers each carried a small hoe.

The hundred cavalrymen and several hundred imperial guards accompanying them each carried a hoe or shovel.

Dig here and shovel there.

So many people,

Someone dug it up very quickly.

One of the Imperial Guards shouted excitedly.

This attracted the attention of the emperor and his ministers.

About a foot deep in the soil, there was an ovary, like a section of mulberry, covered with locust eggs covered in soil.

"These are locust eggs?"

"Yes, that's right, these are locust eggs."

Li Yi took it and examined it carefully. "Don't underestimate this thing. This nest has at least sixty or seventy eggs. Even during the severe drought, the Yellow River didn't flood this area, and this winter's mild weather prevented them from freezing to death."
Then next year when the weather gets warmer...

This one nest hatched dozens of locusts.

Li Yi ordered the imperial guards to bring out a ruler and, using the locust's ovary as the center, measured out one acre of land.

"Fence off this acre of land, dig it all up with a hoe, dig out every single locust egg, and then count them."
Let's take a count and see how many insect eggs we can dig up from this acre of riverbank.

Thousands of people rolled up their sleeves and got to work on the Yellow River beach.

The Imperial Guards drew a curtain around their heads.

Zhou Xiaoshao wanted to invite the emperor to sit in the tent, drink tea, and watch, but Li Shimin refused. He rolled up his sleeves, picked up a hoe, and...
Following everyone,

They dug and dug on this enclosed acre of riverbank.

Wen Yanbo and Wang Gui did not want to take action.
But the emperor ordered his ministers to dig with him.

Then,
Emperor, Prime Minister, Hundred Cavalry, Imperial Guards
Everyone was wielding hoes, digging and digging on this small riverbank.

There is strength in numbers.

Thousands of people are digging one acre of land.

Each person can only dig half a square meter.

If it weren't for the requirement to dig meticulously, searching three feet into the ground to find all the insect eggs, it could actually be done in just a few seconds.

Locust eggs are plentiful.
They also dug up a lot of other insect eggs.

But this time only locust kills and eggs are counted.

Each raid was counted.

Finally, the dug-out eggs were weighed.

"How many?"

Li Shimin, covered in mud, looked pale as he gazed at the densely packed locust eggs.

"Ten, sixteen jin." Xu Luoren, the Imperial Guard general who personally weighed the item, trembled slightly.

A standard acre of beach land is 240 steps long.
They actually dug up sixteen pounds of locust eggs.

How many locust eggs are in this pound?

“We counted them, and there were about three hundred egg masses per pound, and one pound contained about twenty to thirty thousand locust eggs.”

The emperor's face was deathly pale.

There are 200,000 to 300,000 locust eggs on one acre of land. If they all hatch, even if only one-tenth or one-hundredth hatches, that's still 20,000 to 30,000 locusts.

How many locusts would hatch from those tens of thousands of acres of riverbanks?
The thought of locusts blotting out the sky made Li Shimin's face turn even paler.

The prime ministers and imperial guards behind the emperor all looked uneasy.

(End of this chapter)